Columns

Refusal to be blunt about mental illness leads to chaos

When an entire kindergarten class was murdered by Adam Lanza two weeks before Christmas in 2012, I was paralyzed with grief. Usually, when tragedies occur to other people, I say a prayer and move on. But that all changed with Newtown.

American families need cost of energy lowered

Louisiana knows a thing or two about energy.

Dumbing America down — digitally?

IQs have dropped for the first time in American history, and the experts aren’t quite sure why. According to Neuroscience News, a new Northwestern University study finds that our average IQ scores have decreased in three out of four cognitive measures.

Planning a post-Easter hiatus?

Right now, the land echoes with songs such as “Power in the Blood” and “Because He Lives,” but past performance assures me that the ditty waiting in the wings is (apologies to Alice Cooper) “God’s Out For Summer.”

Tiny town once harbored exiles

It would be understandable if you’ve never heard of Port Tobacco, Maryland. Today it is the state’s smallest incorporated community, with barely a dozen residents.

College’s bid to erase its flawed founder is insulting

I was thrilled when I received an acceptance letter from Bryn Mawr College. Bryn Mawr was dedicated to educating women at the same level as many of the Ivy League institutions, like Harvard and Yale, many of which did not admit women in 1885 when the school was co-founded by M. Carey Thomas.

Is Congress taking over local school boards?

School board elections in Louisiana used to be rather sleepy affairs, with generally a small turnout on election day. Yes, there were often controversial issues considered by local boards.

Do you like the tradwife trend?

“No wife of mine will ever have to work outside the home if she doesn’t want to.” I uttered that cocky, naïve declaration five years before meeting my wife and 11 years before getting married. Cold, hard reality forced us both to bring in paychecks and juggle household duties.

Another questionable bailout for big banks

Well, here we go again. Big banks are “high-fiving” each other after they won big in Washington last week. We thought government regulators had learned an expensive lesson after the financial crash in 2008 that led to massive bailouts at taxpayers’ expense.

Gueydan school was ahead of its time

There’s a big debate going on over using Artificial Intelligence in the classroom that I’m not sure I fully understand (along with a whole lot of other stuff like that).