Columns

Remembering Brother Jimmy Swaggart

Fifty-eight years. That’s how long ago it’s been since Brother Jimmy Swaggart’s father, also a minister, came into my small Ferriday law office where I was a sole practitioner, and asked me to incorporate his church.

Next time, please send smarter bombs

The recent 12-day war between Israel and the Islamic regime in Tehran began with a bang — literally — as some of the regime’s most notorious criminals were wiped off the map. It was a surgical strike, and for many Iranians, a moment of relief.

Easy prediction: Time for ice and shade

Today’s weather gurus use sophisticated computers to model all of the forecast possibilities as fronts push this way and that, pockets of high or low pressure skip hither and yon, and jet streams meander through the atmosphere, but the imprecise science of weather prediction still comes down to the...

Founding Fathers did not separate church and state

At our founding 250 years ago, there was much separation between the original 13 states soon to be called the United States of America (big states v. small states, slavery), and between America and Great Britain.

Lessons learned in Italy about human dignity

When I’m in Italy, I tend to focus on all things Italian. I consume ridiculous quantities of pasta. I only drink Italian wines, although I did slip in a Bailey’s on the flight to Milan.

Celebrating our republic — if we can keep it

Burgers on the grill, big-box store discounts and fireworks that rattle your windows — those are some great reasons why Americans love the Fourth of July.

Zero tolerance summer camp

Dear Mom and Dad, It’s only been a few days since you dropped me off, but you better come get me. I’m writing to you with a pencil I swiped from the office, because the camp director confiscated my iPhone for watching funny dog videos during her “Camp Inclusion and Behavioral Expectations” speech.

Ready for competitive eating?

Long ago, I learned speed-eating to fit junior high yearbook editing into my lunch break. My first two dates with my wife featured the Bonanza Steakhouse buffet. I’ve gone “plague of locusts” on deviled eggs and pimento cheese sandwiches at countless church potluck dinners.

Mouton’s cane syrup took the prize

Alexandre (Aleck) Mouton, grandson and namesake of Governor Alexandre Mouton, made the best cane syrup in the world. At least that’s what the judges at the St. Louis World’s Fair said in 1903, giving it their highest award. That’s how the syrup came to be named Mouton’s Gold Medal Syrup.

Searching for the right America

There are four holidays that occur in quick succession and symbolize our love of country: Memorial Day, D-Day, Flag Day and July Fourth.