Columns

The need to vacate this summer

I sure could use a vacation about now — but I have no plans to take one this summer. That’s the breaks for self-employed people like me who do not enjoy paid-­vacation benefits. When I do not work, I do not get paid.

Inflation has our political leaders trapped

Inflation is now at a 40-year high of 8.6%, with energy and food cost leading the way. To stop inflation monetary policy requires a nominal interest rate 2% higher than the inflation rate, such as 10.6% — yet the Federal Reserve has only raised its policy rate to 1.6 percent.

Memories of Nixon in Louisiana 

This month marks the 50-year anniversary of the Watergate break-in.  Those of us who remember were often mesmerized by the full press coverage the event produced. Driving to and from the state capital, I was glued to my radio as events unfolded that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

What happened at Roswell 75 years ago?

The front page of the July 8, 1947, “Roswell (New Mexico) Daily Record” seized the American imagination with the headline “RAAF (Roswell Army Air Field) Captures Flying Saucer.”

Twain and the Fourth of July

For some reason, when I begin to think about the Fourth of July, Mark Twain pops up in my head. He and Independence Day are for some reason as inseparably linked in my mind as are July 4th and hot dogs, ice cream, and mom’s apple pie. I think it’s because Twain was truly an American.

Insurance reform falls flat

Remember your ancient history of how Nero fiddled as Rome burned?  Boy, does that apply to the Louisiana legislature. Now we are talking about the state that has far and away the highest insurance rates in the nation. Yet in the recent legislative session, insurance reforms were all but ignored.

Do poll respondents have a prayer?

You’ve probably seen the screaming headlines about a Gallup survey revealing that Americans’ belief in God has hit an all-time low. I’m not here to quibble with the atheists, agnostics and alternate-spirituality practitioners who answered the survey.

He was neither fool nor fraud

Questions turned into consternation when a mysterious stranger tried to buy every square inch of public land in Cameron Parish in 1883.

Summer bike hikes a relic of the past

Sitting in my home office I am greeted by a cool breeze coming through my open window and the sweet sounds of summer outside. It’s late June, which used to be peak bike-hiking season for kids — but now it’s mostly adults who go on long rides on their expensive high-tech bikes.

Should ‘eyes up here’ be enforced?

“Did you know that your rear passenger tire is a little underinflated?” I harbor a grudging appreciation for a potentially life-saving hint like that.