Columns

‘Old boys’ didn’t seek training

It’s pretty well known that during World War II SLI president Joel Fletcher and academic vice president Joseph Riehl persuaded the Navy to locate V-12 and V-5 officer training programs at the Lafayette school.

Finally, a boring Supreme Court nominee

As predicted, Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearing were pretty boring. Almost yawn-worthy. She’s a fairly boring person to being with, which I suppose is a good thing since we don’t need to worry about high school classmates popping up with lurid stories about Michelob parties, etc.

What is a woman is really a serious question 

I’m glad there’s widespread confusion about what a woman is. I’ve been confused my entire life. In the most basic sense, the difference between a male and a female is that a female has two X chromosomes and a male has an X and a Y chromosome — or, in my experience, a “WHY” chromosome?

History tells us to take tyrants like Putin seriously

The world seemed surprised when Hitler annexed the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia in 1938. More surprised when he invaded Poland in 1939 and flabbergasted when he marched into the Soviet Union in 1941. Never underestimate the ambitions of an evil tyrant.

Are you terrible at remembering names?

If you have a habit of forgetting names as soon as you’re introduced, join the club. In all fairness, I have a mind like a steel trap when it comes to appointments, debts and trivia; it’s just that names tend to chew their leg off in order to escape. Bless his heart, my son Gideon is even worse.

Lumber and the lucky Lehman

According to family tradition, the Lehman, the first schooner used by pioneer Calcasieu lumberman Daniel Goos, was named after an old sea captain who he had known for many years.

The dawn of spring; a sense of renewal

The eternal promise of spring, the first daffodil, the tiny buds forming on the elm tree; a faint but distinct musical note from the mockingbird, serves to remind us of the cycle of life.

Ketanji Brown Jackson: Let’s hope turnabout is not fair play

I certainly hope that the hearings on Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination, which started on Monday, are what Sen. Dick Durbin wants them to be: “Respectful and dignified.” That would be such a pleasant change from recent experience.

Insurance reform is a dud

The headlines blared across newspapers and television stations last week. “State insurance leaders join forces on Catastrophe Reform Legislative Package,” penned the Lake Charles American Press.

$ong sung green as music sales boom

Nathaniel Adams Coles was 15 when he dropped out of Wendell Phillips Academy in Chicago to pursue a career in music. Three years later, in 1937, he managed to sell his first song, a catchy tune called “Straighten Up and Fly Right,” for fifty dollars.