Columns

Of crawfish, paqueing, and sweet dough pies

There are across south Louisiana some religiously observed Easter week rituals that have little, if anything, to do with religion. They were birthed in the solemnity of Eastertide but they also reflect a native irreverence about gospels of any sort, be they religious, political, or social.

Fantasy takes over reality in Disneyland

A few years ago, someone started a campaign to make Elsa the first lesbian Disney princess. It didn’t get much traction at the time, just like the idea that Ernie and Bert were shacking up as domestic partners on “Sesame Street.” Fast forward to 2022.

Is President Biden still with us?

Senator John Kennedy’s (R-LA) recent op-ed “No More IMF Subsidies for Dictators” shines the light on a very dark subject, the International Monetary Funds “Special Drawing Rights” (SDR’s) that are backed by the U.S. Treasury—and with the help of the Biden Administration (who could have vetoed it)...

Have you slapped anybody lately?

After the Academy Awards incident between Will Smith and Chris Rock, I started wondering how many of my gentle readers have resorted to physical violence in their adult life.

‘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.