Boy are the Sparks flying over my two football teams I follow most. My alma mater, North Carolina and my hometown, favorite, the LSU Tigers. major meltdowns at both schools with the programs in disarray, and football coaches with their backs against the wall. One fired, and one that should be fired. And can you believe the millions of dollars involved in buyouts and salaries? I take a look at this whole mess in my column this week. You can read it now by going to the Red Flashing Box above or by Clicking Here.
Wisdom!
The terror of the Ku Klux Klan were brought back to life this week in Baton Rouge at a special ceremony honoring Concordia Sentinel reporter Stanley Nelson. Stanley did more to avail unsolved murders of the Klan than the FBI. He was a dogged reporter that wrote two books and exposed a number murders in Northeast Louisiana. Stanley was a good friend, and died a few years back. He was honored as a special ceremony this past week. I write all about Stanley efforts in my new column now posted. You can read it by going to the red flashing box above or by Clicking Here.
My favorite city has been in turmoil. If you can’t love New Orleans you can’t love life. But it’s been on the down spiral for a number of years. A good title is “the City that Care Forgot.” Many public officials in New Orleans just don’t give a damn. The present mayor has been indicted and for good reason. So is there any hope? Yes. I write all about it this week column. You can read it now by going to the Red Flashing Box above or by Clicking Here.
Halloween is right around the corner. Quite a pumpkin patch onus at my home up in the mountains of North Carolina. I’ve gotta start getting my costume ready, right?
As we get older, we like to look back. Evaluate. Think of changes we could’ve should’ve. Sure I would’ve done lots of things differently. But Ive led a good life and I want to tell all my readers about it. I’ve written the column this week, thinking a little about the past mistakes, but looking forward to the future. I hope you enjoy it, and you can read it now by going to the Red Flashing Box above or by Clicking Here.
I was up in both New Hampshire and the North Carolina mountains last week. What a wonderful time to see the changing of the leaves. We get nothing like this in the deep South, but it’s really breathtaking. Almost like a painter goes out of paint every leaf a different color. If you never been a long northern East Coast, you ought to take it in. Really a site to see.
My longtime friend, Louis Lambert, will be buried this week. We started off together back to the 1970s and we were both young Louisiana state senators. Louis, second from right, played with me on the Senate basketball team.(others are yours truly on the far left, Bob Jones and Mike Charles, Bill Dykes from Greensburg, Lois and Paul Hardy.) He was a great public official. With the passing of Lewis, there are only three senators from the 1972 Louisiana Senate. Paul Hardy, Bob Jones, and me. All three of us played on the Senate basketball team, and all three of us ran for governor. God bless you, Lewis. He lived a full life.
You may have never heard of this guy, James Colby, but he was the FBI Director, and a top justice department official for years. And he got indicted last week. Good or bad? I’m not sure, but I can tell you this. Comey was no friend of Louisiana. He ruined an LSU professor’s life without justification, and I thought he should have been held accountable for this. I talk about this disastrous takedown of a decent man in this week’s column. You can read it now by going to the Red Flashing Box above, or by Clicking Here.
If you live down and might part of the country, only a gun is way of life. Mostly rivals and shotguns, but more and more pistols. Areas, you have them for self protection. But there seems to be more and more shootings and the question comes up, should you have gun insurance? I write about this difficult question in my new column this week. Take a look and see what you think. You can read the column by going to the Red Flashing Box above or by Clicking Here.
To listen to new podcast by Jim and Rannah on the terrible consequences of money going to athletes, go to www.datelinelouisiana.com.
Novaelist Walker Percy could well be the greatest novelist ever to come out of Louisiana. He is recognized as the nation’s premier Catholic writer. His novels were legendary covering so many topics that affect each one of us in today’s world, and I read them all. He had a great influence of my early writings as we both went to the University of North Carolina and both wrote for the student newspaper, the Daily Tar Heel. Walker Percy is honored yearly at the festival named adtee him , reviewing all of his writings with authors around the country coming each year in Saint Francisville, Louisiana. The gathering happened this past weekend. I write about his influence in this week’scolumn. You can read it now by going to the Red Flashing Box above or by Clicking Here.
Was there a bigger charismatic movie star than Robert Redford? Fans like me didn’t care about the story he played in. It was Redford! Whatever the movie, there was something you just had to see. And there were many really big ones. Of course “Butch Cassidy and the Sun Dance Kid.” But there were so many other “can’t miss “movies. My four favorites were Jeremiah Johnson, 3 Days of the Condor, The Candidate, and All the President’s Men. If I had to pick one, it would be “Jeremiah Johnson.” I like I said, I want to see anything he starred in. We sure will miss him.
9/11. Do you remember? It’s been 24 years, and many Americans weren’t even born the. But this date in in infamy became a demarcation line for America’s fight against terrorism. Many of us were glued to the TV. To hear my personal experience of just what happened on this terrible day, read my new column. You can find it by going to the Red Flashing Box above or by Clicking Here.
Well, now we have the President saying that there should be a major revision in our election process. Actually, boating on election day.y makes good sense. Something special about gathering up the kids, and heading to your polling location. There certainly should be exceptions for those in the military, those who are handicapped, and public workers you need to be working on election day. I know about working on election day, and I write about it in this week’s column. You can read it now by going to the red flashing box above, or by Clicking Here.
It’s hard to believe it’s been that long ago. Twenty years has passed, since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. No one had any idea what would happen in the aftermath. When the hurricane hit, it did not look that bad. But we were surprised for the worst. So many of us down in my part of the South are we living all the terrible happenings of this vicious hurricane and the attitude of public officials. I write about it again in this week’s column. You can read it by going to the Red Flashing Box above or by Clicking Here.
What do old guys like me do when they start to slow down a bit. Actually, I’m only 85 so I have a long way to go. But I have started a new hobby. I paint and also work with ceramics. My only regret is I did not start painting and making pottery long ago. I read where some of the great impressionist painters had to quit painting when they reached 75 or so because of arthritis and the fact their hands were shaking. I sure know how that feels. In any event, you can see a few of my works below from my efforts, primarily in the North Carolina mountains. I’m not that good, but I find Ito be an invigorating hobby.
