Weekend radio schedule will be posted Thursday afternoon.Read More

There certainly is a great deal of controversy over our country as to how police officers deal in crisis situation. There certainly is overreaction by some officers, and this should be investigated and those officers who cross the line should be brought to justice. But by and large, most police officers do there job, day...Read More

Joe Ely is quite a guy. He’s a well known an American singer, songwriter and guitarist whose music touches on honky-tonk, country and rock and roll. He has had a genre-crossing career, performing with Bruce Springsteen, The Clancy Brothers and James McMurtry in addition to his more recent acoustic tours with Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt,...Read More

Has college football gotten too big for its financial britches? It’s all about money, with players not wanting to attend class, and both coaches and college administrators looking out for the all mighty dollar. What happened to integrity and building character? Good luck with that. My new column takes a look at how money is...Read More

It’s Weekend Radio Time, ad we are kicking off the New Year with a look into the crystal ball to check out a variety of issues that will no doubt be facing this country today. Will the new Congress really make any difference in Washington? Can Republicans be proactive, rather than just being obstructionists? Will...Read More

Thursday, January 7th, 2014 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  HAS COLLEGE FOOTBALL BECOME A PRO SPORT? It’s the end of the college football season, and the year has produced a financial bonanza for top tier schools all over the country. ESPN will pay over 7 billion dollars for the rights to telecast just seven games a year...Read More

Here is a major new book from our own The Lisburn Press.  Thunderbolt is a true to life novel about the changes that are taking place in the Catholic Church today. It is a compelling story by first time author Chip Songy of a young Louisiana priest on the fast track for promotion up the...Read More

Friday, December 2nd, 2014 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  DUTCH MORIAL-A SPECIAL LOUISIANA POLITICIAN! I drove down to New Orleans for a funeral service last week. I find myself attending a growing number of funerals each year as I get older and as and long time friends pass away. I’ll turn 75 in May of this New...Read More

When you consider Louisiana political figures that have had a major influence on the state, former New Orleans Mayor Dutch Morial is high on the list. He was the first African American to serve and be elected in a number of major positions. Dutch died 25 years ago, but his remains were reinterred last week...Read More

Weekend radio is fast approaching and we are excited about kicking off the New Year with a lively program. Let’s forget 2014. It was a so so year. But there is much to talk but as we look at predictions as to what will happen in 2015. So get your New Year’s resolutions ready and...Read More

We have a new publication just published here at The Lisburn Press, The Clarke Williams Story. Clarke Williams is the classical rags to riches story. He set out to prove that his religious faith has a place in creating a business, and he discovered unbounded success. He proved that building a company in the legacy of...Read More

Happy New Year to all of my friends who follow my ramblings on this website. Let’s all wish and hope for a more productive and enjoyable 2015.Read More

Friday, December 26th, 2014 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  RHETORIC AND DEATH GO HAND IN HAND IN POLICE OFFICER MURDERS! Don’t let them tell you otherwise. Words matter. The old saying that “Sticks and stones can hurt my bones, but words can never hurt me?” Wrong! Dead wrong! Words can inflame, and the rhetoric can reach such...Read More

Words! Words! Words! We are an opinionated people and the right to protest and strongly state your opinion is part of our heritage and basic in our Constitution. But sometimes, words can incite violence and bad things can happen. Words can set the stage for real tragedy. And that’s what we saw in a culmination...Read More

Weekend Radio Schedule will be posted Friday afternoon!Read More

It’s been a nice holiday season touching base with friends from all over the country. We’ve had a great Christmas down here in the deepest of the deep Southern states. No snow, something we rarely get, and the temperature hit the mid 60s on Christmas Day. We don”˜t ski or get out to enjoy the...Read More

If you are a bit older like me, you were part of a new generation of music that blossomed at Woodstock back in 1966. I almost went to the festival. The showstopper was an Englishman, Joe Cocker. He gyrated all over the stage in a style that was unique and his trademark.  I’ve been a...Read More

So what do we do? Give up some of our key moral values as a nation to provide security? Do the ends justify the means? Has the world changed so that America must torture suspected terrorists if it is to protect its citizens? All timely and relevant questions with the newly released Senate Intelligence report...Read More

Our weekly radio program is approaching, and there will certainly be a lot to talk about this weekend. Renewing relations with Cuba brings up the whole immigration problem, and what we do with the millions of illegals in this country today. David Strange is a managing partner at the law firm of Whittenburg, Strange, &...Read More

Thursday, December 18th, 2014 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  SO DO WE AND SHOULD WE TORTURE? And we thought Jack Bauer on the Fox TV show “24” was heavy handed in his use of torture techniques. Jack was a piker compared to CIA operatives who utilized about every method of pain infliction imaginable. And then, Vice President...Read More

On November 20-21, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd), hosted the organization’s 2014 National Summit on Education Reform in Washington, D.C. At the nation’s premier annual education forum, lawmakers and policymakers were immersed in two days of in-depth discussions on proven policies and innovative strategies to improve...Read More

I’m a big  flash mob  guy, and post a number of musical spontaneous events here on my website.  Here is a special one in the holiday season.  Starting with a single cellist on the floor of the National Air and Space Museum’s “Milestones of Flight” gallery, and swelling to 120 musicians, The U.S. Air Force...Read More

Thursday, December 11th, 2014 Baton Rouge, Louisiana LANDRIEU FORGOT THE LESSON THAT ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL! Former U.S. House speaker Tip O’Neill said it time and time again. All politics is local. I interviewed Tip on a New Orleans television show I hosted back in the 1990s. He went on for sometime that you have...Read More

The nation’s last congressional election took place in Louisiana last week. And the Republicans continued to sweep the South. Louisiana incumbent Senator Mary Landrieu lost baldly, and the political pundits said it was all Obama’s fault. But Landrieu missed numerous opportunities to save her seat and get re-elected. I write this week that all politics...Read More

Boy, do we have a lively program set for this Sunday.  My first  guest is terrorist interrogator. To his friends and neighbors, Glenn L. Carle was a wholesome, stereotypical New England Yankee, a former athlete struggling against incipient middle age, someone always with his nose in an abstruse book. But for two decades Carle broke...Read More

I was raised in St. Louis County, in a little community call Ladue Missouri. My friends and I would often drive the South St. Louis where a large German community was located. There were a number of German restaurants there, and always lots of music. Listen below to this compilation of German melodies that brought...Read More

I want to take a minute and brag on my nephew, Gary Solomon, Jr. out of New Orleans.  This young man is about as talented as they come.  His company, Solomon Productions, produced and handled just about every aspect of the recent Essence Festival, the NBA All Star Game and numerous other major events throughout...Read More

Thursday, December 4th, 2014 Baton Rouge, Louisiana TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OUT OF FERGUSON! Do you know anyone who does not have an opinion of just what happened in Ferguson, Missouri? The problem is that in trying to make some sense out of what has become a tragedy for everyone involved, misinformation has been spewed...Read More

Everyone sees to have an opinion as to what caused the turmoil in Ferguson, Missouri.   But there is a big difference between opinion and fact. I know this area well, having gone to high school in Ladue, Missouri than adjoins Ferguson. And it’s obvious to me that those with contrarian opinions too often want to...Read More

It’s December and many businesses are beginning to wind down their year. Not us here on the “Common Sense” radio show. We never slow down or even take a break. We are back at our home flagship station, Clear Channel’s WJBO, 1150 AM in Baton Rouge this week, after broadcasting from New York City last...Read More

Here is the latest publication from The Lisburn Press that is creating a lot of excitement in the literary world.  Thunderbolt tells the story of a young Louisiana priest is on the fast track for promotion up the chain of authority in the Catholic Church, when he is embraced by a clandestine group of influential bishops...Read More

Wednesday, November 26th, 2014 New York City, N.Y.  YOU OUTSIDERS, QUIT TELLING US WHAT’S BEST FOR LOUISIANA! The political termites are swarming into Louisiana. They are coming from everywhere; north and south-east and west. All with one purpose in mind. The want to tell us who we should vote for as the state’s next U.S....Read More

What is it with these politicians bringing in outside officials to tell us how to vote? Then the problem gets compounded with the flooding of the airwaves paid for by out of state special interest money. Can’t voters in all states make up their own minds without this outside influence? I guess candidates think voters...Read More

Our Thanksgiving Weekend program is all lined up with a busy schedule of guests and topics. We will be live from New York City where the snow is supposed to come down in droves. So a good time to get into the holiday spirit. Did you shop on Black Thursday? No, not Friday, but Thursday?  ...Read More

You probably have seen the football “catch of the century” by former LSU star receiver Odell Beckham, J., now playing for the New York Giants. Those of us who followed Odell during his years playing here in Baton Rouge have seen a number of acrobatic catches. But nothing like he pulled off Sunday against the...Read More

Thursday, November 20th, 2014 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  KEYSTONE PIPELINE-LOUISIANA’S ECONOMIC SAVIOR? Almost overnight, the approval of the Keystone pipeline has become a key issue in Louisiana’s cantankerous senatorial runoff campaign. Incumbent Mary Landrieu is leading the charge in the U.S. Senate, while challenger Dr. Bill Cassidy is trying to one up Landrieu by being the...Read More

The Keystone pipeline has become an issue that now dominates the U.S. Senate race in Louisiana. It’s the where all to end all dispute, and seems to be all that the two run off candidates are talking about. Incumbent Senator Mary Landrieu(D) and challenger Dr. Bill Cassidy(R) have each tried to “one up” the other...Read More

Well it’s the week before Thanksgiving, and most of the country is over and done with politics.  And thank goodness.  Well, except down in my home state of Louisiana.  We have a run off for U. S. Senator and congressional races, so us Red Necks and Cajuns will have to suffer through a few more weeks.  Will the new...Read More

I attend a number of book fairs and festivals, particularly in the South, to publicize my publications through The Lisburn Press. What a treat a few weeks ago to be joined by the great American writer and fellow Louisianan Ernest Gaines. His works have been taught in college classrooms and translated into many languages, including...Read More

Songwriter and singer Mary Gauthier came back home is week. The Baton Rouge gal gave a first-rate performance at the Red Dragon listening room, one of my favorite hangouts here along the Mississippi River her in “Red Stick.” Mary tours the country and has found fame up in Nashville, performing misty and emotion provoking songs,...Read More

Thursday, October 13th, 2014 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  NO MORE RETAIL POLITICS IN LOUISIANA! Remember the days when candidates for U.S Senator or Governor would speak to thousands of supporters at weekend rallies all over Louisiana? Huey Long was the master, mainly because he promised he’d give voters just about anything they wanted. A long line...Read More

Senators and governors of days past are turning over in their graves at the carrying on, or lack of thereof, by the candidates for U.S. Senate in Louisiana. Where have both incumbent democratic Senator Mary Landrieu and republican challenger Dr. Bill Cassidy been for all these months? Few voters around the state can remember seeing...Read More

Weekend Radio Schedule to be posted Friday.Read More

If you want to see just how out of whack out educational system has become, particularly in giving a basic civics education to younger voters, take a look at the video below. It will leave you scratching your heads wondering where the system went wrong. There’s got to be a better way to educate these...Read More

ROY BOOKBINDER has been singing the blues for more than 45 years. In his younger days he was a sideman to the legendary REVEREND GARY DAVIS. His brand of acoustic blues came to the attention of BONNIE RAITT with whom he toured for years. Roy went on to become a TV star on the show...Read More

Obama and the Pussy'crats || The Daily Show… by STEWAAARTRead More

The Republicans won big, and now both parties in congress are talking about crossing party lines to solve problems in the nation’s capitol. Compromise and moderation are the new Buzzwords. Real Kumbaya, right? Good luck. New studies show that voters are more extreme in their views than are their members of congress. Many voters do...Read More

We will review the new political landscape as the Republicans now control both Houses of Congress. We things really change? Not in my opinion. In fact that’s the focus of my new column this week. And it’s really all about money. The unbelievable amount of tainted campaign dollars that have flooded these elections. Our guest...Read More

Thursday, November 6th, 2014 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  REDUCE GRIDLOCK IN WASHINGTON? GOOD LUCK WITH THAT! Voters sent a strong message on election night that congress needs to work across party lines and begin to get things done. No more gridlock. After all, the popularity of members of congress is at an all time low. Less...Read More

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Thursday, October 30th, 2014 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  LOUISIANA VOTERS — WON’T GET FOOLED AGAIN! To many electoral observers across the country, Louisiana is the synergy of the political universe. Nowhere is there such a concentration of political interest ““ right? Wasn’t it a Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives who said if you want...Read More

Just about everyone live and breathes politics down in Louisiana-right? It’s been portrayed as a way of life and part of the DNA of Cajuns and Red Necks alike. It’s pure entertainment all year round. The Bayou State must certainly have the highest rate of voter participation in the country. But surprisingly, that’s not the...Read More

What a weekend of lively radio topics coming up. It’s Halloween and the spooks are all around us. Election Day is on the countdown and we will talk about what issues have been completely ignored by politico wannabes all across the country. Will the Republican take control of the U.S. Senate? I’ll make my predictions...Read More

Well Halloween is almost here. Are you ready? I’m a big trick or treater with the neighborhood kids coming by in droves to receive the goodies we put out. And we have lots of pumpkins. How does yours stack up? I’ll bet my pumpkin is bigger than your pumpkins!Read More