July 24th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY IN LOUISIANA! Bayou State residents are well aware that Louisiana is a pleasant place to live. Some would sarcastically say that we are fat, dumb, and happy down here in the deepest of the deep southern states. The state motto is, after all, Laissez les bons...Read More

Monday, July 18th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana HIGHER POLICE STANDARDS TO PROTECT OUR KIDS! There is a poignant family portrait, painted in 1943 by Norman Rockwell, called “Freedom of Fear,” that shows a mother and father standing over their sleeping children. The father holds a newspaper with a headline that refers to the Blitz of...Read More

Monday, July 11th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS?  NO WAY! Forgive all outstanding student loans? Sure, why not. What this means is that all other taxpayers, that’s you and me, will pick up the cost and pay more taxes.  And the price is really not all that much, is it?  There are over...Read More

  Hey all you food lovers. Here is another episode of our new podcast, #DatelineLouisiana, just dropped. This week, my co-host  and I are talking about Louisiana food! Listen anywhere — or right here! https://www.buzzsprout.com/…/10860468-episode-2-food-of…Read More

Tuesday, July 5th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana KEYSTONE PIPELINE-LOUISIANA’S ECONOMIC SAVIOR? The approval of the Keystone pipeline is back in the news as petroleum interests and members of the Louisiana congressional delegation are calling on the President to get this project moving forward. So is building the pipeline the huge job creator and the economic...Read More

Monday, June 27th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  WATERGATE, LOUISIANA, AND RICHARD NIXON! This month marks the 50-year anniversary of the Watergate break-in.  Those of us who remember we’re often mesmerized by the full press coverage the event produced. I was commuting to Baton Rouge each day in 1972 as a delegate to the constitutional convention....Read More

June 20th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 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...Read More

June 13th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana ELECTION FRAUD A CAMPAIGN ISSUE! Undertaking the job of Secretary of State used to be fairly routine.  I should know as I held this elected post in Louisiana for eight years during the 1980s.  I even served as president of the National Secretary of State Association, where then was...Read More

Monday, June 6th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana EWE AND JOHN MCKEITHEN- A STRAINED RELATIONSHIP! A bit of political history in this week’s column. Edwin Edwards had succeeded John McKeithen as governor, but the two them did not maintain much of a relationship during Edwards’ first term in the governor’s office.  McKeithen had actively supported Edwards...Read More

May 30th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana THOUGHTS AFTER TEXAS KILLINGS!  If you have small children or grandchildren, it’s difficult to process how a deranged assassin could slaughter such innocent youngsters. Yet it has become a regular happening all over America. After each shooting, we hear cries of “not this, not ever again.”  But what’s happening...Read More

Monday, May 23rd, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  HONORS POUR IN FOR JERRY LEE LEWIS! Louisiana rockabilly Jerry Lee Lewis has just been elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.  He has already been inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of fame, so the honors keep pouring in for this Louisiana musical icon.  Let...Read More

Monday, May 16th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana WHAT’S GOING ON IN LOUISIANA AND ALL OF AMERICA?  Remember the song a few years back? “How low can you go? Cause I wanna know. How low can you go?”  Well apparently, as a state and a nation, we still have lower to go. The Wall Street Journal...Read More

Monday, 9th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana GETTING OLDER AIN’T ALL THAT BAD! I woke up from this strange dream last night. I got out of bed, looked in the new mirror and saw the face of a rather interesting old guy who just turned 82. Eighty-Two?  And then it dawned on me.  It wasn’t a...Read More

Monday, May 2nd, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana GARTH BROOKS WOWS THEM IN TIGER STADIUM! Oh if you could have been last Saturday night in Tiger Stadium packed with a crowd of over 102,000 fans, all to hear super country music star Garth Brooks.  It couldn’t get any bigger than this.   And the crowd’s greatest response,...Read More

Monday, April 25th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  TIME TO ACT ON VIOLENT CRIME IN LOUISIANA! A mother’s wailing, tormented cry over the senseless killing of her three-year-old son cut through anyone’s sense of decency. “You killed my baby” sobbed the Baton Rouge mother just last week.  Her child was killed in his bed by a...Read More

As a book publisher, I look with the leery eyes when someone talks about banning books. Of course, there are books that are both inappropriate and disgusting. But often, these decisions about the importance of the book often are in the eye of the beholder. Let me give me just one example. One of the...Read More

Tuesday, April 19th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana SARAH PALIN WOULD FIT IN WELL IN LOUISIANA! Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin is back in the news, announcing that she will be a candidate for Alaska’s single congressional seat. Fifty candidates have signed up to run, but with Palin’s national statue, one would think that she would...Read More

Monday, April 11th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana LEADERSHIP NEEDED ON LOUISIANA PROPERTY INSURANCE Britain’s former Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli was full of insight with his poignant anecdotes. He once summed up the political courage of one of his opponents by observing: “Our citizens are moving in the streets. And I must find out which way...Read More

Monday, April 4th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana HOW IMPORTANT IS UKRAINE TO AMERICA?  My home state of Louisiana is some 6000 miles away from Kyiv, Donbas, Crimea, and the Azov Sea.  Yet an overwhelming majority of Louisianians, along with most Americans, have no idea where these places are located.  For that matter, most of us...Read More

Monday, March 28th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana KEEP YOUR COVID GUARD UP!  With a new strain of the Covid lurking, there are reports of a major uptick of infections this coming summer. If you are not that concerned, let me tell you how my Covid experience transpired. What happened to me was horrendous. I would...Read More

Monday, March 21st, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana LEGISLATIVE INSURANCE REFORM A DUD!  The headlines blared across newspapers and television stations last week.  “State insurance leaders join forces on Catastrophe Reform Legislative Package,” featured the Lake Charles American Press.  “An insurance reform package is working its way through the Louisiana Legislature, “publicized TV station WDSU in...Read More

Monday, March 14th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana HOW TO STAND WITH UKRAINE! Following my column this past week on how Louisianans are affected by the current war in Ukraine, I was surprised at the number of responses I received asking just what the average citizen can or should do to help this besieged country.  This...Read More

Monday, March 7th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  DOES THE UKRAINIAN TRADEGY AFFECT US IN LOUISIANA?  When I bring up the subject of Ukraine with friends here in Louisiana, the response is more often than not some interest and a bit of concern, but that’s about all.  They don’t feel they are really affected.  So should...Read More

Monday, February 28th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  THE CHANGES IN LOUISIANA’S QUALITY OF LIFE!  All we know Left untold Beaten by a broken dream Nothing like what it used to be We’ve been chasing our demons down an empty road Singer Alan Walker  These words hit home to me as I read a number of...Read More

Monday, February 21st, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana THE TWO BEST THERE EVER WAS AT LSU! Two Heisman Trophy winners have come out of LSU.  Right now, Joe Burrow is the toast of Tiger Land along with the whole state of Louisiana. He will be a Bayou Bengal legend for decades to come.  But don’t forget...Read More

Monday, February 14th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  MAJOR PROPERTY INSURANCE RATES ON THE RISE IN LOUISIANA! Louisiana homeowners know a good bit about suffering, particularly when it comes to being stuck with the highest property insurance rates in the nation. The Clark Research Group determined that Louisiana has some of the highest insurance costs, coming...Read More

February 2nd, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  GET THE POLITICIANS OUT OF REAPPORTIONMENT! There’s a lot of wrangling, wheeling and dealing going on down at the state capital in Baton Rouge.   State legislators are presently meeting in a special session to redraw the districts they represent.  Such action is required to take place every ten years...Read More

February 1st, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  ALL YOU REALLY NEED IS A SHOTGUN, TWO SHELLS, AND INSURANCE, HUH? You think insurance policyholders in Louisiana face huge insurance requirements?  How about living in San Jose, California, where the city council just voted to adopt a first-in-the-nation ordinance requiring most gun owners to pay a fee and...Read More

January 24th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana AUTO INSURANCE RATES SKYROCKETING! Now let’s see.  It’s been almost two years since the Louisiana legislature passed legislation taking away certain legal rights of Louisiana insurance policyholders.  But it will be worth it said many legislators and the insurance commissioner.  We were assured that there was to be a...Read More

January 17th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana Louisiana Has Worst Drivers in the U.S.! Say it isn’t so. The Bayou State, made up of docile souls who are law abiding, courteous and well-trained motorists, has just been tagged by several rating services as having the worst drivers in the nation. Look, the folks down here in...Read More

Monday, January 10th, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  BOTTOM OF THE BARREL IN LOUISIANA,  BUT IT’S ALL ABOUT THE FOOTBALL COACH! Perception and reality often intertwine.  At Louisiana’s flagship university as well as other major universities across the country, any talk of the so called “revered tradition of amateurism” has gone by the wayside.  College athletes...Read More

Monday, January 3rd, 2022 Baton Rouge, Louisiana SHOULD THE FEDS MAKE LOUISIANA A PROTECTORATE? HECK YES! Hey, I have a good suggestion for a New Year’s resolution. Have you heard the cries that Louisiana is unable to take care of its problems, and should be treated differently than other states? Some even say, OK, then...Read More

December 27th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana NEW YEAR THOUGHTS FROM THE BAYOU STATE! Do you make New Year’s resolutions? I always do.  A New Year always brings with it promise and uncertainty, but this coming year brings with it a greater foreboding than we have experienced in the past.  The Chinese have a saying: “May...Read More

Thursday, December 20th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana THE HOLIDAYS OFFER US A SECOND CHANCE! Most of us have been swept up in the momentum of the holiday season. We have passed Thanksgiving, reached the Christmas milestone and are approaching New Year’s Day, the third in the trilogy of holidays. Sure, there is a lot of our...Read More

December 13th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana IS LOUISIANA A JUDICIAL HELLHOLE? According to several watchdog organizations, Louisiana has one of the worst judicial climates in the country.  Just last week, the state was given the dubious title of the nation’s judicial hellhole by the Tort Reform Association of America. Campaign funds given to a judicial...Read More

Monday, December 6th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana THE DEMISE OF ENTERTAINING POLITICS IN LOUISIANA! I have a sad announcement to make. Politics is just no fun anymore in Louisiana.  Let’s hope with new LSU Coach Brian Kelly we have something to enjoy.  But not politics. Reams of books have been written about the colorful characters...Read More

November 29th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana IS GAMBLING LOUISIANA’S ECONOMIC SAVIOR? Football icon Drew Brees certainly deserves all the accolades he has received on the playing field. But now he’s become a huckster for a new gambling casino in Slidell on the Mississippi Louisiana state line. Here’s an interesting thought. Why is it that Louisiana...Read More

November 21st, 2021 New Orleans, Louisiana STOP THE MISCONDUCT OF THE FBI! It seems to be spreading like a communicable disease. And apparently there is no cure. Week after week, there are new reports of agents with the FBI engaging in premeditated acts of prosecutorial misconduct. Coaching witnesses to lie. Hiding evidence from the defense...Read More

November 11th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana WE NEED TO DO MORE TO SERVE OUR COUNTRY! I hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day weekend this past May. Many Louisianans were vacationing over the long holiday or enjoying a cookout with family and friends. Many stores held sales advertising for us to have a “Happy Memorial Day.”...Read More

Thursday, November 4th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  LATEST EROSION OF FREEDOMS NOTHING NEW! This month March 20th anniversary of the so-called Patriot Act passed by Congress in 2011.  The law created an invasive federal surveillance system that began with lies that undermined the liberty of millions of Americans Did this unconstitutional act begin the movement...Read More

NUCLEAR WAR THAT ALMOST TOOK PLACE! This week marks the 59th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis. I was attending Cambridge university in England in 1962, and had immersed myself in English literature. Politics was the furthest thing from my mind””that is, until the Cuban missile crisis. I had rented a room in the house...Read More

Thursday, October 21st, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana GET THE POLITICIANS OUT OF REAPPORTIONMENT! The Louisiana legislature, like similar bodies across the country, are starting their preparation to reapportion the state’s various legislative bodies. In the bayou state, legislators will be touring parishes and holding hearings to get input as to what the public thinks. o....Read More

Thursday, September 30th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana TIME FOR SUPREME COURT TO GET TO WORK! If you look at poll numbers, it’s becoming obvious that the American public is losing confidence in the US Supreme Court.  In a new Gallop poll released this past week, only 40% of you as citizens approve of the job that...Read More

Thursday, September 23rd, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  CAN FAITH BE RESTORED IN THE FBI? If you were a parent or a grandparent watching the testimony last week of American gymnasts describing in tears the FBI’s handling of its investigation into sexual assault, you would have been absolutely appalled. Young female gymnasts took turns repeatedly testifying...Read More

September 17th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 5th Circuit Court of Appeals an Embarrassment for Louisiana! Our nation is divided into 13 individual federal courts of appeals.  Louisiana has the unfortunate distinction of being lumped in to the most divisive and incompetent such courts in America. The Fifth Circuit regularly leads all appeals courts throughout the...Read More

September 17th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 5th Circuit Court of Appeals an Embarrassment for Louisiana! In an expose’ of the Fifth Circuit’s recent rulings, the Times Picayune quoted both Justices on the Supreme Court as well as prominent law professors who regularly lambasted verdicts handed down in New Orleans. University of Houston law professor David...Read More

Thursday, September 11th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana OUR LIVES WERE CHANGED BY 9/11  I have watched through a window a world that has fallen. W. H. Auden The date, 9/11, turned into the frantic dialing of 911 twenty years ago. A surreal feeling of shock and helplessness enveloped all Americans as we watched that day’s...Read More

September 3rd, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana Sixteen Years Ago, Another Terrible Storm! As Louisiana begins the massive cleanup following Hurricane Ida, those of us living on the Gulf Coast remember the fear and concern that enveloped our region sixteen years ago this week. A lady named Katrina changed many of our lives. In looking back,...Read More

August 25th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana GET HEALTHY-DRINK MORE COKE? The Baton Rouge Advocate reported this week that childhood obesity has tripled in the past 30 years, and that a study is underway by Pennington Biomedical Research Center to determine just where the fault lies. The folks at Pennington just might want to get out...Read More

Thursday, August 19th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana THE BERLIN WALL! There has been a lot of publicity about the tearing down of the Berlin wall. But few people know that the wall itself was constructed 60 years ago this week.  The Russian puppet regime in east Germany was trying to stop the stem of so...Read More

Thursday, August 8th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  DELUSION OR COMMON SENSE IN THE MIDDLE EAST? One of the joys of my early life was to study English Literature at Cambridge in England back in the early 1960s. Nobel prize author and poet Rudyard Kipling was an early favorite. He did not bog the reader down...Read More

Thursday, August 5th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  WHAT HAPPENED TO LONG VACATIONS? Does anyone take serious vacations anymore? In the “good old days,” schools did not start again until the Monday after Labor Day. The last two weeks in August used to be a popular time for families to get away to the beach for...Read More

July 29, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana Edwards for President! Edwin Edwards was one of several Louisiana Governors who flirted with national office.  Huey  Long was considered to be a serious candidate running against President Franklin Roosevelt in 1936.  His plans were derailed when he was assassinated at the Louisiana State Capitol. Gov. John McKeithen made a...Read More

Thursday, July 22nd,  2021  Baton Rouge, Louisiana Edwin Edwards and John McKeithen A Rocky Relationship?  Edwards had succeeded John McKeithen as governor, but the two them did not maintain much of a relationship during Edwards’ first term in the governor’s office.  McKeithen had actively supported Edwards for an open congressional seat in 1966. But there...Read More

Remembering Governor Edwin Edwards People say a lot of things about me.  But if you’re not being criticized or having them jeer at you, you’re not doing something right. Edwin Edwards Edwin Edwards, Louisiana’s longest serving governor, passed away this week at the ripe old age of 93.  He lived a full and controversial life....Read More

Thursday, July 8th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana SCANDALOUS LOUISIANA INSURANCE RATES!  Can you put lipstick on a pig? Well, business leaders are certainly giving it their best shot in an effort to counteract the fact that Louisiana’s outrageously expensive insurance rates make the Bayou State an environment hostile to the attraction of new businesses.  But,...Read More

Thursday, July 1st, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana HAS THE FOURTH AMENDMENT BEEN ROUTED? Everyone knows a man’s home is his castle ““ Agreed? The basic right of privacy in one’s place of residence has been a fundamental founding principle in any Democratic system, going back to England in the 1600s. William Pitt expressed this concept...Read More

Thursday, June 24th, 2021 New Orleans, Louisiana BOB DYLAN AND THE MURDERS IN NEW ORLEANS! New Orleans is off to a fast start in this New Year to maintain its perennial title of being the murder capital of America.  A day doesn’t seem to pass by when there are reports of more murders in the...Read More

Thursday, June 17th, 2021, Baton Rouge, Louisiana LOUISIANA TAXPAYERS ON HOOK FOR MILLIONS OVER STANFORD MESS! A new ruling by the Fifth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals has dampened the chances of numerous Louisiana investors from ever receiving millions of dollars swindled from them by Alan Stanford and his various investment companies.  As reported in...Read More

June 10th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana RACCOONS AND LOUISIANA POLITICS! U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy has stirred up a hornet’s nest back in the Bayou State over his Facebook comments of eating a Louisiana delicacy.  The Senator had this to say: “Found this raccoon in my backyard.  We ate him for breakfast.” He even included a...Read More

June 3rd, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana WE NEED TO DO MORE TO SERVE OUR COUNTRY! I hope everyone enjoyed their recent Memorial Day weekend. Many Louisianans were vacationing over the long holiday or enjoying a cookout with family and friends. Many stores held sales advertising for us to have a “Happy Memorial Day.” All well...Read More

Thursday, May 27th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana ARE PROSECUTORS ABOVE THE LAW IN LOUISIANA! Has prosecutorial misconduct become an epidemic in Louisiana? A number of national publications seem to think so. Nary a week goes by when there is not a story of some Louisiana prosecutor supposedly pursuing justice by breaking the law. Just recently,...Read More

Being the Governor, is this a great job or what? Buddy Roemer Louisiana’s 52nd governor died this week at the young age of 77.  Our political ambitions crossed on several occasions over the years, but we always remained good friends. This was particularly true as we each grew older. Buddy Roemer had, in my opinion,...Read More

Thursday, May 13th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana A NEW PRESIDENT’S CHALLENGE: DEALING WITH THE RISE AND FALL OF LSU Louisiana State University, located in my hometown of Baton Rouge, takes on a new president in the coming weeks. And to say that he has a big job ahead of him is an understatement. Educationally, the...Read More

Thursday, May 6th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana THE CHALLENGES AND CHARMS OF GETTING OLDER! I woke up earlier this week, followed my normal routine of walking the dogs, picking up the morning papers, pouring my large glass of orange juice half filled with water to dilute the sugar, checked my emails, walked out on the...Read More

Thursday, April 30th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana GOVERNOR JIMMIE DAVIS BROUGHT US SUNSHINE! I am honored to travel to Alexandria Louisiana next Saturday to visit Louisiana College for the dedication of a special memorial honoring former Louisiana Governor Jimmy Davis. I’ll be the guest speaker, and will have lots of interesting stories about the governor...Read More

Thursday, April 22ed, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana IS THERE ELECTION FRAUD IN LOUISIANA? A number of members of the Louisiana legislature are on a quest to tighten Louisiana election laws. There are allegations all over the country about voter fraud being rampant, particularly following the recent presidential election.  Is there any truth to such charges? ...Read More

A new report from a Washington, D.C. think tank gives Louisiana an “F” grade for its insurance regulatory environment. Florida, that has a much greater Hurricane damage exposure, gets a “B” ranking. What’s going on? Why is Louisiana at the bottom of the barrel when it comes insurance regulation? I have a good bit of...Read More

Thursday, April 22ed, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana LOUISIANA INSURANCE ENVIRONMENT GETS AN “F” Louisiana has one of the worst insurance regulatory environments in the nation. That is according to Washington-based conservative think tank R Street Institute in its Insurance Regulation Report Card. And no, it’s not because of the trial lawyers or the big insurance...Read More

Thursday, April 15th, 2021  New Orleans, Louisiana HURRICANE SEASON “” DO YOU FEEL LUCKY?  WELL DO YA?  It’s the kickoff for hurricane season and forecasters are predicting as many as 17 named storms with anywhere from 3 to 6 of these storms growing into major hurricanes. Here on the Gulf Coast, we certainly perk up...Read More

There is renewed interest in hate crimes legislation in state legislatures as well as on the federal level in recent months. Much of this interest stems from attacks over gender, race, and other categories were primarily minority groups are involved. So, what’s a hate crime you ask?  If someone is premeditatedly shot and killed, that’s...Read More

There is a major effort going on today to change the name of Fort Rucker Alabama to Fort Hugh Thompson. You may have never heard of warrant officer Thompson, but history has shown that he played a crucial role in changing the perception of the Vietnam war. He was the Louisiana guy from Lafayette. It...Read More

Thursday, March 25th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana SADNESS OVER MARCH MADNESS! March Madness has captivated millions of sports fans al over America. Let me begin right off by saying that I am a college basketball diehard through and through. Like most sports fans, I cheer on my favorite teams in a number of sports. But at...Read More

March 618h, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  IS LOUISIANA A JUDICIAL HELLHOLE? According to several watchdog organizations, Louisiana has one of the worst judicial climates in the country.  The state has been given the dubious title of the nation’s judicial hellhole by several neutral watchdog groups. Campaign funds given to a judicial candidate are often cited as...Read More

Thursday, March 11th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  THE BETRAYAL ON JUSTICE IN LOUISIANA! There’s a lot of talk about judicial reform Both in Louisiana as well as the rest of the nation.  Unfortunately, there have been major abuses of innocent people being connected here in the Bayou state. You may not recognize the name of...Read More

 LOUISIANA AND THE TURMOIL IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH! We all know that there is a crisis in the Catholic Church right now. Allegations of sexually abusive clergy are pouring in worldwide.  And numerous new allegations have been pouring in down here in Louisiana. Unfortunately, roots of this terrible tragedy engulfing the Catholic Church all over...Read More

Thursday, February 25th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana SPRING FEVER AND BASEBALL! Despite the recent cold weather, springtime is right around the corner and my favorite time of year. The weather warms up without a lot of humidity.  Flowers bloom at their very best. It’s the season of my birthday.  If you live in Louisiana, we...Read More

February 18th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana TRUMP DISPARAGES LOUISIANA HEROES! Whatever one things of former President Donald Trump, there are certainly some things accomplished, particularly as regards to the economy. I’ll give him credit for this. But I am highly critical of how his mouth got in the way when it came to honoring those...Read More

Thursday,  February 11th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana WHAT’S HAPPENED TO FREEDOMS IN AMERICA? Most Americans agree on the importance of safeguarding basic freedoms protected by the constitution.  But here’s where it gets a little murky.  Do we have to give up certain of these freedoms to be safe and secure? The current and past presidents,...Read More

February 4th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana LOUISIANA TO THE TREASUREY DEPARTMENT- LEAVE OLD HICKORY ALONE There is a major push by the bureaucrats in Washington to put the first woman on the face of paper currency. There are a number of choices, and you will get no argument form me that there certainly is a...Read More

Thursday, January 28th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  KEYSTONE PIPELINE-LOUISIANA’S ECONOMIC SAVIOR? Almost overnight, the approval of the Keystone pipeline has become a controversial  issue as new President Joe Biden has, for the time being, cancelled the continuing building of the pipeline.  And is building the pipeline the huge job creator and economic bonanza that both...Read More

Former Louisiana politician Jim Brown reminds us the FBI is a deeply-flawed federalagency run by             ambitious bureaucrats          January 20th, 2021 by tomaswell JIM BROWN, Louisiana’s erstwhile legislator, secretary of state, gubernatorial candidate, state insurance commissioner and self-described victim of an over-zealous FBI HATCHET JOB, today has...Read More

Thursday, January 14th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana SABAN: THE BEST THERE EVER WAS! I don’t normally write a sports column, but a few words would seem appropriate after Alabama’s startling victory this past Monday night in the College Football Championship game. Simply put, love him or hate him, Alabama head coach Nick Saban is the best...Read More

Thursday, January 7th, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana TELEVISE FEDERAL TRIALS?  OF COURSE! With one recent Supreme Court Justice confirmed and another just appointed by President Trump, the issue of televising hearings before the nation’s highest court will surely be discussed. The Supremes have stood steadfastly against letting the public watch the cases argued before them,...Read More

January 1, 2021 Baton Rouge, Louisiana NEW YEAR THOUGHTS FROM THE BAYOU STATE! Do you make New Year’s resolutions? I always do.  A New Year always brings with it promise and uncertainty, but this coming year brings with it a greater foreboding than we have experienced in the past.  The Chinese have a saying: “May...Read More

Thursday, December 24th, 2020 Baton Rouge, Louisiana THE HOLIDAYS OFFER US A SECOND CHANCE! Most of us have been swept up in the momentum of the holiday season. We have passed Thanksgiving, reached the Christmas milestone and are approaching New Year’s Day, the third in the trilogy of holidays. Sure, there is a lot of our...Read More

Thursday, November 25th, 2020 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  GET THE DRUNKS OFF THE ROAD IN LOUISIANA! Louisiana has always been a “free and easy” state when it comes to drinking and driving.  Visitors are dumbfounded when they see drive-through Daiquiri shops across the state.  Just as prevalent are the drive through liquor stores that punctuate the Bayou State.  And the results should...Read More

Thursday, November 19th, 2020 Baton Rouge, Louisiana A NEW LOUISIANA GOVERNOR SOON?  Louisiana congressman Cedric Richmond resigned this week announcing he will take a new position as a senior staffer are in the new Biden White House. And within hours, the rumor mills began as political insiders started considering the domino effect of such a...Read More

Thursday, November 12th, 2020 Baton Rouge, Louisiana NEEDED ELECTION REFORMS? Winston Churchill once said the democracies and the election process are messy, sometimes chaotic, and inefficient.  But, he also pointed out, that no one has devised a system that is any better. The recent presidential election was a nail biter with a small percentage of...Read More

Thursday, November 5th, 2020 Baton Rouge, Louisiana PRESIDENTIAL VOTER FRAUD IN LOUISIANA? With the presidential election going right down to the wire, widespread voter fraud is being alleged by both the Republicans and the Democrats.  We may see final election results delayed for a week or more. Two Thousand Bush v Gore redux? With electronic...Read More

Thursday, October 28th, 2020 Baton Rouge, Louisiana INSURANCE REFORM NEEDS MORE THAN DUMB TV ADS!  Like most of you, I’ve had my fill of political ads and trial lawyer solicitations that seem to be constantly appearing on TV.  But you know what bothers me even more? I’m sick of seeing that goofy commercial of some...Read More

Thursday, October 22nd, 2020 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  WHAT WOULD YOU ASK THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES? If you could sit down with each of the two presidential candidates, President Donald Trump and Joe Biden, what would you ask them?  What insights would you be looking for?  What knowledge would you expect them to have?  And just how...Read More

Thursday, October 15th, 2020 Baton Rouge, Louisiana TERM LIMITS FOR SUPREME COURT JUSTICES? Whatever the final result over the confirmation battle of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, one thing is becoming more urgent.  The court itself has a crisis of legitimacy. And one way to restore its genuineness is to require term limits for all future...Read More

Thursday, October 8th, 2020 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  GOV. MIKE FOSTER LEFT AN INSURANCE LEGECY!  There is no place like Louisiana on this earth, and I think that when my days are over, I’ll find heaven to be no different from Louisiana ““ maybe a little bit cooler in the summer. Governor Mike Foster Governor Foster...Read More

Thursday, October 1st, 2020 Baton Rouge, Louisiana VOTING IN PERSON CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Will elections ever be the same? From coast to coast, there is a great deal of controversy over mail in ballots as well as absentee voting.  According to some projections, as many as 50% of voters will cast mail in ballots. ...Read More

Thursday, September 24th, 20120 Baton Rouge, Louisiana  LOUISIANA IGNORED IN SUPREME COURT PICK! “Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.”                                                  -Edmund Burke Before the President made his choice this week for a new nominee to fill the vacancy on the United States...Read More

Thursday, September 17th, 2020 Baton Rouge, Louisiana LSU FOOTBALL AND RACE RELATIONS! Ah, the wisdom found in the New York Times. America’s newspaper (at least according to them) seems to find a reason every week to denigrate the backwards homefolks that populate Louisiana. Certainly some debasement is justified, particularly when it comes to disparaging the state’s...Read More

Thursday, September 10th, 2020 Baton Rouge, Louisiana OUR LIVES WERE CHANGED BY 9/11  I have watched through a window a world that has fallen. W. H. Auden The date, 9/11, turned into the frantic dialing of 911 nineteen years ago. A surreal feeling of shock and helplessness enveloped all Americans as we watched that day’s...Read More

Thursday, September 3rd, 2020 Baton Rouge, Louisiana ALL LOUISIANA KIDS HAVE A RIGHT TO INTERNET ACCESS!  Our illustrious state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in Louisiana has just released a startling report.  Over 25% of students, some 179,000 throughout the state, have no internet access.  Yet the vast majority of school districts teach a...Read More

August 26th, 2020 Baton Rouge, Louisiana Fifteen Years Ago Katrina Tried To Wash Us Away! As Louisiana begins the massive cleanup following Hurricane Laura, those of us living on the Gulf Coast remember the fear and concern that enveloped our region fifteen years ago this week. A lady named Katrina changed many of our lives....Read More