Real-life heroes
By John Silveira
January 15, 2000
TV programs and movies are often about heroes. Here's the thinnest of plots: someone's in trouble and a John Wayne-type character shows up to rescue him--or her. In the meantime...
Our ‘unenumerated’ rights
By John Silveira
Issue #110 • March/April, 2008
I received this question in an e-mail from my younger brother, Mike: "Jack, the other day a friend asked me where in the Constitution does it say you...
Dr. Laura tells her listeners she’s decided to pack a gun
By Dave Duffy
February 12, 2000
The showdown between the Federal government and the American people over gun rights may have tilted in favor of the people recently when the nation's third most popular radio talk...
Which is better, a small town or city?
By Dave Duffy
Issue #78 • November/December, 2002
Traveling has a way of giving you perspective.
For the past several summers my family and I have traveled around the country, covering as much as 9,000 miles by...
Is it time for an education revolution?
By Dave Duffy
Issue #77 • September/October, 2002
Education is important, right? Of course it is. Then college must be really important, right? ... Did I hear some of you pause before saying, "Well, yeah, I...
Our energy crisis Part 3 — Alternative energy resources for the nation and for...
By John Silveira
Issue #118 • July/August, 2009
The first installment of this energy series (Backwoods Home Magazine, September/October 2008) dealt with the fossil fuels which include petroleum, coal, and natural gas. The second installment (Backwoods...
ID cards are an idea whose time should never come
By John Silveira
October 28, 2001
I just read in the October 8th issue of U.S. News and World Report a column by Randall E. Stross in which he advocates some kind of national I.D. Card....
Defunding government is a sensible voter solution to reining in local government
By Dave Duffy
Issue #128 • March/April, 2011
Like so many other communities across the country, my community of Curry County on the southern Oregon coast has rejected efforts by local government to raise taxes in...
Why oil and other fossil fuels are good
By John Silveira
Issue #152 • March/April, 2015
Last issue I concluded The Last Word saying I'd "... talk about the myth of oil destroying the environment." But between issues I thought about it and realized...
Just how good of a bet are those lotto tickets?
By John Silveira
Issue #37 • January/February, 1996
I looked at the newspaper and tried to match up the lotto results printed there with my picks. I sighed. "Boy, I sure would've liked to have won...
The attack on Colin Powell prompts questions I’m not supposed to ask
By Dave Duffy
Issue #79 • January/February, 2003
What's wrong with black Americans?
Provocative question, isn't it, especially when it's being asked by a white guy like me. We white guys aren't supposed to question what blacks...
Reflections on the Second Amendment
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #77 • September/October, 2002
A reader named Molly e-mailed a note to the office of BHM asking what the editor thought of Attorney General Ashcroft's recent affirmation of the Second Amendment as...
Concealed carry laws reduce crime
By John Silveira
Issue #143 • September/October, 2013
This year, Illinois became the 50th state to allow the carrying of concealed weapons by law-abiding citizens. That's a milestone that heralds a lot of good news for...
Common sense about burglary prevention
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #89 • September/October, 2004
Read this month's editorial. Publisher Dave Duffy got burgled. The residue of hurt this experience leaves behind is a primal thing that you never get over entirely. It...
Planning the lives of generations to come
By John Silveira
March 8, 2006
I was reading the March 2006 issue of Discover Magazine and read Asteroid Watcher Worries, an interview with Clark R. Chapman, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute at...
Gulf War II opened the eyes of Americans to the UN and the media
By Dave Duffy
Issue #82 • July/August, 2003
How many of you were tightly tuned to the TV like I was during Gulf War II. I hope a lot because it was a great education. Not...































