Goodbye TV, hello constructive time
By Dave Duffy
Issue #67 • January/February, 2001
About six months ago the satellite dish for my family's TV stopped working. Because we are too far from cable TV and an antenna does not bring in...
The unheralded roots of America’s freedoms
By John Silveira
Issue #108 • November/December, 2007
I've just finished reading a fascinating book by Charles C. Mann. It's titled, 1491, and subtitled New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus. The book has turned what...
I stink! but that’s okay
By Dave Duffy
Issue #83 • September/October, 2003
There are valuable life lessons to be learned from realizing you're not very good at a lot of things, even at things you think are important to be...
That old survivalist mumbo jumbo and 10 reasons why it makes sense
By Dave Duffy
Issue #91 • January/February, 2005
I've got a suggestion for a sensible New Year's resolution for self-reliant types like myself, and I've got at least 10 good reasons to keep it. The resolution...
The Runaway
By John Silveira
February 9, 2006
My kids are grown. But it didn't come about without a lot of frustration, tribulations, and laughs.
Runaways: What do you do with a six-year-old who threatens to run away?
One woman...
If you want to take care of your health, you have to take control...
By Dave Duffy
Issue #100 • July/August, 2006
The other day a man called the office to thank me for writing Issue 98's page 7 editorial, in which I urged readers to get a stress test...
If you want to survive an emergency, look to yourself, not the Government
By Dave Duffy
Issue #96 • November/December, 2005
Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath said what I could not have said convincingly in ten thousand words: The government cannot protect you in a major emergency. It doesn't...
Armed civilians can help fight terrorism
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #90 • November/December, 2004
This article was written before terrorists seized a school in Beslan, a town in North Ossetia, one of the small republics that make up the modern Russian Federation....
The Government gorilla in our home
By Dave Duffy
Issue #101 • September/October, 2006
The other week, Vince, a contractor who does occasional work for me, was arrested for slapping his 14-year-old daughter on the behind when she talked back to her...
Tackling the real problems that face us
By Dave Duffy
Issue #134 • March/April, 2012
Thank goodness most of the apocalyptic scenarios the doom and gloomers talk about are either founded upon faulty premises or, if based on science, are extremely rare occurrences....
Dealing with Liberals and History
By John Silveira
February 6, 2000
Years ago I hated talking politics with liberals. I have a good memory and a good sense of history, but whenever I mentioned any historical "fact" that countered their arguments,...
How environmental ideology hurts the solar energy industry
By Dave Duffy
Issue #69 • May/June, 2001
Starting with our first issue 11 years ago, Backwoods Home Magazine has promoted renewable energies, especially solar energy, and for the past two years we have carried a...
Lessons for My Children, Chapter 2: Statistics, history, and the rise of the Underground...
By Dave Duffy
Issue #137 • September/October, 2012
I've always been a student of science and history. They tell you things many people don't know. I especially pay attention to statistics, which underlies all science, and...
Talking to your kids about death
By Dave Duffy
Issue #97 • January/February, 2006
How do you talk to a child about the death of someone they love? How do you explain the impossible? It's a task many of us parents have...
Animal rights loonies save the chickens but ruin the County Fair
By Dave Duffy
Issue #84 • November/December, 2003
We had our County Fair between issues.
It was a small Fair with just a few thousand in attendance, but no one in our town of 1500 would miss...
Fixing a broken jury system
By John Silveira
Issue #78 • November/December, 2002
"I blame every juror who let him go, every juror who sat on that trial and believed this man over those little girls. I will never understand. And...






























