Body language and threat recognition
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #87 • May/June, 2004
Reader mail indicates that while some Backwoods Home readers turn to this column for advice on putting wild game on the table or keeping four-footed poachers out of...
The chances of global disaster
By John Silveira
Issue #57 • May/June, 1999
We were preparing the current issue and the office hummed as it always does during deadline. Dave Duffy, the fellow who publishes this magazine, explained to our new...
Understanding the gun debate, part 1
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #161 • September/October, 2016
It has been said that gun legislation and abortion are the two most polarizing issues in the United States. The former has taken the lead on both the...
Who’s supposed to protect our rights?
By John Silveira
Issue #102 • November/December, 2006
Who is supposed to protect our rights? The President? The Congress? The courts? The police? Before you answer, let me remind you of something: Our rights are supposed...
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....
Analyzing Obama on guns
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #158 • March/April, 2016
In early January, 2016, after announcing his "executive actions on guns" and talking on CNN's "Town Hall Meeting," President Barack Obama admitted that when he and his wife...
Reaching for the stars during a recession
By Dave Duffy
Issue #125 • September/October, 2010
Toby is the volunteer assistant golf coach for the team this magazine sponsors, the Gold Beach High School Panthers. He has spent hundreds of hours of his own...
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...
Paying for social security with worthless $
By Dave Duffy
Issue #117 • May/June, 2009
The year was 1976. I was 32 and writing a book about retirement planning with Tony Lamb, a noted 73-year-old activist who had taken up the cause of...
My View: Jury duty: The charge was rape
Dave Duffy
I was on jury duty for 2½ weeks between issues. On trial was a 21-year-old man (now 23) accused of raping a 20-year-old girl during an encounter two years previous in which both...
Why I’m nice to telemarketers
By John Silveira
July 22, 2000
We complain because they bug us during supper. Of course, it wouldn't make sense for them to call us at 1:00 in the afternoon because we're not usually home then....
Golf’s critical life lessons are under threat
By Dave Duffy
Issue #118 • July/August, 2009
I'm a golfer. Not a very skillful one, but a devoted player and follower of the game. I took it up for the relaxation and peace of mind...
In time of war — The Israeli answer to terrorism
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #81 • May/June, 2003
When war seems imminent, citizens think about protecting themselves. The war of the moment involves a declared enemy that has already used unconventional tactics to murder some three...
Reflecting on a life in the woods, and looking ahead
By Marjorie Burris
Issue #60 • November/December, 1999
It is a good life here on the old homestead. We've worked hard, and we are enjoying the fruits of our labor. It was tough digging the holes...
Home handgun defense — Simplicity suffices
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #54 • November/December, 1998
You can get as high-tech as you feel you might need when you select the firearm(s) you'll use to protect your family. I "do firearms" for a living,...
Helping crackpots kill kids
By John Silveira
February 23, 2000
I've moved to Oregon and one of the first "privileges" in this state I intend to avail myself of is the state's easy-to-obtain concealed weapon permit. Never mind that the...
