Commentary Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

Every group needs a black sheep

By John Silveira Issue #74 • March/April, 2002 I used to play a lot of poker and I learned things about people that surprised me. They were things other than the "Know when to hold 'em,...

The Informed Juror — How an informed jury helps safeguard liberty

By Gary F. Arnet, D.D.S. Issue #82 • July/August, 2003 You are hereby summoned to appear for jury trial service. Failure to respond will subject you to punishment for contempt, including a $1,000 fine, imprisonment for...

An American dollar worth two cents

By John Silveira Issue #129 • May/June, 2011 Most Americans are unaware that today's dollar has the purchasing power that roughly four cents had back in 1913. That was the year the Federal Reserve (the Fed)...

Remembering a decade of BHM

By Dave Duffy Issue #61 • January/February, 2000 Deadline has just ended as I sit down to write this, the last remaining page of this issue. The staff has gone home, and, except for Silveira who...

The tenuous hold of honesty in modern America

By John Silveira Issue #87 • May/June, 2004 The other day I stopped in the middle of Myers Creek Road, just outside of Gold Beach, Oregon, and took some photos of my roommate. It was cold....

A vast cultural divide exists between environmentalists and gun owners

By Dave Duffy Issue #113 • September/October, 2008 Backwoods Home Magazine has had an exhibitor's booth at the MREA Fair in Wisconsin almost every year since its founding by Mick Sagrillo in 1989, which is the...

Freedom, guns, & boycotts

By Dave Duffy Issue #71 • September/October, 2001 The other day I walked into my local Ace Hardware store and cancelled this magazine's longstanding account. "How come?" Dan, the owner asked surprised. I had shopped there ever...

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...

My View: Gaining an Appreciation for Risk

By Dave Duffy Now and then you have to make a daring move in your life or you’ll run the risk of losing your dreams. Some people do that by changing their job to one...

Our energy crisis Part 2 — Nuclear energy is sensible and safe

By John Silveira Issue #114 • November/December, 2008 When an atomic bomb was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, August 9, 1945, the amount of energy...

Self-reliance is a mindset — A woman’s opinion

By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #94 • July/August, 2005 Self-reliance is a mindset. If you have it, you are on your way to independence. If you don't, it would be in your best interest to develop it....

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...

What is reality?

By John Silveira April 7, 2006 I don't read much. So, I missed James Frey's A Million Little Pieces, though it made best sellers lists from the New York Times to amazon.com. If the truth be...

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...

Perspectives on the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin shooting

By Massad Ayoob Issue #143 • September/October, 2013 The media told us a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain and wannabe cop with gun-derived courage was on patrol when he profiled a young child because he was black...

Against a rapist

By Massad Ayoob Issue #65 • September/October, 2000 Can you use lethal force in self-defense against a rapist? The answer, of course, is yes. Deadly force is permissible only in a situation of "immediate, otherwise unavoidable...