Stumbling over your own stupidity

By John Silveira Issue #64 • July/August, 2000 There are several morals to be found in this story. You can find most of them yourself. But I'm only interested in one of them. The story was...

The media’s treatment of blacks makes their socialist bias obvious

By Dave Duffy January 23, 2000 Most of us who are concerned about the continuation of America's constitutional freedoms, which underlie a free enterprise system that has made us the most prosperous nation in history, realize...

“Gun control” for dummies

By Massad Ayoob Issue #141 • May/June, 2013 Barack Obama, outspokenly anti-gun for his entire political career, fooled an amazing number of gun owners by keeping a "hands off" attitude toward Second Amendment issues until his...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Can America be Saved from Stupid People?

By Dave Duffy Issue #65 • September/October, 2000 There are a lot of taboos, that is, things we're not supposed to talk about, in modern society. If we do talk about them we are labeled a...

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...

My view: Socialism’s promises always end in disaster

By Dave Duffy Issue #176 • April/May/June, 2019 There are lots of news stories these days about socialism’s rise in the United States, especially among the young and admirers of newly elected New York Congresswoman Alexandria...

Running your own business: a mother’s perspective

By Ilene Duffy Issue #62 • March/April, 2000 When my middle son, Robby, was a baby, he had two seizures. After the second one the doctor informed me that I needed to get him to the...

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...

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...

Lessons for My Children…Chapter 3: Hiding from the government

By Dave Duffy Issue #138 • November/December, 2012 After opening the discussion in this column last issue about the underground economy, I thought it would be a good idea to explore it more thoroughly since it...

Why not risk it all!

By Dave Duffy Issue #64 • July/August, 2000 I got this letter from a reader: Please cancel my subscription. I had the opportunity to read your editorial glorifying your agenda as a "paranoid, gun-toting nut." This is...

Putting it all on the Amtrak line for Self-Reliance magazine

By Dave Duffy Issue #163 • January/February, 2017 As publisher of Backwoods Home Magazine for 28 years, I have not had to work as hard in recent years, as younger people like Managing Editor Jessie Denning...