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...

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,...

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...

Some thoughts on growing older in the backwoods

By Marjorie Burris Issue #16 • July/August, 1992 "Just how long are you going to be able to live in the backwoods like that?" my friend, Pat, asked. "You're not getting any younger, you know!" I've known...

Losing our rights as we watch television

By John Silveira Issue #44 • March/April, 1997 Dave's poker playing friend, O.E. MacDougal, came back. I don't know where he's been and he doesn't volunteer much in that regard. I'd heard he'd been playing a...

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...

My View: Call Me Miracle Man!

By Dave Duffy Issue #177 • July/August/September, 2019 Superheroes are the rage these days at movie theaters. Even I am fascinated by them. Old style heroes like Superman and Batman seem tame by comparison to characters...

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...

Justice Breyer is wrong about the 2nd Amendment

By John Silveira Issue #128 • March/April, 2011 December 12, 2010, on Fox News Sunday, Justice Stephen Breyer said the Founding Fathers never intended for guns to go unregulated. His reasoning was that James Madison, often...

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...

Introducing the international tax cartel

By Dave Duffy February 13, 2001 Democrats on Capitol Hill aren't the only ones who don't like President Bush's $1.6 trillion tax cut plan. A group of Western European nations think they should have global veto...

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...

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...

What kind of Americans sit on our juries?

By John Silveira March 16, 2000 Our jury system is supposed to be a buffer between us--the citizens--and the government. It is there to prevent the abuse of power that governments have exercised since the dawn...

Terrorist attack! Was this predictable?

By John Silveira September 11, 2001 I was awakened to news about the suicide attacks by my daughter. Quite frankly, I thought it was the beginning of a bad joke she'd heard and I was expecting...

The real gun criminals

By Dave Duffy Issue #63 • May/June, 2000 If a person robbed a bank and murdered someone, and you drove the getaway car, would you be guilty of accessory to robbery and murder? If a man...