Commentary Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

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...

We don’t need no steenking 2nd Amendment

By John Silveira Issue #58 • July/August, 1999 I usually get up to the magazine from southern California in plenty of time for the bimonthly deadline. Not this issue. I was late and way behind. But...

Magnesium and the International Criminal Court

By John Silveira Issue #125 • September/October, 2010 There was an interesting ad that ran in BHM for two issues, but it was pulled for lack of response. It was about magnesium, the lack of it...

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...

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...

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...

Should both drugs and guns be legal?

By Dave Duffy Issue #59 • September/October, 1999 Answering the question of Should drugs be legal? is like answering the question of Should guns be legal? Whoever answers either question steps onto a minefield of passionate...

The Newtown atrocity and “gun control”

By Massad Ayoob Issue #140 • March/April, 2013 In mid-December of 2012, a mentally disturbed twenty-year-old whose escalating aberrant behavior had gone untreated and unchecked murdered his own mother, stole her guns, and entered the Sandy...

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...

The land of the unfree

By John Silveira Issue #101 • September/October, 2006 It's official! The numbers are in once again! For I-don't-know-how-many-years-running, the United States, this so-called "land of the free," is imprisoning more people, in both absolute numbers and...