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...
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...
Things kids should learn before leaving high school, but don’t
By John Silveira
Issue #159 • May/June, 2016
We send generations of American children to school hoping we're preparing them for adulthood. Among the least of our expectations are that they're going to be able to...
The current ‘Gun control’ push — A cop’s eye view
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #142 • July/August, 2013
First, a word of explanation. The reason "gun control" is in quotes in the title and in this sentence is because, for a very long time, the prohibitionists...
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...
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...
Finding solutions in firewood
By Dave Duffy
January 16, 2000
When I am confounded and afraid, that is, when I have trouble figuring out what to do next in a critical situation, I go to my woodpile, grab an axe,...
The Coming American Dictatorship Part XI — The Tenth Amendement Movement
By John Silveira
Issue #119 • September/October, 2009
O.E. MacDougal, Dave Duffy's poker-playing buddy from Southern California, had come to town to fish the Rogue, a river that runs 215 miles from the heels of Crater...
Which wars work best? The ones we fight or the ones we avoid?
By Dave Duffy
Issue #102 • November/December, 2006
History is supposed to teach us the lessons of wars past so we won't blunder into stupid wars in the present. Since I have mixed feelings about our...
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)...
Can the U.N. Ban America’s Guns?
By Claire Wolfe
Website Exclusive • April, 2013
The rumor flashed across the Internet last winter: the Obama administration is going to use a United Nations arms treaty to get around the Second Amendment and ban...
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...
My View: Learn to Do One Thing Well
By Dave Duffy
Learn to do one thing well and you’ll never work another day in your life
A fundamental problem for many young people entering the work force is figuring out not only how to...
How America can be saved from stupid people
By Dave Duffy
Issue #155 • September/October, 2015
Fifteen years ago (in Issue No. 65) I wrote an article in this space titled, "Can America Be Saved from Stupid People?" It was widely read and stirred...
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...
I stink! but that’s okay
By Dave Duffy
Issue #83 • September/October, 2003
There are valuable life lessons to be learned from realizing you're not very good at a lot of things, even at things you think are important to be...
