Bull Riding and Voting

By Louis Avallone – A bull rider has 8 seconds to achieve a qualified ride, starting from when the bull’s shoulder breaks out of the gate, and usually ending when the rider’s hand comes out of the rope or the rider hits the ground. Well, if you are voter in Caddo Parish this November, saddle […]

Space Invaders

By Louis Avallone – Do you remember the game Space Invaders? Released in 1978, it revolutionized video games by allowing the players to “stay alive”, or to play the game longer on a single quarter or token – just as long as their high scores kept rising. In other words, the better you played the […]

Just Doesn’t Feel Right

By Louis Avallone – Do you ever have a hunch or gut feeling…where you are convinced, almost instantly, by feelings that you cannot always explain? Some folks call this intuition, which comes from the latin word “intuir,” meaning “knowledge from within”. These are the times when we just “know”in our hearts and souls, irrespective of […]

It’s Not My Party, It’s Some “Other Party”

By Louis Avallone – People of all ages are becoming less engaged with the political process. Unlike Thomas Edison’s adage that “genius is 99% perspiration, and 1% inspiration”, it seems nowadays that voter participation in the political process is wholly dependent on the reverse of that adage: it’s 1% perspiration and 99% inspiration. Here’s what […]

Selling Out To Fear

By Louis R. Avallone – Selling out is what you do when you don’t fully understand what you believe. It’s what you accept when you are more fearful than faithful. It’s the choice you make that’s less concerned with the greater good, and more interested in what feels good, right now. After all, if you […]

For Example: The Benefits of Caring

By Louis Avallone – “You should be more interested in doing the Lord’s work than in always criticizing those who are trying to help the less fortunate,” begins an email I received from a reader, in response to a recent column. “Who do you think really cares more for our fellow citizens?” continues the reader, […]

Crawfish, Dead Plants and Mary: The Season of Health Care

By Louis Avallone – I’m not sure if you have heard, but crawfish is so scarce this year that they are double in price, compared to this time last year. After all, crawfish farmers in southern Louisiana have had to endure twice the number of freezes this year, four wintry precipitation events, and one of […]

Policy Disasters: Politicians Don’t Have to Follow the Path of “Learned Helplessness”

By Louis Avallone – It’s called “learned helplessness.” It’s a state where you have given up hope and effort that your actions will affect your outcomes, even when later you’re in a position where control of the outcome is completely within your reach. It’s why women stay in abusive relationships, or why the poor feel […]