Opinion

Louisiana’s diverse economy—ranging from health- care to manufacturing—offers high-paying career oppor- tunities. Yet, the state faces serious workforce challeng- es, ranking 46th in employment rate with less than 60% labor force participation and over 110,000 job openings each month. Additionally, a significant portion of the population lives below the poverty line. Despite numer- ous assistance programs, Louisiana has lacked a …

Let’s play a game.I’ll give you a list containing information that may or may not be true. You ponder, you muse, you contemplate – and try to discern whether what I have presented is, in fact, true. It’s kind of like theicebreaker game “Two Truths and a Lie.” Maybe you’ve played it.It goes like this: Players share three statements about …

Last week Iran had a pre-emptive strike launchedagainst it by the country of Israel. At risk if the strikehad not happened was the final development of severalnuclear bombs that would have certainly led to eitherannihilation or major destruction of Israel. We wouldhave seen in the future nuclear expansion inareas such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and theUAE. These countries would have …

Dreams precede everything; all actions and allcreations. Truly, everything does start with a dream.Dreaming is not an idle activity. It’s not an escape fromreality. Dreams are the foundation of all creativity.The type of dreaming I’m talking aboutdoesn’t just occur while you are sleeping. Thethoughts occupy your mind constantly, whileyou are awake as well as resting. These types ofdreams stick in …

Unlawful immigration into the United States hasbeen a hot button issue for quite a while. Unfortunatelythe resolution of what we currently have has no simpleanswer and until we sit down like mature adults todiscuss the issues and come up with resolutions we willstay in this quandary forever; and that is notacceptable.If we look at the problem from a distanceand feel …

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the rhythm of thecalendar. In fact, I even mused about it recently in anotherwriting outlet.I think we all can agree: Some months feel quiet andsleepy. Others hit like a marching band at fullvolume. And then there’s June – a month madefor jumping and juggling. (This is how it’s listedin my computer file labeled …

We often have a fortunate conclusion to a potential- ly bad situation. As the bad situation comes to a good ending a person may utter the phrase, “thank God” and breath a sigh of relief. Probably the event is very small and may only impact a single person thus invoking God’s support is not truly required; however, there have been …

Well here they go again. Political extremists who work behind the scenes in both national political parties have dusted off their old playbook by attacking the mili- tary record of both vice presidential candidates. Such at- tacks even have a name. It’s called swift boating. The name comes from the vicious assaults against former Democratic presidential nomi- nee John Kerry …

Last week a very disturbing incident took place that discloses the rise in man’s hatred for man for no reason other than religion. Two members of the Israeli dip- lomatic mission in Washington were visiting the Jew- ish Museum when an assassin walked up and shot the couple dead. The man had recently bought an engagement ring and had planned …

We gathered at a Ruston coffee shop – a trio of former Louisiana Tech journalism professors who continue to live in the area and one who still has family ties here but now calls Asheville, North Carolina, home. Eddie Blick, Reggie Owens and I didn’t have far to drive. We three remain rooted in Ruston and Grambling. Ron White had …