Opinion

Jim BrownJim Brown is a former Louisiana state senator, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Insurance and a regular contributor to The Gazette. If you ever have a chance to walk into President Trump’s new oval office, the first thing you will see is a portrait of former President Andrew Jackson. A different painting of Jackson hung in the same location …

Thomas FieldsThomas “Tuffy” Fields is an author and regular contributor to The Gazette. He can be reached by email at thelouisianaexplorer@yahoo.com. Many years ago I left the tranquility of Union Parish and spent my summer as a Committee Clerk of the Retirement Committee at the state capital in Baton Rouge. This was during the regular session of the Louisiana Legislature. …

Jim BrownJim Brown is a former Louisiana state senator, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Insurance and a regular contributor to The Gazette. All the winter shenanigans around us this past month are pointing to a New Ice Age in my life.Yes, I’m ready to forget the longstanding advice of hunkering down with firewood, canned soup and thermal socks, and instead …

Thomas FieldsThomas “Tuffy” Fields is an author and regular contributor to The Gazette. He can be reached by email at thelouisianaexplorer@yahoo.com. American is in transition; again. For the puritan that wishes for a world that encompasses what the founding fathers envisioned and the “Devine destiny” of the mid 1850s, they will be happy. For the liberal that wants large scale …

Jim BrownJim Brown is a former Louisiana state senator, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Insurance and a regular contributor to The Gazette. How do you put a dollar value on the worth of a public official? Attorneys working full time for the state are often paid more than $400,000 a year. So how do you justify such large increases? The governor …

Thomas FieldsThomas “Tuffy” Fields is an author and regular contributor to The Gazette. He can be reached by email at thelouisianaexplorer@yahoo.com. At the end of the COVID epidemic the world began to open up. One industry that had shut down completely was the cruise lines. When the industry was allowed to resume operations it was slow to build back its …

Sallie HollisSallie Rose Hollis is a native of Rocky Branch and retired Journalism Professer from Louisiana Tech University. Contact her at sallierose@mail.com. Facebook memes often provide delectable food for thought. (Well, at least some of them do.) I’ve written about those idea-inducing posts before.One that I stumbled upon earlier this month stopped me in my scrolling tracks:“Life is short, and …

Thomas FieldsThomas “Tuffy” Fields is an author and regular contributor to The Gazette. He can be reached by email at thelouisianaexplorer@yahoo.com. America is losing a certain edge that has made it such a unique place to live, such a wonderful example for other countries to aspire to be.In the 1770s America was made up of 13 colonies; 13 colonies that …

Dear Editor: Well, it looks like the decision has been made. Keeping the public informed and allowing them to view the monthly meetings appears to be a thing of the past now.After spending $21,000 in public funds to make that possible, that equipment can now be sold at auction as surplus property, I suppose, since the UPPJ apparently has decided …

Jim BrownJim Brown is a former Louisiana state senator, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Insurance and a regular contributor to The Gazette. 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 military record of both vice presidential candidates. Such attacks even have a …