Why we have no “constitutional” rights
By John Silveira
Issue #92 • March/April, 2005
The other day I read an article concerning a suit brought against the government by some of the 550 or so detainees at the naval station at Guantanamo...
Getting rich through generosity
By John Silveira
Issue #89 • September/October, 2004
The conventional wisdom is that to get filthy rich, you need to be greedy. So, it may come as counterintuitive that it's generosity, intentional or accidental, and not...
A Republic vs. A Democracy
By John Silveira
Issue #90 • November/December, 2004
He was in the other office when I heard his voice. But he was getting closer and closer and then he came through the door into the editorial...
Fake lawsuits, stacked juries, and LAWYERS!
By John Silveira
Issue #89 • September/October, 2004
Mac, that's O.E. MacDougal, our poker playing friend from Southern California, is back. He blew into town yesterday with the good weather and brought his fishing rods, his...
The tenuous hold of honesty in modern America
By John Silveira
Issue #87 • May/June, 2004
The other day I stopped in the middle of Myers Creek Road, just outside of Gold Beach, Oregon, and took some photos of my roommate. It was cold....
The world is ending! … Again?
By John Silveira
Issue #85 • January/February, 2004
People love to talk about scary stuff. Especially when it's end-of-the-world scary, such as the big asteroid recently in the news that was supposed to hit Earth and...
The coming ice age
By John Silveira
Issue #86 • March/April, 2004
As little as 30 years ago the talk wasn't about global warming, it was about an imminent ice age. Is an ice age likely? Even possible? Consider this:...
The curse of oil
By John Silveira
Issue #82 • July/August, 2003
To many, the oil beneath the sands of the Middle East is a kind of godsend for them. My take on it is that it's illusionary wealth in...
Gun control, race, and rotten politicians
By John Silveira
Issue #83 • September/October, 2003
Is gun control really about guns? Sounds like an odd question on the surface, but it's really right on target. In fact, the answer is: No, gun control...
Biological and chemical weapons through history
By John Silveira
Issue #81 • May/June, 2003
The weather here on the coast of Oregon is nice almost all year-round, and there almost always seems to be some kind of fishingsalmon or winter steelhead running...
Book Review: Guns Save Lives — True Stories of Americans Defending Their Lives with...
Reviewed By John Silveira
Issue #79 • January/February, 2003
I like movies with heroes: High Noon, Death Wish, Dirty Harry and the like where the good guy comes to the aid of guys like you and...
Fixing a broken jury system
By John Silveira
“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 that is why he...
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...
The Coming American Dictatorship revisited
By John Silveira
Issue #77 • September/October, 2002
Mac's back. After a long absence our poker-playing friend from southern California, O.E. MacDougal, walked into the Oregon offices of Backwoods Home Magazine.
Poof, and there he was. No...
The world’s least-free country
By John Silveira
Issue #77 • September/October, 2002
Here's a quiz: Which is the freest country on earth? The answer's easy. It's the United States. Ask anyone. And why are we the freest? Not because we're...
Every group needs a black sheep
By John Silveira
Issue #74 • March/April, 2002
I used to play a lot of poker and I learned things about people that surprised me. They were things other than the "Know when to hold 'em,...
