Money can buy happiness

By John Silveira Issue #72 • November/December, 2001 The results are in: money can buy happiness, but it doesn't come cheap. Not only that, the amount of happiness your money can buy can be measured. I know...

Man vs. the machine

By John Silveira Issue #71 • September/October, 2001 About 10 years ago, I was living in southern California and I was summoned for jury duty. I was glad to be called. I've always liked the concept...

Chuck meets Bubba

By John Silveira Issue #68 • March/April, 2001 What follows happened a decade and a half ago. I worked in a large corporation where I shared a large cubicle with two other guys. I'll call them...

Climate Change Theory: science or religion?

By John Silveira Issue #153 • May/June, 2015 Is climate change theory a real science or is it merely a new religion? It's a fair question to ask because although climate change enthusiasts like to refer...

Three more ways the world can end … and I’m not kidding

By John Silveira Issue #155 • September/October, 2015 "What are you doing?" a voice asked. I looked up and saw O.E. MacDougal, Dave's poker-playing friend from Southern California, and he's now my friend, too. Accompanying him was...

Why oil and other fossil fuels are good

By John Silveira Issue #152 • March/April, 2015 Last issue I concluded The Last Word saying I'd "... talk about the myth of oil destroying the environment." But between issues I thought about it and realized...

The Coming American Dictatorship Part XII — The militarization of America’s police forces

By John Silveira Issue #146 • March/April, 2014 He's back — our poker-playing friend from Southern California, O.E. MacDougal. He came up here to fish. I thought he was after salmon, but this time he came...

The false argument about defending our freedom

By John Silveira Issue #142 • July/August, 2013 I'm tired of hearing how we should honor our veterans because they're defending our freedoms. They're not. No one in any of the Islamic countries is trying to...

Concealed carry laws reduce crime

By John Silveira Issue #143 • September/October, 2013 This year, Illinois became the 50th state to allow the carrying of concealed weapons by law-abiding citizens. That's a milestone that heralds a lot of good news for...

A reason for the Second Amendment

By John Silveira Issue #141 • May/June, 2013 Right after the shooting of 20 children and 6 teachers at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, I was asked by several people, "Does anyone really...

Homeschooling your dylsexic kid

By John Silveira Issue #142 • July/August, 2013 I write and edit for a living. I'm the senior editor for Backwoods Home Magazine for which I've written numerous columns during the last 24 years. Before that...

Bartering for bad times

By John Silveira Issue #138 • November/December, 2012 Bartering may not be a part of your life, right now, but if there's a deepening of the recession, or it becomes a depression, or we enter a...

Turn the poor into capitalists

By John Silveira Issue #137 • September/October, 2012 I'm not a fan of the welfare system and I think it's been more of a failure than a success. It may serve as a 'safety net' for...

Should we scrap our ‘old’ Constitution?

By John Silveira Issue #135 • May/June, 2012 In a recent New York Times article by Adam Liptak, he observed that the Constitution of the United States is not only the oldest constitution in existence, but...

Zombie Apocalypse

By John Silveira Issue #134 • March/April, 2012 "Can you survive a zombie apocalypse?" a familiar voice asked. I turned in my seat to see O.E. MacDougal, Dave Duffy's poker-playing friend from Southern California, walking toward me....

When “good” laws are bad

By John Silveira Issue #134 • March/April, 2012 I recently read an opinion piece on CNN's website titled, Edison would've loved the new light bulb law. It's supposed to be about the new law to force...