Good Grief, Charlie Brown!

By Louis R. Avallone

In December 1965, nearly 15 million viewers, or one-half of the television viewing audience, tuned in to watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” It has become the longest-running cartoon special in history, but it almost was canceled before it ever was aired. You see, the CBS network executives were less than impressed. Aside from the technical […]

Perfect Candidates

By Louis R. Avallone

There’s the U.S. Senate race in Alabama where the Republican candidate is being pressured to drop out of the race due to allegations of sexual misconduct from 40 years ago. Then there’s the sitting U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, in New Jersey, who has just been on trial for eight counts of bribery, three counts of […]

Don’t Bet Against Us

By Louis R. Avallone

Last August 1, 2016 – just days after the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia – I wrote a column right here about Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee. Hillary was finally the Democratic Party’s nominee, but none of it made sense. For starters, I wrote about how in-the-world could 68% of Americans believe that […]

Kept Equal

By Louis R. Avallone

Think about it: There’s not a single day that passes where the headlines don’t include a story of growing racial tensions, such as the removal of civil war monuments. Or the NFL players protesting during the singing of the National Anthem. Or reporters and Hollywood-types calling out President Trump (and all of his supporters) as […]

Shame on You

By Louis R. Avallone

A recent survey found that more than 96% of women feel guilty at least once a day, and almost half of them experience guilt up to 4 times a day. If you are a woman, you know exactly what that’s like. Culturally, women are encouraged to empathize, or otherwise take the perspective of the other, […]

Kicking the Can

By Louis R. Avallone

“Kicking the can down the road” is to put off confronting a difficult issue or making an important decision, typically on a continuing basis. Basically, it’s postponing the inevitable. It’s one of the reasons our elected officials won’t fix anything, and why they haven’t fixed Medicare or Social Security. Or tax reform and illegal immigration. […]

The Power of Taking a Stand

By Louis R. Avallone

Are you a people-pleaser? If you’re not, I bet you know one. You know the person I am talking about, right? That person in almost everyone’s life who tries to make sure that everyone is happy – or that no one is disappointed. It’s the person in your life that intervenes whenever something is wrong, […]

Dear Shreveport…

By Louis R. Avallone

Dear Shreveport, I know you have been through some really tough stuff. The drop in oil prices in the 1980s, the bankruptcies and foreclosures – you have really never been the same since then. The 7,500 jobs lost at the Western Electric plant – that was a rough patch, too, I know. I mean, so […]

How Patriotic Are You?

By Louis R. Avallone

You remember when Vice-President Joe Biden said it’s time “to be patriotic…time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut,” when talking about more Americans paying higher and higher federal income taxes? Or when Michelle Obama stirred controversy in 2008 when she said, “For […]

Seeing the Trees for the Forest

By Louis R. Avallone

You’ve heard the saying, “Don’t miss the forest for the trees,” right? That’s when someone is trying to make the point that you shouldn’t get so caught up in the small details that you fail to understand the bigger picture. Well, in the case of this whole healthcare debacle in our country, and the shenanigans […]