Here in Southwest Louisiana we are buffeted by elements and forces largely beyond our control. We don’t have the luxury of debating whether climate change is man-made or a natural phenomenon. Whomever is causing it – man or nature – we have to live with the reality that changing weather is bringing one hundred and…

It’s not totally unheard of for a husband and wife to start up a business together. There are small businesses that are labor intensive and require long hours that a couple can split, and keep whatever profit they can make in the family. Traditionally, businesses like family farms come to mind. Or convenience stores. Gas stations….

Muhammad Yunus is a Nobel Prize winning economist. He is the inventor of what is called the micro-economy. He came up with the idea of making micro-loans to people in 3rd world countries so they could start a small business. Yunus’s latest thoughts on the capitalist economy include the opinion that one of our biggest…

In the tech industry there’s always a “next big thing” on the horizon that’s going to change everything. It happens so often there’s a name for this syndrome. It’s called “disruption.” The next big disruption that everyone’s talking about is driverless cars. While we don’t know when a driverless car is actually going to pull…

Here in Acadiana, one of the things we value is tradition. By that we mean not just Cajun and Creole culture, but the old fashioned ways of doing things. We don’t mind if business takes a little longer to conduct and includes a long lunch – and longer conversations about our families and football than…

Over the last couple of years we’ve had to deal with the fallout from big changes in the oil business. We have been far less battered by equally cataclysmic changes in the film business. If you haven’t been keeping up, here’s the thumbnail sketch. In 2003 the Louisiana legislature decided to attract film production to the…

According to the United States Geological Survey, 71% of the Earth’s surface is water. And 96% of that – in other words, almost all of it – is ocean. Seeing most of the planet is ocean, you might wonder why it’s called “Earth” at all. In theory, it should really be called “Water.” And seeing there are…

If you live in Acadiana there’s a good chance you attend your fair share of festivals. It seems like there’s a festival around here just about every week. That’s because there is.  If you’re in a Cajun band and you think at one time or another you’ve been booked to play all of them, Google “Acadiana…

We hear a lot in the national news about the global economy, and how we’re all connected. Here in Acadiana we can certainly see how our families are connected, but it’s often difficult to see our connection to the rest of the state, much less the nation, and the world. Sitting in for Peter Ricchiuti on…

The legendary Scottish poet Robbie Burns wrote, in old Scots Brogue, “The best laid schemes o’ mice ‘n men, gang aft a-gley.” The Scots brogue was the British equivalent of Cajun French. In English we’ve translated it as, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Burns frequently wrote about innocent country…