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Betting billions on bizarre entrepreneurs

What can you say about “sophisticated” investors who would pile billions into a startup whose 40-year-old founder walks the streets of Manhattan barefooted and says his company’s mission is to “elevate the world’s consciousness”? Did I mention that his enterprise has yet to turn a penny of profit? We speak of Japan-based SoftBank and other investors who believed in WeWork after swallowing much of its “yoga babble.” They thought that its creator-pitchman, Adam Neumann, was touched by the eccentric genius of a Steve Jobs. Why was never clear. In actuality, WeWork is ...

Concerned for cat

Dear Readers: A great many of you wrote in expressing concern for Whiskers and her owner. Your letters bring up a number of insightful points about the correlation between animal abuse and spousal and child abuse. All of you warned that Tom’s behavior should serve as a red flag that he could end up abusing his wife or their future children. I agree with all of you that, for everyone’s safety, she must leave with Whiskers, and Tom can seek therapy on his own. Here are just some of your letters: Dear Annie: To the woman whose husband’s behavior has changed toward her beloved ...

Who commits suicide?

As odd as it might seem, suicide used to be against the law in the United States. How in the world could you punish a dead person for taking that final, fatal act? Still, some states continue to have laws on the books labeling attempted suicide as a criminal act, although prosecutions have been rare. The latest statistics show more than 47,000 people killed themselves in the United States in 2017. Historically, that number has climbed higher every year. Who are these people, and what is driving them to snuff out their lives? There are no rock-solid answers. Depression and ...

Advice for family member

Dear Annie: I’d like to hear from people who were children of a mother with Contamination OCD. My daughter’s therapist determined it is a pretty severe case, but my daughter refuses to go to the recommended hospital program. Instead, she sees the therapist once a week, which is basically a whack-a-mole approach. One issue gets better and another pops up. She’s had this for more than five years and refuses any medication. My concern beyond her is for my grandchildren, ages 2 1/2 and 5. I can’t go into all the avoidance and bizarre actions and behaviors, but her behavior injects ...

The problem with President Pence

Republican senators will soon be receiving an invitation to tear apart the GOP ahead of the 2020 elections, and they are going to decline to accept it. It’s a trope of pro-impeachment commentary that it should be simple for Republican senators to swap out President Donald Trump, who puts them in awkward positions every day, for Vice President Mike Pence, an upstanding Reagan conservative who could start with a fresh slate in the runup to the 2020 election. The only flaw in this scenario is that it is entirely removed from reality. If Senate Republicans vote to remove Trump on ...

Communication key to fulfilling needs

Dear Annie: I’ve been in a relationship for two years now, and I have decided that he really is selfish. I’m 24, and he’s 25. Everyone in my life is fed up with him, including my parents. They tell me how I should be treated, and he’s not doing it. He’s a state trooper, and I’m a waitress, still in school, so he has his career and money, while I don’t make much at all. At times, he still makes me pay for little things. I’m not saying he has to buy me everything, but he literally pays for nothing. When we go out to eat, he will pay for it here and there. But recently, ...