Breaking News

Uncategorized

Cutting family ties

Dear Annie: I have an abusive mother, and for many years I put myself in her path. Any time I opened up to someone about her behavior, I heard, “But she’s your mum,” or “She means well,” or “You only have one mother,” much like the letter writer “Chosen Family.” All that did was to cement my mother’s accusation of my nastiness. I do know why she is the way she is. My grandfather was a horrible man who was very uninterested in a daughter. But I also learned about narcissists (her) and how they use scapegoats (me). I understand it is not me. But just because I ...

Integrity of 2020 elections must be protected

Amid the impeachment furor, don’t lose sight of the renewed importance of protecting the integrity of the 2020 election. The difference between Richard Nixon’s abuse of power (trying to get dirt on political opponents to help with his 1972 re-election and then covering it up) and Donald Trump’s abuse of power (trying to get Ukraine’s president to get dirt on a political opponent to help with his 2020 re-election and then covering it up) isn’t just that Nixon’s involved a botched robbery at the Watergate office complex while Trump’s involves a foreign nation. It’s that ...

Bailing out is a short-term solution

Dear Annie: I would like to tell “Distressed About Departing Dependent” to think about how she can best parent her adult child before caving and giving her money. At age 19, I married a man who spent any money we had and more. My parents didn’t want to support his spending habits so they cut off any funds to me while they continued to bailout my brothers financially. I was angry at my parents for a while but got over it. Meanwhile, my brothers didn’t grow up until the funds dried up many years later, when they were in middle age. I’m very grateful my parents were tough with ...

City staff to attend meeting; offices will open later

Fort Dodge city offices, the Fort Dodge Public Library and the Blanden Memorial Art Museum will open later than usual on Thursday due to a citywide staff meeting. The library will open at 11:30 a.m. The Blanden will open at noon. The Municipal Building will open at noon.

Time to look at the record

“History never looks like history when you are living through it” wrote John Gardner. “It always looks confusing and messy, and it always feels uncomfortable.” Forty-five years after President Richard Nixon faced certain impeachment by the House of Representatives and Nixon, confronting an overwhelming Senate vote to convict him, resigned his office, Washington again faces the prospect of another profoundly grave and uniquely disruptive presidential impeachment. What is, unfortunately, overlooked when we think of Nixon’s presidency and his ignominious leaving of it is the ...

Mind your what?

Dear Annie: I know that I was raised in the Stone Age. But some of the things I remember sure would be nice additions to today’s society. They’re called “manners”. I recall my mother saying, “Mind your manners.” Whenever she said that, I knew right then that what I was doing was unacceptable. Manners were not anything written down. They were learned at home. There was no test to be sure you understood what to do and not do. There are too many to list, but I have a few examples: —Don’t eat with your elbows on the table. —Don’t eat with a baseball cap on at the ...