Breaking News

Uncategorized

Judgmental brother

Dear Annie: I had a falling out with my elder brother. It happened when the whole family had gotten together for Thanksgiving dinner. My husband, Kurt, had been laid off about a month prior and hadn’t yet found a new job. My brother kept telling Kurt what he “should” do and how no company would want him if he were to be unemployed for too long. Kurt was polite through the unsolicited career counseling session. After dinner, we quickly excused ourselves and went to the other room to play with my niece. At one point, Kurt went to use the bathroom and overheard my brother telling ...

Build a wall to keep them in

Last winter, I found myself in a hospital intensive care unit for three days. I was hooked onto all kinds of boxes, bags and bleeping machines. Stuck in the bed, I watched a lot of bad TV. The people who came into my room became my only contact with the human world. At least half were immigrants in jobs ranging from menial to super-duper specialist. Nearly all the hospital staff was caring, but somehow the foreign-born workers tended to form a more intimate connection. What was it? The answer, perhaps, is that most came from less prosperous parts of the world where physically helping ...

The Founders and national debt

The Founders of the United States of America warned against massive federal debt, but, to our detriment, their political descendants are not paying attention. The Founders speak to us from their graves to condemn and warn of the consequences now that President Trump and Congress have come to an agreement about lifting the meaningless “debt ceiling” and increasing already massive federal spending and the debt, which is at $22 trillion and growing rapidly. First to speak is Thomas Jefferson: “We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.” Next is Alexander Hamilton: ...

Brother-in-law blind to alcohol issues

Dear Annie: I’m writing because I hope the person this will help most will read it. My brother-in-law is an alcoholic and won’t see that he has a problem. His youngest brother died of alcoholic hepatitis, and he is headed down the same path. He is also emotionally abusive to anyone in his family (though not friends or acquaintances) that comes in contact with him when he is drunk, and he’s drunk more often than not. He has passed out on his dinner plate, fallen down in our driveway into the bushes, routinely passes out right after dinner and has driven while drunk (much to our ...

So, no Oscar for Mueller?

Minutes after Robert Mueller III had completed his first round of Wednesday’s congressional testimony, journalists and pundits started weighing in — on his acting abilities. Mueller was “boring” and “phlegmatic.” His performance was “a disaster,” “painful” and “deeply unsatisfying.” Some compared his testimony to the bombastic pathology of Donald Trump — and even the conversational theatrics of former FBI Director James Comey — and found him wanting. Mueller had expressed not one partisan viewpoint. He refused to be political. He even stumbled at ...

Eligible — and exacting — bachelor

Dear Annie: I am a divorced male in my early 50s. I’m in good health, successful and single. I’m single by choice, due to the availability of single women my age without issues (for lack of a better word). I do not take any medications, other than vitamins every morning. I weigh 195 pounds, which is healthy for my height. While I do not consider myself a “Shallow Hal,” there is no attraction for me to overweight women. Your body is the vessel that takes you through this life. If you have no respect for that, then how can you properly manage everything else in life? Women my ...