A vaccine would be nice, but it will not salvage our economy nor stop this pandemic. The two, now-famous, bell-shaped curves have two features in common. Both have the same area under the curve, which means an equal number of people are infected, and in both scenarios the infection ceases when ...
Dear Annie: What do you do about embarrassing memories that pop into your head randomly and make you want to crawl in a hole? It seems to keep happening to me lately. I’ll be washing my hair in the shower, or trying to drift off to sleep at night, when, suddenly, I remember a humiliating ...
Sweden offered hope that the coronavirus could be reined in without great inconvenience or economic pain. Unlike its neighbors in Scandinavia and elsewhere, Sweden didn’t put its people in strict lockdown. Restaurants, bars and shops buzzed with their usual customers. Gyms stayed open, and ...
Few things bring out the Irish in me more than the Chinese government dunking on the United States of America. Like just about every American these days, I’ve got my complaints about the direction of our country and how our government is dealing with the myriad challenges facing us. But, ...
The date was April 4, 1968. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated in Memphis and I was flying home to Washington, D.C., from Atlanta. As the plane descended over National Airport, I could see flames. Part of the city of my birth and capital of the nation was on fire. The riots and ...
Dear Annie: Why do strange men call women “dear” as they get a little older? I am in my late 60s but don’t consider myself an “old lady.” I dress reasonably — nice jeans/pants and a cute top. My hair is not gray, and I do not look sickly. Yes, I have a few wrinkles, but I ...
History can be cruel. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., who was unquestionably America’s most prominent prophet and practitioner of nonviolence, was followed by riots, arson and looting in 168 American cities and towns. The numbers are staggering: 2,600 fires were set; 21,700 ...
It’s 2009 again, or feels like it. That was when spontaneous, grassroots protests against overweening government sprang up and were widely derided in the media as dangerous and wrong-headed. The protesters then were inveighing against Obamacare; the protestors now are striking out against ...
The morning began with a humid veil of heat that seemed to pour through little clusters of dark clouds amid the sunshine. The air dripped with the sweet, fragrant scent of the leaves that suddenly appeared on barren branches and all the flowers that bloomed amid the unusual late May ...
When the pandemic hit this winter, city people with second homes moved into them. This upset the rhythm of beach, lake and mountain communities that attract a lot of “summer people” — but not until the summer. As for winter destinations — Florida, Arizona, Texas or any ski area — ...
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden told an African American talk show host last week: “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.” It was not a one-off remark. After strong condemnation, including from some fellow ...
Dear Annie: I started seeing someone recently. “Matthew” is a perfect gentleman in many respects, but he has one habit that I find very rude and jarring: He burps, frequently, and sometimes without even covering his mouth. We sit down to watch a movie together after dinner, and all I can ...
It is a common, if not especially honorable, practice in American politics for a candidate and her campaign to prefer to run not against their actual opponent on the ballot but rather against the most unpopular caricature of the opponent’s party. That explains why Democrats, for close to ...
Dear Annie: My brother and I own our parents’ house, which is the house we grew up in. They put it in our names a while ago with the provision that they be allowed to live there for the rest of their lives. Recently, my brother, his wife and their two children moved in with my parents. They ...
It’s not March anymore. The coronavirus has taken a heartbreaking toll on Americans, but the course of the virus is not the same as it was a few months ago. We are on the other side of the curve. There are encouraging signs all over the country, and no early indications of a reopening ...
There’s truly nothing like that first little dip into Lake Superior after a long winter. I find myself awaiting this moment through all the colder months, imagining the refreshing, yet bitter embrace of Superior on the first day that could reasonably be termed “hot.” But it was a ...
Joe Biden still has time to do the smart thing and name New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo his running mate. The top two reasons would be Cuomo's proven competence managing his state's coronavirus crisis and a strong personality unafraid of that other son of Queens, President Donald Trump. We know. ...
As the Superintendent and K-12 Principal of a small public school in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan my world drastically changed late on the night of Thursday, March 12. Around 11 p.m., Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared that due to COVID-19 all school buildings in Michigan would be closing ...
Future historians of the American right are going to have a devil of a time figuring out what the hell happened as the second decade of the 21st century came to a close. But every day I become more convinced about at least one of their conclusions: The nationalists blew it. Now, for those who ...
Dear Annie: I’ve been seeing this guy, “David,” on and off for almost a year and a half and we have this long-distance relationship going on. This is my very first relationship, but he’s been with a few women in the past. While we can’t see each other as often as we’d like, I intend ...