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Dear Annie: Co-worker takes all the credit

Columns

Dear Annie: I have a close friend I have known for more than 20 years. We have been through marriages, children, job changes and plenty of ups and downs together. I love her and consider her almost like family. Lately, though, I have started to notice that our friendship feels very one-sided. I am usually the one who calls, makes plans and checks in. When she is going through something difficult, I am always there to listen. But when I need support, she often changes the subject, gives a quick response or says she is too busy. Recently, I was having a particularly hard week and ...

Are jury trial problems unfixable?

Columns

This is not another opinion article about Lindsay Clancy. Well, not really. I’m not qualified to discuss the woman’s actions or the validity of her insanity defense in a murder trial for several million reasons at least. I’ve learned over the last few weeks that I’m one of the 10 people in the world who aren’t interested in learning much about the terrible events in January 2023. I guess there’s just something about hearing the details of a mother killing her three small kids that repels me. I also didn’t sit on the jury, and I’m not of the opinion that I can ...

Scuba diver experiences nausea due to nerve compression

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m a scuba diver, and I recently purchased a dry suit that is expectedly tight on my neck. During my first dive with it, I pulled the hood down, and within a few minutes, I immediately felt nauseous before even entering the water. I also briefly felt lightheaded and faint. I removed the hood, loosened the neck a bit, and tried to relax. The feeling somewhat subsided. I tried again and was able to do a short 25-minute dive. But when I got out, I was immediately nauseated and subsequently vomited. I am usually quite sensitive to motion and take Dramamine when on a ...

Future shock: Is this Team Humanity’s last chance to stand up to AI?

Columns

Since we last visited the artificial intelligence industry in this column, a lot has happened, much of it seeming to confirm my worst fears. Seven weeks ago, I wrote about the “Hugging Face” breach, so called for the company that got hacked with no human intervention by “rogue” AI agents created by OpenAI. On their own initiative, OpenAI’s agents broke out of their containment, charmingly called their “sandboxes,” before eventually being detected. That was disconcerting enough, but in the past couple of weeks several key players at the forefront of AI research have ...

Iran war pushes diesel – the economy’s lifeblood – to record high prices, with no relief on the horizon

Columns

Diesel fuel prices in the U.S. continue to break all-time records, hitting $6.28 a gallon as a national average on Sept. 14, 2026, and they aren’t likely to come down anytime soon. Because diesel is the fuel for freight transportation, farming and construction — and is related to a key heating fuel — the effects are set to spread across the entire U.S. economy. The inflation-adjusted price of diesel in late August was about as high as it was in 2022 and has likely risen further. There are still three factors that we, scholars of U.S. and global energy markets and supply chains, ...

Explaining an adverse drug reaction called DRESS syndrome

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: Could you explain what happened to me with a condition called DRESS syndrome? I had back-to-back urinary tract infections (UTIs) that were about six weeks apart. For the first one, I was treated with three days of an antibiotic, and it went away. For the second, I was given another week of the same antibiotic. My UTI symptoms improved quickly, but after three days on the antibiotic, I developed a rash. I first noticed spots on my legs, but by the next morning, they were on both of my legs and arms with some on my belly and upper back. The following day, I had fever, ...