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Trump’s Canadian problems keep getting worse

U.S. President Donald Trump has a talent for finding political landmines like a pig sniffs out truffles. Then promptly blowing himself up with them. Repeatedly. He keeps picking fights with Canada that inadvertently create more leverage against himself. Trump reacted to Canada walking away from his generous offer of vassalization and economic annexation that would have given the U.S. first dibs on Canadian natural resources and a say over the deals that Canada makes with other countries by issuing an executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America. Trump seemed primarily ...

Dear Annie: A husband weighs in on weight loss

Dear Annie: My wife, who is 62, has always been insecure about her weight, even though I’ve never once cared or thought she needed to change anything. A few months ago, she decided on her own to start a GLP-1 medication for weight loss, and she’s doing it under a doctor’s supervision. She’s thrilled with the results so far. I’m happy she’s happy, but I can’t shake the feeling that she’s the guinea pig for a drug that’s still fairly new. What if there are long-term side effects nobody’s caught yet? I’ve mentioned this to her once, and she brushed it off. Am I ...

A mild decrease in kidney function causes concern in man

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m a relatively healthy 54-year-old male. My daily medications are 20 mg of lisinopril, 20 mg of atorvastatin, and 145 mg of fenofibrate. I also take a 500-mg dose of naproxen on an as-needed basis for various aches and pains from military-service-related conditions. My naproxen intake varies anywhere from 0-4 doses per week. I exercise regularly and stay hydrated as well. Every six months, I see my primary care physician for a wellness check that includes a blood lipid panel. Over the past few visits, I noticed that my kidney function results indicated a “mild to ...

A message for men over 50

The diagnosis was not a surprise — well, yes it was, because like many men with a health issue we try to deny it, or delay treatment when everyone knows that “early detection” is critical to a cure. My PSA (prostate-specific antigen) had been slowly creeping upward for the last two years. When it reached 9.0 along with a Gleason score of 9, my doctor said it was time to do something about it. This meant a prostate biopsy. It came back positive for a cancerous tumor pressing against my rectal wall. Two options were explained to me — a complete removal of the gland, or radiation ...

Arthurdale’s New Deal experiment, and the debate over socialism

ARTHURDALE, West Virginia — The road into this quiet Preston County community gives little warning that it was once the setting for one of the New Deal’s most ambitious, and most debated, experiments. Ninety-three years ago, Arthurdale became the first experimental community established under the federal subsistence-homesteads program, an effort to help impoverished families move from unstable industrial areas into planned rural communities. The idea was that residents could combine wage work with gardens, livestock and small-scale home production. First lady Eleanor Roosevelt ...

Dear Annie: No place for mom guilt in a partnership

Dear Annie: I have a 9-year-old son from a previous relationship and a 3-year-old daughter with my current partner. He is a wonderful, involved father and partner. He makes lunches, does laundry, cleans up after dinner, helps with bedtime and will often notice something needs to be done before I even ask. The strange part is that instead of simply appreciating the help, I sometimes feel guilty about it. I grew up in a home where my mother did almost everything. My father worked hard, but housework and taking care of the children were considered her responsibility. Somewhere along the ...