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Loneliness: People do need people

Ashley, North Dakota, is a small farming town where the local diet leans hard on sausage, deep-fried chicken and strudel. It has something of a medical center, but the nearest trauma hospital able to handle the most serious injuries is almost four hours away in Fargo. Yet the elders in McIntosh County, with Ashley as its county seat, frequently live into their 90s, and sometimes beyond. It had the highest proportion of people 85 and older in the country. Doesn’t make sense until you see why it does. Stress levels are low. The farmers pursue a lifetime of physical exercise. When ...

Lessons from Graham Platner

How can Graham Platner, who might win the Democratic nomination for senator from Maine in next Tuesday’s primary election ever be seriously considered for such a job, given the amount of personal baggage he carries? The answer is we have so lowered our standards and think so little of our politicians that, as the saying used to go, anyone can grow up to be president, or senator. Platner has been accused of so many things that just one would have been enough to derail his candidacy in another era when character mattered. Today, power is all that appears to matter and the way in ...

Dear Annie: Feeling forgotten by a flaky friend

Dear Annie: My best friend has become impossible to make plans with. She says yes to everything, then cancels at the last minute with a vague excuse. Sometimes she says she is “too tired,” other times she says work got crazy, and once she forgot completely until I texted from the restaurant asking if she was on her way. The worst was when I saw on social media that she had gone out with another group the same night she canceled on me because she “needed a quiet night.” I know people are busy, and I do not want to be needy. But after the third canceled dinner, the second missed ...

Constipation persists after a colonoscopy from six months ago

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m a 66-year-old male in good health. I’ve always had very regular bowel movements, usually spending less than five minutes in the bathroom daily. About six months ago, I had a colonoscopy. Since then, I’ve been constipated with very hard stools. My doctor recommended fiber supplements three times a day and Colace. I’ve been doing this for four months without relief. My diet hasn’t changed in the past year. I drink more than the recommended amount of water and exercise daily. What can I do to get back to normal? — B.L. ANSWER: Constipation for a few days ...

The invisible forces that keep the doors open

We’re not southern enough to be yes, ma’am or no, sir, but I try to nudge manners into my kids’ daily interactions with strangers. Today, I nudged him when I saw two women cross the parking lot and asked him to open the restaurant door. One of the women was older and one much younger, maybe a grandmother and granddaughter. The younger one smiled at him and said thank you as she walked through. The older one didn’t acknowledge him at all. At the table, my mom called it entitlement, but that didn’t feel right. It’s more that some people grow accustomed to moving through the ...

Can the nearly $1 trillion‑a‑year US military really be depleting key weapons in Iran?

The fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire announced on April 7, 2026, after 40 days of war came at an opportune time for the United States. Several reports indicate it is running out of weapons amid the conflict. As a scholar focused on U.S. military deployments, these reports are concerning and somewhat surprising. After all, the United States spends more money on its military — nearly US$1 trillion annually — than the next nine highest-spending countries combined. How can the U.S. military be depleting its weapons against a largely isolated country that spends less than 1% of what the ...