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Dear Annie: A will worth fighting?

Columns

Dear Annie: I’m 37 and the oldest of four siblings. We lost our mother to cancer 15 months ago, and then about a month ago, our father died very unexpectedly at 60. We never expected to be orphans this young, and the whole thing has been a shock for us. But we were in for an even bigger shock. After Mom died, Dad apparently rewrote their will. We always assumed any inheritance would be evenly distributed four ways. As the lawyer went over the will with us, he said, “This will likely surprise and upset you.” The inheritance is divided FIVE ways! The fifth person is someone ...

Different colored glazes are a complex topic

Columns

The richly colored glazes of Chinese porcelains have enthralled collectors and inspired artists for hundreds of years. They are often given descriptive names, like the dark red “sang de boeuf” or “oxblood”; the famous peachbloom that inspired the late Victorian craze for two-tone pink ...

The long rise of the new Democratic Party

Columns

Can I claim to have predicted, way back in 1988, the result of Michigan’s fiercely contested Democratic primary for U.S. senator this week? The developments that have made Abdul El-Sayed — who lost the 2018 gubernatorial primary to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.) by 20 percentage points — a winner over Rep. Haley Stevens were visible in the 1988 contest for Michigan’s delegates to the Democratic National Convention, in which Jesse Jackson ran far ahead of eventual nominee Michael Dukakis by a 24-percentage-point margin. Let’s flash back 38 years to see what I mean. Then, as ...

The normalcy of American Wars

Columns

The war in Iran is unlawful and unconstitutional, but in post-World War II America, it is normal. Here is the backstory. When President Donald Trump decided to begin bombing Iran last June, he did not state a coherent or lawful reason for doing so. His director of national intelligence and his own CIA had publicly told him that Iran did not possess a nuclear weapon and had ceased building one in 2005. His secretary of state told him that Iran and Israel had threatened each other, but he could not articulate how Iran imminently threatened the United States. Yet, since Israel planned ...

CMV infection in woman causes developmental issues for baby

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: Could you please inform and educate us, especially pregnant women, about the effects of cytomegalovirus (CMV)? This is the No. 1 reason why children are born deaf to parents that aren’t deaf. My niece was pregnant and evidently caught a bad cold, but it was CMV. She remembers her ears being very stuffy, and she had a hard time hearing. Her doctor noticed that the baby had a smaller head size than normal and calcification in the ventricles of his brain. He had extensive treatments for a number of months. He has problems, including throwing up every time after drinking. ...

Dear Annie: Missing my built-in best friend

Columns

Dear Annie: My sister, who is also my roommate, started a new job that is keeping her super busy. She doesn’t come home from the office before 10 p.m. most nights, and she’s gone again early in the morning. Her last job was remote, as is mine, so I’m used to having her around all the time. Now I can’t even get her to respond to a text. I know it’s nothing personal. She just needs to be focused on work right now. But still, I’m left feeling like I lost my best friend. I can barely get any time or attention out of her these days. Should I say something, or should I just wait ...