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Dear Annie: Missing the sisterhood beneath the scorekeeping

Columns

Dear Annie: My sister and I grew up sharing everything: clothes, secrets, bedrooms, even blame when one of us broke something in the house. For most of my life, she was my first phone call and my safest place to land. But in the last few years, something has changed. Every conversation with her has started to feel like a contest I never agreed to enter. Last month, my son came home thrilled because he made the travel lacrosse team after months of practicing in the driveway until dark. I was so proud of him that I mentioned it at Sunday dinner. Before I even finished my sentence, my ...

Hey, America: Stop complaining

Columns

Whatever the outcome of the “deal, or no deal” scenario with Iran, the public attitude toward the war has been disturbing. Despite President Trump’s constant admonition that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon, a majority of those polled oppose the intervention. A side effect of the war has been complaints about higher gas prices. That grumbling caused me to do some reminiscing about a different America and different Americans. Over Memorial Day weekend we again heard about “The Greatest Generation,” but do we take the time to consider what made them great? While ...

Drop the tariffs, Mr. President

Columns

Donald Trump is now an unpopular president. Some of this dissatisfaction is due to the war in Iran. Some of it springs from the unanticipated speed, chaos and perceived brutality of several of his administration’s actions over the past year and a half. But a significant part of his political problem has a straightforward economic explanation: Everything feels expensive, and his tariffs are a major reason why. If the president wants to help himself and his party ahead of this year’s midterm elections, the most effective thing he can do is eliminate the tariffs. The evidence in favor ...

Looking at a new Alzheimer’s treatment called NeuroEPO

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: I read about a new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease called NeuralCIM from Cuba. Do you think this is real? — J.B. ANSWER: NeuralCIM, aka NeuroEPO, is derived from erythropoietin — the hormone that stimulates red blood cell precursors to make more blood cells. However, this intranasal form doesn’t stimulate blood cells; it does act like a similar hormone that is made by astrocytes, which are some of the “support cells” of brain tissue. Among the activities of NeuralEPO in the brain are decreasing amyloid deposits; reducing programmed cell death ...

America’s love affair with the road endures

Columns

For the briefest of moments, a line of vintage Rolls-Royce automobiles chugged along the curving Cumberland Road. They passed over the Cumberland Run a handful of times and wound themselves down the mountains, away from Pennsylvania and toward the city of steeples, Cumberland. The sight gives the bystander a moment to imagine what it looked like in the early days of American road tripping. These 1922 Rolls-Royce vehicles, which included the New Phantom and the Silver Ghost (some of the first cars designed expressly to be owner-driven rather than chauffeured), were not what many ...

Dear Annie: Teen’s cold shoulder leaves mom feeling shut out

Columns

Dear Annie: My 15-year-old daughter and I used to be extremely close. She was the kind of child who would climb into the car after school and tell me everything before I even pulled out of the parking lot: who sat with whom at lunch, what her teacher said, which friend was mad at which friend and what song everyone was listening to that week. Now, I feel like I am living with a very fashionable attorney who cross-examines everything I say. If I ask how school was, she says, “Fine,” in a tone that makes it clear the conversation is over. If I ask whether she has homework, she says ...