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Opinion

The mixed messages or dog whistles from Trump

Columns

When President Donald Trump says he “may do” something, it also means he “may not” do something. He covers all his bases so no one can be surprised. Trump realizes that people will believe what they want to believe. Because of that fact, Trump gives messages that some people can embrace and others can dislike. He taps into people’s worst and best inclinations. His magic is that he never apologizes for either action, leaving people to embrace what they want to embrace in Trump’s often dualist messages. Then, when things go wrong (as they often do), Trump offers a ...

Dear Annie: Standing firm with family

Columns

Dear Annie: My husband has three children from his first marriage. For the first 20 years of us being married, everything was great. But the last 15 years have been hell with two of the children. They became super religious and political to the point they are always pushing their way of life on us. We told them to stop, that we have our own religious and political beliefs and to please accept us for who we are, and we will be respectful of what they think. It’s been 14 years since and we’ve had no contact with them. A few weeks ago, they popped up in a horrible way. I won’t ...

Reporting on tragedy requires empathy, moral integrity

Our View

Whenever our community experiences a tragedy, we are faced with extraordinarily difficult ethical decisions. As journalists, our responsibility is to inform the public about events that shape our community, even when those events involve profound loss. We do this work because an informed public is essential to a functioning community, and residents rely on local news to understand the events that impact their lives and the lives of their neighbors. Without accurate reporting, rumor and speculation fill the void, often causing more harm than the truth. Tragedies, by their nature, ...

What’s the plan?

Letters to the editor

Willow Eby Fischer Northumberland What is the difference between Vietnam and Iran? Trump had a plan for getting out of Vietnam. Dark humor, but it points to a very real and tragic reality. People died, our soldiers died, children died. Mothers, fathers, people died. Now people are dying again. Little girls at their school, our soldiers, the same list of people are dying again. Yes, there have been a few very evil men killed also. Do you know who is not dying? The same people who are not concerned with the price of gas and food. The same people with golden healthcare plans. Trump, ...

Using a vagus nerve stimulation device for rheumatoid arthritis

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: I want to know what you think about vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), both the surgically implanted type as well as the external noninvasive device for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other indications. What kind of doctor does this? Just reading about it gives me hope that less drugs are being used to treat these conditions. — L.L. ANSWER: VNS uses electrical impulses to trigger some of the many actions of the vagus nerve. VNS is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for some types of drug-resistant epilepsy, headache disorders, and drug-resistant depression. For ...

Keep artificial intelligence out of American classrooms

Columns

Norway is, by almost any metric, a profoundly successful nation. It’s rich, democratic and relatively corruption-free. It’s not a socialist country, but fans of a robust welfare state and high taxes see much to admire in the very progressive Norwegian model. It also benefits from having the biggest and arguably best-run sovereign wealth fund in the world. And yet, Norway nearly ruined its children. In 2016, flush with cash and progressive values, Norway gave every child in the country, starting at the age of 5, their own iPad or similar digital device. A decade later, young ...