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The political instant replay

Columns

In sports, the instant replay was invented and first used by a man named Tony Verna on the Dec. 7, 1963 broadcast of the Army-Navy football game on CBS. The political “instant replay” has no single author or starting date, but its overuse has produced few resolutions of the major problems confronting the country. What it has produced is a deepening cynicism about politics and so much else. Too many Americans now see their fellow Americans who are of a different party or persuasion as a bigger enemy than Iran or Russia. Long-term friendships have been destroyed over whether one ...

Early airplane toys were modeled after real planes

Columns

Today’s toy companies might be fueled by flights of fancy, but, in the early days of flight, real-life aircraft were imaginative enough. Many toy airplanes of the early 1900s were miniature copies of existing airplanes, like a windup Bleriot airplane by Gunthermann that sold for $1,080 at ...

Dear Annie: Waiting for a commitment that may never come

Columns

Dear Annie: My best friend of 22 years recently started dating a man who “doesn’t believe in marriage.” She’s 41, has always wanted children and froze her eggs at 38. He’s 45, divorced twice and says labels are “a social construct.” They’ve been together eight months. She sold her condo and moved into his house — which is solely in his name — and now refers to his teenage sons as “our boys.” Last week, she told me she’s sure he’ll “come around” on having a baby. I’m skeptical she’ll get everything she wants out of this relationship — and the ...

Is the American Empire doomed to crumble?

Columns

History does not whisper. It warns. Empires do not collapse because of a single moment of weakness. They erode from within, slowly hollowed out by overreach, moral ambiguity and the false belief that their power exempts them from consequence. The question before us is not whether America is strong. It is whether we are wise enough to endure the burden that comes with being the world’s lone superpower. Scores of empires have come before us. Each one believed itself indispensable. Each one believed its reach was justified. And each one eventually fell, often not at the hands of ...

War and morality

Columns

War is the most horrific series of events upon which any government can engage. It is systematic, industrialized, indiscriminate killing. It kills innocent adults and little girls. It often ruins the post-war lives of the killers. It is young men violently fighting old men’s power games. It is the health of the state. The war President Donald Trump is waging against the people and the government of Iran is immoral, unconstitutional and unlawful. Yet, because Congress is not doing its job, there appears to be no relief in sight until Trump finds a face-saving way to erase his grave ...

Providing insight into heart rate variability and its significance

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: My heart rate variability (HRV) on my heart rate tracker has ranged from 12-14 ms for years now. I read that this means something is going on inside me. Do you have any insight into HRV? I’m a 64-year-old male who is in decent health. My Lipoprotein(a) level is 224 mg/dL, but my other heart tests are OK. I play pickleball often, walk a lot, and go to the gym once a week. My heart rate is in the 40s when I’m sleeping and in the 50s when I’m resting. I’m 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weigh 170 pounds. — J.N.J. ANSWER: HRV is a measurement of how steady the heart ...