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This is no longer dysfunction — it is danger

Columns

When a Transportation Security Administration official warns that airports could “quite literally shut down,” we are no longer talking about inconvenience, delays or political theater. We are talking about vulnerability in one of the most sensitive and critical systems in our country. Aviation security is not just another government function. It is a frontline defense. And when that defense shows signs of strain, every American should pay attention. Let’s speak plainly. When security systems are stretched thin, when agents are overwhelmed, when focus is fractured, the margin for ...

Remove triggers for migraines by leading a healthy lifestyle

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: I read your recent column about migraines and strokes. About 40 years ago, I began having occasional visual-interference episodes with zigzags, blurry central vision, and more that lasted for about 30 minutes. My doctor described them as ocular migraines. When I read about migraines, the first possible cause that was listed were preservatives, so I started reading labels. My episodes occurred only after eating food with added nitrites and sulfates. It was very consistent, so I now read labels and avoid them. And thanks to the fact that more foods are now being made ...

The energy policy we could have had

Columns

Oil, oil, oil. The war with Iran has oil prices soaring. And no thanks, President Trump, for your other war, the one against green energy. As Americans freak over gas prices, they are taking another look at electric vehicles. But guess what? Most domestic automakers dropped ambitious investments toward that end, leaving car lots bereft of these gasoline-replacing vehicles, at least American-made ones. It didn’t have to be that way. Barack Obama and Joe Biden launched serious programs to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Trump trashed those ambitious plans to bring Americans ...

Fact vs. fiction on Medicaid and the wealth tax

Columns

I try to be fair to people I disagree with. Emmanuel Saez — the famous UC Berkeley economist who’s considered an architect of California’s proposed billionaire wealth tax — is someone I read carefully, even when I find his income-inequality work unconvincing. So, when I say that his arguments for the wealth tax are not just biased or misleading but egregiously wrong, I’m not being careless. I mean it. In a recent debate at Stanford University, Saez offered his central justification (apart from, you know, “billionaires are unfairly rich”): California’s hospitals need it ...

Dear Annie: When your child becomes the landlord

Columns

Dear Annie: I live with my almost-30-year-old daughter. She acquired our place through a lawsuit settlement. She talks to and treats me like I’m a child and tries to control my life. She often reminds me: “This is my place. I run things.” I could go on and on, but the bottom line is that she constantly makes me feel uneasy in what’s supposed to be my home. Now she’s planning to move to Texas. I don’t want to leave where we live now, but I also don’t want to move with her. I can’t handle her demands anymore, yet I can’t afford to live on my own. Rent is too ...

Some antique furniture features painted art

Columns

The line between furniture and fine art isn’t always clear. Artist Max Kuehne (1880-1968) is known for both. Kuehne was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1894. He took an eclectic, energetic approach to life, trying several different jobs as a young man ...