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Lonely in a lovely town

Columns

Dear Annie: My husband and I recently moved to a new town, and I feel lonelier than I expected to feel at this stage of life. We are new empty nesters. Our youngest left for college in the fall, and not long after that we relocated for my husband’s job. On paper, it made sense. It is a nice area, safe, pretty and full of things people say they love. But most days I feel like I am walking around in someone else’s life. Back home, I knew who I was. I had my routines, my friends, my familiar grocery store, my favorite coffee place where someone would ask how my kids were doing. ...

From humility to grift

Letters to the editor

Ed Satalia State College As our nation approaches its 250th birthday, former President George W. Bush reflected on George Washington’s defining trait: humility. In “For a Leader, Humility Is the Ultimate Strength,” Bush reminded us that Washington understood power as a trust, not a possession. He surrendered command of the Continental Army after the Revolution and stepped down after two presidential terms — choosing country over ego and setting a precedent that shaped the republic. Bush never mentioned Donald Trump. He didn’t have to. Washington relinquished power. ...

State of the Union showcases a gelded Congress

Columns

The president wasted no time getting to his lies. It started in the first minute, when he claimed that: “When I spoke in this chamber 12 months ago, I had just inherited a nation in crisis, with a stagnant economy, inflation at record levels, a wide-open border, horrendous recruitment for military and police, rampant crime at home and wars and chaos all over the world.” None of that is truthful. Economic growth was actually a bit better during Joe Biden’s final year in office (2.8%) than in Trump’s first year (2.2%). In March of last year, inflation was not at “record ...

Dating, equality and breaking old patterns

Columns

Dear Annie: For most of my life, I picked the wrong partners. Over time, I realized it wasn’t bad luck. I was choosing what I had seen, not what I had actually done the work to earn. Those patterns came from my family and the system I grew up in, and I kept recreating them. A few years ago, I left that behind and made a full 180. I simplified my life, built routines and took responsibility for my choices instead of repeating familiar dynamics. The calmer and more grounded my life became, the clearer it was that my old way of dating no longer matched who I am now. To avoid repeating ...

Supreme Court throws out Trump tariffs and upholds Constitution

Columns

So much for the notion that the Supreme Court, with its 6-3 majority of justices appointed by Republican presidents, was going to be a rubber stamp for Donald Trump. That is a frequently voiced charge by partisan Democrats, and a fear of many ambivalent voters who find many of Trump’s policies agreeable but worry about his overreach on policy and personnel. That’s one political meme refuted by the court’s Learning Resources v. Trump decision last Friday, announced after more than the expected delay for the drafting of concurring opinions. The court struck down Trump’s beloved ...

Grotesque can have multiple meanings when antiquing

Columns

The word “grotesque” has a few different meanings in decorative arts. It can be a general descriptor, covering anything strange and macabre. It can be more specific, referring to human faces with distorted features that appear as masks or adorn furniture or pottery. But would you use it to ...