Articles filed under Columnists

The Mom Stop: Pen, paper ready for kids quips

There's a common saying that "kids say the darndest things" -- in fact, there was a TV comedy series by the same name during the late 1990s, where children were asked questions and their comedic answers were aired. It's a show concept that first appeared in the earliest days of television, on "Art Linkletter's House Party" from the 1940s to the 1960s.

Lydia Seabol Avant More Content Now Feb 14, 2017 9:33 AM

Suzette Martinez Standring: Vietnam: The healing effect of anti-war protest

I am in Vietnam where Americans are warmly welcomed. Odd. I'm 62 and I recall TV images of brutal jungle warfare. From 1964 to 1973 about 2 million tons of American bombs were dropped. As a teenager, I learned about napalm and Agent Orange. Most of all, I remember the anti-war protests. Apparently, so do the Vietnamese, and it has gone a long way toward healing. I traveled from Hanoi to Danang to Ho Chi Minh City (It's still "Saigon" to locals) where Americans are regarded well. Puzzling. Is it because a younger Vietnamese generation has forgotten? In Hanoi, a 32-year-old tells me her grandparents spent years in a "re-education camp" after the Americans left. Near Danang, another knows a child who is deformed from Agent Orange. In Saigon, an older man nurses his father, long disabled from torture. The war is not irrelevant.

Suzette Martinez Standring More Content Now Feb 14, 2017 10:39 AM

Shayne Looper: Living with courage, dying with dignity

What does it take to die with dignity? If one looks at the website of the "Death with Dignity National Center" and "Death with Dignity Political Fund," one will assume that a death with dignity involves certain standard components, among them: The absence of debilitating pain, the ability to care for one's personal needs, and the ability to avoid placing a financial and/or emotional burden on family and friends. I believe that euthanasia laws are wrongheaded for a variety of reasons, but that is not my concern here. As a pastor and a former Hospice Spiritual Care Coordinator, I'm bothered by the idea that a person's death will lack dignity unless she short-circuits the dying process by artificial means. The implication is that people who die in great pain and those who live without the ability to handle their personal care have lost their dignity.

Shayne Looper More Content Now Feb 14, 2017 9:45 AM

Mark L. Hopkins: Why did the U.S. Constitution need the Second Amendment?

This preoccupation with the Second Amendment began a few months back when I wrote a column entitled "Guns don't kill people. Really?" The amount of interest in that topic directed me to do additional research on the subject and every avenue pointed back to the key question. Why did we need a militia/gun amendment added to the Constitution? As is true with most momentous decisions in the life of our country, to fully understand why something was done we must study the times in which such decisions were made. The "why" of the Second Amendment in the 1780s is very different from answering that same question in 2017. The United States was a very different country in the years following the Revolution than it is today. When President Washington first took office two key challenges faced him and the leadership in congress.

Mark L. Hopkins Feb 13, 2017 10:10 AM

In Fashion: Rock out summer festival style

Summer means rocking out at your favorite festivals where you can free your inner fashion spirit with the best of a boho beat. So take some time to get your cool on with these hot looks that have plenty of edgy attitude:

Sharon Mosley Creators Syndicatef Feb 8, 2017 12:01 PM

Breaking Bread: Share the tale of your worst cooking disaster

Not too long ago, someone asked me whether I ever make mistakes in the kitchen.

Lisa Abraham More Content Now Feb 8, 2017 9:34 AM

Lost in Suburbia: The Psychic Wives Network

After almost 25 years of marriage, my husband and I have finally figured out why sometimes, we have trouble communicating: He can't read my mind. I know. I was shocked, too. But there it was. And the sad fact was, I was enlightened over a bag of garbage. One morning I came downstairs to find a bag of garbage sitting near the back door, exactly where I had left it the previous night (the garbage, not the door). Incensed, I called my husband who'd already left for work. "You left the garbage next to the door!" I accused him. "What garbage?" "The one I left for you next to the door." "Yeah, you mentioned that," he said. "I didn't notice it." "How could you not notice it?" I asked him. "You would have had to physically move it to open the door." "I don't know, honey. I was in a hurry. I guess you wanted me to take it out?" "No. It was a reminder that today is garbage pick-up day and you needed to bring the cans to the end of the driveway." "And I would know this, how?" he wondered. "BECAUSE I LEFT THE GARBAGE NEXT TO THE DOOR!" I explained. It made perfect sense to me, but my husband said he couldn't possibly have known this unless he could read my mind. I was flabbergasted. Clearly, if there was a bag of garbage next to the door, anyone with half a brain would realize that it meant it was a reminder for garbage pick-up day … assuming, of course, that you were Nostradamus or the Long Island Medium. Thinking about it, I realized that we'd had other situations where I expected him to do something without my telling him to do it, and then, surprisingly he didn't do it. Then, of course, I'd get mad that he didn't do it, and he, of course, wouldn't have the slightest idea why I was mad because I never asked him to do it in the first place. Follow that? Honestly, though, I had always figured that while he might not actually be able to read my mind, my husband had a pretty good idea of what I was thinking most of the time. When we were dating, he realized that I wanted to get married without me actually saying so … although I think the pictures of engagement rings I left on his desk might have helped. And then there was the time that I wanted to have a baby. He picked up on that one just as soon as I waved the pregnancy test stick with the big plus sign on it under his nose. I suppose the fact that he always seemed to know what I wanted had less to do with being able to read my mind and more to do with knowing how to navigate the marital waters so he didn't sink into the irate wife abyss. After consulting my crystal ball, I decided I might be better off simply asking my husband to do things, rather than expecting him to telepathically figure it out. Satisfied with this radical new approach to my marriage, I went off to the bedroom to begin packing for our vacation. As I was trying on a new swimsuit my husband walked in. "Wow! You look fantastic in that!" he exclaimed. He may not be psychic, but he's certainly no dummy. -- For more Lost in Suburbia, follow Tracy on Facebook at facebook.com/LostinSuburbiaFanPage or on Twitter at @TracyBeckerman.

Tracy Beckerman More Content Now Feb 8, 2017 9:23 AM

Energy Express: Me? Stressed? March back to work with DIY strategies

I didn't need a new survey from the world's largest temporary-job agency to tell me that working people are feeling stressed. Who isn't? The genius who fixes my car; the bag-packer at Whole Paycheck; the stranger on the running path struggling to keep up with her two poodles and a Pomeranian: Everyone, everywhere I go, is reporting more anxiety, more tension and less energy. And most people are complaining without even being asked. These are stressful times. And the ever present, wildly alarming drumbeat of "What's Really Happening in America?" isn't helping one bit.

Marilynn Preston Creators Syndicate Feb 8, 2017 12:05 PM

Tales From the Front: The week is fine, but the weekends are hell

Dear Cheryl: I've been married for seven years, and I have a 2-year-old and another baby on the way. It's been a particularly hard year. My husband was fired; we had to move a month ago; he is now working full-time; and I gave up a part-time job I adored. Before, he worked part-time and did art in his free time. The stress has been enormous.

Cheryl Lavin Creators Syndicate Feb 8, 2017 11:57 AM

Dr. Elaine Heffner: Say you're sorry

When a child's behavior annoys, or hurts another, one often hears the adult on the scene instruct the offender to "Say you're sorry." Yet, at times, the seeming offender is in his or her mind, retaliating for an earlier injury received from the supposed victim.

Dr. Elaine Heffner More Content Now Feb 7, 2017 9:54 AM