Breaking News

Local Columns

What to do when the doctor is not in

My doctor is retiring. I am heartbroken. For 30 years, he’s been the first line of defense. A strange pain here? Give him a call. A stomach issue there? Give him a call. Time for a physical? Give him a call. Need a vaccine? Give him a call. For 30 years, whenever something ailed me, I would drive to his office, step on the scale, have my blood pressure taken, then sit in the tidy exam room until the door opened and he entered with a smile -- and my file. Over the years, I’ve watched that file thicken, from a few thin papers to the size of a toaster box. He needs two hands to ...

Missing a home for insects in Austria

Here in the U.S. I miss all the hustle and bustle of the many insects that visit my Austrian country house every year. So far, I have only seen three brimstone butterflies, as well as a few bees and wasps. But I’ve come across lots and lots of mowers. If I ever thought that grass couldn’t be cut any shorter, Americans taught me otherwise. I feel like as soon as the first flower cautiously dares to grow, the mower is brought out, and since people are at it, they cut the rest of their lawn too. To be fair though: if my mom moved here, nobody would notice that she was from abroad. ...

Resist dangerous political theater

Too many politicians are thespians. When there’s a conflict -- as there often is -- between appearing to solve problems and actually helping to solve those problems, politicians can almost always be counted on to put appearance over substance. Unfortunately, politicians succumb to this bias even when their theatrics make real problems worse. Consider French President Emmanuel Macron’s boast last week that his government banned many flights between cities within 2.5 hours of each other by rail. Nothing today is more en vogue than climate theatrics, sometimes at the expense of ...

Two-thirds of new cars will be EVs in nine years? That will not happen.

By George F. Will WASHINGTON — Because multiple subsidies seem insufficient to lure multitudes into buying electric vehicles, President Biden is resorting to a labyrinthine industrial policy to supply what people are not demanding. A purchaser of an EV is eligible for tax credits of up to $7,500, if: If final assembly of the vehicle occurred in North America. And if a minimum of 40 percent (80 percent by 2027) of the minerals in the battery, and 50 percent (100 percent by 2029) percent of the vehicle's components come from the United States or a country with which it has a "free ...

Jail shoplifters for sake of shoppers

Brazen shoplifting is hurting all of us. I’m brushing with bubble gum-flavored children’s toothpaste because it takes too long to get a clerk at the pharmacy to unlock the adult toothpaste. Before the shoplifting scourge, shoppers could actually browse and read product labels. Target, Home Depot and other retailers announced last week that they are taking big hits to their profits because of double-digit increases in theft nationwide. That’s after hiking prices on consumers. When the guy next to you loads a bag with whatever merchandise isn’t locked up and walks out ...

Technology tricks us, but we are our own gadgets

I recently forgot that I have a neck. It happened as I backed out of a grocery store parking space. I noticed my car’s rearview camera lens was so dirty that I could no longer see through it. I started to panic, worried I was going to hit someone. But I was already halfway out of the spot! It was hopeless! What could I do? “Wait,” I suddenly realized. “I can just … turn my head and look behind me.” It turns out that, all along, my head has been equipped with its very own rearview camera. But that’s how technology works. We think it makes our lives easier, but it ...