Opinion

Resist WHO Power Grab: Spread the Word and Support SB426 What if someone told you in 2019 that a pandemic would soon have the world in lockdown; churches, schools and locally owned shops would have to close while liquor stores and big box stores could remain open; healthy people would be required to cover their faces; “breathable” cotton masks would be deemed an appropriate barrier for a virus; medicines used without issue worldwide would be identified as “dangerous” therapeutics; while experimental MRNA technology and previously determined harmful pharmaceuticals would be used and even mandated? Would you have believed that those predictions could be true? In 2020 and the years that followed many have come to understand that “trust the science” is actually synonymous with “don’t ask questions and trust the political narrative.” With the benefit of hindsight, we must now turn our attention to the latest power grab by the World Health Organization (WHO) to claim sovereignty over our personal health autonomy. The WHO Pandemic Agreement and International Health Regulations amendments are expected to pass the World Health Assembly at the end of May, and while final drafts have not yet been released, from drafts released over the past three years we can determine that the WHO, as a body created under the United Nations (UN) and funded in part by the World Economic Forum (WEF), aims to expand on and solidify the tyranny we glimpsed during COVID.

Dear Annie: My mother, who is now 62, has always been a dominant personality, keen on having things go her way. I’m 34, an independent graphic designer, and I pride myself on being selfsufficient and creative. But every time I share aspects of my life with her -- be it career choices, romantic partners or even smaller decisions like adopting a pet -- she critiques them, often unsolicitedly, making me second- guess my decisions. Her disapproval, which is always veiled as concern, is making me not want to be around her.

It was nearly 50 years ago that a liberal Congress completely dominated by Democrat big spenders passed a new set of budget rules -- the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. It has been a complete and unmitigated disaster.

The Biden administration recently stopped a plan to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes. The excellent arguments for why they are dangerous were overcome by good arguments for why making them illegal didn’t make sense.

The current demonstrations on college campuses against Israel remind some of the unrest on college campuses during the 1960s. But the comparison is not a good one.

Dear Annie: My friend “Emily” and I go way back to our college days, when we used to share absolutely everything with each other -- the good, the bad and the ugly. She recently got a promotion at work (she works for a well-known accounting firm), something I know she’s been dreaming of for a while. Of course, I’m super happy for her, but things between us have kind of shifted since then.

The Luncheon Society intrigued me by its very name. My grandmother attended women’s society “luncheons.” So how could I refuse a Zoom invitation (“you might enjoy”) out of the ether to join a virtual conversation mixing yesteryear and tomorrow? Speakers and guests are all over the map.

This is not directly about the issues animating the “pro-Palestinian” demonstrations at many colleges. Rather it’s about the air of privilege filling the sails of hypocrisy on which many ride.

Dear Annie: I have a question I hear many people ask about wedding gifting. The old rule of thumb was the gift should cover the plate.