November 2021

Are dentists introducing teens to opioids?

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When parents warn their children about drug exposure, they tell them tales of the danger of peer pressure from teenagers in murky basements or from the dark corners of the bleachers during a high school football game. Coming-of-age movies portray swimming pools full of teens drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana while the protagonist dodges bad influences like a spy weaving through radioactive laser beams. The reality for many American teenagers, however, doesn’t align with popular narratives. Firsttime drug use often begins somewhere far more fluorescent: the dentist’s chair.

Kyle Rittenhouse’s Offense: Insufficiently Respecting Rioters

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Why the hatred of Kyle Rittenhouse? Why was there such widespread dishonest news coverage of the case against him that his acquittal by the Kenosha, Wisconsin, jury came as an unwelcome surprise to so many? For example, so-called comedian Stephen Colbert’s recent comment (“If he didn’t break the law, we should change the law”) shows he’s ready to jettison the ancient right of self-defense.

Dear Annie

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Dear Annie: Please tell “Ready to Die” that she can get disability payments because she has a mental health disorder. The problem is that people tell the disability examiners how badly they feel. But that is not the examiner’s job to assess. They want to know how dysfunctional your daily life is.