Opinion

Today is the 227th day of 2023 and the 56th day of summer. TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1483, the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel was consecrated.

Dear Annie: I don’t know how to break up with my hairdresser. I have been going to him for five years and my hair has never looked better. However, during the past year or so, things have changed, and I am no longer happy with his service.

The numbers are in. The Inflation Reduction Act has, in fact, helped to reduce inflation. The most recent numbers from the Federal Reserve show year-overyear inflation standing at just 3%. When the Inflation Reduction Act was passed one year ago, inflation stood at a whopping 9%. The legislation helped achieve this dramatic decline through specific policies to reduce costs in two critical sectors of the economy: energy and health care.

Let’s take a time out from reports of indictments and threats of impeachment, from nostalgia for the 1940s days of American scientific creativity and ability to get big things done fast (“Oppenheimer”) and the 1950s days of American popular culture appealing to every cultural subgroup without the trigger warnings and apologies for past national misdeeds.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines sat before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last March and calmly explained why Communist China is no friend of the United States. “(T)he People’s Republic of China -- which is increasingly challenging the United States economically, technologically, politically, and militarily around the world -- remains our unparalleled priority,” she said.

Dear Annie: I’ve noticed that in many of your responses, you recommended seeking marriage counseling. I wanted to tell you that people in abusive relationships should not get couples counseling together, as there is a power imbalance and abusers can use therapy against the abused partner. If the therapist is not aware of the abuse, the whole therapeutic process can be compromised. As written on the website for the National Domestic Violence Hotline, “We at The Hotline do not encourage anyone in an abusive relationship to seek counseling with their partner. Abuse is not a relationship problem.”

America’s political scribes would do us a favor if they would drop the word “storied” before the name “Kennedy.” America does not have families that are royal, storied or otherwise special because of the circumstances of members’ birth. Or it shouldn’t.

The Kids Online Safety Act Imposes an Amorphous ‘Duty of Care’That Would Compromise Anonymous Speech and Restrict Access to Constitutionally Protected Content Late last month, a Senate committee considered a 50-page bill with a name that includes the word “kids” and approved it unanimously. Those two facts alone are enough to raise the suspicion that legislators are heading down a winding road toward a destination they only dimly perceive.

Dear Annie: I am currently married with no kids. I travel a lot for work and vacation. The issue is my wife’s sister, her husband and their kids. Three years ago, my wife and I allowed them to move into our home because their living situation was not great. They shared a small apartment that was overrun with rats and cockroaches. We told them that they could stay until they were able to get back on their feet. This was only supposed to be six months to a year. Annie, it’s been three years in counting with no end in sight.

With Mike Pence now qualifying for the Republican debate in Milwaukee on Aug. 23, there are now eight candidates qualified to participate.