Opinion

Spousal and Survivors Benefits for Men In the past 27 years, I bet I have written hundreds of columns explaining spousal and widows benefits that are available to women on a husband’s Social Security account. And usually if I have enough space, I try to squeeze in a line that says the same benefits are available to husbands and widowers, even though I know those benefits to men are rarely paid.

Joe Biden’s weaknesses are obvious, but the State of the Union last Thursday and the president’s $7.3 trillion budget proposal this week are reminders of just how tough he can be. Biden isn’t simply an old politician, he’s an old-fashioned one -- the kind who believes in buying the vote.

Dear Annie: I come from a long history of family dysfunction. Child abuse, toxicity and abandonment are all I ever knew growing up. I developed severe complex PTSD and borderline personality disorder coming into my preteen years. I remember the blame was solely on me for my severe depression, suicide attempts and deep-seated suffering from my adoptive parents.

It’s time. Super Tuesday is over, and America is deep into an election season faced with two very familiar candidates. It’s time to take stock of our collective values and decide how we plan to support those beliefs in our actions. I’m not just talking about how you plan to vote;I’m talking about how you plan to live every day as a member of this community.

Today is the 73rd day of 2024 and the 84th day of winter. T ODAY’S HISTORY: In 1781, German-born astronomer William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus.

Dear Annie: Sixteen years ago, I separated from my wife, as we were headed toward a divorce. Her father, “Bob,” just lost it; he was so angry over the divorce. He swore to me that he would do everything he could and spend his last dime to take my sons away from me. He did his best to ruin my career, to no avail. However, through paying for cruises (seven to date), much money spent and careful manipulation, he has been able to take my sons away from me.

Reading the “fact-checkers” in the press sometimes triggers memories of the comic book hero Plastic Man, who could contort into all sorts of shapes. Take the Associated Press, and immigration reporter Elliot Spagat in San Diego.

Every so often lawmakers decide to monkey around with the state’s open records laws and make changes that adversely affect the public’s right to know. So in honor of our nation’s Sunshine Week, this seems a fitting time to point out how one of the Legislature’s bright ideas to “improve” our Open Records Act has backfired spectacularly.

Dear Annie: I have a longtime friend who has serious trouble with gifts. It is very difficult to give her anything because she insists on “evening the score” by responding with a gift back to the giver. For instance, we comfortably exchanged token holiday gifts at my place, but my husband learned she liked a certain special candy we had on hand, so he gave her a box. She tried to turn down this gift and even checked on her phone to see what it had cost.

The headlines coming out of the Super Tuesday primaries have got it right. Barring cataclysmic changes, Donald Trump and Joe Biden will be the Republican and Democratic nominees for president in 2024.