Opinion

A lot of smart voices seem afraid to say outright that homeless mentally ill people should be taken off the streets, forcibly if necessary. They may easily agree that the sad humans sleeping on grates and under bridges would benefit from coming indoors for medical care and other social services. But they can’t concede that the public’s right to use sidewalks, parks and train stations should trump a homeless person’s desire to take over those spaces.

Dear Annie: I was a lousy husband. Not because of physical or emotional abuse but because of ignorance. I grew up in a household where I never heard my father tell my mother he loved her. I never heard him give her a compliment or ask her opinion.

The Most Disturbing Aspect of the ‘Twitter Files’ Is the Platform’s Cozy Relationship With Federal Officials Demanding Suppression of Speech They Consider Dangerous From the outside, Twitter’s content moderation decisions look haphazard at best. From the inside, they look worse, especially because government officials play an unseemly and arguably unconstitutional role in shaping those decisions.

The noise of democracy fills the Capitol, while across First Street, the sound of silence rules at the Supreme Court. “The Nine” members are cloistered from all that.

My Holiday Gift Ideas for You My holiday gift guide doesn’t include a box of chocolates or tickets for a Caribbean cruise. This is a boring old Social Security column, after all, so my gift suggestions are related to that government pension program.

Dear Annie: I am writing in hopes that you can provide a different and fresh perspective. I have two sons: “George,” 28, and “Fred,” 35. George has lived with us on and off for the past 10 years. I call him my “boomerang kid.” He has finally landed a decent job, and we are giving him six more months of living with us to get his finances in order so that he can get a place of his own.

Politico Europe, a publication marinated in green politics, has named Russian President Vladimir Putin as one of its “power players of the year” -- for, in the publication’s words, “advancing Europe’s green agenda.”

Almost nobody likes Kyrsten Sinema. Some 57% of Arizona Democrats hold an unfavorable view of their U.S. senator, who just declared herself an Independent. Republicans dislike her almost as much, according to the AARP poll. Independents are more mixed but give her a minus-10 approval rating.

In 1799, George Washington died at Mount Vernon, his home in Virginia. In 1819, Alabama was admitted as the 22nd U.S.

Last month, the flu hit our house and even though I’ve had my flu vaccine, I was sick for a solid two weeks. My cough lingered even longer. I have psoriatic arthritis. The biologic medication I take to treat it is an immunosuppressant drug. I had to stop my medication, so my body needed a fighting chance against the flu.