Opinion

Dear Annie: I am the proud owner of a flip cellphone, and I probably wouldn’t have it if public telephones still existed. I use about 100 minutes a month and have sent, in my lifetime, no more than 300 text messages, most of them one or two words in response to a text sent to me. I use no data. I still use physical maps to navigate car trips.

I write this on a MacBook Pro running on a hotspot off my iPhone. I love Apple. In first grade, I got to work on an Apple II. By third grade, our school had an Apple IIe. By fourth grade, we had a computer lab filled with Apple IIe’s where we learned to type, learned the programming language Logo, and learned how to use AppleWorks. In sixth grade, we had BASIC programming on an Apple IIe. By eighth grade, we were rolling over to Macs and I fell in love with an Apple IIGS.

Today is the 347th day of 2022 and the 83rd day of autumn. TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1577, Sir Francis Drake left England on a three-year voyage around the world.

Dear Annie: In 1996, I met a man while traveling. At the time, I was a single mom of three in a new city and state away from family. I was struggling with finances, child care and transportation. My family and I weren’t close and had many disagreements, so I moved far away. When I arrived at my destination, this man got off with me and did not continue his journey.

The right is positively giddy over the so-called Twitter files. House Republicans called a press conference to declare that their very top priority will be investigating Hunter Biden’s laptop. Rep. Elise Stefanik promised in July that if given the majority, Republicans would get “accountability” from the “Biden crime family.” The victim narrative that big Tech rigged the 2020 election by suppressing the Hunter laptop story -- is all the rage on the right.

When John Quincy Adams was informed by a committee that he was elected president by the House of Representatives, for the first and only time through the procedure set by the 12th Amendment of the Constitution, he responded in writing. “The answer was not very gracious,” writes historian George Dangerfield. “If it were possible, wrote Mr. Adams, by declining the office to cause an immediate election that would bring about a clearer result, he would gladly do so. But since this was not Constitutionally permissible, he accepted the Presidency.”

Democrats are missing the moment. Instead of going after Elon Musk for defending free speech and being transparent with the public about the alarming censorship and election interference that took place at Twitter during the 2020 election, they should be working alongside Republicans to investigate Big Tech.

Dear Annie: I have been friends with “Jasmine” for over 50 years. Jasmine has trouble dealing with loss, often grieving for decades. Last year, she lost her dog. She sits and cries every night. I understand that loss is harder for some than others, but Jasmine is so angry. She has cut off contact with long-time friends for saying things like, “You all outlive your pets,” and, “At least you still have your family.”

Cryptocurrencies were born out of the libertarian dream of a financial system free from government regulation. Bitcoin’s promoters peddle its ability to let us make transactions without dealing with regulated banks, which, they say, we are not supposed to trust.

WASHINGTON -- It’s beginning to look a lot like...Washington. After years of trauma, the capital feels back to itself for Christmas.