Opinion

WASHINGTON -- Well, how are things going for Vladimir Putin? He has been showing a KGB sleuth’s cunning at warfare for over a year now, and he has been doing it against an enemy who is outgunned and outnumbered. Oh yes, and by the way, that enemy is also winning the war. All Putin’s forces have been able to win is the battle for Bakhmut, and Putin had to empty out a prison or two to do it. Of late, his finest soldiers have been convicts, and they generally take a bullet in the head to demonstrate their valor. The Russian casualty list has run to roughly 50,000 dead, and God knows how many wounded.

Dear Annie: My mom has had several strokes and is now living with us. She has problems seeing out of one eye. No one else will step up to take care of her. Our arrangement was that she pays for extra things she wants -- nails, haircuts, new clothes. And, oh, yeah, did I mention she smokes like crazy? Which her doctor has told her repeatedly to stop, as have we. They aren’t allowed in the house, so she sits on our front porch and it smells like a cigarette factory. She refuses to do anything around the house. Her bedroom and bathroom are a mess until I clean them on the weekend.

Every summer has an obsession. The best ones are inconsequential.

Polls show that voters are not thrilled at the prospect of a Trump vs. Biden rerun in the 2024 presidential election. That makes the idea of a fresh third-party candidate more interesting. One might think the media would enjoy a curveball, but there’s one big problem: Democrats think a third-party ticket would sink President Joe Biden.

Dear Annie: My husband and I are low-income, but he doesn’t want his adult children to know. Sadly, he lost an enormous amount of money about 12 years ago (to bad investments) and is quite embarrassed by it.

Dear Editor, Our society’s perceptions of addiction often lead us down a path that paints it as an irremediable disease—a belief steeped in pessimism. This viewpoint fosters stigma, obscures understanding, and discourages meaningful intervention for the range of negative behaviors and health issues resulting from substance abuse.

Hello, humans, from the new Anthropocene epoch! Yes, this is our chance to be remembered on rock layers for all time. The long, hot summer the hottest July days ever on Earth -- is evidence that humans changed the sweet nature of, well, Nature.

Dear Annie: I would like to add to your advice to the mom whose 22-year-old daughter wants to move into her own apartment. Based on past experience, “Distressed About Departing Dependent” is worried that her daughter will soon be asking her for money to pay rent, which she is unable to provide. Your advice was to support her in other ways, but “if she asks for cash, tell her no, and stick to it.” The baby bird needs to learn to fly on her own. Good advice, but wrong timing.

The Hollywood screenwriters picketing studios since May know that having famous actors beside them brings more attention to their cause. And the media got real interested in their strike when they could write headlines like “Hollywood Stars Join the Writers’ Picket Line.”

Today is the 200th day of 2023 and the 29th day of summer. TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1848, the first women’s rights convention in the U.S.