Opinion

It was nearly 50 years ago that Edward Markey, then the lowliest of Massachusetts state legislators, challenged the legislative old guard by pushing through judicial reform measures that ended a gravy train for ethically suspect politicos and their allies. Displeased at Markey in the extreme, the legislative leadership retaliated against him by ostentatiously stripping him of his office, forcing him to sit in the hallway.

Once again, the nation is traumatized by horrible video of police brutally beating to death a Black man. Need I note the victim was Black? Would we be less or more traumatized if the victim were white?

Dear Annie: Each year, I send my sister’s three adult children gifts. The youngest does not thank me unless prompted.

A $2.1 Million Penalty for Failing to File a Form on Time Reveals the Agency’s True Nature As tax season begins, the IRS is making a show of using its newly expanded budget to improve the agency’s “customer service,” mainly by trying to answer the questions of perplexed taxpayers more than 13% of the time. Its biggest challenge will be persuading Americans that they qualify as customers of the IRS in any meaningful sense.

Political news pounces on any poll suggesting Republicans’ preference for the 2024 presidential candidate. Little attention has landed on the Democratic side, where the numbers have been quite interesting.

WASHINGTON -- The song, now almost an anthem I believe, begins thus: “Are you a boy, or are you a girl? “With your long blond hair you look like a girl. “Yeah, you look like a girl.

Dear Annie: I never thought I would need to reach out for advice regarding my marriage, but here I am. I’ve been with my wife for 12 years. It’s the second marriage for both of us. There’s a 14-year age gap between us. She has two children from her previous marriage, and I have two as well. With the exception of one, all of our children are now out of the home and creating new and exciting life memories for themselves.

It was during my son’s kindergarten readiness screening that his teacher discovered his love of reading. He left her classroom that summer day with the first book of “The Magic Treehouse” series in hand. It was from her classroom library, and she said he could return it when school started. This, dear reader, is the function of a classroom library: the chance for a child to feel seen, supported and proud.

Dear Annie: I’m a 32-yearold single woman facing a predicament. I’ve been friends with a guy named “Stan” for a few months, though we haven’t actually talked in over a month now. We were acquainted in high school, but we lost touch after a short while. Stan and I went on a couple of dates, and I thought things were going well, but then he asked if we could just be friends. If we hadn’t ALMOST hooked up, I would’ve been fine with this, but because I thought he was still interested in me as more than a friend, it took me by surprise, but I agreed to it.

Imagine that you are the parent of a 15-year-old girl and discover that her school has been concealing her daytime behavior from you. Your daughter has joined a far-right Mormon spin-off cult, believes in plural marriage, has spoken of dropping out of school to get married, and declines to participate in physical education because wearing gym clothes violates her religious beliefs. Is it possible to imagine that any public school would keep parents in the dark in a case like that?