Columns

Paul Payack, president and chief word analyst of the Global Language Monitor, says that “the attempt to remove all bias from language is itself creating biases. It is becoming increasingly difficult to engage in any form of public dialogue without offending someone’s sensitivities, whether right, left or center.” [Full Story »] 

Older people have a reputation for being bad tempered, ogres that no one knows how to handle. Quite a few maladies might explain this ornery condition, especially if a person has suddenly changed character. For a life-long grouch to remain grouchy in old age shocks no one; when a gentle soul totally changes character, we all jump to attention. Such was the case with my father. Daddy, the very epitome of patience and gentleness all my life, changed drastically in his last few years. He’d call me from the nursing home in Lumber City and scream at me, although I’d never before heard him raise his voice. Alzheimers was screaming, not my beloved father. He spent his last years where he could get the care we could not provide. My sister and I visited him almost daily, making sure he never became one of the abandoned ones. [Full Story »] 

Advertisers on television constantly show us how much they love us, the consumers. They will go to incredible lengths to please us. One insurance company will rename itself after the subscriber. We’ll save hundreds of dollars with every single one of them if we switch. They stand in line for hours just to serve us. Just hand over your money, and they’ll prove themselves. In my household, we are grateful for the DVR gadgetry that allows us to skip all these commercials, flipping right through every single one unless something interesting catches our attention. For example, I’ll stop and watch the little white dog take his bone to the bank and then retrieve it. It appeals to me, not because I want to change my insurance to that company, but because the commercial is cute. [Full Story »]