Opinion

This week, Western nations have been trying to rebuff Russia’s threats to invade Ukraine for the second time in eight years. The talks between the United States, NATO, European officials, and their Russian counterparts in Geneva are an effort to tamp down Moscow’s military blackmail – and prevent another Kremlin effort to change European boundaries by violence.

Dear (Your-Name-Here) Foundation: I have a plan. Your part is to help.

How do you teach a child to understand something you have never quite understood? Growing up in a big Southern family, I knew what I wanted to be someday: A grandmama. I loved my parents.

With all of the negative excitement of 2021, I doubt if many of us are too sad to begin a new year with hopes of improvement. Given the effects of illness and the rise of other uncertainties, I know most of you would not have predicted such a strong rebound in the stock market. Let’s review those results and make some observations about 2022.

Editor’s note: This is a favorite Anne Dear column from a few years ago. Have you ever felt that you’ve time-warped somehow while reading “Government-Speak” or Bureaucrababble? I seem to have had a week of it.

While all facts are true, not all facts are relevant. And what are the relevant facts in this crisis where 100,000 Russian troops are now stationed along the Ukrainian border? Fact one: There is not now and never has been a vital U.S.