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Be Careful Who You Vote For

A short story about why voting is important. Eight people are on a bus - three voted to drive off a cliff, two vote to go get ice cream and three do not vote at all because they don’t like either option. They all end up in the same place. The 2025 election results show 2,052,031 people voted in New York City for mayor: 1,034,350 for Zohran Mandani, 853,106 for Andrew Cuomo, 145,880 for Curtis Sliwa, 12,330 for other candidates, and 6,365 for Eric Adams. That equates to only about 25% of the population who voted. So now we have a Democrat Socialist Mayor of New York City. Mandani ...

Just End Bathroom Breaks

DURHAM, N.C.—It’s almost college-basketball season. That means it’s almost time for an annual ritual at a university in this formerly sleepy tobacco town that has become one of the points in North Carolina’s Research Triangle. Duke—which you, faithful reader of the column, will recall rhymes with rebuke, not Luke—has what has come to be known as Krzyzewskiville, named for the men’s basketball team’s retired coach. Starting at the beginning of the spring semester, Duke students will start camping near Cameron Indoor Stadium, the building with the team’s home ...

Learning More About Medication Coverage Through EPIC

Question: I have EPIC, but how do I know when EPIC will help pay for my medications? Answer: First, for those that don’t know what EPIC (Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage) is, this benefit is available to residents of New York state, over age 65 and with an income of less than $75,000 for an individual and $100,000 for a married couple. Individuals and couples can apply for EPIC anytime of the year they meet the stated criteria. Once a member, EPIC will automatically recertify your eligibility using your New York State tax returns. When EPIC is verifying your income and ...

Organizing All That Wonderful ‘Stuff’

I foolishly planned a yard sale. I even hornswoggled Dear Richard into the idea. I’m an idiot. For the past three or four years, we’ve been donating our worthy goods to worthy charities. Simple. Easy. Sensible. Then one day I found a bunch of little things I don’t use and put them in a box for donation. Thereafter, every time I was in a closet, a kitchen drawer, or the garage and found something useless, I’d add it to the box. Hmm. But planning a sale was overwhelming. A truly organized sale would require tackling our jam-packed garage, which was armpit deep in ...

Winter Is On The Way!

I hate to admit it, but winter is on the way! This morning one of the weather prediction sites said that we could have “intermittent snow” next week. I have never been a big winter guy. I think I would be happiest if we had continual rotations of spring and fall - but such is not the case. Winter is a reality, especially around here. A good friend calls me about this time every year to discuss the shortness of days. We both get a little down as the daylight hours get shorter and the nights become longer. But, she is an optimist, and I am more of a pessimist. “Just think,” ...

No Reason Not To Help The Poor

My church, Zion Covenant of Jamestown, is sponsoring a refugee family with seven kids. The father works as a janitor in a public elementary school making $16 an hour. Why is our government threatening their SNAP benefits? Some say the Democrats are at fault, but why is a federal judge ordering the Trump administration to release the contingency funds for SNAP benefits, and not the Democrats? Massachusetts US District Judge Indira Talwani is telling “the administration [that it] must access the contingency funding to pay the benefits and had until (November 3) to report back to the ...