“Big Brother Is Watching You.” That was the pervasive punch line in British writer George Orwell’s novel “1984.” Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, after considerable conflict, gives the colorful capitalist an opportunity to change the notoriously dictatorial social media giant. Orwell, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, was a committed socialist.
DEAR ABBY: I’m a middle-aged married man and the father of two. Although I work as a banker, I’m also an aspiring pianist. I have practiced two to three hours a day for many years. My music is unique -- unlike anything ever heard. My wife of 18 years does not appreciate my music. She never comments on it, never pays a compliment and never supports me about it.
DEAR ABBY: My dear friend “Rose’s” husband died five years ago, and since then she has struggled with grief and loneliness. She immersed herself in her church, friends and family. We usually talked three to five times per week and we traveled together.
DEAR ABBY: I have been raising my daughter’s first child. “Joey” is 10, and he has been living with my husband and me full time for four years. I love him very much and enjoy being his “mom,” but I’m not good at helping him with homework. My daughter doesn’t have time for him. She has two other kids with a different dad. The stepdad has no desire to be a dad to Joey.
DEAR ABBY: Since my divorce, I have started dating again. I was seeing a firefighter until I realized he was married with kids. Yes, I was angry with him for hiding the truth from me from the start. Then I started dating another guy I thought was the one for me. I even had him move in with me.
There is a moving and shaking in America Dear editor, Needful reminder: I am not a prophet or the son of a prophet; I am not a human Richter scale; however, I daily encounter ordinary people, here and elsewhere, that validate my belief that something long-since hoped for is about to happen. Truth is springing up everywhere like fresh green flowers after a drought-breaking rain.
DEAR ABBY: I’m having a problem with my husband’s judgmental and narcissistic stepmom. She wasn’t nice to him or his siblings while they were growing up. My hubby recently had a heart attack. After I called to tell his dad and emailed his siblings, she got very upset with me because I didn’t give her the details first so she could disseminate the information. She also demanded to visit immediately after his surgery and got nasty with me on the phone when I told her she couldn’t come in with Dad because the hospital allowed only two visitors at a time. Now she won’t speak to me or answer emails. This isn’t the first time she has done this. She always looks for the worst and gives no grace. You can’t discuss anything with her because she gaslights and takes no responsibility. This affects my husband’s relationship with his elderly father, whom she poisons with her vitriol, especially regarding his children by his first wife.
DEAR ABBY: Right before the COVID pandemic began, I was working in D.C. and met a man who lives there.
Dear editor, Tis the season for political ads, and they offend! They irritate me for many reasons beginning with what they include and ending with what they don’t! As for the former, they can be summarized in a phrase: they assume the U.S. Congress is one big fight arena, and the candidates for office we are voting on must somehow be ready for a ‘fight!’
DEAR ABBY: I just attended my son’s wedding. He married a wonderful woman, and I couldn’t be happier for them. However, I was not acknowledged during their wedding reception, which deeply saddened me.