Posts Tagged With ‘ Personalities ’

When I worked at The Anchorage Times during the 1980s, I was fortunate to get my dream job writing a consumer action column. However, along with the job as columnist, I also had to be the religion editor. It meant that every week, I had to write a big feature article on religion along with compiling the Church Circuit, a listing of religious events in the anchorage area for that week. In 1986, I interviewed Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of ‘When Bad Things Happen to Good People,’ about his new book “When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough.” Kushner was coming to Anchorage to take... Continue Reading

About 100 infants have died in Fisher Price Rock ‘n Play infant sleepers. And, unfortunately, kids are continuing to die because the deadly sleepers are still being used and sold second hand. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is upset with Mattel and Meta for not doing enough to keep the dangerous infant sleepers away from consumers. “At best, CPSC is catching these unlawful products after they have been listed for sale and made available to the public,” CPSC Chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric said in a letter to Meta. “Facebook is uniquely positioned to identify recalled and violative... Continue Reading

Movies continue to be one of the most popular past times in the United States. Joseph Campbell, American author and teacher, called them the great American dream machine. However, in my opinion, movies fall short because they focus so much on violence. For many years, I’ve written about how violence in the media is harmful to children. Despite this finding, movie makers continue to produce violent movies, and, the violence gets worse every year. In this list of the Oscar contenders, my picks are shown in bold. At the end of the article, you’ll find my recommendations listed, along with those... Continue Reading

Presidents’ Day sort of sneaked up on me this year. At times in the past, I’ve written about Presidents’ Day as a time to appreciate our democracy and celebrate the many freedoms we have as a result. As thoughts of democracy come to mind, the war in Ukraine looms large. With President Biden traveling there for the first anniversary of the war, it makes one wonder about the senselessness of war, once again, and how long it will take for this one to end. A day off? Only 24 percent of civilian workers receive a paid holiday for Presidents’ Day. The United States is the only advanced economy... Continue Reading

It’s fun to write my weekly newsletter, Helpful Money Tips for You. It’s free and when you sign up, you’ll get lot of tips to help you with saving money, budgeting, and learning about the latest financial news. Below is the latest copy of my newsletter. As you can see, it has ideas for saving money for Valentine’s Day, on streaming services, and by using appliances more wisely. It was great recently to get a compliment on my newsletter from J. Money of the website Budgets Are Sexy. He said “I just signed up to her newsletter myself – something I rarely do! But how great are these?!... Continue Reading

I don’t know about you, but 2022 went by so fast for me. After four years, I was finally able to get the first draft of the book about my journalism career done, but the printed copy is still elusive. I’m not a person who makes resolutions, but I’ve written about why people make them and how well they work or don’t work. Maybe I’ll try a Word of the Year or the seven-day happiness challenge for 2023. Meanwhile, here’s what my blogger friends are writing about the past and the future: The past When On the Border’s Diane Tolly’s dad was a small boy of 7, he and his next older brother,... Continue Reading

For years, I’ve suggested that consumers consider banking with a credit union rather than a bank. Why? Consumers often can’t trust banks not to gouge them with high interest rates and fees. It was great to listen to President Biden speak on the radio and on television about the action his administration is taking on “junk fees.” Junk fees can weaken market competition, raise costs for consumers and businesses, and hit the most vulnerable Americans hardest. Biden is calling on federal agencies to reduce or eliminate hidden fees, charges, and add-ons from banking services,... Continue Reading

Getting older in America is a challenge many ways. And, it seems that the older I get, the more ageism I face, especially from the medical community. My blogger friends are thinking and writing about aging, too. Here are their thoughts on the topic: Aging Aging is no territory for sissies. The senior years can be challenging. So when Carol Cassara of Carol A. Cassara Writer found herself unusually blue, she decided to unpack what’s going on with a therapist. She’s sharing it on her blog this week in “Why I Looked for a Therapist.” When Tom Sightings of Sightings Over... Continue Reading

Michelle Singletary, financial writer for The Washington Post, has been recommending buying Series I Bonds for months now. Singletary says for investors with money to spare and who are looking for safety, inflation has been good for Series I Bonds, which the Treasury Department announced will be paying 9.62 percent until the end of October. So, I thought I’d try it. I was apprehensive because I’d read so much about how clunky the TreasuryDirect.gov website is. Buyers are advised to have all the needed information at hand when they set up an account: your Social Security number, bank... Continue Reading

I’m fortunate that my first college degree included classes in nutrition. I learned the value of eating fruits and vegetables for health and avoiding junk food. However, the recent debate on low-carb or a vegetarian diet, and dozens of spinoffs, has added confusion for the American public, and even me. A recent proposal by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to allow food companies to add the word “healthy” on their packaging has value, but doesn’t go far enough, in my opinion. The FDA says more than 80 percent of people in the U.S. aren’t eating enough vegetables,... Continue Reading