Advice from Carolyn Hax

The chemistry in my nine-month relationship is awesome, the hard work feels minimal, we stay up late and talk often. I’ve always wanted my lover to be my best friend. There’s only one problem: He already has a best friend, his ex-girlfriend of eight years (friend of 17).

Mr. President, the IRS has put a fly in my soup

"Horrible customer service." That's what the newly fired IRS commissioner averred was the agency's only sin in singling out conservative political groups for discriminatory treatment.

Language wars, both French and English, should cease

CHICAGO - I'm into "Missing una investigacion," the latest book by Chilean novelist Alberto Fuguet. I'm reading it in Spanish, since I have to consciously practice my native language or it vanishes. My family speaks English, lest we leave spouses and children out.

Mars journey might bring 'Trek' food replicator to life

NASA can send robots to Mars, no problem. But if it's ever going to put humans on the red planet, it has to figure out how to feed them over a years-long mission.

Defiant NLRB recalls Wallace's school-door stand

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Jolie's decision spotlights gene-patent controversy

Angelina Jolie's genes threatened to kill her. But, for the time being anyway, she doesn't own them.

AP leak case isn't clear instance of gov't overreach

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Overheated climate rhetoric hurts the economy

Climate change is an issue that needs to be discussed thoughtfully and objectively. Unfortunately, claims that distort the facts hinder the legitimate evaluation of policy options.

Senate panel OKs fingerprinting of outgoing immigrants at major airports

WASHINGTON — Every immigrant leaving the United States through one of the 30 biggest airports would have to be fingerprinted by federal authorities under an immigration-reform measure that won early committee approval in the Senate on Monday.

Homeowner relief from banks sorely lags, analysis finds

WASHINGTON - Banks have paid less than half the $5.7 billion in cash owed to troubled homeowners under nearly 30 settlements brokered by the government since 2008, delaying help to the millions of victims of discrimination and shoddy lending that epitomized the housing crisis, according to a…

Homeowner relief from banks sorely lags, analysis finds

WASHINGTON - Banks have paid less than half the $5.7 billion in cash owed to troubled homeowners under nearly 30 settlements brokered by the government since 2008, delaying help to the millions of victims of discrimination and shoddy lending that epitomized the housing crisis, according to a…

Advice from Carolyn Hax

I’m having trouble dealing with my violent niece and nephew, 5 and 7. I have two children of my own a little older. We are a tight family that (mostly, despite this big issue) enjoys hanging out together quite often. It’s common for the 5-year-old to hold my 7-year-old down and just swing punches.

Advice from Carolyn Hax

Carolyn:

Obama agenda is ensuring loss of trust in government

Leaving aside the seriousness of lawlessness, and the corruption of our civic culture by the professionally pious, this past week has been amusing. There was the spectacle of advocates of an ever-larger regulatory government expressing shock about such government's large capacity for misbeha…

Put on wearable tech

Scan any waiting room, and you'll probably get a good survey of the tops of people's heads, with row after row of folks hunched over their smartphones. But heads up: That common sight may change as tech companies bet that users are so attached to their screens, they'll start to wear them.

US, allies must help Libya meet new challenges

BENGHAZI, Libya -

Testers try out Google Glass

Scan any waiting room, and you’ll probably get a good survey of the tops of people’s heads, with row after row of folks hunched over their smartphones. But heads up: That common sight may change as tech companies bet that users are so attached to their screens, they’ll start to wear them.

Housing: Credit-report system punishes short sellers unfairly

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App reviews: 'Angry Bird Friends' can now compete on Facebook

Angry Birds Friends

Future retirees risk downward mobility, report says

The retirement prospects of Americans are slipping for the first time in generations, according to a report released Thursday, adding a new voice to those warning that future retirees face the risk of downward mobility when they leave the workforce.

President gives Marines umbrella duty, takes heat

WASHINGTON - Slogging through a drizzly Rose Garden news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President Obama took a break to ask for some rain protection.

Advice from Carolyn Hax

My lovely, 23-year-old daughter is a romantic and wants to marry the young man she is dating.My daughter lives alone, pays her bills, and is learning how to be a responsible adult. Her boyfriend lives with his parents (who fully promote this relationship) and has an entry-level job, so has n…

Damning Benghazi facts need no GOP hype

WASHINGTON

Scandals look bad, but let's keep some perspective

WASHINGTON

Report: US spy wigs haven't changed for decades

MOSCOW - All that low-tech equipment that Russian security officers displayed for the TV cameras after detaining Ryan Fogle, American diplomat and alleged spy, made it look as though he stepped right out of the annals of 1980s Cold War espionage.

Terrorists board planes under witness program

WASHINGTON - An investigation of the Justice Department's witness-protection program uncovered glaring security problems that allowed terrorists who had been given new identities after cooperating with U.S. prosecutors to board commercial flights in the United States.

New on DVD

"Cloud Atlas" (R, 172 minutes, Warner): At its simplest, "Cloud Atlas" tells the interlocking stories of several characters over a 500-year span. How these disparate players intersect becomes the labyrinthine game, in which each story line gets its own distinctive look and tone. Those visual…

Watergate's lessons are as fresh today as 40 years ago

'He has, acting personally and through his subordinates and agents, endeavored to ... cause, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, income tax audits or other income tax investigations to be initiated or conducted in a discriminatory manner."

GOP's problem with Hispanics is one of perception

CHICAGO -

Billie Sol Estes, who put the 'art' in 'con artist,' dies

Billie Sol Estes, a colorful and unapologetic Texas wheeler-dealer who boasted of his political connections even as he went to prison two times for fraud, died Tuesday at his home in DeCordova, Texas. He was 88.

The other scandal: IRS failure to scrutinize political groups groups

Sputtering adjectives - outrageous, appalling, intolerable - can scarcely do justice to the fiasco involving the Internal Revenue Service's reported targeting of conservative groups.

Media, tea party coalesce around common enemy

Breaking news: Conservative organizations suddenly have found common cause with one of their favorite objects of contempt - the benighted Mainstream Media.

AP faults Justice for secretly obtaining phone records

WASHINGTON - In a sweeping and unusual move, the Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of journalists working for The Associated Press as part of a yearlong investigation into the disclosure of classified information about a failed al-Qaida plot last year.

'Scandal' deflects substantive issues of Benghazi

Remember the scandal of "the 16 words"? If not, the quick version is this: A former ambassador named Joseph C. Wilson IV charged in 2003 that President George W. Bush had included in his State of the Union address a (16-word) allegation about Iraq that his top aides knew to be false - that S…

Syria responsible for deadly bomb blast, Turkey claims

BEIRUT - Turkey said on Sunday that it would step up its efforts to persuade the international community to do more to end the war in Syria, after investigators said they had found evidence that the regime in Damascus was behind the car bombing in a Turkish border town that killed 46 people.

Advice from Carolyn Hax

How do I start trusting my wife again? Three years ago, I caught her (52) having an affair with a 29-year-old aide who came to our house to help with our autistic son.

Immigrants will propel new economic growth

Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" is a gooey confection of seasonal sentiment. It also is an economic manifesto that Dickens hoped would hit with "twenty thousand times the force" of a political tract. It concerned a 19th-century debate that is pertinent to today's argument about immigration.

Advice from Carolyn Hax

Hi, Carolyn:

Esther J. Cepeda: Kids, eat your rice and broccoli - Iron Man does!

CHICAGO - Is it just me or is Tony Stark on a health kick?

Housing: 'Pocket listings' on rise, may be unwise

WASHINGTON

Advice from Carolyn Hax

I have a longtime friend who I once considered a “best friend.” We connect at the heart, and have relied on each other a lot over the years.Several years back, she went through a tough professional transition and completely cut me off. Ultimately we worked it out, and all was well for a few …

US can afford to stay out of Syria and probably will

WASHINGTON

General confused about 'assault' vs. 'consent'

Generals say the darndest things. Especially when it comes to issues of gender and sexual assault.

Unless Democrats take House, Obama's legacy is in doubt

WASHINGTON

New on DVD

"Jack Reacher" (PG-13, 131 minutes, Paramount): Presumably taking a long, self-indulgent glance at his What Would Clint Do? bracelet, Tom Cruise takes on the iconic role of surly vigilante in "Jack Reacher," resulting in a mismatch of wincingly epic proportions. This movie is designed primar…

Plan B is about preventing teen pregnancy, nothing more

WASHINGTON

Critics of Cruz wrongly question his 'Hispanic-ness'

WASHINGTON

Cellphones' link to fatal crashes may be underreported

WASHINGTON - Cellphone use is a factor in far more fatal crashes than anyone realized, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Safety Council.

NJ Gov. Christie had weight-loss surgery 'to be there' for kids

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday that he underwent weight-loss surgery three months ago to improve his long-term health after trying unsuccessfully over many years to lose weight.