Columns

The tax season is upon us. I’m no CPA, but let me offer advice and consolation to my fellow taxpayers.
Q. Dear Tom: My CPA told me that a tax bracket is a heavy, metal object that the government uses to hit you over the head every time you succeed in pushing your income up. Can you elaborate? - Annoyed in Minnesota

In our world of polarized government and polarized media, where everything is just a matter of somebody’s opinion, we can at least count on the annual hurricane forecasts, can’t we?
Maybe not. The predictions are blowing hot and cold.
The widely quoted annual forecast from Colorado State University, released Thursday, says we can expect an above-average number of hurricanes in 2018. A relatively new player on the scene predicts a below-average amount of tropical activity.

I’m feeling human again, thanks.
After three weeks of living in opioid hell - of constantly being sick to my stomach, of throwing up, of having the shakes and feeling depressed and crying - my body and brain are back to normal.
I’m no longer high and messed up on pain killers.
I’m no longer trying to withdraw from them.
And I have a new, up-close-and-personal understanding of the country’s opioid epidemic and how easy it is for a 70-something guy like me to become addicted to potent ​pain pills.