Columns

Despite our best attempts at home organization, many of us are constantly bombarded with paper. Paper is the most common type of clutter. When you think about it, this is not really surprising considering the amount of junk mail, bills, coupons, completed schoolwork and publications that many of us have lying on tables or stuffed in drawers at our homes.

You can get a handle on this type of clutter by following these tips:

* Immediately act when you get a new piece of paper. Read it, file it, shred it, recycle or throw it in the trash.

One of our readers remembered a column I penned on Oct. 25, 1995. What is more amazing is that he requested it be reprinted. A lot of things have changed in the last 18 years. Please keep that in mind as you read this piece in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
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Warning: This column deals with a sensitive topic. It has been deemed offensive by my children. The faint of heart should proceed directly to the Lifestyles page.

I know of newspapers that kept their communities informed about clean water and shelter during terrible storms and disasters.

I know of newspapers that exposed crooks, lost a lot of advertising from the crooks’ buddies and still put out a paper every week.

I know of a newspaper that had an ironic sense of humor that even offended a few readers and stood its ground with a “come on people, have a brain” retort.

I know of publishers who took pay cuts during the recession rather than cut staff.

United States Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently said “that if you want a healthier population, looking at the opportunity to expand Medicaid has got to be a piece of the puzzle.”

Expansion of Medicaid – the jointly run federal-state health plan for low-income Americans – has long been an essential element of progressives’ vision for healthcare “reform.”