Vol 21: #8 • The Printing Press • (2-16-2025) • Tidbits of Coachella Valley by Tidbits of Coachella Valley

by Janet Spencer

Inspired by a contraption called the screw press used to crush grapes and olives, Johannes Gutenberg used this concept to create the printing press in the 1440s. His revolutionary new invention not only resulted in the birth of mass communication, but had a great influence on the development of human culture and also on our language itself. Follow with us through these printed pages as we celebrate this invention and learn some facts about how the printing press changed just about everything!

• Before Gutenberg’s invention, books were tediously handwritten by quill pen, page by page at the rate of only several pages daily Gutenbergʼs press enabled the printing of 3,000 pages per day, or more.

• His first press was located in Mainz, Germany, but the concept of printing caught on and spread quickly. Just 40 years later, there were presses in an estimated 110 cities throughout Europe, expanding to more than 270 cities by the year 1500.

• Looking back a thousand years before Gutenberg's time, it’s been estimated that there were perhaps

TRIVIA NEWSFRONT

(Answers on page 16)

1. GEOGRAPHY: What is the highest mountain in Canada?

2. TELEVISION: Who is the host of the long-running reality series “Survivor”?

3. LITERATURE: Which animals represent the Communist Party in “Animal Farm”?

4. U.S. STATES: Which state is the birthplace of the singer Elvis?

5. ASTRONOMY: How long does it take the moon to orbit the Earth?

6. MOVIES: What is the score Elle receives on her law school admission test in “Legally Blonde”?

7. AD SLOGANS: Which product’s slogan is “Is It In You?”?

8. LANGUAGE: What is an eraser called in the United Kingdom?

9. SCIENCE: What are the four primary precious metals?

10. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: Valentine’s Day arose from which Roman ritual?

Occasionally as various sports have evolved, new situations have led to new rules. This week we give you the stories behind a few of them.

• In 1969, Morris Stroud was playing basketball for Clark Atlanta University in Georgia. Stroud, who stood 6’10” tall, was a pretty good basketball player, especially since he was easily able to reach up and slap the ball away from its trajectory towards the hoop. Stroud had no particular interest or skill at playing football.

• However, the coach of the Kansas City Chiefs drafted him for the football team strictly due to his height. From 1969 to 1974, Stroud proceeded to play tight end for the Chiefs. But there was an issue. Coach instructed him that any time the opposing team set up for a field goal, he was to immediately run for the goal post and try to swat that football away as it descended.

• Although he never actually succeeded at preventing a field goal using this method, he pulled the move so often that the commissioner finally announced that the maneuver would henceforth be illegal. The ruling is even named after him: “The Stroud Rule.”

***

• During an amateur soccer game in England 2000, the score was 18 to 1. A player on the losing team banked a ball off his head and it went straight over to the referee. The ref, thoroughly bored by the way the game was going, and perhaps feeling sorry for the losing team, deliberately bonked it right into the losing team’s goal. He then went prancing around the field, celebrating the fact that he had just scored a point for the losing team. The goal was counted as good, and the final score of the game was officially listed as 18 to 2.

• The offending referee was subsequently suspended for interfering with the game. This led to the question, “Is a goal good if it ricochets

off any part of the referee’s body?” In the end, it was ruled that yes, even if a ball bounces off a referee, the goal should be counted as good. ***

• The way a baseball diamond is laid out, anyone on 2nd base, whether it’s an umpire, the 2nd baseman, or a runner, is positioned directly behind the pitcher from the batter’s point of view. This led to a conundrum.

• On August 9, 1950, the New York Giants were up against the Boston Braves. The Braves were up at bat and the Giants were in the field. The Braves 3rd baseman, Bob Elliot, was batting. But he had a hard time seeing the pitch coming at him because the 2nd base umpire was standing directly behind and beside the pitcher, making it difficult for the batter to see. So he paused the game while he asked the umpire if he could move a few feet away from 2nd base for the sake of visual clarity. The umpire complied.

• However, Giants 2nd baseman, Eddie Stanky, seeing this transaction, suddenly got an idea. During every wind-up and pitch, he started jumping crazily around at 2nd base, waving his arms and shaking his legs. It was annoying, but the Braves won anyway.

• However, in subsequent games, Stanky continued his wild gyrations for every pitch thrown. During a game against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Phillies catcher cried foul and insisted to the umpire that this should be illegal. The umpire replied that there was no rule against it. Subsequently, however, the National League president agreed that the move was unsportsmanlike and instigated Rule 6.04, section C, which now states that deliberately distracting a batter is unsportsmanlike and henceforth officially prohibited. 

Mount Logan.

Jeff Probst.

Pigs.

only 30,000 to 50,000 books created worldwide, all of which were copied by hand. Most were owned by either clergy or the wealthy elite.

• In the 50-year period following the first successful operational printing press, there were an estimated 20 million books in print. Within the next century, the output had increased by tenfold.

EFFECTS ON LANGUAGE

• The introduction of the printing press had ushered in a new era of mass communication, permanently altering the structure of society while also having a degree of impact on the English language..

• Because of the printing press, information and ideas now spread quickly. The press had finally made education widely available to the average citizen. Previously, only royalty or rich people could afford books, but now everyone could, and the literacy rate soared.

• The printing press also made possible the scientific and industrial revolutions by making it easy to share, record and retrieve knowledge.

• If you wonder why there are so many weird spellings in English, an early English printer named William Caxton is largely to blame. Caxton was one of the first people in England to own a printing press in the mid-1400s. He decided to translate all the books in foreign languages into English.

• The problem was that there were many English dialects with no set rules for spelling or pronouncing any particular word. So Caxton became the judge. He chose the dialect used by royalty, the courts and the educated, known as “the King’s English.”

• Caxton also brought in helpers from Belgium, who added their own spelling quirks to the process. The English spelled it “gost” but in Belgium they spelled it “ghost”, so Bibles spoke of “the Holy Ghost” instead of “the Holy Gost.”

NUGGETS

As a goldsmith, Gutenberg was familiar with metals. He crafted the metal type out of an alloy of tin, lead, and antimony which was very durable and gave clear impressions. The same ingredients for metal type is still used today.

• This was all happening in the mid-1400s when English was evolving because of the increase in sea travel and the influence of many other tongues infiltrating the English language. The printing press, however, tended to set what is a now-archaic method of spelling in stone.

PRINTING PHRASES

• The printing press gave the English language a number of common words and phrases. For example:

• Casting is the process of shaping metal by melting it down and then pouring it into a mold. Each letter of type was made through this casting process, which was called “typecasting,” indicating the art of making many duplicate copies from the same mold.

• The printing press used metal stamps to create letters in a foundry. Each stamp, called a “sort,” was sorted into its correct drawer in the cabinet, or job case, that held the full alphabet. If a printer didn’t have enough of a particular letter sort to complete his page, he was literally “out of sorts.” The printer then could not print the entire page, which would be highly annoying.

• The lowercase letters b, d, p, and q look almost identical when turned upside down. Consider that the printer, when lining up all the letters to complete a line of type, would be working with an upside-down mirror image of the entire line. All these nearly identical letters were hard to identify and differentiate, meaning a printer had to “mind their p’s and q’s.”

• When the carefully arranged letters were pressed into the paper, the printer literally wanted to “make a good impression.” The word springs from the Latin “imprimere” meaning “to stamp” or “to press upon.”

• Typesetters picked up each individual letter and carefully set them, in order, into a tray called a composing stick. They had to arrange everything backwards so the writing would read correctly when printed on paper. If they put the composing stick into the press the wrong way, the words would be backwards or upside down on the page. This led to the phrase “getting the wrong end of the stick.”

• If a book had been painstakingly set in type and the required number of copies printed off, the printer might be concerned that more copies

1. Approximately how many of the original Gutenberg Bibles were printed?

2. How many Gutenberg Bibles still exist today?

Answers page 16

• All of these individual pieces of type were kept in a “job case” with capital letters being stored in the “upper case” and the small letters stored in the “lower case” below.

• If a typesetter consistently needed a specific set of letters, for instance to use the name of an advertiser, his trademark other recurring word or image in nearly every edition of a publication, they would fuse those letters together to form a single solid strip to avoid having to reset each of those letters individually every time. This was called a “logotype,” later shortened to simply “logo.” The word “logo” comes from the Greek word meaning “word.”

By Lucie Winborne

* It was multitalented Robert Anton Wilson -- who was, at various times in his life, a novelist, essayist, psychologist, editor, philosopher, playwright and mystic -- who made the following observation: “It only takes 20 years for a liberal to become a conservative without changing a single idea.”

* It took between 75,000 and 80,000 workers to build the Panama Canal, linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across the Isthmus of Panama.

* When the Barbie doll was first introduced in 1959, it was described in The New York Times as a “crushing bomb.” So much for early reviews. Since then, more than a billion Barbies have been sold in more than 150 countries. Mattel, the doll’s maker, claims that more than 100 dolls are sold every minute of every day.

PLAY THE PANTRY GAME

Everyday CHEAPSKATE®

by Mary Hunt

Lost & Found: Brilliant Tips From My Anonymous Genius Readers

The goal is to skip your next grocery shopping trip -- not postpone it, but skip it altogether. You are going to get really creative and eat up all the canned goods, staple items and contents of your freezer and pantry. Most of us have quite an investment in items that just sit there month after month. It’s time to use ‘em up. Tell the family it’s a game to see how long you can go with what you have. Stick that week’s grocery money in your stash.

BETTER THAN BLEACH

Everyday CHEAPSKATE®

Over the years, readers like you have sent me incredible tips -- creative, practical and sometimes downright ingenious. These nuggets of wisdom have saved me time, money and a fair amount of frustration.

by Mary Hunt

While I’ve carefully held onto these gems, somewhere along the way, the names of these clever contributors seem to have wandered off. But their tips live on, and I’m thrilled to share them with you! To keep things organized (and have a little fun), I’ve given each tip a quick title -- like mini-headlines to grab your attention. So, without further ado, here are your brilliant ideas, brought to life once again:

COLOR SAVER

Skip the chlorine bleach! Instead, add 1/2 cup powdered dishwasher soap and 1/2 cup Super Washing Soda to your whites. It keeps them bright without the harsh smell or damage of bleach.

STRONGER COFFEE, MORE SAVINGS

Even if you like mild coffee, buy the strong kind and use less. Reducing your coffee usage by just 25% is like getting four pounds for the price of three!

POST-HOLIDAY COOKIES

Instead of exchanging Christmas cookies, bake treats for friends after the holiday chaos. Pair them with a cheerful note, like “Thanks for being our neighbor!” or “Happy Valentine’s Day,” and brighten those dreary winter days.

ADVERTISING PROOF

* William Howard Taft, the 18th president of the United States, was quite a large man. Quite a large man, indeed. In fact, he was so large that his 300-pound bulk got stuck in a White House bathtub, and he had to summon help to extricate himself.

* Pope Benedict IX held the office three different times.

* There are lots of sports fans out there, and a lot of sports to enjoy: football, basketball, soccer, baseball, hockey ... olive oil wrestling? OK, maybe there aren’t a lot of oiled wrestling events here in America, but in Turkey it’s the national sport. Kirkpinar, as it’s known there, has been popular since the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish town of Edirne has been hosting the annual tournament since 1361.

***

Thought for the Day: “Even a purely moral act that has no hope of any immediate and visible political effect can gradually and indirectly, over time, gain in political significance.” -- Vaclav Havel

Tired of your colored clothes fading after only a few washes? Try soaking new clothes in cold water with 2 cups of table salt for about three hours. This helps “set” the colors. Wash colors in cool water on short cycles to keep them vibrant longer.

THE HOURLY COST CHECKUP

Before making a big purchase, calculate how many hours of work it’ll take to pay for it. Then imagine doing your least favorite task for that amount of time. It might just save you hundreds -like it saved one reader $570 on a new TV!

FROSTING BUCKET HACKS

Local bakeries often give away empty frosting buckets for free. Use them to create fun, personalized gift containers or for organizing toys, craft supplies or household items. They’re versatile and practically unlimited!

FEE-FREE BANKING

Check if your bank waives fees for accounts with direct deposits. Many, like PNC Bank, eliminate service charges if your deposit meets a specific threshold.

OIL LID FIX

Keep partially used motor oil fresh by capping it with a plastic lid from a small coffee can. These lids fit quart containers perfectly!

STICKY SAP SOLUTION

To safely remove pine sap from your car, rub the spot with a cloth soaked in 70% rubbing alcohol. It’s cheap, effective and won’t damage the finish.

WHITE SHOE SECRET

Flat white spray paint works wonders on white shoes! It’s cheaper and faster than polish, with a crisp finish that lasts.

DRIP-FREE CANDLES

Stop cheap candles from dripping by soaking them in a strong salt solution for a few hours. Dry them without rinsing, and they’ll burn cleanly like the fancy ones.

***

Each of these gems is a testament to the creativity of my readers. If you’ve got a favorite hack, don’t keep it to yourself -- send it my way! Who knows, it might just make its way into a future column!

* * *

Mary invites questions and comments at https:// www.everydaycheapskate.com/contact/, “Ask Mary.” This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually. Mary Hunt is the founder of EverydayCheapskate.com, a frugal living blog, and the author of the book “Debt-Proof Living.”

Want to learn a bit more about those feathered avians that populate our planet? Here's a few facts to add to your trove of ornithological trivia.

• There are around 10,000 species of birds. About 75% of them are found in rainforests.

• All birds have several things in common: wings, feathers, beaks (or bills), and eggs.

• Like mammals, birds are warm-blooded and can generate their own heat from within.

• Birds are thought by some to be the descendants of dinosaurs, but not just any dinosaurs. Birds are similar to the suborder of dinosaurs called theropods, whose members often had hollow bones and three toes or claws on each limb.

• Birds are the only creatures with feathers, but they are not the only creatures that can fly (bats and bugs). However, not all birds can fly (penguins, ostriches and emus).

• Owls can rotate their head 270 degrees, which is necessary because they cannot move their

tube-shaped eyes.

• African grey parrots have been taught up to 800 words and often appear to understand their meaning, as demonstrated when using them in the appropriate way.

• Chickens have over 200 distinct noises for communicating. Chickens provide humans with the largest source of animal protein.

• Downy woodpeckers can peck as fast as 16 times per second in search of concealed insects, their food source embedded in the tree bark. A woodpecker can eat around 2,000 bugs per day. The constant rapidity does not harm their brain.

• The phrase “eat like a bird” if taken literally would mean consuming twice your weight in food daily. A bird requires more food in proportion to its size than a human baby or a cat.

• Crows and ravens have the biggest brain-tobody size ratio of any bird.

• The flamingo can only eat when its head is upside down. They are born grey but acquire their pink coloring from the beta-carotene in the shrimp they eat.

• The average hummingbird weighs about as much as a single sheet of paper. They are the only birds that can fly backwards.

• The smallest egg belongs to the hummingbird and is the size of a pea.

• The largest egg, from the ostrich, is the size of a cantaloupe. The ostrich is the largest and heaviest bird in the world. It can weigh up to 345 lbs and stand up to 9 feet tall.

• Hummingbirds have around 1,000 feathers, which is the most dense collection of feathersto-body size in the bird kingdom. A large tundra swan might have over 25,000 feathers.

• Emperor penguins have extremely tiny feathers, crowded in at about 60 per square inch and totaling around 80,000 on their body.

• Dark feathers are stronger and more resistant to wear than colorful feathers.

• The penguin is the only bird that can swim but cannot fly. Underwater, penguins can quickly dart at about at 22 mph.

• The alpine swift can eat and actually sleep while aloft, often spending up to 200 days airborne without ever coming to earth.

• The bar-tailed godwit, a wading shorebird, holds the record for the longest non-stop flight of any bird, covering over 7,000 miles (11,000

km) in eight days. Godwits migrate from Alaska and Siberia to Australia and New Zealand.

• The fairy tern holds the record for the longest migration of any bird, traveling over 9,000 miles (14,000 km) each way, from Australia to the Arctic and back again. However, the tern makes periodic stops along the way.

• The only bird that’s known to be poisonous is the pitohui of Papua, New Guinea. This bird is similar in size and coloring to an oriole or robin. The poison is found in its skin and feathers, requiring a handler to wear safety gloves. 

by Dana Jackson

Q: I really enjoyed the first two seasons of “The Recruit” on Netflix. It’s hard to tell if there will be a third one. Will there be? -- K.W.

A: It’s too soon to tell, but after the first season of the spy-adventure series “The Recruit” debuted on Netflix, it was a big streaming success. The series stars Noah Centineo (“The Fosters”) as a rookie CIA lawyer. His first assignment involved Russia, but the second season that premiered on Jan. 30 led him to Seoul, South Korea, where he’s assigned to rescue the wife of a rogue NIS agent (Teo Yoo).

Showrunner Alexi Hawley, whose previous producing credits include “The Rookie,” views Centineo’s character, Owen, as “flawed, young and selfish.” Hawley further explains that “even though Owen had no business getting involved [in the Korean assignment] in the first place, this presented an opportunity for him to prove his worth -- not only to the CIA but to everyone he disappointed last season, including himself.” The creative team really wanted to see him

grow up this second time around and show that it’s “not all fun and games -- people get killed.”

As far as a season three renewal, the show’s fate isn’t known yet. According to Forbes, Netflix typically analyzes a show’s performance over several weeks to months before deciding. Unfortunately, the streamer has also developed a reputation for canceling shows too quickly after just one or two seasons, but hopefully with its strong initial numbers, “The Recruit” will be given the green light.

Q: When is the new “Outlander” spinoff coming out? Will it also be on Starz or somewhere else? -- D.P.

Prince

Cindy

Alan

George

2/19/1960

2/20/1966

2/21/1946

2/22/1732

2/23/1685

Steve Jobs 2/24/1955

George Harrison 2/25/1943

A: “Outlander: Blood of My Blood” is a prequel series to “Outlander,” which recently wrapped up its seventh season (the eighth will be its last) on Starz. The prequel will have ten episodes in its debut season, but it won’t premiere until this summer. It did, however, drop a teaser just ahead of the “Outlander” finale a couple weeks ago.

According to Entertainment Weekly, “Blood of My Blood” will tell the story of the parents of Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitríona Balfe), as well as their respective love stories in both 18th-century Scotland and World-War-I-era England. Matthew B. Roberts, one of the co-showrunners behind “Outlander,” will write and preside over the new series.

***

Q: What ever happened to Paula Patton? I remember she was married to Robin Thicke, but wasn’t she also an actress? -- M.M.

A: Paula Patton divorced her pop-star husband and high-school sweetheart Robin Thicke in 2015 and appears to be living a peaceful life if you follow her Instagram account. The terms of their divorce settlement are private, but she still does acting jobs to exercise her creativity and supplement her income.

Patton most recently guest-starred on the new drama “Murder in a Small Town,” but before this, she starred in the BET+ original series “Sacrifice” as well as “Somewhere Between” on ABC. She and Thicke share a 14-year-old son named Julian. * *

Did you hear about the guy in a print shop who was run over by a runaway steam roller?

He was crushed by the whole experience when he was smeared all over the headlines, but he still gave a good impression on paper!

Noah Centineo stars in “The Recruit” on Netflix.

Good Recipes from

Red Snapper, Collards and Black-Eyed Peas

This delicious Southern fish dish is accompanied by collard greens and vitamin-rich black-eyed peas, a combination which is said to bring good luck and financial enrichment. Serve with fresh, hot cornbread on the side.

1 bunch (large, about 1 1/4 pounds) collard greens

1 medium onion

Salad oil

Salt

1 can (16-ounce) black-eyed peas, drained 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

4 (4-ounce) red-snapper fillets

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Lemon slices and parsley sprigs, garnish

1. Coarsely chop collard greens and onion. In 3-quart saucepan over medium-high

heat, in 1 tablespoon hot salad oil, cook onion until tender; add collard greens and 1/2 teaspoon salt; continue cooking until vegetables begin to brown. Add 1/4 cup water. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 5 minutes or until collard greens are tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in black-eyed peas; heat through. Keep warm.

2. On sheet of waxed paper, combine flour, paprika, thyme, ground red pepper and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Press flesh-side of snapper fillets into flour mixture to coat.

3. In nonstick 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat, in 1 tablespoon hot salad oil, cook snapper fillets 5 to 7 minutes until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork, turning fillets halfway through cooking time. Remove fillets to warm platter. To same skillet, add lemon juice and 1 tablespoon water; heat to boiling; pour over snapper.

4. To serve, arrange collard greens on platter with snapper. Garnish with lemon slices and parsley sprigs. Serves 4.

 Each serving: About 320 calories, 9g total fat, 42mg cholesterol, 1,000mg sodium.

Cherry-Almond Clafouti

Sweet cherries baked in a custardlike pudding are a classic French country dessert. Serve right out of the oven.

1 pound dark sweet cherries, pitted 2 cups half-and-half or light cream

4 large eggs

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons amaretto (almond-flavored liquer)

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Confectioners’ sugar

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Grease 10-inch by 1 1/2-inch round baking dish. Place cherries in baking dish.

2. In medium bowl, with wire whisk, beat half-and-half, eggs, sugar and amaretto until well-mixed. Gradually whisk in flour until smooth. Or, in blender, process half-and-half, eggs, sugar, amaretto and flour until smooth.

3. Pour egg mixture over cherries in baking dish. Bake until custard has set and knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean (center will still jiggle), 40 to 45 minutes. Serve hot or

warm, sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar. Makes 12 servings.

* Each serving: About 161 calories, 7 g total fat (4 g saturated), 4 g protein, 20 g carbohydrate, 86 mg cholesterol, 38 mg sodium.

THE OSCARS

Holidays & Observances This Week

2/16

2/17

2/18 Hockey

2/19 Iwo Jima Day Landing

2/20 National Leadership Day

2/21 National Care Givers Day

2/22 George Washington's Birthday

Dog Talk with Uncle Matty

By Matthew Margolis

All Things Not Equal in a Dog Park

I do not take my dogs to a dog park. Dogs that have never been introduced are let loose to “play” with each other, with no regard to size, breed and temperament. And dog owners tend to let their guard down because they’re in a dog park -- when they should do just the opposite.

But the following letter from a reader explains better than I could the perils of dog parks, where all things are not equal:

“I got my Chihuahua-Lhasa Apso mix when he was 4 months old. He was my first dog as an adult, and I was very devoted to him. I walked him twice a day, taught him many tricks, including roll over, shake and beg, and took him to the doggy park twice a week.

“I had discovered a new doggy park close to my home, and we’d gone there four times. I took him last week, and within minutes of our arrival, he playfully approached a pit-terrier mix that was lying down with a ball in his mouth. I was about 30 feet away, and their playing quickly turned into a fight. The other dog’s owner, who was right next to them, started to hit her dog with a ball catcher, and as I was running over to them, she finally grabbed her dog and pulled him off of mine. He had my dog by the back and was shaking him. We’re talking a difference of at least 40 pounds between the two dogs.

“There were no puncture wounds, but he had two swollen masses, golf-ball size, on the side of his back. He bit me for the first time ever when I picked him up, as I’m sure I was unknowingly causing more pain to his wounds. I took him to the emergency vet an hour later, and they diagnosed him as having hernias. I paid for the surgery and said goodbye to my sweet boy, expecting to pick him up at 6 p.m. the next day.

“I got home about 1 a.m. and received a phone call at 5 a.m. reporting that he was in surgery and it was much worse than expected -- he had two broken ribs, with damaged intestines, pancreas and kidneys. His chances were 50/50 with

(CryptoQuip Solution on page 12)

SENIOR NEWS LINE

by Matilda Charles © King Features Synd., Inc.

AARP Membership: Worth Having

After many years at the same cost, AARP increased their membership fee to $20 at the beginning of this year. But it’s still a bargain when you consider the additional benefits, savings and discounts that are available, as well as the newspaper and magazine.

The website (aarp.org) lists discounted gym memberships, travel and vacation packages, insurance, flowers and so much more. If you need computer help such as hooking up to a wireless network or printer, you can get 15% off the Norton Ultimate Help Desk.

The health benefits especially are worth considering. If you suspect you need hearing aids, AARP Hearing Solutions offers a free hearing exam and then 20% off hearing aids, should you need them.

If you need at-home physical therapy, AARP offers the service through Luna, and it’s covered by Medicare, Aetna, Anthem and Cigna. Check the Optum Rx page on AARP’s website for prescription drug discounts. Enter your drug in the search box and it will find the best price. Print out your discount card or have it sent to you in email.

In my area, I qualify for discount tires, Dr. Scholl’s shoes (20% off) and half-price car washes, among other things.

The discounted items aren’t the only thing you’ll find with AARP. The Tax Aide Locator is set up to help low and moderate income seniors with tax preparation -- or, if you prefer to do it yourself with just a little bit of coaching, they can provide that, too.

The advice and how-to columns alone are worth the cost of the membership. Digitizing your old home movies, tips to help prevent falls and seven ways to avoid germs at the gym are just a few of the current columns on AARP’s online front page.

To learn more about the benefits of an AARP membership, check the website or give them a call at 888-687-2277.

* * * Matilda Charles regrets that she cannot personally answer reader questions, but will incorporate them into her column whenever possible. Send email to columnreply2@ gmail.com.

70% SALE RATE AT OUR LAST AUCTION - DON’T WAIT, BOOK YOUR SPOT NOW! The McCormick family invites you to their 78th auction featuring over 500 antique, classic, exotic, muscle, sports and special interest autos. Ask for Keith, Jason or our friendly office staff to answer your questions (760)

Cody’s Corner (from page 9)

two weeks’ recovery time minimum. We were talking $5,000 to $10,000 more than what I had already paid. So I opted to put him down.

“I’m just devastated by this and am wondering what I could have done differently to save him. He wasn’t neutered, and he would often initiate the playing with big dogs and then back down with yelping because he felt overwhelmed. But he had never gotten into a fight.

“For his daily walks, I would walk him around the park behind my home and let him walk off-leash for about half the walk, as he was really good about staying with me.

“I guess what I’m asking is: If and when I decide to get another dog, should I get him fixed? Should I not take a small dog to a dog park? And was I wrong to let him walk without a leash in a public park? I’m just wondering whether I was too carefree with my little guy. I just wanted him to be a ‘dog’ and not completely on lockdown all the time. I’m a free spirit myself, and I’m missing him terribly.”

My heart goes out to this reader for her sad loss. And in the hopes of preventing similar stories, I offer the following to all readers:

-- Get your dog fixed as soon as he is old enough.

-- Always keep your dog on a leash when he’s not in your home or in your secured yard.

-- If you choose to use a dog park, do your homework. Find out whether there has been any aggressive behavior with any dogs there. Read the park rules, and try to find a park that caters to your dog’s age, size and temperament. The extra investigation is worth the effort.

Woof!

* * *

Dog trainer Matthew “Uncle Matty” Margolis is the co-author of 18 books about dogs, a behaviorist, a popular radio and television guest, and the host of the PBS series “WOOF! It’s a Dog’s Life!” Read all of Uncle Matty’s columns at www.creators.com, and visit him at www.unclematty.com.

2014 CREATORS.COM

To reserve the position you desire, give our office a call at 760.320.3290 with your credit card handy. You may specify the cars you’re entering at a later date. Entry fees are REFUNDABLE less $50 handling fee if you notify us in writing 14 days prior to the auction. Color photographs may be included in our exclusive color brochure. We strictly limit the number of positions available in this three-day event of 580 cars. COMMISSION STRUCTURE: FLAT 6% OF SALES PRICE (One of the lowest in the business). WE SOLD OUT OF LOT NUMBERS DURING OUR PREVIOUS SALE SO BOOK EARLY. www . Classic - CarAuction . com FRIDAY, SATURDAY & SUNDAY – FEBRUARY 21, 22 & 23 2O25

War. But that is NOT what he did.

YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY

by Tom Margenau

LBJ and Social Security

Poor Lyndon Baines Johnson. When it comes to Social Security, he gets blamed for something he never did. Our 36th president is often accused of being the first chief executive to tamper with Social Security financing. Well, he did tamper with it. But not in the way conventional wisdom would have you believe.

I was reminded of this when I got reactions from people to some recent columns I wrote about the repeal of certain laws that effect the Social Security benefits paid to government employees. I thought the repeal was unwise and would drain Social Security funds. Dozens of you wrote and told me some version of this sentiment that came from a reader in California: “Social Security wouldn’t need any changes if Congress would just pay back the money that President Johnson stole from the Social Security system back in the 60s.”

Here is another version of the story as relayed by a Texas reader: “We all know that LBJ cooked the books when it came to the Social Security trust funds. And politicians have been stealing money ever since. Get that money back and Social Security will be flush with cash!”

Unfortunately, for decades now, misinformed critics have charged that President Lyndon B. Johnson moved Social Security money from its own separate ledgers to the government’s general funds in order to spend it. That’s not quite right. Here is what really happened.

We all know that the Vietnam War, which LBJ inherited from his predecessor, John F. Kennedy, was rapidly turning into a huge albatross around Johnson’s neck. And it wasn’t just the loss of thousands of young men’s lives that was bothering him. It was also the staggering costs of paying for the increasingly unpopular war in Southeast Asia. He was looking for a way to hide some of those costs, not just from Congress, but from the American people. The government’s general coffers were essentially empty. But he noticed that there was an entirely separate government fund that was flush with cash: the Social Security trust fund.

What most people mistakenly think LBJ did was simply tap into those funds and “steal” Social Security money to help pay for the Vietnam

What he did do was simply change an internal government bookkeeping practice. Up until then, Social Security’s income and expenditures had always been kept on a completely separate set of government books. President Johnson merely added Social Security’s accounts to the general government budget. But this is the important (and almost always overlooked) point: He did not change in any way the method used to invest and spend Social Security money.

In other words, Social Security funds were not touched. By pulling off this bookkeeping maneuver -- adding the Social Security funds to the government’s overall ledgers -- LBJ was able to disguise the growing deficit caused primarily by all the spending for the Vietnam War.

Maybe this analogy will help you understand what happened. Fred and Ethel are married. They both work. And they keep separate bank accounts to manage their finances. Fred spends money like there is no tomorrow. His bank balance is always near zero. Ethel saves a lot of her income, so she has a substantial account balance. Fred talks Ethel into combining their assets. Neither person changes their habits. Fred keeps spending just his money and Ethel saves most of hers. But suddenly Fred looks like he has more money than he really does because, on paper at least, his bankrupt account has been combined with Ethel’s flush ledgers.

Fred is like President Johnson and the overall government budget. Ethel is Social Security. Fred really hasn’t done anything wrong. He hasn’t taken any of Ethel’s money. He’s simply using her money to make his bottom line look better.

Like Fred, Johnson moved the balance sheets for Social Security money into the overall government budget for one sneaky reason: to mask his (and Congress’) risky spending habits. All the Social Security income made the actual government deficit appear smaller.

This accounting procedure is known as the “unified budget.” Despite its shifty intentions, you could make the argument that the procedure is entirely justified. After all, Social Security money is government money, and it makes sense to add it in with all other government funds.

Still, after the American people figured out

1. The book of Jeremiah is found in the a) Old Testament b) New Testament c) Neither

2. What is the finish to this Proverbs 14:23 verse: "In all labor there is ______?" a) Righteousness b) Profit c) Reward d) Benefit

3. At whose well did Jesus meet the Samaritan woman? a) Elim b) Gerar c) Jacob d) Shalom

4. From Revelation 21, how many gates does the New Jerusalem have? a) Four b) Seven c) Nine d) Twelve

5. Who was king during Zechariah's time of prophecy? a) Darius b) Saul c) David d) Nebuchadnezzar

6. How long did Aaron's followers mourn his death? a) 7 days b) 21 Days c) 30 days d) 40 Days

(Answers on page 16)

Trivia

to www.TriviaGuy.com

what was going on, these bookkeeping shenanigans left a bad taste in their mouths and in Congress’ mouths. That’s why back in the 1990s, Congress changed the law to remove Social Security funds from the overall federal budget. So, Social Security went back to its original “off budget” status. But that doesn’t stop politicians and pundits from including Social Security funds when discussing the overall federal budget. And because for several years now, the Social Security system has been running a deficit, if someone wants to make the federal budget look even worse than it really is, all they’d have to do is add Social Security funds to the picture.

Having said all that, I cannot stress enough that this game-playing with the government books has absolutely nothing to do with how Social Security tax money is spent on Social Security benefits and invested in government bonds. If you would like to read a more thorough account of Social Security financing, including a discussion of its investment practices, spend 15 bucks at Amazon. com and get my bestselling guidebook called “Social Security -- Simple and Smart.” An entire chapter in the book is devoted to the topic.

Here’s the bottom line: Neither President Johnson nor any other president nor any member of Congress has ever stolen a nickel of Social Security money. But they sure have played around with its accounting ledgers!

If you have a Social Security question, Tom Margenau has two books with all the answers. One is called “Social Security -- Simple and Smart: 10 Easy-to-Understand Fact Sheets That Will Answer All Your Questions About Social Security.” The other is “Social Security: 100 Myths and 100 Facts.” You can find the books at Amazon.com or other book outlets. Or you can send him an email at thomas.margenau@comcast.net. To find out more about Tom Margenau and to read past columns and see features from other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Elderly Man Weighs 84 Pounds Decades After His Stomach Removal

DEAR DR. ROACH: Is 18 years a record for living without a stomach? A family member had stomach cancer when he was 70 and had his stomach removed. He consulted with a dietician and has been able to eat small but frequent meals. He can also take enzymes, vitamins and other things, but slowly he has lost weight.

Now at 88, he is down to 84 pounds, and his muscles are also affected. He used to play racquetball regularly, but this came to an end during COVID and wasn’t picked back up after the pandemic. He can no longer walk without assistance. They are putting a feeding tube into his small intestine to supplement what he usually eats.

Are you familiar with this type of thing? What else can be done, or is this the end? Will he starve to death? -- Y.F.

ANSWER: I have seen many patients with stomach cancer and have never seen this degree of weight loss, but weight loss is very common after removing the stomach. This degree of weight loss is very disturbing and usually results in a worse outcome, so effective treatment is overdue. A feeding tube, which isn’t often the appropriate treatment for weight loss, seems to be an important short-term treatment. I assume that he has had extensive evaluations for the recurrence of diseases, including CT scans.

You mention that he has been getting vitamins; B12 and vitamin D levels are often profoundly low after gastrectomy (removal of the stomach), so these should be checked, even if he has been on replacements. If no other cause is found, it might be worth a try to use an appetite stimulant.

In addition, I would formally measure

his total calorie input in a day to see whether the problem really is that he isn’t getting enough calories. I would be worried that he isn’t absorbing all of them.

There is no reason for him to starve to death. In the very worst case, nutrition can be given intravenously while they figure out why he is losing so much weight.

***

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am an 84-year-old male in amazingly good health and have great physical abilities, but after running about 3 miles, I noticed some minor chest discomfort. After a calcium score test and stress test, my doctor wanted to place stents in my coronary arteries.

I read a National Institue of Health study from 2020 regarding stent outcomes versus medication and lifestyle changes, and it showed no difference in the outcomes. So, I decided not to do the stents.

I no longer do any distance running, but I do weight training and a stationary bike exercise for 10 minutes without any chest issues. I now take statin drugs, blood pressure medicines, and baby aspirin.

Are you familiar with this study, and am I doing a reasonable thing by not having the stents inserted? -- T.E.

ANSWER: Whether stents are beneficial in people with stable coronary artery disease remains somewhat controversial. Although stents in combination with a healthy diet, exercise and medication may improve symptoms better than lifestyle changes and medication alone, there are no data to show an improvement in lifespan or in preventing heart attacks.

Your cardiologist wanted to reduce your symptoms, but if you aren’t having any now, then stenting isn’t indicated. If you had to reduce your running because of chest discomfort, then stenting might possibly allow you to do more exercise without having these symptoms.

Dr. Roach regrets that he is unable to answer individual questions, but will incorporate them in the column whenever possible. Readers may email questions to ToYourGoodHealth@med.cornell.edu.

VETERANS POST  

by Freddie Groves

Take Charge of Your Medical Care

The Veterans Administration Office of Inspector General has been busy. As always, their focus is on identifying problems that cause harm to veterans.

For example, in one VA medical center there were concerns about the care given by a dermatologist on staff. Specifically, there were 48 instances where biopsies weren’t done quickly, which allowed cancers to grow and spread. And abnormal test results weren’t communicated, which delayed treatment. And the dermatologist documented procedures that weren’t actually done. And specialists weren’t called in. And inadequate treatment was given for certain cancers. And the dermatologist had been in the habit of copying and pasting previous notes from one appointment to the next, which meant that new information wasn’t added to patient files. And, and, and ... so many instances of deficiency in care, all by one dermatologist. This went on from 2021 to 2023.

The supervisors weren’t let off the hook in the OIG report. During performance reviews, they rated the dermatologist as “unsatisfactory” but focused on tardiness problems instead of big concerns like not actually doing biopsies. Instead of bouncing the dermatologist out the door, they decided to recommend nonrenewal of clinical privileges, which allowed the dermatologist to keep working with patients.

And (it just keeps getting better and better) senior staff claimed not to know about what was going on despite continued reporting by staff of their concerns and the dermatologist having been given two unsatisfactory reviews. Further, they didn’t follow policy and report the dermatologist to the state licensing board.

Enter the VAOIG -- in response to allegations of deficiencies in care -- and patient records were finally reviewed, including 13 additional records given to the OIG. What the OIG found was grim, especially with cancer diagnoses.

If you have a medical concern, be sure that it’s addressed. If a test or biopsy is done and no one calls you, get on the phone to them in seven days and insist on knowing the result. Don’t trust that “no news is good news.”

Freddy Groves regrets that he cannot personally answer reader questions, but will incorporate them into his column whenever possible. Send email to columnreply2@gmail.com.

-- by Jim Miller

How Much Do You Have to Make to File Taxes in 2025?

DEAR SAVVY SENIOR: What can you tell me about the IRS income tax filing requirements for retirees this tax season? My earned income stopped when I retired last March, so I’m wondering if I need to file a tax return this year. --Retired in 2024

Dear Retired: Whether or not you are required to file a federal income tax return this year will depend on how much you earned last year, as well as the source of the income, your age and filing status. Here’s a rundown of this tax season’s IRS tax filing requirement thresholds:

For most people, this is pretty straightforward. If your 2024 gross income – which includes all taxable income, not counting your Social Security benefits unless you are married and filing separately – was below the threshold for your filing status and age, you probably won’t have to file. But if it’s over, you will.

Single: $14,600 ($16,550 if you’re 65 or older by Jan. 1, 2024).

Married filing jointly: $29,200 ($30,750 if you or your spouse is 65 or older; or $32,300 if you’re both over 65).

Married filing separately: $5 at any age.

Head of household: $21,900 ($23,850 if 65 or older).

Qualifying surviving spouse: $29,200 ($30,750 if 65 or older).

To get a detailed breakdown on federal filing requirements, along with information on taxable and nontaxable income, call the IRS at 800-829-3676 and ask them to mail you a free copy of the “1040 and 1040-SR Instructions for Tax Year 2024,” or you can see it

online at IRS.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf

Be aware that there are other financial situations that can require you to file a tax return, even if your gross income falls below the IRS filing requirements. For example, if you earned more than $400 from selfemployment in 2024, owe any taxes on an IRA, Health Savings Account or an alternative minimum tax, or get premium tax credits because you, your spouse or a dependent is enrolled in a Health Insurance Marketplace plan, you’ll need to file.

You’ll also need to file if you’re receiving Social Security benefits, and one-half of your benefits plus your other gross income and any tax-exempt interest exceeds $25,000, or $32,000 if you’re married and filing jointly.

To figure all this out, the IRS offers an online tax tool that asks a series of questions that will help you determine if you’re required to file, or if you should file because you’re due a refund. It takes less than 15 minutes to complete.

You can access this tool at IRS.gov/ Help/ITA – click on “Filing Requirements –Do I need to file a tax return?” Or you can get assistance over the phone by calling the IRS helpline at 800-829-1040.

Check Your State

Even if you’re not required to file a federal tax return this year, don’t assume that you’re also excused from filing state income taxes. The rules for your state might be very different. Check with your state tax agency before concluding that you’re entirely in the clear. For links to state tax agencies see Taxadmin.org/fta-members

Tax Preparation Help

If you find that you do need to file a

tax return this year, you can Free File at IRS.gov/FreeFile, which is a partnership program between the IRS and tax software companies. Your 2024 adjusted gross income must be below $84,000 to qualify. Or, if you have a simple tax situation and your income is below $200,000, or $250,000 if you’re married and filing jointly, you can now file your taxes for free through the new IRS Direct File program in 24 states at DirectFile.IRS.gov

If you need some help, contact the IRS sponsored Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) program, which provides free tax preparation and counseling to middle and low-income taxpayers, age 60 and older. Call 800-906-9887 or visit IRS.treasury.gov/ freetaxprep to locate services near you.

You can also get tax preparation assistance through the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide service at AARP.org/findtaxhelp or call 888-227-7669.

Send

Senior” book.

your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior. org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy

Printing Press: from page 3

would be needed later if the book sold well. The printer needed to deconstruct each page because there was a limited number of letters available in the type case. The risk of later having to reconstruct that book, letter by letter, was frightful. Therefore, the printer would make an impression of the type on the page on a sheet of thick, moistened paper similar to paper maché, called a matrix. When the paper dried, it became stiff enough to yield an accurate impression of the page when run through the press. This image was called a “stereotype.”

• The French thought the “katchay katchay” of a revolving printing press sounded like “cliché, cliché.” It’s from the French “clicher” meaning “to click” and refers to the sound the metal plates made when striking the rollers.

• Designers and printers know that “leading” refers to the spacing needed between sentences. These were thin strips of lead metal in varying widths, depending on how much separation was needed.

• In 1814 the invention of the steam-powered rotary press allowed 1,100 impressions to be made per hour, which more than doubled to 2,400 by 1818. This made publishing newspapers and periodicals so cheap and easy that the entire communications industry was shortened to a single word: “the press.”

INDUSTRY GAME-CHANGER

• The invention of the linotype machine, conceived by Ottmar Mergenthaler in 1884, was the first device that could easily and quickly set complete lines of type for use in the letterpress printing process.

• This large and complex machine virtually streamlined the art of typesetting, and revolutionized the entire printing industry itself. Rather than having to painstakingly handset each individual letter, the linotype operator typed on a keyboard to enter text which was then impressed line by line into a single “slug”. A matrix, or mold, of the line was then made, and molten lead was then poured into it, solidifying the entire line as a single piece.

• Linotype gave us the phrase “hot off the press” not because the paper was warm or the machine was hot but because the printing was then done through a process called “hot metal printing.”

• Almost all of the printing done today is by the offset method, but that’ll have to be for another story. 

While it may seem obvious to state that putts should get rolling as soon as possible, there is a hidden aspect of why you may be struggling to control distances on longer putts. To the naked eye, all putts seem to immediately roll after impact, but many putts take flight and bounce for a short duration.

All putters have some degree of loft, or inclination, to the putter face. The loft can be altered by the lean of the putter shaft by impact as well. When a putt is struck, two main things influence its roll or flight:

1. The effective loft at impact, which should be fairly minimal for most situations.

2. Where on the ball the putterhead made its contact. You can think of it as hitting below, on, or above its “equator”. Contact too low creates lift and backward spin.

In order to get the best immediate roll on your putts, practice hitting putts with two coins stacked behind the ball. Don’t let the putter strike the coins. Secondly, try leaning the putter

through impact to minimize

Linda Thistle