IQs have dropped for the first time in American history, and the experts aren’t quite sure why.

The St. Patrick’s Day spirit has arrived, and we sure are in need of Irish levity.

It’s at once amazing and troublesome.

The day started at 7 a.m. with a breakfast meeting and ended after 11 p.m. – and I was exhausted.

There are no small number of accusations lately that – shocking as it may be – some of our politicians are lying to us.

Groundhog Day cannot come soon enough.

Earmarks are back and they’re costing American taxpayers a bundle.

It was late December of 2020. COVID cabin fever was hitting me hard.

Truthfully, I don’t know why I feel such hopefulness.

My dog Thurber has been lying to me.

Vinyl records are making a comeback, and it’s not just nostalgic old fogies who are driving the trend.

This week half the country will be upset by the midterm election results and half will be elated.

I’m already anxious about the outcome.

My 23-month-old Labrador, Thurber, makes me laugh out loud at least five times every day.

It’s a question worth asking in these nutty times: how old is too old to trick-or-treat?

It was one of the most awesome experiences of my childhood.

Gosh, I hate debt.

“No problem.”

I trekked to St. Germaine School every morning in my sturdy Buster Brown shoes.

A long time ago I watched a documentary about poet Emily Dickenson’s life and writings.

I sure could use a vacation about now – but I have no plans to take one this summer.

It’s been way too long since I lit a sparkler as the sun goes down on the Fourth of July.

My dad isn’t doing so well.

Americans are so angry about so many things – with partisan politics topping the list.

Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened.”

“In this world, nothing can be said to be certain but death and taxes.”

I recommend the seasonal flu – but please allow me to explain.

Where did all the nurses go?

Finally, people have found something to agree about.

“Snow day.” Those were once the two most glorious words ever uttered on an early morning radio broadcast.

Hello, 2022.

A recent Reddit thread discusses the lack of heroes in modern society, but the truth is we have plenty of heroes.

Our time is the best gift we can give to our friends and family this Christmas.

I wish I had a change of heart, but I still can’t support it.

Because life is mostly made up of little experiences, occasionally interrupted by big events, it’s easy to take the little things for granted.

Because life is mostly made up of little experiences, occasionally interrupted by big events, it’s easy to take the little things for granted.

Halloween was fun while it lasted.

I never parted with a $20 bill faster.

Here’s another interesting COVID-enabled trend to ponder: More Americans are leaving big cities and the suburbs to live in rural communities, according to NextAvenue.com.

I face a huge responsibility this Labor Day weekend: I’ve been tasked with making my mother’s sacred potato salad recipe.

You ignored Aug. 12, didn’t you?

Car buyers are getting crushed by the rapid increase in the cost of new and used cars, but my dad’s old-school negotiating techniques might offer some relief.

It’s an old dream of mine and I just may do it: Buy a travel trailer and live on the American road for weeks at a time.

Every night, just before bed, he’d thank his bride of 70 years for giving him another wonderful day on Earth.

You can become an American citizen by being born in the U.S. or you can become one by getting “naturalized.” Becoming naturalized is a heck of a lot harder.

Need to learn how to unclog a shower drain, jump-start a car, shave your face without bleeding to death or successfully address dozens of other practical adult daily activities?

Texting is replacing talking as the preferred form of communication?

I just got another scam phone call from someone pretending to be from the Social Security Administration, and my blood is boiling.

The retired science teacher jumped up from his hiding spot in his garden and grabbed my arm before I could escape.

Scientific American describes my mother to a T.

You can’t escape politics anywhere now – not even in America’s once great pastime, baseball.

When I grew up in the 1970s, my father taught my sisters and me to “always save for a rainy day.”

Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat and D.C.’s delegate in the U.S. House, is on to something big!

America could use a hearty laugh right now, but laughter doesn’t come easily because too many Americans have lost their sense of humor.

We got blanketed with 10 inches of snow last week and I loved it – because I love how snow slows us down and brings us to our senses.

Sorry, COVID-19, but you’re not going to stop our Christmas cheer this year.

My family canceled Thanksgiving this year – my favorite holiday since I was a kid.

For most of us, Labor Day will be an occasion for relaxation and contemplation.

Joe Biden reminded the world what grace looks like.

I missed it again. So did the rest of America.

I got my first spyder bike for Christmas 1970, when I was 8: a red Murray one-speed with chrome fenders and a black banana seat.

My father’s mission was to tame the stupidity out of me – a powerful blessing too few children are experiencing now.

olice were called about John Mahone, a black man, having an argument with his wife. A cop shot and killed him because he thought Mahone had a knife. Mahone had a can opener.

The murder hornets don’t stand a chance.

COVID-19 has millions working from home. As a longtime teleworker, let me offer some advice.

The dirty rotten crooks.

My Aunt Cecelia was just beginning the eighth grade when it happened.

At least Michael Bloomberg gave it a try.

Get this: New parents are giving newborns outlandish names – so they’ll stand out on social media.

Maybe Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is bringing me down – or not.

When my childhood home got a phone call, it was an event.

One of 2019’s biggest stories will be bigger in 2020: Cyber scams are on the rise.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through America, people were angry or delighted, and most uncomplimentary.

I indulge more deeply in Christmas nostalgia with every passing year, but it turns out that doing so is a good thing.

We could use a good snowstorm right about now.

I don’t blame millennials and Gen Z for mocking baby boomers with the trending “OK boomer” meme. I’ve had my issues with baby boomers, too.

What’s the best gift you ever received? Whatever it was, it surely wasn’t a material item bought in a store.

America could use a good food fight this Thanksgiving.

Buyers often trade their cars in before those lengthy loans are paid off, driving into a perpetual state of indebtedness.

The numbers are sobering, but we can do something about them.

Everything is offensive now – even Halloween.

My sister Kris kicked the tar out of Frankie Leper.

The trade wars are hitting me where it hurts.

Autumn has arrived. I can’t think of a better time to put priorities back in order.

Tom Hanks is right: We should be allowed to start off our days feeling good.

Some presidential candidates, past and present, sure have cursed up a storm.

When my retired professor friendP told me about it, my alarm bells went off.

An invasion from outer space might do America some good. And maybe one’s coming?

“Sometimes I worry that if I ever can retire and do get Social Security payments, they’ll be a lot less than what I’ve been promised,” I said to my CPA, Louie the Number Cruncher.

Here’s some great news: The American entrepreneur is flourishing again.

‘Ah, yes, you speak of a recent Pew Research Center survey that found ‘46% of adult social media users say they feel ‘worn out by political posts and discussions they see on social media’ - a share that ‘has risen 9 percentage points since the summer of 2016, when the Center last asked this question.’’

Twelve years ago, when I first visited the Little Sisters of the Poor (LSP) retirement home in Pittsburgh, I was overcome with peace and calm.

A phone scammer made a mistake when he called my mother.

We could use a hearty dose of Robert Fulghum wisdom about now.

Despite the accusations, I deny that I carry a man purse.According to the New York Post, the man purse, or “murse,” is the “new must-have accessory taking over designers’ spring 2020 men’s runways.”

It’s never too late for a good belly laugh.

Why do I want more Americans to buy homes? Because misery loves company.

Here’s the worst part: He had every opportunity to choose life. Last week, 21-year-old Mustafa Mousab Alowemer was arrested for allegedly plotting to bomb a small Christian church in Pittsburgh’s North Side.

Breaking news: Federal spending is out of control.

My dad turns 86 next month. He never thought he’d live so long – or see as many Father’s Days as he has – because his parents both died far too young.

America’s declining birthrate has given me pause. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of babies born in the United States in 2018 was the lowest in 32 years, continuing what NBC News calls “a decades-long trend toward fewer and fewer babies being born each year.”

Like most people, I didn’t think much about my Social Security number – until I got a bizarre call from a total stranger.

With your military service complete, you’re eager to return home and get on with life in the private sector. Surely, in a booming economy, you’ll have your pick of jobs?

Prom season is upon us. We all know what that means: More American adults are doing their proms all over again.

I hope to be just like my mother one day. Now in her eighth decade, my ma has arrived at a coveted place: Her “filter” is pretty much gone, and she has no problem telling anyone what’s on her mind.

Boy, is our political discourse going to the dogs.

This Thursday is Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, the one day every year when young people can learn – in person – about the work world of their parents or mentor.

Boy, do I feel sorry for Lori Loughlin’s daughters.

Spring has finally arrived in all its glory. In Pittsburgh, the weather has warmed, the trees are blossoming and the birds are singing cheerfully.

Tax season is upon us, which gives us a choice: Laugh or cry. I choose to laugh.

Sister Margaret Mary didn’t think she was up to the job.

Socialism is back in vogue in some quarters.

Amazon recently removed items considered offensive to Muslims – an action that AOH praises – but has ignored repeated AOH requests to remove items that denigrate Irish-Americans.

Nobody dreads daylight saving time more than my father.

With America’s national debt surpassing a frightening $22 trillion, it makes sense that fewer people are volunteering their hard-earned dough to help reduce it.

I’m so unhappy with my cable TV and internet services that I’m going to do what I’ve long dreamed of doing: Cancel my subscription!

In these heated, divisive times, all of us sure could use more kindness. This coming Sunday, Feb. 17, offers us a reminder to embrace kindness.

Just as my annual diet has begun showing promise, my greatest obstacle to success is upon me: Girl Scout Cookie season has begun.

We’ll celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and legacy next week. In these angry and divisive times, we all could benefit by reminding ourselves of his words’ truth, civility and wisdom.

Is technology innovation doing us more harm than good?

“Celebrating the holidays with friends and family the past few weeks was great, but I”m tired, bloated and crabby.”

I love Christmas. I love it because my mother has worked hard to make the day magical and eventful for her family for more years than she will permit me to share!

I thought Facebook knew too much about me, but it turns out Google is even worse.

Before the NFL season began, Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell told ESPN, “I want to play.

Merry debt-fueled Christmas, America! According to a recent NerdWallet study, nearly 40 million Americans are still struggling to pay off credit-card debts from last Christmas.

Good grief! With everything in everyday American life politicized, count on someone, somewhere, being offended by something, anything – even classic Christmas TV specials.

As physicals go, it was the most thorough I’d ever gotten.

“Thanksgiving is the time of year when we reflect on our incredible blessings, but many Americans aren’t feeling very thankful?”

Among today’s most regrettable trends is the dying art of effective humor and satire in politics.

After living in Washington, D.C., for nearly 8 years, I love being back home in Pittsburgh.

Like millions of Americans, I often took my incredible freedoms for granted – until I visited Saudi Arabia.

“If younger generations don’t know why and how America is such a great nation, we are doomed!”

With all the vitriol in our politics - with all the disagreement that is tearing our country apart – we could all use some levity about now.

“Republicans like to talk about fiscal discipline, but when they have control of Congress they spend like drunken sailors!”

Despite a 2010 law that requires federal agencies to describe rules and regulations in plain language, most government writing is STILL unintelligible.

On Sept. 11, 2001, I was driving along the Beltway to a Falls Church, Va., office building when a radio announcer said a plane had flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.

The magazine cites research, published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, that finds technology-enabled anonymity and “a lack of eye contact” are chief contributors to our growing incivility.

The government got into the school nutrition business during the Depression. FDR saw an opportunity to feed kids while winning the favor of farmers by buying their food with government money.

Which means many millennials are missing out on the misery of home ownership.

61 percent of employees surveyed said they feared appearing replaceable to their bosses, while 56 percent said they can’t take a break because there is too much work on their plate.

Just as more private-sector organizations are calling telecommuting workers back to the office, two politicians in Washington hope to encourage federal agencies to allow more government employees to work from home.

Washington, D.C., routinely ranks high in surveys on America’s most livable cities, but as somebody who’s been a resident of both areas, I can tell you that Pittsburgh’s a far better place to live.

Boy, are Americans getting old.

“Can you believe that a man dumped a drink on a teenager because the teenager’s baseball cap favored the president?"

Maybe a new Utah law will revive the lost art of parents calling their children home for dinner.

“It’s a grand time, to be sure – the day every year that we celebrate American independence and the birth of our country. And there are lots of interesting fun facts about the Fourth.”

But instead of working to resolve our challenges, we snipe and point fingers and make absurd accusations. We forget we’re not Democrats or Republicans, but Americans.

His powerful model left a profound impact and guides me still. Even at 56, I’m filled with joy when I live up to his high standards and make him proud. I’m filled with disgust when my actions fall short and make him sad.

According to The Washington Post, the Vancouver School of Economics and McGill University have determined that people who live in rural areas and small towns are happier than those who live in congested urban and large metro areas.

The American prom is, at heart, a formal step for teens to begin shedding their adolescence.

Perhaps we’d all be better off if more folks started collecting old albums – if more folks tried re-creating the simple childhood memories of the old stereo consoles that once sat in their parents’ dining room.

Such was the admonishment my mother gave me many times over the years when one of life’s temporary failures gave me license to indulge in self-loathing.

However, despite your incredible burdens, I’m hopeful the class of 2018 will summon the will to do great things for mankind.

“What do you mean that America’s youth know little about George Washington, except that he was a slave owner?”

“The country is divided. The political rhetoric is getting worse. The world seems to be in a mess.”

I’m on a diet – a miserable diet just as millions of Americans are during January every year.

It’s so cold, politicians are picking their own pockets, people are flocking inside the U.S. Capitol just for the hot air, and the outlook for anti-Trumpers has been downgraded from miserable and bewildered to hopelessly depressed.

My father is behind the curve on social media, but I think he is onto something.

Like or hate the Republican tax-reform plan, here’s one thing we can all cheer: Beer taxes are going down

Your Social Security number has more than 40 congressionally approved uses. You can’t drive, vote, apply for a job or open a bank account without revealing that number.

What can we dress up as for Halloween?

It was a fine day for protesting at Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., where folks were enjoying their right to free speech in a productive and peaceable manner.

Ah, summer is upon us.

My father was born during the Depression, in 1933, when life was a lot tougher. When he was only 3, his father, who had a good job working for the Mellon family, died at age 34.

“I may have to do WHAT to receive my high school diploma?”

Proms sure have gotten expensive these days.

We need to rethink Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.

Get this: The U.S. Treasury says that America’s debt grew by another trillion dollars in 2016.

"Can you believe some jerk told me it was rude to talk on my cellphone inside the movie theater?”

I didn’t know the young man well – I’d hired him to do some handyman work around my house – but it was awfully unpleasant to learn that he died at 24 with a needle in his arm.

Network news anchor Brent Fullworth: We bring you a live update on the birth of Jesus Christ from our correspondent, Bethany Smug, who is standing by in Bethlehem. Bethany?

"You almost got fired because your company had a holiday party? You’re going to have to explain.”

Now that Republicans will be running the White House, the House and the Senate, they’d better succeed in streamlining and simplifying our bloated government. Quotes from some of our greatest minds can guide them.

Thanksgiving may get ugly this year. God only knows what may happen when a progressive liberal Democrat discovers he’s sitting next to a cousin or uncle who is a conservative Republican.

"Five more weeks before the election. I'm not sure I can survive that long."