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Crime is as old as civilization and until fairly recently biblical in its punishment. Civilization should measure justice by fairness and balance. In other words, punishment should fit the crime. No one should be exempt from society’s judgment due to social, political or financial position. Law should embrace equality. Judgment should be logical, not cruel…

Over the past year, I’ve learned a lot about scams, scammers and the good people fighting the never-ending battle to help scam victims. The Forum’s 12-part, yearlong series diving into the depths of the “scamdom” offered so much information from every corner of the community, that at times the evil of those taking the very…

Effective November 30, 2024, there will be an increase to the fee cap representatives can charge for help when you do business with Social Security. The maximum dollar amount for fee agreements approved by Social Security will increase from $7,200 to $9,200. If a fee agreement is not filed, a representative can submit a fee…

The most perfect Christmas trees I have ever seen are found along the highway between Springfield Missouri and Branson. They are perfectly formed, many not much wider than a lampshade and five or six feet tall. There they are there for the taking, small, medium and large; all perfectly formed due to their environment, which…

We’re entering one of those special times of the year — the winter holidays. It’s a concentrated few weeks that give many of us the chance to spend extra time with friends, family and colleagues, celebrating the past year while looking toward the possibilities of the next. And though the season’s colder weather and shorter…

I have spent two decades of my life working in sales. I don’t mean newspaper advertising sales: I mean in education. Every moment of teaching becomes a sales job. You work your hardest to sell kids on ideas that they don’t necessarily walk through the door hoping to buy. In a way, it reminds me…

In the movies when a new sheriff arrives in town, the bad guys either head for the hills or hunker down in a corner of the Long Branch with a warm beer and a shooter holstered but itchy. Donald J. Trump is the new sheriff in the sense of being recently elected president, but he…

SSA.gov is your best resource to learn about Social Security programs and benefits and conduct business with us. Our website is designed to make it easy for you to find what you need. Here are our top 10 webpages: 1. my Social Security — You can open a personal my Social Security account to verify…

My children have, at least on an occasion or two, asked me to tell them a story from when I was growing up. I think my wife might agree that I possess the gift of embellishment, or maybe I’m just good at making things sound more interesting, than they actually were. Regardless, my kids like…

Over Christmas, I plan to bring my typical holiday joy to the proceedings by asking everyone who joins us to share an experience they had with their health insurance provider. I’ll probably wait until after presents. If you did the same, how many adults do you think wouldn’t have a story to tell? One? Two?…