Page 6B
East Oregonian
PEANUTS
COFFEE BREAK
Friday, December 8, 2017
DEAR ABBY
BY CHARLES M . SCHULZ
Expectation of an early death
puts man’s life in a tailspin
FOR BETTER OR WORSE
BY LYNN JOHNSTON
B.C.
BY JOHNNY HART
PICKLES
BY BRIAN CRANE
Dear Abby: I spent an evening
grades. And while you’re at it, suggest
with a guy I’ve been wanting to date
he stop drinking and neglecting his
for some time. After a few drinks he
studies because, in the end, he might
confided to me that he has a serious
LIVE.
heart condition. He said he doesn’t
Dear Abby: My best friend of
expect to live past age 23 and he could
more than 20 years is a busy person.
die any day.
She has a demanding job, a husband,
I don’t know the details of his
two children and extended family she
condition, but I’m sure he believes
cooks for on most holidays. She also
Jeanne
what he told me. Because of this his Phillips cares for an elderly distant relative. She
life has taken a downward spiral. He
has a heart of gold and is wonderful to
Advice
has been drinking a lot, failed multiple
me and my family.
classes last semester and feels like
When I’m invited to her house for
studying is futile if he may only live a year dinner, she refuses to let me help her clear the
after graduating.
table. I’m not happy with that, but I accept it.
For lack of evidence to the contrary, I The problem arises when I invite her over for
accepted his statement as accurate. I don’t dinner. Because we don’t get to visit often, I’ll
think he’d make up something like that. What pile the dishes in the kitchen so I can spend
can I say or do to show my support? How can time with her and wash them later. But she
I encourage him not to give up on his dreams cannot sit still and just have a conversation
and his goals? He’s only 19. How can I be with me or anybody. You will find her in the
strong for him?
kitchen scraping plates, soaking pans and
Since he told me about his heart I haven’t hand-washing the wine glasses.
been able to think about anything else. I don’t
This has become a point of contention
know how to process this information. How because I like to unwind and clean my kitchen
do you comfort someone you care about after my guests have left. I have tried working
who’s facing mortality at such a young age? with her, but she prefers to power through the
— Brokenhearted Guy In The South
mess by herself, which gives us less time to
Dear Brokenhearted Guy: If you want to sit and talk. How can I get through to her? —
be a friend to this young man, ask how many Anxious In New York
doctors have told him about his poor prog-
Dear Anxious: Assuming that you have
nosis. If the answer is only one, urge him to spoken to your friend more than once about
get a second opinion because there are medical this, I think it’s time to accept her the way she
advances in cardiology happening every day, is, rather than the way you would like her to
and he may not be nearly as close to the end be. Some people are unable (notice I didn’t say
as he fears.
unwilling) to just sit still and have a conversa-
You say he’s still in school. Suggest he talk tion, and she appears to be one of them. If this
to someone at the student health center about is her only flaw, consider yourself blessed to
his depression because it is interfering with his have a sparkling kitchen when she leaves.
DAYS GONE BY
BEETLE BAILEY
GARFIELD
BLONDIE
BY MORT WALKER
BY JIM DAVIS
BY DEAN YOUNG AND STAN DRAKE
100 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Dec. 8, 1917
Brain fatigue was the prevailing ailment
yesterday afternoon when two hundred and
fifty high school students finished the task of
answering twenty current history questions
given them to test their interest and knowl-
edge. The examination was arranged as a
preliminary step to the possible formation of
a class in current events and civics should any
department be temporarily closed. Ranging
from “What is the meaning of the term
camouflage” to “Who is Hoover,” the ques-
tions brought out a wide variety of answers
including the statement that La Follette is an
explorer and that Bulgaria, Africa, Roumania
and China are neutral countries of Europe.
Examination of all the papers shows that
there is a fair average of current knowledge
among the high school students, and also that
the seniors are no better as a group than the
lower classes.
50 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Dec. 8, 1967
Why did the chicken cross the road? Yes,
to get to the other side. But perhaps a “silent
policeman” was there to slow down traffic for
the feathered pedestrian. No chickens were
reported crossing Main Street Wednesday
morning. But plenty of cackles were heard
— and teeth chattering. Drivers said they
almost had their teeth knocked out when they
drove autos over the “silent policeman,” three
asphalt ridges that force cars to slow down
at mid-block crosswalks that were recently
installed at the request of the city council.
Cars slow down, going over the bumps as if
they’re railroad ties; cars driven by people
who perhaps have learned that driving fast
over the humps means that wheels bounce
like basketballs or like tires given torture tests
on television commercials. “… you take an
older model car with bad tires and bad shocks
and they’ll fall apart,” said Cliff Baiti of
Pendleton.
25 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Dec. 8, 1992
Robert Hojaboom is a lucky man indeed
— he retired at the ripe young age of 53. To
do so, the Umatilla resident earned a pension
after working 30 years for IBM, and he and
his wife saved her entire earnings for 10 years
after the children were out of school. More
opportunities exist now than when he started
his career to retire early and well, Hojaboom
said. “It takes a lot of personal fortitude and
self discipline to do it,” he said. “If you can
instill in young people to invest and save their
money, it would help the whole country.”
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
DILBERT
THE WIZARD OF ID
LUANN
ZITS
BY SCOTT ADAMS
BY BRANT PARKER AND JOHNNY HART
BY GREG EVANS
BY JERRY SCOTT AND JIM BORGMAN
Today is the 342nd day of
2017. There are 23 days left in
the year.
Today’s Highlight in
History:
On Dec. 8, 1941, the
United States entered World
War II as Congress declared
war against Japan, a day after
the attack on Pearl Harbor.
On this date:
In 1765, Eli Whitney,
inventor of the cotton gin,
was born in Westborough,
Massachusetts.
In 1813, Beethoven’s
Symphony No. 7 in A Major,
Op. 92, was first performed
in Vienna, with Beethoven
himself conducting.
In 1854, Pope Pius IX
proclaimed the Catholic
dogma of the Immaculate
Conception, which holds
that Mary, the mother of
Jesus, was free of original sin
from the moment of her own
conception.
In
1863,
President
Abraham Lincoln issued his
Proclamation of Amnesty and
Reconstruction for the South.
In 1962, the first session of
the Second Vatican Council
was formally adjourned.
Typographers went on a
114-day strike against four
New York City newspapers.
In 1980, rock star John
Lennon was shot to death
outside his New York City
apartment building by an
apparently deranged fan.
In 1982, a man demanding
an end to nuclear weapons
held the Washington Monu-
ment hostage, threatening to
blow it up with explosives
he claimed were inside a van.
(After a 10-hour standoff,
Norman D. Mayer was shot
dead by police; it turned out
there were no explosives.)
In
1987,
President
Ronald Reagan and Soviet
leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev
signed a treaty at the White
House calling for destruc-
tion of intermediate-range
nuclear missiles.
Today’s
Birthdays:
Flutist James Galway is 78.
Singer Jerry Butler is 78. Pop
musician Bobby Elliott (The
Hollies) is 76. Actress Mary
Woronov is 74. Actor John
Rubinstein is 71. Reggae
singer Toots Hibbert (Toots
and the Maytals) is 69. Actress
Kim Basinger is 64. Rock
musician Warren Cuccurullo
is 61. Rock musician Phil
Collen (Def Leppard) is
60. Country singer Marty
Raybon is 58. World Bank
President Jim Yong Kim is
58. Political commentator
Ann Coulter is 56. Rock
musician Marty Friedman
is 55. Actor Wendell Pierce
is 54. Rapper Bushwick Bill
(The Geto Boys) is 51. Rock
musician Ryan Newell (Sister
Hazel) is 45.
Thought for Today: “I’m
not interested in my legacy. I
made up a word: ‘live-acy.’
I’m more interested in
living.” — John Glenn
(1921-2016).
PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN
BY DANA SIMPSON
BIG NATE
BY LINCOLN PEIRCE