A12
East Oregonian
PEANUTS
COFFEE BREAK
Thursday, January 7, 2021
DEAR ABBY
BY CHARLES M . SCHULZ
Mom is pressured to teach
native language to daughter
FOR BETTER OR WORSE
BY LYNN JOHNSTON
B.C.
BY JOHNNY HART
PICKLES
BY BRIAN CRANE
BEETLE BAILEY
BY MORT WALKER
Dear Abby: I came to this coun-
ments bother you, tell them that
try 30 years ago, at 16. My parents
because you don’t tell them how to
were very abusive and neglectful,
raise their children, you prefer they
not tell you how to raise yours.
so my uncle in the U.S. took me in.
Dear Abby: I have a unique
I have worked with therapists, and
problem, and if it isn’t resolved,
my mind is clear about my past.
I’m afraid my marriage is going
I now have a 14-year-old daugh-
ter. I do not speak to her in my
to end in divorce. Ten years ago,
J eanne
native language. It is not very good
at my brother-in-law’s wedding, I
P hilliPs
at expressing love and caring, and
was left in charge of the bar. I got
ADVICE
has more emphasis on strict hierar-
drunk and made a fool of myself.
chy and obedience.
This included overtly flirting with
one of the bridesmaids. I’m incredi-
There are many things I cannot
bly sorry about the embarrassment it caused
convey in my native language. One must
my wife.
understand the huge cultural difference
Fast-forward to today: My wife has
between my native country and the U.S. In
accused me of inappropriate behavior and
addition, I do not want to force my daugh-
ter to learn something because someone
hundreds of affairs that never happened. I
other than her insisted. I prefer to spend my
have been faithful to her since we started
resources helping her learn something she is
dating. She goes through my business phone
and accuses me and my professional con-
interested in.
tacts of sexual behavior. I have offered to
If she says she wants to learn my native
take a polygraph exam, but she continues to
language, I’ll teach her. So far, she has
accuse me of infidelity. I’m at my wits’ end,
shown no interest. My friends criticize me
and marriage counseling isn’t an option. —
for not teaching it to her. I’m bothered by
Not Fooling Around in Maine
their insistence that I’m robbing my daugh-
ter of the opportunity to learn it. How do
Dear Not Fooling: Marriage counseling
I tell them it is none of their business? —
may not be an option for you and your wife,
Reader in Hawaii
but you should definitely consult a licensed
psychotherapist. Something is not right with
Dear Reader: Your daughter may not
your wife. Is it possible that the wedding
have asked to learn your native language
incident so severely unbalanced her that she
because it hasn’t occurred to her that it might
has never recovered?
one day be a valuable asset. I do think you
What you have described is a miserable
should offer to teach it to her if she’s inter-
ested in knowing more about the culture
existence for both of you. That it has gone
that shaped her mother, because her answer
unresolved for a decade is tragic. Where you
might surprise you.
need to go from here I cannot decide for you,
but a therapist may be able to guide you.
That said, because your friends’ com-
DAYS GONE BY
GARFIELD
BLONDIE
DILBERT
BY JIM DAVIS
BY DEAN YOUNG AND STAN DRAKE
BY SCOTT ADAMS
100 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Jan. 7, 1921
With a thrust of a dagger into his own
heart, George Francis, known to Round-Up
followers as “Long George,” recently
brought a highly dramatic end to a rather
dramatic life. Francis had dragged his
injured body a mile through snow and at
a temperature of 20 degrees below zero
toward civilization in hopes of receiving
aid for a broken leg when the pain and cold
finally crazed him and caused him to draw
the knife that ended his life. Francis drove
his automobile off a precipitous cliff while
en route to Havre, Montana. In the killing
cold and far from habitation, he began the
grim fight against death. A red trail in the
snow told the dramatic story to persons who
found his body. Francis had once been con-
victed and sentenced to prison in Montana
for horse stealing. He hid out in the moun-
tains for 18 months and never was brought
in to serve his time. In by-gone years he
brought relay strings to Round-Ups where
he performed.
50 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Jan. 7, 1971
Three prisoners at the Umatilla County
Jail are on a hunger strike, refusing the
bread they are offered, Sheriff Roy Johnson
said. Nine prisoners at the jail were placed
on diets of bread and water following a riot
in which the prisoners severely damaged
jail facilities. Chief Deputy Bill McPherson
said the bread and water will continue to be
offered to the men staging the hunger strike.
Johnson commented that over the years
there has been a great change in the type of
prisoners handled here and at the state pen-
itentiary. Prisoners are younger and tend
to be more hostile toward jailers. “The old
convicts weren’t like that,” he said. “They
regarded the jail as their home while they
were in it and didn’t want it torn apart.” The
number of prisoners handled at the Umatilla
County Jail has increased steadily over the
years, taxing jail facilities. Umatilla County
Judge C.E. Lassen after the riot said he will
launch an investigation of the need for an
improved jail here.
25 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Jan. 7, 1996
The on-ramp to the bustling informa-
tion-rich Internet has just become more
affordable thanks to a local company of
computer entrepreneurs. Oregon Trail Inter-
net, founded by Steve Winterton and his
wife, Carrie, promises on-line gabbers all
the chatting they want — and researchers
a myriad of information at their fingertips
— at just $25 per month. “Pendleton needs
this,” said Winterton, a U.S. Forest Service
telecommunication specialist who plunged
around $40,000 into the new venture with
the help of 10 investors. Each has a share of
the home-grown company. In the past, local
residents could either plug in to national
services such as America On Line or tap
public Internet access through the state’s
COMPASS system. Oregon Trail Internet
founders considered national services too
expensive and filled with “frivolous fea-
tures” and the state’s system ponderous and
limited. Customers will also be able to have
home pages created for them by the com-
pany to be posted in the cyberspace market-
place known as the World Wide Web. None
of the company’s founders believe the Inter-
net is simply a fad.
TODAY IN HISTORY
THE WIZARD OF ID
LUANN
ZITS
BY BRANT PARKER AND JOHNNY HART
BY GREG EVANS
BY JERRY SCOTT AND JIM BORGMAN
On Jan. 7, 1789, Amer-
ica held its first presiden-
tial election as voters chose
electors who, a month later,
selected George Washing-
ton to be the nation’s first
chief executive.
In 1927, commercial
transatlantic
telephone
service was inaugurated
between New York and
London.
In 1972, Lewis F. Powell,
Jr. and William H. Rehn-
quist were sworn in as the
99th and 100th members of
the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1999, for the sec-
ond time in history, an
impeached American presi-
dent went on trial before the
Senate. President Bill Clin-
ton faced charges of perjury
and obstruction of justice;
he was acquitted.
In
2004,
President
George W. Bush proposed
legal status, at least tempo-
rarily, for millions of immi-
grants improperly working
in the U.S.
In 2019, Supreme Court
Justice Ruth Bader Gins-
burg was absent from oral
arguments as she recuper-
ated from cancer surgery.
Today’s
Birthdays:
Magazine publisher Jann
Wenner is 75. Talk show
host Katie Couric is 64.
Actor Nicolas Cage is 57.
Actor Doug E. Doug is 51.
Actor Dustin Diamond is
44. Actor Reggie Austin is
42.
PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN
BY DANA SIMPSON
BIG NATE
BY LINCOLN PEIRCE