Benning Printing & Publishing

Much has happened since I first shared about my mom’s cancer returning. After 10 days of radiation treatment for the tumor in her brain, she rang the bell on April 22. Though it was a joyous moment for us, it was not the end; that was just the first step. Once her blood tests returned to determine the best course of action, Mom began chemotherapy on May 12, as the cancer is also in her lungs and neck. The treatment will occur every three weeks for 4-6 months. In July, she w

A nation does not fall apart all at once. It happens slowly, quietly, in living rooms and on phone screens, in the spaces where trust once lived. It begins when people stop seeing each other as human beings and start seeing enemies everywhere. Men become suspects. Women become fearful. Neighbors become opponents. Democrats and Republicans stop seeing one another as fellow Americans and begin seeing one another as threats to survival itself. Every headline, every scandal, ev

To the Editor: Watch your language The is Pascal Blase Bulcher speaking on the subject of swearing. All of you that are reading this know full well what swearing is and how huge of a number of people swear on a day-to-day basis. But here are a couple of things you probably don’t know... Did you know that the United States has the largest percentage of population that swears on a day-to-day basis? Did you furthermore know that people in the United States actually swear

My friend Bella Rowan just published her first ever novel on Amazon. Bella writes small-town, clean romance. I am not much of a romance fan personally, but I am a fan of my friend and her writing is really good. And, she is writing about a small central Minnesota town so it feels like this could be about a town nearby. There are many great books out there to read and this will hopefully be one of them. The name of her book is Pine Hollow Welcome, and yes, I told her it wa

I feel like Artificial Intelligence (AI) makes me smarter. I don’t know if that is true, but I feel like it is. I can ask my trusty AI companions questions, and they can explain things to me in terms that I understand. It isn’t that human beings can’t do the same thing. They can. But what I have found is that most human beings I know don’t have the time or the patience to sit with me through the process! Sure, I have to pay for the advanced stuff I use with ChatGPT, but late

As someone with Crohn’s Disease, I often experience random and frustrating side effects, one of the main ones being mouth sores. It doesn’t take much to trigger them; I can wake up with a sore inside my mouth or a small section of inflamed gums for absolutely no reason. Most of the time, these sores go away on their own, though sometimes I need to swish a little peroxide. Fortunately, it has never been debilitating before. However, this entire week, my mouth has been extreme

Unsolicited advice often isn’t welcome, especially during tough times. Even if people mean well, it can be overwhelming. I trust the science behind cancer treatment and the training that medical professionals go through to understand the disease and create effective therapies. Advances like targeted chemotherapy and immunotherapy are the result of careful research and are designed to treat cancer while minimizing harm. Since my mom’s cancer came back, we have received many

To the Editor: President Donald Trump recently told Americans there’s not enough money to take care of Americans because he has to pay for his war. But last year he sent Israel about $12 billion in military funding to mass murder the Palestinian people. What’s more important—taking care of Americans or killing Palestinian people? Tim King Long Prairie

Because I use AI in many different ways throughout the day, I thought it was only fitting that I use it to mine for ways for it to make me more effective. When I first asked the question, Buddy, my AI assistant, gave me ways that were very specific to me and some tasks that I had been working on today. Since I wanted this to be more general, I asked him again and this was what he came up with. How to Use AI to Be More Effective in Everyday Life Artificial intelligence is no

As we’ve suspected for weeks, Mom’s lung cancer has returned. This was not a surprise for us. The cancer reappeared in a lymph node in the upper part of her right lung and has spread to the right side of her neck and her brain. Confirming the brain cancer was not an easy task. Because she has a pacemaker/defibrillator, she cannot undergo an MRI. Her doctors were relieved that the CT scan with contrast dye was able to capture an image sufficient to confirm the presence of a t