Dear Uncle Jay:

When I read the news, sometimes they put three periods in the middle of a paragraph, like this: “…” .  Sometimes it’s even in the middle of a sentence.  I see it all the time.  Is it on purpose, and what does it mean?

Dear Arlene:   First of all, congratulations for actually reading.  Those three periods are called an “ellipsis.”  An ellipsis means that the news people removed part of what somebody said, so you don’t have to read as many words.  For example, if Hillary Clinton says, “My health care plan uses a community of medical professionals to develop a realistic system that covers all Americans,” Fox News might condense it to: “My health care plan uses a commun … istic system that covers all Americans.”

Dear Uncle Jay:

My dad says that Ron Paul can’t win the election because the news ignores him.  Why would that stop him from winning?

Dear Greg: Because when the news does not cover a story like Ron Paul’s campaign, it’s almost as if the story isn’t even happening.

It’s much like that famous saying: If a tree falls in the forest but there is nothing around to hear it, was a sound actually produced, or was it quashed by a secret cabal of international bankers whose contempt for the Constitution and agenda for world domination is clearly indicated by the Freemason symbols on the dollar bill?  By the way, are you sure that you’re in the Roswell in Georgia?

Dear Uncle Jay:

I hear a lot about global warming, but even with all the evidence, some people still refuse to see that it’s real. How can we convince them that it is better to act on an uncertainty, instead of doing nothing and facing global disaster?

Dear David: It is NOT always better to act on an uncertainty.  Examples: Y2K, WMD, subprime lending.  And hey, those were all slam-dunks, weren’t they?  Seriously, though, something disturbing seems to be happening to the Earth.  That’s why your city has apparently shifted from Upstate New York to Michigan.

Dear Uncle Jay:

Can you explain why the States of Michigan and Florida screwed up their primaries and lost out on their votes ON PURPOSE?

Dear Ann:  They didn’t expect this to happen.  For some reason, they figured that if they broke the rules and did something really selfish and destructive, with no regard for others, that in America they would somehow be portrayed as victims, and get away with it.  How they got this crazy notion is anybody’s guess.  By the way, they got away with it.