Bet a Benjamin — or just a bagel. But join me in freezing out the sports books this Super Bowl. Bet on my (free) second annual Super Bowl Quiz instead!

Which lines in our lives are real, and which imagined?

Cheating is growing. Why do we do it ourselves, and worry so much that others are doing it?

There’s a danger if every young person has a casino in their pocket.

RIP Jimmy Carter. His presidency was doomed when he called for self-sacrifice instead of offering simple solutions. The politics were wrong, but he wasn’t.

A Russian dissident charts a path away from seasonal self-pity.

In this season of giving, which nations have the greatest number of “good samaritans” — and why?

‘Tis the season when a lot of places ask us for money. Most of us don’t.

Employees want the ability to work from home; employers want them back in the office. The chess game is entering its middle stages, with no clear winner yet, and lots of new strategies.

We give all sorts of flimsy excuses for not showing our gratitude, but there are no good reasons.

US voters said they want both mass deportations and cheap food prices. They can’t have both.

It’s not that too many people care too much about the big issues of our time: it’s that too few people care at all.