Behavior

We all seem to do something wrong when it comes to money. Whether your problem is not saving enough, or investing in money-losers, these sites could help you begin to change. Becoming a saver. There are three basic financial profiles, according to this entry at the personal-finance section on Tipcentral.net. You either spend more than you have, spend what you have, or spend less. Everyone's first long-term goal should be to get into the last category of savers. As creatures of habit, however, it's incredibly hard to do that.

WAS IT only a week ago that we were the center of the universe? Now, all the camera lights, the 50 daily e-mails from Bill Clinton and the embarrassing behavior by the national media surrounding the Democratic primary have shifted to Indiana and North Carolina. We're relieved to have our city back. But the weeks leading up to last Tuesday's primary were good weeks for Philadlephia. We got the Colbert bump. On national TV, we watched our mayor being funny and our former mayor being even funnier.

DEAR ABBY: My mother has never liked her sister-in- law. Mom thinks "Auntie Beth" is "completely out to get her," even though no one has seen any evidence to support my mother's claims. For the past several months, Mom has been complaining nonstop about how "awful" Beth is. She says things at the most random times to people she barely knows. If we don't show sympathy toward Mom, she then becomes enraged. It has caused many problems between our family and Auntie Beth's. We can't have holidays together because my aunt is not allowed in our house.

A gentle, non-punitive approach to improving dogs' behavior and a lucid text that any novice should be able to understand distinguish Everyday Dog: Training Your Dog to Be the Companion You Want by Nancy E. Johnson (Howell Book House, Macmillan Publishing, $17.95). Of the scores of dog-training, problem-solving books I've read, this is the first that offers different techniques for training puppies and adult canines, even when the same problem, such as housebreaking, is concerned.

Snowballs rained down, dangerously and persistently. Fights broke out in the stands. Several individuals ran onto the playing field and disrupted play. Dozens of customers invaded the sidelines in search of snow for ammunition. If anarchy did not reign in some sections of Veterans Stadium, it was chillingly close. And Eagles owner Norman Braman - who had as his guest at the game yesterday Paul Tagliabue, the NFL's new commissioner - was furious. "It's a disgrace," Braman said, after the Eagles' 20-10 victory over Dallas.

A day after the violent outbreak of looting in the East Market Street area during the parade for Julius Erving, some police and gang-control workers started talking to students about what went on. John White Sr., an assistant city managing director and head of the city's community intervention program, said he sent 18 community intervention workers in two-person teams into schools and public housing complexes to hold "rap sessions on these anti-social...

This month - Domestic Violence Awareness Month - the Commentary Page is featuring a series of essays by workers in the field of domestic abuse. In almost 16 years of counseling men who abuse their partners, I've been asked lots of questions about my clients. The thing people most frequently want to know is: Can these guys change? My answer is always an emphatic but qualified yes, because while I've witnessed many dramatic and inspiring conversions, the countervailing truth is that relatively very few abusive men actually come for help or stick with the grueling process.

Upper Moreland High School seniors and their friends must leave their water balloons, beach balls, kazoos and water pistols at home when they don caps and gowns for their commencement ceremony Wednesday. Although they may toss their caps during the "graduation salute" at the end of commencement, no jeering or cat calling will be tolerated. The banned items and behavior are listed in a sternly worded letter to seniors and their parents from high school principal Robert H. Bubeck and assistant principals L. John DeLaurentis and Charles D. Cassady.

A Dec. 3 article referred to a case of a battered woman who fatally shot her husband as he tried to hit her with a piece of pipe. During the five years of their marriage, she had suffered repeated physical abuse, which resulted in numerous injuries, including the loss of sight in one eye. The defense sought to introduce testimony on the "battered women's syndrome," which the judge did not allow. The story said that "the syndrome . . . can cause irrational behavior in a victim," in a sentence worded such that readers may have erroneously inferred that the woman's lawyer made such a statement.

Some people want to explore space, make a million dollars, or become a movie star. Malik, 9, wants stickers on his behavior chart - lots of them. He can earn them by speaking quietly in the house, staying in bed before 6:30 a.m., and dressing for school, eating and brushing his teeth with a pleasant attitude. The size of his allowance depends on the sticker pile-up. He likes to go shopping with his foster father, and will use some of his money to get a toy for his foster brother back home, too. Neglect and abuse are in Malik's background, and he receives therapy to help him deal with it. He takes medication for an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and for behavior management.

Face the harsh realities of 2012 I am an independent voter who thinks both parties are to blame for where we are as a country. I recognize that, on the Democratic side, President Obama has let a lot of folks down via promises he made while running for office, including me. However, I also recognize that Republicans are always saying no, and refuse to raise taxes. The harsh realities of 2012 dictate a flexibility in our politicians whether we collectively acknowledge it or not. We need health care for our citizens, not just someone saying that what we are implementing won't work.

ANTOINETTE Pelzer's reactions ran the gamut from laughs to frowns during her court hearing Tuesday about a gory rampage in the heart of Atlantic City in which she allegedly stabbed two Canadian tourists to death with a 12-inch butcher knife after attempting to rob one of them. Relatives of the 44-year-old Pelzer, accused of repeatedly plunging a knife into the two women, ages 80 and 47, in broad daylight Monday morning at Michigan and Pacific avenues, said that she has struggled with mental illness.

We all seem to do something wrong when it comes to money. Whether your problem is not saving enough, or investing in money-losers, these sites could help you begin to change. Becoming a saver. There are three basic financial profiles, according to this entry at the personal-finance section on Tipcentral.net. You either spend more than you have, spend what you have, or spend less. Everyone's first long-term goal should be to get into the last category of savers. As creatures of habit, however, it's incredibly hard to do that.

WASHINGTON - Military leaders are telling commanders to get their troops in line and refrain from misconduct such as urinating on enemy corpses, in a sharp response to the tasteless photos and other disturbing examples of bad behavior that have enraged Afghans and complicated war-fighting. The broader message to shore up discipline in the ranks was expected to be underscored by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta in remarks Friday at Fort Benning, Ga. The Army and Marine Corps chiefs have focused on discipline in recent talks to midlevel commanders around the country.

DEAR ABBY: My mother has never liked her sister-in- law. Mom thinks "Auntie Beth" is "completely out to get her," even though no one has seen any evidence to support my mother's claims. For the past several months, Mom has been complaining nonstop about how "awful" Beth is. She says things at the most random times to people she barely knows. If we don't show sympathy toward Mom, she then becomes enraged. It has caused many problems between our family and Auntie Beth's. We can't have holidays together because my aunt is not allowed in our house.

PITTSBURGH - John F. Shick, who police say shot and killed one person and wounded seven others Thursday before being killed by police, was a well-known student in Carleton College's chemistry department. Carleton, a liberal arts college of about 4,000 students in Northfield, Minn., is one of the most prestigious schools in the nation. But by the time Shick's neighbors in Pittsburgh began to notice him in recent months, it wasn't for his academic interests. Scott Kunst, 43, said he lives three doors down from Shick's room on the fourth floor of the Royal York Apartments.

John F. Shick, the man who police say shot and killed one person and wounded seven others at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic on Thursday before being killed by police, graduated from one of the nation's most prestigious liberal arts colleges with a degree in chemistry in 2004. Yet, by the time he moved to North Oakland this fall, his neighbors said he was acting so strangely that they tried to avoid him. Shick, 30, was a well-known student in Carleton College's chemistry department, and professors there were shocked to hear of the shootings at Western Psych.

Lessons learned from watching Project X : 1. The secret to high school popularity is to throw a legendary party, the likes of which people will talk about for years, with details that will never be mentioned in a college application essay. 2. Girls shouldn't worry about taking off their shirts and bras at a party with a couple of hundred or thousand people because no one will ever record them with a phone or camera. 3. High school and college students can easily get their hands on beer and the hard stuff and tote it to a party as though they were bringing soft drinks.

DEAR ABBY: I am a 19-year-old student taking courses at a community college. One of my classes is taught by a great professor who also works at a state college teaching other teachers. After an evening class with him one night, I returned to the classroom because I forgot something and ended up walking with him back to the parking lot. While putting stuff into my car I saw him get into another student's car. I waited a while without them realizing I was there and ended up seeing my professor and this student smoking weed and fooling around.

Adapted from a recent online discussion. Question: After several years of really bad behavior (drinking too much, sleeping with several married men and general promiscuity, dabbling in drug use, and generally not being a good person), about six months ago, I finally managed to stop all of this cold turkey. I can't make up for what I did, but I plan to spend the rest of my life working to be a better person and making better choices that don't hurt people, one day at a time, of course.