Subhashree Sahu to star in web series 'The Worse of Social Side'Dear Eric: I have a widowed friend we’ll call Vivian. Since her husband died a few years ago, my husband and I have invited her to have dinner with us on several occasions. Recently, I invited her to join us on a certain Friday. I asked about 10 days in advance, and we then settled on a time and restaurant. Everything was fine until about three days before our date. I got a text from her saying that her nephew was coming to town, and she might have a family obligation on Friday. She would let me know whether or not she could make “our date”. I don’t understand. She makes the date with me and then decides this may not work? My husband said that Vivian values her family over our friendship. Your thoughts? – Dining Alone Dear Dining: While I understand the disappointment of canceled plans, I think your read of Vivian is a bit uncharitable. If her nephew doesn’t live in town, it stands to reason that she doesn’t have as many chances to see him as she does you. I’d hope you’d be happy that your friend gets to maintain family connections. Your friendship isn’t in competition with Vivian’s family. They are separate relationships, each with its own importance. But, resenting her seeing family members indicates an insecurity that could poison your relationship. So, don’t let it. Right-size your feelings about this, suggest a few dates to reschedule, and wish Vivian well at her family event. Dear Eric: A, B, and C live in the same senior apartment building. A invites B to go to lunch or a movie or any social gathering. Can B suggest they invite C? My friend says that is bad manners. I say the opposite. Who is right? – Social Rules Dear Social: Some of this depends on context. Inviting a third person to a movie is different from inviting them to, say, your friend’s niece’s baby shower. But asking for permission beforehand is, generally, good form. Moreover, it can bring up the kind of unspoken rules that can result in bruised feelings if broken. It sounds like you’re trying to expand your social circle (presuming you’re B). Your friend may feel insecurity or shyness, or she simply may not want to hang out with C. I don’t see the ask as bad manners, but what’s most important is why your friend sees it that way. Asking a follow-up question like “is there a time when inviting C would be better for you?” or simply “can you tell me why you feel that way?” will help you understand each other more clearly. Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com .Supreme Court will take up a challenge related to California's tough vehicle emissions standards WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says it will take up a business-backed appeal that could make it easier to challenge federal regulations, acting in a dispute related to California’s nation-leading standards for vehicle emissions. The justices agreed Friday to hear an appeal filed by fuel producers who object to a waiver granted to California in 2022 by the Environmental Protection Agency during Joe Biden’s presidency. The waiver allows California to set more stringent emissions limits than the national standard. The case won’t be argued until the spring, when the Trump administration is certain to take a more industry-friendly approach to the issue. Musk says US is demanding he pay penalty over disclosures of his Twitter stock purchases DETROIT (AP) — Elon Musk says the Securities and Exchange Commission wants him to pay a penalty or face charges involving what he disclosed — or failed to disclose — about his purchases of Twitter stock before he bought the social media platform in 2022. In a letter, Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro tells the outgoing SEC chairman, Gary Gensler, that the commission’s demand for a monetary payment is a “misguided scheme” that won’t intimidate Musk. The letter also alleges that the commission reopened an investigation this week into Neuralink, Musk’s computer-to-human brain interface company. The SEC has not released the letter. Nor would it comment on it or confirm whether it has issued such a demand to Musk. Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is pushing toward a vote on legislation that would provide full Social Security benefits to millions of people. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer began the process on Thursday for a final vote on the bill, known as the Social Security Fairness Act. It would eliminate policies that currently limit Social Security payouts for roughly 2.8 million people. The legislation has passed the House. The bill would add more strain on the Social Security Trust funds, which are already estimated to be unable to pay out full benefits beginning in 2035. The measure would add an estimated $195 billion to federal deficits over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Trump offers support for dockworkers union by saying ports shouldn't install more automated systems WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is offering his support for the dockworkers union before their contract expires next month at Eastern and Gulf Coast ports. He posted on social media Thursday that he met with union leaders and that any further “automation” of the ports would harm workers. He wrote that the “amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers.” The International Longshoremen’s Association has until Jan. 15 to negotiate a new contract with the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents ports and shipping companies. The Maritime Alliance says the technology will improve worker safety and strengthen our supply chains, among other things. IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power WASHINGTON (AP) — IRS leadership on Thursday announced that the agency has recovered $4.7 billion in back taxes and proceeds from a variety of crimes. The announcement comes under the backdrop of a promised reckoning from Republicans who will hold a majority over both chambers of the next Congress and have long called for rescinding the tens of billions of dollars in funding provided to the agency by Democrats. IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said improvements made to the agency will help the incoming administration and new Republican majority congress achieve its goals of administering an extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. OpenAI's legal battle with Elon Musk reveals internal turmoil over avoiding AI 'dictatorship' A 7-year-old rivalry between tech leaders Elon Musk and Sam Altman over who should run OpenAI and best avoid an artificial intelligence ‘dictatorship’ is now heading to a federal judge as Musk seeks to halt the ChatGPT maker’s ongoing conversion into a for-profit company. Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, sued the artificial intelligence company earlier this year. Musk has since escalated the dispute, adding new claims and asking for a court order that would stop OpenAI’s plans to convert itself into a for-profit business more fully. OpenAI is filing its response Friday. OpenAI's Altman will donate $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund LOS ANGELES (AP) — OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is planning to make a $1 million personal donation to President-Elect Donald Trump’s inauguration fund, joining a number of tech companies and executives who are working to improve their relationships the incoming administration. A spokesperson for OpenAI confirmed the move on Friday. The announcement comes one day after Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said it donated $1 million to the same fund. Amazon also said it plans to donate $1 million. China signals it's prepared to double down on support for the economy as Trump tariffs loom BANGKOK (AP) — Chinese leaders met this week to plot economic policy for the coming year and sketched out plans to raise government spending and relax Beijing's monetary policy. Analysts said the broad-brush plans from the annual Central Economic Work Conference were more of a recap of current policy than ambitious new initiatives at a time when the outlook is clouded by the President-elect Donald Trump's threats to sharply raise tariffs once he takes office. The ruling Communist Party did commit to raising China's deficit and to doing more to encourage consumer spending by bringing wage increases in line with the pace of economic growth. Here's a look at China's main priorities and their potential implications. Stock market today: Wall Street ends mixed after a bumpy week Stock indexes closed mixed on Wall Street at the end of a rare bumpy week. The S&P 500 ended little changed Friday. The benchmark index reached its latest in a string of records a week ago. It lost ground for the week following three weeks of gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2%. The Nasdaq composite edged up 0.1%. Broadcom surged after the semiconductor company beat Wall Street’s profit targets and gave a glowing forecast, highlighting its artificial intelligence products. RH, formerly known as Restoration Hardware, surged after raising its revenue forecast. Treasury yields rose in the bond market. Next Week: Retail sales, Fed policy update, existing home sales The Commerce Department releases its monthly snapshot of U.S. retail sales Tuesday. Federal Reserve officials wrap up a two-day meeting and issue an interest rate policy update Wednesday. The National Association of Realtors issues its latest update on U.S. home sales Thursday.
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Trump's threat to impose tariffs could raise prices for consumers, colliding with promise for relief DETROIT (AP) — If Donald Trump makes good on his threat to slap 25% tariffs on everything imported from Mexico and Canada, the price increases that could follow will collide with his campaign promise to give American families a break from inflation. Economists and industry officials say companies would have little choice but to pass along the added costs, dramatically raising prices for food, clothing, automobiles, booze and other goods. The president-elect floated the tariff idea and an additional 10% tax on goods from China, as a way to force the countries to halt the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the U.S. But his posts Monday threatening tariffs on his first day in office could be a negotiating ploy to get the countries to change behavior. Trump’s latest tariff plan aims at multiple countries. What does it mean for the US? WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has identified what he sees as an all-purpose fix for what ails America: Slap huge new tariffs on foreign goods entering the United States. On Monday, Trump sent shockwaves across the nation’s northern and southern borders, vowing sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada, as well as China, as part of his effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs. Trump said he will impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, as one of his first executive orders. Canadian officials blast Trump's tariff threat and one calls Mexico comparison an insult TORONTO (AP) — Canadian officials are blasting President-elect Donald’s Trump’s threat to impose sweeping tariffs. The leader of Canada's most populous province on Tuesday called Trump’s comparison of Canada to Mexico “the most insulting thing I’ve ever heard.” Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada, Mexico and China as soon as he takes office in January as part of efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico. Canadians say their economy and the U.S. one are deeply intertwined and Americans would feel tariffs, too. Biden proposes Medicare and Medicaid cover costly weight-loss drugs for millions of obese Americans WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of obese Americans would be eligible to have popular weight-loss drugs like Wegovy or Zepbound covered by Medicare or Medicaid under a new rule the Biden administration proposed Tuesday morning. The proposal, which would not be finalized until after President-elect Donald Trump takes office, could cost taxpayers as much as $35 billion over the next decade. It would give millions of people access to weekly injectables that have helped people shed pounds so quickly that some people have labeled them miracle drugs. Surveillance tech advances by Biden could aid in Trump's promised crackdown on immigration President-elect Donald Trump will return to power next year with a raft of technological tools at his disposal that would help deliver his campaign promise of cracking down on immigration — among them, surveillance and artificial intelligence technology that the Biden administration already uses to help make crucial decisions in tracking, detaining and ultimately deporting immigrants lacking permanent legal status. One algorithm, for example, ranks immigrants with a “Hurricane Score,” ranging from 1-5, to assess whether someone will “abscond” from the agency’s supervision. Thanksgiving travel is cranking up. Will the weather cooperate? The Thanksgiving travel rush is picking up, with Tuesday and Wednesday expected to be much busier than the last couple days. A lot of travelers will be watching weather forecasts to see if rain or snow could slow them down. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen more than 2.8 million people on Tuesday and 2.9 million on Wednesday after handling more than 2.5 million people on Monday. So far, relatively few flights have been canceled this week, but there have been thousands of delayed flights every day. That is becoming normal for U.S. airlines. Federal agency raises the size of most single-family loans the government can guarantee to $806,500 The Federal Housing Finance Agency is increasing the size of home loans that the government can guarantee against default as it takes into account rising housing prices. Beginning next year, mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be able to acquire loans of up to $806,500 on single-family homes in most of the country, the agency said Tuesday. The new conforming loan limit is a 5.2% increase from its 2024 level. FHFA oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which buy home loans from banks and other lenders. FHFA adjusts the loan limits annually to reflect changes in U.S. home values, which have been rising this year despite a national home sales slump. The IRS is at risk of losing $20 billion in funding without legislative intervention WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Already bracing for funding cuts under a new Trump administration, U.S. Treasury officials are calling on Congress to unlock $20 billion in IRS enforcement money that is tied up in legislative language that has effectively rendered the money frozen. Hoping to unlock the funds in upcoming budget negotiations, Treasury officials are rushing for action before President Joe Biden’s term ends. The $20 billion in question is separate from another $20 billion rescinded from the agency last year. However, the legislative mechanism keeping the government afloat inadvertently duplicated that one-time $20 billion cut to IRS funding. Stock market today: Wall Street hangs near its records despite tariff talk NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are hanging near their records on Tuesday as Wall Street takes Donald Trump’s latest talk about tariffs in stride. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% in Tuesday afternoon trading and was on track to top its all-time high set a couple weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 49 points from its own record set the day before, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.6%. Stock markets abroad were down, but mostly only modestly, after President-elect Trump said he plans to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office. Treasury yields rose modestly in the bond market. What Black Friday's history tells us about holiday shopping in 2024 NEW YORK (AP) — The holiday shopping season is about to reach full speed with Black Friday, which kicks off the post-Thanksgiving retail rush later this week. The annual sales event no longer creates the midnight mall crowds or doorbuster mayhem of recent decades, in large part due to the ease of online shopping and habits forged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hoping to entice equivocating consumers, retailers already have spent weeks bombarding customers with ads and early offers. Still, whether visiting stores or clicking on countless emails promising huge savings, tens of millions of U.S. shoppers are expected to spend money on Black Friday itself this year.Revealed! 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NoneNEW YORK (AP) — If anybody knows Deion Sanders' mind, it might be Travis Hunter. And the two-way Colorado star says Coach Prime is indeed staying put with the Buffaloes. “I got a lot of insight. He ain’t going nowhere. He’s going to be right where he's at right now,” Hunter said Friday in Manhattan, where he's a heavy favorite to win the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night. In his second season at the school, Sanders coached No. 20 Colorado to a 9-3 record this year and its first bowl bid since 2020. Hunter, Sanders and the Buffaloes will face No. 17 BYU (10-2) in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28. Sanders' success and popularity in Boulder has led to speculation the flashy and outspoken former NFL star might seek or accept a coaching job elsewhere this offseason. Sanders, however, has dismissed such talk himself. Hunter followed Sanders from Jackson State, an HBCU that plays in the lower level FCS, to the Rocky Mountains and has already racked up a staggering string of individual accolades this week, including The Associated Press player of the year. The junior wide receiver and cornerback plans to enter the 2025 NFL draft and is expected to be a top-five pick — perhaps even No. 1 overall. But he backed up assertions from Sanders and his son, star Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, that both will play in the Alamo Bowl rather than skip the game to prepare for the draft and prevent any possible injury. “It's definitely important because, you know, I started this thing with Coach Prime and Shedeur and most of the coaches on the coaching staff, so I want to finish it off right,” Hunter said. "I didn't give them a full season my first year (because of injury), so I'm going to go ahead and end this thing off right. It's going to be our last game together, so I'm going to go out there and dominate and show the loyalty that I have for him. “Definitely looking forward to it. I'm just excited to go out there and play football one more time before the offseason.” Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
New regulations and big regulatory changes take a long time to develop and roll out in the US government. They need to be super carefully developed and every single punctuation mark needs to be examined by the lawyers to make sure the regulations will hold up if challenged in the courts, all the way up to the Supreme Court. In the case we’re discussing today, self-driving vehicle rules have got to be an especially tricky bunch. Now, after years of development, the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) has announced big new rules on the topic. Overall, the new framework of rules should make businesses that don’t want strict autonomous vehicle regulations happy, as it is just a “voluntary program to improve transparency and insight into the safety and performance of ADS-equipped vehicles .” A key is that this provides two additional exemption options to get approved for more than the default 2,500 vehicles that automakers and autonomous driving companies can deploy without checking off a list of safety requirements that don’t fit autonomous vehicles (e.g., steering wheels, pedals, sideview mirrors, etc.). The pre-existing exemption option has been very difficult to get. Only Nuro, which has developed small autonomous delivery vehicles, has ever received an exemption, while GM’s Cruise tried to get one for a couple of years and then gave up (and now is giving up on a robotaxi business altogether ). Here’s more from the NHTSA: “The ADS-equipped Vehicle Safety, Transparency, and Evaluation Program, known as AV STEP, would establish a voluntary review and reporting framework for participating ADS-equipped vehicles. The program would be open to all companies that operate or plan to operate compliant ADS-equipped vehicles on public roads, as well as those requiring NHTSA exemptions to operate non-compliant vehicles. [...] “AV STEP would promote greater transparency into participating ADS operations and help the agency study and oversee ADS technology as it matures. Data are fundamental to NHTSA’s work, and the proposed program would provide NHTSA and the public with greater insight into ADS development and operational data. “Further, AV STEP aligns with the Department’s National Roadway Safety Strategy, which was launched in January 2022 by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, outlines a comprehensive approach to significantly reducing injuries and deaths on our nation’s highways, roads, and streets, and implements a safe system approach .” The Verge notes there is one “twist” with the new rules. The NHTSA wants these companies to share more data. “By kick-starting the rulemaking process, the Biden administration is giving a pretty big end-of-the-year holiday gift to the companies that have been laboring for decades on autonomous vehicle technology without any national regulatory framework to guide them,” they add. However, I imagine everyone is thinking the same thing: is any of this going to survive in the new Trump–Musk administration? AV STEP provides a step forward, but it still wants to be involved and wants data. And it seems that the Trump–Musk administration is keen on killing government oversight and government involvement as much as possible. So, will they build on AV STEP or try to eliminate it? (Let’s not even get into the topic of the regulated controlling the regulator — we are well beyond normal democratic operations and deep into Banana Republic territory. “Whether AV STEP survives into the next Trump administration, though, is an open question,” The Verge adds. “For one, the incoming president is reportedly looking to quash a Biden-era transparency rule that requires companies operating vehicles with driver assist, as well as self-driving cars, to report crashes and injuries to the federal government. Scrapping the crash reporting rule would greatly benefit Tesla, which to date, has reported the highest number of crashes . And Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a close advisor and donor to Trump.” Indeed.... In short, it’s now become easier for autonomous vehicle companies to get their vehicles out on US roads, and one would think that would be enough, but Trump and Musk could trash AV STEP and go further by allowing a Wild Wild West free for all and no reporting on crash and injury data. CleanTechnica's Comment Policy LinkedIn WhatsApp Facebook Bluesky Email RedditOklahoma's throwback offensive approach against Alabama gets LSU's attention
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Sports on TV for Monday, Dec. 23