ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Cornerback Taron Johnson is still agitated over the dud the Buffalo Bills defense produced in giving up season worsts in points and yards, while melting down on third down in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams last weekend. There’s no better time or opportunity to show how much better they are than this Sunday. That’s when the Bills (10-3) travel to play the NFC-leading Detroit Lions (12-1), who just happen to lead the NFL in scoring and feature the same dynamic style of offense as the Rams. “I think our mindset is just going to be attack,” Johnson said after practice Wednesday. “We can’t wait to play Sunday just to prove people wrong and prove to ourselves that how we played wasn’t who we are.” The Bills acknowledge having several excuses to lean on for why they unraveled in a 44-42 loss — riding a little too high after a division-clinching win, a cross-country trip and facing a more driven opponent in the thick of a playoff race. What’s unacceptable is the hesitancy their usually reliable defensive backs showed in coverage and the lack of pressure applied by their defensive front. The bright side is the substandard performance potentially serving as a late-season reminder of this not being the time to let their foot off the gas. “A lot of teams have scars on their way to having a darn good season. And we’re having a darn good season,” coach Sean McDermott said. “So what has to be in front of us this week is the opportunity that’s in front of us, quite frankly, to challenge that team,” he added, referring to Detroit. “You better bring your heart, you better bring your guts, you better put it on the line.” With a little bit of added fire, the Bills are going back to the basics on defense following an outing in which very little went right. The defense was off-balance from the start in being unable to stop the run, before eventually being picked apart in the passing game while allowing the Rams to score on each of their first six drives (not including a kneel-down to close the first half) in building a 38-21 lead. The most frustrating part was Buffalo’s inability to get off the field while allowing the Rams to convert 11 of 15 third-down chances. LA’s 73.3% third-down conversion rate was the third highest against Buffalo — and worst since Miami converted 75% of its chances in 1986 — since the stat was introduced to NFL gamebooks in 1973. “The recipe to lose a football game is what we did (Sunday) and it starts with me, first and foremost,” defensive coordinator Bobby Babich said Monday. “Move on and let it not happen again. Let it be a learning lesson. Failure is the best teacher.” The challenge is preparing for an exceptionally balanced Lions offense that ranks fourth in the NFL in both rushing and passing, and averaging 32.1 points per outing. The objective, McDermott said, is to not overcorrect but stick to the fundamentals that led to Buffalo winning seven straight before losing to Los Angeles. He placed an emphasis on winning at the line of scrimmage and forcing takeaways, something Buffalo failed to do last weekend for the first time this season. A little more urgency, would help, too. “It is a mentality. It is an attitude, and if you want to play good defense, that’s where it starts,” McDermott said. “There’s not a lot of shortcuts or ways around it. It’s got to be a mentality.” The message resonated even on offense, where quarterback Josh Allen nearly rallied the Bills to victory while becoming the NFL’s first player to throw three touchdown passes and rush for three more scores. “It was a case of you saw a team that’s fighting for their lives to try to make the playoffs in the Los Angeles Rams, and they came out ready to play. And maybe we didn’t have that type of urgency,” Allen said. “It forces us to know that we’ve got to be better. We know that.” NOTES: LB Baylon Spector (calf) and DE Dawuane Smoot (wrist) returned to practice Wednesday, opening their 21-day windows to be activated off IR. ... Starting CB Rasul Douglas did not practice and could miss time after hurting his knee on Sunday. ... Buffalo has until this weekend to determine whether to activate OL Tylan Grable (groin) off IR. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflCathay general bancorp vice chairman sells $256,389 in stockWASHINGTON (AP) — Working-class voters helped Republicans make steady election gains this year and expanded a coalition that increasingly includes rank-and-file union members, a political shift spotlighting one of President-elect Donald Trump’s latest Cabinet picks: a GOP congresswoman, who has drawn labor support, to be his labor secretary. Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer narrowly lost her bid for a second term this month, despite strong backing from union members, a key part of the Democratic base but gravitating in the Trump era toward a Republican Party traditionally allied with business interests. “Lori’s strong support from both the Business and Labor communities will ensure that the Labor Department can unite Americans of all backgrounds behind our Agenda for unprecedented National Success - Making America Richer, Wealthier, Stronger and more Prosperous than ever before!” Trump said in a statement announcing his choice Friday night. For decades, labor unions have sided with Democrats and been greeted largely with hostility by Republicans. But with Trump’s populist appeal, his working-class base saw a decent share of union rank-and-file voting for Republicans this year, even as major unions, including the AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers , endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris in the White House race. RELATED COVERAGE Chuck Woolery, smooth-talking game show host of ‘Love Connection’ and ‘Scrabble,’ dies at 83 What to know about Brooke Rollins, Trump’s pick for agriculture secretary After Trump’s Project 2025 denials, he is tapping its authors and influencers for key roles Trump sat down with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union leadership and members this year, and when he emerged from that meeting, he boasted that a significant chunk of union voters were backing him. Of a possible Teamsters endorsement, he said, “Stranger things have happened.” What to know about Trump’s second term: Staffing the administration: Here are the people Trump has picked for key positions so far. Plus, a look at recess appointments and how could Trump use them to fill his Cabinet. Follow all of our coverage as Donald Trump assembles his second administration. The Teamsters ultimately declined to endorse either Trump, the former president, or Harris, the vice president, though leader Sean O’Brien had a prominent speaking slot at the Republican National Convention. Kara Deniz, a Teamsters spokesperson, told the Associated Press that O’Brien met with more than a dozen House Republicans this past week to lobby on behalf of Chavez-DeRemer. “Chavez-DeRemer would be an excellent choice for labor secretary and has his backing,” Deniz said. The work of the Labor Department affects workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employers’ rights to fire employers, among other responsibilities. On Election Day, Trump deepened his support among voters without a college degree after running just slightly ahead of Democrat Joe Biden with noncollege voters in 2020. Trump made modest gains, earning a clear majority of this group, while only about 4 in 10 supported Harris, according to AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide. Roughly 18% of voters in this year’s election were from union households, with Harris winning a majority of the group. But Trump’s performance among union members kept him competitive and helped him win key states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Chavez-DeRemer was one of few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize” or PRO Act, which would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and add penalties for companies that violate workers’ rights. The measure would weaken “right-to-work” laws that allow employees in more than half the states to avoid participating in or paying dues to unions that represent workers at their places of employment. Trump’s first term saw firmly pro-business policies from his appointees across government, including those on the National Labor Relations Board. Trump, a real estate developer and businessman before winning the presidency, generally has backed policies that would make it harder for workers to unionize. During his recent campaign, Trump criticized union bosses, and at one point suggested that UAW members should not pay their dues. His first administration did expand overtime eligibility rules, but not nearly as much as Democrats wanted, and a Trump-appointed judge has since struck down the Biden administration’s more generous overtime rules. He has stacked his incoming administration with officials who worked on the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” blueprint, which includes a sharp swing away from Biden’s pro-union policies. “Chavez-DeRemer’s record suggests she understands the value of policies that strengthen workers’ rights and economic security,” said Rebecca Dixon, president and CEO of National Employment Law Project, which is backed my many of the country’s major labor unions. “But the Trump administration’s agenda is fundamentally at odds with these principles, threatening to roll back workplace protections, undermine collective bargaining, and prioritize corporate profits over the needs of working people. This is where her true commitment to workers will be tested.” Other union leaders also issued praise, but also sounded a note of caution. “Educators and working families across the nation will be watching ... as she moves through the confirmation process,” the president of the National Education Association, Becky Pringle, said in a statement, “and hope to hear a pledge from her to continue to stand up for workers and students as her record suggests, not blind loyalty to the Project 2025 agenda.” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler welcomed the choice while taking care to note Trump’s history of opposing polices that support unions. “It remains to be seen what she will be permitted to do as secretary of labor in an administration with a dramatically anti-worker agenda,” Shuler said.
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Brazil's Supreme Court on Wednesday started examining four cases that turn on how far social media should be regulated, and what responsibilities platforms have in cracking down on illegal content. The judicial review comes a month after the same court forced Elon Musk's X platform to obey rulings aimed at battling online disinformation. That issue has taken on heat in recent days in Brazil, with federal police accusing far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro and allied officials of using social media disinformation as part of a 2022 "coup" plot against Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, then the country's president-elect. The alleged plot involved using online posts to undermine public trust in the electoral system to justify Bolsonaro holding onto the presidency after Lula defeated him at the polls. Bolsonaro says he is innocent. The Supreme Court's deliberations in the cases are not expected to be concluded until sometime next year. One key point it is looking at is whether social media platforms can be fined for illegal content posted by users. Another is whether the platforms should themselves be required to monitor and remove any illegal content without a prior court order to do so. The court's rulings will become precedents that will have to be applied generally to all social media platforms operating in Brazil. Brazil -- many of whose 216 million inhabitants are heavy users of WhatsApp and Facebook -- does not have legislation in that area. More from this section Global social media networks, however, already have to abide by laws in the EU against illegal online content, under the bloc's Digital Services Act (DSA), which could guide them in terms of Brazilian compliance. One of the Brazilian Supreme Court's judges, Alexandre de Moraes, in August ordered Musk's X be blocked across the country for failing to comply with a series of court orders against online disinformation. On October 9, the platform was allowed to resume activities after paying around $5 million in fines and deactivating the accounts of several Bolsonaro supporters accused of spreading disinformation and online hate speech. The court's presiding judge, Luis Roberto Barroso, told AFP that "digital platforms... open paths to disinformation, hate, deliberate lies and conspiracy theories." He added: "In the whole democratic world there are debates about protecting free speech without permitting everyone to fall into a pit of incivility." He pointed to the European Union's DSA as a form of regulation "that seeks a point of ideal equilibrium". Brazil, in his opinion, should carve out its own regulation "with a minimum of government intervention where it comes to freedom of thought, while preventing increased criminality and inciting violence." ffb/rmb/st