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Dear Abby: Mom wants to help son meet women

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:38:21 GMT

Dear Abby: My son will celebrate his 40th birthday soon. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia at 15 and basically lost the years between 15 and 21. Thankfully, at 21, he was given medication that changed his life, and he has been well ever since.He has always wanted a wife and family. Even when he was in his worst mental state, that one desire prevailed. But other than when he was 15, he has never been on a date. I have encouraged him to try a dating service or two, but his lack of self-confidence keeps him from trying. He told me he has never had a real conversation with a woman. His work also keeps him isolated. Still, he insists he very much wants to be dating by the time he hits 40. Any suggestions? — Mom Who Cares in FloridaDear Mom: I do have a couple. Encourage your son to join groups centered around subjects or activities he might be interested in. Whether he meets the love of his life in one of them is beside the point. It will provide him the opportunity to talk with ...

Hollywood writers, slamming ‘gig economy,’ to go on strike

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:38:21 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Television and movie writers declared late Monday that they will launch a strike for the first time in 15 years, as Hollywood girded for a walkout with potentially widespread ramifications in a fight over fair pay in the streaming era. The Writers Guild of America said that its 11,500 unionized screenwriters will head to the picket lines on Tuesday. Negotiations between studios and the writers, which began in March, failed to reach a new contract before the writers’ current deal expired just after midnight, at 12:01 a.m. PDT Tuesday. All script writing is to immediately cease, the guild informed its members. The board of directors for the WGA, which includes both a West and an East branch, voted unanimously to call for a strike, effective at the stroke of midnight. Writers, they said, are facing an “existential crisis.”“The companies’ behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment ...

Tony nominations: It’s reckoning time for a crowded Broadway

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:38:21 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Broadway has taken audiences to fascinating places this season, from a female-led retelling of the events of 1776 to the enlightened land of Camelot and from a lifeboat bobbing in the Pacific Ocean to a prison in Georgia just before World War I.On Tuesday, all those places and more will be hoping to attract many more visitors with a coveted Tony Award nomination. “Funny Girl” star Lea Michele and last year’s Tony-winner Myles Frost from “MJ” will announce the list. Even a nomination can lure uncertain patrons.There are few certainties, but critical musical darling “Kimberly Akimbo,” with Victoria Clark playing a teen who ages four times faster than the average human, is likely to earn one of the prized best new musical nods, as should “Some Like It Hot,” a musical adaptation of the cross-dressing movie comedy that starred Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon.Likely nominations in the play category are Tom Stoppard’s “Leopoldstadt,” which explores Jewish identity with an inter...

Can Biden win again? Here’s how past incumbents fared

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:38:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — No president wants to give up the power and prestige that comes with the office after only one term, and Joe Biden is no exception. He’s pushing forward even though polls show a majority of Americans don’t want to see him run again.We went back to look at when modern presidents announced their decisions to seek a second term, what their Gallup approval ratings were at the time and how things turned out for them. One theme: Primary battles are a sign of whether a president will win reelection. That’s good news for Biden, who appears to have avoided any significant challengers. HARRY TRUMANHe was vice president when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died in 1945, near the end of World War II. Truman decided to run for a full term of his own, and he announced his candidacy on March 8, 1948. He had an approval rating of 53% in a poll conducted two months earlier. Truman was expected to lose the general election to Thomas Dewey, a Republican, but he pulled...

Wisconsin Republicans to kill legalized pot, stadium repairs

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:38:21 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Legalizing marijuana, paying for renovations at the Milwaukee Brewers’ stadium and creating a paid family leave program are among the more than 500 items proposed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers that the Legislature’s Republican-controlled budget committee plans to kill Tuesday with a single vote.The move comes as no surprise after Republicans, who control the state Legislature with large majorities, did the same with Evers’ past two budgets and said they would do again this year. The vote kicks off the committee’s work reshaping the nearly $104 billion two-year budget that Evers submitted in February. Starting Tuesday, and likely continuing into June, the Joint Finance Committee will take a series of votes to build its own two-year spending plan which will then go to the Senate and Assembly for approval. Once passed, Evers can make changes through his powerful veto, which is what he did with the past two budgets he signed that included bot...

University of Minnesota graduate student workers approve unionizing

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:38:21 GMT

Graduate student workers at the University of Minnesota have officially voted to form a union, according to an announcement last week from the U’s Graduate Labor Union — United Electrical.More than 2,400 eligible workers voted in favor of unionization, while only 70 voted “no” in an election this month, according to the union. This is the first successful unionization effort at the university for graduate students. Workers have tried to unionize five other times since 1974.Graduate student workers, who often have roles at the university as researchers, teaching assistants and instructors, are pushing for increased pay and benefits, anti-discrimination procedures and more support for international students, among other demands. The initial launch of the unionization campaign in February was met with widespread support from students.“The energy among grad workers this week was palpable,” Yusra Murad, a graduate worker in Health Policy and Management, said in a Friday news ...

Nuggets 3-pointers: Devin Booker, Nikola Jokic put on a show in Game 2

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:38:21 GMT

Related ArticlesDenver Nuggets | Unsung Nuggets heroes Bruce Brown, Aaron Gordon both X-factors vs. Phoenix Denver Nuggets | Keeler: Chris Paul got dirty. Kevin Durant moped. Devin Booker sulked. It’s official: Jamal Murray, Nuggets are in Phoenix’s heads now. Denver Nuggets | Jamal Murray’s 34-point masterpiece sets tone vs. Suns: “He’s a bad man” Denver Nuggets | PHOTOS: Denver Nuggets 125, Phoenix Suns 107 in Game 1 of NBA playoffs series Denver Nuggets | Kiszla: Gritty, little underdog Nuggets remind Phoenix who’s real team to beat in the West Initial thoughts from the Nuggets’ 97-87 win over the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference semifinals:Ice-cold shooting from deep. The Nuggets’ efficient 3-point shooting in Game 1 did not translate. Denver was ice-cold from behind the arc, going 7-for-27. Point guard Jamal Murray went 0-for-9 from deep even though he...

Nikola Jokic’s 39-point masterclass gives Nuggets 2-0 lead over Suns

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:38:21 GMT

No amount of lipstick could mask the ugliness of Monday night’s Game 2, save for a fourth quarter that was plenty pretty for the Nuggets.Nikola Jokic danced and dazzled his way 39 points, and Denver’s defense clamped down on the Suns’ bevy of superstars.Together, the Nuggets seized control of this second-round series with an emphatic 97-87 win over Phoenix. Up 2-0, the Nuggets have several days to marinate on the sweetness of Monday’s victory before Friday’s Game 3.Despite an awful shooting night from Jamal Murray (3 for 15 for 10 points) and an uglier night from Michael Porte Jr. (2 of 7 for five points), the Nuggets survived on the strength of their MVP and their defense. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope came in clutch with three dagger 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.Devin Booker poured in 35 points before going chest-to-chest with Bruce Brown late in the game, his frustration boiling over. Kevin Durant drained 24, but it took him 27 shots to get there. The Suns managed just 14 points, ...

Suns guard Chris Paul leaves Game 2 with groin tightness

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:38:21 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Phoenix Suns point guard Chris Paul is out for the remainder of Game 2 after experiencing groin tightness in the third quarter Monday night against Denver.Paul was covering Kentavious Caldwell-Pope when the Nuggets guard went up for an offensive rebound with just under 5 minutes left in the third quarter. Paul was subbed out and headed for the locker room. Soon after, the team ruled him out. Paul has eight points and six assists in 25 minutes, 23 seconds of action. Paul, who turns 38 on Saturday, ranks fifth on the NBA’s all-time playoff assists list and 11th in steals.___AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Hollywood writers to go on strike Tuesday after negotiations fail

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:38:21 GMT

Hollywood writers are now set to strike Tuesday as talks between the Writer’s Guild of America the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers concluded Monday without an agreement.  This will be the first WGA strike in more than 10 years with more than 11,000 television and film writers expected to walk off the job.   “You’re going to see picket signs going up in front of studios, in front of various other offices, as well as you’re going to start seeing a number of shows shut down instantly,” Deadline Hollywood Senior Editor Dominic Patten told KTLA.  ‘SNL,’ late-night shows and more to be impacted by looming WGA strike WGA and AMPTP have been in talks for more than a month, with writers pushing for better base pay and an increase in residual money, saying that half of all writers are currently earning scale – the bare minimum of their contract. They also want higher contributions to their pension plan and health fund. Television and film executi...