Jeremy T. Ringfield's Blog, page 6

Horoscopes Sept. 24, 2025: Nia Vardalos, protect your home, your rights and your possession

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Ben Platt, 32; Spencer Treat Clark, 38; Erin Chambers, 46; Nia Vardalos, 63.

Happy Birthday: Keep your thoughts, plans and secrets to yourself, and you’ll prosper this year. There is too much to lose if you trust the wrong people or organizations. Protect your home, your rights and your possessions. Walk away from joint ventures, shared expenses and making changes that lack substance or hinge on someone else. Downsize in all aspects of life, and you’ll free yourself from the stress and worry of carrying too much responsibility. Your numbers are 4, 19, 26, 34, 36, 43, 47.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Stifle your fiery, combative rhetoric if you want to accomplish what you set out to do. Your strength lies in your ability to get things done, not in pontificating or letting emotional drama take over. Choose your words wisely, and strive to live up to your promises. Act positively, take a bow and proceed. 3 stars

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Pay attention to how you look and feel. Trust your instincts, not what someone else tries to talk you into doing. Invest more energy, thought and action into meaningful relationships, and dedicate more time to nurturing what you are working toward, both personally and professionally. Implement home improvements that will make your life easier. 3 stars

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Get the ball rolling. Utilize your intelligence and connections to develop a plan, and implement change based on your findings. Getting in touch with people whose opinions you value will help you make well-informed choices. Don’t limit what you can do because someone close to you can’t decide on their own path. Follow your heart, and don’t look back. 3 stars

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Get out and do something that motivates you to look and do your best. A passionate or emotional encounter with someone close to you will require intelligence and patience. Be willing to compromise if it will help complete tasks on time. A new look or a little pampering can rejuvenate you. Romance is in the stars. 5 stars

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Stay alert. Problems at home will mount if you let your emotions and ego get in the way. Be a good listener and offer unique suggestions that will strengthen your relationships with those who matter most to you. Only change what’s necessary. Taking on someone else’s burden isn’t required; kindness and recommendations are sufficient. 2 stars

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Be careful what you agree to; transitions will not be as described. It’s best to stay in control of whatever changes are heading your way instead of letting someone else decide for you. Focus your energy on gathering the facts and determining the most effective way to handle matters with minimal time and cost. 4 stars

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): How you engage and force issues that matter to you will have an impact. Stand tall and refuse to let anyone or anything get between you and what’s important to you. A change of attitude that supports doing what’s best for you will lead to the confidence necessary to gain acceptance and establish your position. 3 stars

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Be careful. Mixing fire with fury will cost you. Be prepared for the consequences if you decide to engage in a conflict with a friend, neighbor or family member. Your optimism will be short-lived if you haven’t assessed the situation appropriately. Take a moment to rethink your next move before you engage. 3 stars

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Money is within reach if you put in the effort. Use your experience and knowledge to convince others to take a chance on you. Don’t make last-minute changes that alter your performance or how you present yourself to others. Stick to what you know and do best, and your confidence will carry you forward. 3 stars

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): It’s up to you to create opportunities. If you snooze, you lose, so put on your best attire and attend an event that offers the platform you need to showcase your skills, charisma and leadership abilities. Be sure to verify your facts before sharing information. Perfection and transparency are a must. 4 stars

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Figure out a budget and map out a plan that makes your home and lifestyle more appealing. A change will do you good, but it isn’t likely to entice someone close to you to buy into your scheme. Look for something that will appease those who may stand between you and your heart’s desires. 2 stars

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Review your options and consider how you want to proceed. Investing more time in yourself and how you feel mentally, physically and emotionally will help you discover what’s important to you. Take responsibility for your happiness and prioritize your needs. Building confidence is the first step to success. A commitment will prove to be lucrative. 5 stars

Birthday Baby: You are ardent, progressive and talkative. You are engaging and persistent.

1 star: Avoid conflicts; work behind the scenes.
2 stars: You can accomplish, but don’t rely on others.
3 stars: Focus and you’ll reach your goals.
4 stars: Aim high; start new projects.
5 stars: Nothing can stop you; go for gold.

Visit Eugenialast.com, or join Eugenia on Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn.

SF Giants eliminated from postseason contention with crushing loss to Cardinals

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants, for reasons they themselves cannot explain, have operated in extremes. Waves of winning; tsunamis of losing. Awful, then unstoppable.

They lost 13 of 20 after the trade deadline, shipping away Tyler Rogers, Camilo Doval, Mike Yastrzemski as their playoff ambitions slipped. They followed by winning 14 of their next 18, each victory an electrical shock to a season on life support.

There was magic when Patrick Bailey banished Tanner Scott’s fastball into the Oracle Park bleachers, a walk-off grand slam to stun the Dodgers.

There was belief when they began their game against the Dodgers on Sept. 13 in a virtual tie for the third and final NL wild card spot.

There was hope when they began that game by tagging Clayton Kershaw for four runs in the first, putting themselves in position to finally snatch that spot from the Mets.

The hope, ultimately, is what kills.

The Giants will not make the playoffs in Buster Posey’s first year as president of baseball operations. They proceeded to lose nine of their next 11 games following Bailey’s walk-off grand slam. That includes Tuesday night’s 9-8 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, a defeat in which their bullpen allowed six unanswered runs and fumbled a five-run lead. At 77-81 with four games remaining, all they can hope for is to break even.

St. Louis Cardinals’ Victor Scott II #11 scores past San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey #14 on an RBI double by Brendan Donovan #33 in the ninth inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

For the eighth time in the last nine seasons, the Giants will not play in the postseason. For a fourth straight year, the Giants will have failed to produce a winning season. For the third time in the last four years, the Giants will fail to win at least half their games in the second half.

“This is a day we were not looking forward to, and it’s here,” said manager Bob Melvin. “So, it’s disappointing.”

“This year is probably the most frustrating,” said Logan Webb, who allowed three runs over six innings. “No offense to the teams we’ve had before, but this is the most talented team I’ve been on. I think there was a lot of expectations. It sucks.”

Every team speaks with confident tones during the early days of spring, but the Giants’ expectations of playing October baseball were not ill-conceived.

They signed Matt Chapman to a long-term extension at the end of the ’24 season, then fortified the left side of their infield by signing Willy Adames to a seven-year, $182 million deal before the winter meetings. Their ambitions only heightened when Posey cashed in his chips and traded for Rafael Devers, a three-time All-Star, on Father’s Day.

San Francisco Giants Rafael Devers #16 grounds out in the ninth inning of their MLB game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

When Devers made his debut, the Giants were 41-31 and only 2.5 games behind the Dodgers for first place in the NL West. With Devers, they’ve totaled 36 wins to 50 losses.

Webb pointed to his start against the Dodgers a week-and-a-half back for setting the Giants on this season-ending stretch of misery, an outing where he curiously stopped using his sinker and allowed six runs. If Webb shoved, the Giants would be on an entirely different path. While Webb took accountability, the last three-and-a-half months have been defined by missed opportunities.

“We trade for a guy like Devers and we were excited,” Webb said. “It’s kind of hard to pinpoint when things go wrong. Unfortunately, it just seems like we’ve let it stay wrong for a long time, and that’s not a very good recipe for success.”

This loss, in a sense, encapsulated the last third of their season.

The stakes entering Tuesday were simple: If the Giants lost and the Mets won, they would be mathematically eliminated from postseason contention. Webb began his night by allowing three runs, and the Mets wrapped up a win as the Giants entered the bottom of the third trailing 3-0.

San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames #2 tags out St. Louis Cardinals’ Victor Scott II #11 on a steal attempt in the fourth inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. He was initially called safe and after the play was reviewed he was called out. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

With fading hopes, the Giants rallied. They scored five in the third, the key play being when Nolan Arenado plunked Patrick Bailey as he attempted to score on Heliot Ramos’ bases-loaded grounder. Arenado was charged with an error, and San Francisco parlayed it into a crooked number.

By the end of the sixth, San Francisco owned a five-run lead. Bailey and Christian Koss drove in a run apiece in the fifth, then Ramos hit a solo homer in the sixth to become the fourth Giant to hit at least 20 homers alongside Devers (33), Adames (28) and Chapman (21).

Then, the collapse. Iván Herrera’s two-run homer off Joey Lucchesi and Nolan Arenado’s solo homer off Spencer Bivens trimmed the Giants’ advantage to one run. In the ninth, Ryan Walker blew another save against the Cardinals by allowing a pair of RBI singles.

San Francisco would not go quietly as Adames put himself in scoring position with a one-out double in the bottom of the ninth. As has been the case for many months, the Giants failed to cash in with a runner in scoring position. Chapman struck out, and Wilmer Flores, pinch-hitting for Bryce Eldridge, struck out too.

Game over. Season over.

“We knew going in we had to win tonight,” Melvin said. “It’s something we have to deal with.”

San Francisco Giants manager Bob Melvin gestures from the dugout in the eighth inning of their MLB game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

There is optimism for those who wish to seek it.

Adames, Chapman, Devers, Eldridge, Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee are under team control for the foreseeable future. Webb eclipsed 200 innings for a third straight season and will earn NL Cy Young votes. Robbie Ray, who will no longer start on Wednesday as planned, earned an All-Star appearance in his first full season post-Tommy John, and Landen Roupp emerged as a foundational piece of the rotation.

But when this team broke camp, their goal was not to speak in glass-half-full platitudes in late September. Their goal was to play meaningful baseball deep into October. In Posey’s first year at the helm, it is a goal they have failed to reach.

“If there’s one thing about Buster Posey, I don’t think he’s okay with losing,” Webb said. “I don’t think he’s okay with even being .500. He wants to win. I’m not going to play his job because it’s not my job, but I don’t think he’s okay with this. I don’t think there’s a lot of people okay with this in this clubhouse.”

San Francisco Giants’ Matt Chapman #26 reacts after striking out swinging against St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher JoJo Romero #59 in the ninth inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Riley O’Brien #55 and catcher Jimmy Crooks #8 celebrate their 9-8 MLB win over the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)San Francisco Giants’ Willy Adames #2 celebrates his double as St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan #33 looks on in the ninth inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Logan Webb #62 throws against the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)St. Louis Cardinals’ Victor Scott II #11 is congratulated by Iván Herrera #48 after scoring on an RBI double by Brendan Donovan #33 in the ninth inning of their MLB game against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)San Francisco Giants manager Bob Melvin gestures from the dugout in the eighth inning of their MLB game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Joel Peguero #63 throws against the St. Louis Cardinals in the eighth inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)San Francisco Giants second baseman Christian Koss #50 wears his City Connect uniform and socks as he heads to the dugout in the seventh inning of their MLB game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)San Francisco Giants second baseman Christian Koss #50 throws to first base to get out St. Louis Cardinals’ Lars Nootbaar #21 during the seventh inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)St. Louis Cardinals’ Iván Herrera #48 is congratulated by Jordan Walker #18 after hitting three-run home run off San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Joey Lucchesi #57 in the seventh inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Joey Lucchesi #57 reacts after giving up a three-run home run to St. Louis Cardinals’ Iván Herrera #48 during the seventh inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)St. Louis Cardinals’ Iván Herrera #48 hits a three-run home run off San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Joey Lucchesi #57 in the seventh inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Joey Lucchesi #57 throws against the St. Louis Cardinals during the seventh inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)San Francisco Giants’ Drew Gilbert #61 loses his helmet as he swings and misses on a pitch by St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Matt Svanson #49 in the eighth inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Andre Pallante #53 throws against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)San Francisco Giants’ Rafael Devers #16 talks with St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan #33 in the fourth inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames #2 tags out St. Louis Cardinals’ Victor Scott II #11 on a steal attempt in the fourth inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. He was initially called safe and after the play was reviewed he was called out. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)San Francisco Giants center fielder Jung Hoo Lee #51 catches a fly ball against the wall hit by St. Louis Cardinals’ Lars Nootbaar #21 in the third inning of their MLB game at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

 

A rip is seen in the pants of San Francisco Giants’ Heliot Ramos #17 in the fourth inning of their MLB game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

KION to no longer produce its own newscasts

KPIX CBS San Francisco has begun providing local news coverage for KION, effectively replacing the news team at the Salinas television station according to a press release from the station and a variety of media reports.

The statement on the KION website said “the station will no longer produce its own full local newscasts.” It added that KPIX News would be reporting the most significant stories from  Northern and Central California, “while continuing to highlight local reporting, weather forecasts and community updates that matter most to residents of Monterey, Salinas, Santa Cruz, and beyond.”

According to a report from the Monterey County Weekly, 13 members of the KION news team — reporters, anchors, meteorologists and producers — were laid off Tuesday morning. Calls to KION by the Herald for further detail were not returned.

The press release noted the history between KPIX and KION

“KPIX originally supplied CBS programming to KION (then KMST) when the station signed on in 1969. The renewed partnership reflects CBS’s commitment to serving communities across Northern California … KPIX News on KION represents an evolution in how KION serves its audience.”

Rall Bradley, executive vice president of broadcast at News-Press & Gazette Company, the owner of the station, said “Our partnership with KPIX ensures that viewers across the Monterey, Salinas and Santa Cruz region continue to receive the high-quality local journalism they deserve.”

SF Giants discuss implementation of robo umps coming to MLB in ’26

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants got a preview of the automated ball-strike system, or ABS, during Cactus League games this past spring. Starting next year, the system will be making its debut in the majors.

Major League Baseball announced on Tuesday morning that ABS will be coming to the majors in 2026. Human umpires will still call balls and strikes behind the plate, but each team will have two challenges per game and extra appeals in extra innings.

Pitchers, catchers and batters are the only players who can challenge, which they do by tapping their heads. If a challenge is successful, teams retain their challenge.

“Everybody’s probably for it at this point,” said manager Bob Melvin. “You saw how many misses there were in spring training and there’s so much information now that, like anything they’ve done here recently, they’re trying to get it right and make it better.”

The Giant who stands to be impacted the most, by far, is catcher Patrick Bailey. The one-time Gold Glove Award winner has been the most valuable defender since making his debut, according to Baseball Savant’s Fielding Run Value, and much of his value derives from his framing.

Over the last three seasons, Bailey has been the best at turning strikes into a wide margin, leading all backstops with 64 Catcher Framing Runs. For context, the Blue Jays’ Alejandro Kirk ranks second in Catcher Framing Runs during that same timeframe with 33. And unlike most catchers, Bailey excels at stealing strikes on all sides of the plate — up, down, left or right.

“He’s as good as you get, and he understands (the zone) too,” Melvin said. “He knows all the numbers. He knows what his pitchers can do and where he needs to go to get these strikes. It makes a big impact. He’s a pretty cerebral player on top of it. A lot of understanding of the nuances of the position.”

Bailey said he wasn’t a fan of ABS during spring training, but he had a more measured stance when speaking with reporters on Tuesday.

“I don’t really have any thoughts on it,” Bailey said. “We’ll just have to figure out what it looks like. I’ve had experience with it in Triple-A a little bit and in spring training. It’ll be a big chance and we’ll have to figure out how to use it to the best of our ability.”

Bailey added: “It doesn’t matter if we’re cool with it.”

Bailey said he doesn’t believe that the system will take away the value of frame, adding that catchers still “have to get calls and keep strikes, strikes.” While Bailey will likely have a few framed strikes overturned, he’ll also have his chance to turn incorrectly-called balls into strikes.

“This past week, off the top of my head, there’s obviously times where I’m catching where it’s pretty confident that was a strike,” Bailey said. “That’s going to be able to help catchers as well. I think some of the best catchers are going to be the ones that know the zone the best. So, there’s going to be training in that and value and that. We’ll have to see what that looks like.”

“Maybe a little bit,” Melvin said when asked if Bailey’s value will be impacted. “I don’t think a good framer goes away unless it’s wholesale. I still think his value is going to be pretty high.”

Related Articles SF Giants eliminated from postseason contention with crushing loss to Cardinals Robot umpires approved for MLB in 2026 as part of challenge system SF Giants inch closer to elimination as Cardinals rough up Verlander Giants bring prospect Rodriguez to San Francisco to get acclimated for 2026 and beyond SF Giants avoid being swept by Dodgers as McDonald deals, offense finds late life

While technology will now help determine balls and strikes — Hawk-Eye technology will run in the background of games and monitor the location of every pitch — the home-plate umpire will still be responsible for the majority of calls. This, in turn, maintains the human element of the game. The full ABS system, by contrast, completely removes that component.

The full ABS system was tested in the minors from 2022-24 but phased out by the end of the 2024 season in favor of the challenge system. With this system, every call was dictated by Hawk-Eye technology and took the responsibility of calling balls and strikes out of an umpire’s hands. Justin Verlander and Robbie Ray were among those fine with the challenge system but against full ABS.

“I think it’s a nightmare scenario with full ABS,” Verlander said. “I think you completely take away the art of pitching. It would just completely go away. You’d have a designated hitter sitting behind home plate (instead of a catcher) setting up on the corner. … I think the appeal system is definitely the better scenario for that.”

“I don’t really have a problem with (the challenge system). I do have a problem with the full ABS system. It just doesn’t seem right if you were to call balls and strikes off the full zone,” Ray said. “I feel like that would be taking away from the sport. … If there’s a big situation and you feel like you make your pitch — or a hitter feels like he gets a close pitch that gets called a strike — I don’t mind having the ability to challenge that.”

Trump’s ‘tough it out’ advice to expectant moms is the latest example of men opining on women’s pain

By LAURIE KELLMAN

From the pulpit of the presidency, Donald Trump offered some advice to pregnant women: “Tough it out” before taking Tylenol.

Related Articles Trump says he doesn’t think Argentina needs a bailout, but US will help After cost-cutting blitz, Trump administration rehires hundreds of laid-off employees At UN, Trump attacks climate change efforts in front of leaders of drowning nations Trump’s Tylenol and vaccine warnings leave some pregnant women concerned, others angry FACT FOCUS: A look at false and misleading claims made by Trump about autism, Tylenol and pregnancy

Nine times in all, Trump said expectant mothers should suffer through their discomfort instead of reaching for acetaminophen — or paracetamol in countries outside the U.S. — to cure their fevers or headaches, despite the drug being one of the few painkillers that pregnant women are allowed to take.

“Fight like hell not to take it,” Trump instructed at a Monday news conference meant to address autism. He added that if pregnant women absolutely have to take Tylenol, that’ll be something that they “work out with themselves.”

What many women and experts heard was the latest example of a man telling women how much physical pain they should endure — and an age-old effort to blame mothers for their babies’ autism.

“His use of ‘tough it out’ really was infuriating because it dismissed women’s pain and the real danger that exists with fever and miscarriage during pregnancy,” said women’s rights advocate and social media influencer Amanda Tietz, a 46-year-old mom of three in Wisconsin, in an email. “Not to mention the pain we can experience in pregnancy that can be debilitating.”

Others saw a man opining — again, without evidence that maternal use of Tylenol causes autism or ADHD in children — on mothers, children with disabilities and their health at a time when studies show pain suffered by women is frequently dismissed. Women’s health and their autonomy are especially fraught issues in the wake of the Supreme Court decision in 2022 to strip away constitutional protections for abortion, a deeply personal change for Americans nearly a half century after Roe v. Wade. The debate now roils state legislatures nationwide.

“Yesterday 5 powerful men stood together in the WH and shamed: Pregnant women, told to ‘tough it out’ through pain; Moms of autistic kids, blamed for their child’s condition; Autistic people, called broken & in need of fixing,” Trump’s former surgeon general, Jerome Adams, posted on social media. “Can we all be kinder and less stigmatizing?”

Three women also spoke at Monday’s press conference and thanked Trump: Dorothy Fink, the acting assistant secretary at HHS; and Jackie O’Brien and Amanda Rumer, two mothers who said they have autistic children.

Dr. Nicole B. Saphier of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center said pregnant women generally are advised to take acetaminophen only under medical supervision, when necessary and at the lowest effective dose. But equally important — and missing from Trump’s message — was that untreated fever or severe pain can also pose serious risks to mothers and babies, she said.

“For decades, women have endured a paternalistic tone in medicine. We’ve moved past dismissing symptoms as ‘hysteria,’” Saphier, who also is a Fox News medical contributor, wrote in an email. “The President’s recent comments on Tylenol in pregnancy are a prime example. Advising moderation was sound; delivering it in a patronizing, simplistic way was not.”

Trump is not known for a delicate touch around policy where women are concerned. Ahead of the 2016 election, he erupted over tough questioning by Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, later telling CNN: “You can see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” He’s got a special playbook for female opponents that includes put-downs about their appearance, their emotional stability and their intelligence.

There’s a long history of men holding forth, sometimes incorrectly, about women’s reproductive health. Former Missouri Republican Rep. Todd Akin sank his 2012 U.S. Senate campaign with remarks about what constituted “legitimate rape.” Others have erred by suggesting publicly and falsely that rape victims can’t get pregnant.

History offers a long list of men making medical policy for women based on the beliefs of their time — and, some say, suspicion about the power of women to create and shape their unborn babies. A nearly half-century-old theory, long discredited, held that “refrigerator mothers” — cold or distant figures — were responsible for their children’s autism.

Trump’s advice “took me straight back to when moms were blamed for autism,” said Alison Singer, founder of the Autism Science Foundation. “He basically said, if you can’t take the pain, if you can’t deal with the fever, then it’s your fault.”

Trump’s “tough it out” advice is familiar to Mary E. Fissell, a professor of medical history with Johns Hopkins University. “It’s the classic blame-the-mother …over and over again,” she said. The “maternal imagination,” for example, was a principle once thought to influence the way a baby forms.

“It’s the idea that what a pregnant woman desires or feels or imagines will shape the form of her unborn child,” said Fissell, who focuses on 17th- and 18th-century medical history.

Trump offered at least one moment of introspection during his news conference, acknowledging the awkward nature of his directive.

“You know, it’s easy for me to say tough it out,” the president allowed. “But sometimes in life or a lot of other things, you have to tough it out also.”

Trump says he doesn’t think Argentina needs a bailout, but US will help

By FATIMA HUSSEIN, ALMUDENA CALATRAVA and DEBORA REY

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump stopped short Tuesday of promising Argentina’s President Javier Milei a financial bailout from the Latin American country’s economic turmoil.

Related Articles Trump’s ‘tough it out’ advice to expectant moms is the latest example of men opining on women’s pain After cost-cutting blitz, Trump administration rehires hundreds of laid-off employees At UN, Trump attacks climate change efforts in front of leaders of drowning nations Trump’s Tylenol and vaccine warnings leave some pregnant women concerned, others angry FACT FOCUS: A look at false and misleading claims made by Trump about autism, Tylenol and pregnancy

“We’re going to help them. I don’t think they need a bailout,” Trump told reporters. He sat alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Milei on Tuesday afternoon on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“Scott is working with their country so that they can get good debt and all of the things that you need to make Argentina great again,” he said.

Bessent posted on X Monday that “all options for stabilization are on the table” for Argentina.

Options being contemplated include the purchase of Argentina’s currency or sovereign debt by a fund controlled by the U.S. Treasury, called the Exchange Stabilization Fund, Bessent said. Argentina is one of the biggest Latin American economies and the biggest borrower from the International Monetary Fund — its total outstanding credit as of Aug. 31 is $41.8 billion.

The offer to financially help Argentina comes as Trump has frequently promoted his “America First” agenda. Critics contend that the planned intervention is a way to reward a personal friend of Trump’s who is facing a critical midterm election next month.

“At a time when Americans are struggling to afford groceries, rent, credit card bills, and other debt payments,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., “it is deeply troubling that the President intends to use significant emergency funds to inflate the value of a foreign government’s currency and bolster its financial markets.”

She called any planned U.S. intervention in Argentina’s economy a bailout. “I do not understand why it is in the interest of the United States to provide one, nor how one would be designed to ensure the best outcomes for the Argentinian people, instead of hedge fund investors.”

Miliei’s Argentina is weighed down by political and economic adversity, including fears that the country’s current stagnation could turn into a recession and that the devaluation of the peso, caused by the soaring dollar, could reignite prices, among other problems.

The setbacks have revealed an erosion of Milei’s support among broad sectors who, despite the drop in inflation, feel their economic situation has worsened in the context of an austerity plan unlike anything Argentina has ever seen.

Calatrava and Rey reported from Buenos Aires.

After cost-cutting blitz, Trump administration rehires hundreds of laid-off employees

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and RYAN J. FOLEY

MIAMI (AP) — Hundreds of federal employees who lost their jobs in Elon Musk’s cost-cutting blitz are being asked to return to work.

Related Articles Trump’s ‘tough it out’ advice to expectant moms is the latest example of men opining on women’s pain Trump says he doesn’t think Argentina needs a bailout, but US will help At UN, Trump attacks climate change efforts in front of leaders of drowning nations Trump’s Tylenol and vaccine warnings leave some pregnant women concerned, others angry FACT FOCUS: A look at false and misleading claims made by Trump about autism, Tylenol and pregnancy

The General Services Administration has given the employees — who managed government workspaces — until the end of the week to accept or decline reinstatement, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press. Those who accept must report for duty on Oct. 6 after what amounts to a seven-month paid vacation, during which time the GSA in some cases racked up high costs — passed along to taxpayers — to stay in dozens of properties whose leases it had slated for termination or were allowed to expire.

“Ultimately, the outcome was the agency was left broken and understaffed,” said Chad Becker, a former GSA real estate official. “They didn’t have the people they needed to carry out basic functions.”

Becker, who represents owners with government leases at Arco Real Estate Solutions, said GSA has been in a “triage mode” for months. He said the sudden reversal of the downsizing reflects how Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency had gone too far, too fast.

Rehiring of purged federal employees

GSA was established in the 1940s to centralize the acquisition and management of thousands of federal workplaces. Its return to work request mirrors rehiring efforts at in several agencies targeted by DOGE. Last month, the IRS said it would allow some employees who took a resignation offer to remain on the job. The Labor Department has also brought back some employees who took buyouts, while the National Park Service earlier reinstated a number of purged employees.

Critical to the work of such agencies is the GSA, which manages many of the buildings. Starting in March, thousands of GSA employees left the agency as part of programs that encouraged them to resign or take early retirement. Hundreds of others — those subject to the recall notice — were dismissed as part of an aggressive push to reduce the size of the federal workforce. Though those employees did not show up for work, they were to be paid through the end of this month.

GSA representatives didn’t respond to detailed questions about the return-to-work notice, which the agency issued Friday. They also declined to discuss the agency’s headcount, staffing decisions or the potential cost overruns generated by reversing its plans to terminate leases.

“GSA’s leadership team has reviewed workforce actions and is making adjustments in the best interest of the customer agencies we serve and the American taxpayers,” an agency spokesman said in an email.

Democrats have assailed the Trump administration’s indiscriminate approach to slashing costs and jobs. Rep. Greg Stanton of Arizona, the top Democrat on the subcommittee overseeing the GSA, told AP there is no evidence that reductions at the agency “delivered any savings.”

“It’s created costly confusion while undermining the very services taxpayers depend on,” he said.

DOGE identified the agency, which had about 12,000 employees at the start of the Trump administration, as a chief target of its campaign to reduce fraud, waste and abuse in the federal government.

A small cohort of Musk’s trusted aides embedded in GSA’s headquarters, sometimes sleeping on cots on the agency’s sixth floor, and pursued plans to abruptly cancel nearly half of the 7,500 leases in the federal portfolio. DOGE also wanted GSA to sell hundreds of federally owned buildings with the goal of generating billions in savings.

GSA started by sending more than 800 lease cancellation notices to landlords, in many cases without informing the government tenants. The agency also published a list of hundreds of government buildings that were targeted for sale.

DOGE’s massive job cuts produced little savings

Pushback to GSA’s dumping of its portfolio was swift, and both initiatives have been dialed back. More than 480 leases slated for termination by DOGE have since been spared. Those leases were for offices scattered around the country that are occupied by such agencies as the IRS, Social Security Administration and Food and Drug Administration.

DOGE’s “Wall of Receipts,” which once boasted that the lease cancellations alone would save nearly $460 million, has since reduced that estimate to $140 million by the end of July, according to Becker, the former GSA real estate official.

Meanwhile, GSA embarked on massive job cuts. The administration slashed GSA’s headquarters staff by 79%, its portfolio managers by 65% and facilities managers by 35%, according to a federal official briefed on the situation. The official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, provided the statistics on condition of anonymity.

As a result of the internal turmoil, 131 leases expired without the government actually vacating the properties, the official said. The situation has exposed the agencies to steep fees because property owners have not been able to rent out those spaces to other tenants.

The public may soon get a clearer picture of what transpired at the agency.

The Government Accountability Office, an independent congressional watchdog, is examining the GSA’s management of its workforce, lease terminations and planned building disposals and expects to issue findings in the coming months, said David Marroni, a senior GAO official.

Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa.

At UN, Trump attacks climate change efforts in front of leaders of drowning nations

By MELINA WALLING and SETH BORENSTEIN

NEW YORK (AP) — Some countries’ leaders are watching rising seas threaten to swallow their homes. Others are watching their citizens die in floods, hurricanes and heat waves, all exacerbated by climate change.

Related Articles Trump’s ‘tough it out’ advice to expectant moms is the latest example of men opining on women’s pain Trump says he doesn’t think Argentina needs a bailout, but US will help After cost-cutting blitz, Trump administration rehires hundreds of laid-off employees Trump’s Tylenol and vaccine warnings leave some pregnant women concerned, others angry FACT FOCUS: A look at false and misleading claims made by Trump about autism, Tylenol and pregnancy

But the world U.S. President Donald Trump described in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday didn’t match the one many world leaders in the audience are contending with. Nor did it align with what scientists have long been observing.

“This ‘climate change,’ it’s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion,” Trump said. “All of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong. They were made by stupid people that have cost their countries fortunes and given those same countries no chance for success. If you don’t get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail.”

Trump has long been a critic of climate science and polices aimed at helping the world transition to green energies like wind and solar. His speech Tuesday, however, was one of his most expansive to date. It included false statements and making connections between things that are not connected.

Ilana Seid, an ambassador from the island nation of Palau and head of the organization of small island states, was in the audience. She said it’s what they’ve come to expect from Trump and the United States. She added that not acting on climate change will “be a betrayal of the most vulnerable,” a sentiment echoed by Evans Davie Njewa of Malawi, who said that “we are endangering the lives of innocent people in the world.”

For Adelle Thomas, a climate scientist who has published more than 40 studies and has a doctorate, climate change disasters are personal, too. A vice chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s top body on climate science, Thomas is from the Bahamas and said she experienced firsthand “the devastation of the climate disaster” when Hurricane Sandy hit the Caribbean and New York City, the city Trump was speaking from, in 2012.

“Millions of people around the world can already testify to the devastation that climate change has brought to their lives,” she said. ‘The evidence is not abstract. It is lived, it is deadly, and it demands urgent action.”

People set up a “Climate Polluters Bill” the length of an Olympic swimming pool (50 meters long) through Manhattan at the “Make Billionaires Pay” climate protest, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in New York. The bill was created by Greenpeace and lists the costs of hundreds of climate-related natural disasters. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

A look at some of Trump’s statements Tuesday, the science behind them and the reaction.

On renewable energy

WHAT HE SAID: Trump called renewable sources of energy like wind power a “joke” and “pathetic,” falsely claiming they don’t work, are too expensive and too weak.

THE BACKSTORY: Solar and wind are now “almost always” the least expensive and the fastest options for new electricity generation, according to a July report from the United Nations. That report also said the world has passed a “positive tipping point” where those energy sources will only continue to become more widespread.

The three cheapest electricity sources globally last year were onshore wind, solar panels and new hydropower, according to an energy cost report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Subsidies endorsed by Trump and the Republican party are artificially keeping fossil fuels viable, said University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann. “If one were truly in favor of the ‘free market’ to determine this, then fossil fuels would be disappearing even faster,” he wrote in an email.

Relatedly, Trump falsely claimed European electricity bills are now “two to three times higher than the United States, and our bills are coming way down.” But in fact retail electricity prices in the United States have increased faster than the rate of inflation since 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The agency expects prices to continue increasing through 2026.

On the international politics of climate, the UN and the Paris Accord

WHAT HE SAID: Trump blasted the U.N.’s climate efforts, saying he withdrew America from the “fake” Paris climate accord because “America was paying so much more than every country, others weren’t paying.”

THE BACKSTORY: The Paris Agreement, decided by international consensus in 2015, is a voluntary but binding document in which each country is asked to set its own national goal to curb planet-warming emissions and decide how much money it will contribute to the countries that will be hit hardest by climate change.

Because carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for more than a century, the United States has put out more of the heat trapping gas than any other nation, even though China now is the No. 1 carbon polluter. Since 1850, the U.S. has contributed 24% of the human-caused carbon dioxide that’s in the air, according to Global Carbon Project data. The entire continent of Africa, with four times the population of the U.S., is responsible for about 3%.

Art pieces of Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk with bloody hands carrying globes are marched through Manhattan at the “Make Billionaires Pay” climate protest, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)On coal being referred to as clean

WHAT HE SAID: “I have a little standing order in the White House. Never use the word ‘coal.’ Only use the words ‘clean, beautiful coal.’ Sounds much better, doesn’t it?”

THE BACKSTORY: Coal kills millions of people a year. “The president can pretend coal is clean, but real people — mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters— will die for this lie,’’ said Stanford University climate scientist Rob Jackson..

Trump also called the carbon footprint “a hoax made up by people with evil intentions,” a contention that Texas A&M University climate scientist Andrew Dessler agreed with. Dessler said the term was coined by oiil companies and may have been designed to shift the responsibility for combatting climate change away from corporations to individuals.

The science of climate change started 169 years ago when Eunice Foote did simple experiments with flasks and sunlight showing that carbon dioxide trapped more heat than the regular atmosphere. It’s an experiment that can be repeated at home and has been done in labs hundreds of times and in greenhouses around the world every day. It is basic physics and chemistry with a long history.

“It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land,” reported the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is hundreds of scientists, with doctorates in the field.

In 2018, Trump’s own government said: “The impacts of global climate change are already being felt in the United States and are projected to intensify in the future.”

On cows and methane

WHAT HE SAID: In “the United States, we have still radicalized environmentalists and they want the factories to stop. Everything should stop. No more cows. We don’t want cows anymore.”

THE BACKSTORY: Cows belch methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Around the world, cattle are often raised on lands where forests have cut down. Since forests capture carbon dioxide, cutting them to raise cattle results in a doublt whammy. Still, no one is suggesting that cows be gotten rid of, said Nusa Urbancic, CEO of the Changing Markets Foundation.

“This polarizing and divisive language misrepresents the environmental message,” Urbancic wrote. “What is true, however, is that cutting methane emissions is a quick win to slow global heating and meet climate targets.”

Trump also blamed dirty air blowing in from afar, floating garbage in the ocean coming from other countries and “radicalized environmentalists.”

Although the United States does indeed now have cleaner air than it has in decades, the pollution seeping into communities is primarily caused by local dirty energy and industry projects, not by other countries. And many experts have said the biggest blow to local air and water quality is the Trump administration’s own wide-ranging rollbacks to the power of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other bedrock environmental laws.

“It is sad to see marine debris, a globally important issue, being misrepresented so completely,” said Lucy Woodall, an associate professor of marine conservation and policy at the University of Exeter.

Associated Press reporters Matthew Daly, Jennifer McDermott and Annika Hammerschlag contributed to this report.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Trump’s Tylenol and vaccine warnings leave some pregnant women concerned, others angry

By LAURA UNGAR

Faith Ayer had no qualms about taking Tylenol for chronic migraines and COVID-19 during her pregnancy, and grew disappointed and angry as she watched President Donald Trump rail against the pain medicine.

Related Articles Trump’s ‘tough it out’ advice to expectant moms is the latest example of men opining on women’s pain Trump says he doesn’t think Argentina needs a bailout, but US will help After cost-cutting blitz, Trump administration rehires hundreds of laid-off employees At UN, Trump attacks climate change efforts in front of leaders of drowning nations FACT FOCUS: A look at false and misleading claims made by Trump about autism, Tylenol and pregnancy

“A lot of the claims that were shared have just not been backed by evidence,” said Ayer, a nurse practitioner in Jacksonville, Florida, who is about 17 weeks pregnant with her first child. She said Trump’s words have implications “for patients across the country and even across the world.”

During a White House news conference on Monday, Trump repeatedly warned pregnant women not to take Tylenol because of the risk of autism in their children. He also fueled debunked claims that ingredients in vaccines or timing shots close together could contribute to rising rates of autism. Trump’s comments left some pregnant women angry and others with questions.

Dr. R. Todd Ivey, an OB-GYN in Houston, said he’s already heard from a few patients and expects to get a lot more questions in the coming weeks.

“People are concerned,” he said. “But what I’m doing is reassuring patients that there is no causation that has ever been proven.”

Moms have mixed reactions to Trump’s announcement

As a nurse, Ayer knew she didn’t have a lot of options for treating her migraines and a fever she spiked during a bout of COVID-19.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has long considered Tylenol, also known by the generic name acetaminophen, one of the only safe pain relievers during pregnancy. Five years ago, the Food and Drug Administration warned that the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin or ibuprofen might cause rare but serious kidney problems in a fetus.

“Weighing benefits and risks, I had no reservations when taking Tylenol,” the 30-year-old Ayer said, especially since she knew that untreated fevers in pregnancy, particularly in the first trimester, increase the risk for miscarriages, preterm birth and other problems.

Despite her medical knowledge, she had a conversation with her doctor about taking Tylenol “and kind of got the all clear on their end, too.”

When she gives birth, she plans to give her baby all the vaccines that medical experts recommend.

But other pregnant women are not so sure about things.

Dr. Stella Dantas, an OB-GYN in Portland, Oregon, said she was starting to get questions through her patient email system.

“I anticipate we’re going to have a lot of anxiety about using acetaminophen, which we counsel them is OK to use if they have a headache, if they have a fever,” she said. “There are a number of reasons patients will need to take it, and patients already feel anxious about taking any medication in pregnancy.”

Doctors reassure patients that Tylenol and vaccines are safe

Dr. Clayton Alfonso, an OB-GYN at Duke University in North Carolina, is drafting up standard responses for the nursing team to give out to Tylenol inquiries.

The main message: Tylenol has been around for decades, is safe, and has not been shown to cause autism.

Acetaminophen use during pregnancy hadn’t increased in recent decades like autism rates have, according to the Coalition of Autism Scientists.

Some studies have raised the possibility that taking acetaminophen in pregnancy might be associated with a risk of autism — but many others haven’t found a connection. One challenge is that it’s hard to disentangle the effects of Tylenol use from the effects of high fevers during pregnancy.

Science has shown autism is mostly rooted in genetics. Experts say different combinations of genes and other factors — such as age of the child’s father and whether the mother had health problems during the pregnancy — can all affect how a fetal brain develops.

Besides letting patients know “there has been no causal link established or proven” between Tylenol use in pregnancy and autism, Dantas said she’s also advising patients against “toughing it out” if they have fever or pain.

“A healthy pregnancy starts with a healthy mom,” Dantas said. “So I would ask patients if they are concerned to consult their physicians. And trust in the medical advice given to them.”

Doctors said much the same about advising patients to get their newborns vaccinated. Ivey said doctors are seeing more people decline vaccinations lately, which “speaks to the distrust for the medical community in general.”

“We know that these vaccines save lives,” and don’t cause autism, he said.

Doctors also said they don’t want women to doubt what they did during pregnancy if their child does develop autism.

“We need to take a deep breath,” Ivey said. “We need to trust the people that are doing the work – the scientists, the physicians, the other health care providers.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Bosa joins 49ers’ injury crisis, but midseason returns could provide boost

The 49ers sit alone atop the NFC West at 3-0 after three weeks, with two road wins and two wins over divisional opponents.

And yet, the mood of the 49ers Faithful early this week is downcast after losing Nick Bosa to a torn ACL in his right knee in Sunday’s 16-15 win over the Cardinals. Also, their only fully healthy quarterback at this point is Adrian Martinez after backup Mac Jones aggravated a knee injury in the home opener.

Even without Bosa and with injuries swirling, the 49ers have a strong chance to make the postseason:

Since the NFL expanded its playoffs to six teams per conference in 1990, 75 percent of the 170 teams to start a season 3-0 have made the playoffs. In the five years since expanding to seven teams, 19 of the 22 teams to start a season with three straight wins have made the playoffs (86 percent).

They’re also playing one of the league’s easiest schedules, as determined by last year’s records, after finishing fourth in the NFC West in 2024.

They have won two games without Brock Purdy and George Kittle, putting themselves ahead of the curve. Purdy (toe) and Kittle (hamstring) aren’t the only guys whose returns could bolster their chances this year.

Here are several key players listed on their two-deep depth chart who could return this season and otherwise inactive players who could still contribute later this season:

Wide receiver

Jauan Jennings: Missed Week 3 with an ankle injury after dealing with shoulder and calf injuries earlier.

Brandon Aiyuk: Rehabbing from an ACL tear last season. On injured reserve, eligible to return in Week 5 but perhaps more likely later in October.

Demarcus Robinson: Completed his three-game suspension for DUI last November and is eligible to play Sunday against Jacksonville.

Jacob Cowing: Went down on Day 1 of training camp with a hamstring injury, then aggravated it after returning in August. He could be another punt returning option.

Offensive lineRelated Articles Kyle Shanahan outlines 49ers’ next steps after losing Bosa Nick Bosa is out for the season and it's hard to see how the 49ers recover Nick Bosa sustained ‘clean’ ACL tear in 49ers’ home-opening win over Arizona Inman: 10 things that caught my eye in unbeaten 49ers’ walk-off win over Cardinals 49ers report card: Clutch finish leads to 3-0, first-place mark

Ben Bartch: Suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 2 at New Orleans, which sent him to injured reserve.

Spencer Burford: Went on the injured list on Saturday after injuring his knee in New Orleans a week prior.

Defensive line

Kevin Givens: Suffered a pectoral injury in the preseason and went on injured reserve with a designation to return.

Defensive backfield

Malik Mustapha: Tore his ACL in the 2024 season finale at Arizona and currently on the Physically Unable to Perform list along with Aiyuk, but could return later in the season.