The BulleTin • Tuesday, decemBer 13, 2022 A7
DEAR ABBY
Write to Dear Abby online at dearabby.com
or by mail at P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069
Dear Abby: My husband
and I moved into a new
rental house on my best
friend’s property a year ago.
We love living here. We
moved to be closer to my
friend, “Noah,” who is like
a brother to me. He and his
wife live on the same prop-
erty.
Noah was diagnosed with
heart disease two years ago,
and was given a year to live.
He has surpassed that es-
timate. He now wants my
husband and me to buy the
house we are renting. I’m
hesitant because Noah’s wife
suffers from a mental illness.
She has always been
threatened by our close
friendship, and if anything
goes wrong in her life, she
accuses me of sabotaging
her. When she’s stable, she’s
a nice and generous person,
but recently she has been
experiencing hallucinations
and severe paranoia.
Noah wants us to stay
because he needs our sup-
port. I’m afraid that after he’s
gone, she’ll make our lives
miserable and try to contest
the ownership of the prop-
erty. The property is in No-
ah’s name only. He bought
it before they got married.
What should I do?
— Torn To Pieces
Dear Torn: Your ques-
tion is of a legal nature and
in no state of the union am
I licensed to give legal ad-
vice. That is why you, your
husband and Noah need to
schedule an appointment
(ASAP) to discuss this busi-
ness matter with an attorney
who can give you guidance
to ensure your interests are
protected if this transaction
takes place. Because it won’t
solve the issue of Noah’s un-
stable wife, that question
should be up to you and
your husband to debate sep-
arately.
Dear Abby: I have been
trying to develop a relation-
ship with my half-sister, and
I’m getting very mixed mes-
sages. She is mostly polite
and distant. But then there
are times she’ll disinvite me
from her child’s birthday
party or “unfriend” me on
Facebook, etc. She explains
later that she did it out of
anxiety, and she seems wor-
ried about being hurt. She
has an excuse every time I
ask to get together.
I know she’s affected by
our father dying of cancer
when she was young (she
was 10 or 11), so I attribute
her behavior to that and
try not to take it personally.
However, it hurts, and I’m
tempted to give up. It is clear
she has no interest in spend-
ing time with me. Should I
stop trying to engage her?
She talks warmly with our
other shared relatives but not
with me. I don’t think I’ve
done anything wrong, so I’m
baffled.
— Slighted In Minnesota
Dear Slighted: Your
half-sister appears to have
emotional challenges in ad-
dition to her anxiety. That
she would disinvite you to
a family function after you
had accepted the invitation
was rude. It’s time to take the
hint and step back. Having a
parent in common does not
guarantee siblings will have a
close relationship. My advice
is to go on with your life and
quit pushing for something
this woman is apparently un-
able or unwilling to give.
YOUR HOROSCOPE
By Georgia Nicols
Stars show the kind of day you’ll have
dynamic | POsiTiVe | aVeraGe | sO-sO | diFFiculT
MOON ALERT: avoid shopping or making important decisions beginning
10:45 a.m. esT and for the rest of the day (7:45 a.m. PsT). The moon is in leo.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR TUESDAY, DEC. 13, 2022: you have
a sharp, clever mind. you are perceptive and quick. you are also charismat-
ic, charming and appealing to many. you are optimistic and confident.
simplicity is the key to life this year. Take charge of your health. exercise is
important. stay grounded and levelheaded.
ARIES (March 21-April 19)
This is a lovely day to schmooze! Because you want to travel,
perhaps you’re talking to travel companions or people in another country.
either way, enjoy social activities, sports events and playful times with kids.
Tonight: socialize.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
This is a feel-good day! you can cocoon at home with your favorite
food and pamper yourself. Or perhaps you want a little company. if so, this
is a fine day and evening to entertain at home. discuss travel or educational
plans with a friend. Tonight: cocoon.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
you’re pumped today because mars is still in your sign (as it will be
for the rest of year). This is an excellent day to converse and interact with
partners, close friends and members of the general public. you have some-
thing to say, and fortunately others are willing to listen. Tonight: an upbeat
conversation.
CANCER (June 21-July 22)
This is a tricky day. you will be tempted to pursue financial negotia-
tions or spend money or shop. however, this is a poor day to do so! (see the
moon alert.) Get your facts or do some window-shopping, but wait until
tomorrow to act. Tonight: save your money.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)
Today the moon is in your sign dancing beautifully with the sun,
which gives you a strong urge to socialize. accept invitations to party. enjoy
lunch or happy hour with a friend. in particular, you will delight in playful
activities with kids, sports events and anything to do with the entertain-
ment world. it’s a great date day! Tonight: you win!
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
home, family and your personal life are your primary focus today.
however, you’re also in a playful, social mood! This means that this is the
ideal day to entertain at home and socialize with family members. Fun
times with kids will delight you. Tonight: Pleasant solitude.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
This is a fast-paced, happy day! Because you’re in a positive frame
of mind, you will enjoy talking to everyone in a lighthearted way. avoid
important decisions today. agree to nothing important. don’t volunteer for
anything. Wait until tomorrow. Tonight: Talk to a friend.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
Be careful today. The reason you have to be cautious is your mind will
be drawn to financial matters, shopping, wheeling and dealing and money
negotiations. however, this is a poor day to do any of those things! don’t
shop except for food and gas. don’t agree to anything important. Fore-
warned is forearmed. Tonight: show respect.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
Today the sun is in your sign dancing with the moon, which
makes you feel easygoing and relaxed. enjoy socializing with others. you
might want to kick around some ideas for future travel plans. you also have
moneymaking ideas. nevertheless, wait until tomorrow to act. see the
moon alert. Be smart. Tonight: explore!
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
Part of you wants to be low-key and hide behind the scenes today.
however, with mercury and Venus in your sign, you’re eager to talk to
others. actually, this is a lovely day to relax and enjoy yourself. Postpone
shopping and important decisions until tomorrow. restrict spending to
food and gas. Tonight: check your finances.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
This is a lovely day to socialize with others, especially close friends
and partners. you also might choose to be involved in a group. neverthe-
less, because there is a moon alert all day, don’t volunteer for anything.
don’t shop. (except for food and gas.) Tonight: cooperate.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)
People notice you today in a favorable way. Therefore, be careful. do
not volunteer for anything or agree to new responsibilities. Wait until tomor-
row to respond. do yourself this favor. Protect yourself. Tonight: Tidy up.
TODAY
IN HISTORY
By The Associated Press
Today is Tuesday, dec. 13, the
347th day of 2022. There are 18
days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Dec. 13, 2000, republican
George W. Bush claimed the
presidency a day after the u.s. su-
preme court shut down further
recounts of disputed ballots in
Florida; democrat al Gore con-
ceded, delivering a call for na-
tional unity.
in 1862, union forces led by maj.
Gen. ambrose Burnside launched
futile attacks against entrenched
confederate soldiers during the
civil War Battle of Fredericksburg;
the soundly defeated northern
troops withdrew two days later.
in 2001, the Pentagon publicly
released a captured videotape
of Osama bin laden in which the
al-Qaida leader said the deaths
and destruction achieved by the
september 11 attacks exceeded
his “most optimistic” expecta-
tions.
in 2003, saddam hussein was
captured by u.s. forces while hid-
ing in a hole under a farmhouse
in adwar, iraq, near his home-
town of Tikrit.
in 2014, thousands of protesters
marched in new york, Washing-
ton and other u.s. cities to call at-
tention to the killing of unarmed
Black men by white police officers
who faced no criminal charges.
in 2019, the house Judiciary
committee approved two arti-
cles of impeachment accusing
President donald Trump of abuse
of power in his dealings with
ukraine and obstruction of con-
gress in the investigation that
followed.
in 2020, the first vials of the Pfizer
vaccine against cOVid-19 began
making their way to distribution
sites across the united states.
Ten years ago: u.n. ambassador
susan rice withdrew from con-
sideration to replace outgoing
secretary of state hillary rodham
clinton after running into oppo-
sition from republicans over her
explanation of the september
attack on the u.s. consulate in
Benghazi, libya, that killed am-
bassador chris stevens and three
other americans.
Five years ago: congressional
republicans reached agreement
on a major overhaul of the na-
tion’s tax laws that would provide
generous tax cuts for corpora-
tions and the wealthiest amer-
icans; middle- and low-income
families would get smaller tax
cuts. The new york Times pub-
lished claims by three women
that they had been raped by mu-
sic mogul russell simmons in the
1980s and 1990s; simmons de-
nied the allegations.
One year ago: The house panel
investigating the Jan. 6 capitol
insurrection voted to pursue
contempt charges against for-
mer White house chief of staff
mark meadows; lawmakers also
revealed a series of frantic texts
he received as the attack was
under way, in which members of
congress, Fox news anchors and
even President donald Trump’s
son urged meadows to push
Trump to act quickly to stop the
siege by his supporters. (The
house voted to hold meadows in
contempt, but the Justice depart-
ment declined to prosecute.) The
air Force said it had discharged
27 people for refusing to get the
cOVid-19 vaccine; they were be-
lieved to be the first service mem-
bers removed for disobeying the
mandate to get the shots. The
supreme court refused to halt a
cOVid-19 vaccine requirement
for health care workers in new
york that did not offer an exemp-
tion for religious reasons.
Today’s Birthdays: actor-come-
dian dick Van dyke is 97. country
singer Buck White is 92. music/
film producer lou adler is 89.
singer John davidson is 81. actor
Kathy Garver (TV: “Family affair”)
is 77. singer Ted nugent is 74.
rock musician Jeff “skunk” Baxter
is 74. actor robert lindsay is 73.
country singer-musician randy
Owen is 73. actor Wendie malick
is 72. u.s. agriculture secretary
Tom Vilsack is 72. Former Federal
reserve chairman Ben Bernanke
is 69. country singer John ander-
son is 68. singer-songwriter steve
Forbert is 68. singer-actor morris
day is 66. actor steve Buscemi is
65. actor Johnny Whitaker (TV:
“Family affair”) is 63. rock mu-
sician John munson (semisonic;
Twilight hours) is 60. actor-re-
ality TV star nene leakes is 56.
actor-comedian Jamie Foxx is
55. actor lusia strus is 55. actor
Bart Johnson is 52. actor Jeffrey
Pierce is 51. TV personality deb-
bie matenopoulos is 48. rock
singer-musician Thomas delonge
is 47. actor James Kyson lee is 47.
actor Kimee Balmilero (TV: “ha-
waii Five-0”) is 43. actor chelsea
hertford is 41. rock singer amy
lee (evanescence) is 41. actor
michael socha is 35. actor marcel
spears (TV: “The mayor”) is 34.
singer Taylor swift is 33. actor
maisy stella is 19.
Seahawks
Continued from A5
It’s not really a mystery what they are, either.
The Seahawks can’t stop the run, and they can’t
run the ball, especially with their top three run-
ning backs injured. The Panthers, who came
in with a 4-8 record, rushed for 223 yards, fol-
lowing the game plan that also fueled losses to
Tampa Bay and Las Vegas.
The Seahawks, on the other hand, managed a
mere 46 rushing yards. It should be no surprise
which team on Sunday came across as the more
physical and able to impose its will. And re-
member, this was supposed to be the easy por-
tion of the Seahawks schedule, four winnable
games of which the only victory was a last-sec-
ond pull against a depleted Rams squad. Now
the Seahawks have fallen out of their playoff
spot with the division-leading 49ers looming in
four days, followed by the formidable Chiefs on
the road.
“Yeah, to be honest, those games you’re sup-
posed to win, you gotta win,” defensive lineman
Quinton Jefferson said. “Especially at home.
I’m not saying they’re a gimme team, but we’re
supposed to win this game. Come on now. Just
keeping it 100, and we’re making it a lot harder
on ourselves. Especially in December, you’re
supposed to be playing your best ball, getting
ready for the playoffs. That’s the ultimate goal,
getting into the party, and be playing good ball.
We gotta get this (expletive) together, because
we’re supposed to be playing better, not playing
regressive.”
With that backdrop, every mistake is exac-
erbated, such as the two interceptions thrown
by quarterback Geno Smith — one on the Se-
ahawks’ first offensive play of the game that
set them on a desperate, scrambling path from
which they never fully escaped. Smith, who has
bailed the Seahawks out of so many jams this
season, threw three touchdown passes (one
with under a minute to play) but was under
60% completions for the first time all season.
Twice in the second half the Seahawks had a
possession in which they could have taken the
lead after battling back from 17-0 down, but
both resulted in punts.
“I have a standard, and I don’t feel I played
up to that standard today,” Smith said.
When Smith came to the podium for his
postgame interview, he was wearing a pink
sweater upon which was printed the words, “Al-
Smith
Continued from A5
Can Smith top that? And
what does that even look like?
In a shrinking Pac-12, can
the Beavers annually contend
for a Pac-12 title? In a 12-team
playoff, will there one day be
room for the Beavers?
OSU fans need to know just
how big they should dream.
It’s hard to fathom con-
sidering where the program
has been, but I’m not putting
anything past Smith. Oregon
State ranked 14th in the final
CFP ranking, and they could,
if not should, have beaten No.
8 USC and No. 12 Washing-
ton.
They also could, if not
should, have lost at Stanford
and Fresno State.
Ascending to another level
is going to require a more ro-
bust NIL structure that allows
Smith to bring in even better
recruits — and retain break-
out stars.
There’s also nothing wrong
with Oregon State’s reality be-
ing a long string of winning
seasons.
This isn’t Oregon, where
the Ducks are licking their
wounds over the disappoint-
ment of a 9-3 season. The
Ducks’ trip to the Holiday
Bowl feels like a chore, a
contractual obligation after
dreams of a college football
playoff berth, and then the
Rose Bowl, were dashed.
caean couto/aP
Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard
(30) runs against Seattle Seahawks linebacker Cody
Barton (57) during the first half Sunday in Seattle.
tered reality.” The Seahawks have to make sure
that phrase doesn’t sum up their season after
their earlier surge of four consecutive victories
threatened to alter the reality that this was a re-
building season at best.
The Seahawks still have a path to the play-
offs, but most of all it will require a serious and
immediate solution to their porous rushing de-
fense, which allowed the Panthers to seize back
control of the game in the fourth quarter. The
Seahawks thought they had done just that ear-
lier this season, but that was before the Bucs ran
roughshod over them in Germany, and then
the Raiders, Rams and Panthers followed suit.
“We’ve got to fix it,” a visibly frustrated safety
Ryan Neal said. “You’ve seen what happened.
It’s been the same thing the past few weeks.
Teams see it, and they’re going to attack it.”
Asked whether the problem was scheme or
missed tackling, Neal replied, “It seems to be
a combination of all of it. And that’s never a
good thing. Things just keep popping out of
places where they shouldn’t be popping out.
And guys got to make the hits. Gotta get the
ball carrier on the ground. When it comes to
the back end of the season, it turns into, ‘All
right, we’re just going to out-physical you, and
if you’re not going to stop it we’re just going to
keep doing that.’
“You see it across the league with teams that
keep pounding the football, guys turning stuff
down, or missed fits are happening because
it’s late in the season. At the end of the day, we
have to fix this, and we’ve got to bring it, and
we know that, and everybody knows that. We
got a team coming in here Thursday who likes
to play like that, and we know that, so it’s got to
get fixed. Point blank, period.”
The No. 14 Beavers? The
Las Vegas Bowl is a capstone
to a triumphant year that feels
like a meaningful step for-
ward.
The program can notch its
first win over an SEC oppo-
nent. The Beavers are substan-
tial favorites over the team that
beat Pac-12 champion Utah in
its season opener, but consid-
ering all the player defections
in Gainesville, Florida, OSU is
getting plenty of Gator aid.
They should win.
Imagine saying that in Au-
gust about a team Vegas odd-
smakers placed on the bubble
of making any bowl game,
especially now that it is on its
second starting quarterback.
Smith was deservingly
named the Pac-12′s co-Coach
of the Year with Washington’s
Kalen DeBoer.
Look at what Smith and
offensive coordinator Brian
Lindgren pulled off with the
conference’s best offensive line
and a host of capable running
backs. Now try to picture what
they could have done with a
quarterback like Michael Pe-
nix Jr., the superstar transfer
DeBoer lured from Indiana.
That’s the next step for
Smith and Oregon State, who
must figure out how to be-
come players in the transfer
portal and with NIL.
J.T. Daniels’ interest in Or-
egon State — and his, um, re-
quests — have been well doc-
umented. He landed at West
Virginia instead and this year
is back in the transfer portal.
It’s free agency.
Smith has done more
with less than any coach in
the country. He’s done it the
old-fashioned way, by coach-
ing under-recruited players
into Pac-12 standouts.
It’s how Riley won at OSU,
too. It’s no coincidence that
Smith is building the program
similar to the way his former
coach found success.
But Riley is a good re-
minder that even the most
committed coaches can even-
tually look to take on new
challenges.
Nobody has deeper ties to
Oregon State than Smith, the
2001 Fiesta Bowl MVP. But
he grew up in Southern Cal-
ifornia. USC is believed to be
paying Lincoln Riley roughly
$10 million. In the NFL, head
coaches make roughly $7 mil-
lion on average.
If he keeps Oregon State on
the arc that has been estab-
lished in his first five years, it’s
a safe bet that those kinds of
offers will arrive.
A less committed coach
might have already cashed in.
The Beavers have the guy who
wants to stick around.
He’s already taken Ore-
gon State back to what others
might view as the program’s
ceiling.
If anybody can smash
through that barrier, it will be
Smith.