Good Thursday morning, CivMixers. So far, I’ve got the date right, so I’m doing great.
It’s International Day of Persons With Disabilities, which I’ve also seen referenced simply as “Disability Day.” The purpose is pretty straightforward, which is to raise awareness about the situation of people with disabilities in regards to their political, social, economic, and cultural life and also to improve their overall wellbeing and promote their rights.
The theme for this year is : “Not All Disabilities Are Visible,” which focuses on those challenges that are not readily apparent, like mental illness, chronic pain or fatigue, sight or hearing impairments, diabetes, brain injuries, neurological disorders, learning differences and cognitive dysfunctions…and more.
According to the WHO World Report on Disability, 15 per cent of the world’s population – more than 1 billion people – are living with disability. It’s estimated 450 million have a mental or neurological condition, and two-thirds will not seek professional medical help, as a result of stigma, discrimination and neglect.
Another 69 million individuals are estimated to sustain Traumatic Brain Injuries annually worldwide, while one in 160 children are identified as on the autism spectrum.
The COVID crisis has significantly impacted those who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, as the economic fallout has resulted in a lack of services and programs and there has been limited access to in-person schooling and therapies necessary for them to succeed.
This population is not necessarily more vulnerable to getting infected with COVID-19, but that’s a highly qualified statement, as those who have limited mobility and therefore can’t socially distance themselves from others easily, or those who cannot communicate their symptoms, should they have them, are certainly more at risk.
This also happens to be the anniversary of the first human heart transplant in history. On this day in 1967, Louis Washkansky, a 53-year-old South African grocer dying from chronic heart disease, received the heart of Denise Darvall, a 25-year-old woman who was fatally injured in a car accident.
Washkansky was given drugs to suppress his immune system and keep his body from rejecting his new heart, but this also left him susceptible to sickness. He died 18 days after his surgery after contracting double pneumonia, but doctors were encouraged because his new heart had functioned normally until his death.
Better anti-rejection drugs have since been developed and many successful heart surgeries later, recipients are still going strong. The challenge now is finding donors.
As of this past September, more than 109,000 people across the U.S. were on the national transplant waiting list for a donated organ (all organs this is, not just hearts; it turns out that kidneys are the highest on the most-wanted list), and 17 people die every day while this wait occurs.
It’s estimated that a single donor can save eight lives, and though 90 percent of adults in this country claim to support organ donation, only 60 percent of them sign up to participate in the program themselves. If signing up is something that interests you, but you’ve never gotten around to doing it, click here.
Rocker Ozzy Osbourne, formerly of Black Sabbath fame, is turning 72 today. Because even Rock ‘n Roll can’t save you from aging.
We’re in for a lovely sunny day with temperatures in the mid-40s.
In the headlines…
The Centers for Disease Control head warned that this winter may be the “most difficult time” in U.S. public health history.
At least 2,658 people died from COVID-19 in the U.S. yesterday, making it the deadliest date for Americans since the pandemic started.
The nation’s largest, longest surge of Covid-19 hospitalizations set another record, as the number of coronavirus patients in U.S. hospitals surpassed 100,000.
Britain’s first-in-the-West authorization of a Covid-19 vaccine thrusts its little-known medicines watchdog into the global spotlight—weeks before the U.K.’s split from the European Union adds to the regulator’s responsibilities. More here.
Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are volunteering to get their Covid-19 vaccines on camera to promote public confidence in the vaccine’s safety once the US Food and Drug Administration authorizes one.
Former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing has died at the age of 94 after contracting the coronavirus.
Wesley Moribe and Courtney Peterson, both 46, of Wailua, Hawaii, reportedly boarded a United flight on Nov. 29 – with their 4-year-old-son in tow – despite having tested positive for COVID-19. They were subsequently arrested.
Recent reports show cyberattacks have surged since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cybercriminals target the average household 104 times per month, according to Comcast.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer threw their weight behind a coronavirus stimulus package with a price-tag of less than $1 trillion — a major concession meant to put pressure on Republican leaders to come to the negotiating table as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the U.S. economy.
Senate Majority Whip John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said Democratic leaders’ call to center negotiations around the bipartisan proposal was a move in the right direction. “They’ve gotten reasonable and I think that could help us get to a solution,” he said.
Ivanka Trump, the President’s daughter and adviser, sat for a deposition this week with investigators from the Washington, DC, attorney general’s office as part of its lawsuit alleging the misuse of inaugural funds, according to a court filing.
Trump himself released a lengthy, falsehood-filled video in which he expressed worry about the various fraud investigations that await him in New York once he leaves office.
Trump ranted for 46 minutes about voter fraud in a prerecorded speech he posted on Facebook, making unsubstantiated claims about the election being stolen from him and wrongly claiming that he triumphed in key battleground states he lost.
Congress is moving forward on a must-pass defense policy bill without repealing a legal shield for social media companies, rejecting a last-minute veto threat from Trump.
Trump continued to try and litigate his way out of his loss in the 2020 presidential contest with a new federal lawsuit filed in Wisconsin, the latest in a blizzard of suits around the country that have so far met with a resounding string of defeats.
A lawsuit filed yesterday alleges that almost 200,000 Georgia voters were wrongly removed from the voter registration list ahead of the election.
President-elect Joe Biden will not immediately remove the Trump administration’s tariffs on Chinese exports.
A number of New Yorkers are either joining the Biden administration or are under consideration to possibly do so.
The Justice Department’s push to carry out executions during the run-up to Biden’s inauguration — including scheduling three during the week before he takes office — has drawn sharp condemnation.
A couple of House Democrats – including Long Island Rep. Kathleen Rice – formally called on a Washington court to strip a Trump campaign attorney of his right to practice law amid mounting outrage over the controversial lawyer’s death threat against a former U.S. election security official.
After a multi-month battle in court, the U.S. Small Business Administration has released more data on the recipients of millions of pandemic relief loans y, revealing the loan amounts, names and addresses of businesses that received PPP loans.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy strongly discouraged residents from traveling out of state for nonessential reasons as Covid-19 cases continued to mount in the region.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo says New York expects to receive its first 170,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines by mid-December, but warned that the pandemic will continue to spread more death, illness and hardship into next year.
The first batch of doses from Pfizer, once federally-approved and vetted by the state, will be doled out to nursing homes for residents and staff starting on Dec. 15, the governor said.
The initial number of doses won’t be sufficient to fully inoculate the 85,000 nursing-home residents and 130,000 facility staff in the state, officials said. However, the governor said he expects some individuals will decline to take the vaccine.
“My goal for this state is fastest vaccination for the United States,” Cuomo said at a press conference. “I will do whatever I have to do, and drive it around the state myself.”
The governor, still casting doubt on the willingness of people to get the vaccine, especially in minority communities, said that experts say the “normal economy” will return when between 75 and 85 percent of the population is vaccinated.
Despite Cuomo’s claims to the contrary, New York reportedly has more than $7.5 million in federal funds (perhaps even more than $14 million) available for state vaccine distribution preparations, but hasn’t touched a cent.
Cuomo announced the release of a new PSA that highlights the dangers of COVID-19 “living room spread.”
More crimes are going unsolved in New York City amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to New York Police Department data.
There is increasing evidence that schools might not be the source of community spread of COVID-19. Some of the state’s first in-school testing programs offer positive signs.
The co-owner of a Staten Island bar arrested for running his pub without a license and in defiance of COVID-19 restrictions was released with a series of tickets, officials said.
Hundreds of protesters – including members of the right-wing group Proud Boys – last night jammed shoulder-to-shoulder, with nearly half ignoring face mask guidelines, outside the popular Staten Island bar that got shut down for defying the state’s coronavirus rules.
Staten Island GOP state Sen. Andrew Lanza was manhandled by sheriffs when he tried to offer pro bono legal help to a defiant bar that’s refusing to obey COVID-19 restrictions.
In New York City, Staten Island has been one of the centers of rebellion, even as authorities began constructing an emergency field hospital because of a soaring coronavirus infection rate in the borough.
A study published by New York University researchers ought to give New Yorkers more faith the subway is safe from the spread of COVID-19.
Even as Manhattan stations remain eerily empty, a surge of commuters in other boroughs has pushed overall subway ridership to 30 percent of normal levels.
A New York University professor sued fellow faculty members for libel this week after they complained to administrators about his encouraging students to question whether masks actually prevent COVID-19 from spreading.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has tantalized city parents with visions of a return to full-time schooling — but admitted that he doesn’t know when kids will be back in class five days a week.
A New Jersey man who was briefly held at John F. Kennedy Airport for refusing to fill out a New York state COVID-19 questionnaire is suing Cuomo for “trespassing” on federal border laws.
Evidence filed in Manhattan Federal Court last week shows that as early as March 2016 de Blasio was communicating with top advisors regarding Ricardo Morales, a former city official now suing the mayor and the city over being fired.
Republicans managed to oust a freshman Democrat state senator on Long Island, a rare win for the conference as Dems prepare to enter 2021 with a supermajority in the Legislature. Sen. Monica Martinez conceded to GOP challenger Alexis Weik.
A Democratic Assemblyman from the Bronx, Jose Rivera, could be booted from the chamber’s Democratic conference after leaking a video of a private conference meeting to a political commentator.
“StickyGate” is just one of the reasons for the uproar over the extraordinarily close race between Claudia Tenney, a Republican, and Democratic Rep. Anthony Brindisi.
Mary Trump, the president’s niece, has written a tell-all book. Now she’s holding an online event for Maya Wiley, the former MSNBC analyst who’s running for mayor of New York City.
Newly announced Democratic mayoral candidate Ray McGuire has a history of failing to vote in elections, including for the City Hall office he’s seeking, election records reveal.
Six Long Islanders raked in $750,000 from more than 100 Turkish women eager to have their babies in the U.S. and thus automatically be conferred the privileges of citizenship, federal prosecutors said.
Four Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute faculty members and a student were among the 51 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported Wednesday by the Rensselaer County Health Department.
Following the lead of its iconic mascot lions Patience and Fortitude, the New York Public Library is ending a difficult year with an inspiring Roar for NYC campaign that features a reading recommendation list of 125 books for adults, kids, and teens.
The governor this week vetoed a bill that would have corrected a $63,000 series of errors the New York State Teachers Retirement System made in calculating the 76-year-old Otsego County resident’s pension.
Capital Carshare, which served as a not-for-profit alternative to car-sharing services like Zipcar, is closing down at the end of the month due to skyrocketing insurance rates.
Albany County officials are launching a pilot program to have social workers and Sheriff’s EMS workers respond to mental health, addiction and other non-violent 911 calls.
A campaign to push the public to get involved with the town’s comprehensive plan update has kicked off in Bethlehem – and it could come with a year-long ban on residential developments.
Convenience chain 7-Eleven has arrived in the Capital Region with the acquisition of Speedway shops and, apparently, an earlier purchase of 1,030 Sunoco gas stations.
Bowtie Cinemas in Schenectady plans to reopen Dec. 18.
The Scotia Special Events Committee’s Holiday on the Avenue, the village’s annual kickoff to the holiday season, will go on Sunday, Dec. 6, with accommodations forced by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Manhattan US attorney’s office has sued the town of Airmont for anti-Semitism for the third time in as many decades — arguing the town’s zoning laws are engineered to stop Orthodox Jewish residents from conducting religious services in their homes or establishing private schools.
Robert Lunsford, a “fireball report coordinator” with the American Meteor Society said a meteor blew up over Syracuse, creating the big boom and an impressive light show.
Residents across Central New York called 911 beginning at around noon to report hearing — and feeling — the large boom.
The boom isn’t the only evidence a meteor made its way to earth: Witnesses from Canada, New York and Maryland have reported seeing a fireball in the sky.
