Good Tuesday morning (I had to check myself on that one). Welcome to the first week of June.
Though it was difficult to tell this past holiday weekend, there are just about 19 days left until summer officially starts. This was the unofficial start of the season, yet a lot of us (as least as far as I could tell by an unscientific perusal of social media) seemed to spend it bundled up by a roaring fire, drinking various warming beverages.
I, of course, contrarian that I am, spent at least part of it running the wettest marathon of my life. But I digress.
For those of us who may have started out 2021 with the best intentions, made resolutions to that effect and have perhaps fallen off the wagon, today is a day to recommit ourselves to those bygone pledges to do better. It’s New Year’s Resolution Recommitment Day, officially speaking.
In case you were curious, there’s a science to this.
Of those who make a New Year’s resolution, after 1 week, 75 percent are still successful in keeping it. After two weeks, the number drops to 71 percent. After 1 month, the number drops again to 64 percent. And after 6 months, it stands at 46 percent – so less than half of us are still on the proverbial wagon.
The biggest problem? Setting unrealistic goals. So, what’s the takeaway here? Start small. Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that.
Today is also National Heimlich Maneuver Day, which recognizes the life-saving technique of using abdominal thrusts to force air from the lungs to expel an object on which someone is choking.
Dr. Henry J. Heimlich created this procedure in 1974. Heimlich was an American thoracic surgeon and medical researcher with New York roots. He was raised in New Rochelle, where he graduated from high school, went on to attend Cornell University and then Weill Cornell Medical College.
Heimlich apparently always intended his maneuver to be practiced by members of the public at large, rather than exclusively by health professionals. He wanted to publish his findings as soon as possible, and found a willing editor at Emergency Medicine.
But the catch was that he had never actually managed to find a choking person on which to perform the practice to prove it worked.
After the article was published and subsequently picked up by the non-medial mainstream press, he reportedly got the proof he needed, as people around the nation put into practice what they had read.
According to the National Safety Council, more than 5,000 people died from choking in 2015. (That number has been more or less consistent for a number of years). Since certified instructors teach the Heimlich Procedure, the American Red Cross and other organizations include the training as part of their first aid and CPR courses.
Today we’re in for clouds and temperatures in the mid-70s. Next weekend – just four days away! – is looking glorious, with sun and temperatures soaring up to near 90.
In the headlines…
Russia said it would send what it described as “uncomfortable” signals to the United States ahead of a summit between the two countries’ leaders next month and announced it was beefing up its western border militarily.
President Joe Biden will visit Tulsa, Oklahoma, today to commemorate one of the bloodiest race massacres in U.S. history.
Biden issued a proclamation to remember the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, calling on Americans to work to eradicate systemic racism and pledging to further racial justice.
Biden commemorated those who died serving in the military in Memorial Day remarks at Arlington National Cemetery and urged Americans to honor the fallen by strengthening and protecting the nation’s democracy.
“Democracy itself is at peril, here at home and around the world,” Biden warned. “How we honor the memory of the fallen will determine whether or not democracy will long endure.”
The president was joined by first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff in a somber ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, dedicated to deceased service members whose remains haven’t been identified.
The first and second couples then had dinner together at a D.C. restaurant.
A 46-page draft blueprint obtained by The New York Times maps out the Biden administration’s plans to significantly expand the legal immigration system, including methodically reversing the efforts to dismantle it by former President Donald Trump.
More than 11 million Americans are behind on their rent and many could be pushed from their homes when the national eviction ban expires this month.
A restrictive voting bill on the verge of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk failed to pass Sunday night after Democrats walked out of the House chamber before a midnight deadline.
After killing a Republican-sponsored bill to restrict voting in the state, Democrats vowed to oppose any efforts to revive it. Republicans pledged to pass it in a special legislative session.
Police in South Florida hunted for suspects yesterday after two people were killed and 21 were injured in a shooting outside a banquet hall in what authorities called an act of domestic terrorism.
With half the country at least partially protected against the coronavirus, Americans escaped their pandemic doldrums over the three-day holiday weekend that traditionally unleashes the country’s pent-up wanderlust at the doorstep of summer.
In New York City, museums broke attendance records, movie theaters sold out and jazz fans packed clubs on a Memorial Day weekend that felt far removed from the prior year’s pandemic traumas.
Families losing a loved one to the coronavirus now describe a surreal, lonely kind of grief, as the threat from the pandemic lessens in the United States.
In Thailand and around the world, dogs are being trained to sniff out the coronavirus in people. So far, the results have been impressive.
Peru said that its Covid-19 death toll is almost three times as high as it had officially counted , making it one of the hardest-hit nations during the pandemic relative to its population.
The latest Covid-19 outbreak in Taiwan is a lesson that a containment strategy aiming for zero local transmission may not be sustainable in the long term, a public health professor said.
The World Health Organization has created a new system to name COVID-19 variants, getting away from place-based names that can be hard to pronounce, difficult to remember, and stigmatize a specific country.
The starting pistol has been fired on a “relaxing” summer holiday season for people living in the EU from 1 July, as Brussels proposed lifting all quarantine obligations on those who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
The owner of a Nashville hat store is being accused of anti-Semitism after announcing the sale of yellow Star of David badges, similar to the ones Nazis forced Jews to wear during the Holocaust, that read “NOT VACCINATED.”
New York state hit a new COVID-19 low yesterday, with just 0.67% of coronavirus tests yielding positive results in the past week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced.
New York State’s Excelsior Pass, which was introduced in March, is the first and only government-issued vaccine passport in the country, accessible, for now, only to people who have been vaccinated in the state.
Bars and restaurants no longer have to close at midnight across New York state, as its coronavirus curfew for indoor dining ended yesterday, as did the 1 a.m. curfew for catered events.
Kathryn Garcia, the former sanitation commissioner, continues to gain momentum in the New York City mayor’s race, and even some negative attention from a rival who once lavished praise on her.
Less than one month before the Democratic primary that will almost certainly determine the city’s next mayor, the battle for Latino voters and endorsers is accelerating.
Andrew Yang believes he can transform New York City politics after momentum from his presidential run pushed him to the top of the polls in the mayor’s race, despite his lack of experience.
Mayoral hopeful Maya Wiley has packaged herself as a progressive force for police reform. But her record at the CCRB reveals she often took what some view as a middle path. Some police reform advocates argue she squandered her time there.
Because of the downpour this past holiday weekend, candidates for New York City mayor pressed their cases to voters at churches and bars, instead of in parks and on street corners.
The debate over the future of policing is taking place daily in New York, as a bevy of Democrats jockey for the party’s nomination ahead of the June 22 primary that will likely decide who becomes mayor.
Shaun Donovan remains anchored among the second tier of mayoral contenders, despite the support from a super PAC — funded almost exclusively by his father — that has spent $5.5 million so far, much of it on ads trumpeting Donovan’s accomplishments.
Donovan says he would be the “climate mayor” if elected, but his father owns three homes, a gas-guzzling private jet, and once destroyed wetlands in front of his $18 million Bridgehampton estate.
Mayoral hopefuls Comptroller Scott Stringer and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams renewed their promises to reverse rise in hate crimes in the city.
Adams was the only City Hall aspirant to issue a statement decrying several violent incidents over the Memorial Day weekend, including two subway slashings, a fatal stabbing on the Lower East Side, and drug-fueled mayhem in Washington Square Park.
A highly organized crew of squeegee men marked the unofficial start of summer by aggressively wiping down windshields just blocks from Times Square — using buckets of water from the nearby Port Authority bathroom.
Federal agents and the New York Police Department are fighting a rise in anti-Semitic hate crimes by launching new investigations and increasing community outreach and patrols in affected neighborhoods.
After four years of stalling by the Trump administration, officials in Washington approved $11.6 billion in for federal funding for the long-awaited Gateway project, which will connect New York City and New Jersey by a second set of railway tunnels.
The governor announced last week that a long-delayed, $11 billion project to bring Long Island Rail Road trains into Manhattan’s East Side is almost complete.
Cuomo and MTA leaders deserve a Memorial Day “Hall of Shame” award after failing to approve discounted transit fares for New York’s veterans, a World War II veteran said.
While LaGuardia High School students crammed last week for Advanced Placement exams, school administrators faced a high-stakes test of their own: selling wary parents on a plan to cut down on AP courses at the famed arts school.
A measure slated to pass the state Assembly this week would guard immigrants against the threat of deportation from employers, landlords or abusive partners who attempt to coerce or extort them.
Continuing a trend of the state expanding the number of people allowed to carry epinephrine injectors, both the Senate and Assembly passed a bill last week to give forest rangers, park rangers and park police officers the ability to carry the lifesaving drug.
New York state has picked a former Seneca Lake naval training station as the spot for its first veterans cemetery.
The New York City Health Department recently warned doctors about the potential dangers of youths smoking weed and other substances — less than two months after the state green-lit recreational marijuana for adults 21 and up.
Warwick aims to turn what was a medium-security complex in Orange County into a bustling regional hub for growing and processing cannabis.
As Nauman Hussain awaits his next court appearance in the Schoharie limousine crash case, two of his rental properties are facing foreclosure by one of his lenders.
As police revealed the identity of the latest victim of an explosion of deadly gun violence in the city, Mayor Kathy Sheehan said she had “complete confidence” in Police Chief Eric Hawkins’ ability to lead the response.
Sunday morning the city saw its 6th homicide this month. That makes nine for the year so far.
After an early departure from the 2020 field, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand wants to run for president again, but not in 2024, she said.
Gillibrand said that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer should bring her bill that would overhaul military sexual assault policies for a vote.
The weeklong confrontation between Naomi Osaka, the second-ranked woman in tennis, and leaders of the sport’s four Grand Slam tournaments turned bitter yesterday when Osaka withdrew from the French Open, citing concerns for her mental health.
A massive asteroid is expected to whiz by Earth in a relatively close encounter – 4.5 million miles – today, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
