Good Tuesday morning.
This is going to be a bit on the short side because, for a host of reasons, not the least of which is I have discovered I have no longer able to drink an after-dinner espresso and still go straight to bed, I didn’t sleep terribly well last night.
It’s very fitting, then, for me to inform you that people in Finland are celebrating National Sleepy Head Day.
The way this day is observed, however, is not terribly kind…apparently the last person still sleeping in a household is rudely awoken by getting a bucket of water poured over their head, or – worse yet – thrown into the nearest body of water.
I’m not making this up, OK? In Finland, the day is called Unikeonpäivä, and it stems from the legend of the Saints of Ephesus.
In the city of Naantali, a Finnish celebrity is chosen every year to be thrown into the sea at 7 a.m. This unfortunate individual’s identity is kept secret until the last minute before they are ceremoniously dunked. He/she/they is wrapped in a bed sheet and then carried to the harbor on a stretcher.
Of course, early risers like myself would not be in any danger on this day in Finland. Maybe I should consider relocating.
On a totally different note, today is also National Scotch Day. I happened to be a huge fan of Scotch before I gave up drinking. But it did make me sleepy if I drank too much of it. I also associated Scotch with a colder weather. I was more of a gin and tonic fan for the warmer months.
Speaking of which, it’s going to be pretty summery again today, with temperatures in the mid-80s and partly cloudy skies. It wouldn’t be summer 2020 if there wasn’t a threat of a stray shower or thunderstorm, so make sure you keep that emergency umbrella handy.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden agreed to formally conclude the U.S. combat mission in Iraq by the end of the year, another step toward winding down the two prolonged military engagements that began in the years following the September 11 terror attacks.
Speaking to reporters during an Oval Office session with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Biden said his administration remained committed to a partnership with Iraq — a relationship that has been complicated by Iranian-backed Iraqi militia groups.
Biden called a NBC News reporter a “pain in the neck” for flouting his request for questions only about the U.S. ending its combat mission in Iraq.
Biden is making his first visit to an agency of the U.S. intelligence community today, looking to emphasize his confidence in national security leaders after his predecessor’s incendiary battles against what he often derided as the “deep state.”
The Biden administration announced late yesterday that it would begin swiftly removing migrant families that immigration officials determined did not qualify for asylum after an initial screening at the southwestern border.
A push to complete a $1 trillion infrastructure deal hit a series of hurdles, as aides squabbled over funding for water infrastructure and how to apply a requirement that federal contractors pay employees a locally prevailing wage, among other issues.
Sen. Joe Manchin put his Democratic colleagues on notice last night, predicting they would not be able to pass a massive $3.5 trillion spending plan if attempts to piece together a bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure fail.
More than a month after the terrifying collapse of a condominium tower in Surfside, Fla., the last victim’s remains were identified, bringing the final death toll to 98 and capping a tedious, painstaking effort to account for every resident who had been killed.
The House’s select committee probing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by supporters of former President Trump won’t hesitate to subpoena members of Congress or Trump and will try to enforce the subpoenas in court if necessary, said the panel’s chairman.
Barbara Boxer, 80, a former U.S. senator, announced on her official Twitter account that she had been assaulted and robbed but was not seriously hurt.
The mayor of the Florida county that’s home to Disney World and Universal Studios is sounding the alarm over a spike of Covid-19 cases in the area, saying the county is now in “crisis mode” as it grapples with its worsening infection rate.
The United States will not lift foreign travel restrictions due to concerns over the rise in the more contagious Covid-19 delta variant cases, according to a White House official.
The U.S. could see about four times the current rate of Covid-19 cases in the next four to six weeks as the Delta variant spreads and the population hits a wall on vaccinations, the former CDC director said.
Nearly a year and a half into the pandemic, researchers are still struggling to find effective, easy-to-use drugs to treat Covid-19.
Americans suffering from “long Covid” — a term referring to new or ongoing health problems from a coronavirus infection that occurred weeks or months ago — will have access to the benefits and protection provided under federal disability law, Biden said.
New York City, the Department of Veteran Affairs and the state of California announced plans to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for many of their employees, a shift in how the country is seemingly dealing with vaccine hesitancy.
The actions by Gov. Gavin Newsom in California and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio reflected growing concern among many government officials that vaccine skepticism and the spread of the more contagious Delta variant could lead to a new wave of the pandemic.
All New York City municipal workers — including cops, firefighters and teachers — will have to get vaccinated or submit to weekly coronavirus tests under a new mandate de Blasio unveiled.
NYC’s top health official accused Facebook and Twitter of stifling local vaccination efforts by facilitating “dangerous” coronavirus misinformation on their platforms at a time when COVID-19 infections are back on the rise in New York.
The F.D.A. wants Pfizer and Moderna to increase the number of 5- to 11-year-olds who participate in trials of their coronavirus vaccines to ensure there is enough data about rare side effects.
Some Americans say they are finding ways to get additional doses of the Covid vaccines, with some even going as far as receiving the extra shots from different companies.
Frustrated by the prospect of a new surge, many Americans are blaming the unvaccinated. A tougher stance may backfire, some experts warn.
The city of Provincetown, Mass., has reissued its indoor mask mandate after a surge in COVID-19 cases hit the beach community after the Fourth of July.
In many cases, the decision to return to the office pits older managers who view working in the office as the natural order of things against younger employees who’ve come to see operating remotely as completely normal in the 16 months since the pandemic hit.
Tensions are boiling over as an embattled Gov. Andrew Cuomo openly questioned the integrity of investigators running state Attorney General Letitia James’ probe into sexual harassment allegations against him.
“Look at who the independent investigators are,” Cuomo said, referring to the outside attorneys James hired for the probe. “Do a little history, go to Google…and tell me what you see.”
Cuomo sought to claim victory following a controversial Justice Department decision to not investigate a state order that forced nursing homes to accept coronavirus patients — which critics blame for killing helpless residents.
The governor, who said New York is “not even near the top” in terms of the number of nursing home deaths as a percentage of the state’s population, charged the Trump era investigation was “politically motivated,” “outrageous” and “mean.”
“Four Democratic states, four Democratic governors and they were going to investigate us for causing deaths in nursing homes,” Cuomo said. “The political environment has gotten so toxic, so mean, it was an outrageous allegation.”
During a Yankee Stadium news conference at which he outlined plans to boost vaccination rates in various communities, Cuomo insisted that he has never lied to New Yorkers on the subject of the coronavirus.
New cases of Covid-19 are rising rapidly in New York, but it’s no longer up to the state to decide how to respond, Cuomo said.
The governor said there were 1,982 positive cases Sunday, up from 346 last month on June 26. He blamed the increased spread on the Delta variant.
The governor announced $15 million toward a targeted vaccination campaign to try to slow the spread of the delta variant of COVID-19 and vaccinate the remaining 3.5 million eligible New Yorkers.
COVID cases in New York, still relatively small compared to last winter, are heading in the wrong direction as health officials raise growing concerns that coronavirus is far from being eradicated.
New York City resumed transferring thousands of homeless people from pandemic hotel rooms back to barracks-style group shelters, two weeks after a judge halted the moves on the grounds that the city was not giving adequate consideration to health.
Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa labeled his Democratic opponent, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, “de Blasio 2.0” for praising the current mayor’s homeless services commissioner.
Parents and political leaders ripped de Blasio’s coronavirus school regulations — both for its lack of a remote option this fall and a requirement that students wear masks.
The Manhattan Marriage Bureau has reopened for business.
The positive COVID-19 cases emerging from a Copake summer camp in Columbia County climbed from 23 to 31 last week, but that number has held steady. Currently there are no other positive cases to report.
Cuomo is overhauling the state’s problem-plagued COVID rental assistance program, a day after the Daily News highlighted issues facing financially strapped renters and landlords alike.
The governor’s decision also came one day after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed the Cuomo administration for slow-rolling payments to individuals at risk of evictions.
Schumer said over the weekend that the state was in danger of losing $2.4 billion in federal aid due to delays by the Cuomo administration in getting out the rent relief.
Schumer paid a visit last week not only to GlobalFoundries’ Fab 8 factory as he seeks swift passage of his $52 billion U.S. Innovation and Competition Act that will subsidize the construction of new U.S. computer chip factories.
In a letter to a federal judge seeking leniency for her daughter, former NXIVM president Nancy Salzman said she failed to shield Lauren Salzman from Keith Raniere — a man she now describes as a “sexual predator, a narcissist and likely a psychopath.”
After eight years of struggling with the challenges of building that has been hosting guests for food and drink since the 1840s, Matt and Stephanie Finnigan have closed Carney’s Tavern in Ballston Lake.
The Capital Region in June boasted one of the lowest unemployment rates among New York’s 14 metropolitan areas, according to the state Department of Labor.
Since torrential rains hit the town of Nassau, sediments from the Dewey Loeffel Landfill Superfund site have poured into the Little Thunder Brook and into the Valatie Kill, raising worries about the spread of toxic wastes from the industrial dumping ground.
Set your alarm because starting tomorrow at noon, Live Nation will launch its Return to Live: $20 All-In Tickets sale featuring tickets to dozens of concerts for just $20.
The Capital Concert Series returns for its 2021 season at the Empire State Plaza, offering four free concerts ranging from R&B and locally sourced rock to classic reggae
Ten service areas along the New York State Thruway will close Thursday — the first step in a $450 million project to reconstruct or upgrade the rest stops.
Naomi Osaka, the Japanese superstar who lit the caldron during the Olympic opening ceremony, was eliminated in the third round of the women’s singles tennis tournament in straight sets.
The American men have lost a backstroke race at the Olympic pool for the first time 1992.
As expected, an American woman was edging ahead in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke, but not Lilly King, the defending Olympic champion and world-record holder, who was bested by Lydia Jacoby, a 17-year-old Alaskan.
Celina Baez Sotomayor, mother of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, has died of complications from cancer. She was 94.
Britney Spears’s new lawyer moved to have her father removed from the helm of her 13-year-old conservatorship, calling the arrangement toxic.
The pop star and her new lawyer blasted her dad in a critical and long-awaited filing seen as a precursor to the court actually ruling on her request to fire Jamie Spears from his role managing her $60 million fortune.
