Good morning, it’s Wednesday, and after an unexpected extension of my holiday weekend – so unsettling that I apparently thought yesterday was June and not July – I am back.
I’m just in time for Global (or National, if you prefer) Forgiveness Day! Hopefully, you will forgive my transgression of not being back with you yesterday morning. Because studies show that people who are able to forgive live healthier and happier lives. Holding on to resentments only hurts you and not the object of your upset.
Studies have found that the act of forgiveness can lover the risk of heart attack; improve cholesterol levels and sleep; and reduce pain, blood pressure, and levels of anxiety, depression and stress. Research also points to an increase in the forgiveness-health connection as you age.
Chronic anger puts you into a fight-or-flight mode, which results in numerous changes in heart rate, blood pressure and immune response, increasing your risk of depression, heart disease and diabetes, among other conditions. Forgiveness, by contrast, calms stress levels.
You’re probably aware, but it bears repeating: it’s NOT enough to simply say the words “I forgive you.” You’ve got to really FEEL that forgiveness and let go of the negativity behind it, regardless of whether you believe, deep down, that the person whom you’re forgiving actually deserves to be forgiven.
In short, if you don’t really mean it, you don’t reap the benefits of letting go of your upset. Also, forgiveness is something you can practice and get better at. It’s a learned skill. Some people re naturally more forgiving than others.
Yours truly, by the way, is not one of those people. I let things linger and chew over them for days. Not good.
Psychologists broadly define forgiveness as a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or vengeance toward a person or group who has harmed you – regardless of whether they actually deserve it. Forgiveness, by the way, doesn’t mean you have to forget or condone people who have transgressed against you, or excuse their behavior.
And if you absolutely aren’t ready to forgive, there’s always chocolate to make yourself feel better. Researchers have found that cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate, causes the brain to release endorphins. So, there’s actually a scientific reason to indulge.
Happy Birthday Ringo Starr!
There’s more rain in the forecast. It will be cloudy this morning, with the chance of thunderstorms later in the day that may contain strong, gusty winds. The temperature will be in the low 80s, but the humidity will hover in the high 70s, which will make things feel downright muggy.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden said that damage to U.S. businesses in the biggest ransomware attack on record appears minimal, though information remained incomplete.
The company whose software was exploited said fewer than 1,500 businesses worldwide appeared compromised but cybersecurity experts caution that the incident isn’t over.
Hackers last week infiltrated a Florida-based information technology firm and deployed a ransomware attack, seizing troves of data and demanding $70m in payment for its return.
Russian cybercriminals’ latest massive ransomware attack is placing new pressure on Biden to follow through on his promise to make Moscow pay for turning a blind eye to digital assaults emanating from within its borders.
Biden announced that his administration would step up efforts to get Americans vaccinated against COVID-19 with a new program that would go “door to door, literally knocking on doors,” urging people to get the shots.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo also announced a plan for New Yorkers who are unable to travel to vaccination sites to receive their vaccine from the comfort of their own home.
Biden encouraged Americans who have not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19 to get their shots to protect themselves from the widely-spreading, highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that by the end of the week, nearly 160 million people in the United States will be fully vaccinated.
The CDC says the delta variant is now the dominant strain in the U.S., accounting for nearly 52% of new infections.
With medical data and polls showing Republicans and citizens of conservative states less likely to get vaccinated, Biden must find new ways to win over an audience that is predisposed not to listen to him as fears deepen of vicious regional hotspots of disease.
The U.S. has more than 33.7 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 605,800 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
“Fully vaccinated Americans have a high degree of protection, including against this delta variant,” Biden said at a news briefing, pointing out that virtually all Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths in recent months have been among the unvaccinated.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has added another COVID strain to its list of coronavirus variants to keep an eye on: the COVID-19 Lambda variant.
The lambda mutation, or C.37, appears to have emerged in Peru last August — and is being blamed for the country having the highest pandemic death rate in the world.
Data from Israel suggest Pfizer Inc.’s vaccine is less effective at protecting against infections caused by the Delta variant of Covid-19 but retains its potency to prevent severe illness from the highly contagious strain.
Chipotle has announced it will give free burritos and other entrees to customers who have been vaccinated in the latest instance of a company trying to help boost the U.S. vaccination rate.
There is a growing divide on Wall Street: firms calling employees back and firms telling people they can work from home.
Democrats have a chance to pass Biden’s sweeping infrastructure, tax, climate and social policy measures that would transform American life — but doing so requires them pulling off an incredibly difficult legislative high-wire act over the next few weeks.
The House Problem Solvers Caucus announced its support for an infrastructure deal crafted by a bipartisan group of senators, giving a boost to a package that Biden is promoting and signaling that it could attract some Republican support in the House.
Supermarkets are stocking up on everything from sugar to frozen meat before they get more pricey, girding for what some executives anticipate will be some of the highest price increases in recent memory.
Gas prices are climbing and are expected to rise all summer, according to the American Automobile Association.
The Department of Justice says it has charged over 535 defendants six months after the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol.
A Journal study of thousands of prices at hundreds of hospitals revealed that many charge top prices to patients who must pay cash out of pocket, compared with the prices the hospitals have negotiated with insurance companies.
Search teams found four more bodies at the Champlain Towers South site, bringing the total number of confirmed dead to 36, with as many as 109 people unaccounted for, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is calling for the U.S. to unilaterally open Canadian border.
A new study from the UAlbany found structural racism is to blame for the unequal toll the coronavirus pandemic has taken on New York’s communities of color and implores policymakers to act to prevent more harm to these communities going forward.
Cuomo declared gun violence a statewide “disaster emergency” as part of a wide-ranging plan aimed at cracking down on illegal guns and gangs amid a troubling surge in shootings across New York.
Cuomo’s state disaster declaration describes gun violence as a public health crisis, and made several comparisons to the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting public health response.
The governor said he’ll sign legislation that allows for civil lawsuits against gun manufacturers, distributors and dealers for how they market and sell firearms, closing a “Trump-backed federal loophole” that let people with active warrants to purchase guns.
A bill awaiting Cuomo’s signature would require a judge to consider the “best interest” of a pet before awarding custody to either side in a contentious marital split.
Apparently in response to Cuomo’s massive Covid book deal, Sen. Liz Krueger has introduced a measure that would limit the outside income of state elected officials.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin wants to “save New York” from “King Cuomo” through fiscal responsibility, a tough-on-crime approach and a reimagined formula for funding the state’s public schools.
Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo, the governor’s daughter, says she’s “demisexual,” which she says means she can only have a sexual attraction to a person if it also comes with an emotional bond.
Thousands of city frontline workers — including paramedics and emergency medical technicians — plan to boycott Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Hometown Heroes ticker tape parade today.
The closing ceremonies for the parade will be cancelled due to high temperatures. (The city is under a heat advisory).
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, a former police officer who made public safety the centerpiece of his campaign, won New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, according to election results released yesterday.
Adams, who rose from poverty to become an iconoclastic police captain and the borough president of Brooklyn, declared victory in the Democratic primary, putting him on track to become the second Black mayor in the history of the nation’s largest city.
Adams led former sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia by just 8,426 ballots — or 1% of the total — after more than 120,000 absentee votes were added to the Board of Elections’ unofficial tally of ranked-choice results.
The Republican candidate in November’s general election will be Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, an unarmed civilian patrol group known for their red berets.
Brad Lander, a member of the City Council from Brooklyn, declared victory over Council Speaker Corey Johnson in the Democratic primary for comptroller. Lander led Johnson by 24,683 votes, according to data released by the Board of Elections.
The AP called the race for Lander, a City Council member backed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and endorsed by The New York Times. He won 51.9% of the vote, compared with 48.1% for Johnson, who conceded last night.
Lander’s early consolidation of the left stood in contrast to the higher-profile mayor’s race, where progressives got firmly behind Maya Wiley only in the closing weeks of the contest after two other progressive candidates flamed out.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards held a paper-thin lead over Elizabeth Crowley, who is challenging him for his post, after new ranked-choice primary results were released.
New York City Councilman Antonio Reynoso was declared the winner in the Democratic race for Brooklyn borough president on after new ranked-choice results showed him holding onto a durable lead.
New York City Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson continued to hold a lead over Fernando Cabrera, another Council member, in the Democratic race for Bronx borough president.
Former Rep. Vito Fossella won the Republican nomination for borough president of the fifth borough – 12 years after leaving politics in scandal.
Key members of the New York state Legislature promised hearings that could pave the way for changes at the New York City Board of Elections after its staff released inaccurate information last week about the Democratic mayoral primary.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer decried de Blasio’s spending of $6.9 billion worth of fast-tracked city contracts, while announcing he’d taken the mayor to court to put a stop to the “unacceptable” practice enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The New York City hotel industry is mired in an economic depression despite an uptick in travel as the country emerges from the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a new report.
New York City began relocating roughly 8,500 homeless people out of hotels and back into its traditional congregate shelter system last month, an initiative that has drawn opposition from homeless advocates and support from some community groups.
The New York Police Department is expanding its summer-jobs program for young people, officials said, in new attempts to build relationships and encourage recruitment after a year of rising violent crime.
The sun finally rose for 200,000 “Summer Rising” kids, and was a mixed blessing of excitement, jitters and relief for their families, teachers and camp leaders after a chaotic rollout of the city’s class-recreation blend.
Roughly one in every six New York City subway and bus fares are now paid through the MTA’s tap-based OMNY system, transit officials announced.
Six months after abruptly ending city contracts with the Trump Organization to run two Central Park ice skating rinks, the Central Park Carousel and a Trump golf course in the Bronx, the city announced a new entity will be running at least one of the attractions.
Black Lives Matter Saratoga demanded that city police and Public Safety Commissioner Robin Dalton apologize after police and city officials blamed them and Albany “gangs” for a stabbing and shots fired incident that took place on Caroline Street late last month.
Saratoga Springs police are responding to accusations they assaulted a black man they were investigating in connection with thefts from cars.
Republican mayoral candidate Alicia Purdy called for Mayor Kathy Sheehan’s resignation as she ramped up her campaign to try to unseat the two-term incumbent in the largely Democratic-enrolled city.
Cambridge’s Native American mascot may be restored before the image is even removed from the school district’s website.
A person in their 70s who was vaccinated recently died after contracting COVID-19, Warren County officials said.
After six years and less than a month after the school board extended his contract, Cosimo Tangorra announced he’s stepping down as Niskayuna superintendent to lead the New Hartford Central School District in Oneida County.
The Frontier League fined Tri-City ValleyCats manager Pete Incaviglia for his ejection against Equipe Quebec on Sunday but will not suspend him, the league said today.
Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office investigators who are looking into the death of a 20-year-old on Saratoga Lake on Sunday evening said they are waiting on toxicology, forensics and other examination results.
Albany Med has just appointed the first Black female chair of surgery at an academic health science center in the country.
The Secret Garden tour is back.
Jeff Bezos is officially no longer the head of Amazon.
The Boy Scouts have put three of their New York campgrounds up for sale to help cover the $850 million they just agreed to pay sex-abuse victims.
Two bipartisan bills currently in Congress would, if passed, carve out specific exceptions meant to facilitate veterans’ access to medical cannabis through the VA health care system, when appropriate for their treatment.
The chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill issued a statement expressing his disappointment that award-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones would no longer be joining its faculty and has accepted a similar role at Howard University.
Team USA’s roster of track and field athletes at the Tokyo Olympics will be missing its biggest newsmaker ahead of the Games: sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson.
ESPN has sidelined Rachel Nichols for the NBA Finals.
Britney Spears’s longtime attorney in her conservatorship case resigned after the artist came out against him in her court testimony.
