Good morning, welcome to Tuesday.
We are part of the way through National Breastfeeding Month.
The benefits of breastfeeding are significant and well documented – not the least of which is that it builds stronger immune systems, something that has become even more important in the age of Covid-19.
According to the World Health Organization, universal breastfeeding could save about 820,000 infant lives each year.
Having never had a child myself, (by choice), I hardly feel like I have any credibility on this particular subject, but it’s worth noting that breastfeeding – as far as I have been able to glean from reading and talking to friends – can be a trial for many women. It seems so natural, but actually can be very difficult and even painful.
Breastfeeding in public, by the way, is legal in all 50 states, though that didn’t occur until 2018 – 2018!! (1994 here in New York, but we were the first state in the nation to pass a law to PROTECT a mother’s right to do so, and also you can get Medicaid reimbursement here for pasteurized human donor milk if you are unable to produce your own).
Nevertheless, women – even famous women who use their platforms to try to normalize the practice – continue to be stared at, mocked, shamed, catcalled and a whole host of other bad behaviors when they engage in this perfectly legal and wholesome activity. It’s it time we moved away from this? Don’t we have bigger, badder things to worry about?
Just saying.
Women who are breastfeeding burn a lot of calories, so if you happen to be engaged in that particular activity – or maybe just are in need of a sweet pick-me-up – you might be interested in knowing that today is National S’Mores Day.
The origin of this tasty snack that traditionally features a square or so of chocolate melted with a marshmallow between two graham crackers (originally created to curb sex drive?!), is credited to the entrepreneur Alec Barnum, though marshmallows date back to the days of the ancient Greeks.
However, the first recorded version of the recipe can be found in the 1927 publication of Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts.
We’ve got another typical late summer day on tap, with a mix of sun and clouds and temperatures in the mid-80s. There will again be a chance of a stray shower or thunderstorm, with 79 percent humidity.
In the headlines…
State Assembly leaders pledged to finish the initial stage of their impeachment inquiry of Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the next several weeks, while fallout from the AG’s damning report on his behavior further enveloped two organizations once considered his allies.
Under a timeline laid out on yesterday, articles of impeachment might not be considered until early September — after lawmakers review evidence, hold hearings and carefully deliberate whether there are grounds to impeach Cuomo.
The Assembly will hold public and private hearings this month as part of its impeachment investigation into Cuomo, attempting to conclude its work “with all due haste,” key lawmakers said.
The Assembly leaders consistently emphasized that if the chamber moves forward with articles of impeachment, it is vital for the proceeding to be thorough because they expect the governor’s legal team to find any potential crack.
The Assembly’s Judiciary Committee had “detailed discussions” with its outside lawyers about Cuomo’s $5.1 million book deal — and it could spell trouble for former top aide Melissa DeRosa.
Cuomo’s closest confidants reportedly spent the weekend trying to convince the Democrat to resign, but he can’t come to grips with the idea of ending his career, telling his inner circle: “I need more time.”
Defiant yet increasingly alone, Cuomo determined in recent days that his best chance at political survival is to drag out the process of his possible impeachment.
Cuomo tried to cut a deal with the state Legislature — offering to drop his bid for a fourth-term in exchange for not getting impeached. (Lawmakers are not interested).
Roberta Kaplan, the chairwoman of Time’s Up, a group that supports victims of sexual harassment, resigned amid backlash over revelations she helped Cuomo in drafting a letter that smeared one of his accusers.
Time’s Up said in a tweet that it agreed with Kaplan, a women’s rights advocate and attorney with a practice of her own, that stepping down as chair of the group’s board of directors was “the right and appropriate thing to do.”
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest L.G.B.T.Q. political lobbying organization, said it was investigating its president, Alphonso David, a former top Cuomo official, for any role he may have played in helping the governor respond to accusations.
Cuomo’s former communications director Dani Lever told investigators working with state Attorney General Letitia James: “Everyone sort of jokes that the governor’s office is like ‘Hotel California.’ You never really leave.”
The departure of DeRosa from Cuomo’s orbit sparked widespread speculation about why she left and how it would impact the governor’s defense against sexual harassment allegations that threaten to unseat him.
Women allegedly victimized by Cuomo called the resignation of his “enabler-in-chief” DeRosa a cowardly move after the top aide announced her sudden departure amid criticism over her attempts to discredit the governor’s accusers.
Former Cuomo press aide Karen Hinton, who is also one of his accusers, said he once refused to hire a woman because she wasn’t “pretty enough” — and thought then-President Bill Clinton’s sex scandal involving intern Monica Lewinsky was “funny.”
Two more women approached the AG’s office with allegations against Cuomo after the release of a bombshell report against him, but were told the investigation is over and referred to local law enforcement agencies.
A group of New York’s most influential political donors in the business world are encouraging Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul to run for governor as Cuomo contends with various investigations.
If Hochul ascends, she will make history as New York’s first female governor, and also face significant challenges.
Others mentioned as potential 2022 gubernatorial contenders on the Democratic side: AG James, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, Rep. Tom Suozzi, state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, and U.S. .Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
James has yet to indicate she is planning a run for anything but re-election as AG, and she is often described as risk-averse. But the possibility of a vacancy has set off intense speculation about whether she would turn her sights to the governor’s office.
SUNY Chancellor James Malatras, a long-time Cuomo aide and loyalist, distributed a letter to SUNY leadership last night condemning his former boss’s behavior and distancing himself from the controversy.
The union representing State Police investigators is demanding that supervision of the governor’s protective detail be returned to the agency’s headquarters.
“Having to continue to protect the Governor under the current circumstances puts our members in an extremely difficult position,” the union said.
Brittany Commisso, the aide who lodged the most serious accusations against Cuomo, went public in a new interview, claiming he groped and hugged her for “personal sexual satisfaction” — and turned her “dream job…into a nightmare.”
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo is reportedly maintaining contact with his brother as he fights for his political life.
Cuomo’s ex-girlfriend, Sandra Lee, has moved on to a new man.
In non-Cuomo news…
As the U.S. Senate was putting the finishing touches on a bipartisan infrastructure bill, Democrats released their $3.5 trillion budget plan that sets the stage for a massive investment in social programs and climate policy.
The measure is a pivotal first step in what will likely be a tumultuous, months-long Democratic legislative march toward a progressive reshaping of the federal government that also hews to President Joe Biden’s top domestic policy ambitions.
The scope of the spending outlined by Democrats is vast, reflecting the party’s grand ambitions to grow the size and reach of the federal government to a level not seen in decades.
Democrats say the massive spending framework would unlock funding for universal pre-K and tuition-free community college while making investments in public housing and clean energy efforts and expanding health care.
Lawmakers and top climate officials in the Biden’s administration sounded the alarm in response to a new report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, urging nations to swiftly limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The U.S. government said it will review files relevant to the Sept. 11 attacks after victims’ families asked Biden to skip memorials unless he declassified documents they contend will show Saudi Arabian leaders supported the attacks.
Public health experts and state officials are raising alarms about a surge in COVID hospitalizations among children – now at their steepest and seeing the most significant increase since the onset of the pandemic.
Canada opened its borders to fully vaccinated U.S. travelers yesterday, but local leaders say it will take time before tourism rates are comparable to 2019 levels.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are warning against traveling to France, Iceland, Israel, Thailand and several other countries over new COVID-19 concerns.
The Pentagon is requiring members of the U.S. military to get vaccinated against coronavirus by Sept. 15.
Those military members who refuse should expect a range of penalties for doing so, military law experts said, ranging anywhere from a reprimand to confinement and getting kicked out of the military.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appealed for out-of-state help to fight the third wave of COVID-19 in the Lone Star State.
The Dallas Independent School District said that everyone — students, employees and visitors — must wear a mask while on school property, starting today, in defiance of an order posted by Abbott.
The Florida governor’s office said it may withhold the salaries of public school officials who institute mask mandates in their districts as new cases and hospitalizations surge in the state.
Coronavirus cases among the fully vaccinated — so-called “breakthrough” Covid cases — are still being seen among those who have had two doses, and that’s happening for a number of reasons, public health experts say.
Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine is currently only authorized for emergency use in the United States, but its full approval by the US Food and Drug Administration could happen within weeks.
Doctors and public health experts across the country say it’s still unclear what impact, if any, such approval would have on patients and providers.
Weeks of rising Covid-19 cases have hardened divisions within families, communities and friend groups over which members have been vaccinated and which have chosen not to do so.
Concerns over the Delta variant and supply-chain issues that have made it hard to find items like backpacks are upending back-to-school shopping plans for families, prompting some to curtail spending.
Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb warned that Northern U.S. states could see COVID-19 cases rise as students return to the classroom.
The NFL means business when it comes to its COVID-19 protocols for the 2021 season, especially when it comes to vaccinations. But some of the league’s stars are pushing back.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in New York have jumped more than 245 percent in the past month thanks to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, data shows.
Forty eight of New York’s 62 counties should now require the wearing of masks indoors, and 18 of them have reached the highest level of COVID-19 community spread, federal data shows.
Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s most prominent accusers, sued Prince Andrew in New York, saying that the scion of Britain’s royal family had raped and sexually abused her when she was 17.
“West Side Story,” an ambitious, reimagined revival of the classic musical, will not reopen when Broadway returns this fall, the show announced, making it one of the biggest productions yet to become a casualty of the pandemic.
Audiences and staff at performances hosted by a dozen Capital Region arts organizations will be required to wear masks or other face coverings, effective immediately.
Albany City court’s first jury trial in the last 17 months focused not on a theft or violent act, but on a homeowner angry that a fire had re-ignited in his Krumkill Road home.
Amid a drought-fueled fire season where blazes are behaving unpredictably because of extreme weather, Forest Service officials say they are struggling to effectively respond to all the fires burning and likely to come in the West due to a labor shortage.
The megafires of the West are sending out giant clouds of smoke and leaving a footprint much larger than the evergreen forests they level and the towns they decimate.
Olympic athletes like Caeleb Dressel, Suni Lee and Sydney McLaughlin helped the U.S. win the most gold medals at the Tokyo Summer Games. For Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal, however, the size of the audience that watched was underwhelming.
The trial of R. Kelly, the R&B star who’s been locked up since 2019 awaiting trials in four separate cases, got underway.
