OK. I’ll admit it, I am thrilled that it’s Friday, because it has been a LOOOOONG week, folks. Very long.
I am not so thrilled that it happens to be Friday the 13th, which, if you happen to fall into the superstitious camp, does not bode well for us, writ large. And given the way things have been going lately, we can use all the good luck we can get.
Did you know that there are not one, but TWO terms – both of them equally impossible to say aloud – that describe fear of this supposedly inauspicious day?! They are paraskavedekatriaphobia and friggatriskaidekaphobia.
Apparently, these phobia result in financial losses in excess of $800 million annually, as people avoid marrying, traveling or in the most severe cases, even working or just leaving the house on this day.
If you really want to go down the rabbit hole as to why the number 13 is supposedly so unlucky, click here. Part of the problem is that 13 is unlucky enough to follow on the heels of the “perfect” number 12, so it was almost a foregone conclusion that it would be viewed in a negative light.
Also, fear of 13 is a Western concept. In much of East and Southeast Asia, where tetraphobia is the norm, you won’t find much use of the number 4. That’s due to the similar sounds for the Chinese words for “four” and “death.”
Today is also the start of the Japanese festival of Obon, one of the country’s largest and most significant religious events. It’s a three-day festival that stems from the Buddhist custom of honoring the spirits of one’s ancestors, which is why it is also known as the festival of the dead or the festival of souls.
During Obon, lanterns are traditionally hung in front of houses, dances are performed, and offerings (ozen) are put in front of altars, temples, and sometimes on grave sites. Many visit grave sites to clean and wash the stones and grave markers of their deceased loved ones.
Another day of significant heat is on tap, with temperatures in the high 80s in the forecast.
There will be clouds in the morning, with the potential for storms in the afternoon – some of which might be severe with strong, gusty winds. The weekend looks considerably cooler, which will be a welcome break as far as I’m concerned.
In the headlines…
A divided U.S. Supreme Court granted a request from a group of New York landlords to block a part of the state’s eviction moratorium that bars landlords from evicting certain tenants in the midst of the pandemic.
The court’s three liberal justices dissented from the court’s order and would have left the moratorium, which was set to expire Aug. 31, in place.
The order applies only to a provision that bars evictions of tenants who file a form declaring economic hardship, rather than providing evidence in court.
The legal issue is distinct from those surrounding a new moratorium that applies in most of the country that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention imposed last week.
Hochul made her first flex as “NY’s next Governor” last night, taking to Twitter in response to the Supreme Court’s decision against the state’s eviction moratorium.
“No New Yorker who has been financially hit or displaced by the pandemic should be forced out of their home,” she tweeted, “I look forward to working with the Legislature to quickly address the Supreme Court’s decision & strengthen the eviction moratorium legislation.”
Hochul said she plans to run for governor in the state’s 2022 race after she finishes the remainder of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s term.
Hochul is planning to host an in-person fundraising event next week in her hometown of Buffalo as she gears up to run in 2022.
Now those Democrats who had hoped to defeat an accused sexual harasser would instead face a history-making woman if they jump into the race.
A handful of powerful state lobbyists already appear to have their foot in the Executive Mansion, as Hochul prepares to assume her new seat as governor of New York in a couple of weeks.
Disclosure filings submitted last year – stating that Hochul was lobbied at least twice by a Buffalo firm representing Delaware North Companies – contained incorrect information, the firm, O’Donnell and Associates, maintained.
Hochul once called out SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras for making an offensive remark about her chief of staff, raising questions about whether she wants him to remain the powerful head of the 64-campus public university system.
Time’s Up president and CEO Tina Tchen apologized for her past support of outgoing Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but unlike the disgraced Democrat she will not be resigning from her post.
Former Gov. David Paterson raised questions about why Cuomo is taking 14 days to officially leave office following his resignation announcement, calling it “suspicious.”
GOP NYC mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa demanded that CNN get rid of disgraced Cuomo’s “wartime consigliere,” brother Chris Cuomo, who advised the outgoing governor’s response to multiple women alleging that he sexually harassed them.
Cuomo’s resignation amid sexual harassment allegations has renewed interest in renaming the $4 billion bridge he christened in honor of his father, the late Gov. Mario Cuomo.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio offered backhanded praise for Cuomo’s decision to resign, but also expressed concern he could cause more “damage” before officially leaving office later this month.
The Assembly could still move to impeach the governor, but many high-ranking Democrats are intent on avoiding an impeachment trial that could devolve into a long and costly distraction for the party.
Even after his resignation takes effect in less than two weeks, Cuomo will still control the largest pot of campaign cash in New York politics, an $18 million war chest amassed in apparent preparation for a run at a fourth term next year.
Alphonso David’s work for Cuomo helped him become leader of the largest L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy group in the country, the Human Rights Commission. Now those ties could cause his dismissal.
In other news…
Anita Dunn, one of President Biden’s closest advisers during the campaign and as he built his administration, will depart the White House after today but remain a top confidant.
Biden called on U.S. lawmakers to enact legislation aimed at lowering drug prices, including allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices and imposing penalties on drugmakers that hike prices faster than inflation.
Two more major cities in western and southern Afghanistan were on the verge of collapse to the Taliban last night, as the insurgency’s race to seize control of the country accelerated.
The Pentagon is moving 3,000 Marines and soldiers to Afghanistan and another 4,000 troops to the region to evacuate most of the American Embassy and U.S. citizens in Kabul, as the Biden administration braces for a possible collapse of the Afghan government.
Biden’s hopeless goal of using diplomacy to slow the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in the wake of his troop withdrawal has won the scorn of hawk Rep. Liz Cheney.
Biden urged California voters to reject an upcoming recall vote that could remove Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) from office.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has delivered preliminary success on the infrastructure and budget deals. But his priorities still have a long way to go to reach the president’s desk.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said his climate investment fund will commit $1.5 billion for joint projects with the U.S. government if Congress enacts a program aimed at developing technologies that lower carbon emissions.
Breakthrough Energy, Gates’ climate fund, laid out four different uses for the money: developing green hydrogen fuels, sustainable aviation fuels, energy storage, and technologies that take carbon dioxide out of the air.
Industry has been promoting hydrogen as a reliable, next-generation fuel to power cars, heat homes and generate electricity. It may, in fact, be worse for the climate than previously thought.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi made clear to rank-and-file Democrats that the House will not take up the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure package this month, rejecting calls from moderates in her caucus who are demanding a quick vote.
The first detailed results of the 2020 census show a diversifying nation where the total white population shrank for the first time in its history and where large metropolitan areas, especially in the South and Southwest, saw the strongest growth.
White non-Hispanic Americans now make up less than 60% of the population. About 57% if you count Puerto Rico or a little less than 58% not counting it. The latter is down from about 64% after the 2010 Census. It’s also down from the 69% recorded in 2000.
Overall population growth slowed substantially over the past decade, but the growth that did occur – an increase of about 23 million people – was made up entirely of people who identified as Hispanic, Asian, Black and more than one race.
New York City has grown by more than 629,000 people — or nearly 8 percent — since 2010, reaching 8.8 million and defying predictions that its population was on the decline.
Orange and Saratoga counties were among the top five counties in New York for population growth from 2010 to 2020.
New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell in early August to close to a pandemic low, signaling that fewer people are losing their jobs despite another surge in coronavirus cases.
Initial jobless claims dropped by 12,000 to 375,000 in the week ended Aug. 7, the government said.
New weekly jobless claims fell for a third straight period and came in below the psychologically important 400,000 level. Continuing claims also dipped to a fresh pandemic-era low below 3 million, pacing back toward pre-virus levels.
Biden hit out at anti-masking protesters for politicizing the Covid-19 pandemic, saying he was particularly disturbed by scenes at a school board meeting in Tennessee earlier this week.
The Food and Drug Administration authorized a third dose of COVID-19 for certain people with compromised immune systems, a narrow move into the realm of booster doses amid a growing debate over their use.
An estimated 2.7 percent of adults in the United States are immunocompromised, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That includes organ transplant recipients, certain cancer patients and people with HIV.
White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that a booster shot will be required for everyone “sooner or later” to ensure that the durability of protection from COVID-19 vaccines continues.
As the U.S. struggles to suppress the rapidly advancing coronavirus Delta variant, new evidence has emerged that the latest Lambda mutation — ravaging parts of South America — won’t be slowed by vaccines.
Early findings posted ahead of rigorous peer review suggested the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine declined to 42% effectiveness against infection amid sweeping spread of the delta variant, with the Moderna vaccine declining to 76%.
Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine protects people for at least six months and likely longer — even against new variants, researchers reported.
As the Delta variant drives a surge of Covid-19 cases in Florida, a rapid-response unit will be deployed to administer monoclonal antibody treatments to residents infected with the virus, Gov. Ron DeSantis said.
More than 400 students in Palm Beach County, Fla., were required to quarantine just two days after schools began instruction due to an outbreak of the coronavirus, according to local officials.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett denied an appeal from students at Indiana University to block the school’s vaccine mandate.
More school districts in Texas are pushing back against an executive order banning mask mandates, joining districts in other states filing lawsuits over the issue.
As the Delta variant causes a rise in infections and hospitalizations, health care workers say they’re frustrated over the insufficient uptake of vaccines that could have prevented most Covid-19 patients from landing in their care.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky says she’s struggling to communicate with Americans about Covid-19 amid politics, mistrust.
After becoming one of the first countries to open up thanks to a widespread Covid-19 vaccination campaign, Israel is again on guard, this time against the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
Israel lowered to 50 from 60 the minimum age of eligibility for a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot and will also offer them to health workers, hoping to stem a surge in Delta variant infections.
Disney’s parks saw a strong rebound in visitors as people left their pandemic cocoon, but the company acknowledged uncertainty ahead because of the coronavirus Delta variant.
Airbnb’s second-quarter revenue nearly quadrupled, rebounding from the lows of the pandemic and exceeding pre-pandemic levels, as domestic travel lifted the home-sharing company’s fortunes.
The state Education Department issued a health and safety guide for dealing with COVID-19 in the state’s schools that generally highlights the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations.
Young Black New Yorkers are especially reluctant to get vaccinated, even as the Delta variant is rapidly spreading among their ranks. City data shows that only 28 percent of Black New Yorkers ages 18 to 44 years are fully vaccinated.
Catholic school children in Brooklyn and Queens will be packing masks in their backpacks when class resumes next month, officials from the Brooklyn-Queens Diocese announced.
City officials pleaded with New Yorkers to refrain from using washers, dryers and other high-energy appliances as a scorching heat wave threatens to cause power outages across the Big Apple.
Queens DA Melinda Katz is refusing a request for undisclosed evidence against the disabled man convicted of killing Howard Beach jogger Karina Vetrano — despite a prosecutor on the case recently resigning in disgrace, a new letter to the D.A. argues.
GlobalFoundries lost a $220 million tax case just before announcing new fab in Malta.
Labor shortages have forced Tala American Bistro in Latham to serve only takeout for dinner on Friday and Saturday this week.
After an initial struggle to get one started this year, state and local governments in the Adirondacks have restarted one shuttle and will offer additional bus service to bring Adirondack High Peaks hikers to some of the busiest trailheads in the area.
A California judge again rejected a sex assault charge against Harvey Weinstein, affirming that the statue of limitations had expired.
Britney Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, has agreed to step down from his daughter’s conservatorship.
“(E)ven as Mr. Spears is the unremitting target of unjustified attacks, he does not believe that a public battle with his daughter over his continuing service as her conservator would be in her best interests,” a legal filing reads.
The move comes days after Judge Brenda Penny denied a petition filed by Britney Spears’ attorney Mathew Rosengart to move a Sept. 29 hearing about the case up to August 23 in an effort to remove her father as conservator as soon as possible.
Reps. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) celebrated the news that Jamie Spears has agreed to step down from her conservatorship, but added that there is more to be done to protect Americans from abusive guardianships.
As if we don’t have enough to worry about, now there’s this.
