HAPPY FRIDAY.
Mosquitos might be small, but they are mightily annoying – that droning in your ears as you try to get comfortable in your tent, the relentless blood-thirsty attacks (but only by the females, because girl power).
So I guess it’s appropriate, given their outsized impact on the planet and the warm-blooded beasts who inhabit it, that mosquitoes have their very own WORLDWIDE day of recognition, which happens to be today.
Why today? Because it commemorate Sir Ronald Ross’s discovery in 1897 that Anopheles mosquitoes transmit the malaria parasite to humans. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has been organizing this annual event since the 1930s to mark the British doctor’s landmark work.
And malaria isn’t all that mosquitoes carry, they can also spread chikungunya, dengue fever, lymphatic filariasis, rift valley fever, yellow fever, and zika virus – just to name a few choice diseases.
Apparently, some people give off “masking odors” that prevent mosquitoes from biting them. I am sadly not one of these people. If there is a hungry female mosquito who needs to provide nourishment for her brood within a ten-mile radius, she is going to find me.
The best way to avoid mosquitoes and their bites is to stay indoors.
But since that’s neither advisable (Vitamin D is GOOD and also spending time in nature has proven to be a natural anxiety reducer), nor really possible – especially not in the summer – the next best thing is to keep your doors and windows closed, use screens when possible, sleep under mosquito netting, wear long sleeves, socks and pants, and use a repellant.
DEET is most often mentioned, and it is very potent and also deemed safe by the EPA, even for use on small children.
Just don’t spray it too close to your eyes and use it sparingly. According to research published in The New England Journal of Medicine, most cases of serious side effects caused by DEET involve long-term, heavy, frequent or whole-body application of the repellent.
Also, reduce the likelihood that mosquitoes will breed in your yard by removing standing water (like in tires or flower pots or untreated pools) and keep lawns trimmed.
Another option: Bat houses. A single bat can eat up to 1,200 mosquito-sized insects every hour, and each bat usually eats 6,000 to 8,000 insects each night – and they generally don’t discriminate.
It will be cloudy and humid today with temperatures in the low 80s.
In the headlines…
Protesters took to the streets to rally against Taliban rule for the second day, this time marching in Kabul, including near the presidential palace. At one demonstration in the city, about 200 people had gathered before the Taliban broke it up violently.
The Taliban has called for leaders of the Afghanistan Muslim community to urge unity amid recent protests and citizens fleeing the country.
A member of Afghanistan’s national youth soccer team was among the people who were killed as they tried desperately to cling to a U.S. military plane evacuating people from Kabul, the country’s official sports federation said. He was 17.
President Joe Biden has found himself caught this week in some of the most dire days of his seven-month-old presidency, accused of badly botching the end of America’s longest war even by some of his most reliable allies at home and abroad.
When Biden finally broke his silence on the chaos unfolding in Afghanistan, European allies who’d had high hopes for a reset in the transatlantic alliance were left dismayed.
Biden, facing intense criticism over the chaotic push to get Americans and Afghan allies out of Afghanistan, will speak about the evacuation effort this afternoon.
An internal State Department memo last month warned top agency officials of the potential collapse of Kabul soon after the U.S.’s Aug. 31 troop withdrawal deadline in Afghanistan, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the document.
People evacuated from Afghanistan by the U.S. will not be charged the cost of their flight, State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
Soon-to-be Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that New York State is committed to welcoming refugees from Afghanistan.
Vice President Kamala Harris is not viewed as qualified to be president by a majority of people, a new poll finds, but they still expect her to replace Biden before his term ends.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said that Americans may not need yearly Covid-19 booster shots, suggesting that a third shot may sufficiently strengthen the long-term protection of Pfizer’s or Moderna’s vaccines.
More than one million Americans received a dose of Covid-19 vaccine yesterday, a benchmark the nation has not met in nearly seven weeks amid a resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic.
Scientists sharply criticized the Biden administration’s push to widely distribute Covid-19 vaccine booster shots in the U.S., saying the data provided by federal health officials wasn’t compelling enough to recommend them to most Americans right now.
The United States is expanding manufacturing of Covid-19 vaccines to donate more doses to countries that don’t have as much access to the lifesaving shots.
Federal health officials are investigating emerging reports that the Moderna coronavirus vaccine may be associated with a higher risk of a heart condition called myocarditis in younger adults than previously believed.
U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi, Angus King, independent of Maine, and John Hickenlooper, Democrat of Colorado, said that they had tested positive for the coronavirus, adding to the number of breakthrough cases among lawmakers.
Many overwhelmed hospitals, with no beds to offer, are putting critically ill COVID-19 patients on planes, helicopters and ambulances and sending them hundreds of miles to far-flung states for treatment.
The country superstar Garth Brooks has canceled his next five stadium tour dates, the latest and biggest concerts to be pulled as the touring industry scrambles in response to rising coronavirus infection rates.
More than 3,000 phony COVID-19 vaccination cards were seized this week from cargo facilities at Anchorage airport, officials said.
Clear barriers have sprung up at restaurants, nail salons and school classrooms, but most of the time, they do little to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
The U.S. has requested that the UN scale back the annual General Assembly meeting in New York next month, making it a mostly virtual gathering, to avoid the “superspreader” infection risks posed by the pandemic’s highly contagious Delta variant.
Rice University in Texas announced that it will be switching to online classes for at least the first two weeks of school amid a higher number of COVID-19 cases.
Colleges and universities are wrestling with how to treat, and budget for, unvaccinated students, with a few schools making those students pay to be tested regularly for Covid-19.
The Texas Education Agency said it would temporarily stop enforcing Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates and the State Supreme Court issued a ruling allowing school districts to require face-coverings. Both decisions are temporary.
All K-12 teachers and staff in Washington state, including public, private and charter school employees, could be fired if they aren’t fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 18.
San Francisco is recommending that police officers, firefighters, and sheriff’s deputies who refuse to report their vaccination status be suspended.
New York City police officials, confronting a lagging vaccination rate among officers even as coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths rise in the city, warned officers that they would discipline unvaccinated personnel who do not wear masks while on duty.
Uncertainty over quarantine rules and teaching plans for NYC public school students exposed to COVID-19 cases is sowing confusion weeks before kids return to class.
New York’s digital vaccine app, the Excelsior Pass, will likely cost far more than originally expected, with projected costs nearing $27 million.
The New York Caribbean Carnival Parade in Brooklyn has been cancelled for a second year due to COVID-19.
An impasse over vaccinations is bedeviling the corporate world.
Workers at places like Walmart and McDonald’s have been on the front lines of the pandemic for months. But when it comes to the Covid-19 vaccine, their employers are treading lightly with just how far to push them.
The U.S. Department of Education announced it will cancel $5.8 billion in student debt for more than 320,000 borrowers.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell to a 17-month low last week, pointing to another month of robust job growth, though surging COVID-19 infections pose a risk to the labor market recovery.
The last time claims were this low was March 14, 2020, just as the Covid-19 pandemic declaration hit and sent the U.S. economy spiraling into its deepest but briefest recession on record.
The Biden White House said states that want to provide extra jobless benefits to the unemployed beyond a September cutoff can continue to do so by drawing on previously approved federal stimulus funds.
The share of job postings per million that require candidates be vaccinated against Covid-19 specifically is up 34% in the first week of August compared to the same period in July.
After the state Assembly reversed its decision to end its impeachment investigation into Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said the governor did not pressure him into pausing the investigation.
The state Assembly’s investigation into a myriad of allegations made against Cuomo doesn’t have a firm end date, but lawmakers are working “expeditiously” to conclude the probe and release a report to the public, Heastie said.
Hank Morris, 67, a political consultant who pleaded guilty back in 2010 for his involvement in a pension fraud pay-to-play scandal, is plotting his sweet (fictional) revenge on the man who prosecuted him – Cuomo – by penning a new musical comedy.
The show, “A Turtle on a Fence Post,” first conceived while Morris was serving his prison sentence, will begin previews on Tuesday, Oct. 26, ahead of an official opening night on Sunday, Nov. 14.
Cuomo signed legislation requiring banks to take action to prevent overdraft fees.
Incoming Gov. Kathy Hochul has chosen a seasoned Albany strategist as the director of her transition team: Marissa Shorenstein, who was press secretary under Gov. David Paterson and the director of communications for Cuomo’s 2010 campaign.
Hochul won’t be sworn in until next week, but already she’s facing a host of challenges as the state continues to be weighed down by the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic aftershocks.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio dismissed the idea that he predecessor, Mike Bloomberg, will raise cash for Democratic mayoral nominee Eric Adams — claiming the billionaire businessman is among many “new friends” jumping on the likely next mayor’s bandwagon.
Bloomberg, the multibillionaire who served as New York City’s 108th mayor, is hosting a breakfast fundraiser for the Democratic nominee on Sept. 15.
With an eye toward the November general election, Adams is trying to bridge the intraparty divide he capitalized on to clinch the primary.
Adams is on a long-delayed personal vacation to Europe with his family.
In Manhattan’s Chinatown, anti-gentrification protesters are furious over funding granted to a museum that they say doesn’t represent their community.
The Apollo Theater is celebrating its reopening after being closed since last year due to New York’s emergency pandemic restrictions with a free star-studded concert next weekend.
The Troy City Council voted in committee to approve a $1.55 million settlement to the family of Edson Thevenin, killed by city police Sgt. Randall French in 2016.
Two brothers who allegedly punched in the head a 56-year-old retired corrections officer, who then fatally hit the pavement, are now facing first-degree manslaughter charges, Saratoga Springs police said.
The Albany County Legislature and Board of Elections will provide prepaid postage on all absentee ballot return envelopes for this November’s election.
Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson is pushing for a new local law that would require landlords to automatically renew leases if their tenant was in good standing. It would be New York’s second local “good cause” eviction law.
Plug Power’s legal troubles over its accounting problems continue in both federal and state courts, but the focus has been narrowed as several of the cases have been merged together.
The proposal by Stewart’s Shops to build a new location at a busy Schenectady intersection passed a major hurdle this week when city planners allowed the City Council to consider a zoning change.
Amazon plans to open several large physical retail locations in the U.S. that will operate akin to department stores, a step to help the tech company extend its reach in sales of clothing, household items, electronics and other areas
R. Kelly’s longtime Chicago doctor revealed that the R&B singer was being treated for herpes in 2007 — more than two years before one of his accusers testified that he had passed the disease to her without warning.
Actor Larry David and attorney Alan Dershowitz reportedly got into a verbal altercation in a Martha’s Vineyard general store over the lawyer’s ties to the Trump administration.
Britney Spears is disputing an allegation she battered a female employee at her private mansion in Southern California earlier this week, her lawyer said.
The 2021 NYS Fair butter sculpture has been revealed.
