Good Thursday morning. It’s the 21st day of October in the year 2021. Nice symmetry there.
Anywho, now that we’ve gotten THAT out of the way.
I think it’s fair to characterize me as an animal person. I am a very big fan of all things furry – especially dogs, as you know.
I have not yet managed to wean myself off of eating animals, sadly. I enjoy a good pork belly Bahn mi a little too much for that (though, to be honest, I haven’t had one of those in a LONG time…recommendations for a fix in the Capital Region, anyone?)
I have managed to cut down on my meat consumption, because, let’s be honest, it’s really better for your health AND better for the planet to eat less of it. I did try the vegan thing for a hot second and couldn’t sustain it for the life of me. But that’s a story for another day.
So, in the animal kingdom, if I were to rank my favorites, furry would be at the top, although I’m not all that big on rodents, TBH. And scaly? Definitely somewhere very down low….like down near the spiders. Ick. And the centipedes. Double ick.
Technically, those are bugs and not animals, but I digress.
I do realize that reptiles are very important to the ecosystem. I just would prefer not to engage with them too terribly much, or at all, if I can help it. There’s nothing scarier than hiking along a remote Adirondack slope and coming up on a surprised rattlesnake, who let’s you know in no uncertain terms that he/she/it is NOT at all happy to see you.
But, putting aside my personal feelings…I feel compelled to let you know that today is National Reptile Awareness Day.
Says the interwebs:
A reptile is neither a mammal nor a bird, is cold-blooded, has scales or scutes – the thick bony or horny plates which form the dermal layer of such reptiles like turtles and crocodiles – and can lay eggs on land.
They also have ectothermic metabolisms, which means their internal physiological sources of heat are of relatively small or of very negligible importance in controlling their body temperatures. That’s why they hibernate (actually, technically speaking, they enter brumation) in cold weather and sun themselves on very warm rocks.
There are more than 10,000 species of reptiles. The purpose of this day is to promote all things reptilian – how they live, how we are (of course) threatening their natural habitats, and how they help us. Yes, yes, they do.
If you really want to go down the rabbit hole on this one, do I have a link for you.
For the rest of us regular folks, a quick primer:
Reptiles play an important role in the ecosystem, as mentioned, serving as a food source for larger animals while also keeping the populations of smaller animals under control. Some people keep them as pets, though too many later decide that a large and un-cuddly snake is perhaps NOT the best companion, and release them into the wild, which is WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!
Please do not do this. The world does not need any more invasive species out and about. And if you need proof of why this is a very bad idea….go to Florida.
if you’re venturing out into the woods today, it might be a good day for snake spotting. Because though the weather is turning cooler, the days have been on the warmer side…today, we will again see temperatures in the low 70s and partly cloudy skies.
So sssssstay alert. (See what I did there?)
On last word for all you Star Wars fans: Today would have been the 65th birthday of actress Carrie Fisher, best known for her role as Princess Leia. She died in December 2016 after suffering a heart attack on a plane.
In the headlines…
As he tries to steer his party toward a vast, once-in-a-generation investment in social programs, President Biden is paring back his ambitions for clean energy, access to college and help for families.
As Democrats in Congress debate how to pare back their big social spending bill — to a total budget increase of less than $2 trillion over a decade — they have even further to go than it may appear.
Police are recommending charges for four people who followed Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) into a bathroom on an Arizona college campus earlier this month to demand her support of the Democrats’ reconciliation bill.
Sinema continues to oppose any increase in marginal tax rates for businesses, high-income individuals or capital gains, according to people familiar with the matter.
Senate Republicans blocked debate on sweeping federal voting rights legislation backed by Biden, in a move likely to renew calls among some Democratic leaders to alter filibuster rules.
Every Senate Republican opposed the vote to start debate on the voting rights bill.
Actress Alyssa Milano was arrested during a voting rights protest at the White House.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines made by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson and also said any of the three authorized vaccines could be used as a booster in a “mix and match” approach.
But it left in place a complex formula for who should get boosters and when, with officials saying they may simplify the framework as more safety data comes in.
Now vaccine advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will consider the FDA’s authorization, and offer their own advice. If CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signs off, people could start getting Moderna and J&J boosters within days.
Now every Covid-19 vaccine authorized in the U.S. also has a booster. And people who took one company’s shot to get vaccinated could choose to get a booster dose made by a different company.
In a step to extend the reach of its Covid-19 vaccination drive, the Biden administration is preparing to distribute shots to children at doctors’ offices, pharmacies and schools should federal regulators clear the inoculations for kids ages 5-11.
The United States has donated 200 million COVID-19 vaccines as of today to countries around to the world, a White House official said. The vaccines were all successfully delivered and went to over 100 countries.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation committed to spending $120 million to help evenly distribute Merck’s antiviral COVID-19 pill pending approval from regulatory agencies.
General Electric Co. is requiring all employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Scammers have bilked American consumers out of more than $586 million through fraud schemes inspired by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
A Navy sailor who died of coronavirus-related complications earlier this month has been identified as Master-at-Arms Senior Chief Michael Haberstumpf.
New York City took one of its most aggressive steps yet to increase vaccination rates, requiring almost every member of the nation’s largest municipal work force to get vaccinated by the end of the month or lose their paychecks.
The city’s largest police union plans to sue Mayor Bill de Blasio over his new mandate requiring all city workers must be vaccinated against COVID-19, union officials said.
The Big Apple’s major ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods are now among the biggest laggards in the city’s coronavirus vaccination drive — with just 22 percent of high school-age kids having received shots in one Williamsburg ZIP code.
The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision is rolling out a new vaccination incentive program to boost inmates’ COVID-19 inoculation rate, offering rewards such as McDonald’s, pizza and even a “special” Christmas roast beef dinner.
Local prosecutors are investigating financial dealings at a Trump Organization golf course in Westchester County, compounding the legal pressure on former President Donald Trump’s company, which is already under indictment.
Trump announced the forthcoming “TRUTH Social,” a social media network that aims to “stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech.”
TRUTH Social will have a beta launch in November for invited guests. Trump and his team are expecting to roll it out nationwide in the first quarter of 2022.
Trump lined up the investment money to create his own publicly traded media company, an attempt to reinsert himself in the online conversation from which he has largely been absent since Twitter and Facebook banned him after the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Hochul announced that leading alternative energy technology provider Plug Power has begun construction on a $290 million electricity substation and state-of-the-art green hydrogen fuel production facility in Genesee County.
Plug Power’s $290 million plan for STAMP was announced back in February, and since then the company has been awarded $113 million in tax breaks. Its plan is to initially employ 68 people.
“To invest in here and to send a message that this project is important enough to have your investments, but also the transfer of electricity here and power here and the conversion into green hydrogen — that’s not happening anywhere else,” Hochul said.
GE researchers believe they have come up with a new solution that could reduce outage times and offer new solutions for adding more renewable energy sources to the electrical grid at the same time.
State Sen. Michelle Hinchey is calling on Hochul to sign a bill lowering the number of years a forest ranger must serve before being eligible to get their pension in an attempt to attract job-seekers to the understaffed agency, which is under the DEC.
Hochul visited the picket line in the Mercy Hospital strike in Buffalo.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of the Bronx will campaign in Buffalo on Saturday for a like-minded progressive, Democratic nominee India B. Walton, who is challenging four-term incumbent Byron Brown.
Hochul appointed John Ernst, president and chairman of a private, family-owned New York City investment firm and owner of Elk Lodge in Essex County, to chair the Adirondack Park Agency.
Democratic officials in Orleans and Wyoming counties endorsed Hochul’s bid for a full term as she continues to receive nods from county officials around the state.
As New York City readies to vote on Nov. 2 under strict contribution limits and a generous public matching funds program, candidates for governor are playing with much bigger dollar stakes — and potential for high-rolling donors to wield influence.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s personal attorney wants new eyes on the sexual harassment allegations and investigation that ended his political career.
Lawyer Rita Glavin used the disgraced ex-governor’s campaign website to claim that a report showed Attorney General Letitia James violated the terms of her deal to commission the independent sexual harassment investigation that forced him from office.
“You cannot run out, drop a report accusing someone, anyone, of all types of misconduct and then disavow any legal responsibility to have to defend it in any legal forum,” Glavin said.
Glavin alleges James had a bias, in part, because she “would not disavow” an attempt to enter New York’s 2022 race for governor, which Cuomo had already expressed interest in entering to retain his then-office.
Eric Adams, the Democratic nominee in the New York City mayor’s race, and Curtis Sliwa, his Republican opponent, clashed on vaccine mandates and congestion pricing during their first televised debate.
The one-hour debate was packed with a cornucopia of thorny issues that the next New York City mayor will be faced with, ranging from crime and a mental health crisis to vaccinations of city workers and the fate of the city’s gifted and talented program.
The candidates clashed along deeply personal lines, accusing each other of “lies” and “buffoonery” while staking out drastically different paths for how to make the city safer and more prosperous after nearly two years of pandemic strife.
Analysts said Adams notched a win during the debate as he stayed on script for the hour-long forum and largely ignored attacks from Sliwa.
After Sliwa pledged to hire more police officers, Adams, who spent more than 20 years at the NYPD before going into politics, shot back that he was wearing the uniform while his opponent was “playing cop.”
Questions about where Adams really lives resurfaced during the debate.
Adams joined fellow elected officials and local groups in offering a total of $5,000 in rewards for information leading to the arrest of the deli customer who fatally stabbed an East Harlem worker during a heated dispute.
Beyond trading barbs, there were some substantial policy differences between the candidates ahead of the general election on Nov. 2.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams’ was blasted by his Republican challenger for mulling a run for governor while seeking reelection for his current post.
A group of Big Apple residents has filed suit against the city to try to prevent outdoor street dining expanded during the pandemic from becoming permanent — arguing the al fresco set-ups are quality-of-life flops.
Leaders from New York and the Garden State remain in a months-long quarrel over how to split billions in federal COVID-19 relief funding for transit agencies — and the MTA’s acting chairman Janno Lieber described the argument as “stupid.”
A group of Brooklyn elementary school parents dissatisfied with the city’s COVID-19 testing program for public schools is taking matters into its own hands — by bringing in an outside mobile testing van to offer additional swabs to staff and kids.
Two cops caught on video ejecting a straphanger from the subway for complaining they weren’t wearing masks have been sanctioned, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said. “Absolutely inexcusable,” is how Shea described the actions of the officers.
Two Brooklyn lawyers, Colinford Mattis and Urooj Rahman, pleaded guilty and expressed regret for the firebomb attack on a police car in May 2020. Each could face 10 years in prison.
More than 20,000 public school employees across the state — including nearly 4,000 NYC staffers —are currently working without being fully certified.
The state Gaming Commission is seeking proposals to open up to three casinos in the New York City region — a move that is expected to draw interest from the nation’s largest casino operators.
Advocates and individuals impacted by addiction are calling for significant investments in the state’s behavioral health system, now that new funding streams are available, to curb the alarming rise in statewide overdose deaths.
Under a policy adopted earlier this year, county governments will no longer routinely weigh in on whether state reports reviewing child deaths in New York should be publicly released.
The location of campaign signs on the grassy belts between city curbs and sidewalks became a mayoral campaign issue over the weekend after Mayor Michael Stammel ordered city workers to yank them out and take them to the city highway garage.
A staunch NXIVM loyalist is suing Starz for $12 million, claiming the cable television network sullied his reputation in its 2020 documentary series about India Oxenberg’s ordeal in Keith Raniere’s “master/slave” club.
Michael S. Barone, a former Albany police lieutenant and candidate for city court judge, was charged with attempted murder after he allegedly shot another man at a home in Rensselaer on Tuesday and then drove the victim to the hospital.
Human remains were found in a thickly wooded Florida park, near a notebook and other items belonging to Brian Laundrie, the man who has been declared a “person of interest” in the murder of his fiancée, the F.B.I. said.
The probability is strong that the remains are Laundrie’s, according to the family’s attorney.
Bill Clinton said he was “glad to be back home” and “touched by the outpouring of support” after his six-day hospital stay with a urinary tract infection. “I’m doing great, enjoying this beautiful fall weather,” the 42nd president said from his home in Chappaqua.
Mark Zuckerberg is trying an experiment: can people still blame Facebook for depressed teenagers and attempted coups if it’s not called Facebook anymore?
The NFL agreed to end race-based adjustments in dementia testing that critics said made it difficult for Black retirees to qualify for awards in the $1 billion settlement of concussion claims, according to a proposed deal filed Wednesday in federal court.
This is downright depressing.
