Good morning and congratulations, you made it to the end of another workweek – well, almost, anyway.
Today is National Redhead Day, which is not to be confused with World Redhead Day, which is May 6.
It’s kind of crazy that people with naturally red hair, who make up such a slim margin of the world population – 140 million individuals, or about 2 percent – get not one but TWO days of recognition.
The highest concentration of redheads is located in Scotland (13 percent), followed by Ireland (10 percent).
Most redheads have brown, hazel, or green eyes, according to Medical Daily. If you have blue eyes and red hair, you are a rare breed indeed.
There are a lot of myths about redheads, but some of the convention wisdom is actually true. They apparently are more sensitive to sensations like heat and cold. Also, they are more difficult to sedate, and more likely to be left-handed.
Blue eyes and left-handedness are recessive traits, as is red hair, which means both parents must carry the gene for an offspring to manifest it. Recessive traits tend to come in pairs, and 10 to 12 percent of the population is estimated to be left-handed, hence the higher percentage of redheads who are lefties.
Things that are NOT true about redheads? Well, for one, they are not, contrary to popular belief, going extinct. Gingers would basically have to stop procreating altogether for that to occur, and I highly doubt this is going to happen any time soon.
Once upon a time, redheads were believed to be witches and were murdered in high numbers as a result. The Egyptians reportedly considered people with red hair so unlucky that they offered them as sacrifices to the gods.
There’s also no actual science to prove the theory that redheads have hotter temperatures than the rest of us, nor do they necessarily bruise more easily, though their skin tends to be pale and so it’s possible that bruises so up more lividly than on those with more melanin on board. They do burn more easily in the sun, but do not turn into vampires after they die.
If you really want to go down a rabbit hole about the chemistry behind the hair color and skin of redheads, click here.
I always hated having brown hair and wished I was either a redhead or a blonde. I tried to get to both colors at various points in my life with not fantastic results. The reality is, I just happen to look better with the hair that I was born with – what little of it I have chosen to keep. Brown eyes – the most common eye color – and brown hair. Such is my lot in life.
Before the weekend comes, I should note that we are in the five-day holiday of Diwali, a festival of lights that is one of the most important holidays celebrated by followers of Hinduism, Sikhism and Jainism. (The main day of the festivities was Nov. 4, and I was remiss in failing to note that – please forgive).
It’s going to warm up a tad this weekend, starting today with temperatures in the low 50s. We’re going to get plenty of sunshine, so get out there and enjoy it while you still can.
In the headlines…
A push from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring up Democrats’ healthcare, education and climate package for a vote as early as yesterday hit a series of snags as lawmakers continued to haggle over immigration and the deduction on state and local taxes.
“I will let you know as soon as I wish to,” Pelosi told reporters. She ruled out the possibility of voting first on the infrastructure bill, which liberals have refused to support unless it moves in tandem with the more expansive domestic policy measure.
House Democrats are now planning to vote today on their long-sought social spending package as well as the bipartisan infrastructure bill as they rush to deliver on President Biden’s agenda after disappointing state election results earlier this week.
The House will reconvene this morning with plans to vote on both a party-line $1.75 trillion social policy bill and Biden’s Senate-passed infrastructure bill. Senior Democrats were upbeat about the prospects of wrapping up both measures today, too.
House Democrats late yesterday modified the provision in their social spending package that would raise the cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction.
Sen. Joe Manchin defended his arguments over the social spending and climate package stuck in Congress, arguing that Democrats and Biden will be hurt if the party moves too far to the left.
The Justice Department sued Texas over aspects of its new voting law, the latest Biden administration challenge to Republican-backed changes to state voting procedures.
The U.S. Department of Education is ending its relationship with private collection agencies that had been tasked with recovering payments from federal student loan borrowers in default to improve collections and provide borrowers with more support.
More than 40 countries – but not the U.S., China or India – pledged to phase out coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, in a deal announced at the UN climate summit that prompted Alok Sharma, the head of the conference, to proclaim “the end of coal is in sight.”
A federal judge expressed skepticism about Donald Trump’s attempt to block from release a wide range of documents related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, signaling she might let a congressional committee scrutinizing the violence pore over hundreds of files.
The Manhattan district attorney has convened a second long-term grand jury to hear evidence about the Trump Organization’s financial practices and potentially to vote on criminal charges, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The grand jury will hear evidence about the company’s financial practices, and could potentially vote on criminal charges.
An analyst who was a key contributor to Democratic-funded opposition research into possible links between Trump and Russia was arrested and charged with lying to the F.B.I. about his sources.
A person traveling with Biden to Europe this past week received a positive test result for the coronavirus, the administration confirmed, saying the individual did not have close contact with the president.
Many employers will have to ensure by Jan. 4 that their workers are vaccinated or tested weekly for Covid-19 under a set of new vaccine requirements by the Biden administration that will cover more than 80 million employees.
The Biden administration says workers at private-sector companies with at least 100 employees will need to get vaccinated or produce a negative Covid-19 test weekly.
In a separate measure that will affect 17 million more workers, nursing homes and other health care facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funds must ensure all employees are vaccinated by Jan. 4, with no option for testing.
The trucking industry is bracing for a major hit over the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate implemented via OSHA according to industry leaders who say the freight companies impacted could lose more than a third of their drivers over the new rule.
Sen. Mike Lee continued his fight in the Senate against Biden’s vaccine mandate for businesses, and Utah is geared up to challenge the administration’s new rules in court.
The federal government has canceled its contract with a troubled Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer that ruined millions of doses and had to halt production for months after regulators raised serious quality concerns.
Europe is again experiencing near-record levels of coronavirus infections, and could experience half a million Covid-related deaths in the next three months, the World Health Organization said.
Europe is facing a potentially devastating winter that could see half a million people die with Covid-19, the WHO warned, as it sounded the alarm over a surge in cases and bemoaned stuttering vaccination rollouts on parts of the continent.
British health regulators have granted a conditional authorization for the only pill known so far to successfully treat COVID-19, making the United Kingdom the first nation to green-light the anti-viral treatment.
For more than a year, residents living in a remote border town have been China’s foot soldiers in the battle against the coronavirus, enduring lockdown after lockdown to shield the rest of the country from contagion.
As the Delta variant became the dominant strain of coronavirus across the U.S., all three COVID-19 vaccines lost some of their protective power, with vaccine efficacy among a large group of veterans dropping between 35% and 85%, according to a new study.
Even if they get a breakthrough infection, vaccinated people don’t get as sick with Covid-19, two different teams of researchers reported.
The U.S. unemployment picture improved again last week, with initial filings for unemployment insurance falling to another pandemic-era low.
First-time claims dropped to 269,000 for the week ended Oct. 30, down 14,000 from the previous period and better than the Dow Jones estimate for 275,000, the Labor Department reported.
Economists estimate that the Labor Department will report today that U.S. employers added 450,000 jobs in October, or more than double the payroll gains seen in September.
Children between the ages of 5 and 11 are eligible to receive $100 to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.
De Blasio has reached a deal with nine labor unions regarding how the city will handle unvaccinated employees under its tough new vaccination mandate. In exchange, the unions have agreed to drop their legal efforts to overturn the new policy.
FDNY firefighters continue to balk at the city COVID-19 vaccination mandate — at the expense of their Bravest brothers and sisters who are inoculated.
State Sen. Sean Ryan, a Buffalo-area Democrat, has tested positive for COVID-19.
Biden has nominated Brooklyn Assemblyman Nick Perry to serve as ambassador to Jamaica.
Since assuming her new role, Gov. Kathy Hochul has managed to expertly sidestep taking positions on many controversial issues.
Three potential 2022 candidates for governor are vying for the attention and support of New York’s political and union class that’s migrated to Puerto Rico for the week. NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams won’t be attending due to a chronic fear of flying.
Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi said he’s “seriously considering” a run for governor and will make a decision by the end of the month.
But first, Suozzi told reporters in a virtual news conference he has to determine if he can get through a Democratic primary successfully. “The factors are whether I can win or not,” he said. “I would love to be governor of New York state.”
“We have to be willing to stand up to the far left, because that message they’re doing from the Democratic Socialist wing of the Democratic Party is destroying the party,” Suozzi said. “It’s not what the American people want…And it’s not a winning message.”
In the past nine gubernatorial elections, the candidate who won bellwether Nassau County on Long Island won the state as a whole.
The Suffolk County Legislature unanimously adopted a $3.88 billion budget for 2022 that includes hiring hundreds of law enforcement officers, filling staff vacancies and paying off millions of dollars in debt.
Hochul named Assemblyman Robert Rodriguez as her pick to become the next secretary of state of New York.
The current secretary of sate, Rossana Rosado, will be nominated as Commissioner, New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS).
Tapping Rodriguez is part of Hochul’s effort to woo the crucial Hispanic vote in what is expected to be a bruising Democratic primary battle for governor next year.
Hochul ruled out raising taxes on the wealthy in the near future, arguing in remarks that New York relies on high-income earners to fund its spending programs.
Layla Law-Gisiko, the land use chair for Manhattan Community Board 5, said she was blindsided by Hochul’s announcement that the state would move forward with Cuomo’s Penn Station plan but reduce the overall size of its 10 new skyscrapers by 7 percent.
The rejection of a constitutional amendment that would have tweaked the state’s troubled redistricting process has left reform advocates and Democrats looking for a potential fallback — but options are limited without a special session of the Legislature.
Biden spoke to Mayor-elect Eric Adams and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy this week and congratulated them on their respective victories in the New York City mayoral race and the Garden State governor’s race.
Come Jan. 1, Adams will be handed the keys to City Hall — and a heap of problems left behind by de Blasio, including a crime surge, union resistance over the COVID-19 mandate and $5 billion budget deficit, to name a few.
Adams called the NYC Department of Education “one of the greatest embarrassments of our city,” and vowed to reform it.
Adams said that he plans to receive his first three paychecks as mayor in the form of Bitcoin, the controversial but increasingly popular digital currency, to show his commitment to making New York City the hub of digital finance.
“I’m going to take my first THREE paychecks in Bitcoin when I become mayor,” Adams said in a tweet, trying to one up the mayor of Miami who said he would take a paycheck in the cryptocurrency.
Manhattan DA-elect Alvin Bragg — wearing his private lawyer hat for one of the last times before he takes office — issued an eleventh-hour plea to the judge overseeing the inquest into Eric Garner’s death to reconsider calling top NYPD brass as witnesses.
Concerns over public safety and pandemic restrictions helped some Republicans win seats on the New York City Council, which will also be one of the city’s most diverse councils ever.
Runners, organizers and spectators are preparing for New York City’s first marathon since the onset of the pandemic, another milestone in the city’s long journey of recovery.
A state Supreme Court judge ordered a state trooper remain behind bars while awaiting trial on charges of killing 11-year-old Monica Goods in a high speed pursuit last December in upstate Ulster County.
A contractor is accused of changing the date on temporary “no parking signs” last month and then calling police to ticket and tow cars on Albany’s Ash Grove Place and Westerlo Street in the city’s Mansion neighborhood.
Cairo, a small town in Greene County, is seeking a grant with the local state senator to protect a unique paleontological find from weathering, ATV riders and souvenir-seekers.
Low-fare carrier Frontier Airlines launched twice-weekly nonstop flights between Albany International Airport and Miami International Airport.
Ellis Medicine and St. Peter’s Health Partners took another step forward this week in their plans for a proposed merger with the signing of an agreement that will transition 170 clinicians from the employ of Ellis to St. Peter’s.
Buffalo Assemblyman Patrick Burke is calling on Terry and Kim Pegula to remove the name of O.J. Simpson from the Wall of Fame at Highmark Stadium.
The FAA has referred 37 of the most egregious unruly airline passengers to the FBI for criminal prosecution, the agency announced.
Ed Durr, a truck driver for Raymour & Flanigan who defeated New Jersey political powerhouse Steve Sweeney, said of all Tuesday’s election-upset victories, he was as surprised as anybody about his own.
In the aftermath of the on-set killing of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, Dwayne Johnson is taking proactive steps to avoid the possibility of such tragedies happening on any of his future productions.
