Somehow it’s Friday again. How did that happen? I feel like Monday was just yesterday.
Not that I’m complaining, mind you, just saying that the days seem to be flying by. Maybe it’s because I have so much to do before 2022 ends and not nearly enough time to accomplish it all.
Aside from the Fridayness of today, which is definitely worth celebrating, it’s also Human Rights Day.
Human Rights Day is observed on this date to commemorate the UN General Assembly’s adoption in 1948 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which proclaims the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being – regardless of race, color, religion, sex, language, political views, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
According to the UN, the UDHR, as it’s known for short, is the world’s most translated document, available in 500 languages.
The theme for this year is equality, or, more specifically, reducing inequalities and advancing human rights. Article 1 of the UDHR clearly states: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”
That’s a maxim you might think we could all get behind. But no.
Even right here in the U.S., human rights violations are taking place on the regular, according to Amnesty International, though our overall track record is a far sight better than, say, China’s.
ICYMI: Just this week, U.S. lawmakers from both parties agreed that China must face retaliation for human rights violations and took action to go on the record against slave labor.
Also, in case you’re a little fuzzy on what, exactly, constitutes a human rights violation, here’s one pretty expansive definition:
“A human rights violation is the disallowance of the freedom of thought and movement to which all humans legally have a right. While individuals can violate these rights, the leadership or government of civilization most often belittles marginalized persons.”
In 1952, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp in honor of Human Rights Day that received over 200,000 advanced orders. (It’s pretty cool looking, and you can purchase it for a song online, for all you budding philatelists out there).
It’s also International Animal Rights Day, which is a kind of interesting juxtaposition. Did you know, BTW, that PETA has only been around since 1980? That seems kind of nutty to me.
It’s going to be in the low 40s and mostly cloudy today. Tomorrow, crazily enough, is going to be extremely warm for this time of year, with temperatures nearing 60 degrees. SIXTY DEGREES!!! But it’s also going to rain steadily in the morning, tapering off to showers in the afternoon. Maybe we’ll get a long enough reprieve from the rain to head out to the golf course and have a nice walk.
See you there, fellow dog lovers.
In the headlines…
State Attorney General Tish James has suspended her campaign for governor less than two months after a highly anticipated launch, saying that she will instead focus on reelection to her current job in 2022.
James said she will instead pursue re-election as the state attorney general, citing her office’s ongoing investigations.
“I have come to the conclusion that I must continue my work as attorney general,” James wrote in a tweet. “There are a number of important investigations and cases that are underway, and I intend to finish the job.”
The move followed heavy criticism from former Gov. Andrew Cuomo that James’ investigation of sexual harassment allegations against him was politically motivated. A Cuomo spokesman declined to comment on her decision to seek re-election.
James, after abruptly ending her campaign for governor, has requested testimony from Donald Trump in her civil investigation into possible fraud by the Trump Organization.
James has requested to take the former president’s testimony on Jan. 7 at her New York office as part of a civil investigation into whether Trump’s company committed financial fraud in the valuations of properties to different entities.
If James finds evidence of wrongdoing in the civil inquiry, she could file a lawsuit against Trump, but she could not file criminal charges.
James’ request comes as outgoing Manhattan DA Cy Vance is pushing to determine whether Trump or his family business engaged in criminal fraud by intentionally submitting false property values to potential lenders.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said James called her yesterday morning with news of her decision to seek re-election. “All I can say is I respect her tremendously, always have…and I look forward to having her on the ticket as we head into the November elections together.”
Hochul said she still expects to face a primary challenge and “always, always, always run like an underdog.”
James’ decision removes a candidate who was thought to be Hochul’s toughest potential obstacle and means Democratic state leadership and top donors will no longer be split between the two frontrunners, potentially narrowing the path for everyone else.
State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs praised James for her decision not to challenge Hochul in the June primary and called on the governor’s other Democratic opponents to do the same.
Rep. Tom Suozzi’s campaign announced a series of virtual town hall events that will be regionalized — and designed to raise his profile in parts of upstate New York where he remains little known. Suozzi offered James his “best wishes” in a statement.
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said of his gubernatorial run: “I wouldn’t have been in the race if I didn’t think we had path…I still think we have a path. I had said from the beginning that we weren’t specifically running against any one person.”
A leading Republican candidate for governor, Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin, immediately recast Williams as his new progressive foil, saying the Brooklyn Democrat would likely win his party’s nomination “with his far-left credentials.”
James’ announcement had an immediate impact on the attorney general race, as one candidate – state Sen. Shelley Mayer – dropped out of the Democratic primary and endorsed James.
Former Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen, who was mulling a potential state AG run, will no longer jump into the race, and ex-state Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo will continue her bid.
Jim Malatras, the chancellor of the State University of New York, said he would resign after text messages showed he had belittled a woman who later accused Cuomo of sexual harassment.
“The recent events surrounding me over the past week have become a distraction over the important work that needs to be accomplished as SUNY emerges from Covid-19,” he wrote in a letter to SUNY’s Board of Trustees.
“I believe deeply in an individual’s ability to evolve, change, and grow, but I also believe deeply in SUNY and would never want to be an impediment to its success,” he added.
Hochul confirmed reports she had reached out to SUNY Board of Trustees Chairwoman Meryl Tisch in “an important conversation” about the direction of the state university system.
Joint Commission in Public Ethics are trying to figure out how to force a resistant Cuomo to repay the $5.1 million he was ultimately paid to write “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
The U.S. Senate voted by a healthy 64-36 margin to pass a bipartisan agreement to raise the debt ceiling that former President Trump bitterly derided as a gift to Democrats.
Senators voted to allow the chamber to raise the U.S. borrowing limit with a simple majority. The measure, attached to a bill that would prevent automatic Medicare cuts at the beginning of next year, now heads to Biden’s desk for his signature.
A federal appeals court rejected Trump’s effort to block a House select committee from getting a tranche of White House records for its investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Bob Dole lay in state at the U.S. Capitol as President Biden led a mournful chorus of tributes to an “American giant” who served his country with conservative values and trademark self-deprecating heartland wit.
“Bob Dole loved this Capitol,” said Biden. “It’s where he served the nation, shaped by the figures that surround us, Washington and Jefferson, who set us on our path. Bob belongs here. He too was a giant of our history. And that’s not hyperbole. It’s real.”
During the opening speech at yesterday’s Summit for Democracy, Biden told the assembled international leaders that the stakes of their meeting were nothing less than existential: that the survival of democracy itself depended on what his audience did next.
The Chinese government has launched a bitter public relations campaign targeting Biden’s Summit for Democracy, arguing that the Communist nation also deserves recognition as one of the world’s great democracies.
First lady Jill Biden has dismissed speculation about her husband’s mental health as “ridiculous”.
Jill Biden also opened up about her role as first lady being more difficult than she predicted before she entered the East Wing, saying: “It’s a little harder than I imagined.”
School districts across the U.S. say they are seeing a surge of student misbehavior in the return to in-person learning, after months of closures and disruptions due to the pandemic.
Vaccine makers are racing to update their COVID-19 shots against the newest coronavirus threat even before it’s clear a change is needed, just in case.
The world has “lost the plot” on equitable vaccine access during the coronavirus pandemic and is falling far short of targets to vaccinate the global south, according to scathing assessments from experts as the omicron variant spreads to more countries.
The FDA authorized the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for use as a booster in people ages 16 and 17, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended it for this age group.
Covid-19 vaccinations for children 5 to 11 years old are off to a slow start in many parts of the U.S., federal data show, underscoring the challenges health officials face in persuading parents to inoculate their children.
The rise of omicron Covid cases in the U.K. is on such steep trajectory that the country has been told to brace for one million cases by the end of the month.
GE, Union Pacific and other large employers have suspended Covid-19 vaccine requirements for workers after a U.S. court ruling blocked the Biden administration’s plan to mandate vaccines for federal contractors.
Hochul plans to announce additional steps to combat a new surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the state.
Hochul said that “community spread” of the fast-spreading omicron coronavirus strain has begun in New York, but promised the state is ready for the challenge.
Central New York is witnessing a collapse of its health care system.
Oneida County is instituting a mask mandate in all public indoor settings because of a rise in Covid-19 cases.
Biden, bracing for another jump in inflation, sought to reassure Americans that rises in energy costs and other key goods were starting to ease, but said the change might not be reflected in November data due out today.
Weekly jobless claims tumbled last week, reaching a fresh 52-year low as the U.S. jobs market climbs out of its pandemic-era hole, the Labor Department reported.
Initial filings for unemployment insurance totaled 184,000 for the week ended Dec. 4, the lowest going back to Sept. 6, 1969, which saw 182,000.
Mayor-elect Eric Adams slammed a lenient bail reform law that allowed the unhinged firebug who allegedly torched the Fox News Christmas tree to be quickly set free.
Several groups focused on electing women criticized Adams for pushing only a male candidate, Francisco Moya, for City Council speaker.
Adams defended his team’s behind-the-scenes involvement in the City Council speaker’s race, claiming he’s not in “any way impeding” the contest even though he promised last month to stay out of it.
Adams delivered a tough-on-crime speech in Manhattan, while repeating his warning to Black Lives Matter leader Hawk Newswome not to mess with New York.
Incoming schools chancellor David Banks vowed to transform the Big Apple’s “fundamentally flawed” public school system, telling New Yorkers that “change is coming.”
Noting that the DOE spends $38 billion annually while 65 percent of black and Hispanic city kids fail basic subjects, Banks took direct aim at the DOE’s Tweed Courthouse headquarters near City Hall.
Adams is expected to make another big announcement soon — who will run the nation’s largest police force. He has vowed New York City’s next top cop will be a woman.
The City Council approved a measure to allow non-citizen, but legal, Big Apple residents to vote in municipal elections — despite vocal opposition to the “irresponsible” and “dangerous” legislation, a procedural obstacle and threat of a legal challenge.
The Democratic-led City Council voted 33-14 for the measure, which if enacted would take effect for council races in 2023. It has prompted GOP legal questions and concerns. Mayor de Blasio has said he won’t veto it, but didn’t commit to signing, either.
Two FDNY firefighters assaulted a man while off-duty during a drunken Upper East Side bar brawl, police said.
Cream cheese shortages stemming from supply-chain issues have brought bagel purveyors — and a beloved Brooklyn cheesecake institution, Junior’s — to their knees as they do their best to milk their spread stockpiles for all they’re worth.
The philanthropic family at the center of the nation’s deadly opioid crisis will have its name removed from exhibits at the iconic Metropolitan Museum of Art, the institution announced in a statement.
Money manager Jason Ader will submit plans today for a casino in the New York area that features what he said would be the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading floor and a landing pad for flying cars.
The crypto trading floor should be the biggest in the world, and the project includes an esports arena and a venue for events such as New York Fashion Week.
Dozens of law enforcement officers, prosecutors and anti-crime advocates urged state lawmakers to revisit New York’s laws ending cash bail, overhauling discovery rules and raising the age of incarceration to 21.
Chiefs of Police, including Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins, and District Attorneys, including David Soares of Albany County, attended a press conference outside the state Capitol alongside victims’ rights groups to explain their proposal.
Starbucks workers at a store in Buffalo voted to unionize, a first for the 50-year-old coffee retailer in the U.S. and the latest sign that the labor movement is stirring after decades of decline.
The vote won by a 19-8 margin. The vote at a second store resulted in a count of 12 opposed versus 8 in favor of the union, but each store’s tally is considered separately, so workers at the second location will not have union representation.
The NLRB said it couldn’t certify a result in the third Buffalo store after 15 workers voted for unionization there, 9 voted against and 7 ballots were challenged by the parties. The labor board said it would take up the challenges later.
A decision by an appeals court appears to finally clear the way for the city of Albany to acquire the final pieces of downtown land needed for a $100 million redevelopment project known as Liberty Park.
The five-judge panel of the state Appellate Division, Third Department, unanimously rejected claims made by the lots’ owners, who contended the potential redevelopment was “speculative and hypothetical” and that there’s no evidence the land is blighted.
The Bethlehem Town Board narrowly approved a waiver that allows its first affordable housing project to proceed despite a moratorium on major residential development.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is pushing U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to approve a $29.5 million grant for the Port of Albany’s offshore wind turbine tower manufacturing project planned for Glenmont.
Appellate justices unanimously reversed a Rensselaer County Family Court judge’s order in July that permitted a law guardian to get COVID-19 vaccines for two children over their mother’s objection.
The FBI’s office in Albany is investigating after several area television stations recently received a letter from someone claiming to be the “Chinese Zodiac Killer.”
The woman who died after her car entered the Niagara River on Wednesday deliberately drove into the waterway, investigators said.
Republican Central NY Rep. John Katko is pushing for the United States to ban its athletes from participating in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing as part of a full U.S. boycott aimed at punishing China, saying a diplomatic boycott is not enough.
Actor Jussie Smollett was convicted of staging a hate crime nearly three years after he claimed two Trump-loving bigots beat him up, tied a noose around his neck and doused him in bleach in a misbegotten bid to raise his public profile.
The parents of a student shot in the neck during a mass shooting at her Michigan high school last week are filing two $100 million lawsuits against the district and several administrators and staff, a lawyer for the family said.
Italian regulators fined Amazon $1.28 billion for “abusing its dominant position in the Italian market.”
