Good Wednesday morning.
I am experiencing a little weather whiplash – is that a thing? I think it must be a syndrome from which all upstaters suffer.
Because yesterday was single-to-low double digits….downright freezing. And today? It’s going to be in the low 30s, and that will feel like summer, by comparison.
Maybe I’ll even go for a run in my shorts.
It’s still cold enough that you’re probably going to want to keep your head covered, and if that’s the case it might be hard for you to celebrate International Kiss a Ginger Day properly – unless said redhead has long hair that sticks out from under their hat.
This day was reportedly launched by a Canadian named Derek Forgie in 2009 as a response to Kick a Ginger Day, which was created the previous year by some clueless teenager who was inspired by a 2005 episode of South Park.
This 14-year-old created a Facebook page in which people celebrated being mean to redheads, and numerous kids reported being mistreated – kicked, taunted, and even punched by their classmates, who boasted of their exploits online. And adding insult to injury, this all took place during Canada’s annual Bullying Awareness Week.
Forgie started his own Facebook group invited eight of his ginger friends to join. The whole thing took off, and here we are, with gingers being the object of affection (sanctioned affection – remember to always ask before you embrace, especially in this COVID age) instead of ridicule.
Gingers through the ages, sadly, were no strangers to mistreatment. They’ve been mistaken for vampires and demons, accused of being witches, targeted during the Spanish Inquisition and more. Part of the reason for all this singling out might be because redheads are so rare – only 2 percent of the world’s population can boast of being a natural ginger.
Red hair is caused by a mutated MC1R gene. If both parents carry this gene, their child has a one in four chance of being born a ginger – even if mom and dad aren’t themselves. Those with red hair actually have less hair on their heads, on average 90,000 strands, compared to 110,000 for blondes and140,000 for brunettes.
Their hair does tend to be thicker than average, though, and it’s harder to dye because it doesn’t hold pigment terribly well.
I always wished I had red hair. Brown is so terribly common. And boring. And red is so fiery – though that’s a stereotype, too, from a personality standpoint, not a simple matter of looks. I tried to color my hair on several occasions with not-so-fabulous results.
I guess that’s why I finally gave in and just cut most of my hair off. Less not to like.
We’ve already been through the weather. I promise, I’ll stop obsessing about that. I know, it’s winter. It’s cold. No news there.
So, let’s get to the good stuff. In the headlines…
President Biden painted a dire picture for the nation’s future elections while in Atlanta, expressing his frustration at Republicans who blocked voting rights legislation and calling on the Senate to change its filibuster rules to accommodate the bills’ passage.
“I’ve been having these quiet conversations with members of Congress for the last two months. I’m tired of being quiet,” Biden said, slamming his hand on the lectern.
Biden did not go so far as to call for full-scale elimination of the filibuster, a Senate tradition that allows the minority party to block legislation that fails to garner 60 votes, but said he supported “getting rid of” it in the case of voting rights legislation.
Some activists who attended the event (and several who opted not to attend) have criticized the president, claiming he was using the moment as a “photo op” instead of putting forth a solid plan of action.
Biden’s speech was remarkable for its boldness. The President who ran as a unifier put forward a blunt good versus evil argument, suggesting that opponents to his plan are akin to segregationists.
While House and Senate Democrats support the long-stalled elections reform proposals, the bills need 60 votes to advance in the 50-50 Senate. Both are expected to fall well short of that mark due to opposition from GOP lawmakers.
“A perfect storm in the Democratic Party is making a once-unfathomable scenario plausible: a political comeback for Hillary Clinton in 2024.”
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, with a seemingly clear path to a second term heading the central bank, declared that the U.S. economy is both healthy enough and in need of tighter monetary policy.
“If we see inflation persisting at high levels, longer than expected, if we have to raise interest rates more over time, then we will,” Powell said in a Senate Banking Committee hearing.
Powell also suggested that keeping price gains under control would be critical for achieving a sustainably strong labor market.
A U.S. government review panel has approved the release of five men who have been held for years without charge at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, but they are unlikely to be freed soon as the Biden administration works to find nations to take them.
U.S. hospitals are caring for the highest number of patients with Covid-19 reported during the pandemic, according to federal government data, as the Omicron variant worsens pressures on the already strained facilities.
The Covid-19 surge fueled by the Omicron variant is hitting nursing homes hard, with the highest number of cases ever documented among staffers and a near-record tally of residents also testing positive, according to new federal data.
A new study of nearly 70,000 Covid patients in California demonstrates that Omicron causes less severe disease than other coronavirus variants.
The new research, posted online yesterday, aligns with similar findings from South Africa, Britain and Denmark, as well as a host of experiments on animals.
U.S. officials ordered 600,000 doses of Covid-19 treatment sotrovimab, the only monoclonal antibody therapy thought to work against the Omicron variant, as a record number of cases puts hospitals under increasing pressure in parts of the U.S. and Europe.
As millions of American students head back to their desks, the COVID-19 testing that was supposed to help keep classrooms open safely is itself being tested.
Students across New York City walked out of their schools just before noon yesterday to protest COVID-19 safety conditions in their classrooms.
The World Health Organization said the Covid omicron variant can result in life-threatening illness for the unvaccinated, the elderly and people with underlying conditions.
More than half of Europe’s population may be infected with omicron within weeks at current transmission rates, a WHO official said.
WHO experts have warned that repeating booster doses of the original Covid vaccines is not a viable strategy against emerging variants and called for new jabs that better protect against transmission.
Top federal health officials defended the Biden administration’s efforts to protect Americans from the highly contagious Omicron variant, facing withering accusations from senators about the scarcity of coronavirus tests and confusing guidance.
About 3,000 employees with United Airlines have tested positive for Covid-19, but no vaccinated staffer has died from the disease over the past eight weeks, the company’s top executive said.
Supermarket operator Albertsons and CVS Health Corp. projected higher profits as Covid-19 worries drove more consumers to the chains’ pharmacies for vaccinations and over-the-counter tests, executives said.
Rolls-Royce’s CEO said the COVID-19 death toll helped push the luxury automaker to a massive sales increase in 2021.
If businesses have learned one thing from Covid-19, it is to stop trying to predict when they are going to be back in the office.
A month into the Omicron surge, Gov. Kathy Hochul said that there was a sign of hope on the horizon as the rate of new coronavirus cases in New York City had begun to plateau.
Still, she said, with case counts continuing to increase elsewhere in the state and a growing number of hospitals forced to limit elective procedures as a result, it would be premature to declare victory over the current virus wave.
“We are not at the end, but I want to say that this to me, is a glimmer of hope,” Hochul said. “A glimmer of hope and at a time when we desperately need that.”
As New York sized up the daunting view from what appears to be the summit of the omicron COVID mountain, Hochul pleaded with parents to boost sluggish childhood vaccination rates that have fanned a spike in pediatric hospitalizations.
New York State is ending contact tracing for COVID-19, saying it’s nearly impossible to keep up with the number of cases amid the omicron surge, and instead will focus on vaccinations and testing.
The New York state health council approved Hochul‘s emergency edict requiring that all health care workers get booster shots for the coronavirus, despite complaints from nursing home officials that the mandate will worsen an already severe staffing shortage.
Hochul said that she’s requesting more federal aid from the Biden administration for New York’s since dried-up rental relief program, ahead of the likely expiration of the state’s eviction moratorium this coming weekend.
New York State’s eviction moratorium will expire this weekend, Hochul confirmed, adding that she will meet with the State Legislature to chart a path forward as hundreds of thousands of face evictions come Jan. 15.
“What we want to do is let people know that that is concluding very shortly,” Hochul said. “I’m having conversations with the legislature on what to do on this issue, but there’s also another option: reopening the portal.”
The looming end of New York’s eviction moratorium will adversely impact low-income and minority residents and compound economic disparities already amplified by the COVID crisis, according to a new study.
Hochul is standing firm on her decision to continue pushing for most state workers to remain in the office, even as New York has experienced a surge in coronavirus cases attributed to the omicron variant.
Subway ridership is on the fast-track to disaster, as the recent Omicron-fueled surge in COVID-19 has left train cars empty and is threatening the MTA’s bottom line.
Colleges and universities in the Capital Region are planning to begin the spring semester online, require medical-grade masks and mandate vaccine boosters as part of their back-to-school safety protocols in light of the rapidly spreading omicron variant.
Republican state lawmakers questioned potential political motives and the integrity of the process after the state’s botched release of highly anticipated data related to changes in New York’s bail laws.
Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman joined dozens of other GOP leaders at the state Capitol to slam Democrats and paint the bail laws as a boon for repeat offenders.
The TU’s Chris Churchill calls Harry Wilson ” the best shot New York Republicans have at winning (back the governor’s office) in November.”
Hochul committed in her first State of the State to combat historic staffing shortages across the health care industry by investing $4 billion in wages and bonuses, but home health aides, whose wages have been stagnant for a decade, weren’t included in that plan.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has agreed to increase the salaries of its security guards, part of an effort to ease staffing shortages that have arisen as the institution is buffeted by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The city last night released a partial list of the victims of a deadly Bronx blaze that occurred two days ago. The chaos of the rescue and the striking number of victims complicated the identification process.
An obscure city law requiring self-closing doors in residential buildings is garnering attention in light of this past weekend’s horrific fire in a Bronx apartment tower.
Here is why fire officials say that closing the door can be one of the most critical actions people can take to stop the spread and save lives when confronting a fire.
State Attorney General Letitia James vowed to investigate the deadly blaze. “There’s a lesson to be learned about the neglect of government … and there’s a lesson to be learned about why this continues to happen in this corner of the Bronx,” she said.
A $3 billion, class-action suit alleges the current and former owners of a Bronx apartment tower should be held liable for the fatal fire and a related filing says everyone affected should get $1 billion each because city officials are also “responsible” for the tragedy.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on federal housing officials to help find permanent new homes for 90 Bronx families left homeless by the weekend blaze.
The fire in a Philadelphia row house that killed 12 people, including eight children, was started by a Christmas tree most likely set ablaze by a lighter, a preliminary investigation found.
In his first 10 days on the job as New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams veered between “swagger” and tragedy, praise and criticism, as he begins leading the nation’s largest city.
Adams is trying to coax a Covid-battered city back to life with sheer will.
Adams’ reported pick to lead the city’s Economic Development Corporation, Carlos Scisurra, had a sideline while running a real estate industry trade group: drumming up support for private property deals with city government.
The list of Adams administration appointees has grown.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell played nice yesterday amid an ongoing dispute about how he plans to prosecute certain crimes.
A wanted ex-con allegedly stole more than $2,000 worth of merchandise by threatening a drug store worker with a knife — yet had his armed robbery charges downgraded under the controversial, progressive policies of Manhattan’s new district attorney.
About 200 detainees at Rikers Island continued a protest yesterday, unusual in its size and organization, against continuing poor conditions at the troubled complex, as frustrations mounted over a Covid-19-imposed quarantine.
“There is no hunger strike,” a Department of Correction spokesperson said in a statement. “A group of detainees were refusing institutional food and instead eating commissary food.”
Billionaire mogul John Catsimatidis is offering a $10,000 reward to help find the killer of 19-year-old-Burger King cashier Kristal Bayron-Nieves.
The State University of New York Board of Trustees approved the opening of two new charter schools on Long Island despite opposition from a powerful lawmaker and K-12 education regulators.
Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer has asked a judge to consider tossing the rest of a lawsuit filed by his accuser and Russian escort Svetlana Travis — as parts of her suit were just made public.
Residents in two communities afflicted with contaminated water are being invited to take part in a health study to monitor the long-term effects of exposure to the manufacturing chemicals that polluted wells in Newburgh and eastern Rensselaer County.
An effort by the Rensselaer County Legislature’s Democratic minority to reform the awarding of salary increases to county officials has been tossed aside by the Republican majority.
About 100 people were evacuated from the Van Rensselaer Heights senior housing site at 460 Forbes Ave. in the city of Rensselaer when an underground electrical cable failed, cutting off heat to the seven-story building, Mayor Michael Stammel said.
Chris Nolin, who has built a career in representing higher education institutions while having strong Democratic ties in Albany County, has been selected by Mayor Patrick Madden to be the next deputy mayor.
City of Albany police are investigating an apparent spurt of vandalism that damaged windows at several businesses along South Pearl Street overnight.
Shirley Troutman, an Albany Law School graduate who has been a judge for nearly three decades, is poised to become the second Black woman to serve on the state’s highest court.
Maya Angelou has become the first Black woman to be featured on a U.S. quarter, as part of a new program under the Treasury Department to celebrate women’s contributions to the U.S.
Rudy Giuliani is the latest associate of former President Trump to come under the microscope of the Congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Novak Djokovic, the top-ranked men’s tennis player, acknowledged that a travel document he presented to Australian border officials last week contained false information, as the country’s authorities continued to investigate whether he should be deported.
Temperatures in the United States last year set more all-time heat and cold records than any other year since 1994, according to a New York Times analysis of Global Historical Climatology Network data.
Investigators are reportedly looking into a “sudden medical emergency” as comedian Bob Saget’s cause of death after drugs and foul play were ruled out.
