HELLO, Friday.
We’re going to go for a really warm and personal theme today – it’s National Hugging Day! Yup. We’re going there.
A day dedicated to embracing your fellow human – or animal – assuming both participants 1) have tested negative for Covid, 2) are part of the same pandemic pod, 3) are wearing a high-quality (non-cloth, medical grade) mask, and/or 4) all of the above.
I think I covered all the possible bases there?
The word “hug” is believed to come from the word “hugga”, which means “to comfort” in the Old Norse language and first appeared about 450 years ago in Scandinavia. Hugging has become an acceptable form of public displays of affection, provided, of course, that the participants are all consenting and eager participants.
There is also a science behind hugging, which is really, at its base, an extension of the basic human need for touch.
This begins right away, basically at birth, as there is ample evidence that skin-to-skin contact between newborns and their caregivers (moms, dads, biological or otherwise) has both physical and psychological benefits, including but not limited to: improved sleeping, reduced crying, stronger immune systems, improved empathy for others as they grow and more.
Also, mothers who prioritize skin-to-skin contact with their babies reportedly have improved breast milk production and a lower risk of postpartum depression.
But hugging has a lot of benefits for humans of all ages. For example, studies have shown that the simple act of embracing another person can lower your blood pressure, because it stimulates an instant reduction in the production of the stress hormone cortisol.
Also, hugging for 20 seconds or more, helps release the feel-good hormone known as oxytocin, creating a stronger bond and connection between the huggers. Oxytocin has been shown to boost the immune system and reduce stress.
(As an aside, take a moment to count 20 seconds….it’s really quite a long time. How many of us are actually holding our hugs long enough to get this kind of benefit from them? Not many of us, I’ll bet).
It reportedly can also improve your heart health. One fascinating study found that participants who didn’t have contact with their loved one developed a quickened heart rate of 10 beats per minute compared to five beats per minute among those who got to hug their partners during the experiment.
As I was Googling around for information about hugging, I found a site that suggests one should get at least eight hugs a day. If that’s indeed the case, I am seriously lacking. Desperately in need of hugs over here, people.
Except another site suggests that you can get benefits from just holding hands, because the secret sauce is touch, which makes us happier, healthier and generally just overall better humans.
It should be easier for you to get into a hugging mood today if you happen to be outside, because it might help you stay warm. As I write this, we’re looking at single digits out there, folks, and the temperature is forecast to only reach 15 degrees. Though on the upside, the clouds we will see in the morning will give way to sunshine in the afternoon.
In the headlines…
Escalating psychological warfare between the United States and Russia over Ukraine is fast approaching a point at which a peaceful exit from a crisis with real-world ramifications for Americans could be impossible.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has hit back at comments made by Biden about a “minor incursion” by Russia into his country.
After the president laid bare divisions over Russian meddling in Ukraine, his administration scrambled to get on the same page with European allies.
The U.S. has given approval for three Baltic NATO members to send American-made weapons to Ukraine. The decision will enable Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia to send Javelin antitank weapons and Stinger air-defense systems for Ukraine’s forces.
Biden launched into his second year as president with a new focus on making fatigued Americans believe they’re better off under his leadership as he embraces a pared-back agenda before the midterm elections.
Biden suggested he is going to run for reelection in 2024 and that Vice President Kamala Harris would be there with him.
Biden said the Democratic Party was united despite a high-profile rift with two senators that blocked sweeping voting-rights legislation a day earlier.
One day after Biden appeared to cast doubt on whether the midterm election results will be legitimate without the passage of a new voting rights law, his vice president and press secretary worked to dispel any mistrust in the integrity of the vote.
Biden’s concession this week that his marquee social safety net and climate package must be broken apart to have any hope of becoming law reignited a debate among Democrats over which pieces of the plan to prioritize as they work to salvage it.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is defending his decision to hold failed votes on voting rights legislation and changing the filibuster as a necessary step in holding Republicans and members of his own party accountable for their votes.
New York Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman was arrested while participating in a voting-rights protest near the Capitol, according to a spokesman.
The Supreme Court allowed Texas’ six-week abortion ban to remain in effect indefinitely, issuing an order blocking litigation against the law while the state’s highest court weighs a procedural question related to the measure’s enforcement.
The court’s order was unsigned and provided no explanation. The three liberal justices dissented, arguing the order undermined the court’s December decision permitting abortion providers to proceed in limited fashion with their lawsuit.
“This case is a disaster for the rule of law and a grave disservice to women in Texas, who have a right to control their own bodies,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote. “I will not stand by silently as a State continues to nullify this constitutional guarantee.”
This is the third time the court has ducked dealing with the law, known as SB 8, which is aimed at skirting enforcement of the right to abortion.
Jobless claims took an unexpected turn higher last week in a potential sign that the wintertime omicron surge was hitting the employment picture.
Initial filings for the week ended Jan. 15 totaled 286,000, well above the Dow Jones estimate of 225,000 and a substantial gain from the previous week’s 231,000.
The number of new claims is the highest since October, but economists cautioned that fluctuations in the numbers are likely in the coming weeks.
Higher bonuses handed out this week across Wall Street came with a warning: Don’t get used to it.
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has asked former President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump to cooperate with the panel voluntarily.
In a letter to Ivanka Trump, the committee expressed interest in her knowledge of her father’s efforts to convince then-Vice President Mike Pence, who was presiding over a joint Jan. 6 session of Congress, to prevent ratification of the 2020 election results.
“As the Committee already knows, Ivanka did not speak at the January 6 rally,” a spokesperson said. “As she publicly stated that day at 3:15pm, ‘any security breach or disrespect to our law enforcement is unacceptable. The violence must stop immediately. Please be peaceful.’ “
The right-wing Oath Keepers militia group was prepared to move a stash of firearms and equipment from a Virginia hotel to rioters on Jan. 6 last year, federal prosecutors said.
Documents disclosed this week showed in vivid detail just how closely Fox’s Sean Hannity had worked with White House aides in a fervent, if brief, effort to persuade Trump to abandon his false claims about voter fraud after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
A district attorney in Atlanta asked a judge to convene a special grand jury to help a criminal investigation into former President Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
A popular Czech folk singer who deliberately caught COVID-19 has died, her son says. Hanka Horka, who was not vaccinated, caught the virus from her son and husband, who are vaccinated but still caught it over the holidays.
Horka’s bereaved son, Jak Rek, poured his heart out on social media and to Czech news outlets — offering both a plea for people to be vaccinated and a warning against taking the virus lightly.
A study from Beth Isreal Deaconess Medical Center found that a large number of side effects reported by patients after receiving their Covid shot can be attributed to the placebo effect.
Researchers discovered that many volunteers in vaccine control groups — those who unknowingly received an inert, placebo vaccine — claimed to have suffered the same flu-like symptoms as their vaccinated cohorts.
All of the roughly 240 American athletes going to next month’s Beijing Winter Olympic Games have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Team USA’s top doctor told AP.
Unvaccinated tennis star Novak Djokovic is considering serving Australia’s government with a lawsuit after he was deported in the interest of public health ahead of the Australian Open.
The Department of Homeland Security announced that proof of Covid-19 vaccination will be required from all foreign travelers coming via land ports of entry and ferry terminals from Mexico or Canada.
Adele is postponing her Las Vegas residency because of preparation issues due to COVID-19.
Lions at a South African zoo that caught the coronavirus from their handlers were sick for more than three weeks and continued to test positive for up to seven weeks, according to a new study that raised concerns about the virus spreading among wild animals.
As the Omicron variant rips across the U.S., in early January almost 9 million Americans said they were not working because they had COVID-19 or were caring for someone with the virus — triple the number from a month ago.
The U.S. Omicron wave may be peaking, but now COVID deaths are climbing as cases continue to soar in most of the country.
Hospitals in early Omicron hot spots like New York and Washington, D.C., say the pressure is starting to ease, with many reporting fewer Covid-19 patients filling beds and smaller numbers of staff sidelined by infections.
A recent surge in fatalities combined with staffing shortages due to Omicron have created a backlog at the city Medical Examiner’s office that is having a ripple effect at local hospitals.
The seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases statewide in New York was down 47.1% compared to last week.
A New York man has been arrested after allegedly faking Covid-19 test results in order to get workers’ compensation benefits.
Omicron was probably present in New York City’s wastewater more than a week before the first case of the new variant was detected in the United States, according to a new report from the CDC and researchers across the country.
Republican Queens Councilwoman Vickie Paladino was allowed to cast votes in person at City Hall for the first time yesterday after receiving a waiver from the city’s vaccination mandate.
Paladino has been granted a waiver on “religious” grounds to attend City Council meetings in-person despite refusing to disclose whether she’s vaccinated against COVID-19, her son said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state is “looking at our options” of what to do about schools on Long Island that are reportedly failing to enforce her mandate for students and staff to wear masks indoors.
Hochul’s campaign contributions flowed from a broad spigot of cash turned on last fall by New York’s varied special interests, from real estate and building trades to hospitals, labor unions and gaming companies.
Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin coughed up roughly $25,000 to cover car loan payments and other personal expenses he had charged to his old Senate campaign account, filings with the state Board of Elections reveal.
Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi’s first ad of his campaign for governor takes a topical approach: He pledges to use the power of the governor to remove local district attorneys if they do not prosecute crimes.
A review of court records from recent years indicates that the type of resisting arrest cases new Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s prosecutors will no longer pursue are exceedingly rare in Manhattan and in New York City overall.
Bragg pushed back against allegations that prosecution policies he outlined as he took office make him soft on violent crime, stressing that his office would be “laser-focused” on gun crimes in the borough.
During a virtual appearance at New York University School of Law, Bragg called prosecutorial discretion “a bedrock principle embedded in our Constitution.”
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman issued an executive order requiring the county’s police department to publish a daily report including the names of individuals arrested, their criminal case data and bail status.
Hochul is vowing to use the state police to stop the flow of guns into the city after Mayor Eric Adams begged for help in stopping the pandemic of gun violence that has marred his first three weeks in office.
Attorney General Letitia James’ office released the final batch of transcripts and videotaped interviews related to her office’s sexual harassment investigation into former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Video of Chris Cuomo’s testimony to state investigators probing his brother showed he openly admitted advising the then-governor on how to navigate the sexual harassment scandal while working as a journalist/host for the cable news channel.
“When asked, I would reach out to sources, other journalists, to see if they had heard of anybody else coming out,” Chris Cuomo said, describing his efforts to uncover incoming allegations against the three-term governor.
Chris Cuomo said he advised actor Alec Baldwin not to publicly speak out about cancel culture while the journalist’s brother was facing a sexual misconduct trial.
Letizia Tagliafierro, an ex-Cuomo aide and state IG, was the unnamed “high-level staff member” who directed the State Police to bend the rules so a young female trooper whom the governor met at an event could be appointed to his protective detail.
One of Cuomo’s former staffers, Josh Vlasto, texted his friends that it “depends how you define bs” when asked if groping allegations made against the then-governor were true.
Here are some of the additional takeaways from the newly released witness interview transcripts.
The state Senate confirmed Hochul’s choice of Dr. Mary Bassett as New York state’s new health commissioner.
Bassett told state lawmakers she would have resigned rather than put vulnerable New Yorkers in harm’s way through the implementation of a health directive like the March 25 order her predecessor, Dr. Howard Zucker, enacted.
“As I have said from the beginning, I will continue to be open and transparent and make decisions based on science, data and improving the health of all New Yorkers,” Bassett said.
Prior to her confirmation, Bassett was grilled by GOP state lawmakers about how much she would allow the executive chamber to dictate health policy.
State senators approved Janno Lieber as the MTA’s chairman and chief executive officer by a vote of 56-7.
Hochul’s proposed budget includes funding to stave off transit fare hikes for the rest of 2022, the MTA said.
Hochul’s plan to build a public transit link between Brooklyn and Queens picked up steam as she released an initial MTA study into the project.
Cinemas can now serve wine and beer at concession stands and movie-goers are allowed to take their drinks into the theater for the show, the State Liquor Authority ruled in a unanimous vote this week.
Adams said his first paycheck will be converted into bitcoin and ethereum. The paycheck, expected today, will be switched into cryptocurrency through the online platform Coinbase Global Inc. , he said.
Months after declaring that he would take his first three checks in cryptocurrency in an innovative bid to narrow digital and financial divides, Adams now says federal law is kind of in the way of him keeping his promise.
Adams’s eagerness to honor his pledge and his desire to broadcast it to the world point to one of his most frequent economic development arguments: New York City should become the global capital for cryptocurrency.
“New York is the center of the world, and we want it to be the center of cryptocurrency and other financial innovations,” Adams said. “Being on the forefront of such innovation will help us create jobs, improve our economy, and continue to be a magnet for talent from all over the globe.”
Adams, in his first trip to Washington since taking office in New York City, encouraged mayors from across the country to be honest about the immense challenges facing cities as they recover from the pandemic, and to address them by being “radically practical.”
Adams called for additional federal infrastructure spending on top of the already massive legislation signed into law by Biden last year.
Adams recently issued his first veto, blocking City Council legislation that would have stiffened penalties for SoHo residents living there without the required artist licenses.
Adams has named former Councilmember Daniel Garodnick as City Planning Commission (CPC) chair, after weeks of key housing and development appointments for the new administration being up in the air.
The New York City Council is back in full swing, and members of the new 51-member class received committee assignments and leadership roles.
Bronx prosecutors withdrew charges in 133 felony cases linked to a detective who was previously indicted for lying under oath about drug busts in Manhattan, officials said.
“King of Staten Island” star Pete Davidson and fellow “Saturday Night Live” cast member Colin Jost bought a decommissioned Staten Island Ferry vessel.
New York state utility regulators gave permission to National Grid to raise electric and natural gas rates over the next three years.
Equal justice under the law is not something Black people enjoy in Saratoga County–that’s the argument an attorney made in city court in defense of his client.
Recently reelected Niskayuna Town Board member John Della Ratta pleaded guilty to two minor motor vehicle and traffic violations stemming from his arrest late last year on a drunken driving charge in Saratoga County, according to his attorney and court staff.
A man welding at a Coeymans boat shop was gravely injured when a tank of waste fuel ignited at about 10:45 a.m. yesterday morning and caused an explosion that severely burned the man and caused smoke that could be seen for miles.
A report commissioned by the Roman Catholic Church in Munich and released yesterday accused the retired Pope Benedict XVI of mishandling at least four cases of sexual abuse by priests when he was the archbishop there.
“He was informed about the facts,” lawyer Martin Pusch said, as his firm announced the findings of an investigation into historic sexual abuse at the Munich Archdiocese over several decades. “We believe that he can be accused of misconduct in four cases.”
