Good Monday morning.
We are entering that bleak stretch of winter when it seems like the dreary gray bone chillingness of it all will never end.
In case you’re in need of something to look forward to (besides Valentine’s Day, which I personally find rather suspect, but we’ll get to that some other time), spring will be here on March 20 – just 55 days from today.
OK. That seems like rather a long time, doesn’t it? But every day we gain a little bit more daylight, and get a little closer to winter’s departure.
In the meantime, we can comfort ourselves by indulging in one of my favorite pastimes – eating peanut butter (those of us who aren’t unlucky enough to be allergic to nuts, that is).
Yes, today is National Peanut Butter Day. There’s also National Peanut Butter LOVERS Day (March 1), which kicks off National Peanut Month. All of this recognition is completely warranted in my book. I adore me some nut butter, give me ALL the nut butters. And I know I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: Nut butters are nature’s perfect food, IMHO.
Fats and proteins all packed into one teeny and delicious package. The only problem is that it’s hard to stay within the portion control. A handful of nuts or a few spoonfuls of nut butter adds up quick.
If you are interested in the history of peanut butter – the Inca were apparently the first to discover the delicious nature of a spread made from ground legumes (and yes, peanuts are actually more like peas or lentils than almonds pecans or cashews) – but nutritionist and cereal pioneer John Harvey Kellogg, who filed a patent for a nut butter-type product in 1895 – click here.
I normally would spend quite a bit of time listing the many raptures of nut butters, but we’ve got some other important milestones to mark, most notably the 49th anniversary of the historic Roe v. Wade decision, which established the constitutional right for women to get an abortion, that took place this past weekend.
It’s quite possible that this anniversary celebration of Roe will be the last, if the Supreme Court rules in later this year on a number of cases that could either curtail abortions rights or roll back Roe altogether and leave it up to the states to decide what’s allowed within their borders.
A recent decision by the high court that again allowed a Texas law that effectively bans the procedure beyond six weeks of pregnancy to stand did not bode well for those of us who believe in Roe and want to protect it.
Today also happens to be the International Day of Education, which the UN says “will be a platform to showcase the most important transformations that have to be nurtured to realize everyone’s fundamental right to education and build a more sustainable, inclusive and peaceful futures.”
Education is widely viewed as the most effective tool to combat poverty, improve public health, and put individuals on a path to a more promising future. But according to the UN:
- About 258 million children and adolescents worldwide lack the option to either enter or complete school;
- 617 million children and adolescents can neither read nor do basic math;
- Less than 40% of girls in sub-Saharan Africa complete lower secondary school:
- Some four million children and youth refugees are out of school.
If this doesn’t make you a little depressed, I don’t know what will. Try a spoonful of peanut butter – or almond butter, or cashew butter, or even Nutella. It’s good for what ails you.
We’re still in the cold, but not freezing, territory, with temperatures in the mid-20s and a mix of clouds and sun on tap for the day.
In the headlines…
Ukraine has received a second weapons supply shipment from the United States amid the looming threat of a potential Russian invasion.
The head of the German navy resigned this weekend after coming under fire at home and abroad for comments he made on Ukraine and Russia.
The State Department will begin evacuating families and non-essential staff from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv this week, according to a travel advisory released last night.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin briefed President Joe Biden on Saturday about U.S. options for responding if Russia invades Ukraine, as well as options for U.S. military movements in advance of an invasion.
Six in 10 Americans would vote for someone other than Biden if the 2024 presidential election was held today — a rate higher than his predecessors Barack Obama and Donald Trump, according to a Fox News poll.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said Biden can’t count on him to support “almost any” compromise social spending and climate package the Senate cobbles together, emphasizing he must review the details of a proposal before deciding if he can vote for it.
The White House is readying an executive order for release as early as next month that will outline a comprehensive government strategy on cryptocurrencies and ask Federal agencies to determine their risks and opportunities.
The Biden administration has gotten much of its pandemic response right, but has been hampered by confusing messaging, a lack of focus on testing, fear of political blowback and the coronavirus’s unpredictability.
Thousands of demonstrators protesting vaccine mandates descended onto Washington, D.C. yesterday, mostly maskless, with some sporting far-right and pro-Trump memorabilia and others drawing comparisons between the vaccine and the Holocaust.
At the rally, attorney RFK Jr. compared COVID-19 vaccination mandates to the Holocaust, saying that “Even in (Adolf) Hitler’s Germany… you could hide in the attic like Anne Frank did.”
The omicron wave of coronavirus cases will peak in most of the country by mid-February, Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted.
That did not mean eradicating the virus, Dr. Fauci said. Infections will continue. “They’re there but they don’t disrupt society,” he said. “That’s the best case scenario.”
Scott Quiner, a Minnesota man whose wife sued over a hospital’s plan to take him off a ventilator months after he was diagnosed with Covid-19, died Saturday. He was 55.
Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said on Saturday that an annual COVID-19 vaccine would be preferable to more frequent booster shots in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. has recorded more than 70 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 866,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
The U.S. food system is under renewed strain as Covid-19’s Omicron variant stretches workforces from processing plants to grocery stores, leaving gaps on supermarket shelves.
The Omicron wave of coronavirus cases is weighing on the U.S. labor force, keeping millions of people home sick while others say they are working through illnesses.
While many officials and parents nationwide push to keep kids in school and away from remote learning, Omicron has left many schools short of the essentials needed to operate.
Gonzaga University has suspended the season tickets of one of its most famous alumnus, NBA Hall of Fame guard John Stockton, due to his refusal to follow the school’s mask mandate for indoor sporting events.
Family members who lost loved ones in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic slammed Gov. Kathy Hochul for failing to include a $4 billion victims compensation fund in her $216.3 billion state budget.
Hochul is looking to speed the process that could open three casinos in New York City, on Long Island or in Westchester or Rockland counties in a proposal that already has strong support in the State Legislature.
Hochul reinforced her commitment to converting a section of the Kensington Expressway that runs through the East Side into a below-ground tunnel while speaking Saturday morning at the Buffalo Museum of Science.
New York is far safer and stronger than in the ’70s. But after a flood of sad news, many people are struggling to find grounds for optimism.
Hundreds of correction officers have been caught abusing the department’s leave policies during the Rikers Covid crisis, according to findings of Correction Department investigators.
Mayor Eric Adams, who won New Yorkers’ votes by campaigning on a need for improved public safety, is facing a growing crisis over gun violence. He will deliver a speech in the coming days to outline a comprehensive public safety plan.
Adams demanded assistance from Washington D.C. to block the “constant flow” of firearms into the Big Apple, days after an NYPD cop was killed and another officer was left fighting for his life, declaring “the federal government must step in.”
Adams plans to call for some revisions to state bail reforms, with the goal of giving judges more discretion over whether to keep a defendant in holding, according to the mayor’s office. The state Legislature in 2019 removing cash bail for many crimes.
Officer Wilbert Mora, 27, who was critically wounded by a gunman who killed his partner in Harlem, was being transferred to another hospital yesterday.
Hundreds of police officers lined Manhattan streets, as an NYPD helicopter flew overhead, to escort the body of Officer Jason Rivera from the hospital to a funeral home yesterday.
Rivera’s wake is slated to take place Thursday afternoon in Manhattan’s iconic St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Rivera’s widow posted a heartbreaking message to her late 22-year-old newlywed husband on Instagram, calling him “my beautiful angel.”
The city will “immediately” reinstate a “newer version of modified plainclothes anti-gun unit,” Adams said, a step he’d called for while campaigning.
Adams also said the city plans to “flood our system with mental health professionals and law enforcement working as a team to move out the disorder that’s clearly in the subway system in our city.”
A 62-year-old man was shoved onto the subway tracks in a random attack in a lower Manhattan subway station yesterday morning. The operator of a southbound C train was able to pull the brake, but not before making contact with the victim.
Hochul announced that her office’s newly formed task force targeting illegal guns will meet for the first time Wednesday — days after a rookie NYPD cop was killed and another officer critically wounded with a stolen firearm.
New York spends more to run its mass transit than nearly any other city in the world, according to a report published by the MTA last month.
Newly confirmed MTA Chairman Janno Lieber faces a daunting task of guiding the beleaguered agency, but he won’t likely face much interference from the Hochul administration.
City employers increasingly view the five-day workweek in the office as a relic of the past. And the absence of commuters has dealt a brutal blow to the transit systems.
Manhattan’s leading elected officials want the MTA to “move as quickly as possible” to test platform barriers at subway stations in their borough after last week’s fatal shoving death of Michelle Go in Times Square.
The NYPD reported 461 felony assaults in the subway system last year — a disturbing rate not seen since 1997, according to data released ahead of today’s MTA board meetings.
New schools Chancellor David Banks will ask all 46 of the city’s school superintendents to reapply for their jobs amid a leadership shake-up at the Department of Education.
Brooklyn Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, a House speaker contender, and his family reside in Prospect Heights, condo paying just $213 a year in property taxes thanks to a sweetheart deal under a law he supported when he served in the state Assembly.
Employees at an REI store in Manhattan filed for a union election on Friday, making the outdoor equipment and apparel retailer the latest prominent service-industry employer whose workers have sought to unionize.
A little-known New York state subsidy for private schools is growing by leaps and bounds — and a handful of the city’s wealthiest institutions keep cashing in.
Hochul signed legislation allowing people to vote with an absentee ballot through the end of the year, due to COVID.
Hochul raked in big campaign bucks over the last six months — to the tune of $21.9 million — from a well of donors who also used to give generously to disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo’s top aides and his attorney are continuing a crusade to clear his name of sexual harassment allegations, citing a trove of materials they say reveal inconsistencies in the accounts of some of the women who accused him of misconduct.
With a new legislative session underway, there’s a push for state lawmakers to pass the “Medical Aid in Dying Act.”
The Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, Asian Legislative Caucus is backing proposed legislation that calls for hiring mental health professionals in every school district in New York.
Legislation that’s been introduced in Congress aims to ban a common legal tactic used by private companies that requires workers to remain silent about sexual harassment.
Newly obtained investigative documents reveal former Gov. Eliot Spitzer name-dropped a powerful friend named “Bill” (Bratton) to cops investigating a bloody encounter with a Russian woman in Manhattan’s Plaza Hotel in 2016.
Spitzer used an alias at a Manhattan hospital while checking in on the escort he was accused of choking hours before in February of 2016.
The widow of a 67-year-old man who died after he was allegedly beaten by correction officers at Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Washington County has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against more than a dozen officers who were involved in the incident.
The New York City Ballet and the Philadelphia Orchestra will return for their summer season at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
The current owner of the Great Northern has been pushing to demolish the building — possibly the last grain elevator of its type in the world. – but preservationists are trying to save what is seen by many as a local landmark.
From late-game heroics to an improbable comeback last night, the Chiefs’ 42-36 overtime win over the Buffalo Bills did not disappoint.
For the second straight season, the Bills’ playoff dreams ended at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs (12-5) will host the Bengals in the conference title game next Sunday.
French fashion designer Thierry Mugler, who has dressed celebrities including Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian and Beyoncé, has died at age 73. His sudden death was confirmed yesterday by his team; no cause was given.
