Well, good Monday morning! We’re off to a strong start here because I remembered to write “2022” and not “2021.”
Small victories.
I also remembered the password to access the back end of CivMix, which is another win. I have a brain like a sieve when it comes to passwords. So. Many. Passwords. Does anyone else routinely enter the wrong ones and get locked out of their respective accounts?
Just me then? OK, never mind. We’re moving on.
I wish I had something really meaningful to share from the past week. Some life-changing insight or really exciting trip to recount. But the truth is that thanks to COVID and general seasonal malaise, I did a whole lot of nothing.
I mean, I ran and I worked out, as usual – or maybe a wee bit more than usual, since I had extra time on my hands. I slept when I could, (you know I’m not great at that), and I read some books and watched some bad TV and took the dog for walks and gave away a lot of clothes I don’t wear and emptied my inbox so it wouldn’t be terribly overwhelming when I returned to work officially.
I shared a few cautious meals with friends and family, and opened a few presents. That was about it. And it was fine.
There was news over the past week, of course, and I did read the headlines even though I didn’t collate them here for you. It wasn’t anything to write home about – the usual mix of end-of-year round-ups and “WFT was that in 2021?” stories, mixed with the usual murder fire, mayhem, and swearing-in of new elected officials. Yada yada.
Now it’s time to get back to the grind.
January is a reset month for a lot of folks. People make resolutions and vow to maybe move more and eat a little healthier – especially after the monthlong cookie-eating-and-alcohol-drinking festival that is the holidays.
If you’re interested in a bit of a challenge, you might want to check out Veganuary. The UK nonprofit runs a January challenge during which those who sign up agree to go entirely without animal products…to see how the other half lives, so to speak.
Website blurbage: “Throughout the year, Veganuary encourages and supports people and businesses alike to move to a plant-based diet as a way of protecting the environment, preventing animal suffering, and improving the health of millions of people.”
According to Veganuary, more than 500,000 people signed up to participate in the challenge last year, and 40 percent of them said they would remain vegan after the month was over.
That’s really the point of this effort – not just to get people to eat healthier and with less of a carbon footprint, (though, truth be told, some meatless products are not all that terribly earth friendly or even all that good for you), but to get more people to adopt a meat-free lifestyle full time.
There are a lot of reasons to eat less meat. There’s concern for animal rights – or, at the very least, animal mistreatment – the contributions big ag makes to climate change and even the role that farming animals plays in pandemic outbreaks.
But really, there’s ample data that shows a plant-based diet is just better for you. Full stop. If you’re not sure you want to commit – and going cold turkey on ALL animal products is not easy, believe me, I’ve tried, perhaps consider going in halfway and check out Mark Bittman’s VB6 diet (that’s Vegan Before 6 p.m.), which is reviewed here.
Or maybe just think about cutting back on meat, treating it like a condiment or a flavor enhancer instead of the main attraction of a meal. And if you do eat meat, consider buying local, sustainably and ethically raised products when possible, though I do recognize that this can be more expensive.
I will say that the real gift of the holidays was the temperature, which was uncommonly mild for this time of year. Twice I ran outside in a sweatshirt and felt too hot. Amazing. But, don’t get used to it, friends. This is upstate NY, after all, and it is still winter.
Case in point: Today’s forecast is calling for temperatures in the high 20s. Yeah, that’s more like it. There will be sun, though, if that’s any consolation.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the U.S. and its allies “will respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine,” according to a readout of a call between the two leaders provided by the White House.
Zelensky said in a tweet yesterday evening that the call with Biden underscored “the special nature of our relations.”
Biden has warned Russia’s Vladimir Putin that the U.S. could impose new sanctions against Russia if it takes further military action against Ukraine, while Putin responded that such a U.S. move could lead to a complete rupture of ties between the nations.
As Biden’s relationship with the left has come under strain, liberals are talking about treating him like former President Jimmy Carter and mapping out a Democratic primary challenge in 2024.
Protesters with a group called “Occupy Biden” have spent the past week in the president’s Delaware neighborhood calling on him to declare a “national climate emergency.”
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the U.S. Capitol Thursday to mark the anniversary of last year’s riot. They will both deliver remarks.
As the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol approaches, the police force charged with protecting the seat of American democracy is severely understaffed, its chief warned.
The Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to uphold its vaccine-or-testing mandate for large U.S. companies, as several business groups and GOP-led states seek to block the rule.
The child tax credit, a pandemic benefit that many progressives hoped to make permanent, has lapsed in a congressional standoff. Researchers say it spared many from poverty.
The World Health Organization has warned that the world will soon see a “tsunami of cases” of COVID-19 which will stretch throughout the winter.
Almost twice as many people were diagnosed with Covid-19 in the past seven days as the pandemic’s previous weekly record thanks to a tsunami of omicron that has swamped every aspect of daily life in many parts of the globe.
U.S. health officials may again revise guidelines that recently shortened the isolation period for asymptomatic people with COVID-19 to recommend that they test negative for the virus, the White House’s top medical adviser said.
“There has been some concern about why we don’t ask people at that five-day period to get tested. That is something that is now under consideration. The CDC is very well aware that there has been some pushback about that,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said.
If more Americans get vaccinated and boosted, the U.S. just might return to a semblance of normalcy by February or March, Fauci said.
With infections surging due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant, including among the vaccinated, physicians are now urging people to ditch cloth face masks, which they say may not provide enough protection against the virus.
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has tested positive for the coronavirus, he announced in a statement on Twitter.
Fresh off a vacation to Costa Rica, New Jersey’s first lady, Tammy Murphy, has tested positive for coronavirus.
Israel’s prime minister is warning that the country will soon see tens of thousands of new coronavirus cases a day.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced that Israel would offer a fourth Covid vaccine shot to people age 60 and over, as well as to medical workers, making it the first country to roll out an additional booster so broadly.
Australia’s government said the milder impact of the Omicron strain of COVID-19 meant the country could push ahead with plans to reopen the economy even as new infections hit a record of more than 37,000 and the number of people hospitalized rose.
A federal judge in Louisiana has blocked for now the White House’s requirement that all workers in the Head Start early education program be vaccinated.
Twitter said it permanently suspended the personal account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) over the social media platform’s COVID-19 misinformation policy.
Humans have infected wild deer with Covid-19 in a handful of states, and there’s evidence that the coronavirus has been spreading among deer, according to recent studies, which outline findings that could complicate the path out of the pandemic.
The rapid spread of Covid-19’s Omicron variant is weighing on U.S. businesses, keeping more workers home sick or quarantined and leading some companies to cut services and reduce hours.
Economists say they expect the U.S. labor market to strengthen in the months ahead, despite the surge in Covid-19 cases due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant, because employers still need a lot more workers.
Goldman Sachs is joining a growing list of Wall Street firms advising employees to stay home due to soaring Covid cases.
The Biden administration wants to keep kids in school, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said, adding “they’ve suffered enough” in the pandemic.
Parents of children in K-12 schools around the country were bracing for changes in reopening plans after the holiday break amid a surge in Covid-19 cases. Milwaukee shelved its scheduled in-person reopening while Syracuse canceled school.
As COVID-19 cases explode in New York, school districts that are reopening after the holiday break are wrestling with contact tracing student and staff cases, as well as trying to make clear for parents new testing protocols.
In a startling illustration of the financial damage a resurgent pandemic is causing on Broadway, the producer of a new musical adaptation of “Mrs. Doubtfire” will close down his show for nine weeks, saying he sees no other way to save the production.
State officials confirmed 62,526 new COVID-19 cases across New York yesterday – the latest in a surge of cases after the holidays.
The feds should prioritize New York State for distributing new antiviral COVID treatments, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
Multiple subway lines will be out of commission for the first workday of the year today as COVID-19 surges among the MTA’s workforce, transit officials said.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams of New York said yesterday – his second day in office – that city workers might be required to get Covid vaccine booster shots.
The entire municipal workforce already has had to have the standard vaccinations since November, and the city will “examine the numbers” to decide if a booster mandate is needed for teachers, cops and other workers, Adams said.
New York City residents who were hopeful that Adams would usher in an era free from his predecessor Bill de Blasio were disappointed as the new mayor announced day-one executive orders furthering the former mayor’s restrictive coronavirus policies.
“COVID is a formidable opponent and it continues to evolve, and we must pivot and evolve with it, but you can’t do it viewing yourself from within the crisis,” Adams said on ABC’s “This Week” yesterday. “We have to see ourselves past the crisis.”
Hochul announced a Winter Surge Plan 2.0 to combat the rising number of COVID cases and hospitalizations stemming from the omicron variant.
The governor announced on Christmas Eve that people whose jobs New York state deems unimportant must stay home and quarantine for 10 days if they test positive for Covid-19. Others are free to return to work five days earlier.
CUNY and SUNY students will be required to get their COVID-19 boosters by next semester — while the state’s “Vax or Mask” mandate for businesses is now extended till Feb. 1.
New York National Guard soldiers will be trained to become certified Emergency Medical Technicians in an attempt to combat a winter surge in COVID cases.
Hochul declared racism a “public health crisis,” signing a package of legislation last month that is aimed at addressing discrimination and racial injustice in the state.
Hochul gave a “Jeopardy!” contestant from Brooklyn a second chance after he and his fellow contestants bombed on a question about her. “I believe in second chances,” she said.
Ben Walthall made a surprise Zoom appearance during Hochul’s press briefing on her winter plan to combat the latest coronavirus surge.
Long Island Congressman and Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin accused Hochul of mishandling the latest coronavirus outbreak — citing long lines, closings and chaos at over-run COVID-19 testing sites amid a record spike in new cases.
“For example in Central New York, you have testing available four days a week for six hours, and in the Finger Lakes, you have testing available for six days a week, for nine hours,” Zeldin said.
Republican Bruce Blakeman, who takes office as Nassau County executive today, is defending his opposition to indoor mask mandates, which he says are ineffective, as the highly transmissible omicron variant surges across Long Island and New York State.
The super PAC Safe Together in New York, bankrolled by Ron Lauder, is currently airing a radio ad blasting Hochul over her continued support for a permanent option for everyone to be able to vote by mail.
She’s been governor of New York for more than four momentous months. But Hochul will truly claim the title this week, when she becomes the first woman in New York history to deliver a State of the State speech.
An NYPD officer was grazed in the head with a bullet while he slept in his personal car outside the 25th Precinct in East Harlem early Saturday, casting a grim shadow over Adams’ first day in office as he vowed to tackle gun violence in the wake of the shooting.
Adams, the city’s second Black mayor, faces difficult decisions over how to lead New York City through the next wave of the pandemic.
Adams — just hours after being sworn in at the Times Square New Year’s Eve ball drop — appeared well rested and exuded hope, even in the face of a resurgent COVID-19 pandemic, rising crime and what he has called the city’s dysfunctional government.
“I’m ready to do what New Yorkers have been doing and that’s working hard,” Adams said. “New Yorkers should be getting their money’s worth.”
The sheer number of people who are sick with the Omicron variant may be overwhelming the city’s hotel quarantine program — both for the general public and another for people in homeless shelters.
Adams said he wanted to be sworn into office in Times Square to show the world “New York is not closed.”
Before ex-cop Adams even hit his desk for his first day as mayor Saturday, his old job training kicked in, and he called 9-1-1 to report an assault in progress.
Adams spent his first 48 hours in office straddling the same line he did during his campaign: Promising law and order, particularly through the restoration of a controversial anti-crime unit, while also protecting civil liberties.
A woman was stabbed to death in Queens and an off-duty NYPD officer was shot during Adams’ first hours in office, making violence a top priority for the new mayor.
Adams biked to work on his second day in office, a day after riding the subway to City Hall.
Adams laid out his game plan to confront the COVID crisis in the new year, including how he plans to keep schools open as cases continue to surge.
Adams said he’s moving a mattress into City Hall, because days he feels like sleeping there (and exercising, making smoothies, and showering) he will do so.
Adams expressed reservations about a controversial bill passed under his predecessor that grants green card holders the right to vote in local elections.
The new mayor assured New Yorkers that the city is ready to handle the first snowstorm of the season.
The city’s budget soared under de Blasio, who significantly expanded the size of local government. Adams might have to rein it in.
The New York City Health Department has conducted its first ever study to highlight the conditions of more than 100,000 Native Americans/Indigenous Peoples who live in the five boroughs.
Elderly spouses of cops, firefighters and other New York City workers who died in the line of duty will have to start paying for health insurance if they opt out of a new Medicare plan the city is forcing on them and thousands of municipal retirees.
New data shows nearly 4 percent of people in New York who were released due to bail changes were rearrested for violent felonies.
A pair of Brooklyn parents got a nearly-eight-pound New Year’s gift — the first baby born in New York City in 2022.
By late summer, many real estate agents in the New York suburbs began to notice that the crazy bidding wars sparked by the pandemic weren’t happening quite as often.
With the passage of last Friday’s deadline for New York municipalities to opt out of allowing marijuana retailers and consumption sites in their jurisdictions, hundreds of cities, towns and villages across the state will allow cannabis businesses to operate.
A frustrated drug treatment provider said New York’s political leaders care more about promoting marijuana than combating substance abuse.
The Albany County Land Bank was awarded $1.9 million from the state to transform its properties into affordable homes.
Rensselaer County politics has apparently descended to towing opposition cars, as a Democratic leader found her car gone from the county office building parking area and claimed she was targeted by County Executive Steve McLaughlin’s staff.
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” grossed a projected $52.7 million at North American theaters between Friday and yesterday, marking the third straight weekend that the superhero movie has led all films.
RIP Betty White, John Madden, Joan Didion and the original Mr. Met.
