TGIF, because honestly? Budget season has got me like…woah. It’s a lot.
Anyone out there with me? Yeah. I know.
If I had more than two second to breathe, eat, go to the bathroom, and walk the dogs, I might be participating in Tolkein Reading Day, which is held on this day every year because it is the date on which the Ring was destroyed, completing Frodo’s quest and vanquishing Sauron.
And if you just read that sentence and thought: What the holy hell is she talking about? You might want to skip this one, because there’s really no way for me to explain it in the short time we’re together. But also: how the hell did you make it this far?
“Tolkein, of course, refers to the great J.R.R. Tolkien, the great English writer, poet, philologist, and academic, who is best known as the author of the high fantasy books “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” (today, of course, most people know this from the trilogy of adventure films directed by Peter Jackson).
The wild success of his works lead to a resurgence in popularity of the genre, and he is sometimes known as the “father” of modern fantasy literature as a result.
Reading Day is not to be confused with Tolkein Day, which is observed on Jan. 6 (Tolkein’s birthday).
Tolkein is perhaps best known, outside the aforementioned books, for creating constructed languages – particularly Elvish. You’re not a real hardcore Tolkeinite if you don’t know about how important these made-up languages are to Middle-earth, which is the setting in which The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings takes place.
Tolkein Reading Day was organized by The Tolkein Society – which, for the record, describes itself as an educational charity, literary society, and international fan club devoted to promoting the life and works of the author – in 2003 to encourage fans to celebrate him by reading their favorite passages from his books aloud.
I know some people find Tolkein’s writing difficult to follow, even impenetrable. But I really dug it as a kid. I was into fantasy for a short while there, and really appreciated the escape that his work provided. If you haven’t actually read any of his books, consider giving The Hobbit a try. I think you’ll be glad you did.
Assuming you can find the time.
It’s raining as I write this, but that might be over by the time you all are up and about. We will see a mix of sun and clouds today, with temperatures in the mid-to-high 50s.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden is heading to Poland today, a key NATO member, a day after NATO approved deploying 40,000 additional troops and activated a special military task force to respond should Russia use weapons of mass destruction.
Biden said that NATO would respond “in kind” if Russia uses weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine.
“We will respond if he uses it,” Biden said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “The nature of the response depends on the nature of the use.”
Biden emerged from a series of emergency summits in Brussels touting unity in the Western response to Russia as allies worked behind the scenes to formulate their plans for the next phase of the war in Ukraine.
NATO agreed to boost its deployments in the eastern portion of the defense alliance, doubling the number of battle groups to eight, as the U.S. said it is working with NATO to prepare for possible chemical or even nuclear incidents by Russia.
The U.S. has announced new sanctions against Russia and said it would welcome 100,000 refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine as Biden met with world leaders for a series of emergency summits.
Biden said that the world will experience food shortages as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and production increases were a subject of discussions at a Group of Seven meeting.
Biden expressed support for removing Russia from the Group of 20, one of the preeminent international summits representing the world’s developed economies.
The Biden administration is drafting an executive order invoking the Defense Production Act to alleviate shortages of key minerals needed for the technology to store clean energy.
Speaking from Brussels while meeting with European leaders about Russia’s war with Ukraine, Biden indicated he would relish a rematch with Donald Trump in the next presidential election.
The Justice Department unsealed charges against four Russian nationals it accused of carrying out a yearslong hacking campaign that targeted thousands of computers in the U.S. and around the world to disrupt or physically damage vital energy facilities.
Trump filed a sprawling federal lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and 26 other people and entities that he claims conspired to undermine his 2016 campaign by falsely tying him to Russia.
The lawsuit contains debunked claims, seeks a jury trial and compensatory damages. It says Trump, due to the defendants’ actions, sustained losses of at least $24 million “and continuing to accrue, as well as the loss of existing and future business opportunities.”
The suit alleges violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, conspiracy, injurious falsehood, malicious prosecution, computer fraud and abuse, theft of trade secrets, and other claims.
In the weeks between the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, sent a barrage of text messages imploring Trump’s chief of staff to take steps to overturn the vote.
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol said that it would consider contempt of Congress charges against two more allies of Trump for refusing to comply with its subpoenas.
YouTube removed some video content posted on the account of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) from its platform because it was in violation of its “election integrity policy.”
Republican senators indicated that they don’t plan to take steps to significantly delay or block the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, who wrapped up her testimony a day earlier and is on track for a vote early next month.
The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits dropped to a 52-1/2-year low last week, while unemployment rolls continued to shrink, pointing to rapidly diminishing labor market slack that will keep boosting wage inflation.
Weekly unemployment claims are at their lowest level in more than five decades, according to new data, and the chair of a key House committee is pressing corporate America on its exodus from Russia.
The number of people already collecting jobless benefits fell by 67,000 to 1.35 million. These so-called continuing claims are at their lowest level since the 1970s.
The strength in the job market reported by the Labor Department may push the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by half a percentage point at its next policy meeting in May.
Persistent unemployment is taking a bite out of the Big Apple’s post-pandemic recovery — with businesses that cater to white-collar employees suffering as many offices remain largely empty.
The White House will host its annual Easter Egg Roll for the first time since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a released schedule.
Chief executives of major passenger and cargo airlines pressed Biden to do away with the requirement that passengers wear masks on planes and in airports.
As coronavirus infections rise in some parts of the world, experts are watching for a potential new COVID-19 surge in the U.S. — and wondering how long it will take to detect.
New York State’s Commissioner of Health ended the designation of COVID-19 as an airborne infectious disease that presents a serious risk of harm to public health under the New York Health and Essential Rights (HERO) Act.
Mayor Eric Adams rolled back the COVID mandate that prohibited unvaccinated professional athletes from playing home games in New York City, prompting some critics to point to impending legal challenges while others decry the move as fundamentally unfair.
“This is about putting New York athletes on a level playing field,” Adams said during a news conference at Citi Field. “We were treating our performers differently because they live and play in New York City.”
Scores of workers who got fired for refusing to comply with the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates are eager to sue Adams over his decision to exempt local pro athletes and performers, lawyers said.
“I’m mayor of the city and I”m going to make some tough choices. People are not going to agree with some of them,” Adams also said. “I was not elected to follow. I was not elected to be fearful but to be fearless. I must move this city forward.”
The policy change means that Kyrie Irving, the Nets’ star point guard who has refused to get vaccinated, will be able to take the floor at Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the first time this season. It also applies to performers based in New York City.
Adams’ decision comes after the owners and executives of some of the wealthiest and most influential sports franchises in the country worked for weeks to persuade him to change his mind.
The Yankees and the Mets will not have to contend with having unvaccinated players barred from home games during the upcoming Major League Baseball season after all.
In an effort to bolster coronavirus vaccinations among children ages 5 to 11, New York City officials began holding vaccine clinics this week at public elementary schools.
The Big Apple’s population has been hollowed out during the COVID-19 pandemic — with Manhattan suffering the biggest population decline among all US counties, according to grim census data released yesterday.
The Panel for Education Policy, which is notoriously amenable to City Hall’s school directives, rejected an $82 million contract, which watchdogs believe has only happened once before in its history.
Once bitter rivals, Uber will team up with two taxi companies, Curb and CMT, to allow New Yorkers to order a yellow taxi on the Uber app, the companies said.
“It’s bigger and bolder than anything we’ve done,” said Andrew Macdonald, Uber’s global mobility chief. The company expects to launch the offering to riders later this spring.
Thomas Spieker, a former party producer who was charged in state court in Manhattan with laundering more than $2.3 million in Bitcoin for criminals around the world from 2018 to 2021.
The U. S. Supreme Court temporarily halted New Jersey’s plans to unilaterally shut down an agency that has policed the busy ports around New York City for nearly 70 years in an effort to stem organized crime’s influence.
In a brief order, the court halted New Jersey’s plans to withdraw from the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, which was created more than 70 years ago in a bi-state compact to fight organized crime at area seaports.
In a statement, Gov. Kathy Hochul described the court’s decision as a “victory for the safety of New Yorkers and fo the health of our economy.”
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who is challenging Hochul in that primary from the left, led a rally outside her Manhattan office yesterday, where he maintained the governor is caving to political pressure by asking for bail changes.
Progressive organizations and criminal justice advocacy groups are moving to counteract the push to make changes to New York’s recent package of changes to the state’s bail and evidence discovery laws, as well as how juveniles are treated in the court system.
Hochul’s bid for a full term was endorsed this week by Rep. Adriano Espaillat, making him the ninth member of the state’s House delegation to throw his support behind her campaign.
As the state budget agreement deadline looms for lawmakers, an influential business group is urging Hochul’s administration and the Legislature to pay down a $9 billion deficit facing the state’s unemployment insurance fund.
Advocates urged state Attorney General Letitia James to delay enforcing minimum nursing home staffing requirements due to a workforce crisis that is afflicting that and many other industries.
Residents in a majority of the state’s long-term care facilities are not receiving routine or even sporadic visits from representatives with the state’s Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, according to new data.
Cresco Labs, a multi-state cannabis company that holds one of 10 licenses to operate as a medical marijuana provider in New York, announced it will acquire New York-based competitor Columbia Care following regulatory approvals.
Backcountry adventurers should be wary of the risk of avalanches in the Adirondack Mountains, say state officials who warn that recently mild temperatures and high winds increase the potential for snowslides.
A new male contraceptive was found to be 99 percent effective when tested in mice, according to research presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
The Midwest city known for Motown music and the automobile industry now has another slice of success. A new survey has declared that Detroit is the best pizza city in America.
