Good Friday morning.
Since it’s the end of the week, it seems like a good time to think about slowing down a little, because after the past few days we’ve had, well, let’s just say we could all use a little reset, no?
And it’s really important to learn how to manage your stress, because stress, as they say, is a killer.
Aside from wrecking havoc on your mental health, contributing to depression and anxiety, stress can play a part in all sorts of physical ailments such as headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, skin conditions, asthma, Alzheimer’s disease, and gastrointestinal problems.
Just to name a few.
The extra sneaky thing about stress is that it also interferes with things in which we might engage to LOWER it – like sleeping, and sex.
Some science stuff, for those who are so inclined:
Sudden or ongoing stress activates your nervous system and floods your bloodstream with adrenaline and cortisol, two hormones that raise blood pressure, increase heart rate and spike blood sugar. These changes pitch your body into a fight or flight response. That enabled our ancestors to outrun saber-toothed tigers, and it’s helpful today for situations like dodging a car accident. But most modern chronic stressors keep your body in that heightened state, which hurts your health.
Stress can also lower productivity and reduce creativity, BUT some stress is GOOD, because it can spur growth. The body also thrives under moderate stress, which is pretty much the concept behind speed work on the track and lifting weights, for example.
So, the bottom line is, as with so many things, when it comes to stress, it’s all about balance. Too much is definitely not good, but neither is none at all.
We’ve all had a lot of collective stress over the past several years, which has compounded the usual personal stuff – death, illness, breakups, professional setbacks, etc. – quite considerably. The result has been something of a national stress epidemic, which shows no signs of letting up and very well could continue to make itself felt for months, if not years, generations even.
This is all a big windup to the announcement that April is Stress Awareness Month, which offers an opportunity to just take a moment, step back, and reflect on what it is in your life that is causing stress and perhaps some approaches to minimizing it – if not eradicating it completely.
Some helpful links, if you’re interested, are here, here, and here.
Getting outside can really be helpful when it comes to stress management, and today will be a good day for that – albeit a hair cooler than what we’ve seen of late. We’ll have mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-to-high 60s.
The weekend is looking a little iffy, with temperatures falling into the 50s and even maybe the high 40s (on Sunday), and a chance of rain (on Saturday). But before we even think about that, we’ve got today to get through, so let’s get to it.
In the headlines…
Russian forces today appeared close to capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol, a development that would be a significant victory for Moscow after a series of setbacks this week.
President Joe Biden said he was still working with his team to determine whether he should dispatch a senior member of his administration to Ukraine, a potentially dramatic show of support for the nation as it comes under attack from Russia.
A source familiar with the situation said that it is possible Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin or Secretary of State Antony Blinken might go, but that neither Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris are likely to go.
Former President Trump joined Biden in calling Russia’s war in Ukraine a “genocide” during an interview with Fox News on Wednesday night.
Marine Le Pen, the French far-right candidate for the presidency, said that France would quit NATO’s integrated military command if she were elected and would seek for the alliance “a strategic rapprochement” with Russia.
Ukrainian authorities announced that they had seized a sum of 154 assets from pro-Kremlin opposition politician and mogul Viktor Medvedchuk, who was captured this week following an escape from house arrest shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine.
German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck backtracked on support for sending tanks to Ukraine, amid divisions within Berlin’s ruling parties over how much to get involved and concerns about becoming Russia’s next target.
One of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies warned NATO that if Sweden and Finland joined the US-led military alliance then Russia would deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles in an exclave in the heart of Europe.
The director of the C.I.A. said “potential desperation” to extract the semblance of a victory in Ukraine could spur Putin to order the use of a tactical or low-yield nuclear weapon, discussing for the first time a concern that has coursed through the White House.
The number of people seeking unemployment benefits ticked up last week but remained at a historically low level, reflecting a robust U.S. labor market with near record-high job openings and few layoffs.
Jobless claims rose by 18,000 to 185,000, the Labor Department said, after nearly touching the lowest level since 1968 in the previous week. The four-week average of claims, which levels out week-to-week ups and downs, edged up from 170,000 to 172,000.
The interest rate on America’s most popular mortgage hit 5% for the first time in more than a decade, extending a sharp rise that has yet to significantly slow the red-hot housing market.
U.S. retail sales rose in March for the third straight month as consumers confronted the highest inflation in four decades and absorbed record-high gasoline prices.
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol spent roughly eight hours questioning Stephen Miller, a top White House adviser to former President Trump, in an at times contentious exchange.
An Ohio man who claimed Trump was legally responsible for his decision to break into the Capitol and make off with a bottle of bourbon and a coat rack was convicted in the first trial connected to the riot to feature a defense that blamed the ex-president.
The Omicron BA.2 variant has dominated new infections in the U.S. for weeks without setting off a major surge so far, raising hopes among some public-health experts that the nation might dodge a more significant hit.
The US Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization to the first Covid-19 test that spots chemical compounds associated with the coronavirus in breath, the agency said.
The test detects chemicals associated with the virus that causes the disease in a breath sample, and if it’s positive, it should be followed up by a molecular test, the agency said in a statement.
Localized Covid-19 lockdowns are proliferating across China, suggesting Shanghai’s struggle to contain the virus might be the prelude to a broader battle that threatens to hobble the world’s second-largest economy.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people of color were more than three times as likely to experience food insecurity during the pandemic than heterosexual or cisgender white people, new research has found.
Pfizer and BioNTech said that a third dose of their COVID-19 vaccine in children ages 5-11 produced a “high” immune response, and that they will apply for authorization for a booster dose in the age group soon.
Howard University announced it will shift some classes online due to the rise of COVID-19 cases on campus, joining other Washington, D.C.-based universities that have tightened restrictions amid the outbreaks.
State AG Tish James launched a wide-ranging investigation into whether the oil industry has engaged in gas price gouging.The probe is believed to be the first in the nation directed at the industry for the ongoing bout of high pump prices.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to pick Brian Benjamin as lieutenant governor has left Democratic state lawmakers in New York “scrambling” to push a measure that could boot the former second-in-command off the ballot in the upcoming primary.
Assemblywoman Amy Paulin told her colleagues that she will “soon be introducing legislation to allow a candidate for office to decline their party’s designation or nomination, and be removed from the ballot, if they are charged with a crime.”
Latino Victory is calling on Hochul to appoint a Hispanic candidate as her second-in-command.
Some Democrats have suggested she just poach primary opponent Tom Suozzi’s running mate, Diana Reyna, a Dominican woman who served in the City Council and as deputy Brooklyn borough president.
The House Ethics Committee announced that it has extended a probe into Suozzi’s finances.
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Andrew Giuliani ripped into rival Lee Zeldin as a clone of disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo after accusing the Zeldin camp of leading an effort to have him knocked off the primary ballot.
Hochul announced that the Cannabis Control Board approved 52 Adult-use Cannabis Conditional Cultivator Licenses across the state. These are the first adult-use cannabis licenses granted in New York State and they advance the Seeding Opportunity Initiative.
The Board approved the licenses under a recent law that allows hemp cultivators to grow marijuana for the legal recreational market for two years. Hemp is a type of cannabis plant with lower levels of THC, marijuana’s active ingredient.
And separately, the CCB approved revised regulations to allow medical marijuana patients to grow their own plants for personal use following a public comment period on initial rules that were proposed last year.
If you live in New Jersey, you’ll be able to buy recreational marijuana next week.
At least a half-dozen medical-marijuana dispensaries are planning to open their doors to all adults on April 21 after winning final approval this week from New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission.
Frank James, who federal prosecutors said carried out a violent and well-planned attack on New York’s subway system this week, was ordered to be held without bail during his first appearance in federal court.
James’ lawyers asked a judge to ensure he received psychiatric care in jail, and later said their client had called a tip line to turn himself in.
Interviews, arrest records and hours of his own words on YouTube paint an incomplete but troubling picture of James..
Luck and poor marksmanship appear to have saved the victims of the subway attack in which no one was killed.
New York City is considering the use of weapon-detection technology in its sprawling subway system in the wake of Tuesday’s mass shooting and a surge in violent crime this year, officials say.
The head of the MTA blamed a bad “internet connection” for the delayed retrieval of surveillance footage from the three Brooklyn subway stations where James caused chaos, and suggested the media was wrong to focus on the faulty camera systems.
The head of the City Council challenged Mayor Eric Adam’s criticism of protests against police brutality in the wake of a recent surge in violent crime — as the mayor’s public safety record comes under increasing scrutiny.
Local and federal authorities announced that charges have been filed against a suspect in the April 3 arson of an LGBT club in New York City.
Scrapping a preschool standardized entrance exam as the admissions criterion for New York City’s kindergarten “Gifted and Talented” program more than doubled its enrollment of Black and Hispanic students, new Education Department data reveals.
New Yorkers living in apartments covered by rent stabilization could see their leases jump by as much as 9% over the next two years if regulators adopt the increases suggested in a key report released yesterday.
The state Public Service Commission approved two transmission lines that will act as massive extension cords to bring electricity generated by hydroelectric, solar and wind power to the city, where it can be difficult to tap such renewable sources of energy.
A former state lawyer claims he was fired for cooperating with the sexual harassment probe that forced Cuomo from office — and also blames his ouster on “reverse sex discrimination” after he joked about the matter with a female colleague.
Ed Mangano, the former Nassau County executive who participated in a bribery and kickback scheme, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for his role in what prosecutors called “a culture of corruption” at the heart of Long Island’s GOP political machine.
AG James’ office is ending its investigation into the death of Tea’Shawn Walker, the William S. Hackett Middle School student killed in a car crash after the driver allegedly fled police, law enforcement sources said.
Four days after providing little information about a shooting that injured a teenager at Crossgates Mall, Guilderland police released images of 10 people and three cars that it says were involved in an “exchange of gunfire” between two groups.
A Saratoga Springs judge reserved her decision to dismiss charges against the city’s Black Lives Matter leader, saying she needs time to take into consideration information she just learned in a conference with attorneys.
In his first media appearance since a University at Albany investigation found that he made “inappropriate physical contact” with a player before a game, men’s basketball coach Dwayne Killings kept his eyes firmly on the future.
Matt Hunter is leaving Spectrum News 1 Capital Region. The reporter has been with the station for nearly 13 years, making him a veteran at the 24-hour news station that launched in the region in October of 2002 as Capital News 9.
Elon Musk went full-on corporate raider a week into his rolling clash with Twitter Inc., offering a $43 billion bid for the company and warning he might sell his stake in the service if rebuffed.
