Good Thursday morning.
In recent years, the color pink has come to be associated with a number of high-profile campaigns – the most notable of which is, of course, breast cancer awareness/support of survivors/memorializing those lost to the disease.
There’s also the International Day of Pink (second Wednesday in April), which was established as an opportunity to express solidarity with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community to continue fighting for equality and acceptance. This day was reportedly started in 2007 in Nova Scotia to stand up against homophobic and transphobic bullying.
AND there’s Pink Shirt Day, which also has Canadian roots with a broader anti-bullying focus. (I think?)
And just in case you’re not sufficiently confused, today is National Pink Day, which, as far as I can tell, exists merely to celebrate pink as a color.
Pink actually has a whole history and backstory. (I’m surprised by this, maybe you aren’t). It was recognized as a concept in Homer’s Odyssey in 800 B.C., and was coined as a term for the ruffled edges of carnations by a Greek botanist in the 17th Century. In the 18th Century, it became fashionable as a symbol of class and luxury among male AND female aristocrats alike.
Pink is a mix of red and white – or passion and purity, if you prefer – and symbolizes love – of others and of oneself – romance, and femininity. It has also come to be synonymous with good health and happiness – think “in the pink” and “tickled pink.”
Japan reportedly has a national obsession with the color pink, something to do with cherry blossoms, I think. Interestingly, it is associated more with men than women, which is the opposite of how things work in most of the rest of the world.
China didn’t recognize the color pink for a long time, but that has changed as a result of the emerging dominance of Western culture. The Chinese word for pink translates into “foreign color.”
Another unusually cool day is on tap, with temperatures in the low 70s, overcast skies and showers on and off.
In the headlines…
President Biden called on Congress to temporarily suspend the federal gas tax to give Americans “just a little bit of breathing room” from soaring fuel prices even as economists and lawmakers expressed skepticism that the move would make much of a difference.
Biden’s decision to call for a federal gas tax holiday – once derided as a gimmick by Barack Obama and viewed skeptically by leading economists – almost certainly won’t make it through Congress, as it faces blowback from the President’s own allies on Capitol Hill.
While experts say a suspension could provide some immediate relief, it could also keep demand elevated, thereby exacerbating tight supply.
Lobbying groups representing manufacturers, construction contractors and civil engineers criticized the proposed federal gas tax suspension to combat sky-high fuel prices, saying it could derail major transportation projects paid for by the Highway Trust Fund.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that the central bank might be able to lower rapid inflation without tipping America into a painful downturn, but pulling it off would be “very challenging” to achieve and that a recession is “certainly a possibility.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is reportedly not seeking former President Donald Trump’s endorsement for his reelection bid this fall as the pair jockey for position in the 2024 Republican White House sweepstakes.
DeSantis leads the GOP field and is a better option than Trump to face off against Biden in a hypothetical 2024 general election matchup, according to a newly released poll from the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Survey Center.
Only two of the 14 Republicans who broke ranks to support taking up gun legislation are facing voters this year, showing how difficult such deals could be in the future.
The House passed a bipartisan package that seeks to address mental health and substance abuse in the U.S.
The legislation, titled the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act, passed in a 402-20 vote. Six Republicans and one Democrat did not vote.
Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul condemned parts of the recently announced bipartisan gun safety deal, describing some provisions as “constitutional deficiencies” and vowing to introduce amendments as it comes to the Senate floor.
The House failed to pass a bill that sought to create a communications network that would alert people when an active shooter is in their community.
Pete Arredondo, the school district police chief in Uvalde, where 21 people were killed in an elementary school shooting last month, was unanimously rejected in his request to take a leave of absence from city council meetings. He was put on administrative leave.
Robb Elementary School, the Uvalde, Texas building where 19 students and two teachers were gunned down last month while police loitered in the hallway, will be torn down.
European countries are seeing a significant increase in Covid-19 cases spurred by highly infectious subvariants of Omicron, raising fears of a new global wave of the disease as immunity declines and the summer travel season gets underway.
Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 appear to escape antibody responses among both people who had previous Covid-19 infection and those who have been fully vaccinated and boosted, according to new data from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Moderna expects a new COVID-19 vaccine the drugmaker is developing that it says offers protection against the Omicron variant of the virus to be ready for public distribution by August.
Nearly 1 in 5 American adults who reported having COVID-19 in the past are still having symptoms of long COVID, according to survey data collected in the first two weeks of June, U.S. health officials said.
Americans who live in the nation’s most socially and economically disadvantaged communities were half as likely as those in wealthier areas to be prescribed new oral anti-viral medications for Covid in recent months, a study found.
Families in New York City began vaccinating children younger than 5 against Covid-19 after the CDC endorsed the vaccines over the weekend and many parts of the United States started giving shots this week.
Governor Kathy Hochul is cruising to a dominating win in next week’s Democratic primary, while the Republican race between Rep. Lee Zeldin and Andrew Giuliani is almost a dead heat, a new poll has found.
Zeldin is adding former Vice President Mike Pence to the list of Republican leaders backing his campaign for governor ahead of the June 28 primary election.
The battle for the soul of the Democratic Party in New York continued with socialist-leaning Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez giving a last-minute boost to left-wing lieutenant governor contender Ana María Archila in her bid against Hochul’s chosen No. 2.
Ocasio-Cortez is expected to appear at a rally for Archila on Monday, one day before the June 28 primary, and will send out a fund-raising email. Archila’s campaign believes the endorsement will increase donors, volunteers and energize liberal Democrats to vote.
The number of “extreme risk protection orders” issued by State Police have been surging after Hohchl’s executive order mandated troopers file the court applications anytime they encounter a person who is “likely” to be at risk of harm to themselves or others.
Hochul announced a record number of summer job opportunities available to New Yorkers in a variety of industries, in every region of the state.
State lifeguards are getting a pay bump as part of a recruitment effort to address a lifeguard shortage, Hochul announced. This comes as New York City is facing shore staffing problems that critics say led to a fatal drowning last Friday.
Hochul announced the inaugural members of the New York Cannabis Advisory Board, a 13-member panel that will advise state marijuana regulators and oversee a fund to help communities impacted by the drug war.
The governor also announced the selection of Social Equity Impact Ventures, LLC, a premier minority-led investment team, to sponsor and manage the $200 million New York Social Equity Cannabis Investment Fund.
The state Dormitory Authority of New York is getting ready to spend some $200 million in public funds to rent out locations where the ex-cons can set up shop and sell weed — removing a major obstacle for the budding entrepreneurs.
Three decades ago, Jewish lawmakers made up just over half of New York City’s House delegation. Now there is one: Jerrold Nadler, who faces a tough primary battle from fellow Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney.
Maloney accused her longtime-colleague-turned-opponent Nadler of using his religious faith as a “divisive tactic” in the heated primary race.
New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett detailed her experience undergoing an abortion in 1979 in an op-ed published by Elle.com.
As late as last year, Mayor Eric Adams still shared ownership of a Brooklyn co-op that he previously claimed he transferred to a friend, according to a financial disclosure released yesterday morning.
Adams has said that he no longer owns a Brooklyn co-op, despite public records to the contrary. But in public filings, he acknowledged ownership. Instead of clearing up the matter, the mayor only sowed more confusion.
Adams’ six-page Conflict of Interest Board document lists 50% ownership of the Brooklyn one-bedroom and the same amount of possession of a two-bedroom Fort Lee residential co-op. He values both properties at between $250,000 and $500,000
The site of a South Bronx juvenile jail where Adams was once incarcerated as a teen will now serve as affordable housing for Bronx residents — a transformation the mayor described as his “favorite project” at an unveiling ceremony.
Adams denied there was a coverup in the death of a man who hanged himself in a holding cell in Bronx Criminal Court — but whose death wasn’t included in a tally of detainee fatalities.
Adams vowed to give Department of Correction officers “the benefit of the doubt” when they call out from work despite concerns that hundreds are abusing the sick leave policy in a manner that’s exacerbating the increasingly deadly crisis on Rikers Island.
New York City is revising its single NYPD patrol plan for the subway system following an attack on an officer deployed as part of the initiative that just rolled out this week, police officials confirmed.
Adams is touting his decision to walk back a plan for solo police patrols in the transit system as a testament to his administration’s flexibility and his ability to communicate with the city’s police unions.
A Navy veteran who drove his car into Times Square pedestrians in 2017 was “not responsible” due to mental illness for the attack that killed an 18-year-old tourist and injured 22 others, a jury found.
Richard Rojas, a Navy veteran, spiraled after he was discharged. Prosecutors said he was culpable, but failed to sway jurors in the 2017 attack that left one dead and injured nearly two dozen.
An Ohio tourist visiting Manhattan was due to return home the next day when she was struck by a yellow cab SUV driver and lost her leg, her anguished family said. Miesha Wallace, 48, is fighting for her life.
MTA officials announced a decades-long commitment to make 95% of the city’s subway system accessible to New Yorkers with disabilities, who are all but shut out from the vast majority of the city’s aging subway system.
In the week since a federal judge granted New York City at least another six months to reform its troubled jail system, three people who had recently been held at the troubled Rikers Island jail complex have died.
A 54-year-old DNA match led to new murder charges against a notorious serial killer already jailed for 11 homicides, with authorities alleging he sexually assaulted and killed an innocent Long Island mom.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan, writing that Ghislaine Maxwell chose to conspire with Jeffrey Epstein for years, “working as partners in crime and causing devastating harm to vulnerable victims,” asked a judge to sentence her to at least 30 years in prison.
Former Mayor Mike Bloomberg was sworn in to an advisory role with the Pentagon, taking a leadership post on a six-year-old board that provides recommendations to the Defense Department on innovative technology.
Citing low pay amid these inflationary times and a high workload, more than 80 percent of the approximately 20 employees at the Capital Roots nonprofit fresh food distributor have sent a letter requesting union recognition.
A Juneteenth celebration on Central Avenue briefly turned into a shoving match after a confrontation between Albany police and organizers Sunday afternoon, resulting in a 12-year-old boy being thrown to the ground by a city police officer.
At a special meeting yesterday, CAP COM members voted to approve the merger with SEFCU, according to SEFCU’s Chief Executive Officer Michael Castellana.
District Attorney David Soares has recused his office from the case of a man imprisoned for more than two decades who contends Albany detectives concealed a “sex tape” that could have prevented his 2000 conviction on rape and sodomy charges.
The Food and Drug Administration is preparing to order Juul Labs Inc. to take its e-cigarettes off the U.S. market, according to people familiar with the matter.
Trumpet, a magnificently be-wrinkled and be-jowled bloodhound from Illinois, won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, nosing out a tough crowd of competitors. He’s the first bloodhound to win the contest.
