Good Monday morning.
Today is 7/11 which is a very big and very busy day for the iconic convenience store that shares this date’s name, though they spell it 7-Eleven. To mark the date, 7-Eleven has dubbed this “Slurpee Day” and celebrates by giving customers a free small carbonated slushee drink that you probably either love to death or hate with a passion.
There’s really no halfway when it comes to a brain freezing, overly-sweet and unnaturally-colored frozen concoction.
The Slurpee, by the way, originated in 1966 when 7-Eleven cut a licensing deal with The Icee Company to sell its beverages after piloting them in 100 stores and finding that they were a massive hit. And yes, the drink is called the “Slurpee” because of the sound one makes while sucking up sweet, cold sludge through a straw.
Apparently back in the day, the Slurpee machine was located behind the counter and someone had to make your drink for you. Today, the pleasure is all yours. Common flavors include cola, cherry, and Mountain Dew, but new options are regularly introduced.
I wouldn’t know, because – if you can believe it – I’ve never had a Slurpee.
I am in the minority. More than 11.6 MILLION Slurpees are reportedly consumed around the world each and every day, 40 percent of which are sold during the summer months. All told, enough Slurpees are sold annually to fill 12 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Now that, my friends, is a shitton of sugar, and a heck of a lot of brain freeze.
The award for the country that buys the most Slurpees does not, surprisingly, go to the U.S. even though it was created here (in Texas, of course, where they do everything bigger).
Nope. That honor belongs to Canada. CANADA??? Aren’t they cold enough there? I guess not. Canadians slurp down an average of 30 million of Slurpees a year, and Winnipeg, Manitoba holds the record for being crowned the Slurpee capital of the world for 22 years in a row.
Winnipeggers, as they’re called, are so serious about their Slurpees that they bring the drinks with them to the airport as welcoming gifts for arriving travelers – no flowers, no candy, just a nice cold icy beverage. Maybe it helps acclimate you to the cold temperatures faster?
July is 7-Eleven’s birthday month. It has been around for a whopping 95 years – almost a century, which is kind of amazing. To celebrate, it actually got the jump on Slurpee Day and has been offering customers a whole week to redeem their free Slurpee, along with a bunch of other food and beverage deals.
Don’t fret if you weren’t aware of these opportunities. You still have all day to get out there and indulge. And as of 2020, you can do so right here in the Capital Region, thanks to 7-Eleven’s acquisition of Speedway shops and more than 1,000 Sunoco gas stations.
After another spectacular weekend of summer sunshine, we’re in for slightly warmer temperatures – in the high 80s – lots of sunshine and moderate humidity – a good day to play hooky, in case you were flirting with the idea.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden will hold an event at the White House today celebrating the passage of a landmark gun violence prevention bill.
Biden is hosting a “celebration” of a new bipartisan law meant to reduce gun violence that, after just 16 days in effect, already has been overshadowed by yet another mass shooting.
Biden’s approval rating has crashed to just 30%, its lowest mark yet, in a new national poll.
Biden, 79, says he plans to run in 2024, but his age has become an uncomfortable issue for him, his team, and his party. He would be asking voters to elect a leader who would be 86 at the end of his tenure, testing the outer boundaries of age and the presidency.
The Civiqs Poll’s daily tracking survey of registered voters found less than a third of Americans giving the thumbs-up to Biden’s on-the-job performance — and a whopping 57% disapproving.
Biden is scheduled to visit Israel on Wednesday for his first trip to the region since entering office last year. He’s set to fly to Saudi Arabia on Thursday – a sign of ties between Jerusalem and Riyadh that have not only grown closer in recent years but more open.
Biden defended his upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia in an opinion piece for The Washington Post, saying he hopes to “strengthen a strategic partnership” while also “holding true to American values.”
Biden encouraged women to keep protesting the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade — and said he was mulling declaring a public health emergency to free up federal resources for abortion access.
The president said he is considering declaring a public health emergency to free up federal resources to promote abortion access even though the White House has said it doesn’t seem like “a great option.”
Doctors and hospitals are rushing to reconcile laws in their states barring abortion with a federal law that may require the procedure as part of emergency treatment.
Ashley Allison, a former Biden-Harris campaign official, said that she took offense to a White House statement on abortion action last week.
Biden will unveil the much-anticipated first full-color image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope today, agency officials confirmed.
Congress returns today with Democrats aiming to revive central pieces of Biden’s stalled economic agenda while trying to keep on track a separate, bipartisan bill targeted at boosting competitiveness with China that top Republicans are threatening to block.
Dozens of Ukrainian emergency workers labored to pull people out of the rubble after a Russian rocket attack smashed into apartment buildings in eastern Ukraine. The strike killed at least 15 people and scores were thought to be still trapped a day later.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister urged residents in the southern region of Kherson to evacuate ahead of a Ukrainian counterattack against Russian forces.
To make up for a manpower shortfall, the Kremlin is relying on a combination of impoverished ethnic minorities, Ukrainians from the separatist territories, mercenaries and militarized National Guard units to fight the war, and promising cash for volunteers.
The worst hunger emergency in a half-century is afflicting some of the world’s other poorest countries, where the effects of drawn-out conflicts and extreme weather are being exacerbated by disruptions from the war in Ukraine and the coronavirus pandemic.
Former Trump aide Steve Bannon may be changing his tune about refusing to cooperate with the special House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 siege of the U.S. Capitol.
Bannon signaled to the panel he is now willing to testify, as he faces criminal charges for refusing to answer a subpoena, according to an email obtained by the Guardian newspaper.
With the possibility of two years in jail and large fines looming on the horizon, Bannon has been authorized to testify by former President Donald Trump, his attorney told the committee in a letter late on Saturday.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez belittled Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh after it was reported that he was chased out of a D.C. steakhouse by protesters angry over the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg defended protesters against Kavanaugh who gathered earlier this week outside Morton’s steakhouse, where he was eating dinner, saying: “people are upset…They’re going to exercise their First Amendment rights.”
Macau closed all its casinos for the first time in more than two years after a coronavirus outbreak in the world’s biggest gambling hub.
The Asian gambling center of Macao will close all its casinos for a week and largely restrict people to their homes as it tries to stop a COVID-19 outbreak that has infected more than 1,400 people in the past three weeks.
On the heels of securing his seventh Wimbledon crown, Novak Djokovic reiterated that he has no plans to change his stance on the COVID-19 vaccine ahead of next month’s U.S. Open.
With testing, quarantine and isolation requirements all but gone, tennis finally seems to have entered a stage of pandemic apathy, much like a lot of society.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has tested positive for Covid-19 and has “very mild symptoms,” according to his spokesman. He is fully vaccinated and double boosted.
Schumer plans to isolate himself for the work week but will still put in long hours — virtually.
“Anyone who knows (Schumer) knows that even if he’s not physically in the Capitol, through virtual meetings and his trademark flip phone he will continue with his robust schedule and remain in near-constant contact with his colleagues,” a spokesman said.
The most transmissible variant yet of the coronavirus, BA.5, is threatening a fresh wave of infections in the United States, even among those who have recovered from the virus fairly recently.
The latest dominant COVID subvariants have a reproductive rate of around 18.6, tying or surpassing measles, the world’s most infectious viral disease, which means greater transmissibility in any setting, indoors or outdoors, though the latter is still safer.
COVID booster shots appear to be less than 20% effective against infection with the omicron variant of the virus just a few months after the booster is given, a new study found.
All five boroughs of New York City are back in the CDC’s high-risk category for COVID community spread as of the agency’s Friday update, a reflection of the increasingly infectious national climate as the “worst version” of omicron yet holds its dominance.
NYPD officers shot and killed a Queens man who was threatening to kill the governor and other top officials, saying he was going to “blow up” the world Saturday evening, cops and sources said.
Hochul announced a new $139 million investment to expand the Corning Inc. facility in Fairport.
New York state’s mobile sports wagering program has brought in more revenue in its first six months of operation than the state Division of the Budget’s initial projections, Hochul’s office said.
Pressure is mounting on Hochul to sign a bill into law to bring parity to the law enforcement retirement system.
The final act of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, the often-maligned watchdog entity created a decade ago to police lobbying and wrongdoing in Albany, was a report on its own failure to properly enforce ethics rules.
As a successor organization will take JCOPE’s place, good-government advocates are concerned history could repeat itself once again in a state capital known for a history of public corruption.
Last month’s primary election was a disappointing one for progressive Democrats in New York, as statewide and Assembly candidates lost to incumbents across the board with few consolation victories.
Mayor Eric Adams vehemently defended two fatal shootings involving cops over the weekend, as new video emerged showing one of the suspects firing at a responding officer.
Adams said he wants to “expeditiously” release body camera footage from police incidents, including a pair of outer-borough shootings that left two men dead at the hands of police Saturday evening, so people “can see what these cops are up against.”
Maureen Dowd: “It was Adams’s response to that sense of danger, his demand that the city support the police in the fight against crime, that won him election last year. Now the fight is his.”
A 14-year-old was stabbed to death at the 137th Street/City College subway station in Manhattan Saturday afternoon in a fight with another teen, according to police.
Ethan Reyes, the victim, was an aspiring drill rapper, a genre of hip hop that a grieving relative believes played a tragic role in his death.
Officials have not identified a motive but they said the boy appeared to know his attacker.
A 15-year-old boy was arrested and charged with murder in the stabbing death of the 14-year-old boy in a subway station in Harlem, the police said
New York City bodega owners are calling on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to drop murder charges against a clerk who killed an ex-con that attacked him.
A New York City bodega group says the Big Apple should adopt a local version of Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law after a Manhattan store worker was charged with murder for defending himself.
Ex-Big Apple top cop Bill Bratton is warning that the city will face a “crisis”-level shortage of Finest over the next few years due to the spate of departures among frustrated ranks and the defund-the-police movement.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio didn’t trust his NYPD security detail to keep secrets, former campaign aide Lis Smith claims in her tell-all book.
De Blasio, who is running for Congress, no longer has an NYPD security detail.
New Yorkers residing in downtown Brooklyn and the west side of Manhattan could gain clout when the 51 City Council districts are redrawn this year — thanks to huge population increases in their neighborhoods, new figures reveal.
Starting yesterday, drivers looking to cross the Hudson River from New Jersey into New York on the George Washington Bridge go through an electronic tolling system.
Scientists who study ants say a species from Europe has recently made New York City its home, and the insects are now being found in living spaces several stories above the street.
Beanie Feldstein, the lead actress in the first Broadway revival of “Funny Girl,” announced on Instagram last night that she would be leaving the production at the end of this month, two months earlier than expected.
Suicide, which accounts for about half of all gun deaths in New York, has been on the fringes of gun law debates despite a documented link between access to firearms and the rate of self-inflicted death.
Low early voter turnout for the June primary has some elections commissioners questioning whether the cost of keeping polls open for nine days is worth the money.
Heather Kovar has been suspended from CBS6 Albany after appearing disoriented on Saturday’s evening broadcast — a condition the anchor blamed on sleep deprivation and exhaustion.
The labor group behind the first-ever U.S. union at Amazon has thrown its support behind organizing campaigns at two additional warehouses: One in Albany, the other in Campbellsville, KY.
State Police that a 6-year-old who was barefoot and wandered off yesterday in the area of the Washington County Fairgrounds was found dead in a pond near his home.
The proposed plans for a new Buffalo Bills stadium will be presented at a public meeting on July 14.
Elon Musk’s showdown with Twitter has set the stage for what could become one of the most unusual courtroom battles in corporate-takeover history.
Oprah Winfrey has confirmed the death of her father, Vernon Winfrey, shortly after local Nashville news outlets reported his passing Friday night. He was 88 years old.
Brittney Griner’s fellow W.N.B.A. players honored her during the league’s All-Star Game in Chicago yesterday, wearing jerseys bearing her name and number for the second half.
