Good morning, it’s Friday. Thank goodness. It could not come soon enough for me.
Amid all the craziness that is daily modern life, I think we all probably agree that the world could use a little more kindness. OK, a lot more kindness, actually, like A LOT.
I will take responsibility for injecting my share of unkindness into the ether, or rather, not intentional unpleasantness, per se, but a distinct lack of attention to how the way I move through life impacts other people – even some I might not know.
Random acts of kindness can really go a long way – like, say, paying for the coffee of the person behind you – on a daily basis. But perhaps even more impactful are the efforts and contributions we make that positively impact the lives of those who are less fortunate than we are.
This is, technically speaking, the definition of being a humanitarian, which is to be “concerned with or seeking to promote human welfare.”
There are both big and small humanitarian acts – everything from traveling to a country in need to build houses, or dig wells for communities that do not have them, to volunteering your time closer to home (in a nursing home, or soup kitchen, etc.), or simply donating money to a local charity of sponsoring a child to that individual can eat or attend school.
Today is World Humanitarian Day (WHD) – a perfect time to indulge your inner philanthropist.
This day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in honor of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the onetime UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who, along with 21 of his fellow humanitarians, was killed in a bombing of the Baghdad headquarters of the UN.
Less than a year after de Mello was appointed High Commissioner, then-UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan asked him to take a temporary leave of absence from his post to serve in Iraq as Annan’s Special Representative there. The deadly attack occurred three months later.
A small group of de Mello’s friends, colleagues, and family members established a foundation in Geneva, Switzerland in his honor that is, according to its website, “dedicated to promoting dialogue for the peaceful resolution of conflict…to continue Sergio’s mission and fulfill his vision.”
WHD 2022 is intended to “shine a light on the thousands of volunteers, professionals and crisis-affected people who deliver urgent health care, shelter, food, protection, water and much more,” its website declares. They’re asking that those who choose to participate on social media use the hashtags #ItTakesAVillage and #worldhumanitarianday.
We are heading back into some hot weather – summer’s last gasp, perhaps? – with temperatures in the mid-to-high 80s and and mostly sunny skies. This weekend will be hotter still, with temperatures back into the low 90s. Take precautions and enjoy.
In the headlines…
The Biden administration is reportedly readying about $800 million of additional military aid to Ukraine and could announce it as soon as today.
President Joe Biden would authorize the assistance using his Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows the president to authorize the transfer of excess weapons from U.S. stocks.
Tensions around the nuclear power plant on the front lines of the Ukraine war escalated, as the Russian and Ukrainian militaries traded charges that each was preparing to stage an attack on the plant in coming days, risking a catastrophic release of radiation.
Millions of people in the United States will be spared from big increases in health care costs next year after Biden signed legislation extending generous subsidies for those who buy plans through federal and state marketplaces.
A federal judge ordered the government to propose redactions to the highly sensitive affidavit used to justify a search warrant executed by the FBI at former President Donald Trump’s private home and club, saying he was inclined to unseal parts of it.
“I’m not prepared to find that the affidavit should be fully sealed,” said U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, giving the Justice Department a week to suggest which portions should remain secret.
Allen H. Weisselberg, one of Trump’s most trusted lieutenants, stood before a judge in a Lower Manhattan courtroom yesterday and admitted that he had conspired with the former president’s company to commit numerous crimes.
Weisselberg admitted to receiving more than $1.7 million in off-the-books perks while chief financial officer of the Trump Organization on top of his hefty salary, defrauding the taxpayer and Uncle Sam by disguising the fringe benefits as work expenses.
More than a dozen former Trump administration officials have shot down the former president’s claims that he had a “standing order” to declassify documents that he took to his White House residence from the Oval Office.
Initial filings for unemployment benefits declined slightly last week though they were consistent with a drift higher in layoffs that began in the spring, the Labor Department reported.
Jobless claims totaled 250,000 for the week ended Aug. 13, down 2,000 from the previous week and below the 260,000 Dow Jones estimate.
The number of Americans collecting traditional unemployment benefits increased by 7,000 the week that ended August 6, to 1.43 million. That’s the most since early April.
U.S. existing home sales fell in July for the sixth straight month, the longest streak of declines in more than eight years, as higher mortgage rates and a shortage of homes for sale are cooling this once red-hot market.
The White House, under pressure to contain a growing monkeypox outbreak, announced it was sending 1.8 million vaccine doses to jurisdictions that agree to use a new vaccination protocol, as officials prepare for Pride events and the return to college.
The White House is pursuing a controversial strategy where each person only gets a fraction of the full dose.
A global shortage in the supply of a vaccine being used to protect against severe illness for monkeypox has spurred the U.S. to negotiate new terms with the sole manufacturer, Bavarian Nordic.
An agreement between the Danish manufacturer of the only U.S.-approved monkeypox vaccine and a Michigan-based company would move the final packaging steps to the U.S. in an effort to expedite the delivery of millions of doses.
New York City released new data showing stark disparities in monkeypox vaccine access, with Black men receiving the vaccine at a much lower rate than members of other racial groups.
The Biden administration plans to end to its practice of paying for Covid-19 shots and treatments, shifting more control of pricing and coverage to the healthcare industry in ways that could generate sales for companies – and consumer costs – for years to come.
Patients recovering from coronavirus infection suffer from increased rates of neurological and psychological problems, according to a wide-ranging observational study published yesterday.
A comprehensive study has revealed that two-thirds of people with Covid-19 are still infectious five days after symptoms begin, calling into question self-isolation advice.
Facebook and Instagram removed the accounts of Children’s Health Defense, an organization led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that is one of the largest U.S. anti-vaccine groups, for spreading medical misinformation.
Two New York women were sentenced to prison after they were involved in two separate fraud cases involving COVID-19.
As Election Day nears, Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican candidate for governor in New York, agreed to face off against incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul in a debate on NEWS10’s sister station, PIX11.
Hochul and Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado’s campaign for a full term was endorsed by the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, with the organization praising efforts to curtail the effects of climate change by her administration.
Hochul signed legislation into law replacing the word “salesman” with “salesperson” — the latest in a series of moves by Albany toward gender-neutral and other woke language.
Hochul paid a visit to the Borough of Manhattan City College to announce the launch of a historic $150 allow expansion of the New York State’s popular Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) which will provide 75,000 additional students pursuing a degree part-time.
“TAP has always been there as that way to bridge the gap between what you might have in your family… and the cost of your tuition,” Hochul said. “But yet, since its inception, it’s been too limited.”
A plan to borrow $4.2 billion to help gird New York’s waterways and other infrastructure against the worsening effects of climate change has picked up more support from labor.
The Albany County District Attorney’s Office is currently reviewing a request from a Democratic state senator to investigate the campaign of New York’s Republican candidate for Governor Lee Zeldin over accusations of signature fraud.
Mayor Eric Adams took a sledgehammer to an abandoned dining shed on a Manhattan sidewalk and announced his administration is launching a citywide crackdown on dilapidated al fresco structures, which have become eyesores in some neighborhoods.
The blight and disorder that we’re witnessing at some of our sites is unacceptable,” Adams said, announcing 24 sheds outside closed restaurants recently were demolished. “If necessary, we’re going to do what we’re doing today and that’s taking it down.”
The mayor reiterated that “outdoor dining is here to stay,” while acknowledging that abandoned or dangerous outdoor dining structures must be quickly torn down.
Adams offered full-throated support for the NYPD’s seizure of 19 marijuana-selling trucks, seemingly walking back a previous pledge to not be “heavy-handed” against illicit pot peddlers while waiting on the state to roll out the legal recreational sales system.
“Many people don’t read the complete law. All they read is, ‘Weed is legal,’ and they just kick into gear,” Adams said at an unrelated press conference in Midtown Manhattan.
Gary Jenkins, Adams’ Social Services commissioner, pushed back against allegations that he withheld information about overcrowding in city homeless shelters and denied his ex-spokeswoman was fired for blowing the whistle on the alleged coverup.
Jenkins said his former top press aide, Julia Savel, had “documented instances” where she was “unprofessional with her peers, with her subordinates and with senior management,” during a television interview that aired yesterday evening on CBS2.
The Department of Investigation has withdrawn a job offer to a Brooklyn prosecutor who was slated to lead its police watchdog unit after allegations surfaced that he had sexually harassed female subordinates over more than a decade.
Rep. Jerry Nadler is running almost 20 points ahead of rival Rep. Carolyn Maloney in the Democratic primary to represent the newly drawn 12th Congressional District, according to a new Emerson College/PIX11/The Hill poll released yesterday.
A deluge of mailers from Rep. Carolyn Maloney’s government office leading up to Tuesday’s primary has election watchers questioning whether she has crossed an ethical boundary.
Democrat Pat Ryan, the Ulster County executive, is trying to hold New York’s 19th congressional seat, which once belonged to LG Antonio Delgado, as Republicans eye the seat as the first building block of a potential GOP majority.
State Sen. Jessica Ramos of Queens caused a stir by endorsing City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera over Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou — Ramos’ onetime roommate — in the hard-fought Democratic primary to represent the 10th Congressional District.
With five days left before the primary, a wave of last-minute money has been flooding in to help leading candidates locked in a heated battle to win NY-10. The bulk of it is coming from outside sources hoping to steer the race’s outcome.
Fresh off a string of legislative victories by Democrats in Congress, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries says he’s upbeat about the November elections, declaring there is “no circumstance” where there will be a “Republican landslide.”
North County Rep. Elise Stefanik reportedly plans to remain in Republican House leadership.
The head of the NYC Hotel Association said that operators are ready to put up thousands of migrants flocking to New York City in a boost to Mayor Eric Adams in his war of words with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Two brazen thieves on motorcycles robbed a group of people dining outside a fashionable Queens cafe — which is located across the street from the office of Council Member Tiffany Cabán, a major supporter of defunding the NYPD, cops and witnesses said.
It could soon be more expensive to drive through Manhattan’s most densely packed streets, as a tolling program that aims to reduce traffic in New York City crossed a major hurdle this month.
New York City public schools are “not equipped” to support students’ mental health — and previously misled parents about what programs are available to kids in need, according to a report by the state comptroller released yesterday.
Before its discovery in New York’s wastewater, the polio virus made a series of ominous appearances around the world.
The New York Daily News union slammed the vulture hedge fund that owns the 102-year-old newspaper for unsustainable work conditions that have left the remaining staff “hanging by a thread.”
The City of Albany laid out the timeline it provided the Central Warehouse’s owner to make necessary repairs to address immediate code violations on the property.
Retired state Supreme Court Justice Leonard A. Weiss, a practicing Capital Region attorney for more than seven decades who presided over the state’s second-highest court in Albany where he was seen as the “dean of the Albany County bar,” died at 99.
Buoyed by the prospect of federal infrastructure funding, Massachusetts transportation officials and lawmakers are urging Amtrak to start a regular Boston-to-Albany train schedule.
City police used a search warrant in the backstretch area of the Saratoga Race Course overnight Wednesday, arresting two licensed grooms on cocaine charges.
Two Jewish students have accused the State University of New York at New Paltz of discrimination, saying they were excluded from a sex abuse survivors group because of their personal views of Israel.
CNN personality Brian Stelter is leaving the network during an ongoing shakeup at the left-leaning cable news outlet.
Three men were indicted in the death of the notorious gangster James (Whitey) Bulger, who was beaten to death four years ago in a West Virginia federal prison where he was serving a sentence for crimes that terrorized Boston in the 1970s and ’80s.
The charges against Fotios “Freddy” Geas, Paul J. DeCologero and Sean McKinnon raised questions about why the known “snitch” was placed in the general population instead of more protective housing. The men were charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
