Good morning. It’s Friday, Exhale.
I’m not sure about you, but I went through a big chewing gum phase back in the day. It was probably a combination of being told I could NOT have it (mainly in class when I was in elementary and high school) and a deep and abiding fear of bad breath – part of adolescent insecurity, I think.
These days I eat onions and garlic with abandon and don’t really give much thought to it. Though I do keep breath mints handy, I no longer think that repetitive cow-like jaw movement is socially acceptable in public settings.
Also, chewing gum can be bad for your health – especially your dental health, if you’re a fan of those sugary varieties of gum, which I used to like save for the fact that they lose their flavor so damn fast.
Anyway, chewing gum, while a mouth-centered exercise, can stress out our stomach and intestines, AND can even worsen symptoms of IBS.
Why is that? Well, if you consistently chew gum, you generate and swallow an excessive amount of spit, and your body doesn’t have a sufficient amount of time to digest your food in between meals.
All this said, gum does have its place, and a rather sizable fan base, although apparently its popularity has waned – potentially due to the rise in cellphone use, if you can believe it.
According to market research firm Euromonitor International, global gum sales have declined 15 per cent since 2007, which JUST SO HAPPENS to be the very year that the iPhone came out.
Nevertheless, the world market for gum is estimated to be 560,000 tons per year, which is worth about $5 billion. About 374 billion pieces of chewing gum are sold worldwide every year. That adds up to about 187 billion hours of gum-chewing, assuming each pice of gum is chewed for 30 minutes.
The Asia/Pacific region is the biggest consumer of chewing gum, followed by Western Europe, and then North America.
Chewing gum has been around for a long time. Ancient peoples appear to have chomped on tree sap and/or tar – maybe for enjoyment (though I can’t honestly understand how) and also more likely for medicinal purposes.
Interestingly, the Aztecs only allowed single women and kids to publicly chew their version of this gum, called chicle and made from the sapodilla tree.
Indigenous people in North America also chewed tree resin, though on these shores it was more often spruce. The European settlers adopted the habit, and an enterprising guy by the name of John Curtis developed the first commercial spruce tree gum. He would boil resin, cut it into strips and coast them with cornstarch to prevent them from sticking.
By the early 1850s, Curtis had constructed the world’s first chewing gum factory, in Portland, Maine.
Things didn’t really take off in the commercial gum department until a soap maker named William Wrigley Jr. used free chewing gum as a promotional incentive to get store owners to stock his products.
In 1893, he launched Juicy Fruit and Wrigley’s Spearmint, and spent a lot of time on promotions and marketing – including one campaign that involved sending free gum samples of its gum to all U.S. kids on the second birthday. (I’m sure parents were thrilled).
Both of these gum flavors are still around, which is kind of amazing. And I have to confess to feeling not altogether negative about both of them, though if push came to shove and I HAD to choose, I would opt for cinnamon every time.
Oh, did I happen to mention….It’s National Chewing Gum Day!
It’s shaping up to be a not-bad weekend, weather-wise, with a lot of clouds, but no significant threat of rain thus far. Temperatures will be in the low 60s, starting today and running through Sunday.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden said there are early reports that Tropical Storm Ian caused substantial loss of life in Florida, as state and federal officials continued to help thousands of people affected by the catastrophic storm.
Biden praised the Federal Emergency Management Agency for its response to Hurricane Ian, telling the room full of FEMA workers that they’re restoring Americans’ faith in their government.
More than 2.6 million in the state were without power after Ian brought strong winds, “life-threatening, catastrophic” flooding, and storm surges as high as 12 feet in some areas.
As Ian surged back to hurricane strength late yesterday afternoon, officials in southwestern Florida said that more than 500 people had been rescued from the storm’s floodwaters amid widespread devastation and an uncertain death toll.
Ian regained hurricane strength as it powered across the Atlantic Ocean toward Georgia and the Carolinas as a Category 1 storm.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who as a congressman opposed aid to victims of Hurricane Sandy, is seeking relief from the Biden administration as Hurricane Ian ravages his own state.
The Senate approved a temporary spending package to keep the government funded past today’s deadline and send another round of emergency aid to Ukraine, punting negotiations on a longer-term funding measure until after the November elections.
The Senate voted 72-25 to advance the stopgap legislation, which will keep the government funded through mid-December – past the midterm elections – after some stumbles earlier this week over energy permitting reform. The House is expected to vote today.
The House is expected to pass the measure before tonight’s midnight deadline to avoid a funding lapse. Democrats may get little Republican help, as House GOP leaders are encouraging members to vote against the measure.
Low-income New Yorkers facing a winter of astronomical energy prices could see a heap of cash relief if lawmakers in Washington close the deal on a $1 billion federal assistance infusion brokered by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Shumer.
Six Republican-led states took legal action to block Biden from wiping away billions of dollars in student loan debt, even as the administration tried to avoid a court challenge by reducing the number of people eligible for relief.
The Biden administration scaled back eligibility for its student loan forgiveness plan yesterday – the same day six Republican-led states sued Biden in an effort to block his student loan forgiveness plan from taking effect.
In a reversal from Biden’s original sweeping proposal in August to cancel federal student loans up to $20,000, the US Department of Education announced it would not forgive debt from borrowers whose student loans are owned by private entities.
A federal judge set aside a measure imposed by a special master asking former President Donald Trump to certify the accuracy of the F.B.I.’s inventory of the property it had seized from his Florida estate, overruling an arbiter she had appointed herself.
US District Judge Aileen Cannon also pushed back the timeline for review of the materials, while making clear that additional litigation that Trump will have the chance to bring, after the process is finished, challenging the search will remain on her docket.
Under Cannon’s new order, the review and her handling of any objections to Brooklyn-based special master Raymond Dearie’s rulings will almost certainly stretch into the new year. She is a Trump appointee based in Florida.
Virginia Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, said in a closed-door interview with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack that she never discussed effort to overturn the 2020 election with her husband, but still thinks the election was stolen.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is talking about her IUD, disclosing her preferred birth control method during the House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing about the impact of new GOP restrictions on women’s right to choose.
Initial filings for unemployment claims fell last week to their lowest level in five months, a sign that the labor market is strengthening even as the Federal Reserve is trying to slow things down.
Jobless claims for the week ended Sept. 24 totaled 193,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week’s downwardly revised total and below the 215,000 Dow Jones estimate, according to a Labor Department report.
If it wasn’t clear enough during the Covid-19 pandemic, it has become obvious during the monkeypox outbreak: The United States, among the richest, most advanced nations in the world, remains wholly unprepared to combat new pathogens.
Italians will no longer have to wear face masks on public transport, the health ministry said late yesterday, in the latest easing of rules against the coronavirus pandemic.
Fans going to the World Cup in Qatar must show a negative COVID-19 test when they arrive as part of the host nation’s rules to combat COVID-19, organizers said.
Indonesia said it has granted emergency use approval to an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine developed by a Chinese company, becoming the first country, ahead of even China, to do so.
The U.S. suicide rate rose in 2021 after two consecutive years of declines, federal data showed, underscoring concern about mental health in the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Today” show weatherman Al Roker is experiencing mild symptoms after testing positive for Covid-19, causing fellow NBC meteorologist Bill Karins to stand in for the morning program’s coverage of Hurricane Ian.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke and U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York Trini Ross announced the launch of the United Against Hate initiative, aimed at combatting hate crimes in Buffalo.
Congressional Republicans are vowing to probe a $637 million alleged pay-to-play scheme involving Gov. Kathy Hochul and a deep-pocketed campaign donor if they retake the House of Representatives this November.
GOP gubernatorial candidate and Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin criticized Hochul over a no-bid contract for COVID-19 tests awarded to a campaign donor during a Rochester press conference as his campaign released a new ad attacking the incumbent Democrat.
The NYPD sergeants union is backing Zeldin for governor over Hochul amid fierce criticism of criminal justice reforms championed by Albany Democrats.
New York’s push for an emissions-free transportation system took a step forward Hochul said the state DEC would expedite the regulations behind a mandate, signed by the governor last year, that all new cars sold starting in 2035 be emissions-free.
“We’re really putting our foot down on the accelerator and revving up our efforts to make sure we have this transition — not someday in the future, but on a specific date, a specific year — by the year 2035,” Hochul said.
To reach the zero-emission requirement, 35 percent of new cars must be zero-emission by 2026 and 68 percent by 2030, and all new school buses will need to follow suit by 2027, “with the entire fleet meeting these standards by 2035,” Hochul said.
According to clean energy advocates and regulatory documents reviewed by New York Focus, the key bodies tasked with implementing the state’s climate agenda simply don’t have enough staff.
WNY’s Kaleida Health has called its current financial condition fragile, pointing to the more than $200 million in pandemic-related losses it has sustained since 2020. The state will provide it with a $25 million cushion in funding support.
A state Supreme Court judge has ruled that the dysfunctional Independent Redistricting Commission must reconvene and submit new Assembly lines by April 2023 that will be in place for the 2024 cycle.
Mayor Eric Adams and his police commissioner have both been crowing about how shootings are down this year — but an alarming surge in gunfire now has the Big Apple looking “like the Wild, Wild West.”
City officials unveiled a new 1.7-mile bus lane in western Queens — the longest new bus lane painted on New York streets since Adams took office in January.
An emotionally disturbed man stabbed to death an EMS lieutenant, police said, and New York City’s fire commissioner described the attack as “barbaric and completely unprovoked.”
Alison Russo-Elling, a 24-year veteran, was assaulted as she walked back from lunch, and a suspect was arrested after barricading himself in a nearby apartment.
The city and state are honoring fallen FDNY EMS Lt. Russo by flying flags at half-mast at government buildings.
Nearly nine months into his tenure, Adams has yet to appoint a permanent FDNY commissioner, leaving Acting Commissioner Laura Kavanagh in the high-profile role dealing with some of the city’s most pressing emergencies and emergency services.
Two Democratic Councilwomen allege they were harassed and threatened by correction officers on the steps of City Hall Wednesday morning after a set of dueling rallies devolved into a chaotic shouting match.
The City Council passed a bill aimed at shrinking the Big Apple’s “bureaucratic maze” of regulations required to open and operate a business.
In a major shift for high school admissions, eighth graders from across the five boroughs with course grades in the top 15% of their class last year will have priority in scoring seats at some of New York City’s most selective high schools.
The sweeping move will end the random lottery for middle schools, a major shift after the previous administration ended the use of grades and test scores two years ago.
A New York City doctor who performed unnecessary surgeries on desperately poor patients as part of a $31 million scheme to scam insurance and lawsuit money pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges, prosecutors said.
Several competitive House races on Long Island have become fertile ground for candidates to test out common Republican (public safety) and Democratic (abortion rights) campaign themes.
More than 160 employees of the state’s skiing, snowboarding and sledding venues will be getting a series of raises over the next four years under a contract approved by the leaders of the Olympic Regional Development Authority.
An epidemic of bird flu in wild and domestic birds has reached The Crossings town park, where lab tests have determined birds are dying from the illness.
Arbor Hill’s Amin Cowan, one of 903 justice-involved cannabis applicants statewide, hopes the licenses set aside for previously convicted business owners give him a shot at his own store.
New York’s cannabis marketplace could become the most equitable market in the country. If so, it could set a new precedent in a space sorely needing one. Still, various uncertainties remain that could stifle the market’s equitable potential.
The families of three children who survived the Uvalde shooting are suing the school district, city, law enforcement and gun manufacturers in federal court, saying their alleged failures and negligence played a role in the attack that left 21 dead.
Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. has told employees that it will be implementing a hiring freeze and will be taking more steps to reduce the company’s costs, according to people familiar with the matter.
Trevor Noah, 38, the South African comedian who took over the hosting reins of “The Daily Show” after the departure of Jon Stewart seven years ago, announced that he would be leaving the program.
