Good Thursday morning. How is September almost over already?!! It’s like I blinked and all of a sudden it’s cold again.
Brrrr.
On any given day, there are any number of directions in which I could take this morning missive. Sometimes choosing is hard because a lot of interesting and/or newsworthy things are happening all at once.
And then there’s the question of tone. Should I opt for funny or serious? Irreverent? Homespun? Earnest? Cheeky? What do the people want, or, more importantly, what do I think they NEED to know on any given day?
Sometimes it’s candy, and other times, it’s more like medicine. Here’s a dose of good-for-you information that you might otherwise not process or pay attention to.
Today, however, is easy, because today honors something very close to my heart and deeply intertwined with my very existence:
Caffeine, specifically, coffee.
Yes, It’s National Coffee Day! Hallelujah!
According to Guinness World Records, the largest cup of coffee EVER clocked in at 22,739 liters (that’s 6,007 gallons). It was brewed by Alcaldia Municipal of Chinchina in Caldas, Colombia on June 15, 2019.
It took 50 people more than a month just to build the cup to hold it, which sat in the town square – the blend, in case you’re wondering, was Arabic.
The purpose of this somewhat quixotic effort was reportedly to highlight to local coffee culture and the importance of the region’s coffee farmers. Apparently, they also got recognized for holding the largest coffee tasting event on record, which makes sense.
BTW, coffee was not native to Columbia, though it is now widely known for the crop. Coffee was actually introduced to Colombia via Jesuit priests in the early part of the 18th century, making it part and parcel of the colonization process.
Coffee’s roots date back centuries, but it was brought to Europe in the 17th century. Travelers to the Far East had spoken of this dark, black beverage, which detractors deemed Satan’s brew. (Why is everything new and potentially different somehow connected to the devil?)
Ah, but caffeine and its delightful powers of wakefulness won out in the end. Consider the following passage, which I found most amusing:
The local clergy condemned coffee when it came to Venice in 1615. The controversy was so great that Pope Clement VIII was asked to intervene. He decided to taste the beverage for himself before making a decision, and found the drink so satisfying that he gave it papal approval.
There you have it, coffee has the Church’s seal of approval. And then, of course, the Boston Tea Party – held by colonists in the New World in 1773 to express their opposition to the heavy taxes placed on tea (then the drink of choice) by King George III – really sealed the deal when it came to coffee favoritism in this country.
The average American drinks about 3.1 cups of coffee a day that’s 400 million cups nationwide a day, which translates into 146 BILLION a year – give or take. The FDA recommends that you limit caffeine intake to 400 mg a day or less – about 4 cups of coffee. So, I guess most of us are more or less within that margin of error.
The world’s most expensive coffee is the kopi luwak, with prices ranging from $100 US to $500 US, per pound. The coffee is produced when civets eat coffee cherries and their digestive enzymes break down specific proteins in the beans. It is later defecated and collected.
Yes, you read that right, they poop it out, and then you pay top dollar for it and drink the results.
Just how serious are we about our coffee? VERY, it turns out. More than half of all coffee drinkers would rather skip a shower in the morning than forgo their first cup of Joe. Now that, my friends, is dedication.
Actually, come to think of it…I think I’m one of those people. And since we’re on the subject, today that cup might well be free – if you play your cards right. Check out these deals being held at a chain and/or purveyor near you in honor of the big day.
It will be lovely coffee drinking weather, too, with temperatures in the low 60s and a mix of sun and clouds.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden warned oil and gas companies against increasing prices for consumers as Hurricane Ian slammed into Florida’s southwest coast.
Biden issued what he called “a warning to oil and gas industry executives: Do not — let me, repeat, do not — do not use this as an excuse to raise gasoline prices or gouge the American people.”
Ian is one of the most powerful storms to strike the United States in decades, and forecasters warned that a broad swath of the state would experience “catastrophic storm surge, wind and flooding.”
Even as some parts of Florida’s coast experience a catastrophic surge of seawater over their shores, Hurricane Ian has pushed water out of Tampa Bay, leaving it less than a foot deep in some areas.
Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida as a dangerous Category 4 hurricane yesterday afternoon, coming ashore near Cayo Costa, Florida, with winds of 150 mph. It has since been downgraded to a Category 1storm.
Hurricane Ian is complicating Florida’s closely watched gubernatorial race, as Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and his Democratic opponent Charlie Crist are forced to navigate the potentially treacherous political terrain caused by the storm.
As Ian threatens to inflict significant damage across Florida, DeSantis must rely on assistance from the same federal government whose public health guidance he has ridiculed during the pandemic.
Speaking at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, Biden tried to acknowledge the presence of Rep. Jackie Walorski – despite the fact that the Indiana Republican had died in a car accident in early August.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that the president had Walorski on “top of mind” at the event, as she had helped organize it and because Biden plans to participate in a ceremony for her later this week.
The Food and Drug Administration proposed new rules dictating when food products can have the world “healthy” on their packaging as part of an effort to promote healthier eating in the U.S.
The U.S. Supreme Court announced new policies for its upcoming term, allowing the public to attend oral arguments in person and making mask-wearing optional.
The EU put forward a series of new sanctions aimed at punishing Russia for escalating the Ukraine war by drafting at least 300,000 men into its army, threatening the use of nuclear arms and holding discredited referendums in occupied territories.
Former President Donald Trump’s request that a judge intervene in the criminal investigation into his hoarding of government documents by appointing a special master increasingly looks like a significant blunder, legal experts say.
Lawyers for Trump are resisting a federal judge’s instruction to submit a sworn declaration on whether they believe the government’s list of property taken from Trump’s Florida estate is accurate.
Trump is riding out Hurricane Ian at his Florida beach club: He was scheduled to be deposed at Mar-a-Lago tomorrow as a defendant in a class-action lawsuit.
The investors’ lawyer sought a postponement saying the Category 4 hurricane that slammed the west coast of Florida made questioning Trump under oath unsafe at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Trump opposed the delay.
The former president’s legal team is seeking to invoke attorney-client and executive privilege over grand jury testimony after waves of subpoenas went out to witnesses.
Then-President Trump nearly fired his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner from the White House via tweet, according to a new book from New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.
NYT book review: “Haberman’s thesis is that you can’t really understand Donald Trump unless you’re familiar with the steamy, histrionic folkways of New York’s political and construction tribes.”
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) announced that Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, is scheduled to meet with the Jan. 6 select committee this week.
An estimated 13 million U.S. adults agree that force would be justified to restore Trump to the White House and an estimated 15 million believe force would be justified to prevent him from being prosecuted, should he be indicted.
A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows that less than half of Americans (46%) now believe that candidates “should commit in advance to accepting the results” of this year’s midterm elections.
One of the country’s top vaccine experts has stirred debate in recent weeks by suggesting that not everyone should get the latest COVID-19 vaccine boosters and that the CDC is “overselling” the new shot.
The impact of the Covid pandemic may have been so deep that it altered people’s personalities, according to research.
A Johns Hopkins University scientist who created a website to track COVID-19 cases worldwide is the recipient of this year’s Lasker award for public service.
Americans who received a single dose of the monkeypox vaccine were significantly less likely to be infected by the virus over the summer than those who did not, according to an analysis published by the CDC.
UB and UBMD’s Physicians’ Group have created a voluntary online registry for Western New York residents who are 18-years-old and older to report symptoms of long COVID-19, according to UB’s website.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has expanded her commanding lead over Representative Lee Zeldin, her Republican challenger in the New York race for governor, according to a Siena College poll that showed her leading by 17 percentage points.
The poll suggested that Hochul, a Democrat from Buffalo vying for her first full term, has improved her standing among voters since a Siena College survey in August that had her up by 14 points.
Zeldin is calling the Siena poll hogwash and released an internal poll that has their candidate within striking distance.
“The reality is — this race is just a few points that are separating us,” Zeldin said after the release of the Siena College poll showing him down 54% to 37%.
The Siena poll also found half of voters picked the economy as their top issue this election season, with crime falling to third behind threats to democracy.
A political advocacy group bankrolled by cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder has unleashed a TV ad slamming Hochul as soft on crime and unwilling to clean up New York’s “disastrous” cashless bail law.
Lauder, a conservative who ran for New York City mayor in 1989, just dropped $2.5 million into the independently run SAFE TOGETHER NY group on Sept. 21.
Hochul announced her opposition to legislation proposed by leftwing state lawmakers to rename Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day – just hours after Zeldin blasted the idea.
Hochul says she has no regrets about her administration giving $637 million to a COVID rapid testing company tied to $300,000 in campaign cash despite growing outrage over the alleged pay-to-play scheme. “I would do that all again,” she told reporters.
The son of a major Hochul donor was hired by her campaign right around the time his father hosted a fundraiser for her, and just weeks before the dad’s company scored what’s being called a “pay-to-play” deal to sell the state $637 million in COVID-19 tests.
The Buffalo News’ Rod Watson writes: “If you believe in a constitutional republic with a respect for the separation of powers, this could be the most dispiriting gubernatorial election in memory.”
New Yorkers at the ballot box this fall will approve or reject the state’s first environmental bond act in a quarter-century, and weigh city proposals that would create a racial equity office and recalculate the cost of living.
The Amsterdam News endorsed Hochul in the November general election, saying “she has demonstrated keen insight on managing the gubernatorial office.”
New York is spending $50 million to boost local law enforcement and to ensure defendants make their court appearances, Hochul said at a conference of police officials from around the state.
In a snub of Democratic incumbent Letitia James, the union representing 7,000 current and retired New York state troopers has endorsed Republican Michael Henry for attorney general.
Hochul announced new steps to combat the outbreak of polio in several suburban New York counties and New York City.
State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett declared poliovirus an imminent threat to public health in New York State, thereby expanding the availability of funding and resources, and conducting outreach.
Expanding overtime for farmworkers to kick in at 40 hours a week could help broaden the labor pool of agriculture workers in New York, Hochul said.
Expanding the pool of available farm labor in the country is a key challenge that should be addressed, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Tuesday while addressing a conference of agriculture officials.
Some historical battle re-enactors in New York are holding their musket fire because of worries over the state’s new gun rules — an unplanned side effect of a law designed to protect the public’s safety.
New York’s Legislative Commission on Rural Resources has asked the Office of Cannabis Management for clarification and updates on the state’s rollout of its legal marijuana industry.
Some 900 entrepreneurs in New York are now waiting with a mixture of apprehension and confidence the day after the application period for the state’s Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licenses closed on Monday.
More than a year after he resigned and abruptly exited the state’s political sphere, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a video statement announcing his new podcast and the formation of a political action committee and gun safety group.
Cuomo, whose last campaign filing in July indicated he had about $10 million in the account, said he wants to start a political action committee “to elect the right people to office,” but offering few details.
Wearing an open-collar dress shirt and jacket, Cuomo said being forced from office allowed him to spend “time engaging in something called life,” adding with apparently unintended irony: “I had a lot to make up for.”
The three-term Democratic governor said his time away from public service has given him a fresh perspective on politics, and he’s “very concerned about the state of our country.”
The video message amounted to the most concerted effort yet by Cuomo to re-enter public life after he abruptly stepped down under public pressure and the threat of impeachment, unanimously shunned by members of his own party.
Former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo says he does not agree with changes that have been made at the network that fired him last year over assistance he gave to his brother, the disgraced former governor.
Both Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and her November opponent, state Attorney General Derek Schmidt, shot back at NYC Mayor Eric Adams for dissing their state.
The reaction from Kansans was harsh, with former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeting, “Mayor Adams brand? Crime, Violence and crushing taxes.”
Adams traveled to Washington to pitch healthier foods and better nutrition at Biden’s landmark White House conference to end hunger in the U.S. by 2030.
Adams explained in an amNY op-ed why the city is reaching out to assist storm-ravaged Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and other places in the Caribbean.
The battle between City Hall seeking to build more housing units and neighborhood activists and representatives resistant to development in their backyard is not new. But the struggle has taken on a sharp and urgent edge during the Adams administration.
Adams, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) are among the real-life political leaders set to appear as guests on the upcoming season of “Tooning Out the News.”
While Adams is ordering New York City’s municipal workers back to the office, some city boards are continuing to operate remotely out of ongoing concern over Covid-19 and other contagions.
In the first sign of how New York City public schoolchildren fared during the pandemic, test score data released yesterday showed sharp declines in math but steady performance in reading for students in the nation’s largest school system.
The results, released by the city Education Department, showed a 1.6 percentage point rise in English language arts proficiency and a 7.6 point drop in math competency.
Two men have been arrested in the July robbery of a Brooklyn pastor, who had what the police said was more than $1 million in jewelry taken from him at gunpoint during a sermon that was caught on a livestream video, prosecutors in Brooklyn said.
The scooter rider who fatally struck the actress Lisa Banes in a hit-and-run accident as she crossed a Manhattan street in June pleaded guilty to crimes related to her death, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said.
Former NY1 meteorologist Erick Adame finds himself at the center of a debate over whether employers should be policing their workers’ legal off-the-clock activities online as Americans have become more open-minded about sex in general.
The Port of Albany has decided to forgo $29.5 million in federal funding for the $350 million wind turbine tower manufacturing facility it wants to build on the Hudson River to speed up the permitting process after falling behind schedule.
After almost 30 years spearheading one of the Capital Region’s most loved candy shops, Uncle Sam’s All-American Chocolate Factory owner Joe Suhrada is stepping down from his leadership post.
Yankees star Aaron Judge hit his 61st home run of the season, tying fellow pinstripe legend Roger Maris’ American League record for the most home runs hit in a season.
Only five others — Maris, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Babe Ruth — have hit 60 or more home runs in a single season. McGwire admitted to steroid use while Bonds and Sosa denied allegations that they used performance-enhancing drugs.
Coolio, the West Coast rapper whose gritty music and anthemic hits like “Gangsta’s Paradise” helped define hip-hop in the 1990s, died yesterday in Los Angeles. He was 59. No cause was given.
