Good Tuesday morning.
We have entered that time of year some people call the “spooky season,” which I guess translates into the week(s) leading up to Halloween. It’s the time when thoughts turn to all things related to the holiday, including, but not limited to: Monsters, skeletons, witches, ghosts, vampires, and, of course, bats.
Unlike the rest of that particular line-up, bats are actually real (sorry, no, I don’t believe in the paranormal, you can come at me if you’d like) and they also are not truthfully scary. I mean, I guess if they’re rabid, then maybe…but generally speaking, they are the most important misunderstood animals on the planet.
First, let’s get this out of the way: Bats are mammals, which means the are warm-blooded vertebrates, are covered with fur (or hair, but in this case, fur), give birth to live offspring and nurse their babies.
Bats have forelimbs that act like wings, and are the ONLY mammals capable of true and sustained flight. They’re actually more agile in the air than many birds, using their long and spread-out fingers covered with a thin membrane to glide through the air.
There are more than 1,400 species of bats across the globe; they make up one-fifth of the ENTIRE mammal population. Yeah. That’s a lot of bats.
Bats range widely in size. The smallest – Kitti’s hog-nosed bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai) – is debatably the world’s smallest mammal. It is informally known as the bumblebee bat, (for obvious reasons) and weighs about as much as two Skittles, (2 grams).
The largest bat, the golden-crowned flying fox, is actually not a fox at all, but rather a fruit-eating megabat with a wingspan of up to five feet, six inches. They weigh in at just under 3 pounds and are only found in the Philippines. (After looking at the photos of this behemoth bat, I have to confess that I am not sorry it lives so far away from upstate New York).
There IS such a thing as a vampire bat, which subsists mainly on blood. They do occasionally bite humans, but that is very rare, and the main threat from such a bite is the spread of rabies. They do not turn anyone into Dracula, and don’t even kill the animals they regularly feed off of, as they really only take tiny bits of blood at a time. Sorry, horror fans. Myth busted.
A little freaky though, is the fact that unlike other bats, vampire bats can walk, jump, and run, which helps them attach more easily to their prey. They also use heat sensors in their noses to find the best feeding spot on an animal’s body. So yeah, they’re not exactly warm and fuzzy.
Potentially the coolest thing about bats is their use of echolocation – basically nature’s built-in sonar system – which is, for the record, also deployed by dolphins, all toothed whales and many burrowing small mammals, as well as some birds.
Bats are not, contrary to popular belief and the old wive’s saying, blind. (Another myth busted). They don’t see all that well, however, and they use their echolocation skills to locate fast-moving prey in the dark.
Most bats eat insects, like mosquitos, which makes them very helpful in terms of pest reduction. They’re also the sole pollinator for the agave plant, which is a key ingredient in, among other things, tequila.
Bats are sadly endangered. More than 200 species in 60 countries are considered threatened. You might have heard about the white-nose syndrome – a fungus that has basically wiped out across North America. It has killed some 6 million bats since it was first detected in upstate New York in 2006.
But the good news is that some bats are developing immunity.
Yesterday marked the first day of Bat Week, an annual, international celebration of all things bat-related. Perhaps you will build and install a bat house to celebrate? I know several people who have tried to encourage bats to nest in their backyards in hopes of gaining natural insect-repelling neighbors. But no dice. Maybe you’ll have better luck.
Another rainy – but warm – day is on tap, with showers on and off throughout the morning and afternoon and temperatures nearing 70 degrees.
In the headlines…
More than two dozen liberal House members called on President Joe Biden to shift course in his Ukraine strategy and pursue direct diplomacy with Russia to bring the months-long conflict to an end.
The group of 30 Democrats in a letter praised Biden for supporting Ukraine while avoiding direct US involvement on the ground, but suggested a more forceful attempt at ending the war through diplomacy to prevent a long and slogging conflict.
Among the signatories were Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley, from the most progressive wing of the party, collectively known as “the squad”.
But the door was slammed shut by the evening, met with enough fury to elicit a “clarification” in the form of a statement from caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal.
Top officials from the US, Britain and France sought to call out what they said was a transparent ploy by Moscow to create a pretext for escalating the war in Ukraine, rejecting the Kremlin’s claims Kyiv was preparing to detonate a dirty bomb on its own territory.
An unwritten pact binding the U.S. and Saudi Arabia has survived 15 presidents and seven kings through an Arab oil embargo, two Persian Gulf wars and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Now, it is fracturing under two leaders who don’t like or trust each other.
Biden shared what he dubbed his “closing argument” for Democrats ahead of the midterms, contrasting Democratic and Republican policies to frame next month’s election as a stark choice that would shape the country’s future for decades.
Biden has no choice but to talk about the economy in the home stretch of the midterm elections, which is what worries voters most. But by doing so, he reminds them that Democrats have yet to fix the problem and opens the door to GOP criticism.
Biden falsely claimed last week that he got his student debt forgiveness initiative passed by Congress.
Top Biden national security officials are tracking multiple threats to the nation’s election security infrastructure ahead of the midterms and are set to issue warnings, including in an internal intelligence bulletin this week.
Biden and First Lady Dr Jill Biden hosted a Diwali reception at the White House in what they called the largest since the celebration started being celebrated under former President George W. Bush.
Rishi Sunak prevailed in a chaotic three-day race for leader of Britain’s Conservative Party, a remarkable political comeback that doubled as a historical milestone, making him the first person of color to become prime minister in British history.
Biden called Sunak’s expected naming to the post “pretty astounding” and a “groundbreaking milestone.”
Sunak becoming Britain’s prime minister is a “Barak Obama moment” for people of Indian descent in the UK, the president of the Hindu temple in the UK co-founded by Sunak’s grandparents in 1971 told CNN.
Sunak, who warned that Liz Truss’s economic plans for Britain were a “fairy tale,” will take over the world’s sixth-biggest economy at a time of deep financial and political turbulence.
Sunak’s ascent to the prime minister’s office is a significant milestone for Britain’s Indian diaspora. But for many, his immense personal wealth has made him less relatable.
This year, The Times of London estimated that Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty, were worth more than $800 million, placing them among the 250 wealthiest British people or families. Source of their wealth? “Technology and hedge fund,” the report said.
Justice Clarence Thomas temporarily blocked a Georgia grand jury from compelling Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham to testify in its probe of efforts to subvert Biden’s 2020 election victory in the state, while the Supreme Court considers his claim of immunity.
The justice’s order was an “administrative stay” that will almost certainly not be the Supreme Court’s last word on the matter.
Rep. Liz Cheney thinks that if the GOP nominates Donald Trump for president again in 2024, it will be the end of the Republican Party. Or at least the end of the Republican Party as we currently think of it.
Jury selection began in the trial of the Trump Organization, which is accused of evading taxes by compensating employees through off-the-books benefits. Eighteen jurors got an initial round of questions but it will take days to seat a jury.
A California billionaire known as a Trump ally used his testimony at his federal trial to question Trump’s leadership on foreign policy, saying the former president was clueless about the dynamics in the Middle East.
Tom Barrak took the stand in federal court in Brooklyn to push back against allegations that he sought to cash in on his ties to the-then president by acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the United Arab Emirates.
Barrack said he had agreed to support his old friend Trump’s long-shot presidential campaign because he sensed an opportunity in his career’s twilight to “weave a web of tolerance” in the Middle East, but the result was “disastrous.”
Federal prosecutors investigating Trump’s handling of national security documents he took with him from the White House have ratcheted up their pressure in recent weeks on key witnesses in the hopes of gaining their testimony.
Trump called Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis’ endorsement and boosting of moderate Republican Colorado Senate nominee Joe O’Dea, Trump’s political foe, “a big mistake.”
A forthcoming book by Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz reveals that he and some of his Republican colleagues hid in a supply closet shortly after hearing news of violence on Jan. 6, 2021.
Nearly two years after Trump’s supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol and delayed certification of the 2020 election, Cruz still won’t say Biden was legitimately elected.
The seditious conspiracy trial against members of the right-wing militia group Oath Keepers has been delayed after the group’s leader, Stewart Rhodes, has tested positive for Covid.
Quarantine protocols do not permit Rhodes, 56, to participate in his trial by video conference or to be transported to court for at least a week.
Penn State University canceled a speaking engagement last night by a founder of the far-right group Proud Boys due to threats of violence after protests on campus grew intensely ahead of the event.
Should you wash your hands? Yes. Does it matter for respiratory viruses like Covid-19? Not as much as we once thought.
A hospital capacity crisis is threatening parts of upstate New York as unseasonably early spikes in respiratory illnesses, staffing shortages and nursing home backlogs strain the region’s health care system.
As of yesterday morning, neither the COVID-19 dashboards for New York City nor New Jersey were displaying the numbers of bivalent boosters, which are designed to fight newer coronavirus variants.
New York City is appealing a court ruling forcing it to reinstate a Staten Island firefighter who lost his job after he opposed the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for religious reasons.
School systems throughout the country reported using less than 15 percent of the latest round of federal Covid-related education funding allotted to them during the last school year.
People who reported experiencing side effects to the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines such as fever, chills or muscle pain tended to have a greater antibody response following vaccination, according to new research.
According to a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the level of protection a person receives against the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 rises with the amount of physical activity performed.
A former Minneapolis police officer pleaded guilty to state charges in the murder of George Floyd, which sparked a summer of racial unrest across the U.S. in 2020.
A Michigan teenager accused of killing four fellow students and injuring seven others in a school shooting last year pleaded guilty to charges including homicide and terrorism.
A woman and a teenage girl were fatally shot yesterday morning at a St. Louis high school, and the shooter died in an exchange of gunfire with responding police officers, authorities said.
The gunman, who was identified as a former student, also died after a shootout with the police at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, the authorities said. At least seven other people were injured.
In the final weeks of New York’s campaign for governor, voters once again find themselves embroiled in a debate over what was once considered a long-settled matter: abortion rights.
Zeldin has agreed to debate Gov. Kathy Hochul at Pace University tonight at 7 p.m., setting the stage for the first and likely only meeting between the candidates just two weeks out from the general election.
Rikers Island served as a backdrop to a campaign stop as Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin touted the endorsement of the city’s Correction Officers Benevolent Association.
The WSJ sort of endorses Zeldin, writing: “Maybe what New Yorkers need to feel safe is exactly that: for Ms. Hochul to stop working as their Governor.”
Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James announced a major expansion in usage of New York State’s Red Flag Law to further protect New Yorkers from gun violence.
James pointed to the 339 orders issued in recent months as a sign the stricter gun laws following a mass shooting in western New York and a Supreme Court ruling overturning a conceal carry law. A majority of those, 65%, resulted in guns being seized, she said.
Hochul and James also announced a $4.6 million increase to the Attorney General’s 2023 fiscal year budget to support the State Police’s efforts to obtain Extreme Risk Protection Orders.
Hochul became the latest Democratic politician to downplay New Yorkers’ worries over subway and street crime amid a surge in violent attacks — chalking it up to a few “high-profile” crimes that have “created a sense of fear in people’s minds.”
As subway crime continues to soar, the Metropolitan Transit Authority is urging judges and district attorneys to help ban “certain criminals” from the transit system.
Hochul offered statistics on crime at a press conference that she insisted showed her approach is working.
The NFL team owner who got Hochul to put up $850 million in state and county taxpayer money to build a new Buffalo Bills stadium is $1 billion richer. Bills owner Terry Pegula moved up 60 places on the latest Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans.
As Republicans try to win back power in the halls of Congress, the third-ranking Republican lawmaker in Washington is pledging to ramp up investigations. North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik says that will include subpoenas of New York ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Stefanik also defended the elected official who stood next to her at an event outside Van Rensselaer Manor yesterday: Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin, who faces felony charges for the alleged misuse of campaign funds.
House Democrats’ campaign arm is spending big to defend its chief, New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, from mounting GOP threats.
The Cook Report has moved Maloney’s race against Republican Assemblyman Mike Lawler in NY-17 from “lean Democrat” to “toss up.”
Democratic state Senate candidates on Long Island say they’re not getting election help from Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris or the majority’s political arm.
Beginning on Oct. 29, on any given day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., New Yorkers can walk into their neighborhood polling places and cast their vote for the Midterm elections.
Leonard B. Austin, who is serving as interim vice-chair of the new ethics oversight panel, recently attended a campaign fundraiser for an influential member of the state Assembly – an event from which he was strictly prohibited, according to state law.
Less than half of New York students scored at or above grade level in English and math, according to the grade 3-8 assessment results. In English, the results were slightly higher than they were pre-pandemic. But in math, they were much lower.
Concerned New York parents ripped schools for not offering more support amid the COVID-19 remote learning saga — as new data known as the “nation’s report card” revealed the pandemic erased decades of progress for US kids.
New York farmers are considering how to cut overhead costs — including tighter controls over the hours employees work and spending on machinery to produce efficiency — amid a planned worker overtime expansion, a Cornell University survey found.
When New Yorkers cast their vote on Nov. 8, they will have to turn over their ballots to decide on a $4.2 billion bond act that promises a significant investment in clean water and climate resiliency — the first such act in nearly 30 years.
Mayor Eric Adams dialed down his tough talk on the state’s bail reforms over the weekend after maintaining for months that they’re to blame for the city’s crime uptick — extending a pre-election olive branch to Hochul.
To avoid facing criminal charges for fraud, New York’s largest private Hasidic school, the Central United Talmudical Academy, agreed to pay fines and restitution totaling more than $8 million, according to an agreement filed in Federal District Court.
Of the subway system’s 472 stations, 69 have bathrooms. In January, eight of them will reopen for the first time since the pandemic started, now that more cleaners have been hired.
The New York City oversight body that examines police misconduct will now have the authority to investigate claims of racial profiling, as well as officers’ misuse of body cameras, and recommend disciplinary measures in those cases, officials said.
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell has fired a cop accused of beating his girlfriend and claiming he’s untouchable, according to NYPD documents.
The grieving family of the latest detainee to die in New York City jails has filed a wrongful death claim against the Correction Department.
A six-decade-old public housing development in Williamsburg has decayed into a house of horrors marred by moldy dwellings, widespread water damage and vexing vermin, seven New York politicians charged in a letter demanding accelerated repairs.
A judge has ruled that the City of Albany’s Industrial Development Agency can take possession of 11 land parcels in Liberty Park, clearing the way for redevelopment.
A residence hall at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will undergo a face-lift as the first project led by LeChase Construction Services in conjunction with the Albany firm Sano-Rubin, which it acquired earlier this year.
The town is on the verge of recouping the $1 million down payment from a controversial long-term lease agreement with Via Port Rotterdam mall that the newly elected supervisor slammed as misguided and broke off when she took office in January.
A traffic plan to handle students leaving and parental pickups has failed to materialize at Destine Preparatory Charter School in Schenectady, angering city officials
The Village of Scotia has been ordered by the state DOT to close Sunnyside Road to general traffic until its bridge over a rail line can be repaired or replaced.
Reality star mogul Kim Kardashian seemingly spoke out against her estranged husband Ye’s antisemitic tweets. “Hate speech is never OK or excusable,” the “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” star wrote on her Instagram story.
The antisemitic outbursts and provocations by the artist now known as Ye have raised questions about how much offensive behavior companies are willing to tolerate from a proven moneymaker.
