Good morning, it’s Wednesday, which means we are one step closer to the holiday week (assuming you have this off…I hope, for your sake, that you do).
One of the best things about this season is, of course, the food. LOTS and LOTS of special holiday treats that we don’t see any other time of year.
That’s probably a good thing, because the average person does gain about a pound during this season of indulgence – a lot less than most people think.
The trouble is that we don’t tend to take it off after the fact, no matter how many New Year’s resolutions about getting to the gym and eating healthier we might make. And the small gains do tend to creep up on you over time.
But that’s a worry for a different day, because you only live once and some things are worth splurging on – like holiday cookies.
And yes, I am purposefully referring to them here as “holiday” cookies and not Christmas cookies. Some people might take issue with that.
My response to those people: Tough cookies, or, as the Dutch might say, tough “koekjes” (AKA “little cakes”).
I have a lot of personal favorites in the cookie department. I’m partial to a jam thumbprint and also those tri-colored rainbow cakelettes with layers of jam and chocolate coating.
I also wouldn’t say “no” to a simple sugar cookie (light on the icing, though, because too much sugar sets my teeth on edge),and any kind of biscotti or Italian cookie covered in Pignoli nuts is also high on my list.
But really, I would be very content with a simple and well-made gingerbread cookie, which, as it turns out, is one of the oldest known versions of a cookie. In fact, the first known recipe for gingerbread came from Greece in 2400 BC.
The tradition of fashioning gingerbread into houses dates back to 16th century Germany, and was forever enshrined in our collective imaginations by the Brothers Grimm tale of Hansel and Gretel.
It turns out that the cookie tradition dates back many years, and is connected to the winter solstice, which just so happens to be today (at 4:47 p.m.in the Northern Hemisphere, to be exact).
Reminder: This is the day when the North Pole reaches its farthest tilt away from the sun, producing the shortest period of daylight of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, followed by the longest night.
The countdown to spring is upon us! Just about 90 more days to go. Sigh. That seems like a long time, and yes, the days actually get colder before they get warmer. But take comfort! At least we don’t live in the Arctic Circle, where so-called “polar nights” when the sun NEVER RISES are a thing. They do have the Northern Lights, which sort of makes up for it, I guess.
Back to cookies for a moment…Did you know that Americans consume more than 2 BILLION cookies each and every year, which is about 300 cookies per person annually and about 35,000 over the course of a lifetime. (I don’t think I’m holding up my end of that, which means someone out there is eating more than their fair share).
The first commercial cookie sold in the the U.S. was the Animal Cracker, which was introduced in 1902, and then “uncaged” in August 2018 after PETA complained.
The best-selling cookie of the 20th century was the Oreo, developed and introduced by Nabisco, in 1912. Americans are the world’s biggest cookie bakers AND eaters, and we spend more than $550 million every year JUST on Oreos alone.
Personally, I’m not a fan. But you do you.
Another clouds-first-then-sun sort of day, with temperatures in the mid-30s.
In the headlines…
The Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee said it would release former President Donald Trump’s tax returns within days and asserted that the IRS failed to properly audit the former president’s taxes while he was in office.
The Internal Revenue Service failed to audit Trump during his first two years in office despite a program that makes the auditing of sitting presidents mandatory, the committee revealed after an extraordinary vote to make public six years of his tax returns.
The IRS is required to conduct mandatory audits of sitting presidents’ tax returns. Just one audit was begun during Trump’s presidency and the IRS had yet to complete the audits. There’s no suggestion that he was trying to influence the IRS.
Dozens of audit triggers litter Trump’s tax returns, according to Congress’s top non-partisan tax lawyers: questionable private jet expenses, large unsubstantiated charitable deductions and dubious payments to the former president’s children, among others.
In his first three years as president, Trump paid $1.1 million in federal income taxes before paying no tax as his income dwindled and losses once again mounted in 2020.
The House is scheduled to vote this week on legislation proposed by Rep. Richard Neal, the committee chairman, that would require an annual audit of the president’s finances, according to a notice from Democratic leaders.
Nick Luna, a former White House aide to Trump, told the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol that he witnessed Trump “tearing” documents.
Trump blasted the House Jan. 6 committee, not for calling him a criminal, but for asserting he knew all along that he lost the 2020 election to Biden.
President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are planning to meet at the White House today, in a Washington visit that is tentatively scheduled to include an address to a joint session of Congress.
Zelenskiy will address Congress hold a number of bilateral meetings in his first known trip abroad since Russia invaded his country in late February.
His unannounced visit to a foreign country signals the importance of Ukraine’s relationship with the US, which has played a leading role in providing military support.
Congressional leadership is working to quickly introduce a bill condemning Russia as an “Aggressor State” amid plans for Zelensky’s visit.
Biden will travel to Mexico next month for North American leaders summit, White House officials said.
Biden said on the sidelines of a Nov. 4 election rally that the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran is “dead,” but stressed the U.S. won’t formally announce it, according to a new video that surfaced on social media late Monday.
It’s the strongest confirmation so far that the Biden administration believes there’s no path forward for the Iran deal, which leaves key questions about the future of Tehran’s nuclear program.
Biden wants to reduce homelessness by a quarter over the next two years, according to an announcement from the White House this week, in which the administration outlined its plan to build on homelessness-reducing initiatives started during the pandemic.
Biden’s economic advisers are looking to prioritize efforts to reduce the cost of living and encourage people to return to the workforce in the new year.
Congress has proposed $1 billion to help poor countries cope with climate change, far less than Biden’s promise that the US will spend $11.4 billion annually by 2024 to ensure developing nations can transition to clean energy and adapt to a warming planet.
The Senate advanced a spending package that would keep the government open through next fall after senior lawmakers from both parties reached a compromise on billions of dollars in federal spending, including another round of emergency aid to Ukraine.
A big boost for the military, more aid for Ukraine, a preference for the lobster industry over whales and an overhaul of the Electoral Count Act are among the provisions in the 4,155-page bill lawmakers expect to pass this week.
Right-wing lawmakers Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert are taking potshots at one another in what’s shaping-up to be a Republican party civil war over naming the next House speaker.
A 6.4-magnitude earthquake shook Humboldt County in Northern California early yesterday morning, the United States Geological Survey reported.
The quake left at least two people dead, injured at least 11, damaged homes and roads and deprived more than 70,000 customers of electricity.
As China rapidly relaxes Covid restrictions, millions of people have been told to keep going to work — even if they’re infected.
Millions are desperate to get their hands on fever-reducing drugs and antivirals such as Pfizer’s Paxlovid as infections across China outpace supplies.
The fourth vaccine shot is powerful in minimizing COVID symptoms but doesn’t provide much stronger protection against catching the virus than a three-dose course, new Israeli research suggests.
Researchers have found cases of people testing positive for both Covid-19 and the flu since the beginning of the pandemic.
Nasal vaccines, a spray applied in the nose, may be the best way to prevent the transmission of the COVID-19, said Dr Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute.
Donning a mask, Mayor Eric Adams urged New Yorkers to protect themselves against a swirl of viral illnesses in the city, including Covid-19, flu and R.S.V.
Adams announced that flu and RSV testing, as well as Tamiflu prescriptions, are now available at 50 NYC Health + Hospitals’ Test to Treat units.
Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed a bill that would have allowed certain Monroe County sheriff’s deputies to retire after 25 years of service.
Struggling families in New York will receive the maximum benefit under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program this month, Hochul announced.
Advocates for people with disabilities and consumer organizations made a final push to have Hochul sign a measure meant to expand New York’s wrongful death law.
The New York State Legislature has introduced a bill to raise the salaries of senators and Assembly members in the new year to $142,000, which would make them the highest-paid state lawmakers in the nation.
The measure, introduced in time for the Democratic-led state Senate and Assembly to be voted on by tomorrow, would also limit the ability of lawmakers to earn outside income with some exceptions.
Under the proposed ban, legislators would be unable to derive more than $35,000 in outside wages, excepting retirement income from the state, income from military service and investments, and income from business interests of a lawmakers’ family member.
Lawmakers’ intention to return to Albany to raise their own pay is leading to calls for further action on measures that would also increase the minimum wage, extend a gas tax holiday into the new year and provide support for home heating assistance.
The incoming Democratic class of New York state senators will be composed entirely of women, a first for any conference in the upper house’s 245-year history, and a fitting end to a year of wins for gender representation in state politics.
One year into the job, Adams has made clear that he is unlike his predecessor in many ways. That includes how he views the scope of his to-do list.
A motion filed by public defenders in Manhattan Supreme Court accuses Adams and the NYPD of using sealed criminal court records in a political move meant to argue that bail reform was causing a rise in repeat crime.
The federal government is on the brink of sending New York City hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency aid to help stabilize its spiraling migrant crisis after months of pleas for assistance from Adams.
Adams ridiculed repeated claims from the White House that the southern border is secure, scoffing that the crush of migrants overwhelming the Big Apple was “coming from somewhere.”
Adams is taking aim at the Democratic-majority City Council’s nearly $600 million in discretionary funds as a way to help offset the Big Apple’s financial woes — which are expected to worsen thanks to the growing migrant crisis.
Adams called out the serial burglar accused of breaking into Robert De Niro’s Manhattan townhouse as an example of the rampant recidivism plaguing New York City.
Adams’ efforts to up the quality of food served in NYC public schools may be slowed by an array of obstacles that could prove vexing — including the state of the school system’s kitchens.
Protesters descended on the home and the office of a gay member of the New York City Council on Monday, vandalizing the walls with homophobic graffiti and attacking one of his neighbors, over his support for Drag Story Hour events at local libraries.
A MTA collection agent critically shot a man in a Brooklyn subway station amid a heated argument last night.
A federal judge granted the grandson of former Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro bail in the near-fatal shooting of his girlfriend, but issued the a dire warning — screw up, and your family is on the hook for the whole $5 million bond.
Federal prosecutors say two Queens men worked with Russians to charge cabbies $10 to jump the line at the airport. The scheme was an open secret among drivers competing for fares.
A new report cited Jonathan Santana as the scream of the crop for 2022, with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams citing the landlord who averaged 2,980 open violations across 15 buildings in Manhattan and Queens.
A day after he was charged by federal authorities of scamming a retired parishioner out of $90,000 in retirement funds and lying to the FBI, Bishop Lamor Whitehead took to his Instagram pulpit to plead his case and preach his innocence gospel.
GlobalFoundries is laying off roughly 220 employees at its Fab 8 campus at the Luther Forest Technology Campus. The terminations are part of its ongoing company-wide cost-cutting program.
The debate over how to tame Saratoga Springs’ nightlife scene moved into a new stage with the city’s public safety commissioner pushing an effort to convince the SLA to slash the operating hours of bars when regulators weigh applications for liquor licenses.
The City of Albany will receive a $9.75 million grant toward the rehabilitation of the Central Warehouse. The grant is the largest of the 64 grants, which total $102 million, announced from Empire State Development’s Restore New York initiative.
A group opposing the Norlite aggregate plant/incinerator wants to join the Attorney General’s lawsuit against the company.
The head of Albany’s Irish American Heritage Museum is one of four people named as part of an interim leadership team to revitalize the American Irish Historical Society on Fifth Avenue in New York City.
A new laser test invented at University at Albany can detect Alzheimer’s disease on saliva “practically instantaneously,” creating the possibility of diagnosing patients before their first symptoms.
Millions of fans thronged the streets of Buenos Aires to welcome home Argentina’s national team in what may be the biggest open-air party in the capital’s history.
3M said it would stop making so-called forever chemicals and cease using them by the end of 2025, as criticism and litigation grow over the chemicals’ alleged health and environmental impact.
Elon Musk said he’ll step down from his role as CEO of Twitter once he finds someone to replace him, an announcement that comes after a majority of users said he should resign in a poll held on the social media platform.
