Good Wednesday morning.
For this morning’s offering, we travel across the pond to the United Kingdom, which, one might argue, has received more than its fair share of attention of late – and none of it good – compliments of the spurned spare, AKA the erstwhile Prince Harry.
I guess it’s just Harry now – sort of like Prince (the real one that is, from Minnesota) or Madonna or Mickey Mouse – since he has given up his royal title for love…and money. Lots of money.
I am not going to read Harry’s memoir. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to escape it. Spare is everywhere, and whether I like it or not, parts of Harry’s silly, self-possessed story have leaked into my consciousness.
I must confess that I do not see the logic in exposing all of one’s family’s dirty laundry (particularly a family that prides itself on keeping dirty secrets) in the name of supposedly reconciling with the main targets of one’s ire – one’s father and older brother.
It’s hard to feel sorry for someone who sold his story – and arguably his soul – for a reported $20 million advance, on top of a $100 million existing deal with Netflix. Then again, as a good friend who lost a parent at an early age has gently scolded me on several occasions, there really is no earthly compensation that can make up for having to grieve one’s mother in the public eye.
So, maybe I feel a tiny bit sorry for the orphaned ex-Prince Harry. But not because he and his bride, Meghan Markle, had to make do with a smaller house on the royal grounds than Wills and Kate. I mean, really. Talk about first world problems. Boo hoo.
But former prince bashing is not why we’re here today, though you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. We’re here to celebrate the birthday of the national poet of Scotland, Robert Burns. And yes, perhaps you have forgotten your elementary school geography, but the UK is not just England, but also Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
You might think you know nothing of Robert Burns, but trust me, you do.
If you’ve read John Steinbeck’s classic ‘Of Mice and Men,’ listened to Michael Jackson’s smash hit Thriller, or sung ‘Auld Lang Syne‘ you’re familiar with Burns and his work.
Yes, it turns out that Burns is completely contemporary, even though he was born on this day in 1759 and only lived until July 21, 1796. The first Burns supper held in memoriam of his death occurred five years after he passed, hosted by his friends at Burns Cottage in Ayrshire.
It has been traditional ever since to repeat the ritual, which typically features haggis – a Scottish savory pudding made of sheep’s innards, oatmeal, spices, beef, mutton, and suet and cooked in the animal’s stomach that was celebrated by Burns in Address to a Haggis. This delicacy is accompanied by a lot of Scotch whisky and the recitation of bard’s poetry.
Guests are also traditionally greeted by a bagpiper, and a selection of Scottish music is played. When it’s time for coffee and dessert, it’s also time for toasts – many, many toasts.
It’s probably too late for me to host an impromptu Burns Night celebration. I have no idea where one would procure a haggis in the Capital Region at the eleventh hour, and I don’t know what to serve in its stead. Maybe I’ll get lucky and someone will invite me to theirs…and there’s always next year. I do love a man in a kilt, and I am awfully partial to bagpipes, which tend to make me teary.
It’s probably better that I have neither issued nor received any formal invitations to go out tonight, because we are facing yet another winter weather advisory from 10 a.m. through tomorrow at 1 p.m. This time, we’re in for less accumulation – or so they say – around three to five inches. Slippery roads, etc. and so forth. Temperatures will be in the low-to-mid 30s.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden met with Democratic congressional leaders as the party tries to project a united front on the economy and the coming fight over lifting the debt ceiling.
The president and the top Democrats used the private gathering in the Roosevelt Room to project a unified front against what Biden called “extreme Republican economic plans.”
The discovery of classified documents at former Vice President Mike Pence’s home is complicating efforts by congressional Republicans to coordinate their lines of attack on Biden’s handling of similar materials from his time as second-in-command.
The documents were “inadvertently boxed and transported” to the former vice president’s home at the end of the Trump administration, Pence’s representative wrote in a letter to the National Archives.
The discovery of classified documents in Pence’s home in Indiana took the heat off Biden’s struggles to explain his possession of such material from his own vice presidency. And it made Pence the most popular man in the White House Tuesday.
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham vouched for Biden’s character as the president faces intense scrutiny for his handling of sensitive and, in some cases, classified information.
Biden has urged Congress to pass a law to ban assault weapons following the recent mass shootings in California. His appeal for a ban is similar to the one that was passed 28 years ago, in 1994, but lapsed 10 years later.
“Even as we await further details on these shootings, we know the scourge of gun violence across America requires stronger action,” the president said in a statement.
With at least 19 people killed in mass shootings in the state in less than three days, the attacks posed another challenge for beleaguered Californians.
Mass shootings such as the two that occurred within 48 hours in California in recent days have been on the rise annually in the U.S., data show, though the volume of such incidents varies substantially from year to year.
Florida has joined 19 states in challenging a newly-announced Biden administration program to accept 30,000 migrants a month from the nations of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
The states, led by Texas, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Texas’ southern district, contending that there is no legal authority for the program rolled out by Biden just ahead of an early January visit to the southern border.
The lawsuit centers on the administration’s use of parole under immigration law to grant entry to the migrants, who otherwise would likely not qualify for entry visas.
Reversing its longstanding resistance, the Biden administration plans to send M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, U.S. officials said, in what would be a major step in arming Kyiv in its efforts to seize back its territory from Russia.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, responding to the bungled sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets, at a hearing heard the company apologize and its critics trace the problem to the industry’s lack of competition.
Biden last night hosted Democratic and Republican new members of Congress for a reception at the White House, but embattled Long Island GOP Rep. George Santos did not attend.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy said that Santos will be removed from office if the House Ethics Committee finds that the embattled congressman broke the law.
An updated campaign finance report filed yesterday raised new questions about the source of six-figure loans that Santos gave his congressional campaign.
Newly surfaced video shows Santos making more questionable claims during an interview with Rádio Novelo research director Flora Thomson-DeVeaux.
Santos claimed he had been the target of an assassination attempt, that he was mugged in a brazen daytime robbery while walking down Fifth Avenue in New York City, and that his Florida home was vandalized because of his political affiliation.
Santos has waded into a back-and-forth with musician and RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Trixie Mattel, with the drag star shading the controversial lawmaker after he mocked those impersonating him.
A woman who yelled threats directed at former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as she and others stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was found guilty of multiple charges related to her actions that day.
House Republicans have tapped the members who will lead an investigation into how the government handled the coronavirus pandemic, including conservative firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
McCarthy in a tweet announced the GOP membership of two select subcommittees on the “Weaponization of the Federal Government” and the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
McCarthy blocked two Democrats from seats on the House Intelligence Committee and filled out the GOP rosters of newly created select subcommittees charged with investigating the politicization of the government and the origins of the Covid pandemic.
A Utah plastic surgeon and three associates were charged recently with selling fake Covid vaccine cards for $50 each for more than a year, and during which they destroyed more than $28,000 worth of the vaccine doses, according to federal prosecutors.
Mis- and disinformation have been prevalent throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but in recent months anti-vax activists and conspiracy theorists have latched on to a new phrase to help their cause: “died suddenly.”
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins her Democratic supermajority will not probe Gov. Kathy Hochul, despite mounting evidence of a $637 million pay-to-play scheme involving a donor tied to $300,000 in campaign cash to the governor.
Hochul continues to twist over what to do after her own party last week rejected Hector LaSalle as chief judge of the state Court of Appeals — New York’s highest court — an embarrassing loss for the Democratic governor in the initial weeks of her first full term.
Hochul has yet to present her budget to the state legislature, leaving the Capitol in a bit of a paralysis. The lack of progress comes as the governor and members of the state Senate are still engaged in a bitter standoff over Hochul’s nominee for chief judge.
Fresh off a historic defeat at the hands of lefty fellow Democrats opposed to her pick to lead New York’s top court, Hochul said she opposes the idea of making it easier to sue individual police officers.
Prosecutors in New York would receive millions of dollars more to help them implement criminal justice law changes under a proposal by Hochul this year as she seeks to navigate the thorny politics of addressing crime and public safety in New York.
Hochul said that rehiring unvaccinated healthcare workers is not the “right answer” despite the vaccination mandates being overturned and the state suffering from a major healthcare workers shortage.
A a bipartisan group of lawmakers and long-term care facility owners rallied in the state Capitol, pleading with Hochul to increase the state’s Medicaid reimbursement rates for adult care by 20% in her executive budget.
State lawmakers gave final passage to a state constitutional amendment that supporters hope will solidify an expansive set of rights for all New Yorkers.
The Democrat-led Legislature approved a state-level Equal Rights Amendment that will go before voters next year and offer broad protections against discrimination.
Roland Conner became the first person with a criminal conviction to open a licensed cannabis dispensary in New York with the state’s help.
“I think everybody deserves a chance,” Conner, owner of Smacked, the second marijuana dispensary to open in the state, said before the doors on his Greenwich Village shop opened yesterday morning.
Several retailers licensed to run the first recreational cannabis shops in the Capital Region said they’re close to selling, with two suggesting it could be a matter of weeks.
For the eighth year in a row, the New York Medical Aid in Dying Act has been introduced in Albany, this time sponsored by the new Assembly Health Committee Chair Amy Paulin and Senate Judiciary Chair Brad Hoylman-Sigal.
Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, the first South Asian-American woman elected to a state office, joined hundreds of supporters at the Capitol to push for a bill that would designate Diwali as a holiday in New York City public schools.
Former President Donald Trump has withdrawn another lawsuit against state Attorney General Letitia James, this one involving an appeal over her investigation into his personal trust.
Ex-Rep. Lee Zeldin and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand traded barbs amid speculation they could face off in a 2024 battle for her seat.
As he gets ready to deliver his second State of the City speech this week, Mayor Eric Adams has yet to launch the ‘MyCity’ universal online portal for city services that he ran on and announced his intention to implement at his first address in April of last year.
Adams’ administration is rebuffing a request from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her colleagues for data on the crisis at Rikers Island.
Adams announced the launch of ‘Breaking Bread, Building Bonds’ (B4), a citywide initiative to combat the rise in hate crimes in many communities across the city, and foster mutual understanding between New York’s diverse neighborhoods.
Adams, who’s known to frequent some of the city’s swankiest bars and restaurants, announced that his administration will help organize hundreds of free dinners for “everyday New Yorkers” as part of a community engagement program aimed at fighting hate.
In closing arguments, the two sides dueled over why Sayfullo Saipov, an Uzbek immigrant, drove a truck onto a Manhattan bike path and killed 8 in 2017.
Long Island pharmacist Kristin Fabbio-Hamelburg says she was the victim of sex discrimination when she was banished from the Rockville Centre Tiger Schulmann karate center after having an extramarital affair with one of the instructors.
A Manhattan jury found former Columbia University gynecologist Robert Hadden guilty of enticing patients to New York City to sexually abuse them under the guise of medical care.
A woman alleging that former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson raped her in the back of a limousine in the early 1990s is suing him for $5 million under the Adult Survivors Act.
The unnamed victim claims Tyson lured her into a limousine during an outing at September’s Nightclub, which had been a popular Central Avenue venue that was widely known as one of Tyson’s favorite stops in the Capital Region.
A state prosecutor told jurors that Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin stole $5,000 from his campaign fund to covertly pay back a former top staffer — then covered it up.
The company behind a chain of upstate Asian grocery stores has purchased the site of the former NL Industries munitions factory in Colonie.
DMB will come to the Spa City amphitheater for two nights: Friday, July 14 and Saturday, July 15.
A group of Hudson Park area residents in Albany are pushing the city to regulate short-term rentals contracted through Airbnb and Vrbo after dealing with a problem property for months.
South End residents and neighborhood groups are asking the city’s Planning Board to consider the broader impacts of a potential expansion of the Capital City Rescue Mission.
The sci-fi hit “Everything Everywhere All at Once” led the Oscar nominations, but many other presumed contenders fell startlingly short.
It’s a record-setting year for performers of Asian descent. In the actress race, there’s room for Andrea Riseborough but not Viola Davis or Danielle Deadwyler.
Justin Bieber is selling his entire music catalog to Hipgnosis Songs Capital for more than $200 million.
