Good end-of-the-week morning, AKA Friday. Another work week is almost in the books.
I have never done any serious family tree tracing, but I am fairly secure in asserting that there is not even a wisp of Irish blood in my body. I’m Eastern European through and through.
I am a big fan of Irish soda bread, and also scones (though these apparently originated in Scotland – a descendant of the bannock). I wouldn’t say no to a well prepared dish of corned beef and cabbage every now and again, though I would probably go for a nice cider on the side over a Guinness.
I am also a sucker for bagpipes. I know some people find them horribly annoying and screechy, but play me a round of “O Danny Boy” or “Amazing Grace” and I am 100 percent certain to tear up. Works every time.
I don’t get to hear a lot of bagpipe playing, as I don’t go to many parades (too crowded) or funerals (too sad). It is coming up on that time of year, though, as St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, so it seemed fitting to do a little digging into the history of the instrument most frequently associated with that holiday.
Though the bagpipes are today most often thought of in connection with Ireland and Scotland, they actually appear to have originated in Egypt. One theory is that the invading Roman army brought the pipes to Caledonia (the old Latin name for Scotland).
However they got around, at the time, bagpipes were fashioned out of dog skin (ugh) and chanters and drones (the up to five pipes that stick out of the bag, sometimes called the third lung) made of bone.
Before we go any further, this might be a good time to explain how a bagpipe, which is technically a woodwind instrument, like the
clarinet, bassoon, or oboe, works…Actually, it’s kind of complicated, so if you’re really interested in going down the rabbit hole, click here or here.
We do know that the Scottish Highlanders developed the bagpipes to their modern-day form, and adopted them as their national instrument with an iconic role during both peacetime and wartime. The pipes were said to have inspired men to enter the fray of battle, and it certainly didn’t hurt that their high-pitched – some might say shrill – sound carried easily above the din of fighting.
So instrumental to the Scots were these instruments that the London Parilament, when seeking to squash the rebellious clans, passed an act in 1746 that made the carrying of weapons – including bagpipes – and the wearing of kilts a crime.
Today, if you hadn’t already guessed, is International Bagpipe Day. We’re warming for not one but TWO St. Patrick’s Day parades taking place this coming Saturday in Albany.
The first, the historic and long-standing North Albany Limerick Parade, will step off from the American Legion, 35 North 1st St., at 11:30 a.m. The second, the city’s official parade, will step off at 2 p.m. from Central Avenue and Quail Street and will end at North Peal and State streets.
If you’re planning to attend one (or both) of these parades, you better dress warmly. Snow showers are in the forecast on Saturday morning, and the high temperature will only reach into the low 40s. Today will be cloudy with temperatures, again, in the low 40s.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden unveiled his budget, a sprawling policy vision that the president says reflects his commitment to building a fairer economy while drawing a sharp contrast to Republicans who are demanding steep cuts to federal spending programs.
Biden vowed to cut $3 trillion from the federal deficit over the next decade, in part, by levying a 25% minimum tax on the wealthiest Americans.
The president requested trillions in new spending that has no chance of passing a Republican House, even as he sought to reduce deficits by raising taxes on businesses and the rich.
Biden’s new fiscal wishlist outlines a policy blueprint for Democrats gunning to keep the White House in 2024, with a heavy emphasis on celebrating the legislative wins notched during his first two years in office.
The National Archives and Records Administration retrieved nine boxes from a Boston law office belonging to Biden’s former personal attorney in early November. The number of boxes was previously unknown.
Biden’s former executive assistant from his time as vice president has agreed to testify before Congress next month about his handling of classified documents.
Biden is heading to Ottawa on March 23 and will address Parliament during his two-day stay.
A social media campaign urging Biden to reject an oil development project on Alaska’s remote North Slope has rapidly gained steam on TikTok and other platforms, reflecting the unease many young Americans feel about climate change.
TikTok, the wildly popular Chinese-owned social media app, has hired top Biden-connected consulting firm SKDK as it faces increasing scrutiny in Washington, according to two people, including one with direct knowledge of the hire.
More than two dozen Republicans on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee have refused to join Democrats in signing a letter denouncing white supremacy.
House Republicans began their promised investigation into whether people charged with crimes in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol have been mistreated in jail, fulfilling a pledge G.O.P. leaders made to their right flank.
Former President Donald Trump may soon stand in a Manhattan courtroom to face criminal charges.
The former president was told that he could appear before a Manhattan grand jury next week if he wishes to testify, a strong indication that an indictment could soon follow.
Trump was not subpoenaed and is not being forced to appear in the Manhattan district attorney’s office’s probe, the defense attorneys said. They did not indicate whether he would testify.
Jenna Ellis, an attorney for Trump who helped drive his false claims about the 2020 election results, has admitted in a Colorado disciplinary proceeding that she misrepresented evidence at least 10 times during Trump’s frantic bid to subvert his defeat.
Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch discussed buying the rights to Trump’s reality show “The Apprentice” in the weeks after the 2020 presidential election, newly released court documents show.
Trump’s letters with Kim Jong Un were both historic and politically consequential, sparking major debates about nuclear diplomacy and presidential record retention practices. For the former president, they were also essential reading for his new book.
A federal judge said Peter Navarro has to hand over unlawfully retained emails from his time in the White House, granting a victory to the Justice Department in its civil lawsuit against the longtime adviser to Trump.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leads Trump by a near 2-1 margin in a new poll of potential Sunshine State Republican presidential primary voters.
Anthony Fauci, who led much of the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic, said testimony from former CDC Director Robert Redfield that he was excluded from a conference call about the possible origins of the virus was “unequivocally incorrect.”
A new approach to vaccines with a machine learning twist could put an end to boosters and seasonal variant shots, MIT researchers say. This “pan-variant” vaccine would ignore the virus but quickly control infections by cracking down on infected cells.
Three different coronavirus variants were discovered in New York City’s rat population, according to a new study.
A release from EurekAlert states that rats were found to be infected with the alpha, delta and omicron COVID-19 variants.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Attorney General Letitia James are pressuring the nation’s largest pharmacy chains to commit to making abortion pills available in the state.
In a letter sent yesterday to the CEOs of Walgreens, Rite Aid and CVS Health, the state’s top officials asked for a commitment to dispense mifepristone to patients with a doctor’s prescription, calling it an “essential medication.”
New York faces a variety of economic challenges since the onset of the pandemic, including ongoing inflation, more expensive borrowing due to higher interest rates and expiring federal aid, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli found.
Hochul isn’t willing to say the $7 billion renovation of Penn Station is dead, even though a key state senator says it’s “dead three different ways.”
The governor did seem to acknowledge she would likely have to find a new way to raise the $7 billion needed to overhaul the Big Apple’s much-hated Penn Station, as her plan to finance the project with new office towers seems to have gone bust.
A proposal to relocate Madison Square Garden to Hudson Yards inched closer to DOA status this week after the community board that covers the site gave a thumbs down to the plan.
Labor unions and several lawmakers are insisting the state invest billions of more dollars in the upcoming budget to support SUNY and CUNY campuses and hospitals, pushing back against the proposed tuition hikes in Hochul’s proposal.
Hochul’s executive budget included $40.5 million for NYSCA, something Assemblyman Danny O’Donnell called “insulting.” Instead, he is proposing an increase of $100 million more, totaling about $150 million.
Democratic state lawmakers are calling for ways to address child poverty in New York. Some Republicans worry proposals in the budget could have the opposite effect.
As state judges strike down city-level “good cause” eviction laws across the state, local officials are looking to state leaders to approve the tenant protections for the whole of New York.
A Brooklyn assemblyman is being called out by activists and childhood friends after claiming he’s “not familiar” with the use of corporal punishment at Hasidic Jewish religious schools in New York.
Under new legislative rules approved, Democratic leaders can now determine what qualifies as “extraordinary circumstances” that would let state Senators and Assembly members attend sessions by video rather than showing up in the state Capitol.
Ed Cox, the son-in-law of Richard Nixon, is a shoo-in to return as chairman of the New York State Republican Party — replacing Nick Langworthy, who was elected to Congress, party sources said.
Hochul wants to ban flavored tobacco, including menthol cigarettes. But some critics say the proposed move will disproportionately target people of color.
Racial justice activists in New York City dueled yesterday over proposed city and state bans on menthol cigarette sales, in rallies just minutes and a block apart.
Gary Dake, president of Stewart’s Shops, has joined the intensifying debate over Hochul’s proposal to ban flavored tobacco products, asserting it would “dramatically” increase black market cigarette sales, particularly those that are infused with menthol.
The Big Apple may finally be turning a corner as subway crime plunged to levels not seen in decades, aside from during the height of the pandemic.
The pandemic forced law enforcement agencies to prioritize other investigations over white-collar crime. Now, some counties are placing an emphasis on trying to obtain convictions in those cases.
In the latest sign there’s no end in sight to President Biden’s border crisis, Mayor Eric Adams now wants New York taxpayers to foot the bill for migrants to go to college.
Adams announced the appointment of Juanita N. Holmes as the commissioner for the New York City Department of Probation (DOP). Commissioner Holmes will lead the department and oversee the critical work of New York City probation officers
Twice, Holmes ran afoul of her boss, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell — and that was enough to end her 36-year NYPD career, police sources said.
New York City’s public sector union bosses signed off on a controversial plan to make a cost-cutting, partially privatized version of Medicare the only health insurance option available for the municipal government’s retired workforce.
Biden’s budget plan routes about $1.2 billion to two of the biggest transit projects in New York City: the Second Avenue Subway extension and new train tunnels under the Hudson River.
A Brooklyn man, released after 19 years behind bars on a wrongful murder rap, walked free with his grandmother on his arm.
The Brooklyn district attorney said the flawed photo lineup helped imprison Sheldon Thomas for a killing he did not commit. A judge ordered him released.
The Long Island Rail Road is staffing weekend trains more heavily than it does weekday service, even though Saturdays and Sundays account for just a fraction of its ridership.
MTA officials promised that the Long Island Rail Road’s Jamaica hub can handle the complex new schedule needed to serve Grand Central after a slew of rush-hour meltdowns added to the furor from commuters over the timetable changes.
Barnard College of Columbia University, one of the most prominent women’s colleges in the United States, announced that it had chosen Laura A. Rosenbury, the dean of the University of Florida Levin College of Law, to serve as its next president.
Broadway’s longest running musical, Phantom of the Opera, set to close next month, has been a source of stability for orchestra members, many of whom have grown up with the show.
A consortium of Latino-owned bars and restaurants is voicing its support for a casino hotel in Times Square, becoming the most recent industry group to do so.
Rep. Elise Stefanik revealed that the FBI has agreed to share the results of a recently completed internal review of its oversight of Shahed Hussain, a longtime informant who owned the stretch Ford Excursion involved in the 2018 limo crash in Schoharie.
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band’s show in Columbus, Ohio was postponed because of illness (no word whose) yesterday, just five days before the band is scheduled to play in Albany.
While there have been recent changes at Stuyvesant Plaza, one of the upscale strip mall’s stalwart retailers will be around for a while. Pearl Grant Richmans, the plaza’s oldest operating store, recently signed a new lease modification with the plaza’s owners.
Krispy Kreme announced the release of four new “gold-themed” doughnuts and the return of its green O’riginal Glazed Doughnut, with a chance to get one for free – just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.
