Good morning, it’s Friday. I am beyond relieved.
We’re back to our regularly scheduled programming today, and I feel both compelled and morally obligated to dedicate this post to St. Patrick’s Day.
Because, as the saying goes, we’re all a little big Irish on this day.
At the same time, I think it’s important to note that today is World Sleep Day, which might strike some as diametrically opposed to the aforementioned St. Patrick’s Day mention, since this holiday is known for merrymaking, consumption of beer and food (notably corned beef and cabbage), parading, dancing etc.
Basically, everything BUT sleeping.
World Sleep Day comes at the tail end of Sleep Awareness Week, which runs from March 12-18. Sleep, as you know, is critical for human health and optimal performance. If you don’t get enough sleep, you increase your risk of any number of disorders and illnesses – from obesity to dementia.
Of course, most of us aren’t getting nearly enough sleep.
In fact, 70% of adults report that they obtain insufficient sleep at least one night a month, and 11% report insufficient sleep every night. And the CDC has declared insufficient sleep to be a public health epidemic.
Coming from someone who is typing this post at 2:30 a.m., that really resonates with me.
Oh, but where were we? Oh yeah. St Patrick’s Day.
The internet describes March 17 as the “traditional death date” of St. Patrick, who actually was a real person who lived during the 5th Century. He’s the patron saint of Ireland and its national apostle.
St. Patrick was born in Britain when it was under Roman control, but was kidnapped at the age of 16 and brought to Ireland as a slave. He escaped, but returned and is credited with bringing Christianity to the Irish people.
St. Patrick is usually depicted with his foot on a snake. This is because one of the legends associated with him is that he banished snakes from Ireland, and caused them to slink away into the ocean, never to be seen on the Emerald Isle again.
Never mind that research has indicated that snakes never actually lived in Ireland. Why let the facts get in the way of a good story?
St. Patrick’s Day has been observed as a religious holiday for more than 1,000 years, and even though this day falls within Lent, prohibitions against eating meat are traditionally waived and people are allowed to really enjoy themselves by feasting and dancing and drinking to their hearts’ content.
Thankfully, St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Friday this year, and so if you’re going to be out celebrating and perhaps stay up a little bit longer than you usually do, you’ve got tomorrow to catch up on your sleep.
Then again, a lot of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are scheduled for tomorrow, so I guess you’ll have to pick your poison. Choose wisely. Remember: Sleep is a human necessity, beer is not. Good carb source, though.
It’s going to be cloudy with a slight chance of an afternoon rain shower, with temperatures in the low 50s. Bye bye snow. Good riddance.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden could be damned if he saves the banks or damned if he doesn’t.
The biggest banks in the U.S. swooped in to rescue First Republic Bank with a flood of cash totaling $30 billion, in an effort to stop a spreading panic following a pair of recent bank failures.
The bank’s executives came together in recent days to formulate the plan, discussing it with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other officials and regulators in Washington, D.C., people familiar with the matter said.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sought to reassure markets and lawmakers yesterday that the federal government is committed to protecting U.S. bank deposits following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank over the weekend.
Asian markets rebounded today after First Republic Bank was rescued by a group of major US lenders, which eased worries about the current banking turmoil.
Credit Suisse shares soared more than 30% at yesterday’s market open after the bank said it will borrow up to 50 billion Swiss francs ($54 billion) from the Swiss National Bank.
Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, blocked efforts to include a phrase mentioning regulatory failures in a joint statement released early Sunday evening by the Fed, the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Top executives of First Republic Bank sold millions of dollars of company stock in the two months before the bank’s shares plummeted during the panic over the health of regional lenders.
The Biden administration has threatened to ban TikTok from the United States unless the app’s Chinese owners agree to spin off their share of the social media platform, TikTok acknowledged this week.
TikTok is once again fending off claims that its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, would share user data from its popular video-sharing app with the Chinese government, or push propaganda and misinformation on its behalf.
TikTok’s boss has a message for the Biden administration and Congress: A sale won’t resolve America’s national-security concerns over the popular video app.
Biden he managed to sneak in his NCAA tournament brackets yesterday, just a few minutes after the opening men’s game between Maryland and West Virginia tipped off.
In doing so, he kept up with presidential tradition most notably maintained by former President and noted basketball fan Barack Obama.
A shortage of skilled workers in places such as Clay, NY is posing a major challenge for the Biden administration’s ambitious plan to spur chip manufacturing in the U.S.
A new poll by The Economist/YouGov found that 56 percent of Americans oppose Biden running for another term in 2024, compared to 54 percent who oppose former President Donald Trump running again.
The Fulton County special grand jury heard a phone call between Trump and Georgia House Speaker David Ralston as part of its investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, the jury’s foreperson said.
Special counsel Jack Smith is pushing to question an attorney for Trump about an alleged phone call the two held as investigators were building evidence about Trump’s potential obstruction of the government’s efforts to retrieve classified materials.
Trump has defended his possession of dozens of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home by saying he had issued a “standing order” as president that records removed from the Oval Office meant they were instantly declassified.
At least two dozen people – from Mar-a-Lago resort staff to members of Trump’s inner circle at the Florida estate – have been subpoenaed to testify to a federal grand jury that’s investigating the former president’s handling of classified documents.
Senate Republicans are wincing over Trump’s early barrage of attacks against his chief rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, fearing they’re seeing a preview of a brutal primary to come that could leave both candidates weakened heading into the general election.
If the former president faces criminal charges, his campaign plans to begin a broad offensive against Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney and a Democrat, accusing him of political bias.
An international team of virus experts found genetic data from a Wuhan market linking Covid with raccoon dogs for sale, adding evidence to the case that the pandemic could have been ignited by an infected animal dealt through the illegal wildlife trade.
A new analysis of genetic sequences collected from the market shows that raccoon dogs being illegally sold at the venue could have been carrying and possibly shedding the virus at the end of 2019.
The Canadian and U.K. governments, acting on recommendations from expert committees, plan to offer spring booster shots for people at highest risk of getting severely sick from Covid. The US hasn’t decided yet.
A panel of expert FDA advisors endorsed Paxlovid as a treatment for adults with Covid who are at high risk for progression to severe illness. The move is likely to lead to full approval of the drug, which has been available under emergency use authorization.
Before the antiviral medication is fully approved, the FDA – which typically follows the recommendations of the independent advisory committee – must conduct its own review. That’s expected to wrap up in May.
New York is set to lower the level required for students to be classified as ‘proficient’ in math and English tests. The change, which will affect students in grades three through eight, is a response to academic standards slipping since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gov. Kathy Hochul called on a state assembly member who has been accused of sexual misconduct to resign, saying his behavior was “unacceptable.”
Hochul said at a press conference that she supports the two women who have come forward with allegations against Juan Ardila, a Democratic assemblyman who has served in office since the start of this year.
“I condemn all forms of sexual assault; it is intolerable and unacceptable what he did,” Hochul told reporters. “I support the survivors in their call for accountability. And yes, he should resign.”
Ardila did not deny the allegations. He said that his actions were inexcusable and that he would not “debate the facts.”
Hochul addressed New York teens as she touted mental health investments included in her $227 billion executive budget proposal.
New York state officials will hold a series of listening sessions as well as a spring summit to discuss mental health issues facing young people in the state, Hochul’s office announced.
Hochul hinted that she’s not a fan of a plan to strip Madison Square Garden’s tax exempt status.
The incentives-only housing plan rolled out by Albany Democrats this week as a counter to Hochul’s more stick-heavy approach won’t build the homes and apartments New York needs to fix its housing crisis, a new study finds.
Republican lawmakers pressed their Democratic colleagues on spending, debt and public safety as the Senate and Assembly approved their one-house budget resolutions.
The specifics differ, but Democratic state lawmakers and Hochul are backing the same goal of ending the use of fossil fuels like natural gas in new residential and commercial construction.
New York lawmakers and Hochul have less than two weeks to hammer out a budget deal by the April 1 deadline, the start of New York’s fiscal year. But top officials are also not fully ruling out going past that deadline this year.
Lawmakers are backing a controversial $455 million, taxpayer-funded loan to modernize flagging Belmont racetrack even though a community advisory board empowered by state law has yet to even meet.
Universal meals in New York schools is being advanced this week by state lawmakers who are backing $280 million in the budget negotiations for the plan.
New Yorkers could face a tax on digital subscription streaming media services for music, TV and audiobooks and a fee for delivery services in order to raise money for mass transit under measures contained in a budget proposal advanced in the Assembly.
A new lawsuit has been filed against the New York state Office of Cannabis Management by a group that includes people who initially planned to apply for dispensary licenses, doctors who say the medical cannabis program has been neglected and others.
New York state can do more to help low-income people find housing as federal funds are going unspent, a report released by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli found.
Mayor Eric Adams called on New Yorkers to transform the city into “a place of God” – the latest in a series of faith-based remarks that have defied conventions set by his City Hall predecessors.
Adams said that a lack of faith is the biggest crisis currently facing the Big Apple, as he pushed, yet again, for religion and God to be more intertwined in New Yorkers’ lives.
In an unusually forceful rebuke, Adams’ two fellow citywide elected officials and the City Council speaker joined to blast what they see as his wavering commitment to shut down Rikers Island by a 2027 deadline.
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell, Adams, and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Janno Lieber rode the subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan during rush hour yesterday morning in an effort to highlight transit safety.
Sewell of the New York Police Department rejected more than half the disciplinary recommendations sent to her last year by an independent civilian panel that examines misconduct, according to the group’s figures.
Former city Comptroller Scott Stringer has been slapped with a lawsuit from a woman who publicly accused him of inappropriately touching her and repeatedly asking, “Why won’t you f–k me?”
In court papers filed this week, MSG Entertainment acknowledged it had hired a private eye, which it called “a common and lawful practice,” to tail a New York State Liquor Authority investigator and retired police captain.
Stephen Sondheim’s long-in-the-works Luis Buñuel musical, which he described as unfinished just before he died, will be staged in New York this fall, giving audiences the chance to see the final show by one of the most important artists in musical theater history.
Saratoga Springs City Hall is facing an improper labor practice complaint after the city’s commissioner of accounts fired the assistant assessor and then hired a more costly outside firm to assess city properties.
And while New York City’s Manhattan and Brooklyn boroughs have seen the biggest leaps in competitiveness, neighboring North Jersey is now considered the most aggressive market for renters in the nation, according to a new study.
An Upper West Side supermarket is using facial recognition technology to bust thieves as a wave of shoplifting slams the city — but some customers say it’s an invasion of privacy akin to “Big Brother.”
Residents of Fleischmanns — located at the foot of the Belleayre ski resort — claim that a pair of deep-pocketed property moguls have recruited seasonal renters to stuff the ballot box so they can get favorable treatment for their development plans.
Just before the arrival of a storm that dumped about 12 inches of snow on the town, Clifton Park’s supervisor blocked its elected highway superintendent from posting road updates on the town’s website and social media platforms.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the bogbean buck moth as an endangered species. The one-inch, black and white moth lives in only a handful of peat wetlands called ‘fens’ in Oswego County and in Ontario, Canada.
Space is getting a new look — sort of. Just a week after the end of the Paris fashion collections and with the sort of sonic crescendo attached to the most extravagant runway shows, NASA unveiled the new Artemis III lunar spacesuit at Space Center Houston.
