Good Monday morning. We’re back at it.
Almost every day I am reminded of just how little I know. The world is so vast, and there is so much information out there. The real problem, though, is that it seems I’m forgetting things as fast as I learn them.
I’m not just talking about people’s names, which I can never successfully commit to memory when I meet someone (though somehow I remember the names of my first grade teacher and all my classmates – give or take one or two – as clear as day).
No, what I mean is that many important facts, people, dates, and places that I’m fairly certain I once knew quite a lot about – I had to, in order to pass AP History, among other classes – have completely vanished from my mind.
Case in point: Thomas Paine. I dimly recall learning about him in high school. I KNOW with certainty that he is an important historical figure, but I could not for the life of me remember what the heck he did or how or why.
Thankfully, we have the interwebs, where information about all manner of things can be at your fingertips in a manner of seconds. Thomas Paine, for those of you who are in the same boat as I was before a quick Google search revealed the following, was a philosopher and writer whose work encouraged, if not outright spurred, the American Revolution.
Yes, if not for the words of Thomas Paine, we might all still be bowing to Her Majesty (or rather, His Majesty these days), taking the tube instead of the subway, and enjoying elevenses instead of a mid-morning coffee break.
Paine in 1776 penned “Common Sense“, a 47-page pamphlet that made the case for American independence from Britain. His whole premise was that people should be free from tyranny, rise up and establish a new and never-before-seen form of government that enabled them to rule themselves.
And thus, the seeds of small-d democracy were sown.
Paine was born in England on this day in 1737. He relocated to Philadelphia in 1774 and established himself as an editor for a publication called Pennsylvania Magazine.
He was encouraged by none other than Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Adams (among others) to write “Common Sense”, which was published anonymously and quickly (I mean, relatively speaking for a time when there was no telephones or internet) became an international sensation and the most widely read pamphlet of the American Revolution.
You might be more familiar with the famous line of another of Paine’s pamphlets, “American Crisis,” which begins: “These are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”
In Paine’s honor, a magazine called The Truth Seeker in the 1990s established Freethinkers Day (this is sometimes confused with Thomas Paine Day, which is celebrated on June 8, the anniversary of Paine’s death on that day in 1809. Despite his celebrated work, he died in New Rochelle, NY in poverty and an outcast due to his unpopular views about organized religion).
The purpose of this day is to remind people of Paine’s work and legacy (something I obviously was sorely in need of), and to encourage them to think for themselves (in an age of paid influencers and cancel culture, I would argue there is certainly not enough of THAT happening these days).
It will be overcast today with a few snow flurries or showers possible. Temperatures will be in the mid-to-high 30s.
In the headlines….
President Joe Biden said that the U.S. “shall respond” after three American troops were killed and dozens more were injured in an overnight drone strike in northeast Jordan near the Syrian border.
Biden blamed Iran-backed militias for the first U.S. fatalities after months of strikes by such groups against American forces across the Middle East amid the Israel-Hamas war.
It was the first time American military personnel have been killed by hostile fire in the Middle East since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, and the incident will further raise tensions in the region and fuel fears of a broader conflict directly involving Iran.
Tehran has denied any involvement in a drone strike that killed three US troops at a base in Jordan, near the border with Syria, after Biden blamed Iran-backed militia and vowed revenge.
Former President Donald Trump argued that Biden’s “weakness and surrender” is to blame for the deadly drone attack in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members.
Republican lawmakers spoke out to criticize Biden’s approach to Iran and some called for direct action against the country.
Israel stepped up efforts to prevent Israeli protesters from blocking the flow of aid into Gaza, two days after the United Nations’ highest court said it must allow more supplies to get into the enclave.
The UN relief agency operating in Gaza said Friday that Israel had accused some of its staff of being involved in the October 7 attacks, and that their contracts would be “immediately” terminated.
The UN head Antonio Guterres implored the US and other big donors to continue funding the agency that aids Palestinians, warning it would run out of money next month to help the two million Gazans who depend on it for essential supplies and services.
“The abhorrent alleged acts of these staff members must have consequences,” he said. “But the tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRWA, many in some of the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers, should not be penalized.
The United Nations’ top court on Friday ordered Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza, but stopped short of ordering an end to the military offensive that has laid waste to the Palestinian enclave.
Israel’s president accused the U.N. world court of misrepresenting his words in a ruling that ordered Israel to take steps to protect Palestinians and prevent a genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi called for the F.B.I. to investigate protesters demanding a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, suggesting without evidence that some activists may have ties to Russia and President Vladimir V. Putin.
Trump attacked United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain and accused him of playing into the hand of China last night after the union leader took several shots at the former president in a TV interview while praising Biden.
Biden spent yesterday morning at a historic church in Columbia, SC, telling parishioners about his faith and the ideals of America.
Biden is intent on driving home two messages in SC: He’s loyal to the state that saved his campaign in 2020 and he’s determined to win back Black voters there and elsewhere who were central to his election last time but are less enthused this go-round.
Biden leaned into what his administration has accomplished for Black Americans while highlighting his choice to elevate South Carolina to the first-in-the-nation slot. He also dug into Trump, ramping up his attacks on the favorite for the GOP nomination.
Past Democratic presidents are gearing up to rally around Biden in an effort to to stir up voter enthusiasm — and cash.
Biden’s campaign is trying to organize a first-of-its-kind fundraiser to generate campaign cash and enthusiasm for the 2024 Democratic ticket, featuring three Democratic presidents — Biden, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama – all in one room.
Sen. Joe Manchin says he “absolutely” can see himself as president. Privately, the West Virginia Democrat has told people that a Biden health scare or a Trump conviction could give him an opening to run as an independent this year.
Mitch Landrieu, national co-chair of Biden’s reelection campaign, said that Trump, the GOP front-runner for the presidential nomination, should not come within 100 miles of the White House, pointing to the 91 felony counts he faces.
Biden vowed to take immediate action to “shut down” the U.S.-Mexico border if Congress approves a proposal under negotiation in the Senate as he urged lawmakers to pass a bipartisan bill “if they’re serious about the border crisis.”
House Republicans announced two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, accusing him of failing to do his job by allowing thousands of asylum seekers to enter the country amid record-breaking illegal crossings.
The jury’s decision to award $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll came at an inopportune moment for the former president, who might soon face another large penalty from a civil fraud case brought by the New York attorney general, Letitia James.
Trump might one day have to pay Carroll the $83.3 million she was awarded, but that day is not today. Trump called the jury’s decision “Absolutely ridiculous!” and vowed to appeal the verdict, a process that could take months or more.
It could take years before she sees the money, but Carroll is already considering how she might use the money once she obtains it. “I’m not going to waste a cent of this,” she said. “We’re going to do something good with it.”
All 673 school districts in New York are slated to receive less “foundation aid” than expected under Hochul’s executive budget. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle condemned the governor’s proposal and said it won’t stand.
Perplexing results from the latest state tests of New York elementary and middle school students have fueled a long-simmering fight over whether the tests are useful at all.
SUNY Buffalo will be home to “Empire AI” – a group of public and private partners that will work together to build and utilize a new state-of-the-art artificial intelligence computing center.
The state OCM is facing another setback in its ongoing rollout of the retail cannabis market after an Onondaga County company filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court arguing its operators have been discriminated against for being white males.
US Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called on the Biden administration to ease up the federal prohibition on weed Sunday – arguing the current laws dating back to the 1970s have “torn apart” too many lives.
Rep. Elise Stefanik and several New York Republican lawmakers Friday demanded that Gov. Kathy Hochul follow Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s lead by taking immediate measures to secure the northern border amid a surge in illegal crossings from Canada.
Hochul’s office said Friday she did not demand the abrupt cancellation of a CCB meeting last week, but did reach out to voice displeasure after learning the board was only ready to approve three new retail licenses that day.
Hochul hopes to cut compensation for aides hired through the CDPAP program, as part of an effort to shave upward of $1 billion off Medicaid. But some advocates say there are better ways to reduce home care spending without hitting workers’ wages.
The tax exemption known as 421a expired in 2022. A fight over its replacement, called 485x, could have major implications for the city’s future.
Democrat Tom Suozzi said he won’t be seeking Biden’s endorsement in a hotly contested House seat in a curt — giving a curt one-word response when asked about the possibility.
The NYPD Sergeants’ Union is backing Republican Mazi Pilip for the Congressional seat vacated by disgraced George Santos — in a slap to Suozzi.
Pilip and Suozzi held dueling press conferences outside a migrant shelter in eastern Queens last week.
Pilip called on Suozzi to denounce a fundraiser and boycott an upcoming event Friday after the man shared an anti-Israel video on social media days after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack against the Jewish state.
One of Biden’s New York delegates has been convicted of falsifying Syracuse school district business records and currently owes the state $101,000 in back income taxes and penalties.
The U.S. Justice Department and Hochul’s office agreed “to resolve the department’s claims that the Executive Chamber under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo engaged in a pattern or practice of sexual harassment and retaliation” in violation of civil rights laws.
The settlement between New York and the Justice Department resolves the federal agency’s sexual harassment investigation of Cuomo and outlines additional steps the state will take to change how it handles misconduct complaints.
The DOJ found that Cuomo “repeatedly subjected” women in his office to non-consensual sexual contact, ogling and gender-based nicknames. Top staff “were aware of the conduct and retaliated against four of the women he harassed,” the DOJ concluded.
A person briefed on the Justice Department’s process said the investigation included a review of the attorney general’s report and public statements, as well as new interviews that turned up new victims.
Mayor Eric Adams took a crew of City Council members on police patrol over the weekend in his much-publicized bid to kill a controversial cop bill.
NYPD officials gathered council members and news reporters in a room at Harlem’s 28th Precinct on Saturday, where they showed physical paperwork they say officers would have to complete if the bill passed.
Council members were geared up in bulletproof vests and rolled out in a convoy of police vans through Harlem and the Bronx Saturday to see the streets for themselves.
Ex-NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton suggested that city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams are only backing the “foolish’’ cop-stops bill to try to grab City Hall for themselves.
Six New York City massage parlors that authorities suspect were operating as brothels were shut down last night during a raid by the New York City Police Department in Queens, Adams announced on social media
Two City Council leaders called on Adams’ administration Friday to open up more migrant “re-ticketing centers” amid concern over newly arrived asylum seekers sleeping outside the city’s only such site due to overcrowding.
Adams’ campaign hasn’t yet returned tens of thousands of dollars in donations connected to indicted ex-Buildings Department boss Eric Ulrich, though a campaign lawyer said four months ago the contributions were in the process of being refunded.
The NYPD stood by an officer who briefly pulled over City Councilman Yusef Salaam for driving a car with Georgia license plates and seemingly illegally tinted windows.
Salaam, one of the Central Park Five, said the officer who stopped him should have explained why. Some officials said Salaam had used his position to avoid a ticket.
Several participants on a group phone call with Salaam backed up his assertion that he asked a police officer who stopped him in Harlem why he was being pulled over.
A whopping 95% of restaurateurs oppose a legislative campaign to eliminate the tip credit system that allows owners to pay wait staff who earn tips less than minimum wage, according to a new survey by the NYC Hospitality Alliance set to be released today.
Paul Vallone – the deputy commissioner of the city’s veterans’ services department, and a former City Council member – died suddenly on Saturday. He was 56.
Vallone reportedly suffered a fatal heart attack at his home and was rushed to a Flushing hospital but could not be revived.
Vallone came from one of the most storied political families in Queens, with a record of public service stretching back decades. He was the son of Peter Vallone Sr., the City Council’s first speaker, and the grandson of Charles Vallone Sr., former civil court judge.
The Schenectady Board of Education’s president and vice president want the next superintendent to come from the current roster of administrators instead of bringing in an outsider.
Irish immigration scholar and local museum leader Elizabeth Stack will be leaving for New York City to revive the American Irish Historical Society on Fifth Avenue as its first woman executive director.
The Cohoes Norlite shale mine/aggregate plant violated state air emissions levels on several occasions over the spring and summer, according to a notice issued last week by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
The Super Bowl LVIII showdown in Las Vegas is set. In two weeks, the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs will defend their crown against the San Francisco 49ers in a rematch of Super Bowl LIV.
Cameras caught Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s romantic on-field moment after the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Baltimore Ravens 17-10 in the AFC Championship game Sunday.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
