Good morning, it’s Wednesday.
I know I’m going to sound impossibly old when I say this, but I guess as someone who’s about to turn 52 (gulp) I should probably start just accepting the truth…anyway, do you remember when shopping was simple?
I mean, you just went to the store and grabbed what you needed, or whatever caught your fancy (in terms of clothes, shoes, home decor etc.), and didn’t think too much about provenance.
These days, I’m overwhelmed – almost to the point of inaction – by all the things I’m supposed to be considering. Is this locally grown? Fair trade? Made by workers who are paid and treated fairly? Produced in a place with strong environmental regulations? What kind of carbon footprint does it have? Does it contain harmful chemicals?
This is just the tip of the iceberg. I understand the power of the purse, and that you can really make a difference based on where you decide to spend your money. But there is just so much to keep track of, you could spend all day just trying to figure out whether the shampoo you’re about to purchase is moral, ethical, environmentally friendly, etc. etc.
Some days, quite frankly, I’d rather just let my hair stay dirty.
That said, I do feel some kind of way about products tested on animals, which, by the way, is a practice that has NOT, in fact, been outlawed. It is, however, no longer required by the FDA, as of 2023, that drugs in development for human use MUST first be tested on animals.
Again, it doesn’t ban animal testing outright, which is unfortunate, IMHO. But it does open the door for researchers to utilize technologies other than animal testing (ie: computer modeling, microchips, etc.) to determine product efficacy.
This seemingly random train of thought actually is germane, since today is World Laboratory Animal Day, which was established to raise awareness about the use of animals for the testing of a wide array of items.
That includes but is not limited to raw materials, food additives, cleaning products, drugs, industrial chemicals, and cosmetics (I’m using this as a catch-all that also includes sunscreens, toothpaste, shampoo, and more), many of which are not, as it’s known, “cruelty-free” – particularly if they are manufactured outside the U.S.
The Humane Society estimates that more than 115 animals are used for lab experiments around the world every year, but it’s hard to know for sure, since reporting is not mandatory and therefore spotty. The most frequently employed animals are mice, fish, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, farm animals, birds, cats, dogs, mini-pigs, and non-human primates.
Whether animal testing is necessary is hotly debated in scientific and animal rights circles, and sometimes those who engage in this kind of testing have been the target of protest and even violence. If you want to really go down the rabbit hole on this, click here, here, or here – just for starters.
If I’ve further complicated your shopping habits, I’m sorry. If I’ve made you think a little bit on the gray Wednesday, well, you’re welcome?
There will be rain showers early this morning, followed by cloudy skies later in the day. Temperatures will top out in the low 60s.
In the headlines…
The U.S. Senate passed a long-delayed $95 billion package with wide bipartisan support after both sides of Capitol Hill have struggled for months to send aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
The final vote was 79-18. Fifteen Republicans voted with three Democrats against the bill. Forty-eight Democrats and 31 Republicans voted for the bill.
The legislation next goes to President Joe Biden to sign it into law, who said he would sign the package today.
“Congress has passed my legislation to strengthen our national security and send a message to the world about the power of American leadership: we stand resolutely for democracy and freedom, and against tyranny and oppression,” Biden said.
The bill also included a provision that would require TikTok’s parent company to either sell the social media app or face a ban, as well as a measure that permits selling off Russian oligarch assets.
After Biden signs the bill to force a sale of the video app or ban it, the legislation will face court challenges, a shortage of qualified buyers and Beijing’s hostility.
The Senate’s vote capped an extraordinary political saga that raised questions about whether the United States would continue to play a leading role in upholding the international order and projecting its values globally.
UN leaders demanded a “clear, transparent and credible” investigation after mass graves containing the bodies of hundreds of men and women were discovered on the grounds of two major hospitals in Gaza previously under assault by the Israeli military.
The mass graves contained some people stripped naked with their hands tied, raising concerns over potential war crimes, the U.N. said, describing the bodies as “buried deep in the ground and covered with waste.”
Israel hasn’t provided evidence to support its accusation that a “significant” number of employees of the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza are members of terrorist organizations, according to an independent review commissioned by the UN.
Biden called out Donald Trump in a high-profile Florida speech, blaming the former president for the spread of abortion bans since Roe ended as he encouraged women voters to back him and rebuke those he called opponents of reproductive freedom.
“This extreme Florida law is going to impact 4 million women in the state,” Biden said during a speech in Tampa. “Let’s be real clear. There’s one person responsible for this nightmare. And he’s acknowledged and he brags about it – Donald Trump.”
Biden probably won’t carry Florida in November. But he hopes the state serves as a warning to voters elsewhere about what could happen if he doesn’t win.
The Biden administration announced a rule aimed at ensuring workers whose annual salaries are roughly $59,000 or less are compensated fairly when working overtime.
The Labor Department said the rule would increase the salary thresholds required to exempt salaried workers from federal overtime pay requirements.
Biden is expected to attend a high-profile campaign fundraising event hosted by actors Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones tomorrow in the Hudson River village of Irvington. It will be his third time visiting the county since he was elected president in 2020.
The number of Americans struggling to put enough food on the table for themselves and their families has been growing in recent years, reaching a rate of 12.8 percent of households in 2022, according to data from the USDA.
Voters went to the polls for the Pennsylvania primaries yesterday, cementing races up and down the ticket in what will be one of the critical swing states in November.
Trump appeared to take 83 percent of the vote against Nikki Haley, his former rival in the Republican primaries. Still, Haley won the votes of more than 155,000 Pennsylvanians across the state that is considered essential to victory in November.
Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan is off to an ominous start for the former president, and it might not get any easier in the days ahead.
Trump’s hush money trial adjourned after a second day of testimony from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker.
Pecker gave a detailed account of an agreement he reached with Trump and his fixer, Michael Cohen, to bury negative stories about the then-presidential candidate during the 2016 campaign.
The social media company founded by Trump applied for a business visa program that he sought to restrict during his administration and which many of his allies want him to curtail in a potential second term.
The judge overseeing Trump’s trial in Manhattan held a fiery hearing about whether to find the former president in criminal contempt for repeatedly violating the provisions of a gag order. He has not yet issued a ruling.
Particles of bird flu were detected in some samples of pasteurized milk, though the virus in that form is not a threat to humans, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced.
As a bird flu epidemic spreads through avian and cattle livestock across the country, the FDA increased testing of domestic milk supplies. Some testing samples found inactive bird flu virus remnants, killed during the pasteurization process, the agency said.
The milk poses virtually no risk to consumers, experts said. But the finding suggests that the outbreak in dairy cows is wider than has been known.
Former Long Island Rep. George Santos announced he was ending his independent bid to unseat Suffolk County Rep. Nick LaLota, after failing to raise any money for his campaign in the first three months of this year.
“Although Nick and I don’t have the same voting record and I remain critical of his abysmal record, I don’t want to split the ticket and be responsible for handing the house to Dems,” Santos said in a post on X.
LaLota responded: “Chat GPT translation: He’s taking a plea deal.”
The picture for new development is now brighter, thanks to the housing deal in the state budget, say real estate industry leaders, but much about the future remains cloudy, from getting vacant units back online to building out basement apartments.
The state Department of Agriculture and Markets is putting restrictions on the importation of dairy cattle from eight states amid an outbreak of “highly pathogenic avian flu” in the animals.
A State Police attorney told appellate court it would be “unduly burdensome” to release more than 8,000 disciplinary files stretching back nearly two decades that detail internal investigations of thousands of current and former troopers and investigators.
Trump and the wife of ex-CNN anchor Chris Cuomo were each handed wins yesterday by New York’s highest court in a pair of unrelated lawsuits they’ve been battling for the last few years.
A state appellate court delivered a blow to the Archdiocese of New York in a unanimous decision that found the organization’s longtime insurer can move forward with its case challenging whether its policies covered claims for systemic child sexual abuse.
A provision in the recently approved New York state budget will eliminate aid to private colleges and universities with endowments of at least $750 million — including Columbia University and NYU.
More than 100 protesters were hauled away by NYPD cops as they chanted in support of Palestine yesterday evening near U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s home in Brooklyn, according to footage of the raucous demonstration.
Demonstrators gathered in Grand Army Plaza around 5:30 p.m. on “Schumer’s doorstep” to demand the U.S. stop arming the Israeli military, according to progressive activist group Jewish Voice for Peace. Numerous arrests were made.
As the sun set, hundreds of people gathered around a circular banner representing a Seder plate, which included the words “Jews say stop arming Israel” alongside images of foods eaten during the Seder meal.
A group called the NYU Palestine Solidarity Coalition led NYU students to walk out of classes yesterday following violent anti-Israel protests that unfolded there. They Washington Square Park in Manhattan “to reflect, debrief [and] strategize,” the group said.
NYPD brass blamed faculty and “professional agitators” at New York University for heated standoffs with police, after university officials sent cops to clear a pro-Palestinian encampment and arrest 120 protesters for trespassing, including students and staff.
An NYPD raid on a pro-Palestine NYU student encampment led to running skirmishes as cops swung batons, indiscriminately pepper-sprayed people, and arrested dozens of protesters – including faculty who formed a protective ring around students.
NYU administrators were less happy about the protest, complaining of “disorderly, disruptive and antagonizing behavior that has interfered with the safety of our community,” according to a letter to NYPD brass.
A midnight deadline set by Columbia University for an encampment of student protesters to disband passed without signs of police moving onto the campus to quell the demonstration that has upended campus life and challenged the school leadership.
Student protesters inside the Columbia encampment barred the media from entering the space. University administrators said it was up to students whether to allow in reporters, who spoke with student activists just outside the encampment.
In a Washington war room, Columbia’s president, Nemat Shafik, decided to call police officers to arrest protesting students. The backlash now threatens her leadership.
Columbia-affiliated Barnard College is looking to cut a deal with students suspended over the recent Gaza protests that would allow them to have their records cleared — if they agree to follow all college rules going forward.
All of the 228 protesters busted during anti-Israel rallies at Columbia and New York universities over the past week have walked free and won’t face criminal records — despite reports that their actions are making others feel unsafe on campus.
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s daughter cried foul over the lack of available information about what happened to the students whom she alleged sprayed “chemical weapons” at the anti-Israel protesters occupying Columbia University last week.
A foul-mouthed flyer berated Mayor Eric Adams on New York-bound airplane — whining that he supports “genocide in Palestine” and scolding him for partying too much in a caught-on-video confrontation.
Adams flew to Miami for the 2024 Concordia Americas Summit, a gathering of public officials and business people from North America and Latin America, the conference website said.
Adams blamed “outside agitators” for sparking much of the venom seen recently at campus protests and said that his administration is working with schools to limit such activity.
Adams offered no credible proof that any significant number of outsiders had exploited the latest student-led demonstrations over the Israel-Hamas war.
The interim chairwoman of an independent police oversight panel who had fiercely criticized the Police Department, Arva Rice, will step down at Adams’ request, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Adams’ close advisor Philips Banks reportedly asked Rice to resign from her position at the head of the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) sometime last week.
The Adams administration’s top attorney reportedly raised concerns over having New York City represent the mayor in his sex assault lawsuit, and later found out in the news that she was being replaced.
Adams brushed off mounting opposition to his presumptive nomination of Randy Mastro as the city’s top lawyer, saying recent criticisms of Mastro represents a “slippery slope” and that “the process” to appoint him will continue.
Adams and his top aides defended Mastro, a former aide to Mayor Rudy Giuliani known for his aggressive tactics representing numerous big-name interests and clients, arguing that he had been called the “conscience” of the Giuliani administration.
Black, Asian and Hispanic NYC government workers continue to be paid less than their white colleagues, a disparity driven by a persistent pattern of low wages for women of color in the municipal ranks, according to a new study released by the City Council.
A Staten Island City Council member is urging the MTA to ensure the borough gets its fair share of OMNY vending machines.
There are more than 8,500 sidewalk sheds along the city’s streets, according to records maintained by the Buildings Department. End to end, they would stretch from Manhattan to Montreal.
Tourists are paying more to visit NYC than any other popular tourist destination, according to a new study of the ten most visited large cities in the world.
The future is looking sunny for Kennedy Airport’s long-term parking lot No. 9. Construction began yesterday on a solar array meant to cover some 21 acres of the lot while maintaining the car park beneath.
Glenville Supervisor Chris Koetzle will temporarily pull double duty, leading the state Association of Towns as its new executive director while still presiding over the town’s daily affairs this summer — drawing protest from Schenectady County Democrats.
Burlington Stores will complete its move from Guilderland’s Crossgates Mall to Northway Shopping Center in Colonie early next month, while offering $10 gift cards to the first 100 adult customers at the new location and donating $5,000 to a nearby school.
Michael Matteo, a former Albany City Water Department employee, jumped to his death from the overpass to the Patroon Island Bridge after he skipped his sentencing yesterday morning for stealing more than $138,000 from a North Albany family.
The City Council set aside paying $4,876 in legal fees for former Saratoga Springs Mayor Meg Kelly after some commissioners balked because she didn’t fully cooperate with the AG’s probe of the city’s treatment of Black Lives Matter protesters.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
