Good morning, it’s Tuesday.
I feel like I don’t really need to be reminding you what day of the week it is, generally speaking. Maybe it’s too simplistic and I should be starting with something more…grabby?
During the summer, though, I personally find it difficult to keep track of time. So, if you find this opening part of the post annoying or redundant or what have you, please just skip over it and get to the good part.
When trying to decide what to focus on today, I learned – a bit to my surprise – that it’s Cow Appreciation Day. Now, cows are great and everything. They give us beef and all manner of milk-related products, including a summertime must-have: Ice cream.
And, of course, cows are considered sacred by millions of Hindus, who not only don’t eat our bovine friends, but revere, protect, and even worship them.
There are an estimated 1 billion cows living around the world, which is not a small number. But it pales in comparison to, for example, the estimated 20 quadrillion ants on the planet. (Don’t worry, they have their own day, too).
Anyway, the point is, cows aren’t terribly exciting. They chew cud, thanks to their unique four-chambered stomach. They swat flies with their tails. They make soothing lowing sounds. But that’s about it. What have they don’t to merit a whole day of celebration all to themselves?
It turns out, nothing. Cow Appreciation Day is a marketing ploy invented by none other than the fast food chain Chick-fil-A, which may be many things when it comes to ideology (please don’t get me started; there’s a reason why they’re all closed on Sundays, leaving hungry Thruway travelers with few mealtime options).
But I must grudgingly admit, pretty good when it comes to this particular ad campaign.
In case you missed it, Chick-fil-A’s ads star cartoon cows that encourage patrons to eat more chicken, or, since cows never learned to spell, “Eat Mor Chikin” – as opposed to beef, of course, thereby saving the cows, one fried or grilled sandwich or box of nuggets at a time.
Chik-fil-A started Cow Appreciation Day in 2005 ostensibly to acknowledge and appreciate the contributions of cows (not including adding all that methane to the atmosphere, thus eroding the ozone later and hastening global warming). At one point, this was a full-blown THING, with giveaways and themed events at participating restaurants, and then other cow-related partners – like dairies, for example – got involved.
This year, however, according to the Chik-fil-A website, the company is NOT hosting any Cow Appreciation Day celebrations. But the cows are “popping up in all kinds of fun places,” like a fairly amusing animated short that can be found here, which pits some determined cows against an expanding burger joint and its hapless billboard man-for-hire.
It’s going to be very hot again today. And again, I feel a little silly or redundant just writing that line, because – duh! it’s summer, of course it’s going to be hot. But it’s really, REALLY hot. Like heat advisory hot.
Unless you’re on or near a body of water, there is nothing to recommend this sort of hot. Temperatures will be in the low 90s, but the heat index will flirt with 100. Skies will be cloudy, and – yet again – there will be a chance of showers and/or a thunderstorm.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden issued defiant responses yesterday to high-ranking lawmakers calling for him to step aside and sought to reassure his top donors and fund-raisers.
“If any of these guys don’t think I should run, run against me,” he said on MSNBC shortly after telling congressional Democrats in a letter that he was committed to staying in the race. “Go ahead, announce for president. Challenge me at the convention.”
Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, a two-term Democratic governor, told The Associated Press in an interview ahead of the launch of her new book, “True Gretch,” that she would not join the 2024 race if Biden stepped down.
Two influential Democratic operatives are circulating a memo that lays out a plan for a “blitz primary” before the party’s convention in August to replace President Biden if he can be convinced to bow out, a new report says.
Georgetown Law Prof. Rosa Brooks, a volunteer policy adviser to Biden’s 2020 bid, and venture capitalist/donor Ted Dintersmith authored the detailed memo being distributed to party contributors, executive branch officials and the president’s campaign staff.
An expert on Parkinson’s disease from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center visited the White House eight times in eight months from last summer through this spring, including at least once for a meeting with Biden’s physician, according to visitor logs.
The expert, Dr. Kevin Cannard, is a neurologist who specializes in movement disorders and recently published a paper on Parkinson’s. The logs, released by the White House, document visits from July 2023 through March of this year.
His biography on Doximity, a website for health professionals, lists him as a “neurology consultant to the White House Medical Unit and the physician to the president” from 2012 to 2022, which includes the Obama and Trump administrations.
The White House briefing room devolved into shouting as the press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, repeatedly dodged and refused to answer questions about Biden’s health, and whether visits to the White House by a Parkinson’s doctor were about the president.
Donald Trump told officials that he supports a new Republican Party platform, one that reflects the presumptive nominee’s new position on abortion rights and slims down policy specifics across all areas of government.
The Republican Party is abandoning its position explicitly advocating for federal abortion limits in favor of Trump’s leave-it-to-the-states approach, under language adopted at a party platform committee meeting.
Over the next 10 days, Trump will announce his running mate, hold a pair of campaign rallies and kick off a Republican convention in Milwaukee where he will officially become the party’s presidential nominee for the third time in eight years.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy announced that an agreement for an expected $6.9 billion grant from the federal government toward the construction of a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River has been signed.
Hochul, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker announced the federal funding agreement hoping to advance the $16 billion project to build a rail tunnel underneath the Hudson River.
Schumer and Hochul left the event without taking questions from reporters still pondering the future of the city and MTA after Hochul’s abandonment of congestion pricing.
The federal government is still seeking to salvage its portion of the funding for MTA projects like the Second Ave. subway extension into east Harlem — despite the loss of local matching funds following Hochul’s abrupt end to congestion pricing.
While some Democrats in congress are calling on the president to step down (at least five publicly so far, and at least four more privately), the New York governor made a point of celebrating Biden again yesterday.
Citing high inflation and what is expected to be an unprecedented increase in demand for power, two major energy agencies said it was unlikely that the state will meet its target of having an electricity grid that is 70 percent renewable by the 2030 deadline.
Tourism in New York has increased since the pandemic, with outdoor destinations like state parks bringing visitors in significant numbers, according to a report from state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office.
The state attorney general’s office has filed more indictments targeting multiple medical transportation operators accused of stealing millions from Medicaid.
Small bottles of “hospitality personal care products” like conditioner, shampoo, body wash and moisturizer will be banned in hotels with 50 or more rooms beginning on Jan. 1, 2025, under new New York regulations.
Sullivan & Cromwell, a 145-year-old firm that has counted Goldman Sachs and Amazon among its clients, says that, for job applicants, participation in an anti-Israel protest — on campus or off — could be a disqualifying factor.
Three Columbia University administrators who “engaged in very troubling text message exchanges” in the aftermath of relentless pro-Palestinian campus protests have been permanently removed from their positions.
The three administrators — Susan Chang-Kim, Matthew Patashnick and Cristen Kromm — have been on leave since it emerged last month they’d been involved in the disparaging text exchange that unfolded during a panel about antisemitism on campus.
With Mayor Eric Adams facing several potential primary challengers next year, the political playing field in New York City may soon be gashed wide open — extending beyond the mayoral race.
Adams was joined by Department of Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch yesterday to unveil New York City’s first official trash bin outside of Gracie Mansion.
Designed for “low-density” residential buildings, the “NYC Bins” come in two sizes — 35 gallons and 45 gallons — and cost $45.88 and $53.01, respectively. The bins are now on sale.
The mayor also unveiled the new official “NYC Bin.” Owners of small residential buildings and single-family homes must purchase the bins and begin using them by June 2026, the mayor said.
Social media users were quick to poke fun at Adams, whose dislike of trash and rats is well-documented, unveiling a black plastic wheelie bin at a press conference and declaring the city was taking “the next step forward in our ‘Trash Revolution’.”
A Rikers Island guard says the city Department of Correction forced him to work a post where he was in contact with violent detainees despite a serious knee injury — then got hit with unfounded disciplinary charges when he filed a complaint.
A Manhattan street erupted in anger yesterday when a man in a wheelchair was taken into custody in the killing of a young woman, whose body had been found wrapped in a blue sleeping bag days before.
The death has now been deemed a homicide and the victim identified as 31-year-old Yazmeen Williams. Police have recovered video showing a man in a motorized wheelchair dumping the body.
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito has made his police career a central piece of his tough-on-crime image, but a closer look at the Long Island Republican’s time with the NYPD suggests his carefully cultivated portrait isn’t as true blue as it might first appear.
Restaurants already participating in New York City’s outdoor dining program must apply for a new setup by Aug. 3 — or take their dining sheds down. By November, all of the original dining sheds must be dismantled.
A $1 billion gift from Michael Bloomberg to Johns Hopkins University will allow most students at the university’s medical school to attend free of cost and will also increase financial aid for other students in nursing, public health, and other graduate programs.
Bloomberg Philanthropies said in a statement that the gift would ensure that “the most talented aspiring doctors representing the broadest range of socio-economic backgrounds will have the opportunity to graduate debt-free” from the university.
Starting with the fall semester, Johns Hopkins will offer free tuition for medical students from families that earn less than $300,000 annually. The university will also pay for living expenses and other fees for students from families earning up to $175,000.
The city of Troy is poised to pay more than $5.77 million to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of the widow of a 30-year-old pizza delivery driver who was killed last year when his car was struck by a police SUV.
The Town of Clifton Park has received a $3.45 million grant for its Sitterly Road Improvement Project.
Drag racer William “Bill” Janke, 57, was killed in a race Sunday at Lebanon Valley Speedway, State Police said.
Celebrations marking 100 years since the opening of Bear Mountain Bridge in the lower Hudson Valley will include an online pop-up shop, guided hiking tours, an art workshop, an international engineering conference and a dedication ceremony.
A giant bubble machine created a foamy playland for children at the launch of the Summer Meals program at the Troy Housing Authority’s MLK Apartments yesterday.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
