Good morning, a brand new month is upon us.
August historically has been slightly less hot than July, which is traditionally the hottest summer month. And this past July certainly delivered, with the longest stretch of 90-or-higher degree days that New York City, for example, had seen in nearly a decade.
But overall, summers are getting hotter. So, while it’s hard to know exactly what August has in store for us, it’s likely to be more of the same – heat, humidity, and storms.
All this heat definitely has an impact on people. Heat makes one crankier, angrier, more aggressive, slower, and just generally less tolerant. Combine this with the fact that we’re in a VERY overheated political cycle, and things can get a little crazy – even crazier than usual, that is.
Close readers of my post about friendship may have caught my aside about being a childless dog lady. If you’re choosing not to pay terribly close attention to the news these days (and honestly, I can’t blame you), you might have wondered what that was about.
To catch you up: The GOP vice presidential candidate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, said in a now infamous 2021 interview with Tucker Carlson that the country is being run by Democrats without children, who he described as “a bunch of childless cat ladies.”
Vance then added: “You look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC – the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And how does it make any sense that we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?”
For the record, Buttigieg is not only a man, but he and his husband announced a month after Vance’s interview that they had adopted twins. So, I guess he has graduated off the cat lady list.
It turns out that Vance has a long history of deriding individuals who, for a whole host of reasons – some of them medical – don’t have kids. He actually said on a conservative podcast in November 2020 that not having kids “makes people more sociopathic and ultimately our whole country a little bit less, less mentally stable.”
Vance even suggested at one point that parents should be afforded the right to vote on behalf of their children, giving them more clout in elections than those who didn’t reproduce. (This is disturbing on a lot of levels, not the least of which is that I think it would actually be unconstitutional).
Vance has tried to walk back – or, at the very least, explain – his comments, but really the damage is done. The Democrats have gleefully seized on this and other GOP candidate statements, labeling the Republicans as out of touch and just plain “weird.”
Given the fact that the trend in this country has been AWAY from having children, with more young people saying they don’t plan on procreating and the U.S. fertility rate hitting an historic low, one has to wonder about the strategy of alienating an entire voting bloc of people.
(Talk about timing! There’s a New York Times story that published online just last night with the headlines, “Why Are So Many Americans Choosing Not to Have Children?” Hint: It’s not selfishness or hedonism), but something far more complicated – like being worried about financial stability and not having sufficient confidence in the future).
I can tell you firsthand that being a childless adult can be difficult – especially if you’re a woman. Thankfully, though, I’m long past the age when people would ask, apropos of pretty much nothing, when I planned on having kids and then comment about how I should really get started on that since I clearly wasn’t getting any younger.
A gynecologist (male) once reacted to my decision not to have kids by saying 1) that biologically, we are here to further the species, and 2) it would be better for my own health, estrogen-wise, if I got pregnant. This struck me as tone deaf, antiquated, and also utopian. Needless to say, this guy isn’t my doctor anymore.
When most of your friends are having kids and focusing their energies on that, you are a little at a loss as to where you fit in to that picture. I didn’t have much to say on field trips, carpooling, teething, bed wetting, etc. and so forth. I do have a step-kid – as does Kamala “Momala” Harris – but he’s not with us all the time. Also, in terms of the whole giving birth experience, I can’t relate.
Interestingly, from a timing perspective, today is International Childfree Day, which was launched in the early 1970s by the National Organization for Non-Parents (NON) – later the National Alliance for Optional Parenthood (NAOP) – with the goal of educating the public about why individuals choose not to be parents and build acceptance around that choice.
Oddly, it’s also Respect for Parents Day, which is an interesting – and perhaps purposeful – juxtaposition. I’ll let you be the judge.
It’s going to be hot – topping out in the low 90s – with partly cloudy skies and the chance of a rain shower.
In the headlines…
Former President Donald Trump questioned the racial identity of Vice President Kamala Harris during a tense appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago yesterday, asking, “Is she Indian or is she Black?”
Trump falsely claimed that Harris, who has long identified as Black and attended a historically Black university, used to identify as Indian and then, “all of a sudden, she made a turn, and she became a Black person.”
Trump clashed with an ABC News correspondent at a convention of Black journalists, slamming her “disgraceful” questioning after she asked why Black voters should trust him with another term.
Harris carefully hit back at Trump after he questioned the legitimacy of her identity as a Black woman, saying that he had put on the “same old show” of “divisiveness and disrespect.”
Senate Republican Whip John Thune, the No. 2-ranking Senate GOP leader, said Trump should focus on policy issues and not race in his campaign against Vice President Harris.
The United Automobile Workers endorsed Harris, giving her the support of one of the nation’s most influential unions after it delayed to assess her approach to key issues.
“We stand at a crossroads in this country,” the UAW president said. “We can put a billionaire back in office who stands against everything our union stands for, or we can elect (Harris) who will stand shoulder to shoulder with us in our war on corporate greed.”
Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged at their July meeting, but the head of the central bank made it clear that recent progress in lowering inflation could enable policymakers to cut interest rates as soon as their next meeting in September.
“If we do get the data that we that we hope, then a reduction in our a policy rate could be on the table at the September meeting,” Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, said during a news conference yesterday.
“The Committee judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals continue to move into better balance,” the Federal Open Market Committee’s post-meeting statement said, a slight upgrade from previous language.
The alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 terror attacks and two other terrorists being held on Guantánamo Bay will be spared the death penalty under a deal with prosecutors, it was revealed yesterday.
The announcement came as a bitter pill to swallow for victims’ families who have anxiously awaited the conclusion of the case for nearly 24 years — many of whom felt death was the only appropriate punishment for the perpetrators of the heinous attacks.
The pretrial agreement – reached after 27 months of negotiations – takes the death penalty off the table for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa al Hawsawi, prosecutors said in a letter.
New Yorkers would be automatically enrolled in a program to help pay their home energy costs if they use the state’s drug assistance benefit through legislation under consideration by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
New Yorkers affected by July’s severe storms and resulting damage may be eligible for grant funding.
Hochul announced up to $11 million in emergency assistance for eligible homeowners and municipalities in seven counties impacted by the 22 tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and flooding that took place between July 10-16.
Roughly 750 smoke shops have been shuttered across the five boroughs in the three months since the Adams administration launched a crackdown on unlicensed weed peddlers, city and state officials announced.
Hochul along with Mayor Eric Adams announced 1,009 illegal cannabis stores have been padlocked – 779 of them in New York City.
It’s the end of the line for Adams’ $700 million lawsuit against bus companies that hauled more than 33,000 migrants to the City, according to a Manhattan judge who denied the city’s request for a preliminary injunction and called the case “dubious at best.”
The number of new migrants seeking shelter in New York City has slowed to fewer than 1,000 per week for the first time since October 2022, according to Adams’ office.
A new migrant shelter will open next month at a former college dorm building in the Bronx’s swanky Riverdale section — angering some local residents who fear the “neighborhood will be destroyed.”
Two unmarked NYPD SUVs — one used to drive Commissioner Edward Caban, the other linked to a deputy commissioner — have racked up more than $3,500 in unpaid tickets, including for speeding in school zones, running red lights and driving in bus lanes.
More than 2 million people ride the MTA’s buses every weekday — but nearly half of them don’t bother to pay, transit officials said. Roughly 47% of bus riders evaded the fare during the first three months of 2024, according to MTA estimates.
The fines for drivers who evade tolls on some of the MTA’s bridges and tunnels will be cut in half in September.
Elderly New Yorkers have mounted a last-ditch campaign to save the decades-old Elizabeth Street Garden from being torn down to make way for affordable senior housing.
Rudy Giuliani agreed to settle outstanding fees he owes to financial investigators with profits from the sale of his multimillion-dollar Manhattan penthouse or his Palm Beach condo to bring an end to his tortured bankruptcy case.
Bronx environmental groups are calling for a slowdown on a plan to add roadways to the Cross Bronx Expressway.
A vigilante who regularly calls attention to toll evasion caused a brief national security scare after he ripped off license plate covers from cars assigned to the U.S. Secret Service detail protecting Harris’ stepdaughter, prosecutors said.
Anthony J. Brindisi, a Utica-based judge on the state Court of Claims who served one term in Congress and several terms in the state Assembly, has been nominated by Biden to be a federal judge in the Northern District of New York.
A Capital Region employee of the massive Centers Health Care nursing home network is suing the company for alleged whistleblower retaliation after she claims she was fired for raising concerns about patient safety and the mishandling of records.
U.S. Light Energy, a solar installation firm based in Latham, was named the No. 1 solar developer in New York state by Solar Power World magazine.
Wolf Road soon will be without another major chain restaurant after the Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub closes following service on Sunday, Aug. 11, the company confirmed.
American swimming star Katie Ledecky cruised to victory in an event that’s become synonymous with her name, earning her first Olympic gold medal of the Paris Games in the women’s 1500-meter freestyle.
Ledecky, 27, set an Olympic record with a time of 15:30.02. She has not lost this race in more than 14 years, and she owns the 20 fastest times in world history in the event.
After years of debate, countless safety tests, $1.5 billion spent and one major event postponed, the most ambitious event of the Paris Olympics came to life when triathletes swam in the Seine river. Not surprisingly, they said it didn’t taste great.
For goodness’ sake, is nothing sacred?
Photo credit: George Fazio.
