Good Tuesday morning, for some of us, it’s the first day of a four-day workweek. Love a four-day workweek, though it makes it hard for me to 1) accomplish all that needs to be done, and 2) remember what day it actually is. First world problems, I know.
As I was struggling with the cold that never ended recently, having descended into the dry, hacking cough stage that seems to go on endlessly, I happened upon a news report about how cases of both whooping cough and walking pneumonia are on the rise.
Like any good hypochondriac, I immediately started googling with the goal of self diagnosis. And, of course, this lead me down many online rabbit holes and sent me into a tailspin of anxiety.
I did rule out whooping cough (more formally known as pertussis) fairly quickly, since I wasn’t making the trademark sound that gives this highly infectious bacterial infection its name, nor was I gasping for air. I did have some pretty violent coughing fits, though none of them caused me to vomit or break a rib, which I read can be common with whooping cough.
One can get vaccinated against whooping cough, which was a new-to-me information that I definitely will be asking my healthcare provider about when I go in to get my flu shot. (I know, I’m delinquent).
OK, so not whooping cough. On to walking pneumonia. This one is a little trickier. It is technically a less serious version of the lung infection that leaves you feeling under the weather but not quite horrible enough to stay home from school or work and lie on the couch or in bed and moan. (Hence, the name).
The main difference is that full-fledged pneumonia can be deadly – especially for those who are older, younger, and/or immunocompromised. It can require prolonged bed rest or hospitalization.
Its causes are myriad – mold, viruses, and/or bacteria (the most common variety of this is pneumococcal pneumonia) – and its symptoms are pretty much garden variety: sore throat, sneezing, cough, headache, mild chills and a low-grade fever, which is why this can be easily confused with a run of the mill cold or even the flu.
Someone who is suffering from walking pneumonia may or may not need antibiotics. (Rule of thumb: Bacteria, yes; everything else, probably not). Diagnosis requires an X-ray to see if there is indeed fluid buildup in the lungs – a classic hallmark of pneumonia – and potentially lab tests.
Walking pneumonia, according to the Cleveland Clinic, tends to spike every three to seven years, and though symptoms are on the mild side, full recovery can take up to a month or more.
Today is World Pneumonia Day, which aims to “mobilize action to reduce deaths from pneumonia, the leading infectious cause of death across all ages and the likely cause of the next respiratory pandemic.”
A scary statistic: Pneumonia is the single biggest infectious killer of adults and children, resulting in 2.5 million deaths in 2019 – 75 percent of which were kids under five years old and adults over 70.
More than 216 landmarks in 47 countries around the world are expected to light up blue to mark this day, including the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.
The CDC recommends that all adults 65 years or older receive a pneumococcal vaccination, of which there are two types here in the U.S. I’m getting there on the years side, but am not quite there yet. Thankfully, I don’t have any underlying lung damage – usually a result of smoking, asthma, and/or COPD. As a runner/triathlete etc., my lungs are in pretty good shape.
I intend to keep them that way for as long as possible.
It’s going to be on the chilly side today, with temperatures struggling to get out of the 40s. We’ll start out with cloudy skies, which will give way to afternoon sun.
In the headlines…
The Kremlin rejected reports that President Vladimir Putin spoke last week with Trump about the war in Ukraine, and a spokesman for Trump refused to comment on what he called his “private calls” with world leaders.
Susie Wiles, the next White House chief of staff, privately told a group of Republican donors that Trump would move on his first day in office to reinstate several executive orders from Trump’s first term that President Joe Biden had revoked.
Many Democrats failed to turn out to vote this past Election Day at the rate they did in 2020 when they ousted Trump, according to an analysis of election data.
The president-elect has asked U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz, a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran who has been the first Green Beret to serve in Congress, to be his national security adviser, a person familiar with the matter.
The nod came despite simmering concerns on Capitol Hill about Trump tapping members of the House, where the final tally is still uncertain and there are worries about pulling GOP members from the chamber and forcing a new election to fill the empty seat.
Trump is expected to name Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as his secretary of state, three people familiar with his thinking said, as the president-elect moves rapidly to fill out his foreign policy and national security team.
Trump’s new border czar Tom Homan has defended plans to boot millions of migrants from the US, declaring: “I don’t care what people think of me.”
Homan previously vowed to launch the “biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen”, and once sparred with progressive New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over his “zero-tolerance” border policy.
Stephen Miller, an immigration hard-liner and adviser to Trump, is taking over policy planning for the transition and is expected to be named deputy chief of staff in the president-elect’s administration, according to people briefed on the matter.
Trump is signaling with his staffing decisions his intention to carry out a campaign promise of widespread deportations of undocumented immigrants and tightening of measures that allow some of them to stay in the country legally.
Some of Trump’s closest allies want him to try to block a onetime Republican nemesis, South Dakota Sen. John Thune, from becoming the Senate majority leader, pushing him to impose his will more forcefully on an already compliant G.O.P. Congress.
In a new Trump administration, the role of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is likely to be diminished – just as it was during president-elect’s first four years in the White House.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. argued that the incoming Trump administration should “act fast” to implement massive changes at the National Institutes of Health, including replacing as many as 600 people at the federal agency.
Trump’s eldest son will not be a member of his father’s administration — he is joining a venture capital firm: 1789 Capital, a firm whose investments include Tucker Carlson’s media company.
Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Phoenix-area Democrat and military veteran, has won the Senate race in Arizona, defeating Trump ally Kari Lake, The Associated Press said — a bright spot for Democrats after Republicans regained control of the chamber.
Trump tapped former Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency as he continues to build out his future administration with loyal supporters.
Zeldin, a Republican who mounted a failed bid for governor of New York in 2022, will “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses,’’ Trump said in a statement.
“We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI,” Zeldin posted on X. “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.”
Trump campaigned on pledges to “kill” and “cancel” E.P.A. rules and regulations to combat global warming by restricting fossil fuel pollution from vehicle tailpipes, power plant smokestacks and oil and gas wells.
Zeldin is now the second New Yorker Trump has picked to serve in his Cabinet, alongside Rep. Elise Stefanik, who was named as the president-elect’s choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Both positions require Senate confirmation.
Stefanik, who chairs the House Republican Conference, undertook a dramatic transformation that brought her to the center of Trump’s orbit.
Stefanik’s departure to work in the Trump administration will spark a special election for her seat representing the North Country.
That possibility was enough to give one of Trump’s biggest supporters, Elon Musk, pause. “Elise is awesome, but it might be too dicey to lose her from the House, at least for now,” he wrote on his social media platform, X.
A Manhattan judge is poised today to decide whether to let stand the guilty verdicts against Trump stemming from hush money payoffs to Stormy Daniels and others in a 2016 election interference scheme.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is being asked by a state panel to declare a public health emergency over the persistent problem of opioid addiction in New York, where overdose deaths remain higher than they were before the coronavirus pandemic.
Hochul is moving forward with a plan to “unpause” congestion pricing soon by lowering the proposed New York City toll rates by 40%.
“Governor Hochul’s sudden move to implement congestion pricing in New York City is a blatant bait-and-switch on hardworking New Yorkers,” state Republican Party chairman Ed Cox said.
A lawsuit filed on behalf of the Cannabis Farmers Alliance accuses the state Office of Cannabis Management and Cannabis Control Board of pushing growers with small operations to the brink of financial ruin as their industry faces potential collapse.
A trio of state senators are calling on SUNY to investigate its $2.7 million contract with a powerhouse publishing company accused of acquiescing to the Chinese government by censoring articles.
A lawsuit filed Nov. 8 in state Supreme Court in Albany County alleges Nancy Salzman, the former president of NXIVM, is failing to comply with a financial settlement with the cult-like organization’s victims.
The results of an internal survey conducted last spring by the State Police found that there are several areas that require a “distinct need for improvement,” including low morale and workplace concerns about safety and equipment.
The 105th annual New York City Veterans Day Parade took place along Fifth Avenue, stretching from 26th Street to 46th Street. The parade, one of the largest in the country, drew thousands of spectators to honor military veterans.
Mayor Eric Adams asked the judge presiding over his federal public corruption case to set an earlier trial date so he can focus on getting reelected in 2025.
The case is set to go on trial on April 21, per a Nov. 1 ruling by Manhattan federal court Judge Dale Ho. In a new letter, Adams’ lawyer, Alex Spiro, asked that it begin on April 1.
The change will enable Adams to “fully participate in his reelection campaign and that this City’s voters can be rid of the distraction of this misguided indictment as they hear from and evaluate the Democratic candidates for Mayor on their merits,” Spiro wrote.
To cut down on pre-trial procedures, Spiro offered to waive the opportunity to seek additional discovery materials. The unusual move telegraphed both his confidence in the defense and the conviction with which Adams appears to be pursuing a second term.
Although Trump will likely move to replace Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams right away with a prosecutor more willing to see things his way, whomever he picks must still be confirmed by the Senate, a process that could take months.
New NYC trash rules go into effect today. Officials said it’s part of Adams’ efforts to keep the city clean and get rid of rats.
Air quality in New York improved yesterday, one day after wildfires in New Jersey brought a smoky haze and campfire smell back to the five boroughs.
The Empire State Building won’t light up to honor Polish Independence Day today, and charged-up critics aren’t taking the snub lightly.
A Columbia University student demonstration seeking to “reclaim” Veterans Day in the name of Palestinians killed in Gaza was a far cry from the protests that raged on campus last year — as student-vets showed up to face down the agitators.
A spokesperson for Saks Fifth Avenue, the retail company behind the iconic store across from Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center, said the flagship location will not be hosting a holiday light show this year, due to “changes in [its] approach to the holiday windows”.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation confirmed Friday it is investigating the seizure and euthanization of an Instagram-famous squirrel at an upstate home last week.
The Washington Avenue Bridge in the City of Rensselaer has been renamed to honor the local airman who lost her life in a helicopter crash while on duty in Texas earlier this year.
An attorney representing Saratoga Springs Deputy Commissioner of Public Works Joe O’Neill is accusing the Republican-backed public safety commissioner of bias against his client because O’Neill worked for a former Democratic commissioner.
The freezing of online functions at Hannaford Supermarkets is due to its parent company dealing with a cybersecurity issue, according a release late last week from its Netherlands-based owner, Ahold Delhaize.
Chris Wallace, a veteran TV anchor who left Fox News for CNN three years ago, announced that he was leaving his post to venture into the streaming or podcasting worlds.
Wallace, 77, told The Daily Beast that he was leaving the network to pursue independent content creation, where, he told the outlet, “the action seems to be.”
The Times Tech Guild, which represents more than 600 tech workers at The New York Times, announced that it had ended its weeklong strike despite not reaching a deal on a contract. The union has been on strike since Nov. 4.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
