Good Tuesday morning.
There are lot of things we, as residents of one of the world’s richest and most developed countries, take for granted on the regular. These are basic, everyday things without which life would be a whole lot more difficult – not to mention far less healthy.
A power grid that (mostly) works. Thousands of miles of roads that are paved and generally well maintained. Clean, potable water that comes out of the tap in most communities across the nation. A wide variety of food available for purchase.
Also, flushable toilets.
Hear me out here. I am fairly certain that I’m not going out on a limb when I say that one of the last things you think about – or are grateful for – on a day to day basis is your toilet.
Maybe you’re pining for a NICER version of the one you’ve got – a low flow, heated seat, smart toilet with a built-in cleansing option, perhaps? There are some really nice toilets out there, also some really expensive toilets that will run you close to $10,000 or more. (Solid gold toilet, anyone?)
But the mere fact that you have access to a flushing, relatively clean toilet – or many of them, assuming you go to work, eat out, get gas etc. – makes you quite privileged.
Well over HALF of the world’s population – somewhere around 3.5 billion – lacks a home toilet, or has something masquerading as a toilet that doesn’t safely manage waste (say, an untreated hole in the ground), according to the UN. About 419 million individuals are using fields, open water bodies, or other spaces (hopefully, but not always, a decent distance away from human settlements) to relive themselves.
Reading this probably gives you the icks.
But this is a very serious problem – that endangers many lives. Open defecation exposes people to all sorts of health and safety risks. According to UNICEF, more than 700 children under the age 5 — which works out to about one every two minutes — dies every day from diarrhea as a result of unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation or poor hygiene.
And, just like pretty much everything else, the problem is being exacerbated by climate change, which is causing more frequent and stronger extreme weather events that strain infrastructure – including water and sewer systems – and result in untreated sewage spilling into fresh water sources. And this is not a developing country problem; it’s happening right here in the U.S.
Today is World Toilet Day, and the UN has set a goal of safe toilets for all by 2030. They’ve also got a kinda catchy slogan: “Toilers Are a Place for Peace,” explaining:
“This essential space, at the centre of our lives, should be safe and secure. But for billions of people, sanitation is under threat from conflict, climate change, disasters and neglect.”
Kinda hard to argue with that. Who doesn’t enjoy a peaceful moment to themselves in the powder room? I hate public toilets, personally, though I can’t remember the last time I went into the bathroom unaccompanied by one or more dogs. I’m not sure who else out there has this problem. Dogs know nothing of personal space. I think it’s sweet…and also a little creepy. But mostly sweet.
It will be partly cloudy today with temperatures in the low 50s.
In the headlines…
President-elect Donald Trump said that his administration would declare a national emergency and use the US military to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.
Trump responded “TRUE!!!” to a post by Tom Fitton, president of the conservative group Judicial Watch, who wrote on 8 November that the next administration “will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program”.
Trump’s top immigration policy adviser, Stephen Miller, has discussed using military assets to build detention centers and support civilian immigration agents.
Prosectors in Trump’s Manhattan criminal hush-money case are expected to submit paperwork today indicating how they believe the case should proceed in light of the election.
The Georgia Court of Appeals yesterday canceled scheduled oral arguments in Trump’s effort to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the 2020 election interference case against Trump and 14 others.
Trump has chosen Sean Duffy, a Fox News contributor and former GOP congressman, to head the Department of Transportation.
In announcing the pick, Trump praised Duffy as a “respected voice and communicator” in a post on Truth Social.
Trump is refusing to back down over his Cabinet picks in the first clash in an epic battle he will wage against Washington when he takes office next year.
Trump said that to “Make America Great Again,” it is “vital” to have a “free, fair and open media,” insisting he feels he has “an obligation” to the American people to work with the press, even those who had treated him “badly beyond comprehension.”
The Constitution sets a two-term limit for presidents. Still, Trump has repeatedly floated the idea that he might like to stay in the White House beyond his next term.
The married MSNBC hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough drove half an hour from their Florida home last Friday to meet with an old friend turned frenemy turned enemy – Trump – in an effort “to restart communications.”
President Joe Biden urged Congress to provide nearly $100 billion in “urgently needed” aid for communities ravaged by hurricanes and other disasters in recent months, saying funding for some critical programs has either run out or is nearly exhausted.
In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Biden cited the devastation he saw firsthand as he toured states like Florida, South Carolina and Georgia after Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit, causing billions of dollars in damage and claiming hundreds of lives.
One person has died and 39 people have become ill in an E. coli outbreak linked to organic carrots, federal regulators said.
The infections were tied to multiple brands of recalled organic whole bagged carrots and baby carrots sold by Grimmway Farms, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Fifteen people have been hospitalized, according to the agency.
Cases emerged between Sept. 6 and Oct. 28 across 18 states, with Washington, Minnesota and New York reporting the highest number of cases. (That number could be higher as some people recover and never report being sick).
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) approved New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s congestion pricing program for Midtown and Lower Manhattan yesterday, in a 12-1 vote.
The decision has renewed the entrenched opposition to the tolling policy — which includes the incoming U.S. president, congressional Republicans and even the Democratic governor of New Jersey — and could hurt her chances of re-election.
Facing a historic shortage of rainfall, state officials elevated New York City’s five boroughs and 10 other counties to a drought warning. They also declared a drought watch for the remainder of the state.
Stephen K. Bannon’s trial on charges that he schemed to defraud people who donated money to build the southern border wall championed by Trump was delayed yesterday by a judge in Manhattan.
Rep. Ritchie Torres ripped New York’s “misgovernance” during a withering speech yesterday that stirred talks the Bronx Democrat could be eyeing a run for governor.
A 51-year-old man killed two people and critically wounded a third in a series of random stabbings in Manhattan early yesterday, officials said.
The third victim of the man who left a bloody trail across Manhattan in a broad-daylight stabbing spree has died of her injuries as the brute confessed to the random killings and was slapped with murder charges, police and sources said.
The suspect, Ramon Rivera, 51, was released from jail Oct. 17 on a time-served sentence for a spate of recent burglary and assault convictions after spending most of this year behind bars, sources said.
Mayor Eric Adams said officials were still reviewing the man’s record but that there were “serious questions on why he was on the street.” The mayor also said the man had “serious mental health issues.”
“It is a clear example, the criminal justice system, mental health system continues to fail New Yorkers,” Adams said. “Three New Yorkers, unprovoked attacks that left us searching for answers on how something like this could happen.”
Federal law enforcement agents have raided a hotel owned by a businesswoman, Weihong Hu, who has been linked to potentially illegal campaign contributions to Adams.
Authorities executed a search warrant early last Thursday morning at the hotel as part of an investigation led by the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, sources said. The hotel is being used as a transitional home for newly released inmates.
Proponents of Adams’ controversial “City of Yes” housing plan rallied outside City Hall yesterday ahead of a series of key lawmaker votes to decide its fate.
The Adams administration is relaxing part of its own policy to evict migrant families with children every 60 days from the emergency shelters where they are residing.
A top monsignor in Brooklyn has been relieved of administrative duties at a Williamsburg parish after a diocesan investigation revealed he transferred $2 million of church money to a law firm and other accounts affiliated with Adams’ former chief of staff.
Adams elevated the citywide drought watch to a drought warning and paused the final phase of DEP’s largest ever infrastructure repair project – the $2 billion Delaware Aqueduct Repair Project – amid a historic and continued precipitation shortage.
Adams said in a statement: “Our city vehicles may look a bit dirtier, and our subways may look a bit dustier, but it’s what we have to do to delay or stave off a more serious drought emergency.”
A group of New York City building supers protested outside City Hall yesterday, saying that Adams’ “trash revolution” is coming at the cost of their personal lives.
A record 146,000 Big Apple students did not have permanent housing, state data shows, as the city dealt with an ongoing housing crisis and an influx of migrants.
Newspaper boxes, often broken, littered and sprawling with graffiti along sidewalks across the Big Apple, will soon be yesterday’s news — thanks to a new City Council bill that aims to cleanup the “public nuisance.”
An unhinged man was arrested yesterday morning after he allegedly walked into state Sen.Cordell Cleare’s Harlem office and threatened to “blow this place up,” cops and law enforcement sources said.
The MTA boss called out parents to “take control” of the deadly subway surfing trend – as it was revealed kids are attempting boneheaded “Spider-Man” stunts and acrobatics on top of trains.
A state Supreme Court justice issued a temporary restraining order last week allowing the operators of two Manhattan hemp stores to remove “illicit cannabis” signs that had been placed on the storefronts by marijuana regulators following raids.
BDC Group, the developer of Kings Landing II in Troy, had proposed demolishing 2129 Fifth Ave. in a site plan revision for its apartment building before the city ordered an emergency razing of the vacant residential building Friday citing safety concerns.
Hannaford Supermarkets said yesterday that its website and mobile app are officially back online after being taken down for more than a week.
An industrial waste management company hopes to put its recycling technology to use removing toxic manufacturing chemicals from Fort Edward soil.
Espey Mfg. & Electronics Corp. of Saratoga Springs revealed that revenues and earnings were up during its fiscal first quarter that ended Sept. 30.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
