Good morning, it’s Thursday, which, in case you needed a reminder, is one day away from Friday.
I’ve moved many of my workouts indoors, because I find that as I get older I tend to tolerate the cold a lot less. Or maybe I’ve just given up the need to prove something. I don’t see the point in being any more uncomfortable than working out already affords. Adding sub-zero temps (in the morning hours, anyway) to the mix is just unnecessarily cruel.
The dreadmill and the pain cave, which is what many triathletes fondly call their indoor bike trainer setup, do help build mental fortitude, which is definitely a must for those longer distances.
I was thinking this morning of my first Ironman, which was the one and only race of its kind ever held in New York City. Turns out that the logistics of putting on an event of that magnitude are just too complicated – and, to be fair, “New York City Ironman” was rally something of a misnomer, since most of the course was in New Jersey.
Seasoned triathlete friends of mine who did that race told me it sucked. But as a newbie with nothing to compare it to, I thought it was great – I mean, as great as a 2.4 mile swim in the Hudson River, followed by 112 miles of bike riding on the Taconic Parkway, followed by 26.2 miles of running on a very hilly River Road can be.
A few years later, I did Lake Placid, and, as is frequently the case in the Adirondacks, the weather that day was just God-awful. There was a massive rainstorm – complete with lightning – that hit about 3/4 of the way through the swim, which required athletes to get out of the water and run barefoot on River Road (a trend is emerging here, isn’t it?) to transition.
To this day, I cringe when I think of the abuse I unleashed on the poor volunteers in the kayaks who were tasked with herding the swimmers to shore. I could see the finish line – it was SO CLOSE! And dammit, I had trained for a full year for this race. I didn’t care if I got struck by lightning in that moment, all I wanted was to complete the full course to be able to say I had done it.
I have volunteered a few times for Ironman, which used to be more or less a given if you wanted to gain entry to the next year’s race, and while it’s exciting, it’s also stressful. Athletes – especially the pros, who was competing for money and status – can be real assholes. It’s hard to be grateful and kind when you’re in pain, I get it. But still, there’s no excuse for rudeness.
These days when I race – albeit shorter distances – I try to remember to thank the people who are making the event possible by giving of their time and expertise (in the case of the medical tent, for example) to make it possible for me to be there.
Close to 30 percent of the U.S. population formally volunteered through an organization between September 2022 and September 2023, according to joint research by the U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps. More than half of Americans are estimated to have given of their time in a more informal manner – exchanging favors with neighbors by house sitting, lending tools, or running errands, for example.
This was a rebound from the Covid era, when lockdowns, social distancing, and general fear of infection put a damper on volunteerism. It feels good to give of yourself – especially since time is pretty much our most precious resource.
Volunteering can change the lives of others. Sadly, it can also be dangerous, depending on where you do it – and by that, I don’t mean only in war zones or other violent locales. Danger is all around us every day. But don’t let that stop you from living your life. I try not to. Sometimes, I even succeed.
Today is International Volunteer Day, and perhaps the UN says it best here:
“The challenges we face—climate change, conflicts, and social injustices can feel overwhelming. Yet, in these trying moments, the spirit of volunteerism shines brighter than ever. In every corner of the world, volunteers are usually the first to respond. They rise to meet challenges with courage, dedication, and selflessness.“
Amen.
Looks like there’s more snow in the forecast today – flurries and/or showers again. Not a lot in terms of accumulation. Just enough to get you into a festive holiday sort of mood. Temperatures will again top out in the mid-30s.
In the headlines…
Brian Thompson, the CEO of major insurance group UnitedHealthcare, was shot to death at point blank range in Midtown Manhattan yesterday morning before he was set to attend an investor conference.
Thompson, was killed in what the police described as a “brazen targeted attack” outside a hotel where the company was holding an investor meeting. The suspect was last spotted in Central Park, investigators said at a news conference.
Thompson was walking toward the Hilton dressed in a suit and tie when he was fired upon by a gunman 20 feet away, CNN reported. The alleged gunman fled on foot to a back alley and then hopped on a bicycle.
Cameras caught the gunman standing alone for five minutes on West 54th Street, ignoring the early-morning rush of people streaming by, and also calmly shooting Thompson multiple times before walking away.
Thompson spent more than 20 years climbing through the ranks at UnitedHealthcare, one of the nation’s largest health insurers and a main division of the conglomerate UnitedHealth Group, and there were no signs that his ascent was slowing.
The popular Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center, about four blocks from where Thompson, was fatally shot on yesterday morning, went on as planned last night.
Donald Trump has changed his mind about his White House’s top lawyer, elevating David Warrington to the role of White House counsel just three weeks after initially giving the job to veteran GOP lawyer William McGinley.
Trump has lined up his first network interview since winning the election. He will sit down with NBC’s Kristen Welker for an interview on “Meet the Press” set to air at 10:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, the network announced. The interview will take place Friday.
Trump picked Paul Atkins to be the chair of the SEC, turning to a pro-business conservative and former regulator to run the agency in charge of protecting investors from fraud and malfeasance on Wall Street.
Other candidates the president-elect named yesterday included Peter Navarro as senior counselor for trade and manufacturing and Jared Isaacman to oversee NASA.
Trump said he wants Billy Long, a former congressman from Missouri, to be the next commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.
Trump has “lost faith” in the NRA, according to a top official at the gun organization, who argued in a recent letter to fellow board members that it needed to regroup so that it could help protect GOP’s new edge in Congress in the midterm elections in 2026.
Pete Hegseth’s bouts with alcohol have now combined with questions over his managerial experience to jeopardize his prospects to lead the Defense Department, with an $849 billion budget, nearly three million employees and 750 military bases worldwide.
Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, gave his Senate farewell speech yesterday, urging elected officials to prioritize unity in the face of stubborn partisanship.
“My life’s work has been a group affair,” Romney, who also served as governor of Massachusetts and the GOP’s 2012 presidential nominee, said in his address.
The Biden administration yesterday took a step toward preventing dangerous “forever chemicals” from being released onto the market after a less rigorous review process.
It issued a new regulation preventing a family of chemicals known as PFAS from being approved through Low Volume Exemptions — abridged reviews given to chemicals that will only be produced in small quantities.
Members of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed ready to uphold a Tennessee law denying transition care to transgender youth, with some saying judgments about contested scientific evidence should be made by legislatures. not judges.
Legal scholars and advocates say the case more broadly shape what it means to be transgender in the US, setting a precedent for several state law challenges already underway regarding sports participation, bathroom use and health care for adults.
Rep. Jerry Nadler has dropped out of the race for ranking member on the powerful House Judiciary Committee after Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland launched a bid to unseat Nadler as the panel’s top Democrat.
Furious over being challenged, Nadler had initially fought to hold the position he has held since 2017. But yesterday, he conceded that he did not have a path to victory and endorsed Mr. Raskin to replace him in a letter to colleagues.
Speaker Mike Johnson held on to control of the House, but will preside over an even smaller majority at a time when Trump will need his help to achieve major agenda items.
French lawmakers passed a no-confidence measure against Prime Minister Michel Barnier and his cabinet, sending the country into a fresh spasm of political turmoil that leaves it without a clear path to a new budget and threatens to further jolt financial markets.
France’s lower house of Parliament passed the measure with 331 votes, well above the 288 majority required, after Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally joined moves by the chamber’s leftist coalition to oust the government.
Barnier is expected to resign soon, plunging France into its second major political crisis in six months.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has called on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to more than double the number of Border Patrol agents on New York’s border with Canada, following a sharp increase in illegal crossings in the region.
State budget negotiations will not start in earnest until the new year, but Hochul is already backing off a push to cut funding to New York school districts that are losing enrollment.
Hochul revealed that a record number of clean energy jobs were created through the end of 2023.
Hochul announced a new state investment of nearly $63.9 million to strengthen safety and security measures at nonprofit, community-based organizations that are considered at risk for hate crimes or attacks due to their ideologies, beliefs or missions.
Rep. Ritchie Torres is preparing a run for governor as a populist Democrat eager to trash his party’s far-left flank. But he will have to contend with past political positions, including early support for the now unpopular Defund the Police movement.
The state comptroller’s office is warning current and former government workers using New York’s public retirement system to be vigilant when logging into the online site after reports of a potential cyber threat.
The state’s Medical Cannabis Industry Association filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of what they allege is a punitive $20 million fee that’s required for medical cannabis operators to enter the retail marketplace.
Two lobbying firms joined David Grandeau in suing the state Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government challenging new regulations that prohibit lobbyists from hiring a third-party designee to prepare and submit their mandatory disclosure statements.
Mayor Adams joined members of a politically influential union to propose the state lower income taxes on certain low-wage workers — a sign the indicted executive plans to push ahead with his reelection bid.
At the Hotel and Gaming Trade Council’s Manhattan headquarters, Adams announced a state bill that would eliminate New York City’s personal income tax for 429,600 of the poorest New Yorkers, and reduce it for another 152,500 residents.
The union representing thousands of New York’s public defenders, museum staff and academics endorsed a trio of left-leaning Democratic mayoral primary candidates — and explicitly called on its members and the public to not rank Adams on their ballots.
Adams will know as soon as next week if his reelection bid will qualify for millions of dollars in public matching funds as the Campaign Finance Board votes on the first tranche of payments for the 2025 contest.
Arthur Aidala, a politically-connected lawyer with a roster of high-profile clients that includes Rudy Giuliani and a top adviser to Adams, is under consideration by Trump’s transition team to become the next U.S. attorney in Brooklyn.
Adams slammed the criticism he faced after deciding to receive his first three paychecks in Bitcoin and Ethereum back in early 2022, after the price of one bitcoin hit $100,000 for the first time yesterday.
Grocery delivery workers and others who were left out of the city’s landmark deliverista minimum wage standard could see it expanded to include them thanks to two proposals before the City Council.
New York City is extending the high school application deadline to Dec. 9, after officials discovered a glitch in a new tool that tells students their admissions chances, an Education Department spokesperson said.
An annual count of homeless youths conducted last January found the highest number of unsheltered young people in at least a decade, more than double the number last year.
New York City officials are racing to scale back the use of National Guard members in migrant shelter operations ahead of Trump’s inauguration.
A high school football coach was fatally struck by a driver in the Bronx at an intersection about which he had previously complained. He was one of three pedestrians killed in traffic over the weekend.
Jurors broke without reaching a verdict in Daniel Penny’s Manhattan manslaughter trial yesterday after asking to revisit key testimony from the city doctor who performed Jordan Neely’s autopsy and video of the shocking encounter.
A central New York local judge is facing calls to resign after she allegedly refused to officiate a same-sex marriage last month.
A suspect who police said fired once at four Troy officers during an incident just after midnight Monday was shot at by officers 18 times, with the bullets striking him in the torso, leg and lip, a police spokesman said.
Catskill Regional OTB can transfer customer accounts for online wagering to Suffolk Regional OTB as the company sunsets its operations, according to a recent decision by the New York Gaming Commission, which regulates gambling entities in New York.
Albany Med offered the New York State Nurses Association its “best and final offer” on Tuesday night after six months of negotiations. according to Dennis McKenna, Albany Med Health System president and CEO.
Two nominees for U.S. District Court judge in New York’s Northern District are among the judicial candidates that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is pressing to have confirmed in the final days of the Democrat-controlled chamber.
New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli swept away legal concerns for the City of Troy, saying in an advisory opinion that the municipality has the constitutional right to bond to pay for its lead pipe replacement program.
The shrubbery maze that has been a popular family staple at The Crossings Park is no more — except for the stumps of the trees that have been cut down.
The Capital District Transportation Authority is now offering unlimited free rides to nearly 5,000 local grocery store workers as part of a recent expansion to its Universal Access Program.
Troy Mayor Carmella Mantello’s fellow Republicans on the City Council passed her proposed 2025 budget in a 4-3 vote this week as the Democrats criticized the $117.17 million spending plan for ignoring ongoing recreation and public safety expenses.
The Bethlehem Planning Board members this week got a first official look at plans for a supermarket in Glenmont Plaza. But the developer is not discussing the identity — despite intense speculation that it will be the Capital Region’s third Trader Joe’s location.
The Saratoga Springs Democratic commissioner of accounts will be ticketed for allegedly not fulfilling three Freedom of Information requests from the city’s Republican chair.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
