Good morning. It’s Wednesday, which means we’re halfway through the week already. Is it just me, or does this week seem crazy long? I’m not yet back in the groove. Too many holiday days off left me soft.
I’ve also been reluctant to go outside for my daily walk, which is very much unlike me.
I do honestly believe in the “no bad weather, only bad clothes” saying related to being able to withstand pretty much anything as long as you’re properly attired. But a walk – or more like a waddle – while swathed to the gills like the Michelin Man somehow isn’t the same, especially when the fire is going and indoors is so warm and cozy.
I am not alone in my desire to hunker down.
People just tend to go out less during the winter months – especially after the holidays when the long list of things to do, places to go, and family/friends etc. to see has dwindled. This pull to stay in, conserve resources, and rest up is pretty primal – something a lot of animals without access to modern-day amenities like, say, indoor heating and lights and the internet, tend to do.
These slow days aren’t great for businesses, many of which see considerably fewer patrons when it’s cold. It also takes a toll on the blood supply. Those who donate tend to do so with less frequency during the height of the summer (vacations, lots of events and outdoor activities etc.) and peak winter (bad weather, cold flu season, holiday festivities etc.)
The result: Shortages that make it difficult for hospitals and other medical facilities to treat sick or injured people.
According to the Red Cross, someone in the U.S. needs blood every TWO SECONDS. (Yes, you read that right). That could be in the form of whole blood, platelets, red cells, or plasma and used for everything from cancer treatment and surgeries to treating chronic illnesses and traumatic injuries.
Just one accident victim might need as many as 100 units of blood. Just a single donation has the potential to save someone’s life.
Last year around this time, the Red Cross declared an emergency blood shortage, with the lowest number of people donating in two decades. Over the last 20 years, the number of people participating in blood donation has dropped by 40 percent, which puts extra pressure on those who DO donate, and means even a small dip in the number of people willing to tap a vein in the name of helping others can spur a crisis.
In an effort to address this chronic problem, January has, since 1970, been designated National Blood Donor Month, which serves to both honor and celebrate those who donate regularly and encourage others to follow their lead.
In case you’re not aware, the most high-value blood type is O positive, because it’s the so-called “universal donor”, meaning is can be used by anyone with any other type. It’s also the most common blood type, making it more readily available for restocking (so to speak) and is in high demand.
The rarest blood type is Rh-null, AKA “golden blood.” People with this blood type – an estimated 50 WORLDWIDE – lack Rh antigens on their red blood cells, which means they can be universal donors for Rh-negative blood but can’t receive blood from anyone with Rh antigens.
If you’re interested in donating and are unsure how to get started, start with one of the following:
- Downloading the Red Cross Blood Donor App
- Visiting RedCrossBlood.org
- Calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767)
Happy donating! And don’t forget, you get cookies at the end (or crackers, or juice), PLUS you’re doing a good thing, which makes it all worthwhile.
Another below-freezing day is on tap, with temperatures struggling to get out of the teens. It will be cloudy and windy, with gusts up to 40 mph possible in the afternoon. Ugh.
In the headlines…
A fast-moving wildfire fueled by dangerously high-speed Santa Ana winds threatened homes in Pacific Palisades, destroying homes and creating traffic jams as 30,000 people evacuated beneath huge plumes of smoke that covered much of Los Angeles.
Officials have warned of devastating losses to come, with the fire expected to remain uncontained into this morning as already strong winds picked up. The fire had scorched almost 3,000 acres by last night.
There was no initial estimate for the number of structures damaged or destroyed. However, news footage showed dozens of homes and other structures ablaze.
President-elect Donald Trump has returned to our daily national cognizance, even though one could argue he never really left. A news conference yesterday was a reminder of what that was like, and what the next four years may have in store.
Trump said he would not rule out the use of military force to seize control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, as he declared U.S. control of both to be vital to American national security.
Trump refused to say whether he would pardon Jan. 6 rioters, and instead pivoted to criticism of the F.B.I. In other comments, he delivered a hodgepodge of familiar grievances, personal attacks and false claims.
Declaring that “no new windmills” would be built in the United States when he takes office, Trump renewed his opposition to an energy source he has bashed as “garbage.”
Trump yesterday once again left open the possibility of offering pardons to some of his supporters who are serving prison time for assaulting police officers during the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
A Trump attorney failed to convince a New York appeals court to stop his sentencing from going ahead this week as the president-elect fired off a barrage of frenzied last-ditch attempts to close the book on his criminal hush money case before he takes office.
Associate Justice Ellen Gesmer shot down Trump’s emergency request for an interim “stay,” or pause, of his sentencing after briefly hearing from his attorney, Todd Blanche, and the Manhattan district attorney’s chief of appeals, Steven Wu.
Three senior Trump administration officials violated Justice Department rules before the 2020 election by divulging details of an investigation into COVID deaths at nursing homes in New York and other Democratic-run states, according to an IG document.
Trump said that he would move to try to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” a name he said has a “beautiful ring to it.” It’s his latest suggestion to redraw the map of the Western Hemisphere.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has hit back at Trump’s threat to use “economic force” to absorb Canada into the US saying there isn’t “a snowball’s chance in hell” to join the two.
The U.S. government asked a federal appeals court yesterday to stop Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the man accused of planning the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, from pleading guilty on Friday at the war court at Guantánamo Bay.
The House passed a bill that would target undocumented immigrants charged with nonviolent crimes for deportation, an opening salvo from a Republican majority that has vowed to deliver on Trump’s promised crackdown at the border.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune began the process to allow a vote on the Senate version of the Laken Riley Act — likely on Friday, a senior Senate GOP aide confirmed.
Pope Francis this week named Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, bishop of San Diego, to be the next Roman Catholic archbishop of Washington, moving one of his most vocal allies on immigration to one of the most prominent posts in the American church.
The nation’s leaders yesterday kicked off three days of tributes to Jimmy Carter, staging an elaborate pageant of Washington fanfare for a politician who disavowed the trappings of the imperial presidency and never gave up his humble Georgia roots.
Meta announced changes to its content moderation practices that would effectively end a fact-checking program instituted to curtail the spread of misinformation across its social media apps.
Instead of using news organizations and other third-party groups, Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, will rely on users to add notes to posts that may contain false or misleading information.
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, blamed the company’s fact-checking partners for some of Facebook’s moderation issues, saying in a video that “fact-checkers have been too politically biased” and have “destroyed more trust than they created.”
New York will study how the state could provide universal access to child care through a new coalition of stakeholders that will chart the state’s course toward that goal, Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
Hochul is proposing $110 million to build more child care centers statewide, continuing a theme this week of highlighting child care investment plans as part of her 2025 State of the State executive agenda. Funds would also go toward repairs for existing sites.
Hochul is considering hiking a dreaded tax on businesses to prop up the flailing Metropolitan Transportation Authority in a scramble to fill a whopping $33-billion budget hole, sources said — but the governor’s so far keeping her plans secret.
The governor of New York has come under scrutiny for her extensive use of private jets. Hochul and her campaign reportedly spent over $400,000 on charter flights over the last several years.
New York’s plan to streamline CDPAP, a Medicaid program that serves nearly a quarter million residents, is moving forward unabated while legal challenges loom that could abruptly halt the transition.
The state Legislature could change how prosecutors share evidence with defense lawyers in criminal cases, after district attorneys griped that so-called reforms passed in 2019 are leading to more dismissals.
As a Long Island district court judge, Joseph Nocella Jr. presided over low-level criminal cases and small disputes. As the next U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, he could soon oversee some of the country’s highest-profile criminal cases.
Federal prosecutors who indicted Mayor Eric Adams on corruption charges last year allege they have uncovered “additional criminal conduct” that the mayor and others engaged in.
The prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office wrote in a court filing this week they unearthed evidence of the conduct as part of their “ongoing investigation” into the mayor’s ties to Turkey’s government.
The disclosure of possible additional criminal conduct came in a court filing in which prosecutors opposed a defense request for additional information about the initial charges, including a list of alleged co-conspirators.
“The indictment provides ample cause to believe that as potential witnesses became known to Adams and his allies, measures were taken to influence their testimony,” prosecutors wrote.
Top Adams administration official Jesse Hamilton pressured the city’s main real estate broker to put a friend in charge of the firm’s public business dealings, and the pal in turn sidelined a competitor and maximized her own commissions, a lawsuit claims.
The Law Department gave city government agencies a detailed briefing on New York’s sanctuary status laws, a move aimed at ensuring compliance with the protections in anticipation of Trump’s planned immigration crackdown.
Lorna Beach-Mathura, the ex-Transit Police employee accusing Mayor Adams of sexual assault, filed for bankruptcy last summer — and days later brought a lawsuit alleging New York City should pay her at least $75,000 for a slip-and-fall she had in Queens.
MTA boss Janno Lieber brushed off concerns that the agency is mismanaging its massive $20 billion budget — dismissing scrutiny of congestion pricing from state lawmakers as “grievance politics.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy still wants to kill congestion pricing in Manhattan, but one politician running for his job has a different plan: Launch the Garden State’s own tolls, targeting drivers coming from New York City.
The man charged with burning a woman to death on the New York City subway last month told investigators that he did not remember the incident because he was blackout drunk at the time, according to a transcript of his interrogation.
The Transportation Security Administration said Newark made its annual Top-10 list of most unusual items intercepted at checkpoints, thanks to a surprising discovery: a disassembled 9mm firearm hidden among LEGO pieces.
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists gathered outside Tisch Hospital in New York City this week, accusing Israel of abducting over 450 medical personnel amid the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
The FDNY promoted 97 firefighters yesterday, including three Bravest whose fathers were either killed on 9/11 or died from exposure to toxins at Ground Zero afterward.
A key community board rejected a bid to build a glittering $12 billion casino complex in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards — a potential death blow for the project.
Daniel Penny says a lawsuit filed by Jordan Neely’s father should be dismissed outright, according to a new filing by his attorneys.
Two people were found dead hidden in the landing gear compartment of a JetBlue plane following a flight from New York to Florida, airline officials confirmed.
The Airbus A320 departed from JFK Airport on Monday night at 8:20 p.m. and arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport just after 11 p.m. A maintenance crew discovered the bodies during a routine post-flight maintenance inspection.
The Bronx Zoo was named the No. 2 “worst” zoo for elephants as animal activists say its famed trunked resident “Happy” is one pouty pachyderm that should be released to a sanctuary.
The Standard Restaurant & Lounge at Crossgates Mall is closed indefinitely due to a “mechanical issue.”
Arizona State University was awarded the third National Semiconductor Technology Center lab in the United States, complementing the $825 million chip-patterning lab awarded to Albany NanoTech in October.
The longtime deputy commissioner of public works in Saratoga Springs who had a city plumber work on a relative’s home on city time pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in City Court.
Peter Yarrow, the singer-songwriter best known as one-third of Peter, Paul and Mary, the folk-music trio whose impassioned harmonies transfixed millions as they lifted their voices in favor of civil rights and against war, has died. He was 86.
Perry, a miniature donkey whose handlers said he was used by DreamWorks animators as a model for the chatty “Shrek” character named Donkey, died last week at the age of 30.
The Washington Post has started laying off roughly 4 percent of its work force, the company said yesterday, as the newspaper struggles to stem millions of dollars in annual losses. The cuts will not impact the paper’s newsroom.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
