Good morning, it’s Thursday and we are slowly clawing our way toward the weekend.
I wrote yesterday about the under appreciated topic of indoor plumbing, and today I’m going to expand on that theme by writing about plumbing of a different sort – the kind that exists inside the miracle that is the human body.
Actually, I guess the “plumbing” of the human body is technically the cardiovascular system – the heart, arteries, veins, and capillaries – which pump oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to the organs and carry away waste. I was thinking more along the lines of the plumbing system as something that filters waste OUT, which is a task that is handled in tandem by the liver and the kidneys.
These organs have slightly different roles, though they both focus mainly on filtration.
The liver filters toxins from blood, breaks down chemicals, and produces bile for digestion, while the kidneys filter the waste produced by the liver and removes toxins, waste and excess water, turn all that into urine and send it on to the bladder for storage and eventual evacuation. The “clean”, waste-free blood, meanwhile, exist through the renal vein and heads back out into circulation.
The kidneys also help to regulate blood pressure and maintain electrolyte (minerals like sodium, potassium, calcium) balance, which is critical for optimal nerve and organ function. Too much electrolytes or too little can really throw the body’s operating system out of whack.
You can live quite healthily and normally with only one kidney, but you cannot live long without any kidneys. Basically, if they don’t work, waste, fluids, and toxins will build up in the body until they reach fatal levels. There are machines that can do the kidneys work for them, (this is known as dialysis), but it’s very time consuming – three times a week, up to five hours a session if you do it at a center, and less time but more frequently if done at home.
Given the important work that kidneys do, it’s important to keep them healthy. You do that by staying hydrated, reducing your salt and alcohol intake, exercising regularly to keep your weight down and getting regular checkups.
Unfortunately, chronic kidney disease (CKD) is on the rise around the world – it has more than doubled since 1990, with close to 800 million people affected – but it doesn’t have signs or symptoms in the early stages. In other words, by the time you know you’re suffering from it, you’re already fairly well down the road in terms of disease progression.
Today is World Kidney Day, created in 2006 by the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and the International Federation of Kidney Foundations (IFKF) to raise awareness about kidney health and reduce the impact of kidney disease.
We are headed into a bit of a weather downswing, I’m sorry to report, with cloudy skies and temperatures diving into the 40s, which is going to be something of a shock to the system – and a recipe for getting sick, which always happens to me around this time of year.
Wash your hands and dose up on that Vitamin C!!
In the headlines…
Iraq and Oman closed oil terminals today after two tankers were attacked and left burning off Iraq’s coast, as the war in the Middle East continued to disrupt energy markets.
Oil prices surged about $100 a barrel despite a coordinated effort by the United States and other major economies to calm markets by pledging yesterday to release 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves.
Pentagon officials told lawmakers during a briefing this week that the approximate cost of war against Iran is more than $11.3 billion in the first six days of action, a source briefed on the figure said.
President Donald Trump delivered a mixed message about the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran yesterday in his first remarks at a political rally since strikes began less than two weeks ago.
An ongoing military investigation has determined that the United States is responsible for a deadly Tomahawk missile strike on an Iranian elementary school, according to U.S. officials and others familiar with the preliminary findings.
The United Nations Security Council yesterday decisively adopted a Bahraini-led resolution condemning Iran’s regional attacks and rejected a Russian proposal seeking an end to the conflict in the Mideast.
The FBI issued an urgent warning to cops across California of a potential Iranian drone strike on the Golden State. Tehran was looking at deploying unmanned aircraft on the region after the US wiped out its Supreme Leader, the alert said.
State and local officials in California said that there were no specific imminent threats to the state from Iranian drones, but that they remained alert to the possibility following a federal warning shortly before the war began.
Trump called Gavin Newsom a “racist”, in a continuation of his long-standing feud with California’s top official, calling an interview the California governor gave on his book tour “the most self-destructive interview I’ve ever seen” in a Truth Social post.
Canadian investor Kevin O’Leary addressed the issue of spiking oil prices amid the U.S.’s ongoing military operations against Iran, saying it will be the “granddaddy issue” in the midterms.
Podcaster Joe Rogan, who epitomized Trump’s ability to cobble together a winning coalition in 2024, has split with the president on several major issues since mid-2025, including the war with Iran, the Jeffrey Epstein files and immigration enforcement.
Americans’ views of two of its closest allies, Canada and Great Britain, have decreased significantly in the past year following President Trump’s increasing hostility toward the nations, a new Gallup poll finds.
The Trump administration announced a new effort to initiate legal guardianships for hundreds of veterans, including some who are homeless or “at risk of homelessness,” that could be used to force more of them into involuntary or institutional care.
The Trump administration announced a new trade investigation into unfair trading practices by 16 of America’s largest trading partners, as it works to resurrect a system of tariffs recently struck down by the Supreme Court.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said she wants to rewrite New York’s nation-leading climate law, arguing the state needs more time to meet its aggressive goals amid rising energy prices and a legal challenge.
Hochul said the state needs more time to meet its mandate of slashing greenhouse gas emissions, making clear for the first time Wednesday that she intends to ask lawmakers to push back an aggressive timeline set in state law seven years ago.
The Assembly’s state budget proposal released this week includes one-time checks of up to $500 meant to combat rising utility bills.
Democratic state lawmakers are formally backing a version of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s proposal to tax the rich, setting up a budget showdown in Albany with Hochul.
A state budget fight over raising taxes on rich people and corporations is becoming a litmus test for how power is wielded in the Empire State’s capital — and pitting Hochul against Mamdani.
Trump’s historic cuts to federal benefits put massive holes in New York’s safety net. But while budget proposals from the Senate and Assembly would beef up the state’s investments in health care and food security, neither would fully avert the fallout.
Trump’s lawyers demanded the release of all communications between Michael Cohen and AG Letitia James’ office in response to a “revelatory” Substack post the ex-fixer made where he claimed he was “pressured and coerced” to testify against Trump.
Lawmakers and supporters rallied at the state Capitol for legislation that would establish a 25-foot “buffer zone” that would separate protesters from places of worship.
New Yorkers 65 and older make up more than 20% of the state’s population, according to the 2024 New York State Elder Index, and that population is expected to grow.
Republican lawmakers say New York’s top judge crossed an ethical line last week when he endorsed pending legislation that would allow judges to revisit long sentences for incarcerated people.
Realistic fake plates, sometimes called “ghost plates,” have become a real problem in New York, particularly in places like New York City, where drivers may be trying to dodge frequent and costly tunnel and bridge tolls.
The state Legislature is proposing a $110.8 million increase in the budget to help immigrants defend themselves in court, but their proposals leave unresolved how far the state will go to shield immigrants from federal enforcement.
Catherine Nolan, who represented Queens in the State Assembly for nearly four decades, passed away yesterday – one day before what would have been her 68th birthday – following a long battle with cancer that forced her retirement from office in 2022.
The Mamdani administration restarted sweeps of homeless encampments yesterday – a policy the mayor once vowed to end and that homeless advocates have criticized as cruel and ineffective.
Mamdani attended the third of his administration’s “rental rip-off” hearings, held in the Bronx, sitting down with three tenants to hear their woes and assuaging protesters.
Mamdani spent his first in-person appearance at his “rental ripoff” hearings appealing to public housing tenants after he was heckled and previously accused of ignoring their plights.
Mamdani is getting praise for presenting a budget that estimates expenses more accurately than his predecessor, Mayor Eric Adams. But his plan to balance that budget is getting panned.
Mamdani’s math projecting a $5.4 billion budget deficit is coming under increased scrutiny — as his fiscal team no-showed the start of spending negotiations with the City Council for the first time in decades yesterday.
Before he was Mamdani’s 26-year-old savant strategist, Morris Katz spent his time lauding the mayor’s future arch-rival Andrew Cuomo and criticizing the pillars of leftist politics.
CNN host Abby Phillip issued an on-air correction last night for her comment about the ISIS-inspired terror attack in New York City last weekend after offering a mea culpa on social media earlier in the day.
The majority of 911 calls routed to the NYPD last year were described by dispatchers as unrelated to criminal activity, according to a new study released yesterday by a criminal justice reform group.
A Manhattan federal judge yesterday took a first step that could lead to the dropping of criminal charges against a Turkish bank that has been accused of laundering billions of dollars of Iranian oil and natural gas proceeds.
A coyote in Westchester County tested positive for rabies after attacking three people and six dogs earlier in the week, according to local health officials.
A trio of government advocacy groups wants the state attorney general’s office to investigate since-corrected ballot miscounts in Rensselaer County.
Independent Christopher Schmidt is running for New York’s 21st Congressional District, aiming to succeed outgoing GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik.
As part of Mayor Dorcey Applyrs’ campaign to revive interest in the city’s dining and entertainment scenes, City Hall and various stakeholders are collectively organizing a “Paint the Town Green” promotion tied to Saturday’s 75th annual St. Patrick’s Day parade.
“Some would argue this is the biggest and best Saint Patty’s Day parade in Upstate New York, and I’m just gonna say in New York altogether. I’m just gonna take credit for that,” said Applyrs.
Applyrs is focused on preventing gun violence and recently visited Baltimore, along with a delegation, to learn about their strategies.
A flood watch for several regions in New York took effect at 2 p.m. yesterday and will remain in effect until this afternoon for the southwest Adirondacks, western Mohawk Valley, and the Upper Hudson Valley.
The slightly rechristened Rensselaer County Regional Chamber — formerly known as the Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce — is changing its brand after moving out of the old Proctor’s Theater building and into the Quackenbush building.
The Albany Firefighters Museum at 384 Broadway downtown has run out of room and needs a larger space to display a historic firetruck undergoing restoration.
The New York State Museum will open a huge exhibit this summer to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
