Quick Hits: Volume CCLXXII

 - There may be some hope for New York City yet! Now that the deplorable Bill de Blasio is no longer Mayor, the new leadership sounds downright reasonable by comparison. 

Eric Adams has started his tenure as New York City mayor by rejecting a request from the city's largest teachers' union to temporarily move public schools to remote learning, capping off a frenetic first 72 hours of his administration.

Adams' focus on keeping children in-person for school -- even in the face of opposition from the teachers' union -- is one of the clearest examples of how the former Brooklyn Borough president will offer the nation's largest city a different brand of leadership for the next four years.

The request from the United Federation of Teachers came as coronavirus cases across the country -- including in New York City -- have spiked dramatically with the spread of the Omicron variant in recent weeks. In a statement to his members on Sunday, President Michael Mulgrew said the union asked Adams to temporarily move to remote learning to mitigate staffing challenges caused by positive Covid-19 cases but that the mayor felt "strongly" that schools needed to remain open despite the surge.

"We advised the new mayor that it would be safest to allow our school system to go remote temporarily until we could get a handle on the staffing challenges that each school is about to face as we return," he wrote. "However, he feels strongly that schools need to remain open."

Adams remained rooted in his position on Monday.

"We're staying open," the mayor said.

There have been numerous studies recently showing the adverse impact on kids being isolated for long periods of time, particularly when it comes to their mental health and emotional maturity, to say nothing of their education lagging. 

Kudos to Mayor Adams, a Dem who actually follows the science. 

- For the first time in the era of head coach Mike Zimmer, the Minnesota Vikings will miss the NFL playoffs in consecutive seasons. 

With that in mind, it wouldn't be the worst idea to start rookie quarterback Kellen Mond in Sunday's season finale against the Chicago Bears (who also have nothing to play for). But when broached with that possibility, Zimmer sounded less than enthusiastic. 

When asked if he wants to get a look at rookie QB Kellen Mond next week in the meaningless regular season finale against the Bears, Zimmer quickly said "not particularly."

Why not?

"I see him every day," Zimmer replied.

This is the coldest thing I’ve ever heard from a coach. My goodness. pic.twitter.com/0FaufxxoQw

— Ian Kenyon (@IanKenyonNFL) January 3, 2022

Oh, and take a look at who bookmarked that tweet containing the Zimmer clip. 

Good news though, Zim? You only have less than a week to further endure Mond, but not because he is going anywhere. 

- Patton Oswalt shared a New Years Eve photo op he had with fellow comedian (and, as Oswalt claims, his friend for the past 34 years) Dave Chappelle. 

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt)

Given some of the comments which ensued on this post, Oswalt quickly realized his fellow secular progressives still hold ill will towards Chappelle because he doesn't subscribe to the far left orthodoxy on transgenderism. As such, Oswalt felt the need to grovel for his fans' forgiveness for having the audacity to tout a decades long friendship. 

Closed circuit to Patton: It's ain't gonna be enough. The only way to satisfy the woke mob is via total capitulation, which will likely include demands to disavow your friendship with Chappelle. But hopefully you have more integrity than that. You have an ample opportunity here to stand much taller than your 5'3'' frame. 

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