Friday News: “Amazon rainforest fires: global leaders urged to divert Brazil from ‘suicide’ path”; “Trump has real reasons to freak out about the economy”; Sunrise Movement vs. DNC; “Why the Mountain Valley Pipeline is uniquely risky”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, August 23.

• Amazon fires could accelerate global warming and cause lasting harm to a cradle of biodiversity (“The number of wildfires have skyrocketed compared to recent years, increasing deforestation” This is the climate crisis. Get off of fossil fuels NOW, also stop and reverse deforestation and change agricultural and land-use practices big time.)
• Europe to see third major heat wave this summer, as temperatures soar from France to Scandinavia (This is also the climate crisis.)
• Can humanity survive without the Amazon rainforest? (“Massive fires in the Amazon rainforest, a result of far-right policies, call humanity’s survival into question”)
• Amazon rainforest fires: global leaders urged to divert Brazil from ‘suicide’ path (“Experts say international pressure may be only way to sway Bolsonaro government”)
• The right-wing populist wave is a threat to the climate (“The Amazon rainforest fires reveal a lot about this political movement.”)
• Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro Tells World to Butt Out as Amazon Continues to Burn (Bolsonaro, the “Trump of the Tropics,” is as evil or even more so than Trump.)
• Macron Urges G7 Members To Put Amazon Fires At Top Of Agenda
• The Amazon is in flames. But Brazil’s past can show the path forward.
• Climate change, oxygen and biodiversity: Amazon rainforest fires leave plenty at stake (“‘The effects of forest destruction in the Amazon don’t stay in the Amazon. They affect us all,’ one expert said.”)
• The Double Dishonesty of Boris Johnson’s Brexit Proposals (“Almost everything Johnson has done this week has made a potential no-deal Brexit more likely and more damaging.”)
• North Korea Diplomat Calls Mike Pompeo a “Diehard Toxin” Over Failed Nuclear Talks
• G-7 host’s goal: Keep Trump from causing trouble
• Japan, South Korea and a Rupture on the Pacific Rim (“The United States could help resolve the rift between two critical allies. But it has shown little interest.”)
• G-7 leaders must show China it will pay a price if it cracks down on Hong Kong
• Harvard’s Reinhart Warns Hong Kong Could Trigger World Recession
• Trump has real reasons to freak out about the economy (“To be blunt, we blew our money on a tax cut that didn’t work as advertised. Trump’s singular legislative ‘win’ turns out to be a net-negative, and his trade policy is an even bigger loser. Trump has real reasons to be freaking out. Not only is his reelection outlook looking cloudier, but he also might go down as one of the worst presidents for the economy, one who finally put the stake in supply-side tax cuts.”)
• Stocks Rise With U.S. Yields Before Powell Speech: Markets Wrap (“Traders await Fed chair’s address in Jackson Hole on Friday”)
• All eyes on Fed chairman as recession fears ramp up
• From Voodoo Economics to Evil-Eye Economics (“Are Democrats hexing the Trump boom with bad thoughts?”)
• The month a shadow fell on Trump’s economy (“Faced with internal warnings about a slowdown, President Trump pursued chaotic, contradictory responses.”)
• Trump has 62 percent disapproval rating in new AP poll (“Sixty-two percent of Americans said they disapprove of the job Trump is doing, while just 36 percent approve, according to the Associated Press–NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released Thursday.”)
• The Trump presidency is not just unfolding, it is unraveling
• Trump is increasingly untethered from reality (“The flood of bizarre pronouncements and behavior from President Trump is likely to get worse, I fear. He is now completely unfiltered — and, apparently, increasingly untethered to reality.”)
• Women usher in new era for presidential campaigns (“They’re now a dominant force at the highest levels of Democratic presidential campaigns — and getting paid equitably, a POLITICO analysis shows.”)
• Meltdown On Main Street: Inside The Breakdown Of The GOP’s Moderate Wing
• What Republicans Really Mean When They Call Jews Disloyal (“It’s frightening because when conservatives say that Jews who vote for Democrats are disloyal to Israel, they are implying that they are disloyal to their own ethnic interests, American interests, and even the almighty’s. It’s the 2019 version of calling liberal Jews a bunch of heretics. And we all know what happens to heretics in the end.”)
• Whistleblower gives House Dems evidence of “inappropriate” conduct on Trump tax returns (“House Democrats say a federal employee has given them evidence of “inappropriate efforts” on Trump tax audit”)
• Of course Fox News hired Sarah Huckabee Sanders (“Even at the White House, she was already effectively a Fox News contributor”)
• Press coverage of Trump’s “chopper talk” is passing along his lies
• Jay Inslee Made the Case That the Climate Crisis Is Lurking Beneath Every Other Issue (“The Washington governor ended his 2020 campaign Wednesday. He did what he set out to do.”)
• Democratic governors fizzle in presidential race
• Tom Cotton Needs to Be Watched Carefully (“He is just as much of a megalomaniac as the president* is, and is a hundred IQ points smarter.”)
• The DNC’s Climate Debate Is As Good As Dead (“But all the leading presidential candidates support it.” The DNC can seriously f*** itself.)
• Protests erupt after DNC committee votes down 2020 climate debate (As badly as the DNC suck, the Sunrise Movement kids are amazing, by the way.)
• Democrats press FBI, DHS on response to white supremacist violence (“In letters to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan, 65 House Democrats accused the Trump administration of withholding information from Congress about domestic terrorism committed by alleged white supremacists in recent years and not giving the issue enough priority.”)
• Trump’s Takeover of the Trump Administration (“Who needs people who know stuff? Not this president.”)
• Ken Cuccinelli Blames Paul Ryan for Lack of Progress on Immigration Reform
• Gun-control group launches ad blitz for Virginia state races
• CNU Professor Rachel Bitecofer on the Difference Between Her “All About the Base” Model and Catalist (“Persuasion”)
• Key Findings of New Report, “FROM SHORTCHANGED TO EMPOWERED: A Pathway for Improving Women’s Well-Being in Virginia” (“We find a decidedly mixed environment facing women [in Virginia], one that requires public policy solutions”)
• Virginia penalized for high error rate in SNAP payments
• With 75 Days to Go, Will Virginia GOP Candidates Go Full Trumpian or Tone It Down Somewhat?
• Mountain Valley Pipeline, EQT Not Having a Good Day…Week…Month…Year…etc.
• Del. David Toscano: IT’S JUST NOT A PRIORITY— Republicans Continue to Delay Gun Safety Measures
• “Her Screams Were So Bad I Nearly Called the Police…But I Felt Bad For the Guy”
• Are We at Burger King? Because Delegate Chris Jones (R) is Serving Up a Whopper! (“Let’s elect Clint Jenkins for Delegate for District 76!”)
• Editorial: Is ‘move’ the only solution for the rural economy?
• Video – Mobilizing Momentum for Electric School Buses: Mothers Are Out Front in Fairfax County
• Tia Walbridge: We Have a Problem with Cluster Zoning in Loudoun County; Time to Elect Leaders Who Will Fix It.
• Environmental groups seek total halt to work on Mountain Valley Pipeline
• Why the Mountain Valley Pipeline is uniquely risky (“MVP is not a normal pipeline project, but a frightening harbinger of a new class of unconscionably high-risk pipelines. Indeed, FERC has used its ‘regulatory’ authority to reject fewer than 1 percent of all natural gas pipeline proposals in the past 20 years. Given landslides will remain an existential threat along the MVP right-of-way for decades to come, it is imperative Virginia regulators immediately issue a statewide Stop Work Order.”)
• Renewable energy providers win skirmish against Dominion, but larger war drags on
• African-American History Commission prepares for weekend (“Thursday’s meeting marks the beginning of coverage in Hampton during a three-day weekend commemoration honoring the 1619 arrival of Africans in English-speaking North America.”)
• Two Hampton trees witnessed start of slavery, beginnings of freedom
• Editorial: 400 years since the first landing of Africans in English North America
• Police officers who shot a man in Woodbridge will not face charges, prosecutor says
• Virginia Beach plans to open “VB Strong Center” for victims of mass shooting
• Trump signs bill to name Virginia Beach post office after mass shooting victim Keith Cox
• Officer at Fairfax detention center charged with sex offenses against child
• Coast Guard suspends search and rescue efforts for missing Fairfax firefighter
• In Richmond, two murders in broad daylight shake up the city: ‘I knew it was something serious.’
• World Series Journey Ends for Loudoun South
• Climate change has increased humidity in D.C., making it feel even hotter (“Humidity has increased 5 to 10 percent since 1970, turning hot summer days even more unbearable”)
• D.C.-area forecast: Showers and storms likely today as cooler, drier air moves in for the weekend