Monday News: “Climate Report Is “Code Red for Humanity”; ” The good news is we can prevent it from getting worse”; “Trump’s coup attempt grows even more worrisome as new details emerge”; “Trump’s GOP is a giant scam”; “Anti-Vax Insanity”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, August 9.

“The impacts of climate change are no longer subtle. We see them playing out in real-time in the form of these unprecedented extreme weather disasters.” @MichaelEMann #ClimateAction #Science https://t.co/qqX8IE7Bas

— Paul Dawson 📚 (@PaulEDawson) August 8, 2021

• ‘Unequivocal’ that human influence has warmed the planet, UN climate panel finds (It’s been unequivocal for decades, and anyone who denied that is part of why we’re in the mess we’re in.)
• A Hotter Future Is Certain, Climate Panel Warns. But How Hot Is Up to Us. (“Some devastating impacts of global warming are now unavoidable, a major U.N. scientific report found. But there is still a short window to stop things from getting even worse.”)
• A Major Report Warns Climate Change Is Accelerating And Humans Must Cut Emissions Now (That’s right – NOW, not in 2050 or whatever absurd timeline we’ve seen “leaders” propose or put in place. N-O-W.)
• U.N. sounds clarion call over humans ‘irreversible’ impact on climate
• Once-in-50-year heat waves now happening every decade -U.N. climate report
• IPCC report’s verdict on climate crimes of humanity: guilty as hell (“Analysis: report exposes the failure to act on the climate crisis – political leaders are now in the dock” How about oil industry leaders, such as the evil @#$#@$!s at ExxonMobil?)
• Climate report warns planet will warm to 1.5 degrees above preindustrial levels
• Major climate changes inevitable and irreversible – IPCC’s starkest warning yet
• U.N. climate report warns of a grim future carved in stone (“The report details how humans have altered the environment at an ‘unprecedented’ pace and cautions that the world risks increasingly catastrophic effects in the absence of rapid greenhouse gas reductions”)
• Climate Scientists Reach ‘Unequivocal’ Consensus on Human-Made Warming in Landmark Report
• Explainer: The U.N. climate report’s five futures – decoded
• Why China’s climate policy matters to us all
• Climate change: IPCC report is ‘code red for humanity’
• Global Climate Panel’s Report: No Part of the Planet Will be Spared (“A new IPCC science assessment, coming before COP26 in November, called for immediate action and showed that this summer’s extremes are only a mild preview of the decades ahead.” Need to stop emitting greenhouse gases almost immediately. That SHOULD mean no more fossil fuel development of any kind, starting now.)
• Scientists issue desperate climate warning: Australia already at 1.4°C
• Climate change: Make coal history says PM, after climate warning
• Wildfires Blamed on Climate Change Are Devastating Greece
• As Taliban Capture Cities, U.S. Says Afghan Forces Must Fend for Themselves
• The Taliban Has Seized 2 More Provincial Capitals In Afghanistan As U.S. Exit Nears
• Latvia warns of risk of ‘incident’ between Nato and Russia
• Belarusian sprinter auctions medal to support athletes caught up in crackdown
• ‘Goldilocks virus’: Delta vanquishes all variant rivals as scientists race to understand its tricks (“Mutations such as the delta variant ramp up transmissibility and raise new challenges for ending the pandemic.”)
• Renewables Are Fast Replacing Coal, Except in Rural America (“Electric cooperatives in less-populous areas have lagged behind, but some of their members are agitating for a quicker transition” MUCH faster!)
• Pfizer Booster Causes Similar Side Effects to Second Dose: Study
• Anti-Vax Insanity
• ‘This Is Really Scary’: Kids Struggle With Long Covid
• Too many people are dying right now.
• White House grapples with COVID-19 resurgence
• Kids sick with Covid are filling up children’s hospitals in areas seeing spikes
• Vaccine paranoia: Why right-wingers are worried about their “precious bodily fluids”
• Senate votes to end debate on $1T infrastructure bill
• Infrastructure Bill Moves Closer to Senate Passage After Delays (“On Sunday, 18 Republicans joined with all 50 senators who caucus with Democrats to limit debate on the bill, an indication of bipartisan support for passage, which could come late Monday or early Tuesday. Once the infrastructure bill gets a vote, Schumer plans to turn quickly to passing a budget resolution that will set the stage for Democrats to pass the remainder of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda.”)
• How Democrats win the culture war (“Democrats must become the party of democratic values.”)
• Trump’s coup attempt grows even more worrisome as new details emerge
• The rule of law is pushing back against Trump’s big lie (Not enough; need to be much more aggressive.)
• Juan Williams: Trump’s GOP is a giant scam
• Trump Remains Leader Of Republican Party, RNC Chair Says (That says *EVERYTHING* you need to know about the Republican Party, including here in Virginia.)
• The U.S. government is designed for failure. And, a new study shows, it’s getting worse.
• For first time, average pay for supermarket and restaurant workers tops $15 an hour (“Overall, nearly 80 percent of U.S. workers now earn at least $15 an hour, up from 60 percent in 2014.”)
• What some progressive activists fail to realize: Democrats like their party (Yep, and we do NOT like people who attack our party, President Biden, etc.)
• What Redistricting Looks Like In Every State
• Urban heat island research aims to spotlight disparities and solutions
• Criminal-Justice Reformers Chose the Wrong Slogan (“‘Defund the Police’ is a disaster. Under-policing is a form of oppression too.” Almost any other slogan – “Reform the Police” or whatever – would have been better…)
• The Arizona “audit” finally seems to be wrapping up. Prepare for a blizzard of disinformation. (“Fittingly, the proceedings are ending with an investigation of a bizarre Trump conspiracy theory.” )
• Trump Spox Attacks Fox News for Editing Election Lie Out of Trump Interview With Dan Bongino on YouTube
• ‘Lynchings in Mississippi never stopped’
• Florida Hospitals Are Filling Up As COVID-19 Cases Hit An All-Time High (Heckuva job, DEATHSantis!)
• Executive assistant who accused Cuomo of groping speaks publicly for the first time: “The governor needs to be held accountable”
• Kathy Hochul, Cuomo’s No. 2, Quietly Prepares to Step Into the Limelight
• Cuomo’s Top Aide, Melissa DeRosa, Resigns as He Fights to Survive
• New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul Prepares for a Cuomo Resignation
• Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. Is Granted Preliminary Injunction Allowing it to Sail from Florida with 100% Vaccination of Guests and Crew
• Christopher Bancroft Burnham column: Northam’s biggest conservation opportunity (“…our governor can step up and do even more: Join every other state on the East Coast and ban the industrial harvesting of the menhaden feeder fish in Virginia’s waters.”)
• GOP nominee for lieutenant governor shifts her messaging on the vaccine as COVID-19 surges
• Masks in schools: ‘Total confusion’ for parents in Virginia, analyst predicts (“‘Is there any ambiguity in the statute? I don’t see any ambiguity,’ law professor says”)
• Virginia Contends With Confederate Names on Side Streets (“The names of Confederate leaders are being stripped from schools and major highways throughout Virginia.”)
• New River Valley candidates talk meaning of money in respective state House of Delegates races (Typo alert in the subheader: “Well over $500,000 dollars” – no need for *both* the dollar sign *and* the word “dollars” in there…)
• Video: Del. Dan Helmer (D-HD40) Says He’s Effectively in a Tie Race Against Republican Opponent Who Has “called into question…the integrity of elections” (Helmer talks about “voter fatigue” and how to “motivate people to get back out there and remember how important it is” that “what happened on January 6th” doesn’t ever happen again.)
• Video: HD33 Dem Nominee Paul Siker Discusses His “Pragmatic Centrist” Campaign to Offer Choice of “Sanity vs. Lunacy” and “Thread the Needle” To Defeat Extremist, Insurrectionist, “Woefully Dismal Legislator” Del. Dave LaRock (R)
• U.Va., Virginia Tech announce new face mask mandates
• Vee Lamneck column: Adopting transgender policies in schools is a win for all students (“Across the state, school boards are adopting new policies that will help ensure the health and safety of transgender and nonbinary students”)
• Virginia Wants Your Climate Change Stories
• ‘It’s not enough:’ Anti-gun violence money in Va. relief package falls far short of requests
• Arlington Residents Complain of Dangerous, Roaring Cars
• Concern for health of James River is high after five sewage leaks in 10 days
• Richmond police to install license plate readers near minority neighborhoods; critics say it’s invasive
• Exiting University of Richmond president Ronald Crutcher speaks on race, renaming and the future of higher ed
• ‘I signed up for hard’: Hampton police chief Mark Talbot says it’s a new era for policing
• D.C.-area forecast: A hot, sweaty week with late-day storms often in the mix