Saturday News: “Scientists Blindsided by Rain at the Summit of Greenland’s Ice Cap”; Pompeo “laid the groundwork for the Taliban takeover. Now he’s [falsely] blaming Biden”; “How Trumpian derangement is polluting our biggest political debates”; “Anti-mask Republicans trail in 2021 governor races”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, August 21.

• Scientists Blindsided by Rain at the Summit of Greenland’s Ice Cap (“This is unprecedented. We are crossing thresholds not seen in millennia.” Wake the f*** up humans and treat the climate crisis as a CRISIS!)
• How the climate crisis is changing hurricanes
• Grace makes landfall as a category 3 hurricane in Mexico
• Science Can’t Keep Up With Virus, Creating Worry for Vaccinated
• Can you get “long Covid” from a breakthrough infection? Here’s what we know (“Biologically it’s hard to think of reasons why it won’t happen”)
• Liberal Democracy Is Worth a Fight
• Anger and despair rise in Haiti, one week after devastating quake
• Haitian Quake Victims Rush Aid Sites And Take Food And Supplies
• In Afghanistan, China Is Ready to Step Into the Void
• Anti-Taliban fighters claim victories as first armed resistance emerges (“Local commanders said they took three districts from the Taliban in a northern province.”)
• America’s Afghan War: A Defeat Foretold?
• Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul for talks as group plots new government
• NATO is ‘working 24/7’ to get as many people out of Afghanistan as possible, its chief says
• Europe Fears Afghan Refugee Crisis After Taliban Takeover
• How climate change helped strengthen the Taliban
• Biden Defends Afghanistan Evacuation as Thousands Besiege Kabul Airport
• Pompeo Is Lying About Afghanistan (“He laid the groundwork for the Taliban takeover. Now he’s blaming Biden. “)
• Biden, Allies Frustrated With Media’s Hawkish Coverage Of Afghanistan Withdrawal (And for VERY good reason, as much of the coverage has been disgraceful.)
• Taliban took Afghanistan but face cash squeeze
• Former Afghan Leaders Meet Taliban: Afghanistan Update
• ‘The Taliban Are Here’: The Final Days Before Kabul’s Collapse
• Taliban Seize U.S. Weapons in Afghanistan, Stockpiling Helicopters, Guns and Trucks
• Biden to ‘mobilize every resource’ to get Americans home from Afghanistan
• Why the debate on Afghanistan is so distorted (“We keep hearing from all the same people who created this mess in the first place.”)
• I fought and bled in Afghanistan. I still think America is right to accept defeat.
• Afghanistan shows us that we can’t invent other nations in our image
• Hardline Haqqani Network Put in Charge of Kabul Security
• The Afghan Army Collapsed In Days. Here Are The Reasons Why
• US military faces growing calls to do more to evacuate Afghanistan
• The treacherous journey into Kabul airport to escape Taliban-controlled Afghanistan
• Biden picks Rahm Emanuel as ambassador to Japan and Nicholas Burns as top envoy to China
• The West’s megadrought is so bad, authorities are airlifting water for animals (“What do we owe animals suffering under climate-fueled drought?”)
• The F.D.A. is aiming to give full approval to Pfizer’s Covid vaccine on Monday.
• The Science of Masking Kids at School Remains Uncertain
• Maker of Popular Covid Test Told Factory to Destroy Inventory
• CDC warns older adults, travelers in COVID high-risk groups not to take cruises, even if they’re vaccinated
• COVID anxiety rising amid delta surge, AP-NORC poll finds
• America’s Anti-Vaxxers Are Getting More Dangerous
• CDC Study: Black and Latinx Adults Died at Startlingly Higher Rates During the Pandemic (“The data exposes just how unequal the United States continues to be.”)
• U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocks reinstatement of Trump-era immigration policy
• As the MAGA-land crackup gets worse, a few voices plead for sanity (“How Trumpian derangement is polluting our biggest political debates.”)
• New Englanders brace for what could be the first hurricane in 30 years
• Inside the Diverse and Growing Asian Population in the U.S.
• Trump’s conduct needs a federal investigation (Trump needs to be investigated for a wide variety of crimes.)
• Why target Raphael Warnock? The answer is clear: A climate of hate.
• Capitol Police officer who shot Ashli Babbitt exonerated in internal probe
• Infowars Host Owen Shroyer Has Been Charged In The Jan. 6 Riots
• North Carolina Man Is Charged in Capitol Bombing Threat
• Patagonia dumps Jackson Hole ski resort after far-right fundraiser (Nice. Every company should do this.)
• Facebook, Fearing Public Outcry, Shelved Earlier Report on Popular Posts
• Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Out of Republican Control
• Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blames Covid surge on ‘African Americans who have not been vaccinated’
• Column: Larry Elder is the Black face of white supremacy. You’ve been warned
• AP urges DeSantis to end bullying aimed at reporter
• Orlando urges reduced water usage as liquid oxygen used to purify water goes to COVID patients
• Mike Richards Will No Longer Be The New ‘Jeopardy!’ Host (Good riddance. Now ditch the anti-vaxxer as well.)
• ‘Jeopardy!’ is answer to ‘What game show can’t afford another ‘colossal hiring mistake’?’
• Sean Hannity’s vaccine coverage got much worse after journalists foolishly praised him
• Anti-mask Republicans trail in 2021 governor races
• Editorial: Spanberger bill directs aid to substance abuse recovery, prevention
• Roanoke College Poll: McAuliffe Up 8 Points (46%-38%); Ayala Up 6 Points (42%-36%); Herring Up 8 Points (45%-37%) (The VA GOP(Q) is 21 points “underwater” in terms of approval; Gov. Northam is at 52%-38% (+14 points))
• Roanoke College Poll: McAuliffe leads Youngkin in race for Virginia Governor
• McAuliffe targets Youngkin’s Wall Street ties in new ad
• Polls show close race for Virginia governor, with lots of voters up for grabs
• Virginia’s Unemployment Rate Dropped to 4.2% in July; “Rate outpaces the country—Virginia added 144,000 jobs over 12 months across nearly every economic sector”
• Schapiro: Jay’s still got the jones to be AG — or more (OK, now THAT is a good headline! LOL)
• New marijuana penalty unlikely, Virginia lawmakers say
• AG Mark Herring Continues Fight For Better Regulation of “Ghost Guns”
• The American Eagle in Virginia: A Great Conservation Story
• Friday (8/20) Virginia Data on COVID-19: With Delta Now Dominant, Hospitalizations (1,265) at Highest Level Since Early March, 10-Day New Cases (+23,001) Highest Since Late February(!)
• As Virginia prepares for possible booster shots, 44% of the state is not fully vaccinated
• Fairfax Dems Chair Statement on Court Rejecting Petition by “Republican Operatives” to Recall School Board Member Elaine Tholen
• Fairfax County Public Schools Adopt COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement for Staff (“By late October, all FCPS employees will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to routine negative COVID-19 tests”)
• As school year begins, electric school bus plans pick up speed statewide
• ‘It’s déjà vu’: Chesterfield parents prepare sending their kids back to school in another COVID-19 year
• Many Hampton Roads police departments aren’t tracking officer vaccinations. Here’s why it’s important.
• Fairfax County, Alexandria school and other government employees must get a coronavirus vaccine or be tested
• Editorial: Southwest, Southside have Third World vaccination rates
• University of Virginia disenrolls 238 students for not complying with vaccine requirement
• Newport News School Board to reconsider policy on transgender students after backlash (“Newport News was one of the first districts in Hampton Roads and among the largest in the state to say it wouldn’t follow the law, drawing fire from parents, advocates and local officials.”)
• Teachers against Loudoun Co. schools’ transgender policy want to halt enforcement during litigation
• Lawsuit against wind farm in Botetourt County allowed to move forward
• Albemarle County Bans Guns in Public Buildings and Parks
• ‘Such a big heart’: Lisa Schaffner, UNOS marketer, former Channel 8 anchor and community advocate, dies at age 59
• Oceana Air Show canceled due to spike in COVID-19 cases
  • D.C.-area forecast: Unsettled this weekend before heat returns early week