Saturday News: “Ocean heat record broken, with grim implications for the planet”; “Feds alert judge to Trump’s ‘If you go after me, I’m coming after you!’ post”; “The GOP’s race problem goes well beyond DeSantis”; “How a Sexual Assault in a School Bathroom Became a Political Weapon”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, August 5.

• Ocean heat record broken, with grim implications for the planet (We need to get off of fossil fuels on an *emergency basis*)
• How climate change could irreversibly alter Earth’s ecosystems
• Exclusive: Russia doubles 2023 defence spending plan as war costs soar
• Russia says tanker hit in Ukrainian attack near Crimea
• Ukraine Attacks Russian Oil Tanker, Says Black Sea Ports at Risk
• Ukrainian drone strikes are bringing the war home to Russia. What does it mean for the conflict?
• Man of the People? Jolted by Mutiny, Putin Works the Crowds.
• Ukraine Struggles to Retake Bakhmut From Dogged Russian Fighters
• Ukraine Starts New Diplomatic Push to Weaken Russia
• Kyiv expects difficult but successful talks in Saudi Arabia (“Ukraine and its allies hope the meeting in Jeddah of national security advisers and other senior officials from some 40 countries will agree on key principles on how to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.”)
• China Embassy Rips ‘Brutal’ Russia Border Incident in Rare Move
• Imran Khan: Pakistan ex-PM given three-year jail sentence
• Amazon rainforest gold mining is poisoning scores of threatened species (That’s totally unacceptable.)
• German forests are being lost to parasites and climate change
• Green backlash? U.K.’s leader fuels battle over driving — which could signal a coming climate fight
• In Lebanon’s south, on the Israel border, new tension stirs old fears
• Exclusive: US declines to invoke prisoner of war status for Travis King
• Voyager 2: Nasa fully back in contact with lost space probe
• Atlantic’s Biggest Offshore Wind Turbine to Rise Next Week in US (“Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, project that will power 400,000 homes makes progress amid industry turmoil”)
• FDA Approves First Oral Treatment for Postpartum Depression
• President Biden: “Unemployment near a record low, and 13.4 million jobs added since I took office: that’s Bidenomics.” (Rep. Don Beyer: “…the economy continues to strengthen with inflation falling, low unemployment, wages and consumer sentiment rising, and GDP growth crushing estimates.”)
• Slower Hiring This Summer Could Take Heat Off the Fed (“Unemployment rate falls to 3.5%, near a half-century low, and wage growth holds steady at elevated level”)
• The case for a soft landing in the economy just got another boost
• The economy is in the midst of something wonderful (and unexpected)
• FERC interconnection rule may not speed process in much of US: experts (“Many transmission providers already use the just-issued rule’s central reform, dampening its effect in large parts of the U.S., lawyers and industry experts say”)
• “We’re not imperial”: Supreme Court justice reveals support for new ethics code
• Defense secretary issues new memo on how to reshuffle Pentagon leadership roles amid Tuberville blockade (That blockade needs to end, ASAP.)
• The GOP’s race problem goes well beyond DeSantis
• I regret to report the economic anxiety theory of Trumpism is back (“In David Brooks’s new column, he asks the American elite if they’re the baddies. But he’s actually telling them a comforting fiction.”)
• The coming year will test the nation. May we rise to the challenge.
• Anti-Wokeism Is Kind of a Big Problem for Black Republicans (“They’ve looked the other way as their party grew ever more racist, but the GOP’s recent manufactured panics have shown that even they have their limits.”)
• Special counsel cites threatening Trump post in request for protective order in election case
• Why the Trump trial should be televised
• Dozens of Democratic Lawmakers Really Want Cameras at Trump’s Trials (“It turns out there’s something House Democrats and Donald Trump’s own lawyer can agree on: courtroom video of Trump’s federal criminal cases.”)
• Nothing to See Here, Just Donald Trump’s Attorney Admitting in Multiple Interviews That Trump Broke the Law (“Also, he’d like Trump to get credit for not sending in ‘the tanks.'”)
• How Jack Smith Structured the Trump Election Indictment to Reduce Risks (“The special counsel layered varied charges atop the same facts, while sidestepping a free-speech question by not charging incitement.”)
• Trump’s Legal Team Is Enmeshed in a Tangle of Possible Conflicts (“Former President Trump’s cast of lawyers is marked by a web of overlapping interests encompassing witnesses, co-defendants and potential targets.”)
• Special counsel cites Truth Social post in arguing for quick court order on evidence sharing as Trump rails against 2020 election charges
• DOJ prosecutors request gag order after Trump arraignment, citing social media threats
• Feds alert judge to Trump’s ‘If you go after me, I’m coming after you!’ post
• Jack Smith Has an Indictment. Trump Has a Massive Plan for Revenge
• ‘I’m coming after you:’ Donald Trump responds to latest arraignment with new threats
• Prosecutors Ask Judge To Issue Protective Order After Trump Post Appearing To Promise Revenge
• Donald Trump has lost control of his own image
• The Appointment that Changed Everything for Donald Trump
• Trump looked like ‘scared puppy’ on way to court, Nancy Pelosi says (“Former speaker says she ‘didn’t see any bravado or confidence’ in comments likely to enrage Trump, a longtime Pelosi foe”)
• What’s happening with Trump’s ‘fake electors’ in 7 states he lost
• Mike Pence’s Vaguely Inspiring Supervised Visit with His Dignity
• Jared and Ivanka are slinking back to Gomorrah (“A scent of corruption is in the air as Trump’s daughter and son-in-law return to the family game.”)
• Eastman Reiterates Support For Full Insurrection (“‘Co-Conspirator 2’ cited the Declaration of Independence in saying that the people have a right to “alter or abolish” their government.” Dangerous.)
• DeSantis Dismisses Trump’s 2020 Election Theories as False
• Exclusive: DeSantis’ biggest donor says he won’t give more money unless changes are made
• DeSantis slams NBA players union over Orlando Magic criticism
• There’s A Crisis Unfolding In Florida’s Waters. DeSantis Hasn’t Said A Word. (DeSantis is a DeSgrace and a DeSaster.)
• Key Witness Doesn’t Back Up G.O.P.’s Biggest Allegations on Bidens (Why does the media even take these witch hunts by “Gym” Jordan, etc. seriously? Key point: they are NOT in good faith.)
• A Message for the People Who Run Cable News: You’re Doing It Again. Stop It. (“I would argue that broadcast media, as much as any other factor, has driven the collapse of American political life.”)
• Supreme Court rules against Tulsa in case over Native American man’s speeding ticket (“The Supreme Court on Friday denied a request from the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, to freeze a lower court opinion that could prevent Tulsa from enforcing municipal laws – such as speeding tickets – against Native Americans.”)
• Falls and a Freeze-Up: Mitch McConnell’s Health Scares Prompt Succession Chatter
• A judge has ruled Texas’ abortion ban is too restrictive for women with pregnancy complications
• Richard Hanania, Rising Right-Wing Star, Wrote For White Supremacist Sites Under Pseudonym (“The 37-year-old has been published by The New York Times and The Washington Post. He delivered a lecture to the Yale Federalist Society and was interviewed by the Harvard College Economics Review. He appeared twice on ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight,’ Fox News’ former prime-time juggernaut. He was a recent guest on a podcast hosted by the CEO of Substack, the $650 million publishing platform where Hanania has nearly 20,000 subscribers.” Appalling in so many ways.)
• Meta’s Threads will soon have search and web functions, Zuckerberg says (“In a Threads post on Friday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the new features will be ‘coming in the next few weeks.'”)
• Kari Lake and pro-assassination antisemite muse about using the Second Amendment to stop “tyrants” (Youngkin called this extremist loon “awesome.” That says it all about Youngkin.)
• One Man’s Aerial Crusade Against West Virginia’s Coal Industry (“Citizen vigilante uses his drone to expose polluters— ‘I don’t have a lot of friends around here.'”)
• Maryland lieutenant governor got funding from donors linked to far-right extremist movement
• Mississippi cannot strip convicts of right to vote, federal appeals court rules (How about Virginia?)
• Texas man who threatened poll workers and Arizona officials is sentenced to 3 1/2 years
• Scoop: Biden pushes to end remote work era for feds
• Biden makes big push to bring federal workers back to the office
• D.C.’s suburbs, not just downtown, are feeling the crunch of remote work (“Commercial real-estate troubles are reaching Arlington, Tysons and other business districts in Northern Virginia, threatening local tax revenue.”)
• Schapiro: For Luria and others, Trump indictment is flashback to 1/6 inquiry
• Rep. Spanberger responds to rumors of her running for VA governor in 2025 (“After we get through the November elections, I look forward to speaking a bit more about what comes next…But right now my priority is supporting good candidates and then of course doing a good job representing the people of Virginia’s 7th like we are doing today.”)
• ‘One of Virginia’s treasures’: Lawmakers work to protect Chesapeake Bay and fight climate change
• Virginia budget negotiations update: Signs of ‘progress’
• Messy Bon Secours-Anthem dispute threatens to disrupt care for thousands of Virginians on Medicare
• Judge allows former legislative aide’s unpaid wages case against Del. March to proceed
• How a Sexual Assault in a School Bathroom Became a Political Weapon (“It was an explosive claim — that a Virginia school district covered up a crime in order to protect transgender rights. But was it true?”)
• Williams: VCU’s racism class requirement needs to be back on course
• UVa bans TikTok for all employees; students not affected
• Virginia lawmaker’s promotion to judge triggers unusual special election
• Flip and Defend-A-District Friday: Volume VII (Del. Irene Shin, Del. Patrick Hope, Rob Banse, Mary Person, John Quincy Smith)
• Hampton councilman says he was extorted out of $5,000 after visit to prostitute
• Richmond Electoral Board walks back early voting closures (Except for Sunday voting.)
• GOP-Controlled Richmond City Electoral Board Eliminates Sunday Voting (“It is no secret that these restrictions on early voting disproportionately impact voters of color and roll back decades of progress on voting rights.”)
• RRHA hires private security to patrol public housing
• Advocates question whether Fairfax police foot chase policy goes far enough
• D.C.-area forecast: Decent summertime weekend ahead of Monday storm threat