by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, August 15.
- Global plastic talks collapse as countries remain deeply divided (UGH.)
- Arctic glaciers face ‘terminal’ decline as microbes accelerate ice melt (That’s right, humanity is trashing its own home – Earth.)
- How a marine heatwave is threatening Australia’s spectacular coral reefs (“One of the longest and most intense heat stress events ever recorded is raising alarm – and a warning about the future of reefs worldwide”)
- Temperatures and Carbon Emissions Continue to Rise (“An acceleration of warming that started in 2023 continued through 2024, according to the latest annual climate assessment by the American Meteorological Society, as atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases continue to increase at a quickening rate.”)
- Meta’s AI rules have let bots hold ‘sensual’ chats with kids, offer false medical info (Meta is a disaster on just about every level.)
- Trump and Putin Have Different Ideas of Success at Alaska Summit (“The one-on-one with Putin is a sign of just how much Trump believes he — and not Ukraine — is central to ending the conflict.”)
- How President Trump’s Meeting With Vladimir Putin Could Unfold (“A sudden feud, an impasse or a first step toward a cease-fire in Ukraine are all possible at the summit as the two leaders navigate thorny issues.”)
- ‘A fundamental misunderstanding’: Will Trump’s Alaska summit achieve anything?
- Russia and Ukraine Agree: A Trump Summit Is a Big Win for Putin (“The talks on Friday in Alaska pull the Russian leader out of diplomatic isolation from the West, and Ukrainian and European leaders fear it gives him an opening to sway the American president.”)
- Russia Seeks to Add Trade and Arms Control Into Trump-Putin Talks
- More than half of Americans lack faith in Trump on Russia-Ukraine war, poll finds (Should be zero.)
- Putin praises Trump’s ‘energetic and sincere’ peace efforts ahead of Alaska summit (If Putin is praising you, it’s 100% certain that you’re doing something badly wrong.)
- Trump says Putin won’t ‘mess around with me’ as pair prepare for Ukraine talks in Alaska (Hahahahahahaha.)
- What’s at stake at the Trump-Putin Ukraine peace summit?
- ‘What about our lives?’: emotions run high in frontline Ukrainian city over ceding land to Russia
- GOP momentum for Ukraine aid package grows as Trump sits down with Putin
- Putin hails ‘heroic’ North Korean troops fighting against Ukraine in letter to Kim Jong-un (Disgusting.)
- Russia Experts Worry KGB Agent-Turned-Murderous Dictator Putin Will Play Trump
- What Putin’s ‘America Guru’ Taught Me About His Country — and Mine (“Russians used to think we wanted to make money. Now they think we want to rule the world.”)
- Fooled by Putin again? Trump’s rhetoric suggests he could be
- Trump Is Prepared to Give Putin Everything He Wants to End the War in Ukraine
- China’s Economy Slows Sharply as Trade War Bites
- Trump’s biggest foreign policy mistake (“With tariffs and insults, the president has undermined America’s strategy for India.”)
- Bowen: Netanyahu is presiding over a divided Israel – the fault lines are now chasms
- The Limits of Recognition (“The move by several states to recognize Palestine will not end conflict in the Middle East—or at home.” Definitely not.)
- Fears of starvation in Myanmar as UN warns of ‘disaster’
- Trump reportedly called Norwegian minister ‘out of the blue’ to ask about Nobel prize (Lunatic.)
- Scott Bessent’s revealing admission about Trump’s tariffs (“The White House’s tariff rationale is in legal trouble. Cue the treasury secretary to float a new argument.”)
- ICE documents reveal plan to double immigrant detention space this year
- Border Patrol agents stage show of force at Newsom’s ‘big beautiful press conference’ (Thuggish. Banana republic shit.)
- Border Patrol Agents Show Up in Force at Newsom Rally (“The armed and masked agents assembled outside a museum where the governor was speaking in what Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles called ‘a provocative act.'”)
- Feds Conduct Immigration Raid Outside California Redistricting Press Conference
- Trump Stats Boss’ Jan. 6 Excuse Crumbles
- Veggie-flation strikes, with a warning for grocery prices
- Draft of U.S. Report Suggests Kennedy Won’t Push Strict Pesticide or Food Rules
- How RFK Jr. alienated MAGA, MAHA and the White House in a single week (“The botched announcement about mRNA vaccines reveals a health department full of dysfunction and infighting.” RFK Jr. is an insane person, evil, and an unmitigated disaster as Health Secretary. All as predicted.)
- Anti-vaccine myths surged on social media ahead of the CDC shooting (“Before the shooting, social media companies relaxed their protocols around misinformation.” Meta and others have blood on their hands.)
- Justice Kavanaugh just revealed an unfortunate truth about the Supreme Court (“The Court has a special set of rules for Trump.”)
- Tribal Nations Scramble to Save Clean Energy Projects
- America’s New Segregation — America’s democracy is under threat.
- Trump’s Revenge Campaign Has a Weakness (“Prosecuting his enemies is turning out to be more difficult than he’d hoped—at least for now.”)
- Trump Privately Dismissed Epstein Victims as ‘Democrats’
- Trump claims credit for fixing Social Security as it barrels to insolvency
- Costco to not sell abortion pill mifepristone at its US pharmacy stores
- Trump’s job approval and views of his personal traits (“President Donald Trump’s current job approval rating stands at 38%, with 60% of U.S. adults expressing disapproval of his performance. This is a modest decline from two months ago, when 41% approved.”)
- Trump’s Tariffs and ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Face More Opposition Than Support as His Job Rating Slips (“Far more Americans say Trump is making the way the federal government works worse than better”)
- The Senate map suddenly looks a lot better for Democrats. But still not a slam dunk. (Typical ridiculous headline and framing by Politico.)
- Right-wing media cheer for Trump to deploy National Guard to other American cities after DC
- Bondi names DEA head as DC’s ‘emergency police commissioner,’ but capital leaders push back
- D.C. Mayor Apparently In Martha’s Vineyard Amid Trump’s Police Takeover
- D.C. mayor, city’s top legal official offer first major pushback of Trump’s asserted takeover of police
- D.C. Mayor Heads to Martha’s Vineyard as Trump Takes Over City (“Muriel Bowser’s office says she is heading to the luxe vacation destination for a day to pick up her daughter”)
- Federal Raids Target D.C. Homeless Camps (“It was unclear how widespread or effective the raids were, after district officials and advocates had spent much of the day trying to clear the camps, urging people to go to shelters ahead of the raids.”)
- Leaked chart reveals winners and losers in California’s Democratic gerrymander
- Obama praises Texas Democrats and calls state redistricting effort ‘a systematic assault on democracy’
- Texas Democrats signal they are poised to end redistricting walkout
- DC man accused of throwing sandwich at federal officer released from custody
- Gov. Gavin Newsom calls for a special election to allow for a new congressional map in California
- SpaceX Gets Billions From the Government. It Gives Little to Nothing Back in Taxes.
- Melania Trump demands Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to Jeffrey Epstein
- On Social Security’s 90th Anniversary, Jen Kiggans and Rob Wittman Are Full Speed Ahead In Their Efforts To Dismantle It (“The DCCC will hold Kiggans and Wittman accountable for their broken promises every day until Virginians vote them out of office next November.”)
- TWO PEAS IN A POD: Tara Durant Ties Herself to Winsome Earle-Sears’ Job-Cutting, Medicaid Slashing Agenda (Durant, btw, is the same person who in 2020 reportedly “tried to hit [peaceful protesters] with her car as they stood in a crosswalk.”)
- Virginia’s economy shows signs of trouble as hiring slows, fewer people quit jobs
- Video: Democrats Push Back Hard Against the Budget and Economic Nonsense, Distortions and Lies Spewed Out by Youngkin and His Finance Secretary (For instance, as Sen. Scott Surovell pointed out, “The governor stood up here and said a million times…nobody’s [going to be] thrown off of Medicaid…apparently he’s decided he’s smarter than [the Congressional Research Service]”)
- Youngkin paints a rosy picture of the state’s financial status, but uncertainty regarding federal programs remains (This headline should say “Pathological liar Youngkin FALSELY paints a rosy picture…”)
- Youngkin, Democrats spar over Virginia’s fiscal future as FY 2025 comes to a close (They “spar” in that Republicans are lying, Democrats are telling the truth on this.)
- Youngkin says Virginia economy is strong, downplays concerns about Medicaid and federal cuts (Again, this should note that Youngkin lies like most people breathe…)
- Youngkin, Earle-Sears using Virginia State Police to do campaign business
- Earle-Sears has ‘scheduling conflict’ for debate; Spanberger declines CNN invitation
- Spanberger, Earle-Sears have sights set on Hampton Roads debate (“Both candidates have criticized the other for not accepting these invites, but they appear to be in agreement on participating in a debate hosted by WAVY News. The Earle-Sears campaign told Virginia Scope they accepted the invitation from WAVY, and the Spanberger campaign said they are in active negotiations for participation. There has not been a set date announced at this time.”)
- Five weeks out from early voting, here are 10 questions about Virginia’s 2025 campaign
- Choosing the people’s lawyer: November’s most important vote? (“Contrary to belief and advertising, the attorney general is not Virginia’s “chief law enforcement officer” or even the state’s chief prosecutor (except in limited cases) but has a much broader job as the commonwealth’s ‘general and consumer counsel,’ ‘civil rights enforcement officer’ and ‘legal advisor.'”)
- Jason Miyares pays fealty to rabid anti-abortion, anti-LGBT bigots at the Family Foundation
- Data shows Jason Miyares overstated the success of his signature anti-crime pilot program (“Virginia Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares claims his Ceasefire Virginia program is reducing violent crime, but communities with and without the program saw almost identical levels of improvement.”)
- Virginia AG Jason Miyares sues Trump’s Veterans Administration
- In Chesterfield, Earle-Sears slams Spanberger, revives Youngkin’s winning campaign slogans (Yikes; WTF is this headline???)
- Pope & Schapiro: The state’s bottom line, a new campaign slogan, and a new endorsement
- Reid, Hashmi make their pitches to the Virginia Association of Counties (This article is only six short paragraphs, not much information in there.)
- Virginia’s flawed redistricting process is still better than chicanery in Texas, elsewhere (This column completely misses the main point, which is that Democrats should NOT unilaterally disarm on a state-by-state basis, but should continue to push for NATGIONAL legislation outlawing gerrymandering!)
- Boar’s Head plant in Virginia to reopen a year after listeria outbreak
- Chesterfield County: Group plans to appeal court ruling on gas plant
- Staunton residents elected a government that doesn’t represent them
- UK friend of man charged with attack on Vogler says he had sought mental health counseling before assault (“Shotsie Buck-Hayes moved to Danville from England in 2020. His friends back home say he was smart and compassionate, but somewhat troubled.”)
- CWG Live updates: Still muggy and quite warm with a few afternoon storms (“Humidity and storm chances ease a bit this weekend.”)
