by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, August 2.
- Monarch butterflies’ mass die-off in 2024 caused by pesticide exposure – study (Insect-killing pesticides need to be banned or seriously restricted.)
- Nordic countries hit by ‘truly unprecedented’ heatwave (“Scientists record longest streak of temperatures higher than 30C in region in records going back to 1961”)
- Despite State Department promises, vast supplies of U.S. aid remain stranded
- Lashing Out Over Russia and Jobs Data, Trump Displays His Volatile Side (Trump has no self control or judgement.)
- Trump moves nuclear submarines after ex-Russia president’s menacing tweet
- Trump Says He Ordered Subs Repositioned in Rare Nuclear Threat to Russia (“In a social media post, the president described the move as a deterrent prompted by threats by a former Russian leader. It is unclear if any submarines did actually change position.”)
- Not With a Bang, but With a Truth Social Post (“The president is rattling a nuclear saber as a distraction.”)
- Leave It to Trump to Threaten Nuclear War in Response to a Few Mean Tweets (“The deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council poked the bear on X. The president may have taken things a bit far.”)
- Putting maximum pressure on Russia requires secondary sanctions on oil
- Trump’s EU-US Trade Deal Could Cost Europe for Years to Come
- Mike Huckabee, Israel’s Passionate Defender as Gaza War Drives Allies Away (“Mr. Huckabee, a Baptist minister, is the first evangelical to serve as American ambassador to Israel. Christian conservatives and Israel’s government are pleased.”)
- ‘We are dying slowly, save us’: starvation takes hold in Gaza after a week of appalling milestones
- Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff visits Gaza aid ‘death trap’
- Appeals court keeps order blocking Trump administration from indiscriminate immigration sweeps
- Trump’s Domestic Use of Military Set to Get Worse, Leaked Memo Shows
- Here’s what could get more expensive from Trump’s massive tariff hikes
- It’s Trump’s economy now. The latest financial numbers offer some warning signs
- The bleak economic picture emerging from the jobs numbers
- Good, mad and ugly: the US economy’s performance under Trump – in charts (“Despite president’s claims of an economic boom, picture is chaotic – healthy GDP growth but weak jobs figures”)
- The Mystery of the Strong Economy Has Finally Been Solved (“Turns out it wasn’t actually that strong.”)
- US employers slash hiring as Trump advances a punishing trade agenda
- Trump Shoots the Messenger (“Firing the BLS Commissioner moves us into banana republic territory”)
- Caracas on the Potomac (“Goodbye, reliable economic data”)
- Trump fires commissioner of labor statistics after weaker-than-expected jobs figures slam markets
- Trump claims data in July jobs report manipulated, fires BLS Commissioner
- Trump fires the BLS Commish: The economy is about to take off now
- Trump fires labor statistics boss hours after the release of weak jobs report (“Without evidence, Trump called the data “rigged” and implied that BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer manipulated the numbers ‘for political purposes.'” Why say “without evidence” when it’s obviously FALSE???)
- Who is Erika McEntarfer, the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner fired by Trump? (“McEntarfer, a longtime government worker who had served as BLS head for a year and a half, did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press. But her predecessor overseeing the jobs agency, former co-workers and associates have denounced the firing, warning about its repercussions and saying McEntarfer was nonpolitical in her role.”)
- Trump news at a glance: ‘credibility’ of US economics data at risk, say experts, as president fires labor official (“Trump’s own former statistics chief denounces move as ‘groundless’ and ‘dangerous’.”)
- Yes, Trump Firing the BLS Commissioner Is Bad. Really Bad. (“Her agency told the truth about Trump’s floundering economy. That was more than the aspiring autocrat could tolerate.”)
- After Steve Bannon called for “a MAGA Republican” to run the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Trump fired its commissioner
- Republican senators raise concerns about Trump’s firing of Labor Dept. official
- Federal Reserve governor to resign early, handing Trump an immediate opening on board
- HHS further constrains certain vaccine advisers to the CDC, limiting their input in evidence reviews
- CDC bars expert groups from advising on vaccines (Insane.)
- Appeals Court Allows Trump Order That Ends Union Protections for Federal Workers (“A famously liberal circuit court ruled in President Trump’s favor, authorizing a component of his sweeping effort to assert more control over the federal bureaucracy.”)
- Scientists slam Trump administration climate report as a ‘farce’ full of misinformation (“Experts say the report being used to justify the mass rollback of climate regulations has many claims based on long-debunked research”)
- Brett Kavanaugh says he doesn’t owe the public an explanation
- IRS rescinds layoffs at civil rights office, an early target of workforce cuts
- The FBI Redacted Trump’s Name in the Epstein Files (Coverup.)
- Giuffre family blasts Trump for Maxwell’s prison move: “Smacks of a cover up”
- Ghislaine Maxwell Moved to Minimum-Security Women’s Prison in Texas
- EXCLUSIVE: Someone Waived Ghislaine Maxwell’s Sex Offender Status to Move Her to a Minimum Security Camp in Texas (“According to sources, you can’t move someone with a Public Safety Factor (PSF) designation – which Maxwell had – without waiving it. That’s what happened here.”)
- Comer says he will postpone Ghislaine Maxwell testimony (“The House Oversight chair also rejected an immunity request from the Jeffrey Epstein associate.”)
- Corporation for Public Broadcasting to shut down after being defunded by Congress, targeted by Trump
- Federal funding cuts leads to end of Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 2025
- Crypto donations flood Trump’s super PAC
- ChatGPT users shocked to learn their chats were in Google search results (“OpenAI scrambles to remove personal ChatGPT conversations from Google results.”)
- This was Thom Tillis’ moment. He did not meet it. (“The North Carolina senator has talked a lot about higher principles lately. And yet his vote to confirm Emil Bove demonstrates just how comfortable he still is taking the easy way out.”)
- Cornell Close to White House Settlement of Up to $100 Million
- Texas Democrats Might Actually Flee the State to Block Racist Redistricting
- A war is brewing over the future of the Republican Party. It’s getting messy. (“Two opposing factions are jockeying to be the true MAGA warriors at this weekend’s Young Republican National Convention.”)
- Florida is the laboratory for MAGA — and American autocracy
- [UPDATED] VA Democratic LG Nominee Ghazala Hashmi: “Today’s jobs report makes it clear: Trump’s reckless tariffs are killing jobs and devastating our families”; John Reid “bends the knee” (Sam Shirazi: “Economy will continue to be major issue on campaign trail.”)
- Abigail Spanberger Rips “Trump’s New Tax on Virginia Businesses & Families” (Trump’s “reckless and chaotic trade policies have caused uncertainty and harm to Virginia businesses and our economy for months”)
- Video: Winsome Earle-Sears Heads Outside the MAGA Media Bubble, Is Asked Real Questions, Has “Epic Crash Out” on CNN (Among other things, Earle-Sears claims that Trump’s purge of the federal workforce isn’t a “real issue” she should talk about)
- 3 Va. Planned Parenthood clinics still waiting for family planning funding after a federal freeze
- Audio: On the Politics Hour, VA Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell Says “for some reason with this governor, he seems to go after Black presidents” (e.g., at VMI and GMU) (“I think a lot of this is performance art by him to sort of enhance his presidential primary campaign, which I expect will start probably in about 12 months.”)
- Amid DEI investigations and legal controversy, GMU president gets a raise
- In a Plot Twist, George Mason’s Politically Embattled President Gets a Raise
- George Mason President Holds Job After Attacks on His Diversity Views (“Republicans are investigating the president, Gregory Washington, and the school over his support for diversity efforts at the university, Virginia’s largest public institution.”)
- Despite federal investigations, GMU president will remain in role, receive pay boost
- Wilder sues VCU president over ‘hostile workplace’ investigation
- City suggests it will pay $5.8 million to wrongfully convicted man, as required by law
- Meet the candidate: Lily Franklin (“Democratic House of Delegates candidate Lily Franklin is challenging incumbent Republican Del. Chris Obenshain in the 41st District.”)
- Virginia declares its model prison a success and announces plans to expand
- Hanover book bans portend a dangerous trend
- Fairfax County School Board student rep wants consistency in enforcing phone restrictions
- Vogler undergoes surgery, listed in critical condition
- Vogler in ‘stable but critical condition’ after attacker set him on fire; GoFundMe page created (“Danville City Council member Lee Vogler was attacked and set on fire Wednesday. He was expected to undergo his first surgery Friday, according to a statement from his wife.”)
- CWG Live updates: Beautiful summertime weekend with sunshine and low humidity
