Thursday (8/13) News Roundup: Sailors Going Overboard Amid Trump’s Iran Quagmire; Hormuz Still Not Open…

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise (economic, environmental, etc.) for Thursday, August 13.  Today’s biggest developments and headlines include the climate crisis (always at the top of these news highlights because it’s existential and should be a massive story every single day)…also sailors literally going overboard amid Trump’s Iran quagmire; Hormuz still not open; “Incarcerated for Life in Trump’s War on the Left”; the DoJ’s Civil Rights division completely FUBAR; the heinous pathological liar Karoline Leavitt leaving, but it won’t get any better; “This guy’s really pointing a gun at my head”; etc. Also, it’s great to see Jamelle Bouie demolishing his former colleague, David Brooks, who’s now busy spewing out lies and smears at The Atlantic.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS (Climate crisis, Russian strikes on grain ships threaten global food supplies, octopuses are too smart to eat, Hormuz not open, sailors going overboard, etc.)

• Record El Niño to give Earth a preview of its warmer future (The media should be saying “hotter” at this point, also the words “climate crisis” should be right in the headlines!)
• AI Applications for Oil and Gas Companies Worsen Climate Pollution (“A new peer-reviewed study suggests that productivity for fossil fuel companies boosted by AI tools will increase global emissions by nearly 5 percent.”)
• Solar modules with built-in buck converters could raise rooftop PV yield by up to 20% under partial shading
• Potatoes ‘boil’ in the ground as record heatwave sweeps across swathes of Asia
• Too smart to eat? Why octopus farms are such a slippery problem (Yes.)
• Drought and heat waves turn London’s green parks into a sea of brown (“Weeks of extreme heat and dry conditions have had a visible impact across the British capital, with temperature records shattered and more sizzling highs forecast Thursday.”)
• India fuels worldwide jump in planned coal production (“Rise in new mine proposals, mainly in states of Odisha and Jharkhand, comes despite plateau in global demand” That’s the exact wrong thing to be doing!)
• Russian Strikes on Dozens of Grain Ships Threaten Global Food Supplies (“The deadly strikes are part of a long-running maritime battle with Ukraine and echo battles over other key shipping routes around the world.”)
• How Russian attacks, European protectionism and drought are trapping Ukraine’s vital grain (“Kyiv wants the help of EU countries as Black Sea missile strikes choke its grain exports, but capitals fear the ire of their own farmers.”)
• Japan PM says Putin’s visit to disputed islands ‘absolutely unacceptable’
• U.S. and Ukrainian Forces Went Head-to-Head in an Exercise. Ukraine’s Drones Won. (“Battlefield drill shows Pentagon hasn’t fully absorbed lessons of Russia’s war”)
• Putin can no longer claim victory in Ukraine, Nobel Peace Prize winner tells BBC (“In an exclusive interview with the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg, Dmitry Muratov says the Kremlin leader can only “destroy Ukraine, not conquer it”, with the war now in its fifth year.”)
• Trump Says Hormuz Is Under U.S. Control. Few Ships Are Listening. (“With limited bursts of firepower, Iran is able to make the waterway too risky to cross”)
• Why Isn’t the Price of Oil Even Higher? (“This is your economy on crack (spread)”)
• The Iran War Is a Whole New Level of Quagmire for the US
• CIA had ‘low confidence’ in Iranian threat before Trump switched planes in Turkey
• How Trump’s Ruse to Evade an Iranian Threat Unfolded on the Tarmac in Turkey
• Which Trump Officials Joined Him on His Secret Flight Out of Turkey?
• Trump Chooses Blonde Aide Over Stephen Miller in Escape Plot (OK, now that’s pretty funny, in a f’ed-up way of course.)
• Rubio and Bessent stayed on decoy flight from Turkey as Trump switched planes, official says
• USS Abraham Lincoln sailors tried to jump overboard amid extended deployment – reports
• Multiple USS Abraham Lincoln sailors have tried to go overboard amid extended deployment, families say
• I Doubt Trump Cares How His Unending War Has Affected Our Naval Service Members (“After eight months on a boat suffering from food shortages, mold, and unclean water, sailors are jumping overboard. The president better fix whatever’s happening on the USS Abraham Lincoln fast.”)
• More troops to be sent to West Bank village besieged by Israeli settlers (Arrest the settlers!)
• Israeli militants besiege two Palestinian families in their West Bank homes (“Settlers and soldiers cut off water and electricity to homes, and block medical care in campaign of terror” Yes, these people are TERRORISTS – send in the army and arrest them!)
• Once-in-a-generation solar eclipse wows millions in UK and Europe
• Nigel Farage faces off against Count Binface in special election that’s been denounced as a stunt (GO COUNT BINFACE! LOL)
• Greenland forces Trump-linked US oil firm to delay drilling (“US envoy had claimed Americans could be extracting crude by as early as next year”)
• Colombia’s earthquake is déjà vu for Venezuelans. The government response is anything but
• Hegseth welcomes Colombia to counter-drug alliance after its electiona>

NATIONAL NEWS (ICE insanity, DoJ’s Civil Rights division trashed, Trump wildly violating the law on 2021 Corporate Transparency Act, Leavitt leaving – good riddance!; Dems got lucky in Wisconsin and should learn from it, etc.)

• ICE Agent Who Pushed Activist to the Ground Pleads Guilty (“The agent, Adam Saracco, was charged with misdemeanor after the altercation at a gas station near Chicago last year during the Trump administration’s crackdown there.”)
• Incarcerated for Life in Trump’s War on the Left (“Autumn Hill had already gone home when a protest outside an ICE facility turned violent. She was still sentenced to 50 years, over twice as long as any Jan. 6 defendant” For WHAT???)
• Homeland Security Paid $464 Million for Airplanes. Then It Parked Them. (The next Democratic trifecta needs to completely overhaul, if not abolish and replace, DHS and ICE.)
• A Third Immigrant Detained at Delaney Hall Dies After Medical Emergency (“A Guatemalan migrant was transferred to a hospital when he experienced what appeared to be a seizure, federal officials said.”)
• Controversial group wins $158M-contract to represent unaccompanied immigrant children (“The group was founded by activist Tim Ballard, who was the subject of the 2023 film Sound of Freedom. The movie starring Jim Caviezel was heavily promoted in conservative media as QAnon conspiracies flourished.” OK, so that’s way beyond “controversial”; why is NPR normalizing/minimizing, etc. in its headline? Oh yeah, because it’s what NPR *always does*!)
• Who Killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo? (“A death during an ICE traffic stop raises outrage in Houston—and in Mexico.”)
• Treasury Scales Back Scrutiny of U.S. Shell Companies (“The Trump administration will not enforce reporting requirements of the 2021 Corporate Transparency Act, which was intended to crack down on money laundering.” Uhhh…that’s a LAW, and Trump swore an oath to faithfully execute our laws!)
• Stagflation, the Scourge of the 1970s, Is Back
• Trump sued over $100,000-a-month early-access offer to Truth Social posts
• Meet the attorneys Harmeet Dhillon installed to turn the Civil Rights Division against its mission (This is completely f’ed up.)
• Exclusive: Former employee at Southern Poverty Law Center arrested on fraud charges
• Trump’s justice department arrests expert on far right as part of SPLC crackdown (“Prosecutors charge Heidi Beirich with financial crimes as part of case against the Southern Poverty Law Center”)
• Insight: Trump promised a sex-trafficking crackdown. His Justice Department hasn’t delivered
• Youth poll: Thumbs down on everything
• Trump administration accused of ‘bullying’ union leader at consumer protection agency (“Critic of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau leadership was put under investigation and suspended from job”)
• I Was Dick Cheney’s Cardiologist. Trump Has Not Looked Well, and We Should Know Why.
• Senate rankings: 8 GOP seats that could flip in Novembera>
• Leavitt to depart the White House (She is truly a heinous person.)
• Older Democrats walloped by midterms anti-establishment revolt
• Rep. John Larson’s defeat in Connecticut makes it 10 House members who have lost primaries this year (“The unusually high number reflects dissatisfaction with party leadership among some Democratic voters and a GOP still evolving around President Donald Trump’s leadership.”)
• Inside the drama at ActBlue – and why some Democrats are quietly afraid it could cost them in the midterms
• Midwesterners Show the Limits of the Far-Left (“Progressives face resistance with Francesca Hong’s loss in Wisconsin and Abdul El-Sayed’s narrow victory in Michigan”)
• Democrats Got Lucky in Wisconsin. They Should Learn From It.
• Democrats Pull Back From the Edge of Disaster. Again.
• Wisconsin Democrats chose a middle path – will it lead to victory in November?
• What Francesca Hong’s Defeat Means for Democrats (“The democratic socialist’s rise in Wisconsin was supposed to portend a major breakthrough for the left. Her narrow loss should still be a wake-up call for the Party’s establishment.”)
• How mainstream Democrats pulled off a big upset against a democratic socialist
• What Democrats can learn from Wisconsin’s ‘oatmeal’ win
• AOC Knows a Lemon When She Sees One (“Francesca Hong’s surprise loss in Wisconsin is a blessing to the Democratic Party.”)
• The “Establishment” Versus “Progressive” Debate Doesn’t Matter If Democrats Can’t Win in November (“Now that the Wisconsin primaries are over, it’s clear that political media needs to give this narrative a rest.”)
• How the Polls Got It So Wrong in Wisconsin (“Francesca Hong, the democratic socialist running in Wisconsin’s Democratic primary for governor, had a double-digit lead in polls as recently as last week. Then she lost. What happened?”)
• Pollsters missed again in Wisconsin. Here’s why. (“Hong won about 39% of the electorate — and the final polls had her in the low 40s. It was Crowley whose standing appeared to change dramatically — jumping from around 20% support to roughly 40% within days.”)
• Forbes Fired Top Editor After Discovering He Received Secret $6 Million Payment (Does anyone actually read Forbes?)
• Paramount Has Discussed Creating a Board to Ensure CNN’s Independence
• Rep. Max Miller’s ex-wife sues after sensitive image of child was publicly shared
• Fox News Poll: New matchup, same result: Maine Senate race stays locked (“Jackson tops Collins by 2 percentage points, 48-46%, well within the survey’s margin of sampling error. In June, Collins was ahead of Platner by 3 points. Since then, Collins’ support is down 4 points, while Jackson does 1 point better than Platner.” They buried this lede!)

VIRGINIA NEWS (Two new ads by Elaine Luria, VDH says Trump doesn’t know what he’s talking about on MMR vaccines, SCC Chair needs to recuse, cannabis growhouse use more power than data centers, Bailey’s Crossroads ICE incident, etc.)

• Video: Elaine Luria Releases Two Ads Highlighting the Trump-Kiggans Tariffs, Rising Cost of Living, and Access to Reproductive Care (“I’ve fought for my country before in uniform, and I’m ready to do it again in Congress”)
• Virginia congressman’s meeting with transgender Democrats erupts into profanity. Then he walked out (Vindman’s vote was very bad, and people 100% have the right to press him on it, but it’s also inexcusable for a Democratic committee member to say ““Shut the f*ck up” and “Congressman, you need to shut up and listen” to their Congressman!)
• VDH on Trump order on MMR vaccines: He doesn’t know what he’s talking about (“The Virginia Department of Health is telling us to go ahead and ignore Donald Trump on MMR vaccines, because he doesn’t know anything.”)
• Va.’s vaccine recommendations, requirements won’t change after Trump order, officials say
• Gov. Spanberger dismisses calls to pause data center growth in Virginia
• On a square-foot basis, cannabis growhouses use more power than data centers. Why isn’t their electricity use being taxed? (“In legalizing retail sales of cannabis, Virginia has set the stage for the equivalent of up to 148 data centers, if Virginians consume weed at the same rate as those in Washington state. If we match Michigan’s pot consumption, we’re looking at the equivalent of 78 data centers.” Now THIS is good content by Dwayne Yancey!)
• SCC chair, heading up NextEra-Dominion merger review, is a former NextEra attorney (“Bagot, who will lead the review of the proposed merger, was a senior attorney at NextEra Energy for a 20-month stretch from 2022-2024. No conflicts for her here. Not at all. That our General Assembly would confirm a senior attorney from a major utility to head up our SCC is bad enough.”)
• ‘A betrayal’: International firefighters’ union unanimously censures Spanberger, says she ‘turned her back’ on them
• Williams: Restoring voting rights promotes a healthy democracy
• Virginia Lottery touts big money for K-12 schools: But where does it come from?
• Virginia doesn’t have to choose between clean energy and affordable electricity
• VRS trust fund tops $135 billion on 12.1% investment return
• Dominion asks SCC to recover an additional $922 million for fuel costs over multiple years (“Advocates, lawmakers push SCC to scrutinize the company’s energy need calculations and practices.”)
• Virginia clinics see black lung surge in coal miners
• Fairfax prosecutor reviewing video of ICE agent pointing gun at woman (Clearly, pointing a loaded gun at someone is a crime.)
• ICE agent points gun at woman who yelled at agents in Fairfax County parking lot, video shows
• Fairfax Supervisor Andres Jimenez, Fairfax Democrats Say Video of ICE Officer Pointing Gun at Woman in Her Car “is deeply disturbing and demands accountability” (“…our community’s safety and trust in federal law enforcement are both at risk”)
• ‘This guy’s really pointing a gun at my head’: Virginia woman speaks out after viral ICE video
• What the data suggests about Greene’s recent immigration raids (“Greene County, red lights”)
• Coastal Virginia communities push back against proposed offshore seabed mining
• Editorial: Resilience shortcomings highlighted by recent Norfolk flooding
• New report: a light at the end of the tunnel for NOVA job market
• This program helps Virginia military members place their pets with carers during deployment (“Operation Foster helps current servicepeople and veterans secure temporary homes for their animals, including reptiles and horses.”)
• Virginia Beach sells land for colocation data center expansion
• RPS teacher vacancies fall to 1% as contract talks continue
• 12 displaced, dog dead after Arlington apartment building fire