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by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise (economic, environmental, etc.) for Tuesday, August 11. 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 Mark Zuckerberg’s “deranged” essay on AI; Trump “hid in catering truck”; Trump’s insane vaccine order; a slew of primaries today; etc.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS (Climate crisis, Trump’s erratic approach to Iran guaranteed to fail; Colombia earthquake; Zuckerberg’s “deranged’ AI essay; etc.)
- AI’s potential climate benefits outweighed by role in boosting fossil fuels, study finds (“Modelling finds AI-driven productivity gains in coal, oil and gas enable more emissions than applications in renewables avoid”)
- Typhoon Dolphin: Beijing braces for one-third of its annual rainfall as storm sweeps China (Climate crisis?)
- July was hottest month ever recorded in US as heatwaves scorched country (“Scientists have made clear that the elevated heat in the US was being amplified by the human-caused climate crisis”)
- Trump administration ends support for flagship Arctic climate reports
- Mark Zuckerberg Posts Deranged 6,500-Word Essay About Giving Everyone AI Superintelligence
- Ukraine war briefing: Russia bans voting against the war (“Every candidate of Yabloko – the last anti-war party – barred from September elections; warning over ‘Russian Starlink’ progress. What we know on day 1,630”)
- Trump told Ukraine it had no cards. Then Kyiv took the war to Russia
- How a Counterintelligence Inquiry Into Trump’s Russia Ties Was Derailed (“Documents released by the White House shed new light on the demise of an often-overlooked 2017 F.B.I. investigation.”)
- Russia using North Korean missiles to strike Ukraine, Zelensky says
- The US Has a New Tactic to Challenge China’s Solar Dominance
- Contradicting public statements, Trump took secret flight from Turkey amid Iranian threat
- Trump hid in catering truck in secret plane swap over Iran threat, reports say
- Trump Said to Have Secretly Used Military Jet to Leave Turkey Amid Threats
- Trump Wants to Move On From the Middle East. It’s Not Letting Him. (Trump’s the one who got us into this quagmire with no clear objectives, no exit strategy to speak of, etc.)
- Trump pivots back to sanctions for Iran as other strategies to end his war fizzle
- Iran’s Mysterious Ruler Signals a Hard Line on Trump With New Leadership
- Trump Is Trapped in His YOLO War in Iran (“…Iran is playing hardball because it sees what every American does: The war is jacking up prices and dragging down the entire Republican Party ahead of the midterm elections.”)
- Why Trump’s erratic approach to the Iran war is guaranteed to fail
- Gulf States Accept a New Normal in Hormuz: Iran Is in Control
- Trump fumes over latest Iran demands
- ‘That’s a good idea’: U.S. and Iran trade reparation demands as Hormuz deal hopes fade
- Trump-Netanyahu rift widens as election pressures pull them in opposite directions
- Netanyahu’s rejection of Trump’s 15-point Gaza plan unlikely to be final word
- Israel can afford to lose US aid (“Ending military aid would mark a real break with Israel. But it may not change Israeli policy toward Palestinians.”)
- Scoop: U.S. brokers secret deal on clandestine Syrian nuclear site (“The Trump administration and IAEA scrambled to reach a diplomatic agreement to secure the material and prevent an escalation involving Israel, Syria and possibly even Turkey over the sensitive site.”)
- Former Syrian President Assad sentenced to death in absentia (“A Syrian court sentenced ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad along with his younger brother to death in absentia on Tuesday for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Syria’s 14-year conflict that left about half a million people dead…Also sentenced to death in the same case was Assad’s maternal cousin Atef Najib, who was convicted of overseeing a crackdown in the southern province of Daraa that led to the uprising and later the civil war.”)
- Colombia searches for its missing after a powerful earthquake kills more than 100
- Scores killed in Colombia’s strongest earthquake in years
- How Raúl Castro’s Grandson Rose From Bodyguard to Key Power Broker
- Donald Trump says it would be a ‘terrible mistake’ to replace Fifa’s Gianni Infantino (Which 100% means FIFA should remove Infantino!)
NATIONAL NEWS (Trump’s vaccine order is “dangerous”; Trump stokes Islamophobia; slew of primaries today; etc.)
- Newsmax’s Michael Savage: “ICE is not going after the worst of the worst. … They’re going after innocent people.”
- New Evidence Shows Agents Using Slurs, Bolstering Profiling Claims
- Homeland Security Intensifies Pursuit of Noncitizens on Voter Rolls
- Trump refuses to back down as Supreme Court blocks major policies
- Trump’s vaccine order is about feelings, not facts (“There’s no evidence that vaccines cause autism, or that we should separate MMR shots. This order is dangerous”)
- Fact-Checking the Trump Administration’s Claims About Vaccines (The media should have LONG ago started assuming that every word out of Trump’s mouth is a lie, unless/until proven otherwise. Instead, they mostly still go with the “Trump says” formulation, acting as stenographers.)
- American Academy of Pediatrics calls Trump vaccine order ‘dangerous’
- Cassidy blasts vaccine order, saying Trump has no ‘expertise to make these changes’ (True, but then when it came down to it, Cassidy voted to confirm RFK Jr as Health Secretary)
- Trump takes aim at childhood vaccines (“Fewer vaccines, more uncertainty: What to know about Trump’s vaccines order.”)
- Inflation Reports Could Test Warsh’s Tough Talk
- Violent crime keeps falling in biggest U.S. cities
- Trump Stokes Islamophobia by Calling Democratic Candidates ‘Jihadists’ (“Along with his comments about Muslim candidates, Mr. Trump spoke disparagingly of Somalis in the United States, saying ‘they’re not smart.'”)
- Republicans roll the dice on anti-Muslim bigotry one more time (“In the Trump era, there’s no subtlety to the hate-mongering.”)
- How the economy is hurting Republicans’ midterm chances
- Hindsight Is 2024 (“Some institutions jumped onto the MAGA bandwagon after the 2024 election, but it hasn’t taken long for those decisions to look shortsighted.”)
- GOP senators rally behind Thune in response to Trump jabs at leader
- 25 must-follow people in pro-democracy media (Some excellent names on there, although also some glaring omissions, like David Rothkopf and Norm Ornstein for instance.))
- Trump media company announces a massive loss and new turnaround effort
- Why Is Pete Hegseth Purging Women From Command? Doug Wilson Is Why. (“He preaches holy war, iron discipline, and male dominance. And one of his disciples runs the Pentagon.”)
- GOP Senators Release Fauci Texts Discussing Covid Vaccine Risk to Pregnant Women (Rand Paul is pure scum.)
- Progressives could score a huge Wisconsin win Tuesday. Some national figures don’t want to touch it. (“Francesa Hong hasn’t drawn big name backers like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to her gubernatorial campaign, unlike other candidates this cycle.” And for good reason?)
- Will the Left Keep Winning in the Midwest? What to Watch in Tuesday’s Primaries.
- Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong’s Wisconsin Primary Lead Alarms Establishment Democrats (“Party insiders worry Hong would lose the general election for governor in November” And for good reason; if you watch her being interviewed, she’s loony and clearly not ready for prime time.)
- Will democratic socialist Francesca Hong shake up the establishment – or help Republicans win Wisconsin? (The latter?)
- Wisconsin considers democratic socialist for governor amid US wave of progressive wins (“Francesca Hong is Democratic frontrunner in four-way primary race to lead the swing state, a test of anti-establishment sentiment”)
- ‘Fiercely independent’ South Carolina votes on Lindsey Graham’s Senate successor
- South Carolina Is Redoing Its Primary Election Today. This One Will Be Extremely Telling. (“They’ll be some of the most influential voters in the 2028 GOP primary. On Tuesday, we’ll find out what they’re looking for.”)
- Minnesota primaries could mark change of path for Democrats and Republicans (“From progressive and moderate to election deniers, state sees wide spectrum of candidates in test of direction for both parties”)
- White House officials tamped down efforts to oust Max Miller in final days
- Democrats Plan New Push to Defeat Max Miller in Ohio After Abuse Accusations
- National Democrats step up support for Rep. Max Miller’s opponent
- N.C. Republicans Pick State Lawmaker to Replace Chuck Edwards on Ballot (“State Rep. Jennifer Balkcom will be the Republican nominee after Edwards dropped out over a sexual harassment scandal.”)
- How Fox News is trying to cover up the Rep. Max Miller alleged domestic abuse scandal (“No mentions on primetime shows, and the network also isn’t asking Republicans about it on air”)
- Judge Temporarily Blocks Mamdani’s Pied-à-Terre Tax
- Judge deals blow to Mamdani plan to tax second homes
- Google co-founder Sergey Brin has now spent $100 million to fight the billionaire tax
- Recount puts Trump-backed challenger in the lead in Indiana state Senate primary
- Rep. Lauren Boebert’s adult son charged with child sexual exploitation
- A year in, thousands of armed troops have quietly become a fixture of D.C. life (Humans will normalize ANYTHING. It’s one of our species’ disastrous flaws.)
VIRGINIA NEWS (How did left-leaning candidates do in the 8/4 Dem primaries?; Hashmi launches listening tour on Dominion-NextEra merger; etc.)
- Compared to Previous Years, How Did Left-Leaning Candidates Fare in the 8/4 VA Dem Primaries? (Not really seeing any leftward trend among VA Dems for Congress…)
- Brace yourself for brutal, expensive campaigns in Va. congressional swing districts this fall (“Two Virginia races in particular — Virginia’s 1st and 2nd Congressional Districts — stand out as marquee contests that both parties consider critical to November’s existential battle for a ruling majority, columnist Bob Lewis writes.” Not sure what he means by a “ruling majority”; if Dems take back Congress, they’ll at least have SOME power, but won’t be “ruling” by any means, as Republicans would still control the White House and Supreme Court.)
- What Candidates Have Planned for Virginia’s Coast Could Decide a Key Congressional Race (“Flooding, offshore wind projects, and plans for sea-based mining are just a few of the issues facing the state’s second congressional district.” That will NOT decide the VA02 race, actually…it’s going to be all about Trump, Kiggans’ record of being a toady for Trump, affordability, etc.)
- Vindman says he’ll oppose Dominion-NextEra merger
- Perriello opposes Valley Link, open to more nuclear at North Anna, silent on Joshua Falls; McGuire mum except for letter on Valley Link (“The 5th Congressional District faces a unique set of energy issues, which prompted questions to both candidates for the House seat.” BTW, small modular reactors are going to be extremely expensive if they ever actually happen…bad idea.)
- VA Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi Launches Energy Costs Listening Tour on Proposed Dominion-NextEra Takeover (“An acquisition of this size and significance requires a thorough, transparent review”)
- The main lesson from DEQ’s groundwater report: Va. must budget to live within environmental limits (“DEQ’s report crystalizes that our environment is finite and that we must take care not to damage our aquifer’s ability to store water in the future and risk contaminating drinking water supplies with saltwater intrusion, guest columnist Eric Bonds writes.” Bingo.)
- Watch Amending Virginia: Both sides present their arguments on abortion amendment (VPM is literally “both sides”-ing this issue. LOL!)
- As Dominion Seeks a $67B Merger, Why Did Del. David Reid Cuts Ties With Its Biggest Watchdog? (“This is precisely the moment when an organization willing to push back against Dominion’s spending matters most”)
- Editorial: Virginia pushes back against EPA’s toxic permissiveness (“Good for Virginia for joining the fight to keep the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from repealing the tough emissions standards regulating one of the most toxic chemicals that makes its way into the air we breathe. The commonwealth’s attorney general, Jay Jones, has joined attorneys general of 13 other states in a lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration’s efforts…”)
- Tom Tiffany (R) Campaigns for Wisconsin Governor with Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) (Note that, per TPM, Tiffany “signed onto Ken Paxton’s lawsuit in 2020 attempting to throw out Wisconsin’s votes & have the…Republican-controlled state legislature decide the election.” Tiffany also “appeared with podcast host who defended ‘Camp Auschwitz’ t-shirt”. Not that the “mainstream” media will mention any of this stuff.)
- As solar program expands, Fairfax County leads Virginia in installations
- Spanberger booed in Galax. Then the online chatter bashed Southwest Virginia schools. (Dwayne Yancey is now responding to comments by a random troll with a whopping 165 followers on the “Nazi site,” aka Twitter? And Yancey characterizes this single comment by a random troll with a whopping 165 followers as “the online chatter?” JOURNALISM, huh? LOL!!!))
- Why Virginia’s attorney general visited Roanoke and praised local police
- Public housing board member resigns, citing ‘loss of confidence in leadership’ (“RRHA Commissioner Barrett Hardiman is out after the authority’s CEO, Steven Nesmith, claimed Hardiman threatened him during a closed-door executive meeting.”)
- ‘Felt like I was kidnapped’: ICE detains U.S. citizen, her fiancé and his brothers on Tidewater Drive
- DC-area forecast: Heat and humidity slowly step back this week as storm chances fluctuate
