Sunday News: “Scientists Alarmed by How Fast Climate Crisis is Amplifying Extreme Weather”; “Vaccinated America Has Had Enough”; “‘Sore loser’ Trump reaps fruits of election lies in Arizona”; Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander – “What is critical? Teaching inclusive lessons in history.”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, July 25. Check out former UVA Professor Michael Mann’s discussion of the climate crisis here.

• Amid fire and floods, a moment of truth for climate action (“Scientists have repeatedly warned that the planet remains on track to exceed a critical threshold for warming within a decade. Yet experts and activists also see a rare opportunity to change course — possibly the last chance before many effects become irreversible.”)
• Yep, it’s bleak, says expert who tested 1970s end-of-the-world prediction
• Buildings are a bigger contributor to climate change than cars — these start-ups are trying to help
• Power outages cripple parts of the Middle East amid record heat waves and rising unrest
• Race for Covid-19 Pill Is Heating Up (“Japan’s Shionogi has started human trials for a once-a-day drug designed to neutralize the coronavirus in less than a week as Pfizer and Merck carry out later-stage tests.”)
• Covid-19 Vaccine Holdouts Face Restrictions in Europe as Delta Variant Spreads (Good.)
• Plans of four G20 states are threat to global climate pledge, warn scientists (“‘Disastrous’ energy policies of China, Russia, Brazil and Australia could stoke 5C rise in temperatures if adopted by the rest of the world”)
• UK health minister sparks fury by urging people not to ‘cower from’ COVID (Moron.)
• UK will be exposed to paying pandemic cost risks for decades-report
• Global phone hacks expose darker side of Israel’s ‘startup nation’ image
• Israel officially launches direct flights to Morocco (“Seven months after Israel and Morocco normalized relations, El Al and Israir both launched their first direct Tel Aviv-Marrakesh flights in a ceremony.”)
• China criticizes NBC Universal for showing ‘incomplete map’ during Olympic opening ceremony
• U.S. to stress need for ‘guardrails’ in Sherman’s talks in China
• Australians may face longer lockdown after “reckless” mass protests
• Monsoon Rains Flood Philippines as Thousands Are Evacuated
• China Evacuates Over 100,000 as Typhoon Lands in Eastern China
• Spain Pledged Citizenship to Sephardic Jews. Now They Feel Betrayed. (WTF is Spain doing?!?)
• Monsoon rains could bust exceptional drought across the Southwest
• ‘We Could Have Prevented This’ The scientist Eric Topol on the Delta variant and its dangerous impact.
• The Most Influential Spreader of Coronavirus Misinformation Online (“Joseph Mercola, an osteopathic physician, creates and profits from misleading claims about Covid-19, researchers and regulators say. An internet-savvy entrepreneur, he has published over 600 articles on Facebook that cast doubt on vaccines, an analysis by The New York Times found.”)
• Vaccinated America Has Had Enough (“In the United States, this pandemic could be almost over by now. The reasons it’s still going are pretty clear.”)
• American Dysfunction Is the Biggest Barrier to Fighting Covid (Actually, by FAR the biggest barrier are right wingers, Trumpers, etc.)
• As the pandemic wears on, some Americans could need booster shots (“Some health officials now think a third shot could help older and immunocompromised people.”)
• The official pandemic death toll is horrific. The actual toll could be twice that.
• Democrats Can’t Out-Organize a Gerrymander — or Outflank Joe Manchin
• Was this Barack Obama’s finest hour? His 2011 roast of Donald Trump warned us what was coming (“Ten years ago, Obama ridiculed Trump in front of the D.C. press corps. Trump has proved him right over and over”)
• ‘Sore loser’ Trump reaps fruits of election lies in Arizona (“On a late afternoon of delusion and incitement, Trump offered a preview of how he could exploit grievances of millions of supporters who buy his lies about voter fraud to power a possible new presidential run in the future.”)
• ‘Some are still suffering’: Months after Capitol riot, police who fought the mob contend with physical, psychological pain
• Anti-abortion lawyers are finally being honest about what they want from the Supreme Court (“For decades, abortion opponents urged the Court to lie about abortion restrictions. They don’t need to anymore.”)
• What U.S. abortion access looks like, in graphics (“States are passing more abortion restrictions, which could reshape what abortion access looks like across the country.”)
• Here’s what makes Texas’s ‘heartbeat’ abortion bill uniquely dangerous
• How the Supreme Court could decimate reproductive rights without overruling Roe
• Republicans increasingly look to ballot initiatives as way to enact voting measures
• Republicans’ anti-government chickens have finally come home to roost (“On vaccines, the right’s decades-long anti-government propaganda campaign comes back to bite them”)
• Grassley pressured to run as Democrats set sights on Iowa (“Iowa will be a difficult target for Democrats, even if Grassley decides to retire.”)
• Will New Allegations Keep Herschel Walker Out of Georgia Senate Race?
• ‘Unbearable’: Restaurant customers are being nightmares lately (These people are so horrible. Of course, we should all be SUPER nice to restaurant workers – and retail workers, in general – considering all they have to deal with.)
• US standup comedian Jackie Mason dies in New York aged 93 (“Mason, who was a rabbi before turning to comedy, was known for his sharp wit and piercing social commentary”)
• Arizona secretary of state tells Trump before election lie rally: get over it
• At a critical moment for Florida, let’s take control of COVID this weekend and get vaccinated
• Florida Leads U.S. in Covid-19 Cases as Hospitalizations Surge
• Man Confronts Tucker Carlson At Montana Store: ‘You Are The Worst Human Being’
• Elaine Luria’s pro-Navy, centrist identity may get test over Jan. 6 committee
• The VA Bar Association Debate, a Tradition For Decades, Should Have Been Happening This Morning. Since Cowardly Glenn Youngkin Wouldn’t Participate, Check Out Cindy’s Live Tweets of the #NotDebate
• Schapiro: If the gubernatorial debate that wasn’t, was
• High-Quality Photos By Alex Sakes Of Friday Evening’s Rally in Arlington With President Biden For the 2021 VA Dem Ticket
• As delta COVID-19 variant spreads, fewer Virginians getting 1st doses of vaccine
• Virginia wants schools to adopt policies to protect transgender students. Will school boards go along?
• As more cases pile up for Virginia’s beleaguered unemployment system, so do frustrations
• The right staff: Employee shortage ‘number one issue’ as Va. hotel industry recovers from pandemic
• Report claims Virginia pays for low-quality conservation easements
• Editorial: Are Virginia’s opportunity zones meeting the mark?
• Kenneth Cooper Alexander column: What is critical? Teaching inclusive lessons in history. (Exactly.)
• “Friday Night Update” From Dept. of Emergency Medicine Chair at VA Hospital Center: “Clearly, COVID is not done with us yet.” (“I reversed course last weekend when I worked and decided I needed to be in an N95 for the entire shift.”)
• Editorial: Judge Dorsey’s unprecedented order on a Confederate statue
• Williams: Voter suppression is on the rise. The Richmond Crusade for Voters is needed more than ever.
• Editorial: Advocate for transparency (“Former Roanoke Times executive editor Frosty Landon spent his career working to make government in Virginia more transparent. In his absence, the public must take up the torch.”)
• D.C.-area forecast: Full-on summer is back with heat and sticky humidity