"Greenland’s ice sheet may have shrunk past the point of return, with the ice likely to melt away no matter how quickly the world reduces climate-warming emissions, new research suggests." Tipping point reached. We're boned.
"Two back-to-back blazes broke out around Los Angeles this week, marking a dramatic start to the wildfire season." Whispers, just like we've had named storms before hurricane season, we now have fires before the start of wildfire season.
"An intense multi-day heatwave kicked into high gear Friday, triggering power outages throughout California as the state’s power grid became overwhelmed by energy demands… A Stage 3 emergency alert was declared around 6:30 p.m. by the California Independent System Operator, which runs the state’s power grid. The agency has not declared a statewide emergency of this kind since 2001."
"California electricity providers instituted rolling blackouts Friday night — the first since 2001 — as an intense and prolonged heat wave settled over much of the Western U.S."
"A Japanese bulk carrier that has leaked hundreds of tonnes of fuel oil off the Mauritius coast has broken apart, authorities in the island nation say… The MV Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef on 25 July with 4,000 tonnes of the fuel, causing an ecological emergency."
"Health experts say children make up more than 7% of all coronavirus cases in the US -- while comprising about 22% of the country's population -- and the number and rate of child cases have been 'steadily increasing' from March to July." Ta-da! Who could have foreseen it as schools open up to in-person education?
"As students return to the campus of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign this month, they will be tested for COVID-19. And, then they'll be tested, again… 'We are requiring testing two times per week for access to campus facilities. This is for students, faculty, and staff,' explains Rebecca Lee Smith, an associate professor of epidemiology." Note as a healthcare worker with countless exposures, including to some people who were found to be positive after I did our x-rays, but considered negative at the time of the exam, and I haven't been tested once.
Capitalism, it's the best thing ever. "The House subcommittee launched its review after ProPublica stories in March and April showed how a U.S. subsidiary of Royal Philips N.V. received millions in federal tax dollars years ago to develop a low-cost ventilator for pandemics but didn’t deliver it. Instead, as the coronavirus began spreading around the globe and U.S. hospitals were desperate for more, Philips was selling commercial versions of the government-funded ventilator overseas from its Pennsylvania factory. Then in April, despite having not fulfilled the initial contract, the Dutch company struck a much more lucrative deal to sell the government 43,000 ventilators for four times the price." Yes, the US tax payer paid to develop the ventilator and they should have been sold for $3,280 each. Instead the Trump administration paid $15,000 each. "The investigators reviewed thousands of pages of emails and other records obtained from Philips and concluded that 'inept contract management and incompetent negotiating by the Trump Administration denied the country the ventilators it needed.'" The art of the deal.
"India is ready to mass produce COVID-19 vaccines when scientists give the go-ahead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day speech on Saturday, also launching a national project to roll out health identities for each citizen."
"President Donald Trump accepted a police endorsement on Friday with a gushing speech that promised his agenda would be 'pro-cop all the way.'… Trump was addressing several members of the City of New York Police Benevolent Association at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club as the union announced its support for Trump in the upcoming election." Authoritarians gonna authoritarian. Dear police, remember when Trump said he would cover the legal costs of anyone who beat up protestors at his rallies in 2016? He didn't followup his words then. He won't protect you now.
How goes Brexit (not directly, but with relations)? "Thousands of holidaymakers have rushed back to the UK in a bid to avoid quarantine measures imposed on France, which came into force on Saturday… Eurotunnel trains sold out on Friday and air travellers faced steep prices, but some ferries increased capacity." The UK is imposing quarantine on travelers from France and a few other countries.
"Some managers just don’t believe that 'working from home' means doing real work. They apparently assume that the second people aren’t being watched, they’ll jettison their work ethic and spend entire workdays binge-watching Netflix, even if they were previously trustworthy, responsible employees. These are the managers who, before the pandemic, would flat-out deny requests to work from home or only begrudgingly approve them for the occasional 'good reason,' like waiting at home for the cable guy."
"A deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalize diplomatic ties should be celebrated as a 'historic step,' despite the lack of support from Saudi Arabia, according to White House senior advisor and U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner."
"Japan's Emperor Naruhito has expressed "deep remorse" over his country's actions during World War Two, on the 75th anniversary of its surrender." The emperor apologized again. Posted for a friend who wanted to tell me why are we still arguing about slavery when we still aren't making Japan and Germany "suffer" for WWII.
"The leaders of Russia and Belarus agreed on Saturday that the problems in Belarus would be resolved soon, the Kremlin said, as tens of thousands took to the streets in Minsk once again to urge President Alexander Lukashenko to quit." Note they didn't say in what direction they would be solved.
"At least 50 Belarus security personnel in riot gear dropped their shields and were embraced by anti-government protesters in Minsk, as demonstrators chanted 'brothers' at the police."
"There is a sense of euphoria on the streets in Belarus. Thousands of people gather in the capital Minsk to voice their opposition to President Alexander Lukashenko and the violent crackdown he unleashed against protesters. People wave the opposition flag - white with a red stripe - and they carry flowers and balloons to show that their movement is peaceful."
The US is highly respected in the world, never have we had greater cooperation and respect, say the conservatives. "The U.N. Security Council on Friday overwhelmingly voted against a U.S. resolution to indefinitely extend an arms embargo against Iran. Without further action, the 13-year embargo will now expire in mid-October, allowing Iran to buy and sell conventional weapons without U.N. restrictions."
"A sweeping purge of executives at U.S. government media outlets widened this week… At least six of the top 10 executives at the U.S. Agency for Global Media were removed from their posts on Wednesday. Critics say the housecleaning threatens to destroy the firewall meant to separate government news entities from the White House. They warn it could turn broadcasters such as the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe into distributors of propaganda on behalf of the Trump administration."
But her emails… "The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, 3-0, that the conservative group Judicial Watch was not entitled to depose Clinton in connection with an 8-year-old Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking records of details about information national security adviser Susan Rice discussed during interviews in 2012 about the deadly attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya."
"The US Postal Service will stop taking letter collection boxes off streets in Western states following accusations the removals would further limit some voters ability to send back mail-in ballots… The change came after CNN and others reported on Friday that the US Postal Service has started reducing post office operating hours across several states and removing letter collection boxes, according to union officials."
"After weeks of tension over accusations of political meddling at the Postal Service, it feels like the dam is breaking."
"President Donald Trump's campaign and several national Republican political committees are suing Johnson and Linn counties' auditors for allegedly going 'rogue' in issuing absentee ballot request forms ahead of November's election… Already, the Johnson County Auditor's Office is reporting 9,634 requests in their system, with more than 3,000 awaiting processing. Linn County Auditor Joel Miller told the Press-Citizen he had already received an estimated 40,000 requests." Yes, they are trying to steal the election.
"United Parcel Service and FedEx on Friday shot down social media calls that they step in to deliver mail-in ballots from the U.S. Postal Service, which is warning states of potentially 'significant' delays." UPS and FedEx are not substitutes for the USPS. Not to mention that a first-class stamp is $0.55 and about the cheapest way to send a letter with the others is $10.00. Also, the USPS handles as many pieces of mail in a day as UPS and FedEx handles in a year.
"President Donald Trump sought to reframe the fall election two days before the Democratic National Convention, arguing on Saturday that key economic and pandemic indicators were moving in his favor, while attempting to shift blame for US Postal Service funding problems to Democrats and refusing to acknowledge his administration's efforts to undermine the agency three months before Election Day." In authoritarian governments, the person at the top is who decides what reality is. That's what the president is trying to do here.
Birtherism is back. "Twenty-four hours after entertaining and amplifying a false and racist birther conspiracy aimed at Sen. Kamala Harris, President Trump had an opportunity to correct the record. He didn't. Neither did his son-in-law and top adviser Jared Kushner." Let's see, what's some similarities between Harris and Obama that may be the cause of this? I'm sure it's as plain as their face.
"Joe Biden on Friday delivered an impassioned pitch to a prominent annual progressive gathering, pleading with the leftist wing of the Democratic Party to back him in this fall’s election to defeat President Donald Trump." You have to ask for their votes. and just in case you want to believe the line about "most liberal candidate ever!" Funny how conservatives say that about everyone.
Signs, signs, everywhere a sign (well, polls). "The change comes as 71% of Americans now see the coronavirus as a real threat, up significantly over the last several months, as more than 167,000 Americans have died and more than 5 million have become infected with the virus, as of Friday… And yet, more than a third of Americans (35%) say they won't get vaccinated when a vaccine comes available; 60% say they will." The poll is mostly political (which is why it's down here), but 60% is not nearly enough to have immunity to stop this disease.
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