This Week in Climate Hell: Heatwave Scorches U.S. - The Monday AM Quickie 7/17/23
What is it about being a moderator on discord that makes people authoritarians? - Robert
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THE BIG NEWS
Heat Torments U.S. as GOP Aims to Gut Climate Funding
It's going to be disgustingly hot this week in much of the country, particularly in the South and West. Heat indexes will be above 100 degrees every day of the week for cities like Houston, Las Vegas, and New Orleans, according to the Washington Post. More than two thirds of the population will experience heat levels warranting caution, extreme caution, or that are dangerous to human health.
ER doctors in Phoenix, Arizona told NBC that the heat is bringing patients to hospitals with severe sunburns, organ failure or have fallen into comas -- some patients have temperatures as high as 109 degrees:
What makes the intense heat so deadly is that a patient often has disruptions to the cooling mechanisms of the body— such as the brain's hypothalamus, which regulates temperature — that prevent a person from sweating to cool off.
“You’re kind of cooking from the inside, unfortunately," [Dr. Aneesh Narang, an emergency medicine physician at Banner-University Medical Center in Phoenix] said.
Extreme heat kills more Americans per year than any other weather phenomenon, according to the Post. Look out for heat watches for your area issued by the Weather Service at weather.gov, where you can also find safety advice.
Extreme heatwaves are set to become longer and more common as global temperatures rise. This reality hasn't stopped Republicans from attempting to strip President Biden's budget proposal of climate-related funding for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and National Science Foundation (NSF).
Ted Cruz, along with fellow Republican members of the Commerce Committee, wrote that federal efforts to combat climate change and pursue goals of environmental justice were "zealous effort[s] to micromanage global temperatures," per Fox News. Their preferred method of governance is to let climate change rip and leave much of the planet unihabitable. Deranged doesn't even begin to describe that way of thinking.
It's not just the heat that's been extreme. NBC reports that over 1,300 flights were canceled over the weekend in the Northeast as Vermont and other states recover from flooding and severe storms. And who can forget the noxious wildfire smoke?
MORE STORIES TO WATCH
DeSantis Lays Off Staff as Campaign Languishes
Now for a little bit of good news. Presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis has laid off about a dozen staffers, according to NBC News, as his campaign appears strapped for cash. The DeSantis campaign burned through $7.9 million in his first six weeks alone, and now has $12.2 million in his war chest compared to Trump's $22.5 million. Many of Ron's major donors have already hit the legal maximum for campaign donations, and others have ditched him. His super PAC still has $130 million though, so our meatball-ish friend isn't going anywhere anytime soon, despite his already double-digit unfavorability and trailing Trump by almost 30 points.
Abortion Bans Weaponized by Domestic Abusers
Calls to the National Domestic Violence Hotline about "reproductive coercion," the practice of being denied an abortion or being forced to get one, nearly doubled in the year after the Supreme Court struck down Roe vs. Wade, reaching almost 2,500 calls, according to Vice. Advocates warned that this would happen should the right to an abortion be overturned at the federal level, and they were correct, per Vice:
“When you have laws that come along that are now stripping survivors of their bodily autonomy and right to control their own lives and health—which is exactly what abusive partners are trying to do—it is taking the harm even further,” said Crystal Justice, chief external affairs officer for the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Abusive partners, Justice said, now feel “emboldened and justified in their use of reproductive coercion to control the survivor, which in many cases includes survivors being forced to become pregnant.”
The National Domestic Violence Hotline takes calls 24/7 at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or 1-800-799-7233 for TTY. If you cannot speak safely, you can log onto thehotline.org or text LOVEIS to 22522.
QUICKEST QUICKIES
- Saudi Firm Hoarding Thirsty Arizona's Water The company is using the water to grow alfalfa for the Kingdom's cattle while Arizona is experiencing a historic drought. via the Washington Post.
- NY Court Orders Redrawn Congressional Map This will give NY Dems a second chance to draw a favorable, but not too favorable, map after they botched the midterm elections. via Talking Points Memo.
- Jake Sullivan Claims U.S. Has 'Moral Authority' to Send Cluster Bombs A growing number of Democrats are pushing back against the plan to send the munitions, which are known to cause heavy civilian casualties. via NBC News and Salon.
- House Ethics Committee Investigating Matt Gaez's Alleged Sexual Misconduct with Minor, Other Suspected Crimes The committee is chaired by Michael Guest (R-MS), who is close to House leadership. Could the committee be picking up the Democrats' investigation on Gaetz as retaliation for Gaetz challenging McCarthy? via the New Republic.
- Poland Hires PR Firm Linked to Steve Bannon, George Santos Apparently Santos was not happy with AMW Public Relations' services, calling them "terrible." To be fair, you're a tough case, George. via the Daily Beast
- Netanyahu Released from Hospital with Heart Monitor After Dizzy Spell I'm as surprised as you are to hear that he has a heart to monitor. via NBC News.
SOME NUMBER
$300 million
That’s the value of a Walmart heiress's "superyacht" defaced by climate activists. via the Daily Beast.
ON THE SHOW TODAY
7/17: Happy Monday! Sam and Emma host Daniel Bessner & Derek Davison, co-hosts of the American Prestige podcast, to discuss last week's NATO summit in Lithuania.
DON'T MISS MR CLIPS
Union President Fran Drescher DESTROYS Greedy Studio CEOs In Amazing Speech Of Solidarity
"We can't keep rearranging the furniture on the Titanic."
Jimmy Dore Spews Braindead "Psyop" Conspiracy Theory
How do we know that Jimmy's show isn't a Psyop?
PARTING WORDS
“Covid-19. There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. Covid-19 attacks certain races disproportionately. Covid-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.”
-- Robert F. Kennedy Jr., crank presidential candidate, revealing at a press dinner that he's not immune to antisemitic and racist conspiracy theories, and perfectly happy to spread them. via the New York Times.
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