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A Look at Heat Records Broken Around the World (Maria)
The author writes, “This year has already seen many heat records broken as the world grows hotter with more and more greenhouse gasses added to the atmosphere. For many places, the highest temperatures since record-keeping began have come in just the last 10 to 15 years. That’s the clearest possible sign that humans are altering the climate, said Randall Cerveny, a professor at Arizona State University. … Las Vegas recorded 120 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday for the first time in history. ‘It feels like the air is a blanket of just hotness that is enveloping you,’ Cerveny said about that kind of heat. It’s life-threatening and people are unprepared for it, he added.”
Support for Legal Abortion Has Risen Since Supreme Court Eliminated Protections, AP-NORC Poll Finds (Reader Steve)
From the AP: “A solid majority of Americans oppose a federal abortion ban as a rising number support access to abortions for any reason, a new poll finds, highlighting a politically perilous situation for candidates who oppose abortion rights as the November election draws closer. Around 6 in 10 Americans think their state should generally allow a person to obtain a legal abortion if they don’t want to be pregnant for any reason, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That’s an increase from June 2021, a year before the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to the procedure, when about half of Americans thought legal abortion should be possible under these circumstances.”
Hacktivists Release Two Gigabytes of Heritage Foundation Data (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “An established cybercrime group with a track record of attacking political targets posted on Tuesday roughly two gigabytes of data from the Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. Self-described ‘gay furry hackers,’ SiegedSec said it released the data in response to Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a set of proposals that aim to give Donald Trump a set of ready-made policies to implement if he wins this fall’s election. Its authors describe it as an initiative ‘to lay the groundwork for a White House more friendly to the right.’”
Italy’s Antisemitism Scandal Should Have Raised Alarms in US (Gerry)
The author writes, “An antisemitism scandal has rocked one of Europe’s major far-right political leaders: Giorgia Meloni, prime minister of Italy. It’s been major news in the European press. But the story is being mishandled by major US corporate media, and that fact says a lot about how poorly antisemitism is covered in the United States.”
US Officials Uncover Alleged Russian ‘Bot Farm’ (Sean)
From the BBC: “US officials say they have taken action against an AI-powered information operation run from Russia, including nearly 1,000 accounts pretending to be Americans. The accounts on X were designed to spread pro-Russia stories but were automated ‘bots’ — not real people. In court documents made public Tuesday the US justice department said the operation was devised by a deputy editor at Kremlin-owned RT, formerly Russia Today. … According to the court documents, artificial intelligence was used to create the accounts, which then spread pro-Russian storylines, particularly about the war in Ukraine.”
Border Town Firefighters Scramble To Save Migrants From Extreme Summer Heat (Laura)
The author writes, “It’s a relatively quiet — and hot — afternoon at Sunland Park, [New Mexico’s], Fire Department Station 1. Some firefighters working the shift are prepping for dinner. Others are doing office work. Suddenly, a loud radio call blasts through the station’s speakers. ‘I think it’s going to be a female subject, possibly undocumented,’ a female dispatcher says. Four firefighters rush to get ready, which includes loading ice into a cooler. The ice is essential — it’s used to lower the body temperature of someone in distress from extreme heat. The men jump on two different trucks, and about 10 minutes later arrive at the scene where a woman sits, propped up against a stop sign.”
‘We’re Living in a Nightmare:’ Inside the Health Crisis of a Texas Bitcoin Town (Dana and Russ)
From Time: “Over the course of several months in 2024, TIME spoke to more than 40 people in the Granbury, Texas, area who reported a medical ailment that they believe is connected to the arrival of the Bitcoin mine: hypertension, heart palpitations, chest pain, vertigo, tinnitus, migraines, panic attacks. At least 10 people went to urgent care or the emergency room with these symptoms. The development of large-scale Bitcoin mines and data centers is quite new, and most of them are housed in extremely remote places. There have been no major medical studies on the impacts of living near one. But there is an increasing body of scientific studies linking prolonged exposure to noise pollution with cardiovascular damage.”
FROM 2023: The City That Just Might Decide the 2024 Election (Al)
From The New Republic: “Milwaukee’s sizable Black population is supposed to help put Biden over the top — but people there aren’t as put off by Trump as white liberals would hope.”
