Climate files: Under the headline "Finding Climate Havens," the New York Times recommended some hot spots to take flight for before climate change makes your current home uninhabitable.
How do you know whether a location is better suited for dealing with climate change than the place you live now? Experts point to two major factors.
The first is geography. Consider the Midwest: It is inland, away from the rising, hotter oceans and seas that will cause more floods and more intense hurricanes. Midwestern states are farther north than many others, with naturally lower temperatures. The Great Lakes and surrounding rivers provide reliable sources of water, preventing some of the worst effects of drought. These factors also apply to much of the Northeast U.S., and the northern Great Plains.
The second factor is the ability to take in newcomers, climate refugees or not. Does the area have enough affordable housing? Are residents welcoming to outsiders? Are local and state governments preparing for population increases? If the answer to at least some of these questions is yes, you may have found yourself a potential destination.
Some cities meet these standards. Detroit, Cincinnati, and Buffalo, N.Y., are common examples. They are in regions with more climate-friendly geography. And they have one thing in common: Their populations have shrunk by the hundreds of thousands since the 1950s, leaving them with both a desire to bring people back and many empty buildings that could be turned into housing.
Similarly, much of inland New England and the northern Great Plains have climate-friendly geography and plenty of space for people to move into. (Montana has been called the "anti-California" for its recent efforts to build more housing.) As an added benefit, these regions also offer stunning vistas and many forms of outdoor recreation.
The Times also pointed to "parts of Canada, Russia, and Scandinavia" as locations that "could offer refuge internationally." That's right, residents of Phoenix, Siberia is waiting for you!
Anyway, what does it matter where you live when the climate is too scary for you to go outside?
Is it safe to go outside? The media say no.
Via @DrewHolden360 https://t.co/ZAGvgJEUKV
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) August 3, 2023
What's racist today: The prosecution of Donald Trump in Atlanta has nothing to do with racism, but that hasn't stopped the mainstream media from trying.
During Thursday's blanket—and often near-celebratory—coverage of Trump's arrest in the election-conspiracy case, MSNBC host Joy Reid stretched to link the news to her favorite subject.
"People like Trump persecuted Black and brown people in New York. It's what they did for fun, it's what they did for pleasure," Reid says. "To me, this is justice.@JoyAnnReid recounts how Trump wanted the exonerated Central Park Five dead. pic.twitter.com/KPgCKoSaao
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 25, 2023
Reid is one of many reporters and commentators who have characterized the former president as a secret white supremacist based on his criticism of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and other prosecutors. Much was made, for example, of Trump's complaint last week that the Atlanta prosecutors "never went after those that Rigged the Election" and "only went after those that fought to find the RIGGERS."
Here's how the Associated Press summed up the latest case that Trump is racist:
The early Republican presidential front-runner has used terms such as "animal" and "rabid" to describe Black district attorneys. He has accused Black prosecutors of being "racist." He has made unsupported claims about their personal lives. And on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump has deployed terms that rhyme with racial slurs as some of his supporters post racist screeds about the same targets. ...
Even if he doesn’t explicitly employ racial slurs, his language recalls America’s history of portraying Black people as not fully human. ...
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung pushed back against the idea that the former president attacks people based on race, saying in an emailed statement that Trump "doesn’t have a racist bone in his body and anyone saying otherwise is a racist and bigot themselves."
Per the New York Times's comprehensive list of Trump's Twitter insults, he has used "animal" and "racist" to refer to opponents of various races, including white actress Debra Messing, white Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), the white-person department store Macy's, and whoever firebombed a GOP office in Orange County, North Carolina.
Checking the fact checkers: The first Republican presidential debate on Wednesday spurred a spate of fact checks of candidates who criticized Democratic support for unlimited abortion access. But, as the Washington Free Beacon reported, it was the journalists who got it wrong.
The fact checkers: The New York Times and FactCheck.org declared the Republicans' remarks "misleading," while Reuters said the candidates were "missing context." PolitiFact said the statements were "false," and HuffPost deemed them "misinformation." The Washington Post claimed the "common Republican talking point" is untrue because such procedures are "rare." Rolling Stone outright accused the candidates of lying.
Jen Psaki, an MSNBC host and former press secretary for President Joe Biden, tweeted during the debate, "No one supports abortion up until birth."
The facts: Democrats across the country, including President Biden and all but one member of the party's House caucus, have expressed support for abortion up until birth with zero or negligible restrictions.
Here's 5 minutes of Democrats supporting abortions up to birth. Quit lying. https://t.co/rnYvFSBSJY pic.twitter.com/v8XmQnWJOk
— LifeNews.com (@LifeNewsHQ) August 24, 2023
Trump engagement syndrome: Politico scooped that, on the eve of Wednesday's debate, a gaggle of journalists—including CNN's Dana Bash, CBS News' Bob Costa, and the Washington Post's Josh Dawsey—had dinner with senior aides to the man they love to hate. Following an evening that reportedly involved "wining and dining" and inside jokes about the debate participants, Bash appeared on CNN to repeat Trump's complaints about the contest, which he skipped.
Dana Bash parties with Trump surrogates and the next day goes on CNN and does this. https://t.co/pZuRpQobYr
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) August 23, 2023
As the Free Beacon has established, the media can't quit Trump.
More than 3 million people tuned into CNN’s town hall with Trump.
The last time CNN aired a show with those kinds of ratings, Trump was in the White House—and that’s probably not a coincidence.
Via @DrewHolden360 https://t.co/Yf4CRLHVYU
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) May 15, 2023
Veep watch: Kamala Harris is putting "the rockiness" of the past few years, i.e., her entire vice presidency, behind her and showing Americans the real Kamala, according to a nearly 2,000 word Politico profile:
Backstage, as she prepares for a not-so-intimate "fireside chat" about gun safety in front of hundreds of people, Kamala Harris is unscripted and seemingly at ease, no notes or teleprompter in sight. …
Now, there's a hope the rockiness may finally be behind them. And there is a concerted effort underway to ensure that she not only has the support she needs from the White House but that the broader public can see the side of her that—they believe—has been overshadowed by the toxic elements of D.C. To that end, her aides are trying to remind the public of that person, in part by inviting reporters to witness her behind the scenes. …
Aides say Harris' current, more fitting portfolio as the administration's front person on abortion rights, gun violence, climate change and civil rights will be front and center during the campaign. They view her key constituencies as people of color, especially Black voters, young people and women.
According to the media, Harris has been "stepping up," taking "center stage," finding "her voice," and hitting "her stride" for months, if not since Biden nominated her as her running mate, the Free Beacon reported.
And yet, Harris has remained the least popular vice president in history.
Stay safe out there, and see you next week.