Bits n’ pieces from east, west and beyond
East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact.
A recent sampling:
Recently 75 million people in the U.S. were under air quality alerts due to smoke from wildfires in Canada, where officials say this looks to be their worst wildfire season on record. Smoke blew as far south as Georgia.
Already over 2,000 Canadian fires have burned an area 12 times the 10-year average for this time of year, BBC stated. Calls for international help from fire fighters have been put out.
Wildfires are expected to accelerate and become more frequent and more intense (with year-to-year variation) due to climate change, which causes higher temperatures and drier conditions.
Recent wildfire soot levels in the U.S. were 10 times more than what’s considered safe, The Lever reported.
People in smoky areas have been cautioned to wear masks for protection. In the U.S. the haze grounded some flights, cancelled numerous events, drove people away from outdoor recreation and prompted zoo officials to create protections for some animals.
Wildfire smoke can elevate the pulse, cause chest pain and inflame eyes, nose and throat. Environment Canada said fine particles pose the greatest risk and respirators don’t reduce exposure to gases in wildfire smoke.
The National Center for Atmospheric Research says wildfires have reversed several decades of progress made for clean air. As well, the BBC said wildfires add to already too–high greenhouse gasses.
Ironically, The Lever noted that the dirty air will not be recorded as such under the federal Clean Air Act, due to its classification as an “exceptional event” (pushed by the fossil fuel industry) that is beyond control.
The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee disagrees, noting that wildfires are occurring at a rate higher than normal and are triggered by both climate change and land management practices, making them eligible for regulation under the Clean Air Act.
That regulation could include cutting back on existing air pollution sources when smoky air is at a high. Exceptions for listing smoke from wildfires are being proposed for managed burns that can shrink the risk of catastrophic wildfires.
The New York Times: 1.3 million adults and 300,000 children identify as transgender.
In a national “first” a former president, Donald Trump, faces federal charges. Last week Special Counsel Jack Smith made a statement about the indictment charging Trump with 37 counts of violating national security laws, along with engaging in a conspiracy to obstruct justice. Smith said Trump’s loose handling of the documents put our nation and others at risk. He encouraged everyone to read the full text for a grasp of “the gravity of the crimes charged.”
The indictment came from a grand jury of Florida citizens. Charges include “unauthorized possession of, access to and control over documents relating to national defense and for refusing to deliver them to the [entities] of the U.S. entitled to receive them.”
That language is from the Espionage Act and violation of that act can lead to a significant prison sentence, the AP said. Of those documents 21 were marked top secret. Numerous political commentators are asking who might now have copies.
Allegations against Trump and co-defendant Walt Nauton include unauthorized taking from the White House info about defense and weapons capability, including nuclear info, unauthorized disclosure of classified documents, which poses a national security risk for the U.S. and other nations; storage of the documents at Trump’s Florida estate, in various rooms with public access; Trump showing documents to people without security clearances and telling them they were “highly confidential” and “secret” and Trump dodging numerous efforts by the FBI to recover missing documents.
Trump was not charged for illegally keeping the 197 documents he had returned, The Washington Post noted. The charges only encompass documents he kept, showed to others and hid.
Trump’s former Attorney General Bill Barr confessed on Fox News that he was “shocked” at the sensitivity of the documents “and how many there were.” He added, “If even half of it is true, then he’s toast. I mean, it’s a very detailed indictment and it’s very, very damning.”
According to an ABC News/Ipsos poll, 48% of Americans think charges against Trump are justified, 35% don’t think so and 17% say they don’t know.
Historian Heather Cox Richardson called the indictment “a shockingly thorough case to prove the allegations.”
Two of Trump’s lawyers quickly quit his team. The Special Counsel is also investigating allegations Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 election. Some Trump supporters, opposing the indictment, are calling for violent resistance.
Trump has entered a “not guilty” plea.
Blast from the past: Juneteenth has been celebrated since 1866 and commemorates the day, June 19,
1865, when the last enslaved African Americans were informed that the Civil War had ended and they were now
free. It became a federal holiday in 2021.
And another blast: When running for office in 2016 Trump accused his opponent of mishandling classified info and stated on Aug. 18, that “I’m going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information. No one will be above the law.”