Weekly News Roundup - 7/21/24
The U.S. is being heat domed // RIP Willie Mays // Warning labels for social media?
Welcome to the 24th Weekly News Roundup of 2024. The archive for all weekly news roundups is here. If you notice stories or issues you’d like to see mentioned in these roundups, let me know. In 2024, the Border Stalkers Substack is featuring one news update a week, and one book a month, with weekly posts on each book. The book of the month schedule is here.
These weekly dispatches are designed for people who may not have time to do more than glance at the headlines, or who want to stay informed without becoming obsessed by politics and news. These roundups are a targeted way to get a sense of the shape of the past week on the national level. Without such a map, we can be disoriented, not knowing where we have been over the past several days, or where we may be going.
But by spending concentrated, limited time thinking about the big picture, we can devote more of our time to where “agency and justice begin and end,” as Karen Swallow Prior put it: “on the ground, bodily, in community and real relationships, in flesh and blood.”
Quote of the Week
"Here is the real challenge to you and, frankly, to all of us. Can you throw yourselves into the mental position of those who think differently and try to see the world through their eyes? Are you prepared to give credit to your opponents and learn from your critics when they prove you wrong? If you can do all that, then you already belong to the moderates' camp, even if you might not be aware of it yet." - Aurelian Craiutu, Why Not Moderation?
Big Stories This Week
It's hot. Too hot. That's the big story this week, as the heat dome moved its way sluggishly across the country.
Otherwise, it was a pretty quiet week, a bit of a pause. The fighting in Israel took a respite. And in the U.S., the nation is looking ahead to the first presidential debate next Thursday.
But it's also summer. American kids are out of school, people are traveling, and people are focused on spending time with their families and friends.
Week in Review
Friday, June 14
Opal Lee, a 97-year old activist who helped make Juneteenth a national holiday in the U.S.,moves into a new home in Forth Worth, Texas. The house sits on the same spot where a mob chased Lee, then 12 years old, and her family from their home in 1939, angry that a black family had moved into the neighborhood. "I plan to have an open house and invite all the neighbors," Lee told the Associated Press. "Our Bible says that we are our brother's keeper, and we should act like it."
The U.S. State Department sanctions an extremist Israeli group tied to settlers and radical members of the military reserves, in a symbolic rebuke of sabotage and harassment by some right-wing Israelis that has destroyed or slowed aid to Gaza.
Saturday, June 15
A 42-year old Michigan man described as a "loner" by a neighbor shoots 9 people at a splash pad, injuring two of them critically, before killing himself.
The death of Southern Baptist leader Paul Pressler is first reported by the Baptist News Global, more than a week after his death at age 94. BNG notes that Pressler's death went unannounced other than by a Houston funeral home. Pressler led the conservative takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention in the late 70's and early 80's, and then was accused in later years by eight men of sexual abuse, including when one of them — Duane Rollins — was 14 years old. Pressler denied the allegations but the SBC settled a lawsuit last year by Rollins.
Sunday, June 16
Israel says it will pause daytime fighting in a portion of southern Gaza to allow humanitarian aid to flow more freely.
Monday, June 17
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy calls on Congress to pass a law requiring warning labels on social media platforms, "stating that social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents."
Over 75 million Americans are under extreme heat alerts, as a "heat dome" that worked its way across the Southwest earlier in June moves across the Great Lakes and toward the northeast region.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu dissolves the war council that had included some moderates, following the protest resignation of political rival Benny Ganz the previous week. The move gives Netanyahu more control of Israel's wartime decisions and reduces the chances of a ceasefire.
New Jersey political boss George Norcross is indicted on corruption charges by the state's attorney general, Matt Platkin.
The Boston Celtics win the NBA Finals championship, defeating the Dallas Mavericks 4 games to 1 with a 106-88 victory in Boston.
Tuesday, June 18
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, says he will work with the state legislature to crack down on phone usage in public schools by students during the school day. "When children and teens are in school, they should be focused on their studies — not their screens," Newsom says. Two other states have already done this: Florida and Indiana. Ohio, in addition, has placed some restrictions on phone use in public schools. And nine other states are considering implementing phone bans during school hours: Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, Maryland, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arizona, Utah, and Washington.
The House Ethics Committee, which is chaired by a Republican, announces that it is investigating whether Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-FL, engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. It's an unusual move for the Ethics Committee to issue such a public statement.
Baseball legend Willie Mays dies, at 93 years old.
Wednesday, June 19
Americans celebrate Juneteenth, which became a national holiday in 2021. Broadly, the day celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S., one of the nation's steps toward fulfilling the promise of our Declaration of Independence. It began as a celebration in Galveston, Texas, of the arrival of federal troops on June 19, 1865, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been issued 2.5 years earlier by President Lincoln.
The "heat dome" produces heat indexes of between 100 and 105 in the Great Lakes and Northeast.
Russian president Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sign a mutual defense treaty, promising to come to one another's aid if the other is attacked, during a summit between the two nation's leaders in North Korea.
Thursday, June 20
The heat index hits between 100 and 110 in parts of the northeast, as far north as Maine.
A U.N. World Food Program official says that Israel's tactical pause to allow aid into Gaza has made "no difference" because the proposed route for aid trucks is not protected from raids by organized gangs.
Campaign finance filings show that Donald Trump's campaign raised $141 million in May, as his supporters responded to his criminal conviction in New York. President Biden's campaign raised $85 million in May and had $212 million in all. Trump's campaign did not disclose how much cash they have on hand.
Actor Donald Sutherland dies at age 88.
Friday, June 21
Biden goes to the presidential retreat at Camp David to begin preparing for the first of two debates with Trump, which will take place next Thursday.
Parts of the mid-Atlantic region, including Washington D.C., brace for a weekend of temperatures nearing 100 degrees.
Interesting Reads
Catholics could decide the 2024 election Catholics are a good weathervane for how the country will vote: If you win Catholics, you likely win the country, by Tom Reese for Religion News Service
The fate of the latest cease-fire proposal hinges on Netanyahu and Hamas’ leader in Gaza, by Tia Goldenberg for The Associated Press
Willie Mays was as good — and as cool — as anyone who ever played, by Thomas Boswell for The Washington Post
Avian flu spread in cows not being tracked, posing greater risk of human transmission, by David Lim and Meredith Lee Hill for Politico
Our Desire for Inexpensive Food Is Putting Us in Danger, by David Quammen for The New York Times
The ‘absolute explosion’ of foreign interference in U.S. politics, by Catherine Kim for Politico
France Is on the Brink of Something Terrifying, by Cole Stangler for The New York Times
The pope and 100 comedians walk into a room: Watch Pope Francis as he meets Colbert, Conan, Whoopi and more, by Giada Zampana for The Associated Press
Poisoned trees gave a wealthy couple in Maine a killer ocean view. Residents wonder, at what cost? by David Sharp for The Associated Press
The Greens Are Dead. Long Live the Greens! by Matina Stevis-Gridneff for The New York Times
A US aircraft carrier and its crew have fought Houthi attacks for months. How long can it last? By Lolita C. Baldor and Jon Gambrell for The Associated Press
Jon, I'm fortunate in that I have time to read some news every day, so your weekly roundup serves as more of a review for me, which helps me keep the details in perspective, and your links to other articles keeps me moving beyond what I already know. Thanks!