The head of Brazil's National Institute for Space Research said on Friday he was going to be sacked following a row with President Jair Bolsonaro over deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.

Ricardo Galvao had accused far-right Bolsonaro of “cowardice” for publicly questioning satellite data produced by the INPE institute that showed Amazon rainforest deforestation had increased 88 percent on-year in June.

“My words about the president have caused annoyance, so I'm going to be fired,” said Galvao.

Two weeks ago, Bolsonaro had told reporters: “With all the devastation that you are accusing us of doing ... the Amazon region would already have been extinguished.”

Bolsonaro, a climate change skeptic, also called on Galvao “to come to Brasilia to explain the data that was released to the press.”

The president has previously floated the idea of opening up protected rainforest areas to agriculture, a highly controversial move given the existing level of deforestation.

In his row with Galvao, Bolsonaro suggested the INPE president is “in the service of some NGOs.”

A day later, Galvao hit back, blasting Bolsonaro for making “undue accusations against people of the highest level of Brazilian science” and comparing his suspicions to “a joke by a 14-year-old boy.”

Bolsonaro upped the ante on Thursday, claiming the INPE figures “don't correspond to the truth” and were damaging to the institute and the country.

Galvao previously insisted he wouldn't resign, but speaking on Friday he admitted he had discussed the possibility he might be fired with the Minister for Science and Technology, Marcos Pontes.

Galvao told the press that his dismissal wouldn't affect INPE, an institution of international repute. The latest data released by INPE shows that deforestation has increased 40 percent in the last two months alone.

https://en.mercopress.com/2019/08/03/amazon-deforestation-bolsonaro-ready-to-sack-official-who-exposed-him

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/458344-poll-shows-biden-warren-tied-with-trump-in-arizona%3Famp

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are statistically tied with President Trump in Arizona, a state that hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in a quarter century, according to a new poll.

The new survey conducted by OH Predictive Insights, a Phoenix-based nonpartisan pollster, shows Biden leading Trump by a 45 percent to 43 percent margin. Trump leads Warren 44 percent to 43 percent, the poll found.

The survey shows Trump running better against other potential Democratic nominees. He leads Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) 44 percent to 34 percent; he leads Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) 45 percent to 36 percent; and he leads South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) 43 percent to 38 percent.

In the group's last survey, conducted in May just after Biden entered the race, Trump led every Democratic candidate except Biden by a statistically significant margin. The May survey showed Biden leading Trump 49 percent to 44 percent.

Since that last survey, Noble said, Trump's approval ratings have sagged - and they have taken his head-to-head numbers against Democrats down with them. As a consequence, Trump now appears vulnerable in a state that has rarely been competitive at the presidential level

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/a-black-teen-ran-out-with-a-dollar2-beer-then-a-tennessee-store-clerk-followed-him-and-shot-him-dead/ar-AAFWkml?ocid=spartandhp

>A jury found a grocery clerk guilty of killing a 17-year-old boy who ran out of the store with a beer he didn't pay for in Memphis, Tennessee, in a case that had sparked protests, authorities said.

Anwar Ghazali was convicted of second-degree murder after a four-day trial, Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich said Friday. "This defendant took it upon himself to be the judge and jury and the executioner over a $2 beer," prosecutor Lora Fowler said, according to CNN affiliate WMC.
>The shooting happened in March 2018, after Dorian Harris walked out of the Top Stop Shop with a beer without paying, Weirich said.
>Security video of the incident played in court shows that Ghazali, while behind the counter dealing with another customer, pulled out a handgun and pointed it at Harris. He then ran outside to follow the teen and fired several times.
>Afterward, he returned to the store and told a witness, "I think I shot him." He did not call the police, and neither did any other customer inside the store, WMC reported.
>Harris was shot at least three times and was left to bleed out, Fowler said. His body was found two days later in a yard near the store with gunshots in the back of his thigh, Weirich said.
>Ghazali's defense attorney, Blake Ballin, told CNN in an email that Ghazali maintains he acted recklessly that night but his intention was never to harm Harris. He said they were pleased that the jury rejected the prosecution's argument that this was a calculated and premeditated murder motivated by the theft of a beer. That would have come with a potential life sentence.
>Ghazali is expected to be sentenced on September 23.

>In Wisconsin, at least a dozen people have recently been hospitalized and treated for severe lung damage. The first cases were reported last month, and the number has been growing. All of these patients are young — between their teenage years and 30s — and all of them appear to have been harmed by vaping.

That new & improved product works faster & quicker then the original
>"It's mind-boggling," Dr. Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Center for Health Research, told CBS News. "The vast majority of people who smoke started as children or as young teens, and yet you don't hear about people getting lung cancer until their 40s, 50s, 60s," she said. "Think about that compared to what's happening to these kids now. I've never heard of a smoker ending up in the hospital in their teens."

But, butt, Vaping is better for you they said! It will be fun they said! Marketers wouldn't lie to us to sell a product as health alternative they said.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-hospitalized-for-lung-damage-after-vaping-e-cigarettes-juul-health-risks/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7341273/Immigration-advocate-killed-crash-Salvadoran-living-illegally.html

Sean Buchanan, 45, from Colorado, was killed when his motorcycle was rammed by a truck operated by illegal immigrant Miguel Ramirez Valiente on August 2

A day earlier, Valiente's probation stemming from a 2018 DUI conviction was extended because he had failed to complete his sentence

Valiente, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, was charged with misdemeanor careless driving on revoked license

He made headlines in January when he had sought refuge in a church to avoid getting deported

Buchanan was a staunch supporter of rights of immigrants

>20 Million new jobs for Americans.

WASHINGTON — Senator Bernie Sanders on Thursday released a $16.3 trillion blueprint to fight climate change, the latest and most expensive proposal from the field of Democratic presidential candidates aimed at reining in planet-warming greenhouse gases.

Mr. Sanders unveiled his proposal one day after Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington, who made climate change the central focus of his campaign, announced he was dropping out of the 2020 race. Mr. Inslee’s absence could create an opening for another presidential aspirant to seize the mantle of “climate candidate.”

Mr. Sanders was an early supporter of the Green New Deal, an ambitious but nonbinding congressional plan for tackling global warming and economic inequality. He is bestowing that same name upon his new plan, which calls for the United States to eliminate fossil fuel use by 2050.

It declares climate change a national emergency; envisions building new solar, wind and geothermal power sources across the country; and commits $200 billion to help poor nations cope with climate change.

Mr. Sanders said in an interview that his proposal would “pay for itself” over 15 years and create 20 million jobs in the process.

Mr. Sanders said in an interview that his proposal would “pay for itself” over 15 years and create 20 million jobs in the process.

Also on Thursday, a Democratic National Committee panel rejected a proposal to hold a presidential primary debate dedicated to climate change, voting 17 to 8 against the idea. The decision was not a surprise, but some environmental activists denounced the vote and said it showed that the D.N.C. was not taking climate change seriously enough.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/22/climate/bernie-sanders-climate-change.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/08/21/trump-signs-order-eliminate-student-loan-debt-disabled-vets/2078416001/


>President Donald Trump announced Wednesday a new plan to relieve disabled veterans totally of federal student loan debt.

>"The debt of disabled veterans will be entirely erased," Trump said during his prepared remarks at the American Veterans 75th National Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. "In a few moments, I will sign a memorandum directing the Department of Education to eliminate every penny of federal student loan debt owed by American veterans who are completely and permanently disabled."

>About half of the roughly 50,000 disabled veterans who are qualified to have their federal student loan debt forgiven have received the benefit because of an application process that has proven burdensome, the administration said.

>The memo directs the government to develop an "expedited" process, which the Department of Education said would mean loans are forgiven unless veterans opt out.

>Trump addressed a large crowd of veterans at the event, saying, "You fought courageously for your country, and now we’re fighting courageously for you."

>He also vowed to eliminate "every penny" of an average of $30,000 in federal student loan debt for each of about 25,000 disabled veterans.

...is full of shit, it turns out.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190815/18023542791/

>Latest 'Google Whistleblower' To Prove Anti-Conservative Bias Doesn't Prove Anything And Appears To Be Bigoted Conspiracy Theorist

So, we had just pointed out that the "fired ex-Googler whistleblower" whom everyone was pointing to last week as "proof" of "anti-conservative bias" at Google, didn't look so good when you got to see the details (which included statements that certainly read to be pretty supportive of white nationalists, rather than support for, say, the free market and lower taxes).

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190806/22040442735/

You'd think that peddlers continuing to push this theory with the next person would take more time in the vetting process. But... of course, if it's Project Veritas we're talking about, it appears the only vetting they like to do is "can we spin this the way we want so that idiot suckers will buy it?" And that's what's happened.

The usual folks in our own comments who insist there's anti-conservative bias at Google have been yelling at me for the past few days, claiming that I'm "ignoring" this proof because I just can't take it or something. Or... more accurately, because it's total garbage. First, let's talk about the "whistleblower." If you thought the last guy was bad, well, get a load of Zach Vorhies:

>What O’Keefe’s video leaves out, though, is that his much-hyped insider is not as credible as he claims. On social media, Vorhies is an avid promoter of anti-Semitic accusations that banks, the media, and the United States government are controlled by “Zionists.” He’s also pushed conspiracy theories like QAnon, Pizzagate, and the discredited claim that vaccines cause autism.

Seems credible, no?

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly wants Ireland to agree to temporarily leave its trading union with the European Union and join with the UK instead after Brexit.

The Sun newspaper reports that Downing Street is considering asking Ireland to voluntarily diverge from EU rules to prevent a hard border between the two countries after Britain leaves the EU.

Under the plan Ireland would gain a "special dispensation" from Brussels to leave its trading rules until new "alternative arrangements" to the Northern Ireland backstop are established.

"The solution is a bilateral agreement to agree a common rule book for Britain and Ireland for as long we need one," a senior minister in Johnson's government told The Sun.

The person added: "Ideally though, the EU would formally propose it rather than us [so] it is more acceptable to the Irish."

Ireland described the proposal as "worrying."

"This is an EU-UK matter, we are the EU, there is no scope for a bilateral agreement," Neale Richmond, the Brexit spokesman for Ireland's ruling Fine Gael party, tweeted, adding that the apparent proposal was a "worrying pivot" by the UK government.

Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister Coveney told RTE Radio that Ireland would not be "steam-rolled" by Britain.
"There is a consequence to the approach that the British Government is taking and that consequence is that they are making a no-deal far more likely," he said.

https://potatonewstoday.com/