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NEWS AND OPINION:
Will he or won’t he? Should he or shouldn’t he? The stark questions and hand wringing have begun over the possibility that former President Donald Trump will launch a bid for reelection in 2024.
Fans, critics and certainly the press are joining in the chorus here, monitoring Mr. Trump’s public statements, curious asides, cryptic writings or casual announcements for clues. Interest is even global.
“Donald Trump gives the strongest indication he’ll run for president in 2024 as Mike Pence takes aim,” advised ABC News — as in the Australian Broadcasting Company, which offered a lengthy analysis of the possibilities on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, here are some U.S. headlines from the last 48 hours:
“Trump’s America First speech was a soft launch for 2024” (The Atlantic); “House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy says he’s personally lobbied Trump not to make a 2024 announcement until after the midterms” (Yahoo News); “The walls are finally starting to close in — so expect Trump to announce his 2024 run soon” (Salon); “Kellyanne Conway: Trump wants to announce 2024 run ‘today’” (Washington Examiner); “Trump should announce his candidacy before the midterms” (American Greatness); “Trump Is already running in the 2024 ‘Fox News Primary’ — and he’s scared he’s losing” (RollingStone); “Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says GOP governors worry a Trump 2024 announcement before the midterms could ‘cost us seats’” (Business Insider).
The Michelle factor
Let’s consider another potential presidential hopeful. When lists of possible White House candidates surface in press coverage, Michelle Obama is invariably included on the roster.
There could be something to that, perhaps.
Mrs. Obama has a new book on the way: writing a significant book memoir or autobiography is sometimes a sign that someone is, well, gearing up for a run.
Publisher Penguin Random House has revealed that the former first lady has a book arriving Nov. 15; the title is “The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times.” The book will be released simultaneously in 14 languages and 27 countries; some 2.75 million copies will be printed.
And its content? The publisher also reveals that the book offers “a series of fresh stories and insightful reflections on change, challenge, and power.”
It’s getting crowded
There is a fair amount of room on planet Earth. Consider that the surface of our planet measures 197,060,800 square miles, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, which ought to know about such things.
Humanity, however, appears to prefer the crowded life.
“The world’s population will cross 8 billion in November, according to recently released projections from the United Nations. And more than half of all people live in just seven countries,” wrote Conrad Hackett, associate director of research and senior demographer at the Pew Research Center.
“China has the world’s largest population (1.426 billion), but India (1.417 billion) is expected to claim this title next year. The next five most populous nations – the United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria and Brazil – together have fewer people than India or China. In fact, China’s population is greater than the entire population of Europe (744 million) or the Americas (1.04 billion) and roughly equivalent to that of all nations in Africa (1.427 billion),” Mr. Hackett noted.
The source for his projection is the 2022 UN Population Division’s World Populations Prospects, which was released July 11.
And by the way, the UN report also predicted the global population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100.
‘Heat bias’
More scientific information today from the Heartland Institute, an exacting free-market think tank based in Illinois. Here is what the organization shared with Inside the Beltway:
“A new study, ‘Corrupted Climate Stations: The Official U.S. Surface Temperature Record Remains Fatally Flawed,’ finds approximately 96% of U.S. temperature stations used to measure climate change fail to meet what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) considers to be ‘acceptable’ and uncorrupted placement by its own published standards,” the organization said in a statement.
The group investigated this trend through satellite images and in-person survey visits to NOAA weather stations that contribute to the “official” land temperature data in the U.S.
“Official NOAA temperature stations produce corrupted data due to purposeful placement in man-made hot spots,” the study said.
The research showed that the findings have been “corrupted” by localized effects of urbanization such as asphalt, machinery and other “heat-producing, heat-trapping, or heat-accentuating objects.”
The result is “heat bias” and “warm bias” the research said.
This bias “strongly undermines the legitimacy and the magnitude of the official consensus on long-term climate warming trends in the United States,” the report said.
“With a 96% warm bias in U.S. temperature measurements, it is impossible to use any statistical methods to derive an accurate climate trend for the U.S.” said Heartland Institute senior fellow Anthony Watts, the director of the study, in a statement.
“Data from the stations that have not been corrupted by faulty placement show a rate of warming in the United States reduced by almost half compared to all stations,” he said.
It’s complicated. Find the whole thing at Heartland.org.
Poll du jour
93% of U.S. parents with children ages 6 months to 4 years old have not gotten their young child vaccinated against COVID-19.
43% of this group “definitely” will not get their young child vaccinated.
27% plan to “wait and see” to see how the vaccine is working.
13% will have the child get the vaccine only if a school of child care provider requires it.
10% plan to get them vaccinated “right away.”
7% don’t know, or refused to answer the question.
Source: A Kaiser Family Foundation of 1,847 U.S. adults conducted July 7-17; the poll included a sample of 416 parents with a child between 6 months and 4 years old.
Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.
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