Biden uses clips of Marjorie Taylor Greene speech for new campaign ad
Shania Shelton – July 19, 2023
Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg/Getty Images
President Joe Biden on Tuesday posted a campaign ad promoting his legislative wins by using clips from a recent speech GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene gave at the Turning Point Action Conference where she compared Biden to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson.
“Joe Biden had the largest public investment in social infrastructure and environmental programs, that is actually finishing what FDR started, that LBJ expanded on, and Joe Biden is attempting to complete,” Greene said in the video set to cheerful music.
The ad continues with another clip from the speech Greene gave over the weekend in which she explains the Biden administration’s investments. “Programs to address education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, transportation, Medicare, Medicaid labor unions, and he still is working on it,” Greene said.
In response to Greene’s speech, the White House tweeted on Monday: “Caught us. President Biden is working to make life easier for hardworking families.”
The congresswoman from Georgia – who was recently ejected from the House Freedom Caucus – tweeted on Tuesday, “This is really what Joe Biden approves,” in response to the campaign ad alongside a longer clip of her speech. In the new clip, she discusses economics in the country, explaining that “we are now $32 trillion in debt with record high homelessness, 40-year record inflation.”
The Biden administration has been promoting “Bidenomics” over the past few weeks – an economic theory which rejects the idea of “trickle-down” policies in favor of focusing on the middle class. It is expected to be a centerpiece of Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign.
The president first embraced the idea in June at a time when the administration was searching for a solution to Americans’ negative perception of the economy and a vehicle to take credit for an economy that is increasingly trending in the right direction.
In Florida, Swimmers Brave an Ocean That Feels Like Steamy Syrup
Patricia Mazzei – July 19, 2023
Beachgoers at Key Biscayne Beach. (NYT)
The water temperature near Key Biscayne, a barrier island just east of Miami, had already passed 89 degrees Fahrenheit one morning this week. And though the ocean off South Florida was slightly cooler than the recent record highs that had stunned scientists and threatened marine life, it remained phenomenally hot.
But on this serene patch of the Atlantic Coast, it was still a summer day at the beach, when nothing satisfies quite like a dip — even when the ocean feels like a thick, simmering syrup. Almost gooey.
“I like it warm,” shrugged Niki Candela, 20, a Miami native, moments after a powerful siren warned of approaching lightning.
Few of the heat-dazed people on the largely empty beach paid it any mind. The shore, usually clogged this time of year with rotting clusters of seaweed, was pristine, no longer menaced by a huge sargassum blob that unexpectedly shrank last month in the Gulf of Mexico. The shallow water was a crystalline teal, rolling oh so gently, not a cresting wave in sight.
So the undeterred regulars, people who savor being hot and abhor the cold, came out to enjoy themselves.
“This is as close as America gets to paradise,” said Lauren Humphreys, 40, who is originally from England but splits her time between Miami and Los Angeles. There, she prefers hiking to swimming in the Pacific, which Tuesday reached about 72 degrees by the Santa Monica Pier.
Humphreys was making her second visit to Key Biscayne’s beaches that day, having come earlier to meditate. “There’s something quite special here,” she said. “It’s peaceful.”
Off the coast of neighboring Virginia Key, measurements from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed that the water temperature peaked at 90.5 degrees on Monday, and the air temperature at 87.6 degrees. On Saturday, the water temperature at that location reached 92.5 degrees, a record.
The water in South Florida is always warm this time of year, but unusually so this year, with six record-high temperatures measured off Virginia Key this month. The sea surface hit 98 degrees in some areas of Florida Bay last week; the average ocean temperature in Miami in July is around 86.
Miami’s unrelenting heat this summer has meant 16 consecutive days with a heat index at or above 105 degrees, a record, according to Brian McNoldy, a senior research scientist at the University of Miami. The National Weather Service forecast a heat index of 110 degrees Sunday, issuing its first-ever extreme heat advisory for Miami-Dade County.
At the beach the next day, the scorching sand was to be avoided at all costs. “Talk to me here, so I don’t burn my feet,” Eduardo Valades, 51, told a reporter, beckoning toward the lapping water.
The water was “really hot,” he said, “but only as soon as you go in. Once you walk 50 yards out, it feels cooler.”
“I love it,” his wife, Jennifer Valades, 50, said.
The couple moved three years ago to Key Biscayne, an affluent village of about 14,000, from California. “Here, you can literally swim for hours,” she said, though she conceded that the beach was more pleasant — “perfect,” in fact — during the mild South Florida winter, when the water temperature is more likely to be in the mid-70s. Coastal temperatures are also more moderate than those inland.
Valades said she had recently spotted six or seven manatees. Valades showed a cellphone video he recorded last month of a large shark feeding right at the shore.
“We see one every three or four days,” he said, appearing far from worried about the sightings.
This week, toweling off seemed unnecessary: No one felt cold leaving the water.
“It feels like a Jacuzzi!” Sasha Mishenina told her two friends following a brief dip. They had declined to join her.
Yet going for a quick swim still felt refreshing, with the occasional cool current swirling by and little fish darting by people’s feet.
“I’m so happy, because they said we were going to have the sargassum,” Adriana Campuzano said of predictions this year, as she was gathering her stuff to leave before the looming thunderstorm. “It’s clearer than it’s been in years. Maybe in a decade.”
Candela had come to the beach with three friends. The ocean felt fine, she said, though she added that sometimes with such hot water, “you think, ‘What if someone’s peeing here?’”
She and her friends laid out their towels on beach chairs under an umbrella, put music on and waded in.
“It actually feels pretty cold,” said Taylor Dutil, 20, a fellow Floridian.
“It’s a good change,” said Benny Perez, 22, who is from Chicago, where Lake Michigan was far cooler that day.
The siren blared three more times, signaling the end of the lightning threat. Not a raindrop had fallen. The four friends stayed in the water, chatting and laughing.
Kansas Republicans have managed to sink nearly as low as infamous and heartless duke
Charles Hammer – July 19, 2023
I was impelled to write this column by a recent history book: “Samuel Pepys and the Strange Wrecking of the Gloucester,” by Nigel Pickford.
The war frigate Gloucester sank in 1682 during a storm off the British coast, imperiling not just its lowly crew but many nobles and — above all — James, Duke of York, who would soon be King of England. James escaped through the frigate’s big rear windows into his own lifeboat.
The tale reminded me of a column I wrote nearly five years ago. In it, I praised Kansas Republican leaders for being more generous to the poor than were the British grandees who starved millions in the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s, forcing scurvy-ravaged millions more onto “ghost ships” sailing for America. Our Kansas Republicans are better people than Sir Charles Trevelyn, the British official who cheered the Potato Famine on.
“The judgement of God sent the calamity to teach the Irish a lesson,” Sir Charles wrote. “That calamity must not be too much mitigated. …The real evil with which we have to contend is not the physical evil of the Famine, but the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the people.”
OK, but just how much better are today’s Republican leaders? In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, millionaire President Donald Trump tweeted moral criticism of the suffering Puerto Ricans.
“They want everything done for them,” he groused.
Former Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley once justified cutting estate taxes on the rich as a way to honor “the people that are investing, as opposed to those that are just spending every darn penny they have, whether it’s on booze or women or movies.”
Every darn penny they have? Precisely because of Kansas Republicans, our poor folks have few pennies to blow on women and booze. We stand as a stingy island in the middle of four surrounding states — three of them Republican — that have raised the minimum wage above the lousy national $7.25 hourly.
Citizens of Nebraska, Missouri and Oklahoma dodged past their leaders with initiative petitions that permitted a vote on the issue. These same three — against the will of fulminating Republican politicians — also voted to expand Medicaid to help the poor.
But in miserly Republican Kansas, we don’t tolerate voter initiatives. Nor do we suffer throwing more money away on doctors for the poor. Kansas stands rock solid among America’s 10 states that refuse to expand Medicaid. It was killed once by the Kansas senate, a second time when vetoed by then Gov. Sam Brownback. An aide to Brownback, Melika Willoughby, explained:
“This isn’t just bad policy, this is morally reprehensible…”
Morals again. Morals are very important to Republicans.
Here’s one good thing about Kansas legislators: By stiffing our own poor folks, Republicans helped fund care for the needy in the 40 states that did expand Medicaid. Our Kansas legislators thus have nobly given away billions in free federal dollars to lavish on health care for the poor of other states.
Republicans demand poor folks work a job to get care under Medicaid. But if a single mother with two children earns $8,751 a year, we cut her off because she is too rich.
So how moral were those fancy rich Britons in 1682 as the frigate Gloucester battled the raging Atlantic ocean? As I said, the Duke of York escaped through the frigate’s rear windows into his own lifeboat, leading Sir John Berry later to write:
“His highness took as many persons of quality with him in the boat as she could carry.”
Persons of quality. Of course. Nearly all of the “quality” was saved. An estimated 130 to 250 others drowned.
“But here I cannot pass in silence,” one observer later wrote, “that those that could swim made up to the Boat where the Duke was, and grappled on the sides thereof, endeavoring to get into it, but their hands were ordered to be cut off…and thereby they were deprived not only of getting into the Boats that came from other Ships, but also of the ability of swimming.”
Surely, then, our Kansas Republican legislators must be better than that.
‘Life or death’: Arizona heat wave poses lethal threat to homeless
Romain Fonsegrives – July 19, 2023
Hundreds of homeless people live in ‘The Zone,’ an encampment in Phoenix, the capital of the southwestern US state of Arizona (Patrick T. Fallon)
On a sidewalk in Arizona’s capital Phoenix, where a record-setting heat wave has prompted warnings for people to limit their time outside, Dana Page struggles to stay hydrated in her tarpaulin shelter.
The 49-year-old, surrounded by bottles of water, knows full well the dangers heat poses to the homeless population.
Days earlier, she watched emergency responders perform CPR on a fellow resident of “The Zone,” an encampment where hundreds live in tents and makeshift shelters, near downtown.
“He died just inches away from water,” she told AFP.
Phoenix, like much of the US southwest, is surrounded by desert, and its 1.6 million residents are used to brutal summer temperatures.
But this year’s heat wave is unprecedented in its length: it has already helped the city break its previous record of 18 straight days at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius), with similar highs forecast into next week.
Page, a native of Phoenix, said she has had heatstroke three times in the past five years, describing it as a “secret killer” that sneaks up if not monitoring one’s water intake.
– Jump in heat-related deaths –
The absence of typical monsoon rains has also compounded the problem: no respite from searing heat during the day allows temperatures to remain dangerously elevated overnight.
“If this continues, we will see more heat-related deaths,” said Amy Schwabenlender, head of the Human Services Campus, a large facility near “The Zone” where 16 associations cooperate to provide social services, medical treatment and a shelter for those in need.
“It is a life-and-death situation,” she warned.
With its population growth among the highest in the United States, coupled with a lack of affordable housing, Arizona has seen the number of homeless people go up 23 percent in recent years.
And as global warming fuels more frequent extreme weather events, homeless people are increasingly vulnerable to the elements.
Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix and its suburbs, recorded a 25 percent increase last year in heat-related deaths, with 425 fatalities — many among the homeless population.
The National Weather Service warns that extreme heat is the top weather-related killer, and has recommended people in Phoenix “stay indoors and seek air-conditioned buildings” during the heat wave.
– ‘Enough resources to help everybody’ –
To deal with the emergency, the Human Services Campus is running at full speed. Its associations send out early morning patrols to distribute 2,000 bottles of water every day, as well as sunblock and hats.
Like some sixty other sites around the city, the facility also serves as a cooling center, where homeless people can find shade, misters and a vast air-conditioned cafeteria with film showings to pass the time.
Schwabenlender warns that scorching hot surfaces outside also pose a significant danger, especially for those with worn shoes or bare feet, as well as people who fall or lie on the ground.
“I saw a man who laid on something and all the side of his neck was burned,” she said.
Asphalt in the summer sun can climb to temperatures above 160F (71C).
A few days ago, former house painter Jose Itafranco collapsed on the sidewalk after consuming methamphetamine, but the 30-year-old said he was lucky to have his wife Alvira nearby to prop his body up.
“When you do meth… it really just makes you think that you’re tougher than you are… like you’re untouchable,” Itafranco told AFP.
“But what happens, really, is you get dehydrated.”
Schwabenlender argues the hundreds of heat-related deaths in Maricopa County could have been avoided with a more coordinated response, and calls for federal emergency action commensurate with other natural disasters.
The White House, for its part, outlined last week various federal initiatives related to “extreme heat fueled by the climate crisis,” including a forthcoming meeting with local officials to discuss preparedness, as well as the drafting of a “National Heat Strategy.”
“We have enough resources to help everybody, we just have to figure out how to put them all together,” Schwabenlender said.
Opinion: I’m a conservative who’s waiting for Republicans to come to their senses
Yaffa Fredrick – July 19, 2023
Editor’s Note: Adam Kinzinger is a CNN senior political commentator and a former Republican congressman from Illinois. He served 10 years on the House foreign affairs committee. Kinzinger is also a lieutenant colonel and pilot in the Air National Guard. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion at CNN.
Traditionally committed to national security, global stability and law and order, my Republican Party — yes, I am still a Republican — is now weakening on all three fronts. In doing so, it is fulfilling the cliche that extremists on the right and left eventually come together, like a snake eating its tail.
Adam Kinzinger – CNN
That’s not only bad for America, but bad for the prospects of the GOP — particularly in light of the fact that the party’s leading 2024 presidential contender is currently under both federal and state indictment and facing further potential charges in Washington, DC, and Georgia (all of which he denies wrongdoing in).
The radical right has embraced positions on these bedrock Republican principles to try to lock in the support of the most fervent members of the base. But these stances will almost certainly doom them with the moderates and swing voters who turned out for President Joe Biden in 2020. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a better way to ensure that the GOP won’t win back the presidency.
Let’s start with the GOP’s decision to insert culture wars into a bill — the National Defense Authorization Act — that funds every function of the Defense Department, in a manner that all but guaranteed alienating a voting majority in America.
Among other maneuvers, the extreme conservatives in the House want to ban a Defense Department policy that covers travel costs for service members who must seek abortions out of state, extending an existing provision that provides funds to those who must get specialized care not available near their posts. The Pentagon put this extension in place when some states limited or banned abortion access after the Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to an abortion last year.
How do I know this amendment is politically toxic? First, over the last several years, there has been steady public support for abortion rights, which now includes more than one-third of all Republicans, according to Pew Research Center. Second, there’s the unseemly effort to stop funding for the military with an amendment that has nothing to do with defense. Granted, others try to attach similar off-topic amendments to bills. But they are not usually as likely to torpedo getting necessary funds to the Pentagon.
Thanks to overwhelming GOP support, the anti-abortion travel reimbursement amendment made it into the House bill. Republicans also added limits on transgender care and prohibitions on programs related to diversity. All three fit the extreme right movement’s so-called “anti-woke” agenda, which seeks to block the government from supporting various groups of Americans on the basis of race, sexual orientation and gender identity.
GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has madeanti-wokeness, opposition to abortion and criticism of rights for transgender people central to his appeal to primary voters, but there’s little evidence that his stand will win over people in a general election. And House members who cling to his message in an effort to win primary voters may very well suffer defeat in a general election.
Unfortunately, further extremist (and self-defeating) mischief is taking place in the Senate, where Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama has put a hold on military nominations. Under the Senate’s arcane rules, Tuberville has been blocking consideration of some 265 military officers for several months. His reason? The Defense Department’s travel support for service members seeking out-of-state abortion services.
Tuberville’s grandstanding won’t persuade the Senate to change the Pentagon policy, but as an Air National Guard lieutenant colonel, I can tell you that blocking promotions is bad for the smooth operation of the chain of command at the heart of America’s national security structure. It’s also bad for morale. And it’s personally insulting to the men and women who are willing to sacrifice so much for this country.
But these culture war issues aren’t the only threat this crowd of extremists is posing to global stability. Last week, they tried unsuccessfully to tie up the defense bill by trying to scale back US aid to Ukraine by hundreds of millions of dollars.
As much of the world understands, Ukraine is in a fight for its life against a Russian military that invaded in February 2022. The Russian attack was unprovoked and pitted the much larger country, run by the autocratic leader Vladimir Putin, against a democracy that has thus far been able to defend itself, thanks in large part to US aid.
The defense of democracy has long been a conservative ideal, and that includes standing with our allies under attack. It’s hard to see the opposition to aid as anything other than the betrayal of an ally and friend.
Although the House ultimately voted down the amendment to limit aid to Ukraine, the fact that it was even introduced shows just how out of step much of the Republican Party is with the public on the issue of Ukraine. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll from last month, 65% of Americans support the US arming Ukraine — including 81% of Democrats, 56% of Republicans and 57% of independents. In that same poll, large majorities of Americans said they would support a US presidential candidate who would continue to provide strong military aid to Ukraine.
And then there’s the hostility these GOP extremists are directing at law enforcement, traditionally a wellspring of Republican support. This newfound animosity was on full view last week when FBI Director Christopher Wray appeared before the House Judiciary Committee.
Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio and several equally exercised Republicans members attacked a “weaponized” bureau for serving as an anti-conservative attack dog. Jordan and others have been using this word — “weaponization” — to argue, without solid evidence, that the federal government in general is pursuing an anti-conservative agenda. Echoing leftists who call for defunding the police, the House’s right-wing extremists want to slash the FBI’s budget.
The attacks on Wray revolved around hot-button campaign issues, including the investigations into former President Donald Trump’s handling of top-secret documents, the plea agreement in the case of Hunter Biden’s tax crimes and the FBI’s surveillance efforts. At one point, finger-pointing Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida said the FBI “deserves better than you” to Wray.
Following Trump’s example, Wray’s congressional interrogators treated him with the disrespect you might expect from members of the radical left in the 1960s. I’m certain that as they mimicked the former president, they were attempting to court his voters; but I saw House members leading their party into a political wilderness where moderate voices may just join Democrats to end the GOP’s control of the House.
It is a display of sheer political malpractice for any Republican to suggest cutting FBI funding. While the left-wing’s call to “defund” the police has been much derided, a Gallup poll from last October found rising public support for the FBI. The agency is now seen favorably by 79% of Democrats — and 50% of Americans overall.
As appalling and politically misguided as the far-right’s behavior has been, most Republicans in both the House and Senate have not been inclined to oppose it directly. They obviously fear losing the support of Trump and his followers. But I think this choice is short-sighted and may ultimately backfire.
Despite his lead in the polls, Trump does not have a lock on the 2024 presidential nomination. He did not win the presidency the last time he ran, and it’s clear that he has been a drag on GOP senators and representatives who have campaigned in the years since.
On this evidence, I’d say that the extremists are hurting, not helping, the national Republican Party. At some point, more and more normal Republicans will see the damage they are doing. In the meantime, conservatives like me will wait for our party to come to its senses.
Climate change and Florida’s home insurance crisis: Here’s what homeowners should know
Lianna Norman, Palm Beach Post – July 19, 2023
There are many contributors to Florida’s insurance crisis. One of the biggest contributors are huge insurance payouts attached to yearly storm damage following hurricane season, exacerbated by climate change.
Last week, Farmers Insurance became the most recent insurer to drop coverage of Florida, announcing that the “decision was necessary to effectively manage risk exposure.”
Here are four reasons why insurance rates are rising in Florida
Costs for building materials and repairing property both increased by more than 30% during the pandemic, according to a 2022 report on building costs by the National Association of Home Builders.
Lawsuits between insurance companies and contractors or insurance companies and policyholders. According to the Insurance Information Institute, only 9% of the nation’s home insurance claims come from Florida. But 79% of the nation’s homeowners’ insurance lawsuits come from the state.
How has climate change affected the insurance industry?
Hurricane Ian, the last major hurricane to seriously impact Florida homeowners in the fall of 2022, cost the National Flood Insurance Program more than $1.2 billion in payouts to policyholders recovering from damage.
“FEMA estimates Hurricane Ian could potentially result in NFIP claims losses between $3.7-$5.2 billion,” FEMA’s website says. “The losses include flood insurance claims received from five states, with the majority of claims coming from Florida.”
Florida isn’t the only state affected. Some insurance policy providers have also hiked prices or dropped out of states like California, Colorado and Louisiana due to rising risk of insuring homes in flooding or wildfire-prone areas.
Which insurance companies are dropping customers in Florida?
This month, Farmers Insurance joined Bankers Insurance and Lexington Insurance, a subsidiary of AIG, in dropping out of Florida’s insurance market.
AAA is still writing policies, but the company said this week they will not renew its package policies that combine home, automobile and optional umbrella coverage. AAA says a “small number” of customers will be affected.
The Florida Department of Financial Services has a list of 14 companies that are in liquidation. This means that the Office of Insurance Regulation determined that there are grounds for the Department of Financial Services to proceed with charging these companies for delinquency.
Here are the insurers from that list that offered property insurance:
What’s the average cost of homeowners insurance in Florida?
Floridians pay some of the highest prices for home insurance in the nation. Most are paying about $6,000 for their yearly home insurance premium, an increase of 42% compared with last year, a spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute told USA TODAY.
With each year and each hurricane season, the cost for homeowners insurance in Florida increases exponentially faster than the national rate.
Lianna Norman covers trending news in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post.
Seniors are migrating to states that face America’s most extreme heat
Joshua Partlow, Greg Morton, Scott Dance, Brianna Sacks – July 19, 2023
SUN CITY, Ariz. – It was 6:15 p.m., 110 degrees, the speakers were playing “Hot Blooded” by Foreigner and the seniors of suburban Phoenix were blissfully arm-pumping their way around the walking pool.
“Quite honestly, I’m good up to 110 now, you do acclimate,” said Bob Hirst, who decamped from northern Virginia two years ago with his wife, Vicky, to this 55-and-over community.
Despite the blistering evening, Ira Schneider was happily submerged in the hot tub, which was a relief of sorts at around 100 degrees. He’d lived in Phoenix for 22 years. To get him to return to his native New York, he said, “you’d have to scrape me off a cactus.”
Phoenix saw a record-breaking 19th consecutive day above 110 degrees on Tuesday. The extraordinary run of punishing heat poses a particular risk to the elderly, who are more likely to suffer from heart disease, diabetes and other health problems that make it harder to tolerate extreme heat. And while some retirees have the resources to cope with scorching temperatures, others remain much more vulnerable – even as demographic data shows that this group continues to gravitate to sunny and warm parts of the country that are in the crosshairs for extreme heat.
Phoenix first responders and medical personnel say they are worried about seniors who may be isolated and living without air-conditioning, or those who fall and can’t get up on days when the concrete and pavement can be so hot it’s deadly.
Many of the places that, in recent years, have become attractive destinations for seniors are among those most affected by the historic heat wave camped out over the southern United States, according to an analysis by The Washington Post of forecast data from the National Weather Service and migration data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Between 2008 and 2021, Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, has received more than 68,000 people age 65 or older – more elderly migrants than any county in the country, according to census data. For the past several weeks, Maricopa has also been one of the hottest counties in the United States. This weekend, its heat index – a measure of how hot it feels outside that includes temperature and humidity – averaged over 110 and is expected to climb as high as 117 this week.
Those trends converged in a particularly dangerous way on Sunday at an RV park for the elderly in Mesa, east of Phoenix. The power went out for dozens of homes at the Viewpoint RV and Golf Resort, according to residents, and stayed out for nearly 24 hours – a period when temperatures in the area reached 118 degrees.
Many who lost power moved to hotels or stayed with relatives as the temperatures inside their homes soared, residents said. Robert Steffen and his wife, Gretchen, took refuge at his son’s house in Chandler for the night. When they returned Monday morning, they said the temperature inside their home was in the mid-90s.
Some residents, including people in wheelchairs and with other health problems, spent the night in sweltering conditions, said Kathleen Noble, a homeowner in the community who is also a board member of the Arizona Association of Manufactured Home, RV & Park Model Owners.
“Park managers, especially for the elderly, need to have some kind of an emergency plan set up during these times of high heat,” she said.
The power came back on midday Monday, residents said. The park’s management office did not answer the phone and Equity LifeStyle Properties, which owns the RV park, did not respond to a request for comment.
The combination of rising electricity demand and surging heat could be disastrous. Recent research found that in a city such as Phoenix, blackouts during a heat wave could kill thousands of people.
Nationwide, extreme heat exposure among people age 69 and older could more than double by 2050, according to a study published in March. The research looked at the number of people who will experience heat waves as well as their frequency and intensity. It attributed the surge in exposure to a convergence of three factors: the population at large is aging; the population of older people is growing in the swath of southern states known as the Sun Belt; and average temperatures are increasing everywhere as Earth’s climate warms.
Those trends also mean many older people underestimate the threat of extreme heat, whether because they are new to a hotter region, or because heat is becoming more intense in parts of the country that have been traditionally cooler, said Deborah Carr, a sociology professor at Boston University and the study’s lead author.
Moreover, older people are more likely to have preexisting health conditions that make extreme heat harder to tolerate. Common medications for heart disease and high blood pressure are dehydrating and reduce the body’s ability to cool itself by sweating, something many people don’t take into account when considering their ability to withstand heat, Carr said.
“If someone has underlying conditions, it’s going to be worse,” she said.
Florida, another haven for snowbirds and seniors, is also broiling in the recent heat wave. Lee County, which includes Fort Myers, is home to more than 200,000 Americans 65 and older and is one of the most popular places for elderly migrants, recent census data shows. The heat index is expected to surpass 100 degrees this week in the county, driven in large part by extreme humidity.
Sitting barefoot in a chair with the front door of his motel room open on Saturday, Joseph Sull couldn’t ever remember being this hot. The 76-year-old has lived in southwest Florida for nearly 20 years, and is used to sweltering summers, but this year’s historic stretch of heavy humidity has been “brutal” and has prevented him from spending time outside, like he usually loves to do.
After Hurricane Ian totaled his mobile home last September, Sull has been living in a motel, along with a handful of other victims, most of whom are also elderly. For days on end, Sull has sat in his small, air-conditioned room, watching “nothing happening,” as he says.
This kind of oppressive heat has made his world much smaller, having made the few routines he has, like taking a walk, very uncomfortable to do.
“I can’t sit in here all day with the door closed. It drives me crazy,” he said. “I need the fresh air and want to look at something else besides these four walls. It’s hard.”
In Phoenix, doctors say they regularly see elderly patients who suffer from heat stroke and burns once temperatures surpass 100 degrees. Diabetic patients who suffer from neuropathy and can’t feel their feet sometimes walk out onto hot surfaces, suffering serious burns, they said. Nearly two-thirds of the 425 heat-associated deaths in Maricopa County last year were individuals age 50 or older.
Frank LoVecchio, an emergency medicine physician at Valleywise Health Medical Center in Phoenix, said he saw an elderly woman last week who had fallen from her wheelchair at her nursing home and couldn’t get off the hot patio.
“She was there for like five minutes maybe,” he said. “And she had third-degree burns.”
Phoenix firefighters who respond to heat distress cases say the elderly and the immunocompromised tend to be among the most vulnerable. They have responded to help elderly people whose homes get too hot because they won’t turn on air conditioning or don’t have any.
The health impacts of extreme heat are easier to discount than, say, the dangers of a tornado or hurricane because they aren’t as readily apparent, said Peter Howe, a professor at Utah State University. Authorities usually know soon after a storm how many injuries or deaths it caused, but it often takes much longer to determine the toll of a heat wave, he said.
“We can do retrospective studies several months to years later, but we don’t really have good real-time data,” Howe said.
Migration to the Sun Belt, which air conditioning helped enable over the past half century, is still increasing as people seek out milder winter weather, said Albert Saiz, director of MIT’s Urban Economics Lab. At the same time, high costs and housing scarcity are driving people away from the Northeast and other regions, he said.
“It’s both a pull and a push,” he said.
Scott Dudlicek, a claims manager for a technology company, left Chicago after 54 years and moved to Sun City outside Phoenix in the summer of 2019.
“I came down on a visit for a work conference and said, ‘I’m tired. I’m done with the snow and the cold,'” Dudlicek recalled. “It was 113 when we were down here. I loved it.”
When he returned to Chicago it was 90 percent humidity, he said, and he was soon drenched through his shirt.
He told his wife: “That’s it. We’re moving.”
“And we were down here a year later.”
Morton and Dance reported from Washington. Sacks reported from Iona, Fla. Caitlin O’Hara in Sun City contributed to this report.
Texas ranked worst state to live in the US, see where other states stand
Amethyst Martinez and Isabelle Butera – July 19, 2023
How does life in your state compare to the rest of America?
CNBC released its rankings of the best and worst states to live in the United States last week.
Its rankings come from the network’s yearly research on the best states for business in 2023. One of the 10 criteria for the list is Life, Health & Inclusion, from which CNBC determines the best and worst states to live.
CNBC allots 350 possible points to each state, measuring categories such as per capita crime rates, environmental quality, health care and worker protections.
The research also examines anti-discrimination laws, voting rights and access to childcare. Surveys indicate a large percentage of women consider reproductive rights in deciding where they are willing to live and work, so CNBC includes abortion laws in this category.
In an aerial vies, buildings in the Dallas skyline are illuminated in blue Thursday, April 9, 2020. Cities and buildings across the nation were lighted in blue to show support for those fighting COVID-19. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News via AP) ORG XMIT: TXDAM321
Texas ranked the worst state to live in the US
Texas has received the number one spot on a not-so-pleasant list: The top 10 worst places in America to live and work in 2023.
While Texas landed at number six on CNBC’s yearly America’s Top States for Business study, the state scored significantly low in one category: Life, Health & Inclusion. Factors in this category include:
crime rates
environmental quality
health care
quality and availability of childcare
inclusiveness in state laws such as reproductive rights, protections against discrimination and voting rights.
Texas received 53 out of 350 points for its 2023 Life, Health & Inclusion score, giving it an F in its Top States grade and the lowest nationwide, securing its number one spot on the list.
CNBC did mention the boom in economic opportunity across the state. In the overall Top States for Business study, Texas received sixth place, with North Carolina taking the number one spot.
Top 10 worst states to live and work
The rest of the states that landed on the top 10 worst states to live and work for 2023 were:
Texas
Oklahoma
Louisiana
South Carolina and Alabama (tie)
—
Missouri
Indiana
Tennessee
Arkansas
Florida
Vermont ranked the best state to live in the US
By contrast, Vermont won the acclaimed spot of the best place to live. Residents are statistically more stress-free and healthy. With the beautiful Green Mountains, Vermont offers the best air quality in the United States. The state provides the most accessible childcare, broad anti-discrimination protections and easy access to voting.
CNBC gave Vermont an A+ in Life, Health and Inclusion. The state’s largest weakness is worker protections, which are less stringent compared to some other states.
Top 10 best states to live and work
Vermont
Maine
New Jersey
Minnesota
Hawaii
Oregon
Washington
Massachusetts and Colorado (tie)
—
Connecticut
America’s top states for Business
CNBC examines on 86 metrics in 10 broad categories of business competitiveness when assigning its rankings. The research examines the workforce, infrastructure, cost of doing business, state laws and education, among other criteria.
Heat wave hack: Cool your body in seconds using your pulse points
Maryal Miller Carter, USA TODAY – July 19, 2023
Hydration is essential for avoiding heat stress, but when summer fun hits, it can be easy to overheat despite our best efforts. Luckily, there’s a handy trick that can help quickly cool your body when the heat gets the best of you. The secret is applying something cold to pulse points. This simple technique can do wonders to lower body temperature quickly when you’re feeling overheated, have a fever, or experiencing a heat-related illness. These pulse points are your body’s “cooling spots” and they’re like little built-in air conditioners. In these areas, blood vessels are close to the surface of the skin. When cold is applied, the blood vessels constrict, reducing blood flow and providing instant relief from heat-related discomfort. Here’s a rundown of where to find those cooling spots and how to quickly cool down your body using pulse points.
Find a pulse point on your body. Your body’s pulse points include:
The carotid artery in the neck.
The radial artery on the thumb side of the wrist.
The popliteal artery behind the knee.
The femoral artery in the groin, just above the crease where the thigh meets the abdomen.
The brachial artery, inside the elbow where the bicep meets the forearm.
The temporal artery on the side of the head, just above the temple.
The dorsalis pedis artery on the top of the foot.
The posterior tibial artery on the inner ankle.
Apply a cold compress or ice pack to one or all of the pulse points for 10-15 minutes. For best results, apply the cold compress or ice pack directly to the skin. If applying directly to the skin is uncomfortably cold, wrap the cold compress or ice pack in a towel to protect the skin.
You can also run cool water over the pulse points or take a cool shower. If taking a cold shower, start with your feet and work your way up to your head. This allows you to gradually acclimate your body to the cold water, which can help to prevent a sudden drop in blood pressure.
Avoid taking a cold shower if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure. The cold water can constrict the blood vessels, which can lead to a decrease in blood flow to the heart.
If feeling lightheaded or dizzy, simply stop and rest.
Heat stroke prevention tips
To prevent heat-related illnesses like heat stroke, it’s important to know how to prepare your body for hot weather. Here are some additional tips to stay cool and avoid heat stroke when the weather’s hot.
Stay cool from the inside out and drink plenty of fluids, which could include electrolyte-rich beverages.
Make a DIY cooling mist by filling a spray bottle with water and a few drops of refreshing essential oil like peppermint or eucalyptus. Spritz it on your face or body for an instant cooling sensation.
Wear loose-fitting clothing.
Practice deep breathing exercises, like inhaling slowly through your nose and exhaling through your mouth, to activate your body’s natural cooling response.
When the weather’s hot, choose a cool, shaded, well-ventilated environment.
DeSantis has boasted about people flocking to Florida, but the transplants have helped the state reach inflation levels that are twice as high as the national average
Kelsey Vlamis – July 18, 2023
Coconut Grove, a neighborhood in Miami, Florida.Demetrius Theune/Getty Images
Florida was the fastest-growing state in 2022, but inflation is also booming there.
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-West Palm Beach had the highest inflation of any large metro area in April.
High inflation and home insurance prices are among the costs that transplants may not anticipate.
Some areas of the Sunshine State face the highest inflation rates in the US, even more than twice as high as the national average, which hit 3% in June, the lowest since early 2021.
The Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area had a rate of 9% for the year that ended in April, according to the Consumer Price Index. It was the highest rate of any metro area with more than 2.5 million residents. The area’s inflation rate was also high for the year that ended in June, at 6.9%. Another Florida metro area, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, had an inflation rate of 7.3% for the year that ended in May.
He has also bragged that leftist ideologies in other states have pushed people away and driven them to Florida, but the state in part has its recent transplants to thank for the rising prices.
Amanda Phalin, an economist at the University of Florida, told CBS Miami that the state’s growing population and increased demand for housing have driven up prices. “A lot of people are still coming to Florida because the economy is really strong, and many like the fact that we don’t have an income tax like in New York, for example,” she said.
Florida was the fastest-growing state in 2022, but residents moving for perceived economic benefits may not realize the impact of higher prices. There’s also another cost of moving to Florida that transplants may not anticipate: steep homeowners insurance.
The Guardian reported the state is facing a crisis thanks to skyrocketing premiums for hurricane coverage. A 68-year-old resident who has lived in Florida for 30 years told the outlet if her homeowner insurance premium rises any more she “may have to sell up and move to another state.”
