Baby, It’s Hot: Wildfires fed by extreme heat continue to burn in the West. A fire today raging for a fourth day in central California outside Yosemite National Park has burned more than 15,000 acres and forced as many as 3,000 people to evacuate from rural communities.

  The fire that so far is zero percent contained started Friday in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada near the small town of Midpines, 9 miles northeast of Mariposa. At least 15 homes and buildings have burned.

  So far, more than 3.1 million acres have burned in 93 large fires and complexes in 15 states, according to the national Interagency Fire Center.

  As a so-called “heat dome” lingers over the country, cities in the Northeast yesterday posted record-high temperatures 

  The temperature in Newark, New Jersey hit 101,topping its 2010 record by 2 degrees. It was the fifth consecutive day of temperatures at or above 100 in Newark.

  Boston was 100 degrees, surpassing the previous record of 98 degrees, set in 1933. New York City reached 97, but it was not a record.

TABLOID DUMPS TRUMP!: Little noticed over the weekend is that The NY Post, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., the same company that owns Fox News, ran an editorial saying that Donald Trump is not fit to have a second term as president.

  Disturbed that Trump did nothing to stop the January 6^th insurrection for 187 minutes, The Post editors said, “His only focus was to find any means — damn the consequences — to block the peaceful transfer of power.”

  They said, “There is no other explanation, just as there is no defense, for his refusal to stop the violence.”

  And they concluded that, “It’s up to the Justice Department to decide if this is a crime. But as a matter of principle, as a matter of character, Trump has proven himself unworthy to be this country’s chief executive again.”

  Trump continues to present himself as the victim of an anti-Trump pogrom.

  Friday night in Prescott, Arizona, a day after the January 6^th Committee demonstrated how he inspired the insurrection and refused to stop it, he said, 

“Where does it stop? Where does it end? Never forget: Everything this corrupt establishment is doing to me is all about preserving their power and control over the American people, for whatever reason. They want to damage me in any form so I can no longer represent you.”

  He went on, “If I stayed home, took it easy, if I announced that I was not going to run any longer for political office, the persecution of Donald Trump would immediately stop.” Feeding the gullibility of his supporters, he said,  “They’re coming after me because I’m standing up for you.”

  They are coming for him because he almost toppled democracy.

The War Zone: Ukrainian forces may be taking the first steps in a counter offensive against the Russians in the Kherson area of the country’s southeast. The Institute for the Study of War reports that, “Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command reported on July 24 that Ukrainian forces are firing on Russian transport facilities in Kherson Oblast to impede maneuverability and logistics support. This activity is consistent with support to an active counteroffensive or conditions-setting for an upcoming counteroffensive.”

  The head of Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency says the Russians are “running out of steam.” Richard Moore said at the Aspen Security Forum that, “The Russians will increasingly find it difficult to supply manpower and material over the next few weeks.”

   He said, “It will be an important reminder to the rest of Europe that this is a winnable campaign by the Ukrainians because we are about to go into a pretty tough winter,” he said. “I don’t want to sound like a character from Game of Thrones but winter is coming and clearly in that atmosphere with the sort of pressure on gas suppliers and all the rest, we’re in for a tough time.”

  In the meantime, two American volunteers were killed over the weekend. According to reports, Luke Lucyszyn was wounded and as Bryan Young went to help, both were killed. Lucyszyn leaves three young children.

Lethal Politics: Myanmar’s government carried out its first executions in nearly 50 years, hanging four political prisoners. They included a former National League for Democracy lawmaker, a democracy activist and two men accused of violence after the country’s takeover by the military last year. The four were executed for directing and organizing “violent and inhuman accomplice acts of terrorist killings,” a newspaper reported. 

The Spin Rack: The World health organization has declared Monkey Pox to be a global crisis with 16,000 cases in 75 countries. It has spread mostly among men who have sex with men. — At least 17 people died after a boat carrying Haitian migrants capsized shortly after midnight yesterday in the Bahamas. — Some of the roughly 4,000 beagles used for research in Virginia facility have been moved to new, temporary homes. Some have even gone to permanent homes. The dogs had been used for pharmaceutical research and testing.

Presidential Covid: Joe Biden is in his fourth day with a case of Covid-19. His only symptoms are a scratchy throat and low approval ratings.

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