Lungs of the Planet: Leaders of more than 100 countries gathered in Glasgow pledged to end deforestation by 2030. “These great teeming ecosystems — these cathedrals of nature,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain said in announcing the agreement, “are the lungs of our planet.”

   The pact covers about 85 percent of the world’s forests. Dramatic as the pledge may be, this has failed before.  A similar accord was reached to cut deforestation in half by 2020 and end it entirely by 2030. Five years into it, deforestation had accelerated. 

  “It allows another decade of forest destruction and isn’t binding,” said Carolina Pasquali, the executive director of Greenpeace Brazil. “Meanwhile the Amazon is already on the brink and can’t survive years more deforestation.”

Critical Race: All political eyes are on Virginia today where former Gov. Terry McAuliffe is in a dead heat against Republican Glenn Youngkin to regain his seat.

Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Youngkin and McAuliffe won’t let voters forget it. 

  Youngkin has promised to ban the teaching of “critical race theory,” essentially the history of racism, in public schools. McAuliffe gave him an opening by saying parents should not tell teachers what to teach.

Abortion in the Court: The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday on whether to block the Texas law that bans abortions after six weeks despite Supreme Court precedent that makes it legal. 

  The law was written to skirt federal involvement by handing over enforcement to private citizens, who can sue anyone who has or performs an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

  Justice Brett Kavanaugh, for one, suggested that the Texas law could be used as a model for state laws short-circuiting other constitutional rights. “It could be free speech rights,” he said,” It could be free exercise of religion rights. It could be Second Amendment rights if this position is accepted here.”

Covid Nation: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tested positive for the coronavirus.

  With President Biden out of the country, Psaki said, “I last saw the president (last) Tuesday, when we sat outside more than six feet apart, and wore masks.”

  Psaki revealed that members of her household had tested positive for the virus earlier last week and had quarantined. She tested negative on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before testing positive on Sunday.

  She’s vaccinated and reports mild symptoms.

  Unvaccinated and fighting it are hundreds of thousands of American police officers and firefighters. The Chicago cops went to court and a judge blocked the city’s vaccine mandate until it can be dealt with in arbitration.

  Despite the Covid deaths of more than 500 cops across the country, their unions are opposing vaccine mandates and officers are threatening to resign. The sheriff of Los Angeles

  Yesterday, hundreds of New York firefighters called in sick to protest the mayor’s vaccine mandate. Although 91 percent of New York City workers are vaccinated, yesterday the mayor put about 9,000 unvaccinated employees on unpaid leave.

  This morning, more than half a billion people around the world have died of Covid since the inset of the pandemic. Despite having 20 percent of India’s population, the US has had 300,000 more deaths. This morning, 747,033 Americans are dead of Covid 19.

Haunted Manchin: Virginia’s Democratic senator has evaluated the cost and utility  of President Biden’s proposed $1.85 trillion social safety net. A crucial swing vote in a 50-Democrat Senate, Manchin wields the equivalent of veto power.  

  Manchin is annoyed with fellow Democrats who have refused to bring the giant infrastructure bill to a vote until he comes around on the safety net bill. “While I have worked hard to find a path to compromise, it is obvious compromise is not good enough for some in Congress,” Manchin said, reading a prepared statement. “It’s all or nothing, and their position doesn’t seem to change unless we agree to everything. Enough is enough.”

The Spin Rack: The International Handball Federation (beach volleyball) has dropped its rule requiring women to compete in bikini bottoms. The Norwegians led resistance to the rule the players considered sexist. — The oddball New York real estate magnate Robert Durst has at long last been charged with murder in the disappearance of his wife on January 31^st, 1981. The 78-year-old has already been convicted of murdering his close friend, Susan Berman, and two weeks ago was sentenced to life in prison.

The Obit Page: Jo-Carroll Dennison , the oldest surviving Miss America, who won the pageant at age 18 in 1942, has died at age 97. 

  Dennison distinguished herself by refusing to wear a bathing suit on stage for appearances after she won. Although the contest at the time was based on beauty, she said,  “I never thought I had won because of the way I looked, but rather because of the way I felt about myself. With this in mind, I flat out refused to wear my bathing suit onstage after the pageant.”

   She was born in Florence, Arizona and had performed in her parents’ travelling medicine show in which she sang, danced, and did tricks riding horses. 

  Dennison signed a contract with 20th Century Fox and starred in movies including “The Jolson Story” and the war picture “Winged Victory.” She had a romance with Charlie Chaplin’s son Sydney and was married for five years to the comedian Phil Silvers. She married again, had two children, and divorced a second time.

Let’s Go: A Southwest Airlines pilot is in trouble for announcing the slogan “Let’s Go Brandon” over the intercom. 

  The slogan originates from a Nascar race in during which an NBC reporter thought the crowd was cheering on the driver Brandon Brown. They were actually chanting “Fuck Joe Biden.” So, “Let’s go Brandon” has become the socially acceptable code for the previous, except when you’re an airline pilot. 

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