Tuesday News: “Wall Street Hits New 2018 Lows”; “Russia’s support for Trump’s election is no longer disputable”; “Very Ugly Picture of How Russia Targeted Black Americans”; HD24 Special Election Today

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, December 18.

• Wall Street Hits New 2018 Lows as Fed Decision Looms Over Markets (Ah, the Trump stock market…)
• Global Markets Follow Wall Street’s Sell-Off as Xi’s Speech Disappoints (“A speech by China’s leader, Xi Jinping, was a letdown for investors who had hoped for new initiatives on the economy or the trade war with the United States.”)
• Stock Sell-Off Defies Everything the Bulls Hoped Would Stop It
• A child occupies the White House — and the world knows it (I wouldn’t even say a child, I’d say a deeply disturbed child at best.)
• Trump’s War on Angela Merkel and Europe (“The German Chancellor and other European leaders have run out of patience with the President.”)
• Michael Flynn, Trump ally turned key Mueller witness, to be sentenced for lying to FBI
• Mueller releases memo summarizing FBI’s interview with Michael Flynn
• Conservatism’s Monstrous Endgame (“Apparatchiks are corroding the foundations of democracy.”)
• Some of the Popular Images and Themes the Russians Posted on Social Media (“Using an array of accounts on multiple platforms and targeting a variety of demographics, the Russians have generated millions of interactions with their posts.”)
• Tech Companies Dragged Feet on Russian Interference, Reports Say (“In Senate reports, Google, Twitter and Facebook were described as having “misrepresented” themselves and the extent of Russian activity on their sites. The reports renewed questions about whether social media companies have withheld data on Russian activity and how willing they are to address the issue.”)
• Russian Trolls and the Trump Campaign Both Tried to Depress Black Turnout (“Two new reports released by the Senate Intelligence Committee underscore how much the Internet Research Agency targeted African Americans—echoing efforts by the campaign.” The Republican Party today is all about keeping people of color from voting. That pretty much tells you what you need to know about the white nationalist party.)
• Congress Now Has a Very Full, Very Ugly Picture of How Russia Targeted Black Americans (“Will lawmakers finally do something about it?” Yes, Democratic lawmakers will try, but Republicans will block them.)
• The Latest Ruling Against Obamacare Is a Bridge Too Far—Even for SCOTUS
• Russians targeted Mueller on social media, says report prepared for Senate
• Russia’s support for Trump’s election is no longer disputable (“Senate reports put to rest the argument of whether the Kremlin came to the aid of Mr. Trump in 2016.” Was it ever?)
• The Memo: GOP frets as Trump shutdown looms
• Trump keeps GOP in suspense over shutdown
• Top Republicans struggle to persuade Trump not to shut down the government
• The No. 3 ranking official in the Catholic Church has been convicted of sex abuse. Where is the reckoning? (“The pope’s foot-dragging on the church’s abuse scandal is intolerable, as the latest stunning news underscores.”)
• New York Times assailed for Alice Walker interview endorsing ‘anti-Semitic’ conspiracy theorist
• Some Useful Idiots Were Even More Useful to the Russians Than We Thought (“But it wasn’t just the Intertoobz talking about Jill Stein.”)
• We Made It Easy for the Russians (“Hackers and trolls seized on existing fissures and resentment in our politics to wreak havoc.”)
• Green New Deal Has Overwhelming Bipartisan Support, Poll Finds. At Least, For Now. (“Sixty-four percent of Republicans — including 57 percent of conservative Republicans — back the core tenets of the sweeping proposal.”)
• Advertisers Abandon Tucker Carlson After He Said Immigrants Make the U.S. ‘Diritier’ (Carlson is a virulent racist; why would any company advertise with him?)
• Trump’s latest big immigration bet is looking like a loser (“Analysis: No border wall. No rewrite of immigration policy. No Republican majority in the House. On his top agenda item, the president is getting hammered.”)
• Republicans suffer their first 2020 loss (“Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee says he won’t run for reelection”)
• Woman claims underage relationship with Woody Allen in 1970s
• Ryan Zinke won’t be missed (Corrupt disgrace.)
• Former CBS chairman Leslie Moonves fired for cause, will not receive severance in wake of sexual misconduct allegations
• Brian Kemp’s Credibility Is Shredded Before He Even Takes Office (“More evidence the Republican Party has completely detached itself from democracy.”)
• It’s high time for media to enter the No Kellyanne Zone — and stay there (“When news organizations hand a megaphone to lies — or liars — they do actual harm. What the president himself says must be reported, of course, but only within the context of what we know. To state it without immediate, adjacent reference to factual reality is to enter the Kellyanne Zone.”)
• North Carolina GOP Criticizes State Election Board, Supports Candidate In Election Fraud Probe (“Party officials want the state to certify a Republican congressional candidate the winner of a race amid a probe into election irregularities.”)
• Senate Democrats get a harsh lesson on why they should never, ever play nice with Republicans (“One of the most predictable disasters of the last decade is playing out in federal court.”)
• An Epidemic Is Killing Thousands Of Coal Miners. Regulators Could Have Stopped It (Wait, don’t Republicans claim that regulations are bad and that the “free market” will take care of problems like this one? Oh yeah, that’s complete horses***.)
• Different kind of Blue Dog Coalition intent on being a force in House (“These Blue Dogs want to focus on the campaign pledges that swept Democrats back to power in the House, such as stabilizing health costs and an infrastructure plan.”)
• Exclusive: Blue Virginia Interview with Virginia AG Mark Herring (“At this point going forward I’m not going to accept contributions from state-regulated monopolies or their registered lobbyists or key executives. And that may be some breaking news that you want to put on your blog.”)
• Audio: Virginia AG Mark Herring Rips Right-Wing Judge’s Ruling on ACA As a “Disgrace”
• New school of justice (“Proposed legislation would provide sensible, productive options for school discipline”)
• Environmental Justice, Climate Leaders Across U.S. Sign Letter to Virginia Regulators Against ACP Compressor Station in Union Hill
• Mark Herring hasn’t flipped on vow to quit as a.g. if he runs for governor (“The next gubernatorial election is almost three years away. The nine attorneys general who have resigned to run for governor since 1957 all waited to the election year to do so.”)
• New Clean Virginia Report: Most Virginians Should Be Paying $250 Less Each Year on Energy Bills
• Advocacy group estimates Dominion customers pay a ‘tax’ of more than $250 to company shareholders(“Botkins told the Post the average monthly residential bill is less ‘less than the large Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes Clean Virginia staff has over the course of a month.'” Hahaha, hilarious! Not.)
• The Virginia Way strikes again(“Bolling’s James Madison University gig — rental agreement and public pension boost included — are just a continuation of a long, tawdry theme in Virginia politics.”)
• Northam proposes about $21 million each for tuition, housing help
• Northam proposes more spending on housing, higher education
• Delegate race between Campbell and Worth could decide balance of power (“A special election set for Tuesday will decide who represents the area.”)
• Editorial: Make governors’ records available more quickly
• Virginia’s losing one dairy farm a week. Can cheese save the industry?
• Coal ash excavation could cost Dominion ratepayers an extra $3.30 per month over 20 years
• Newport News Shipbuilding offers buyouts to more than 2,500 employees, announces restructuring
• Editorial: Why are Southwest and Southside so in favor of Amazon?
  
• Former Herndon Mayor Joins Race for Del. Jennifer Boysko’s Seat (“Former Herndon Mayor Mike O’Reilly announced on Friday (Dec. 14) that he will vie for the Virginia House of Delegates seat representing the 86th District, which includes Herndon…He faces three other Democratic candidates — Chad Thompson, Kofi Annan and Ibraheem Samirah — for the spot at the Jan. 12 primary.”)
• Arlington adds 2.5 megawatts of solar on schools; here’s how
• Against Stoney’s wishes, Richmond City Council establishes Coliseum redevelopment commission
• With Amazon Coming, Some Arlington County Residents Worry About Rents In Their Prime Location
• Mostly sunny and breezy today, then heavy rain potential Thursday into Friday (“Temperatures may shoot up into the 60s on Friday before dropping back down over the weekend.”)