by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, January 15.
- Antarctica is losing ice six times faster today than in the 1980s, scientists warn (Absolutely disastrous. Time for a WWII-level effort to get off of fossil fuels ASAP!)
- U.K. Parliament to Decide on E.U. Withdrawal Plan (“After two and a half years, Parliament will vote on a bill that dictates the terms of Britain’s departure from the European Union. The debate is expected to end late this afternoon, with voting scheduled to start at 2 p.m. Eastern. Stay here for live updates and analysis.”)
- Reject May’s Brexit and Go Back to Voters (“The deal on offer is no good. The U.K. should stop and think again.”)
- Theresa May, Britain’s Kafkaesque Prime Minister (“In her pointlessness, she can seem to form something like a coherent whole.” She is truly absurd.)
- May Faces Worst Government Defeat in 95 Years in Brexit Vote (“With victory apparently impossible, focus is on size of defeat”)
- Trump says ‘I never worked for Russia’ as attorney general pick vows to protect Mueller (“William Barr said it is ‘vitally important’ to protect special counsel’s investigation and publicize its findings”)
- Donald Trump and His Team of Morons (“Nobody left besides those with no reputation to lose.” Basically, if you’re defending Trump at this point, you are truly an imbecile…or worse.)
- Trump Discussed Pulling U.S. From NATO, Aides Say Amid New Concerns Over Russia (Trump=Traitor?)
- Trump’s attorney general pick to face questions on criticism of Mueller probe
- Trump and Putin’s Cone of Seclusion (“It’s not just unusual that there are no notes from Trump’s meetings with Putin. It’s unprecedented.” That’s because we’ve never had a “president” with so much to hide, including possibly being a compromised Russian “asset”)
- Barr sent or discussed controversial memo with Trump lawyers
- What’s the Difference Between Steve King and Donald Trump? (“The congressman from Iowa has drawn rebukes from Republicans for his statements about white supremacy and white nationalism, but he shares many of his views with the president.”)
- The emerging divide between the Supreme Court’s Republicans (“Three of the Court’s Republicans — Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch — embrace a will-to-power approach to judging. Republicans control the Court right now, and these three men urge their fellow Republicans to use that power to achieve conservative ends. Meanwhile, Chief Justice John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh, the two remaining Republicans, appear to prefer a slower, more incremental approach. That does not mean that they will not eventually move the law sharply to the right. But Roberts and Kavanaugh appear less inclined to toss out longstanding precedents merely because they can.”)
- McConnell tightens grip with Senate GOP amid shutdown fallout
- The US apparently kept no detailed notes of Trump-Putin meetings for the past 2 years (“That’s a huge problem.”)
- Actually, the Numbers Show That We Need More Immigration, Not Less (“By any reasonable metric, ‘mass’ immigration is a myth. The reality is that America desperately needs to pick up the pace of immigration for its economic health.” Let’s cut to the chase; Republicans don’t want immigration of people of color, who speak Spanish, etc.)
- Trump’s rollback of the birth control mandate is blocked nationwide (“Cost-free contraception for thousands is safe — at least for now.”)
- Trump’s polls sag amid wall fight
- Donald Trump Was Always a Counterintelligence Nightmare (“Why did it take so long for the FBI to investigate and what did it find?”)
- There Are Three Ways to End the Shutdown. Trump Refuses All of Them. (Which is why Mitch McConnell needs to act. NOW!)
- California’s largest utility just declared bankruptcy. Hello, climate change.
- In a Month You’ll Wish the Shutdown Were Only as Bad as Today (“Shutdowns don’t get bad linearly. They get bad exponentially”)
- Forget Donald Trump. Congress can make a deal to end the shutdown. (Yep, this is largely Congressional REPUBLICANS’ fault. They could have ended this shutdown before it even began, but certainly after a few days.)
- Cruz Blasts DC-Area Dems: Shutdown Would End If Kaine, Warner ‘Put Jobs Ahead of Anti-Trump Base’ (Yep, that’s Ted Cruz for ya.)
- The 2020 Presidential Race Is Starting to Get Real (“As she and we will very soon discover, Representative Tulsi Gabbard is not going to be the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee.” That’s for sure.)
- What the Hell Happened to Lindsey Graham? (“It’s probably about the money.”)
- More Than 42,000 Immigration Hearings Canceled Amid Shutdown, Report Estimates
- Gillette’s new ad isn’t about shaving. It’s about men in the age of #metoo (“Pankaj Bhalla, Gillette’s North America brand director…said he hopes men who watch the video will be inspired to act like role models and show younger children how to stand up to bad behavior and treat other people with respect.”)
- Fox & Friends botches concept of marginal rates, claims Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants to take 70 percent of people’s paychecks (I presume nobody can be THIS stupid, so they must be intentionally lying to their viewers. On second thought, anyone who would watch “Fox and Friends” is pretty stupid, so…)
- Rep. King stripped of committee assignments over comments about white nationalism (Just bizarre; this guy’s been a virulent, outspoken racist and extremist for many many years, yet Republicans never did anything about him in the past. What changed? Also, how is King any different than Trump, really?)
- Steve King Faces Rebuke for Years of Racist Comments, Just as the GOP Doesn’t Need Him Anymore
- Sen. Warner: ‘Legitimate questions’ need to be answered about Trump and Russia
- Virginia’s Kaine part of bipartisan group of senators trying to reopen the government
- Tim Kaine is mostly accurate about Trump nixing a $25 billion border proposal (Seriously? They didn’t give him a full “True” because he used the word “deal?” My god, PolitiFact is so ridiculous.)
- Seismic blasting is too risky along Atlantic Coast (Exactly – HELL NO!)
- Election Nears for 86th District Seat in Virginia House of Delegates (“Local Republicans have not announced a plans to nominate a candidate”)
- Bill to bar ‘sanctuary cities’ sent to full Virginia Senate
- Luria weighs in on shutdown, seeks seat on Armed Services
- Two Northern Virginia Lawmakers Push Bill Requiring 12 Weeks Of Paid Family Leave For All Workers
- More than 550 furloughed federal workers in Virginia have filed for unemployment
- Ban on execution of mentally ill moves forward in Virginia Senate
- Virginia 4Q18 Fundraising Numbers Start Coming In
- AG Mark Herring Wins Injunction Halting Trump Administration’s Attempt to Limit Birth Control Access
- Video: VA House GOP Leader Rips Gov. Northam for (Supposedly) Playing “Only to…liberal/progressive base”; Declares Northam’s Budget Proposals DOA
- New Legislation Would Repeal ‘Dominion Tax’ and Return Millions to Virginia Ratepayers
- With Massive HQ2 Deal Being Considered in the Virginia General Assembly, Del. Alfonso Lopez Announces He Returned Donation from Amazon and Will Not Take Future Amazon $$$
- No, Sen. Vogel, the Vote on ERA Ratification Is Not Just “Symbolic” or “No Longer Really About What It Purports to Be About”
- ‘At least light blue:’ Virginia’s new Democratic delegation is a sign of a changing state, observers say, but will the trend outlast Trump? (One thing at a time…let’s survive Trump.)
- Ralph Northam column: Improving the quality of life for state employees
- Norfolk’s $112 million flooding plan will fortify one neighborhood — and test other solutions (Without urgent action to stop Antarctica and Greenland’s glaciers from melting, it’s probably all futile – and VERY expensive to try.)
- Surprise bi-partisan vote sends bill to raise minimum wage to full Senate (“GOP paybacking NoVa chamber for backing Boysko in special election, also forces floor vote some Dems may not want. House GOP also looks like it may force a floor vote on Right to work repeal”)
- Virginia’s casino question: Move fast to grab gambling dollars? Or slow down and study? (Sloooooow down and study this! In general, I’m not a fan of gambling at all, as it’s harmful, regressive, you name it.)
- Editorial: Bipartisan effort to tackle I-81 problems
- Majority of Richmond City Council Reject Dominion & Tom Farrell Money
- On divided vote, Salem City Council requests resignation of city manager
- Sunshine and melting today; winter storm possible this weekend (“Mostly sunny and slightly warmer today and tomorrow. A bigger storm lurks this weekend with a highly uncertain forecast.”)
