Friday News: With Europe in Record Heat Wave, “Why Are We Still Looking for Oil and Gas?”; “Robert Mueller and the Tyranny of ‘Optics’”; “Russia Targeted Elections Systems in All 50 States, Report Finds”; “Data offers insight into Medicaid’s effects in Va.”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, July 26.

• Flags of inconvenience: noose tightens around Iranian shipping
• Boris Johnson will accelerate the decline of Europe
• The Chinese Climate Hoaxsters Set the Arctic on Fire (“Very clever, they are.”)
• All-time temperature records tumble again as heatwave sears Europe (“Highs in Germany, Netherlands and Belgium exceeded for second time in 24 hour”)
• Record-breaking heat wave in Europe sparks demands to combat climate crisis
• Why Are We Still Looking for Oil and Gas? (“In choosing leaders, our test should be: Will they increase or decrease the extraction of fossil fuels?” Agreed; any politician who advocates for increased fossil fuel production, including new natural gas pipelines, needs to be told where to shove it.)
• How science got trampled in the rush to drill in the Arctic
• Colonial Uprising (“The protests that brought down Puerto Rico’s governor are also about the island’s troubled relationship with the mainland.”)
• Puerto Ricans need more than Rosselló’s departure
• Trump and GOP leaders will bear responsibility if Saudi Arabia isn’t held accountable
• U.S. economic growth seen slowing in second quarter
• Russia Targeted Elections Systems in All 50 States, Report Finds
• McConnell blocks two election security bills
• Senate Probe Finds ‘Extensive’ Russian Meddling in U.S. Election
• Trump’s wrecking ball keeps swinging (“But amid all the spin and counterspin, we must not lose sight of the fact that the Trump administration, every single day, continues to wield a wrecking ball against federal law, sensible public policy and the nation’s moral standing.”)
• Mueller didn’t fail. The country did. (“Trump reads from the same hymnal of disinformation and recites the same slander of democratic institutions that 20th-century totalitarians deployed, yet too many in the media call him the ‘winner’ because Mueller did not pass their ridiculous tests (e.g. add new information, persuade Republicans”).
• Mitch McConnell Does Not Give a Damn About the Future of This Country (“He does not care about coal miners in his own state. He does not care about holding secure elections. He does not care.”)
• Trump melted down when reporters asked about Mueller’s warning that he could be indicted (“He called them ‘fake news’ and ‘one of the worst’ for asking accurate questions.”)
• Mueller fallout: Highest-ranking House Democrat to date calls for Trump impeachment (“Rep. Katherine Clark, vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, backed beginning the process to remove the president from office.”)
• ‘I just don’t know yet’: Democrats head into long recess undecided on impeaching Trump
• Mueller Testimony Deepens Democratic Divide on Impeachment
• Robert Mueller and the Tyranny of ‘Optics’ (“The commentariat’s focus on performance over substance is the kryptonite of the modern media age.”)
• Democrats struggle to figure out next move against Trump after Mueller hearing falls flat
• Treasury pick Monica Crowley spread Obama smears: ‘Can he be both loyal to Islam and loyal to the United States?’ (Totally unacceptable.)
• Surprise: Trump’s Treasury Pick Said Obama Was a Muslim Who Took Orders from Terrorists (“Monica Crowley was also a big fan of the Trump-fueled conspiracy theory that Obama wasn’t born in the United States.”)
• Democrats get ready to rumble in next week’s debates
• MSNBC Joins as Media Partner for GU Politics/Our Daily Planet Climate Forum, Now Scheduled for September 19-20
• Fox News Poll: Biden holds commanding lead for Democratic nomination (“The former vice president captures 33 percent support among Democratic primary voters (up one point since June). That’s more than double any of the second-tier competitors, which includes Bernie Sanders at 15 percent (+2), Elizabeth Warren at 12 percent (+3) and Kamala Harris at 10 percent (+2)”)
• Joe Biden Is Punching Back Without Hitting Himself
• Team Biden fires back: ‘You can’t let people say bullshit and not respond to it’
• “She’s Dangerous”: GOP Insiders Fear Kamala Could Be the Next Obama
• The Death Penalty Is Already a Farce. William Barr’s Plan Might Make It Torturous.
• Rubio cries ‘racist’ after being duped by a misleading tweet and video
• 16 Marines arrested at Camp Pendleton after human smuggling investigation, Marine Corps says
• California Signs Deal With Automakers To Produce Fuel-Efficient Cars
• CNN Photo Editor Resigns From Network Over Vicious Anti-Semitic Tweets on Deaths of ‘Jewish Pigs’ (Wow.)
• Ex-Pols Took Your Cash. They Used It to Help the Saudis and the Qataris. (“In the summer of 2018, congressman-turned-lobbyist Jim Moran was trying to recruit his former colleagues to put pressure on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Moran was doing so on behalf of one of his clients, the government of Qatar. And he had a pot of money, left over from years of donations to his reelection campaigns, that he could steer to his lobbying targets.”)
• Richmond man who created fake presidential seal is former Republican who opposes Trump
• Kaine, Hirono to travel to southern border
• Senate Intel Releases Election Security Findings in First Volume of Bipartisan Russia Report (Sen. Mark Warner: “this threat remains urgent, and we have a responsibility to defend our democracy against it”)
• House passes sweeping budget, debt limit deal
• House Approves Bipartisan Budget Deal 284-149. Every Virginia Republican Member Votes No; Every Virginia Dem (Except for Rep. Abigail Spanberger) Votes Yes
• Inside Liberty University’s ‘culture of fear’ (“How Jerry Falwell Jr. silences students and professors who reject his pro-Trump politics.”)
• Wilder rebukes planners of 400th anniversary of Africans arriving in Virginia
• Why 5 Freshman Democrats Sided With Trump And Saudi Arabia On A Key Yemen Vote (“Spokespeople for Spanberger and Sherrill did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.”)
• Freshmen House Dems’ Money Coming Much Less from Corporate Sources, Much More from Enviro, Labor and Progressive Individuals/Groups
• It’s Time to Raise the Wage – Especially for Workers of Color (“Compared to 34% of white workers, over 50% of Black and Latinx workers in Virginia are paid low wages.”)
• AG Mark Herring to Drug Companies: “The Party’s Over. And We’re Coming After Them” (“Herring responds to revelations from a Washington Post investigation about the companies that fueled Virginia’s opioid crisis”)
• Underwater grasses in the bay improve despite record rain
• The Best Thing You Can Do to Defeat Trump in 2020 is to Help Virginia Win in 2019
• Hodges proposes lots of small steps for a clean Bay and development on its rural shores
• Virginia’s “Founding Forest” was decimated. Now the longleaf pine is making a comeback. (“At the turn of the century, fewer than 200 of the conifers remained in Virginia. Now, a group of conservationists are on a mission to save the state’s so-called ‘Founding Forest’ and with it, the state’s most scarce bird.”)
• Editorial: Petty politics will define Virginia (Seriously? Oh yeah, it’s still the RTD)
• FWIW Virginia: Are Virginia candidates “using Instagram to meet young voters where they’re at?”
• Chief Homophobe Dick Black Tries to Buy Local School Board, Undo Anti-Discrimination Policy
• Editorial: Data offers insight into Medicaid’s effects in Va. (“One is that the expansion was sorely needed. Low-income Virginians have been signing up for help in paying for health care in greater numbers than expected. “)
• Northern Virginia health officials investigating foodborne illness outbreaks
• Falls Church City Democrats Issue Statement in Support of U.S. House Resolution Condemning Trump’s Racist Comments
• Editorial: Virginia schools should field esports teams
• Southwest Virginia communities recognized for solar work (“Eight Virginia coal country communities were recognized Thursday for their work to encourage the growth of solar energy, which supporters see as a means of boosting economic development in the struggling region.”)
• President of Fairfax County NAACP chapter calls predecessor variation of n-word
• Northam visits White Post to formally announce high-speed internet grant
• With Amazon arriving next door, Fairfax’s top bureaucrat aims to shake things up
• Judge puts condemnation of Portsmouth jail on hold for 60 days
• Today’s relatively dry heat turns muggier and hotter into early next week