by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, December 1.
- Borneo is burning (“How the world’s demand for palm oil is driving deforestation in Indonesia” Palm oil on a large scale is a disaster.)
- Leonardo DiCaprio Speaks Out Against Brazilian President’s Attacks (“Jair Bolsonaro has leveled baseless allegations against the actor, who he claims has funded fires in the Amazon.” Bolsonaro is batshit. And evil.)
- This Time Trump Will Be Just One of The Wild Cards at NATO
- Brexit backers stoked fears over Polish workers. Now one is a London Bridge hero. (As usual, immigrants make countries better.)
- An unpopular Trump casts a shadow over Britain’s general election
- The damage done to Ukraine (“ONE EASILY overlooked aspect of the Ukraine affair is the ongoing damage it is doing to the young government of President Volodymyr Zelensky, who won a free and fair election in the spring by promising to tackle endemic corruption and end a grinding low-grade war with Russia and its proxies.”)
- Pelosi to lead delegation to climate summit amid U.S. withdrawal from Paris climate deal
- U.K. launches review as convicted terrorist named in London Bridge attack
- John Kerry Launches Star-Studded Climate Coalition (“Former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter are part of the effort. Moderate Republican lawmakers like Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former governor of California, and John Kasich, the former governor of Ohio, are on the list. Stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Sting and Ashton Kutcher round out the roster of more than 60 founding members. Their goal is to hold more than 10 million ‘climate conversations’ in the coming year with Americans across the political spectrum.”)
- Six degrees of Rudy: Giuliani’s web tangles three Trump controversies (“Ukraine only skims the surface of the former mayor’s influence in the administration.”)
- House Intelligence Committee to vote on impeachment report (“The vote will come before Wednesday’s scheduled hearings by the House Judiciary Committee.”)
- Trump faces two impeachment deadlines as inquiry shifts focus
- Trump’s Intervention in SEALs Case Tests Pentagon’s Tolerance (“President Trump’s handling of the case of a commando accused of war crimes has distressed active-duty and retired officers. His intervention, some said, emboldens war criminals and erodes the order of a professional military.”)
- When his party rebelled, Nixon went quietly. Trump probably won’t.
- In Trumpland, Every Week Is a Horror Show–Yet Somehow, the Next Week Is Always Worse (“The courts have said he can’t even run his foundation–and yet, he still runs the country. And the servile Senate will do nothing about it.”)
- It’s a good bet Trump pardons his felon allies. Here’s when that’s most likely.
- DOJ’s election-year conundrum: How to probe team Trump (“Legal experts say DOJ is taking steps that could lead to a potential criminal probe of the president’s Ukraine scheme.”)
- How Democrats’ missing witnesses could fill in the Ukraine story (Why is this story framed in a partisan way?)
- Trump’s border wall hangs over spending talks
- How a Divided Left Is Losing the Battle on Abortion (“Miscalculations, and an unexpected victory by President Trump, have put abortion access at its most vulnerable point in decades, and the left on the defensive. Now it is trying to recover.” The key was the courts, and liberals – despite plenty of warnings – never “got it” about the danger of losing them.)
- McConnell once called Biden ‘a real friend’ and a ‘trusted partner.’ Now he’s quiet as Trump, GOP attack him. (Coward.)
- How Warren’s struggle on Medicare-for-all reshaped the race
- The Case for Bernie (What a weird argument. Of course, it’s by a conservative – NY Times columnist Ross Douthat: “This is why, despite technically preferring a moderate like Biden or Amy Klobuchar, I keep coming back to the conservative’s case for Bernie — which rests on the perhaps-wrong but still attractive supposition that he’s the liberal most likely to spend all his time trying to tax the rich and leave cultural conservatives alone.”)
- Biden launches Iowa trip with focus on Trump, rural America
- Michael Bloomberg is off to an attention-grabbing start
- Trump has surrounded himself with ‘failsons’ starting with ‘dimwitted’ Don Trump Jr. and Kushner: columnist
- Liberty University opens Falkirk Center to fight attacks on Jesus, Constitution (WTF? “Growing concerns in conservative circles that liberals are trying to convert young Christians into socialists by distorting the Bible and U.S. Constitution have prompted Virginia’s Liberty University to form a new center to push back on the media, academics, and Democratic politicians.”)
- Video: PBS NewsHour Report Highlights Importance of Reducing Food Waste…and State Policies to Do So (“The extent to which [waste-to-energy] can take off may depend on how much states or the federal government are willing to incentivize it”)
- One year on Capitol Hill, Republican Rep. Ben Cline has been effective even while in the minority (Is this a bad joke?)
- EDITORIAL: Virginia has a sanctuary problem (Classic “both sides-ism”/false equivalency. Heckuva job, Free Lance-Star…heckuva job.)
- Some Lynchburg citizens call for ‘Second Amendment sanctuary’ status
- Del. Mark Levine (D-Alexandria/Arlington) Provides Extensive “Primer on Gerrymandering” and the Proposed Virginia Constitutional Redistricting Amendment (“What’s Wrong with the Virginia Supreme Court Redistricting Virginia?”)
- Bill again filed to end license suspensions for court debt
- CASEY: Easy path to SLAPP suits under scrutiny by Virginia lawmakers (“One of President Donald Trump’s most stalwart defenders on Capitol Hill has filed lawsuits in Virginia against a California-based newspaper chain and the social media giant Twitter, which is based in San Francisco. Rep. Devin Nunes, R-California, is also suing two parody Twitter accounts that have lampooned him. Why in Virginia?”)
- Editorial: Reforming mental health (“Virginia’s efforts to reform mental health have been plagued by missteps and the new legislative session is an opportunity to get that process back on track.”)
- Gordon C. Morse: Change in legislative staff means loss of continuity
- Brian Kirwin: Virginians, including Republicans, should support wind energy
- A strike in Virginia will determine the future of the area’s public transit
- Editorial: Roanoke’s 40-year challenge
- Kilgore: Think twice before calling coalfield Appalachians racists and sexists (“Frank Kilgore is a lawyer, historian, author and founder of the Appalachian College of Pharmacy in Buchanan County. He lives in St. Paul.”)
- Dismally cool, cloudy and rainy today; some flakes may fly tomorrow
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