by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, September 17.
- Navalny team says nerve agent was found on hotel room water bottle
- Boris Johnson: UK wants to rewrite Brexit Withdrawal Agreement to stop EU being ‘abusive’
- Biden says trade deal with Britain hangs on respect for Northern Irish peace agreement (“In reaction to Biden’s comments, Edward Argar, the U.K.’s junior health minister, denied Thursday that the peace deal was at risk.”)
- Russian Media Is Rooting for Civil War in America: ‘The Worse, the Better’
- An Oil Giant’s Case for Peak Demand, Even Without Climate Heroics (“BP’s annual energy outlook sees consumption topping out in the next decade even in its most likely scenarios.” That’s still too slow.)
- Hurricane Sally’s Fierce Rain Shows How Climate Change Raises Storm Risks (“Staggering rain totals, fueled by a warming atmosphere that can hold more moisture, are being recorded from the storm.”)
- A season of climate-fueled disasters
- American Exceptionalism is Another Casualty of Our Climate Disasters (“Rest in pieces.”)
- We have to accelerate innovation in clean energy to curb the climate crisis. Here’s how. (“A detailed road map for building a US energy innovation ecosystem.”)
- There Won’t Be a Clear End to the Pandemic (“The collective sense of closure we’re all longing for may never arrive. Instead, brace for a slow fade into a new normal.”)
- Trump Casts New Doubt On Any Deal To Keep TikTok Alive In U.S.
- U.S. Intel Repeatedly Warned About Rudy’s ‘Russian Agent’ Pal (Giuliani should be in serious legal trouble.)
- Trump shattered his promise to ‘drain the swamp.’ The self-dealing would be epic in a second term.
- The US Oil and Gas Industry’s Methane Problem Is Catching up With It (“As a result, U.S. oil and gas is becoming less appealing to customers and investors in the U.S. and around the world — and that has grabbed the U.S. industry’s attention.”)
- The 5 Biggest US Utilities Committing to Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050 (“Utility net-zero carbon pledges are piling up, even if the companies are a long way from kicking their fossil fuel habits.” Also, 2050 is waayyyy too far out in the future. Try 2035 or whatever.)
- Fed expects to keep rates near zero through 2023
- MAGA Visibility Is Making Democrats Nervous (Dems need to get out there, ASAP.)
- Romney says Biden probe ‘not legitimate role of government’ (Romney’s right, this is absolutely illegitimate and outrageous.)
- Senate GOP eyes early exit (“Senate Republican leaders are hoping to let their colleagues hit the campaign trail at the end of next week, acknowledging the slim chances of passing significant legislation other than a government funding stopgap before Election Day.”)
- Senate Republicans shrug off Trump’s call for larger Covid-19 relief measure
- Republicans Are Divided Again on Stimulus, This Time by Trump
- How Biden and Trump Are Preparing to Win the Election Aftermath
- Saving democracy requires voting early — and counting fast
- ‘Un-American’ Trump Ripped Over Coronavirus Blue State Death Toll Boast
- Trump blames blue states for the coronavirus death toll — but most recent deaths have been in red states (Trump is evil.)
- Floods grip Alabama and Florida as west coast wildfire smoke reaches Europe (THIS is the climate crisis.)
- Hundreds Rescued as Flooding From Sally Hits Florida and Alabama
- Average U.S. construction costs for solar and wind generation continue to fall (Also note that “fuel costs” for solar and wind are ZERO, plus they don’t have any climate “negative externalities,” making them FAR superior to natural gas.)
- Trump has taken up residence in a state of denial
- Trump claims CDC director is ‘confused’ over 2021 vaccine timetable (“Robert Redfield said it would take a year before Covid vaccine is generally available and masks were more important” Redfield isn’t confused at all; Trump is completely full of crap.)
- Trump Again Scorns Science on Vaccine and Masks
- The latest crisis: Low-income students are dropping out of college this fall in alarming numbers
- Donald Trump accused of sexual assault by former model Amy Dorris (“Amy Dorris alleges Trump forced his tongue down her throat and groped her at 1997 US Open”)
- This Is How Bad It’s Gotten at the Justice Department (“When civil servants resign, skeptics often ask what difference one person really can make by leaving. The answer is: a lot.”)
- Barr attacks Justice Department staff, compares them to preschoolers
- Barr accuses Justice Department of headhunting and meddling with politics (Your daily reminder that Barr is an authoritarian thug who has ZERO business being Attorney General.)
- Barr Told Prosecutors to Consider Sedition Charges for Protest Violence (Same comment as previous item.)
- Federal officials stockpiled munitions, sought ‘heat ray’ device before clearing Lafayette Square, whistleblower says
- White House Staff Members Reportedly Test Positive For COVID-19 Less Than 24 Hours After President Donald Trump Visited Philadelphia
- Yelp data shows 60% of business closures due to the coronavirus pandemic are now permanent
- ICE Almost Deported Immigrant Woman Who Says She Got Unwanted Surgery While Detained
- ‘Regulatory Capture’ Sounds Boring Until Airplanes Start Falling Out of the Sky
- On Rosh Hashanah call, Trump tells American Jews ‘We love your country’ and asks for their vote (Uhhhh…American Jews’ country is AMERICA.)
- Trump campaign makes triumphant return to antisemitism
- Evoking anti-Semitic imagery, Trump campaign runs Facebook ad with Bernie Sanders as puppetmaster of Joe Biden
- ‘You can’t attack a regular voter’: Trump faces a retail-campaigning gap
- The Progressive Activist Begging the Left to Stop Owning Itself (“Sean McElwee has a simple message for his compatriots: Rigid doctrinarianism doesn’t win elections.”)
- Biden’s Case to Latino Voters Comes Late. Will They Listen?
- After Biden plays ‘Despacito’ at an event, Trump shares a doctored video replacing it with an anti-police song. (Appalling by Trump.)
- Trump’s most popular YouTube ad is a stew of manipulated video (Social media companies need to start taking responsibility for the content on their platforms. In this case, they should delete the false, misleading crap and ban the people who posted it.)
- NPMHU Endorses Joe Biden for President
- Postal Service Stiffed $20 Million Cost of Delivering Trump COVID-19 Mailer
- Chris Rock Tried to Warn Us
- Huge numbers of Republicans say mail-voting is fraudulent. That’s ominous. (These people are utterly mindless, will apparently believe *anything* their Dear Leader spews at them.)
- Republicans set aside past concerns over controversial Georgia candidate as they urge her to join ‘team’ (Yep, Republicans are embracing this extremist.)
- New QAnon-Allied GOP Senate Candidate Also Pushed Anti-Semitism, Flat Earthism, and 9/11 Conspiracies
- Poll shows Collins down 12 points, Graham tied with Democratic challenger (Apparently, Collins is “deeply concerned.” LOL)
- Freedom Caucus presses McCarthy to launch long-shot bid to oust Pelosi (Wuuuuut?)
- Seth Meyers: ABC Town Hall Proves Trump in ‘Cognitive Decline,’ Not Biden (“’You think Biden is taking drugs?’ the ‘Late Night’ host asked Trump. ‘You sniffle like you just walked out of the bathroom in Studio 54.’”)
- Ron Johnson Is a Few Bratwurst Short of a Tailgate
- Trump appointee Michael Caputo takes leave of absence from HHS after online rant
- How Michael Caputo shook up Health and Human Services (“Installed by Trump himself, the bombastic spokesman seized control of Covid-19 messaging, with disastrous results.”)
- Fox “news”-side anchors praise Bill Barr’s harshly criticized remarks about voting and the election (Fox is a disaster.)
- Kaine blames G.O.P for no COVID-19 aid package
- Sen. Tim Kaine pushes for changes as coronavirus cases rise at Farmville Detention Center
- CDC says Farmville Immigration Center Still at Risk of COVID Outbreak
- Video: In New Ad, Abigail Spanberger Highlights Anti-Corruption Record (“Nick Freitas and his dark money allies are lying about my record and my fight against corruption.”)
- Reps. Elaine Luria (D-VA02) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA07) Push “Problem Solvers Caucus” COVID-19 Relief Package; House Dem Committee Chairs, Including Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA03), Say It “Falls Short of What Is Needed”
- Trump’s Promise to Revive Coal Thwarted by Falling Demand, Cheaper Alternatives (Bye bye!)
- Virginia Is One Step Closer to Eliminating No Knock Warrants
- Virginia ranked third nationwide for having most virus-related restrictions
- AG Mark Herring Files Brief Opposing Kanye West’s Petition for Appeal, Says “granting appellants their requested relief would wreak havoc on Virginia’s election”
- Wednesday (9/16) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +845 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 136,359), +52 Hospitalizations (to 10,389), +45 Deaths (to 2,884) From Yesterday
- Video: VA Senate Debates, Approves – Along Party Lines – Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D)’s Civilian Oversight Bill
- 7/1-8/31 Campaign Finance #s for Richmond, Virginia Beach Mayoral Races: Levar Stoney, Jody Wagner Lead the Money Race
- Collapsing inmates, cold hot dogs and one nurse: quarantine in a Virginia prison
- Senate passes legislation to let the state inspect Virginia’s ICE facilities
- State Senate panel defeats paid quarantine leave bill
- ‘The timing isn’t right for it’: Paid quarantine leave dies in Senate committee
- Delays in COVID test results at Farmville’s ICE facility fueled outbreak, CDC report says. Some took almost a month
- Birx Praises Virginia Tech Testing and Presses to Keep Universities Open
- Video: Fairfax County Superintendent Presents Recommendations to Improve Diversity at “TJ” by Establishing Merit Lottery Admissions Process
- Fairfax County becomes latest in Virginia to ban guns on public property
- Stoney wants $500,000 for health equity studies as Richmond’s estimated budget surplus rises to $13.75M
- Radford University student protest still planned despite pushback
- Arlington’s county symbol, an image of Confederate Gen. Lee’s mansion, may be history
- Heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Sally could bring flash flooding to Hampton Roads
- Showers from Sally brush the area today, leaving behind a clear, cool weekend
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