by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, October 17.
- Welcome to the Final Battle for the Climate (“The great powers have taken big steps to fight global warming. Now attention turns to the rest of the world.”)
- The EU and the UK still haven’t reached a post-Brexit agreement. What’s next? (This whole thing is a self-inflicted disaster for the UK.)
- Jacinda Ardern claims historic victory in New Zealand election
- French police make arrests after teacher beheaded in Paris suburb
- U.S. Budget Gap Tripled to Record $3.1 Trillion in Fiscal 2020, Treasury Says (Obviously, COVID-19 played a big role in that, but the budget deficit was already exploding under Trump and the Republicans, just as it did under Bush and Reagan. Sensing a pattern here?)
- More Than 1,000 Current and Former CDC Officers Condemn U.S. Covid-19 Response
- End Our National Crisis (“President Trump’s reelection campaign poses the greatest threat to American democracy since World War II.”)
- Trump’s Last Stand for White America (“We face a choice between a true renewal and a warped fantasy of the past.”)
- $421 Million in Debt: Trump Calls It ‘a Peanut,’ but Challenges Lie Ahead
- The First Amendment in the age of disinformation.
- The Final Season of the Trump Show
- Former White House chief of staff tells friends that Trump ‘is the most flawed person’ he’s ever met
- Third Justice Dept. Prosecutor Publicly Denounces Barr (Barr should be disbarred.)
- Trump’s town hall stunt backfires: NBC’s Savannah Guthrie gives him the grilling voters wouldn’t (“Donald Trump made the wrong choice when he refused to appear for a virtual face-off against Joe Biden”)
- Supreme Court to review Trump plan to exclude undocumented immigrants from census calculations (Ugh, the right-wing activist, increasingly illegitimate Supreme Court)
- Thousands Of Mail-In Ballots Delayed In Ohio, Pennsylvania After Printing Company Fiasco (“Midwest Direct, which flew a ‘Trump 2020’ flag at its Cleveland headquarters this summer, was contracted by several counties to print and send ballots.”)
- Neo-Nazi and Proud Boys groups push Trump campaign poll watching operation online: Reports
- Trump Wants to Win. Why Does He Act Like He Wants to Lose?
- What the Early-Voting Deluge Could Mean for the Election (“…even if what we are seeing is earlier voting from people who would have voted in any event, it could make a big difference by facilitating an earlier count of mail ballots, thwarting any Trump effort to claim victory based on misleading early returns”)
- More people watched Biden on ABC than Trump on NBC, MSNBC and CNBC
- Trump miffed by Guthrie’s questioning at town hall (Waaaaaahhhh!!!)
- Joe Biden Has Changed (“He’s preparing for a transformative presidency.” We need it, badly.)
- ‘Lock Up the Bidens,’ Trump Says at Georgia Campaign Rally (Trump’s an authoritarian thug.)
- Bolton Warned His Staff To Stay Away From Russia-Aligned Rudy Giuliani
- The truth behind the Hunter Biden non-scandal (It actually IS a scandal – for Rudy Giuliani and others involved in this.)
- AP source: FBI probing if emails part of influence operation (It’s amazing that Giuliani hasn’t been charged yet with any crimes.)
- Alexander Vindman’s Wife Accuses Trump of Threatening Their Family
- Lincoln Project enlists whistleblower Alex Vindman for anti-Trump DC ad buy
- The Shady Group With Trump Ties Waging War on Pornhub
- The notion that we can ‘resume life as normal’ right now is misguided and dangerous
- Hey Democrats: Court-Packing Isn’t The Answer. This Is. (“If Democrats win the presidency and the Senate, they should set 18-year term limits for Supreme Court justices—effective immediately and applying to sitting justices.”)
- Max Boot: Sorry, Republicans. Social media companies aren’t obligated to spread your lies.
- Young Ben Sasse Thinks the Trumpian Ship Is Sinking
- Scoop: Trump’s advisers brace for loss, point fingers
- Fearing a ‘Blood Bath,’ Republican Senators Begin to Edge Away From Trump
- Some Republicans voice concerns over Trump
- David Perdue mocks Kamala Harris’ name in Trump rally warm up (“‘Kamala? Kamala? Kamala-mala-mala? I don’t know. Whatever,’ Perdue (R-Ga.) said at a rally in Macon” Disgusting.)
- Perdue purposely flubs Kamala Harris’ name, drawing sharp criticism
- When it comes to suppression of Black votes, it’s the 19th century all over again
- He’s 32. He’s Joe Biden’s Press Secretary. And He Has Stage 4 Cancer.
- EPA may violate courts with new rule extending life of unlined coal ash ponds
- Even in Defeat, Trumpism Isn’t Going Anywhere (Nope, the noxious combo of authoritarianism, racism, etc. isn’t going away, sadly.)
- How Should the Media Talk About Climate Change? (First of all, talk about it a LOT. And help “people understand that this is not just a science or environmental story—this is the increasingly pressing context for stories about extreme weather, energy, business, finance, real estate, politics, food, travel, and even the arts”)
- Why won’t Trump supporters admit they’ve been conned?
- With Gardner trailing Hickenlooper, national GOP groups scale back spending in Colorado
- Here we go, Florida: Voters start casting ballots in person on Monday
- Former Fox News Host Spreads Virus Misinformation on His Sinclair Show (Reminder: never watch Sinclair “news,” including WJLA-7 in the DC metro area.)
- In the months leading up to the election, Sinclair’s James Rosen has pushed pro-Trump messaging in at least 18 national news segments (Also, never link to or share Sinclair “news” articles.)
- Watchdog Group Files Complaint Against Trump’s Physician with Virginia Department of Health Professions, Asks That They Revoke His Medical License
- Video: DPVA and End Citizens United Announce New Developments In Bob Good’s Ongoing Financial Disclosure Scandal
- Democrats surge ahead in fundraising in Virginia’s most competitive districts
- Long-awaited environmental justice study calls for ‘a cultural shift’ at DEQ
- Virginia begins planning for eventual COVID-19 vaccine
- General Assembly passes budget, but it’s unlikely to go into effect for weeks (“An intraparty dispute among Democrats over political redistricting reform is expected to delay the governor signing off on the pandemic-related budget updates.”)
- A Gubernatorial Kidnapping Plot, Voter Registration Woes, the State Budget, and a Senatorial Debate: Political Analysis for Friday, October 16, 2020
- VA House Democrats Applaud Special Session Successes (“General Assembly passed COVID-19 relief, police & criminal justice reform priorities and budget”)
- ‘A revolutionary change:’ Va. lawmakers vote to reform 224-year-old jury sentencing law.
- House and Senate adopt budget; back Marcus Alert
- Virginia State Senate Passes Budget; Bills to End Mandatory Jury Sentencing, Establish MARCUS Alerts
- General Assembly sends batch of police and criminal justice reform bills to governor
- Virginia General Assembly wraps up marathon session with votes on budget, police oversight bills
- Friday (10/16) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +1,183 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 164,124), +76 Hospitalizations (to 11,780), +20 Deaths (to 3,408)
- If Virginia’s Serious About a Zero-Carbon Future, We *Must* Significantly Improve Home Energy Efficiency
- BREAKING: Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Issues Temporary “Stay” on Mountain Valley Pipeline, For Now Halting Work on >1,000 Water Crossing in WV, VA
- Federal court delays stream crossings for Mountain Valley Pipeline
- Schapiro: Governors learn to expect the unexpected
- First medical cannabis dispensary to open in Virginia (“Dharma Pharmaceuticals will open in Bristol at 9 a.m. to registered patients on Oct. 17.”)
- Head of Portsmouth election board tried to push one mayoral candidate out of campaign to help another (“For over a decade, William H. Watts has served on the board meant to ensure fair elections. This isn’t the first time he’s been accused of inappropriate conduct.”)
- Finally, an indictment in the killing of Bijan Ghaisar. Will there be accountability?
- Richmond activist pleads no contest to inciting riot, assaulting officer outside police HQ in June
- Meet three candidates running for the Arlington School Board (“Cristina Diaz-Torres, David Priddy and Symone Walker are competing for two seats.”)
- Teachers unions in DC, Fairfax Co. have safety concerns when it comes to reopening schools
- Virginia suburb once known for Corey Stewart gets a new provocateur: A Latina Republican (“Liberal activists see Yesli Vega, a former cop, as a Trojan Horse sent to weaken Democratic support among Latinos in the once mostly White suburb.”)
- Ex-Washington cheerleaders shaken by lewd videos: ‘I don’t think they viewed us as people’
- Cool and sunny today, with temperatures warming up in the days to come
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