Friday News: “274,000 Dead, and Trump Obsesses Over Election Conspiracy Theories. Where’s the Outrage?”; Biden/Harris’ “Normal” Interview; “With close ties to multiple candidates, Kaine says he’s not endorsing yet in Democratic primary for governor”; “Time for a discussion about the future of EVMS”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, December 4.

• How Did Europe Sleepwalk into a Deadly Second Wave? (“The world’s richest club of nations is finding itself in the claws of a disastrous new phase of the pandemic, after having wrestled back the first.”)
• Bigger Turbines, Better Grids: Siemens Gamesa on Planning an Offshore Boom (“Next-generation turbines and major grid investment can help ensure offshore wind reaches its potential, says Siemens Gamesa.”)
• Denmark to End North Sea Oil Production in Milestone Deal (2050 is waaayyyy too late. We need to be thinking more on the 2030s timeline for a 100% clean energy economy…)
• Chinese Scientists Claim Breakthrough in Quantum Computing Race (“It can perform certain computations nearly 100 trillion times faster than the world’s top supercomputer.” Wow.)
• Vaccines offer hope for end to pandemic, but brutal months lie ahead
• There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, but coming months will be Covid-19 ‘worst-case scenario,’ expert says
• A climate catastrophe is upon us. Biden can still make a difference.
• In Blue States and Red, Pandemic Upends Public Services and Jobs (“As a standoff over federal aid persists, state and local governments across America are making deep budget cuts, regardless of the party in charge. Republicans scorned aid as a “blue-state bailout.” In reality, the degree of distress depends on virus cases, the state’s businesses and its taxes.”)
• U.S. Labor Market Still Healing From Pandemic Losses
• Analysis: As stocks soar, government shutdown looms amid pandemic
• 274,000 Dead, and Trump Obsesses Over Election Conspiracy Theories. Where’s the Outrage?
• Trump largely silent as health officials sound COVID-19 alarm
• Biden: ‘Several’ Republican senators have privately acknowledged he won
• The MAGA Revolution Devours Its Own (“Republicans encouraged Trumpist havoc. Now it’s coming for them.”)
• Takeaways from the Biden-Harris interview (“The President-elect previewed a sharp change of direction from President Trump with an appeal to all Americans in a CNN exclusive interview”)
• Biden backs $900B compromise coronavirus stimulus bill
• Joe Biden And Kamala Harris Give A Glimpse Of A Return To “Normal” In Interview With CNN’s Jake Tapper (Normal is good!)
• What Biden gets about being president — and Trump doesn’t
• How Bipartisan Stimulus, McConnell Plans Stack Up: Side by Side (McConnell’s is a complete joke.)
• Stimulus Optimism Grows as GOP Lawmakers Warm to Bipartisan Plan
• McConnell, Pelosi talk as stimulus package gains momentum
• CNN Exclusive: Biden says he will ask Americans to wear masks for the first 100 days he’s in office
• On separated migrant kids, the Biden team faces a hugely complex problem
• Trump Associates Said to Have Been Scrutinized in Suspected Pardon Scheme
• The President Is Acting Crazy, so Why Are We Shrugging It Off? (“We” are not shrugging it off; Republicans are shrugging it off, as is much of the media.)
• Republicans, it isn’t too late to stand up for the nation (Virginia Republicans have been silent. That says it all about them.)
• Biden taps Murthy as nation’s top doctor, offers Fauci key role
• How Is Trump’s Lawyer Jenna Ellis ‘Elite Strike Force’ Material?
• Trump mulls preemptive pardons for up to 20 allies, even as Republicans balk
• Trump’s looming 2024 bid leaves Republicans in a bind (“A pro-Trump attorney’s call for a Senate runoff boycott has alarmed Republicans.”)
• Trump aide banned from Justice after trying to get case info
• Farah resigns as White House communications director in tacit nod to Trump’s loss
• We’ve Been Headed Here Since Ronald Reagan
• Trump Rewards His Cronies and Bundlers With Plum Posts on His Way Out the Door
• Kayleigh McEnany isn’t aware of anything
• Why Republicans are resorting to anti-socialism hysteria (“Conservatives will say anything to justify backing a racist, loony president.”)
• Learn to Stop Worrying and Love Debt (“Why you should ignore the coming Republican deficit rants.”)
• The Trump Regime Ends as It Began: Full of Clumsy Palace Intrigue and Wild Paranoia
• A political litmus test for Republicans: Fail it, lose your TV slot
• Trump raises $495 million since mid-October, including a haul fueled by misleading appeals about election fraud (“Misleading?” Ugh. Try FALSE!)
• Ex-Presidents Can Get Intel Briefings. Trump Shouldn’t. (Absolutely not.)
• How Dozens of Trump’s Political Appointees Will Stay in Government After Biden Takes Over
• Trump, RNC Raised $207.5 Million After Election Day
• Trump’s outrageous lies used to be terrifying — now they’re just pathetic (“Trump is the same BS artist as always, but with no power to enforce his lies, he’s becoming a shabby punchline”)
• Plotting the future: Trump kids even look to profit from their father’s fallen legacy
• It might not be so simple for Trump to pardon his children and Giuliani (“The Constitution requires the president to be specific about what he’s pardoning.”)
• Donald Trump is trying to subvert the election. Here is a list of the right-wing media voices who helped.
• Raimondo: I will not be Biden’s HHS secretary
• Reeling U.S. Coal Industry Sends Two More Producers to Bankruptcy
• Pollution from car tires is killing off salmon on US west coast, study finds (Disgusting.)
• Young Republicans Stage Secret Gala, Ignoring Virus Concerns
• Juan Williams of Fox News Is Said to Test Positive for Coronavirus
• Prominent Democratic strategist and Newsom adviser facing domestic violence charges (Unacceptable.)
• Trump’s voter fraud fantasy is starting to muck up Republicans’ chances elsewhere
• Sen. Perdue appears to tacitly acknowledge Biden’s victory in call with GOP group ahead of Trump rally in Georgia
• David Perdue has troubles (“Republicans’ self-destructiveness meets ‘the swamp.'”)
• A new Georgia poll suggests that Republican lies about “voter fraud” are hurting the GOP
• ‘One of the nuttier things I’ve seen’: MAGA civil war erupts in Georgia
• Poll results show tight races between candidates in U.S. Senate runoffs
• Georgia Was a Big Win for Democrats. Black Women Did the Groundwork.
• With close ties to multiple candidates, Kaine says he’s not endorsing yet in Democratic primary for governor (“Kaine has often praised McClellan, who like him came up through the world of Richmond politics, as an ascendant Democratic star. But it remains to be seen whether that relationship might translate to an endorsement for her rather than McAuliffe, who is expected to formally enter the race soon, bringing a bigger profile and legendary fundraising abilities.”)
• Governor Northam Announces New Actions to Improve Coastal Resilience, Address Flooding Caused by Climate Change
• Thursday (12/3) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +2,023 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 244,503), +131 Hospitalizations (to 15,014), +34 Deaths (to 4,147)
• Video: In Virtual Town Hall on Racism, School Segregation, etc. VA Secretary of Education Atif Qarni Vows, “We’ve got one year left in the administration; we’re not stopping.” (Panelist Dr. Wesley Joe decries the idea that “desegregating the Governor’s Schools is somehow an attack on Asian Americans”)
• New VA Dept. of Education Report Stresses Need to Address “systemic racism in our public schools” and Ensure That “every Virginia student is positioned for success”
• A clean energy transition won’t be free. Officials hope energy efficiency can offset costs.
• Virginia schools plan gradual reopening as evidence of online learning gap piles up (“Arlington Public Schools is seeing steep drops in literacy for English-learner children.”)
• Virginia General Assembly leaders name lawmakers to new redistricting commission
• The Pandemic Took $750 Million From VA’s Transportation Budget. Here’s What Happens Now.
• Virginia Beach legislator joins race for Virginia attorney general
• Virginia ranks at the bottom for kinship care. Working together, we can do better.
• Wind Works: Southern Virginia Looks to Green Energy as a Job Source
• Why So High? More Than Half the Cost to Legalize Weed in VA Goes to Police, Report Says.
• Qasim Rashid column: Why bother with dialogue?
• Editorial: Expunge law-abiding Virginians’ tag numbers
• Panel sets Dec. 16 meeting to recommend replacement for Lee statue at U.S. Capitol
• Audio: Interview with Sean Perryman, Candidate for Lieutenant Governor
• PolitiFact VA: Are Marijuana Laws Enforced Differently Across Races? (Yep, 100% true.)
• LGBTQ Municipal Equality Index Finds Four Virginia Localities – Alexandria, Arlington, Richmond, VA Beach – with Perfect Scores
• ‘Richmond should take great pride’: City scores 100 on Human Rights Campaign’s LGBTQ equality index
• Del. Mark Cole (R) Working Very Hard to Be the Most Far-Right Extreme Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
• Accountability Demanded for August Tear Gassing Inside Jail
• Editorial: Time for a discussion about the future of EVMS (“EVMS deceives itself. Earlier this week, when the school’s leadership rushed to head off the conclusions of a credible, measured and persuasive Manatt Health Strategies report, the machinations were all too obvious and painfully so…The sponsors of the Manatt study — all well-recognized community and business leaders of established reputation — would secure a financially sustainable structure for EVMS, one that gives EVMS a productive and useful future in Hampton Roads.”)
• With COVID-19 cases hitting new peak in Richmond, RPS leader will recommend schools stay virtual
• Williamsburg-James City County schools to return to remote learning after spike in COVID-19 cases
• Roanoke medical school says applications up 48%
• D.C.-area forecast: Growing shower chances today, with more rain tonight