by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, February 12.
- Shell’s ‘Delusional’ Net Zero Strategy Commits $8 Billion to Fossil Fuels
- How will Biden handle China and Russia? Look at his calls with Xi and Putin. (“Biden won’t back down against major US adversaries — but he won’t just feud with them, either.”)
- BBC World News barred in mainland China, radio dropped by HK public broadcaster
- UK economy slumps by record 10% in 2020 after COVID hit
- U.K. Economy Suffers Biggest Slump in 300 Years
- Biden is doing the right things on Myanmar. But will it matter?
- Biden’s tough stance on Saudi Arabia is getting results. He shouldn’t relent.
- Biden’s ambitious plan to push back against techno-autocracies
- Biden Decree Ends ‘Emergency’ That Trump Used To Build Wall
- Biden’s Climate Task Force Opens for Business, Aiming to Restore ‘Credibility’ (“The high-level group’s first meeting focused on job creation and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”)
- Biden administration to move Friday to rescind Medicaid work requirements
- Biden says U.S. will have enough vaccine for 300 million people by end of July (“The administration used options in existing contracts to purchase another 200 million doses, increasing supply by 50 percent”)
- House Panel Clears $1,400 Stimulus Payments, Family Tax Credits
- Republicans have always condoned Trump’s violence
- Of Course Trump Will Get Away With Criming While Wealthy and White
- Even with acquittal, GOP sees trial ending Trump’s shot at future office (Anyone who votes to acquit Trump, after the massive, overwhelming evidence against him, should never hold public office again. Many of them will, pathetically, but they absolutely shouldn’t.)
- The Trump Impeachment Evidence (“He might be acquitted, but he won’t live down his disgraceful conduct.” This is from the VERY conservative/right wing Wall Street Journal editorial board.)
- ‘Accomplice’ senators who amplified Trump’s lies now get a say in his fate (“Republicans Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz and others unabashedly endorsed the former president’s assault on democracy”)
- Our family knows the cost of political violence. Senators must show profiles in courage.
- If Trump Wasn’t Calling for Insurrection, What Was He Doing? (There’s no doubt about it.)
- None of these Republican excuses work
- The stakes at Trump’s trial: Whether GOP will fully denounce political violence
- The images of Trump’s mob are unforgettable (“These hooligans were sent by the now-former president, who then sent his ‘love.'”)
- Impeachment Offers Republicans Grace. They Don’t Want It.
- House managers wrap their case in impeachment trial, warning of violence without a conviction
- Takeaways from Day 3: Impeachment managers make a novel appeal
- GOP Senators Must Choose—the United States or Donald Trump (“In a rational world, Trump’s guilt wouldn’t be a partisan issue at all. But we live in Republican world.”)
- Trump’s defense team faces a heavy burden, but loyalty to former President hangs over trial (Of course, loyalty should be to the constitution, the law, etc.)
- Democrats Close Their Case Using Trump’s Words Against Him (If Republican Senators actually held to their oaths, this case would be open-and-shut.)
- Trump Defense to Wrap Up in Under Four Hours: Impeachment Update (Really, they have nothing to say that’s in any way worth listening to.)
- Trump Begins Defense in Impeachment Trial Eyeing an Acquittal (There’s no serious defense to what Trump did. None.)
- Mounting evidence suggests Trump knew of danger to Pence when he attacked him as lacking ‘courage’ amid Capitol siege
- Trump’s Treatment of Pence During Capitol Riot Was Even Worse Than We Knew
- Three GOP senators meet with Trump’s lawyers on eve of impeachment defense presentation (That should be an automatic disqualifier for serving on the “jury”)
- GOP senators praise impeachment managers but say Trump will be acquitted
- Military officials were unaware of potential danger to Pence’s ‘nuclear football’ during Capitol riot
- Videos Turn Eugene Goodman into a Reluctant Hero in the Capitol Attack
- Officers’ Injuries, Including Concussions, Show Scope of Violence at Capitol Riot
- Oath Keepers Plotting Before Capitol Riot Awaited ‘Direction’ From Trump, Prosecutors Say
- If Republican senators acquit Trump, they will own the violence that follows
- ‘We have to move on’: Why Democrats decided to fast-track Trump’s second impeachment trial
- Former FBI official, a Navy veteran, is ‘key figure’ in Jan. 6 riot, prosecutors allege
- What the Impeachment Trial Tells Us About the Biden Administration (“There is something a bit illusory about the impeachment trial, in that its central dramas are all about Republicans, and the real action in Washington is about the Democrats.”)
- ‘That doesn’t exist’: Joy Reid debunks claims by GOP Senator comparing BLM protests to Capitol riot
- Trump’s Conduct on January 6 Was Not Just Wrong, It Was Stupid
- NRCC will ‘absolutely’ support Republicans who backed impeachment, finance chair says (No corporation should give them a penny.)
- Trump Was Sicker Than Acknowledged With Covid-19
- Automakers are embracing the EV revolution, but what about your state?
- McCarthy says Biden won’t meet with Republicans — hours after he did just that (McCarthy is just horrible.)
- Appalachian Fracking Boom Was a Jobs Bust, Finds New Report
- Dozens of former Republican officials in talks to form anti-Trump party (Yeah, good luck.)
- Prominent anti-Trump Republicans reject third party (“Two of the most prominent anti-Trump Republicans in Congress – Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois – rejected the idea of a breakaway party to counter former President Donald Trump’s influence.”)
- The Predator in the Lincoln Project John Weaver used his power to get jobs for young men he allegedly harassed. His colleagues were warned.
- Ex-Lincoln Project Staff Ask to Be Released From Nondisclosure Agreements (What a mess.)
- Stacey Abrams and Lauren Groh-Wargo: How to Turn Your Red State Blue
- Right-wing media routinely frame banal remarks by Democrats as calls to violence. Trump’s legal team will use that dishonest tactic to defend him. (Totally dishonest.)
- Judge declines new arrest warrant for Kyle Rittenhouse (That’s totally messed up.)
- Influential pianist helped develop jazz fusion in the 1970s (RIP Chick Corea.)
- Lawsuit: Texas AG Ken Paxton swapped political favors for home remodel, job for alleged ‘mistress’ (Scumbag.)
- Nikki Haley’s Time for Choosing (“The 2024 hopeful can’t decide who she wants to be—the leader of a post-Trump GOP or a ‘friend’ to the president who tried to sabotage democracy.”)
- Charges Were Dropped Against The Buffalo Police Officers Who Violently Shoved A 75-Year-Old Protester (Ugh.)
- North Carolina man charged with threatening to kill President Biden
- Video: Sen. Mark Warner Says He Doesn’t Know How Anyone Who Saw Yesterday’s Impeachment Presentation “Could Not Have Been Moved”
- Va. senators weigh in on Trump second impeachment trial
- Video: Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA05) Says the House Impeachment Managers “are actually making a case for conservatism…that we should conserve the Republic”
- Virginia Billionaires Got $7 Billion Richer Over First 10 Months of Pandemic, Their Collective Wealth Jumping By 17% (“Gains of Richest Residents Could Pay For Relief Checks of $820 for All 8.5 Million Virginians & Still Leave Billionaires as Rich as They Were Before COVID”)
- Virginia considers overhauling auto insurance to protect crash victims; industry warns of higher costs
- Thursday (2/11) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +3,899 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 541,018), +145 Hospitalizations (to 22,615), +26 Deaths (to 6,958)
- ‘Roll the digital dice’ – Virginians struggle with CVS technology to get vaccine
- Tech woes are a serious barrier in Virginia’s efforts to schedule vaccine appointments
- COVID-19 vaccine preregistration will stop while Virginia builds central system over the weekend
- Desperate for the vaccine but confused by the system, Virginia seniors are reaching out for help
- Consent Decree Agreement Approved on Contactless Method of Virginia Ballot Petition Signature Gathering
- At General Assembly’s Halftime, Consumers Hold a Narrow Lead
- Virginia Reproductive Freedom Legislative Update
- After opposition to gold mining in Buckingham, General Assembly weighs temporary ban and study
- Inaction on a criminal justice reform bill in a House subcommittee surprises supporters of the legislation
- Absentee Minded (“Lawmakers consider bill to assign absentee ballots to precincts where voters live.”)
- Prisoners criticize VADOC vaccine rollout, coronavirus response
- Democrats committed to expanding Virginia’s Court of Appeals
- Former Montgomery County GOP chairman will challenge Chris Hurst in the 12th District
- Editorial: To serve local students, summer learning planning must start now
- Stoney Promises Equitable Pandemic Recovery In Annual Address (English language lesson du jour: this headline would be much better if it were “In Annual Address, Stoney Promises Equitable Pandemic Recovery”)
- Snow prompts travel warning, forces Fredericksburg-area schools to close
- Officers’ testimony on Thursday differs from RPD account of police shooting on New Year’s Eve
- What metro Richmond can expect from snow overnight and freezing rain on Saturday
- Raw today with iciness risk growing into Saturday
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