Friday News: “US makes official return to Paris climate pact”; “Biden to Ditch ‘America First’ in Appeal for Global Partnership”; “Snake on a Plane” Ted Cruz; “The Virginia G.O.P. Voted on Its Future. The Losers Reject the Results.”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, February 19.

• Single Dose of Pfizer Vaccine Is 85% Effective, Israeli Study Shows (“Peer-reviewed study comes as some governments debate whether to delay second vaccine doses”)
• Covid-19 Was Spreading in China Before First Confirmed Cases, Fresh Evidence Suggests
• Germany Is Treating a Major Party as a Threat to Its Democracy (“Alternative for Germany may be deemed a ‘suspected case’ of extremist activity. The United States should take note.”)
• US makes official return to Paris climate pact (“World leaders expect Washington to prove commitment to accord after four years of inaction”)
• Allegations of shackled students and gang rape inside China’s detention camps
• Iran Snubs Biden in Calling for End to Sanctions Before Talks
• Biden Administration Formally Offers to Restart Nuclear Talks With Iran
• Blinken tells EU counterparts U.S. is ready to open talks with Iran
• U.S. rescinds Trump White House claim that all U.N. sanctions had been reimposed on Iran
• Biden aides debate how, or if, to save original Iran deal
• Facebook’s move to restrict Australian publishers was a ‘nuclear option,’ expert says
• Australia’s battery and hydrogen storage pipeline jumped by massive 20GW in 2020
• Release of intelligence report on Khashoggi killing could push already strained U.S.-Saudi relations to new lows
• White House announces $4 billion in funding for Covax, the global vaccine effort that Trump spurned
• Biden to Ditch ‘America First’ in Appeal for Global Partnership (Good, but does America have any credibility anymore?)
• Perseverance rover has successfully landed on Mars and sent back its first images
• A Tale of Two Carbon Prices to Shape Biden’s Climate Policy
• Blaming the Wind for the Mess in Texas Is Painfully Absurd
• Polls On Reopening Schools Are All Over The Map
• Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen makes push for major stimulus, sees bigger risk in not doing enough
• After Years of Chaos, the White House Is Definitely in Different Hands
• Congress is writing up Biden’s stimulus plan. Here’s what’s in it.
• The Memo: Biden bets big on immigration
• Biden’s immigration plan is ambitious. But a big problem demands a big plan.
• Republicans think they’ve found Biden’s big weakness. But there’s a problem. (“Even more to the point, if and when its shelf life ends — when covid-19 is tamed sufficiently, and when normal life resumes, including kids returning to school — it will be in no small part because of solutions implemented on Democrats’ watch, which Republicans are already resisting.”)
• Trump-McConnell rift divides GOP donors
• Mitch McConnell got exactly what he deserved (“Despite showing some courage, he can’t save his party.”)
• The Republican Rift Goes Far Deeper Than Just Trump And McConnell
• Biden privately tells governors: Minimum wage hike likely isn’t happening
• Mainstream Republicans have tolerated extremism for years. Can they finally control it? (That assumes they WANT to control it.)
• Using an Anti-Klan Law Against Trump’s Clan
• Manhattan D.A. Recruits Top Prosecutor for Trump Inquiry
• Trump Ramps Up Efforts To Retain Control Of The Republican Party By Attacking McConnell
• GOP’s Thune says Trump allies engaging in ‘cancel culture’
• Trump snubs Haley
• The party that does not give a darn (“Recklessness and indifference have become standard.”)
• Exclusive: Coming bill would allow U.S. news publishers to team up when negotiating with Facebook, Google
• America has experience curbing dangerous industries. We can do the same with tech. (We’d better do so, ASAP.)
• It’s still too soon to suggest that Jan. 6 prompted any massive GOP exodus
• Let’s tell the truth about the Republican Party: It’s the real enemy of the people (“Coverage of the second impeachment was still driven by media myths about ‘normal’ Republicans. They don’t exist”)
• Republicans are in the business of subtraction
• 6 Capitol Police officers suspended, 29 others being investigated for alleged roles in riot
• California investor who donated nearly $1M to Trump inauguration sentenced to 12 years in prison
• Ted Cruz Is No Hypocrite. He’s Worse. (“The senator’s error is not that he was deliberately shirking his duty, but that he couldn’t think of any way he could help.”)
• As Texans froze, Ted Cruz got a ticket to paradise. Paradise can have him.
• 13 Curses to Mutter Against Ted Cruz While You Boil Snow to Drink
• Ted Cruz’s Excellent Adventure
• Texas, Land of Wind and Lies (“When post-truth politics meets energy policy.”)
• Ted Cruz has repeatedly slammed politicians for vacationing during crisis
• Republican leaders in Texas face growing backlash as power crisis deepens
• Ted Cruz Abandons Millions of Freezing Texans and His Poodle, Snowflake
• Ted Cruz’s Cancún Trip: Family Texts Detail His Political Blunder
• Texas was “seconds and minutes” away from catastrophic monthslong blackouts, officials say
• Cracked Pipes, Frozen Wells, Offline Treatment Plants: A Texan Water Crisis
• Fox News and Fox Business falsely blamed renewable energy for Texas blackouts 128 times over two days
• Don’t Read This If You Were a Rush Limbaugh Fan
• Ivanka Trump will not run against Marco Rubio for one of Florida’s Senate seats.
• Georgia Republicans Are Doubling Down on Racist Voter Suppression (Congress needs to act, ASAP.)
• Roughly a quarter of Trump’s posts on Facebook in 2020 contained COVID-19 misinformation, election lies, or extreme rhetoric about his critics (Facebook is a disgrace and a menace.)
• The Virginia G.O.P. Voted on Its Future. The Losers Reject the Results. (“In a sign of the Trump era’s lingering alternate realities, Republicans in the struggling state party are refusing to move forward with a new system for choosing nominees.”)
• Gov hopeful Glenn Youngkin says Virginia wants an outsider: ‘I’m tired of the Republican Party losing’
• Wason Center Polls VA Gov, LG and AG Races: “McAuliffe, Herring have head starts among Democrats; Chase leads Cox, Snyder for Republican governor bid”
• Virginia governor candidate builds supporter list off Limbaugh’s death (“Glenn Youngkin’s campaign sent an email Wednesday asking readers to sign a ‘sympathy card’ for Limbaugh.” Gross.)
• AP Reports: “In Virginia, Republican Chaos Reaches a Breaking Point” (VA Republicans “still have no idea how they’ll choose their nominees”)
• Thursday (2/18) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +2,304 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 557,896), +89 Hospitalizations (to 23,268), +15 Deaths (to 7,090)
• Severe winter storms impact Virginia’s vaccine shipments. More than 106,000 doses delayed
• Study Suggests Virginia is a Long Way from Herd Immunity
• Coronavirus cases are falling. But local officials say it’s too soon to ease most restrictions.
• Video, Highlights From Gov. Northam’s COVID Briefing: COVID #s Going Down, Vaccination #s Going Up, New Statewide Vaccination Pre-Registration System Now Available
• Bill to ban ‘cyber flashing’ in Virginia fails in Senate committee
• Video: Bill to Make Sending “Dick Pics” a Class 1 Misdemeanor Passes House of Delegates 99-0, Is Killed by 8 Male Members of Senate Judiciary Committee (Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler: “I’ve only heard men address this in committee – I don’t feel like this is getting a fair hearing and this is a huge problem”)
• Here’s why Virginia’s unemployment system is backlogged
• Tenant, homeowner protections heading to Northam’s desk after General Assembly passage
• Video: Debate Gets *VERY* Heated in Senate Education Committee as Bill to Increase Diversity at Virginia “Governor’s Schools” Is Debated…and Defeated
• Senators kill legislation aimed at increasing diversity within Virginia’s elite public high schools (Republicans plus Democrats Chap Petersen and Dick Saslaw are to blame here.)
• Virginia is One Step Closer to Ensuring Prohibition of Guns at the Polls, Protection of Domestic Violence Survivors
• The Fix Is In, As Big Plastic Flexes Its Lobbying Muscle In the Virginia General Assembly
• Terry McAuliffe Announces Bold New Plan to Invest in Virginia Workers & A More Equitable Post-COVID Economy
• Letter from RPV Chairman Rich Anderson to the State Central Committee (“The guidance I received was that a new meeting may not be called while the SCC is already in session (by virtue of having adjourned our January 23rd meeting to continue our discussions at a future meeting). For that reason, I conclude that the call for a February 20th meeting is not properly before the SCC.”)
• Anderson shuts down GOP committee members’ attempt to call a State Central meeting
• In ‘sleeper’ environmental bill, Virginia lawmakers eye carbon sequestration possibilities
• Senate Considers Ban on “Ghost Guns”
• Virginia Tech scientist thinks measuring CO2 is key to safely reopening schools, businesses
• U-Va. officials blame widespread noncompliance of guidelines for recent surge in coronavirus cases (Not good.)
• For the first time in 42 years, Fairfax County is seeking to modernize zoning ordinances (They should consider getting rid of exclusionary single-family zoning, but they almost certainly won’t.)
• Chesapeake man gets 3 years for driving truck toward Black Lives Matter protesters
• Thursday’s ice storm traces relatively minor path across Southwest Virginia
• “Progressive Reformer” Challenges Richmond’s Top Prosecutor
• State police respond to hundreds crashes as wintry weather hits much of Virginia
• Neighbors mount effort to defend Arlington’s trees from development (We need to be INCREASING our tree canopy and DECREASING the amount of paved-over land, big time.)
• Arlington proposes freezing tax rate, cutting spending to steer out of pandemic
• Spotty light wintry mix ends this morning. Clearer but cold and brisk this weekend.