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by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, February 4.
- Rich countries must update financial vows to tackle climate crisis, says UN (“Patricia Espinosa says fulfilling $100bn-a-year promise must be top priority to support developing world”)
- The Terrifying Warning Lurking in the Earth’s Ancient Rock Record (“Our climate models could be missing something big.”)
- Canada designates Proud Boys as terrorist organization beside Isis and al-Qaida
- Myanmar’s military is using absurd legal charges to keep leader Aung San Suu Kyi locked up
- Vladimir the Poisoner of Underpants
- On Climate, Biden’s Administration Needs to Combat Zombie Trumpism Quickly
- Analysis: Biden Demands Russia and Myanmar Reverse Course (“President Biden is about to discover how years of sanctions fatigue and a decline in U.S. influence may make it difficult to deliver on his promises.”)
- ‘The only verdict allowed’: Navalny’s jailing is a watershed for Russia
- Mexico has stopped accepting some Central American families ‘expelled’ by U.S. along the border
- U.S., Israel Years Ahead of Europe in Early Race for Covid Shots (“The U.S. is on pace to vaccinate 75% of its population this year, while Canada would need almost a decade to reach that.”)
- South Australia Is a Time Machine Into the Solar-Powered Future
- UK launches ‘world first’ trial mixing different Covid vaccines for first and second doses
- One Pfizer/BioNTech jab gives ‘90% immunity’ from Covid after 21 days (“New analysis runs counter to earlier study which suggested one dose may not give adequate protection”)
- Vaccine News Gives Hope for Spring, if Enough People Get the Shots
- As U.S. Vaccinations Speed Up, Cautious Optimism Grows (“More than 27 million Americans have received a first dose, and more than six million are fully inoculated. Here’s the latest on the pandemic.”)
- A Parallel Pandemic Hits Health Care Workers: Trauma and Exhaustion
- U.S. Extends Sole Remaining Nuclear Arms Treaty With Russia (“Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. would use the five years of the New START treaty’s renewal to pursue limits on all of Russia’s nuclear weapons.”)
- Joe Biden Is Playing It Cool with Benjamin Netanyahu (Good, screw you Bibi)
- Joe Biden’s plans to combat climate crisis have – predictably – provoked GOP backlash (Republicans, apparently, want an unlivable planet.)
- QAnon fight, impeachment fallout expose GOP’s post-Trump rift
- Republicans Have a Major Problem. Soon It Could Be Everyone’s Problem. (“Kevin McCarthy is fumbling this Liz Cheney-Marjorie Taylor Greene situation.”)
- The battle for the soul of the GOP is already over (“Rep. Liz Cheney survived to fight another battle, but the appeasement of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene by the House GOP sent their party lurching towards extremism”)
- McCarthy announces no disciplinary actions against Greene (Unacceptable.)
- McCarthy moves to keep splintering GOP intact, with protection for both Cheney and Greene
- Marjorie Taylor Greene Was a Moderator of a Facebook Group Featuring Death Threats and Racist Memes
- Every antisemitic thing Marjorie Taylor Greene has said and done (so far)
- Exclusive poll: Republicans favor Greene over Cheney (This party is f’ed.)
- Greene apologizes to GOP colleagues — and gets standing ovation (Utterly disgusting.)
- Republicans rally to keep Cheney in power
- Cheney refuses to apologize for voting to impeach Trump during closed-door GOP meeting
- Democrats Head Into Showdown With GOP Over Punishing Greene
- House To Vote On Stripping Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene From 2 Key Committees
- Why Kevin McCarthy has already failed his first big leadership test
- Today’s GOP Has Some Alarming Similarities to Russia Before the Bolshevik Revolution
- 61% Optimistic About Next Four Years With Biden In Office,
- Racist Republicans Try To Use Ilhan Omar to Somehow Excuse Marjorie Taylor Greene
- Senate Democrats have begun the budget reconciliation process for Covid-19 relief
- Senate braces for chaotic session as Democrats pursue coronavirus bill
- Biden Ousts All 10 of Trump’s Union Busters From Powerful Labor Panel (Bye bye!)
- Trump’s pathetic defense reminds us why conviction is needed (“We need unity around facts.”)
- Republicans must go cold turkey to escape the Trump cult
- Exclusive: U.S. mulls using law designed to prosecute Mafia against Capitol rioters
- Proud Boys conspiracy at center of new Capitol riot charges
- The Senate Has Become a Dadaist Nightmare (“No one would ever design a legislative body that worked this way.” Yep, it’s a complete nightmare.)
- In Biden administration reversal, Justice Dept. drops discrimination suit against Yale
- Klobuchar unveils sweeping antitrust bill, laying out her vision as new subcommittee chair
- McKinsey, States Reach $573 Million Opioid Settlement
- After Trump Failed to Overturn 2020 Election, Republicans Are Trying to Steal the Next One (“This is the most concerted effort to roll back voting rights in decades.”)
- Trump is far worse than Marjorie Taylor Greene. Yet the GOP still won’t renounce him.
- Parler CEO Says He Was Fired by Conservative Political Donor Rebekah Mercer
- Fearing violence and political uncertainty, Americans are buying millions more firearms
- Why Has Donald Trump Clammed Up?
- Country star Morgan Wallen suspended by record label, dropped by hundreds of radio stations after using racial slur
- Democrat Kerry Donovan launches campaign to unseat Lauren Boebert
- Every new piece of information about the Capitol insurrection shows why we can’t just move on
- Trump spurred major shifts in public opinion on race, policing and protests — toward his opponents
- Prosecutors don’t know Kyle Rittenhouse’s whereabouts, seek arrest warrant (Everything about this is a disgrace.)
- More Than 10,000 Arizonans Left the GOP in January (At this point, unless you believe in QAnon, why would you stay in the GQP?)
- Rush Limbaugh’s election lies about Dominion Voting Systems reached millions of listeners (One of the most horrible people in American history.)
- Tom Brady has gotten an undeserved pass for his past support of Donald Trump
- Luria elected as vice-chair of House Armed Services Committee (Nice!)
- Audio: Far-Right Rep. Bob Good (R-VA05) Says “I am thankful to have Marjorie Greene in the Congress, I think she stands for a lot of great things.”
- Video: Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA05) Says “I do think you’re going to see a huge moderate swath of the Republican Party start to exit.”
- Video: VA GOP Lt. Gov. Candidates Tim Hugo Brags About Endorsement by “Climate Zombie,” Seditionist, COVID-Denying, Hydroxychloroquine-Promoting “Disgrace to the Office” Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA09)
- AG Mark Herring Announces Senior Staff for Reelection Campaign
- Editorial: A broad debate over tax structure looms in Virginia
- Virginia Senate votes to abolish death penalty after centuries of executions
- Video: After Passionate Debate, State Senate Votes 21-17 to Abolish Virginia’s Death Penalty
- Opinion: Virginians deserve more medical marijuana options
- Virginia Hospitals Have Administered More Than 435,000 COVID-19 Vaccine Doses So Far
- Wednesday (2/3) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +2,959 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 513,339), +122 Hospitalizations (to 21,638), +58 Deaths (to 6,575)
- UVa researchers say antibody cocktail could provide instant immunity
- Virginia’s fourth case of UK COVID variant is northwest Virginia resident who traveled outside U.S.
- Vaccine supply still an issue in Virginia — and some health district directors are pulling double-duty amid rollout
- Virginia’s largest school systems vow to reopen classrooms for all by March
- New Poll: 45% of Virginians Say Schools Are Reopening *Too Quickly* vs. Only 25% Who Say “Too Slowly” (Among Dems, the margin is 57%-12%; Just 19% of Virginians say “they will never get vaccinated against COVID-19”)
- Teenage Republicans: ‘QAnon and Violence Have No Place In the GOP’
- Virginia Governor Ralph Northam to Serve as 2021 Appalachian Regional Commission States’ Co-Chair
- Rebates are key to Democrats’ transportation electrification package. Paying for them is a harder nut to crack.
- Va. House votes to double minimum fine for littering from $250 to $500
- Va. House leaders block delegate’s effort to force vote on right-to-work repeal
- Virginia Considers Making It Illegal To Send Unsolicited Nude Images
- Two efforts for police accountability have failed; one in the courts and one in the legislature
- Schapiro: Virginia’s Prohibition repeal redux
- Augusta Free Press: Who we’re backing for governor of Virginia: Jennifer Carroll Foy
- Former Norfolk inmate spent 16 months in solitary confinement. A new Senate bill aims to prohibit it.
- Richmond Police chief makes changes to department’s leadership team, sources say
- Four Richmond ZIP codes with mostly Black, Latino residents hold 60% of city’s COVID cases. They’re farthest from vaccine clinics.
- Virginia Tech, Radford University finding fewer COVID-19 cases after more testing
- Sunny today and showers early Friday before a cool and dry weekend
