Sunday News: “Global warming makes extreme weather a regular event”; “Biden Aims to Keep Infrastructure Deal Alive, Denying Veto Vow”; “Jim Acosta: Trump has a clown car full of lies”; “Former Scott Taylor political consultant indicted on several counts of false statements, election fraud”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, June 27.

What’s next? An insurrection at a school board meeting? My thoughts on the latest unserious outrage theory. https://t.co/g7OfDpZjFK

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) June 26, 2021

• Global warming makes extreme weather a regular event (“Earth’s climate has drastically shifted in three decades” Humanity STILL isn’t treating this with the seriousness it needs/deserves.)
• Iran says nuclear site images won’t be given to IAEA as deal has expired
• Delta Variant Threatens to Destroy Another European Summer
• New video of Ethiopia massacre shows soldiers passing phone around to document their executions of unarmed men
• Prominent Nicaraguan opposition leaders and journalists flee an escalating government crackdown
• Belarus deserves democracy and freedom. Nothing less.
• Where We Are on the Road to Electric Vehicles
• Blinken visit to pope will reset U.S-Vatican ties after Trump years
• Why some biologists and ecologists think social media is a risk to humanity
• Can Solar Farms Help Save Bees? (“Pairing solar farms with pollinator-friendly plants could be a win for both green energy and biodiversity.”)
• One in Five Young Adults Is Neither Working Nor Studying in U.S.
• As Parents Forbid Covid Shots, Defiant Teenagers Seek Ways to Get Them (Go teenagers!)
• FDA adds warning about risk of rare heart inflammation to Pfizer, Moderna Covid vaccines
• Summer Is Hot, but This Is Abnormal (“Scorching weather has far outstripped old expectations, but many Americans still have trouble seeing high temperatures as a distinct hazard.”)
• Portland records hottest ever day as heatwave scorches Pacific north-west (“Temperatures soared across the region as Portland hit 108F and Seattle broke 100F for only the fourth time since records began” Time to treat this as a CRISIS.)
• Unemployment Rolls Shrink Faster in States Cutting Aid
• Dispossessed, Again: Climate Change Hits Native Americans Especially Hard (“Many Native people were forced into the most undesirable areas of America, first by white settlers, then by the government. Now, parts of that marginal land are becoming uninhabitable.”)
• Where the buffalo roam: world’s longest wildlife bridge could cross the Mississippi
• What if American Democracy Fails the Climate Crisis?
• Biden worked phones to salvage infrastructure deal (“The president himself was making calls to lawmakers after infuriating Republican negotiators with ‘tandem’ bill remarks.”)
• ‘We have a deal,’ Biden declares – but will his $1tn infrastructure package pass?
• Biden Aims to Keep Infrastructure Deal Alive, Denying Veto Vow
• Statement by President Joe Biden on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework
• Biden reverses himself on infrastructure, says he would sign bipartisan deal
• Biden gambles on bipartisanship
• The GOP’s Sharia Law Liars Are Hyping Critical Race Theory Now (“This is the only script Republicans know how to act out now, the same one that they’ve used to demonize Muslims. Here’s how it works, and how to counter it.”)
• Democrats pushed hard last year to rein in police. A rise in murders is prompting a shift. (“Democrats are scrambling to make new investments in policing and seeking to project toughness on crime, even as they continue pushing for police reforms and alternative means of deterring crime.”)
• EPA watchdog says Trump appointees kept fired employees on payroll
• The remarkably unremarkable White House Pride ceremony
• How Deceptive Campaign Fund-Raising Ensnares Older People
• Congress Must Act Now to Stop the Next Election Coup
• The Cruel Logic of the Republican Party, Before and After Trump
• GOP lawmaker won’t come to CNN, so Jim Acosta went to him. See what happened
• Ideology Shows in Supreme Court Ruling on Union Organizing
• ‘He’s not a quitter’: faithful out in force as Trump gets back to the campaign trail (“Thousands of adoring fans turned out in Ohio to remind America that Trump’s cult of personality never went away” These fans are the worst of America and the worst of humanity.)
• Trump Grumbles About the Military and Recites Song Lyrics at Ohio Rally (L-O-S-E-R)
• Trump’s revenge tour begins with eyes on one Ohio Republican (Completely unhinged.)
• Trump’s endorsements: revenge against enemies, rewards for friends and purveyors of election falsehoods
• With Trump Holding Rallies Again, The Shadow 2024 Republican Campaign Continues
• Trump’s big lie about 2020 results suffers legal and political blows in key swing states
• The Most Crucial Part of the New Georgia Lawsuit Is Proving GOP Intentionally Targeted Black Voters (“If the DOJ is successful, the state could once again be covered under the Voting Rights Act.”)
• The DOJ’s lawsuit against Georgia’s voter suppression law is probably doomed (“Blame John Roberts and Donald Trump.”)
• Miami-Area Rescue Effort Is Hampered by Fire as Families Cling to Hope
• Engineers Found Florida Condo Had ‘Major Structural Damage’ Before It Collapsed
• Anxiety spreads that other buildings near collapsed condo could also be in danger
• Rescuers Recover Additional Body From Florida Building Collapse, Death Toll At 5
• Engineer Warned of ‘Major Structural Damage’ at Florida Condo Complex (Why we need strong regulations, also strongly enforced!)
• ‘They were on their balconies, screaming:’ The final minutes at Champlain Towers South
• ‘Deep fire’ slowing rescue effort at collapsed Florida condo
• While Kyrsten Sinema Defends the Filibuster, Arizona Republicans Strip Democrats of Power
• In Arizona, G.O.P. Lawmakers Strip Power From a Democrat (“The State Legislature shifted legal authority from the secretary of state to a Republican attorney general, and enacted election measures it said would stop fraud.”)
• 2 secretaries of state undercut Trump’s fraud claims in key, GOP-controlled states. Republicans have now voted to strip both of power. (Outrageous assault on democracy.)
• Johnson & Johnson to Pay New York $230 Million to Settle Opioid Case
• A legendary Chicago newspaper columnist bids farewell — and wonders who will be left to tell her city’s tale
• Former Scott Taylor political consultant indicted on several counts of false statements, election fraud
• Former political consultant for ex-U.S. Rep. Scott Taylor indicted for election fraud (“Robert ‘Rob’ Catron is the fourth member of Taylor’s campaign staff to be charged. The other three were also charged with felony election fraud but reached deals with prosecutors that allowed them to plead to a misdemeanor charge instead.” Taylor was aware of all this…or what?)
• Wilson: Despite McAuliffe’s big win, Dems need changes to future primaries to ensure unity
• Marijuana legalization starts July 1. Addressing the impact of prohibition is unfinished work. A messy process to legalize the drug is ahead. (“Kisare Bundy had been on probation for most of his adult life when, at 22, a marijuana possession charge sent him to prison for just under a decade.”)
• Opinion: Now is the time to prioritize mental health services in Virginia
• Saturday (6/26) Virginia Data on COVID-19: Hospitalizations, New COVID Cases At Lowest Points Since March 2020
• Opinion: Virginia must repair its crumbling public school buildings (Sure, and make them “green” as well. The question is, how to pay for it…Republicans cool with raising taxes to do so? Nope, didn’t think so.)
• Virginia PTA Issues “Notice of Intent to Revoke Charter” to “TJ” PTSA, Citing “Failure to adhere to PTA values and principles,” etc. (The Virginia PTA says it “is extremely concerned about how the current TJHSST PTSA leadership continues to imperil the reputation and viability of the association.”)
• Editorial: Here’s an agenda for rural Virginia. Who will back it?
• Smoke signals: Local opinions vary as Virginia prepares for legal pot
• Editorial: Restoring trust in EVMS (“The attacks on Sentara Healthcare — orchestrated and financed by EVMS to the tune of a half million dollars (at a time when it was begging for support) — are not just non-sensical, but reprehensible.”)
• Customers flock to region’s hydroponic, garden stores ahead of marijuana legalization
• D.C.-area forecast: Ramping up the heat and humidity through midweek