Tuesday News: “Solar Is Dirt-Cheap and About to Get Even More Powerful”; “After U.S.’s Bagram Exit, Afghans Face the Taliban Alone”; “Fourth Of July Shootings Across The Country Kill More Than 180 This Year”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, July 6.

• Solar Is Dirt-Cheap and About to Get Even More Powerful (“After focusing for decades on cutting costs, the solar industry is shifting attention to making new advances in technology.”)
• Climate change: Planting extra trees will boost rainfall across Europe
• Climate scientists warned us. When will we listen?
• Every Roof in Japan Could Have Solar Panels in the Future
• Top Australian Coal Mines Are Spewing More Methane Than Rivals (Utterly disgraceful.)
• An Actual Space Laser Shows How Devastating Sea Level Rise May Be (“By 2100, scientists estimate, at least 400 million people could live in high-risk areas”)
• England May Be Lifting Nearly All Of Its Coronavirus Restrictions By July 19 (Seems very unwise.)
• The Shocking Enormity of Russia’s Botched Pandemic Response
• China’s Xi promises the world ‘heads bashed bloody.’ He should be taken seriously.
• Corruption allegations increase pressure on Bolsonaro (“Reports claim Brazilian president, already accused of mishandling Covid, was involved in embezzlement scheme” Lock. Him. Up.)
• Belarus jails Lukashenko foe Babariko for 14 years in ‘sham’ trial
• Afghanistan: Soldiers flee to Tajikistan after militant clashes
• Imperiled for helping U.S. troops and stranded by bureaucracy, Afghan interpreters see Biden evacuation plan as last hope
• After U.S.’s Bagram Exit, Afghans Face the Taliban Alone
• Taliban parade new weapons seized from Afghan military as U.S. withdraws (“‘We will fight them and we will push them back,’ a senior Afghan commander told NBC News about the Taliban’s gains.”)
• US left Bagram Airbase at night with no notice, Afghan commander says
• Attackers kidnap 140 pupils from Nigerian boarding school
• In Blow to Bennett, Knesset Votes Down Extending Citizenship Law
• Biden to Temper U.S. Use of Sanctions Weapons, Officials Say
• When Will China Overtake the U.S. as World’s Top Economy? Maybe Never
• OPEC+ Crisis Propels Oil to Six-Year High as Market Tightens (Meanwhile, oil and other fossil fuels continue to heat up the planet dangerously. Stop producing/consuming it ASAP!)
• The end of OPEC? How Saudi Arabia and UAE infighting threatens the future of the oil alliance
• Controversial approval of Alzheimer’s drug reignites the battle over cause of the disease
• Conservatives Have No Plan To Win the Culture War. They Intend to Rule Anyway. (“Conservatives would have to make changes to win the hearts and minds of the young. They have no intention of doing that. They intend to kill democracy, instead”)
• Republicans want to make America more like China
• At least 150 people fatally shot in more than 400 shootings over the Fourth of July weekend (This is “normal” in America…the only country in the world which allows this shit.)
• Fourth Of July Shootings Across The Country Kill More Than 180 This Year
• The Supreme Court’s Conservatives Have Laid the Groundwork for the Devastation to Come
• What’s keeping democracy experts up most at night? An overturned election
• Republicans’ effort to deny the Capitol attack is working – and it’s dangerous (Very, very dangerous and completely unhinged.)
• Biden’s Big Left Gamble (“The president is overseeing a sea change in the world of economic policy, and so much hangs in the balance.”)
• Hackers demand $70 million to unlock businesses hit by sprawling ransomware attack
• Five big questions about the Jan. 6 select committee
• In ramp-up to 2022 midterms, Republican candidates center pitches on Trump’s false election claims
• Trump Organization charges could open the indictment floodgates
• We knew QAnon is anti-Semitic. Now we know it’s racist, too
• Rep. Adam Kinzinger on the Moral Failure of Republicans and the Big Lie
• Why America is divided (“From vaccination rates to voting rights, blue and red states are hurtling in opposite directions at staggering speed, even as Biden calls for greater national unity”)
• How America Fractured Into Four Parts (“People in the United States no longer agree on the nation’s purpose, values, history, or meaning. Is reconciliation possible?”)
• Anti-Critical Race Theory Laws Are Un-American
• We Still Won’t Admit Why So Many People Believe the Big Lie (“Six months after the insurrection it triggered, it’s clear that the stolen-election nonsense is just a drop in a tidal wave of bullshit.”)
• Democrats have national power, but Trump conservatives are thriving
• GOP 2024 hopefuls face challenge: Not upsetting Trump
• Arrests mount 6 months after attack on the Capitol (“The arrests include dozens of members of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, two far-right groups that prosecutors allege were involved in communication and planning before the rioting occurred.”)
• What’s Trump doing now? Holding court at Mar-a-Lago, his new power base
• ‘We are an army for everything that Jesus has purchased for us’: Lauren Boebert at Freedom rally (Whatever else Trumpism is, it has NOTHING to do with anything from the Gospels.)
• White Supremacists March Through Philadelphia, Get Chased Away by Angry Onlookers
• ‘Killing spree’: Wisconsin’s wolf population plunges after protections removed, study finds (Put all these protections back immediately- and strengthen them a LOT, actually!)
• Far-Right Extremist Finds an Ally in an Arizona Congressman (The Arizona Congressman, Paul Gosar, is also a far-right extremist.)
• How a Far-Right Militia Infiltrated an Island in Washington (Very disturbing.)
• J.D. Vance says he regrets since-deleted tweets criticizing Trump (Pathetic in every way.)
• Demolition widens search at condo site, but storms threaten
• Tropical Storm Elsa re-enters Gulf, Florida braces for impact
• Far-Right Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) Suggests Military Members Quit If Required to Get COVID Shot; Rep. Bob Good (R-VA05) Co-sponsors Massie’s Bill; VA Del. Nick Freitas (R) Retweets Him In Support
• Republican Law Firm Selected to Advise Virginia Redistricting Commission Closely Tied to Federalist Society, Right-Wing Causes, etc. (For instance, the firm represented Gloucester County against Gavin Grimm; also has advocated for the firearms industry, Parler; has opposed campaign finance reform, health care reform, affirmative action…)
• Boosted by expansion, Medicaid enrollment soared to more than half a million Virginians during the pandemic
• VA Solicitor General Nominated to Serve as Federal Judge
  
• Editorial: Slavery commission needs time (“Legislative commission examining slavery and racial discrimination in Virginia should have the time it needs to produce a thorough report and strong recommendations.”)
• Monday (7/5) Virginia Data on COVID-19: Hospitalizations, New COVID Cases At Lowest Levels Since March 2020
• Redistricting Commission Prepares to Meet In-Person for the First Time (“Virginia’s redistricting commission will meet in person for the first time Tuesday. The meeting in Richmond comes after months of virtual meetings.”)
• Army Corps of Engineers issues wetlands permit for massive Wegmans distribution center
• Across South Hampton Roads, schools have seen increase in summer school enrollment. With bevy of new programs, Norfolk’s has been the highest. (“Norfolk, which pushed to increase summer participation, saw the sharpest increase with enrollment almost five times higher than 2 years ago.”)
• At least nine dead, five hurt from shootings over Fourth of July weekend in Central Virginia
• ‘Sexual predator’ who filmed his attacks on women in the Fan District sentenced to 127 years
• D.C.-area forecast: Two-day heat wave before Elsa remnants pass nearby on Thursday