| Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... |
by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, September 27.
- Children set for more climate disasters than their grandparents, research shows (“Climate crisis brings stark intergenerational injustice but rapid emission cuts can limit damage” Slash fossil fuel emissions, NOW!)
- Scotland’s Oil Industry Is Fading as Wind Energy Beckons(“Oil and gas production in the North Sea is not the economic juggernaut it once was. Can floating wind turbines offer an alternative?”)
- Morrison and the Quad just committed to ending coal power by 2040, at the latest (“This is significant because the Quad has succeeded in getting Morrison to agree to language that he has resisted in virtually every other international forum. For instance, Australia only just recently convinced the UK to drop the 1.5°C reference in the trade deal signed between the two countries.”)
- Rooftop PV meets 84 pct of South Australia demand, sends operating demand to new low
- Cop26 climate talks will not fulfil aims of Paris agreement, key players warn (“Major figures privately admit summit will fail to result in pledges that could limit global heating to 1.5C”)
- Wall Street Mortgage Bankers Are Freaking Out About Climate Change (“Housing and housing finance will not be spared.”)
- Europe’s Energy Crisis Is Coming for the Rest of the World, Too (“Millions of people around the globe will feel the impact of soaring natural gas prices this winter.”)
- China power crunch spreads, shutting factories and dimming growth outlook
- China Vows Further Curbs on ‘Disorderly Expansion’ by Tech Firms
- German SPD seeks three-way alliance to replace Merkel-led coalition
- Angela Merkel’s party on brink of a narrow defeat in Germany vote (“Merkel’s Christian Democrats posted their worst-ever election results, coming in second to Social Democrats for the first time in more than a decade, according to preliminary results.”)
- Germany embarks on tricky search for post-Merkel government (“Germany is embarking on a potentially lengthy search for its next government after the center-left Social Democrats narrowly beat outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right bloc in an election that failed to set a clear direction for Europe’s biggest economy under a new leader.”)
- Social Democrats beat Merkel’s party in tight German election
- Scholz Appeals to Greens, FDP to Form German Coalition Quickly
- It Could Have Been a Fresh Start. But Germany Is Stuck.
- ‘I’ll be darned’: Biden reacts to pivotal German election result
- U.S. Failed to Build a Sustainable Economy in Afghanistan
- How France Overcame Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy
- Swiss voters back same-sex marriage by large margin
- Google Pushes to Overturn EU’s $5 Billion Antitrust Decision
- Evergrande Fallout Spreads Beyond Markets to Wealthy Investors
- Haiti deportations justified because of Covid, Biden homeland secretary says (“Alejandro Mayorkas vows investigation of horseback roundups”)
- Biden in a bind on the border: ‘The politics finally got the better of their policy’ (“After promising to ‘undo the moral and national shame of the previous administration,’ Biden is finding it easier said than done.”)
- The Economy Looks Solid. But These Are the Big Risks Ahead.
- Covid Cuts Two Years Off the Life Expectancy of U.S. Men
- In a matter of days, Pfizer CEO says they’ll be ready to ask for approval of a Covid-19 vaccine for kids
- As Treasury scrambles to pay bills, pandemic fuels uncertainty over calamitous ‘X Date’
- Congress braces for high-stakes week over shutdown, default and infrastructure
- Pelosi says infrastructure bill will pass this week, but the vote may be delayed
- Pelosi sets Thursday vote on bipartisan infrastructure bill
- Scoop: Centrists back $3.5T package (They aren’t “centrists,” any more than the vast majority of Democrats in Congress are “centrists.” God, the media sucks.)
- Biden’s multi-trillion bet to change America is in peril as Trump waits to pounce
- Democrats: Political suicide is not a strategy
- Biden sidesteps GOP on judicial vacancies, for now
- Juan Williams: GOP’s assault on voting rights is the real fraud
- Liz Cheney on being a Republican while opposing Donald Trump
- Cheney allies flock to her defense against Trump challenge
- See the Dozens of Offshore Oil Spills Caused by Hurricane Ida (Offshore oil drilling is an environmental disaster in so many ways.)
- Here’s the Truth About Brett Kavanaugh’s Finances (“No liberals, the Koch brothers don’t own him.”)
- Supreme Court observers see trouble ahead as public approval of justices erodes (It should be zero at this point.)
- This was the worst slaughter of Native Americans in U.S. history. Few remember it. (“The 1863 Bear River Massacre decimated the Northwestern Band of the Shoshones but was overshadowed by the Civil War.” One of numerous atrocities committed by U.S. forces against Native Americans over the years.)
- Why the Senate’s Oldest GOP Member Is Seeking Yet Another Term (“We expect a similar campaign in 2027, when Grassley is again coaxed to run for reelection to prevent a primary between seven Capitol insurrectionists and the by-then moderate option, Steve King” The GOP is completely insane, in other words.)
- Trump’s planning to run again in 2024: Will his supporters ever realize he hates them? (“Trump claims to love his supporters — but his malicious and careless actions speak louder than his empty words”)
- Trump’s new interviews and appearances show that a storm is brewing
- The survival of U.S. democracy may hinge on this decision by Pa.’s next governor
- What Matt Gaetz’s Legal Lineup Tells Us About His Troubles (“There have hardly been any developments in the alleged case against Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL). But the lawyers he’s hired indicate that he’s not out of the woods.”)
- With Abortion Largely Banned in Texas, an Oklahoma Clinic Is Inundated
- At Mackinac, Betsy DeVos offers veiled criticism of GOP’s ongoing passion for Trump
- Straw poll: Trump influence among Michigan Republicans might be waning
- Abbott says he’ll hire Border Patrol agents who whipped at migrants (Texas’ governor is pure evil, combined with utter incompetence, racism, etc.)
- Sen. Mark Warner On “Irresponsible” “Gamesmanship” Over Debt Ceiling: “Don’t say we’re going to suddenly, after the fact, say we’re not going to pay our bills. That’s not what a responsible country does.”
- Pro-Trump Congressional Candidate Says ‘Audit All 50 states’ and ‘Execute All Involved’ (This guy could be the VA02 GOP nominee. Horrifying.)
- Trump-Backed Youngkin “goes semi-anti-vax” (“GOP nominee now urges Virginians to opt out of vaccine requirements. Democrats say [Youngkin’s] plan is ‘to unleash COVID'”)
- Glenn Youngkin’s play: Forever- and Never-Trumpers
- With 37 Days Until Virginia 2021 Election Day, Early Voting Seems Much Slower Than Last Year; “Blue” CDs Waaaay Ahead in Mail Ballot Requests; “Red” and “Blue” CDs Pretty Close in Early/In-Person Voting (So far, there’s been 283k total early voting (including mail ballot requests, in-person voting, mail ballots returned) this election; last year, 2.8 million voted early (and 4.5 million total).)
- Virginia Keeps Getting Bluer and More Diverse, But You’d Never Know It From These Godawful New Maps by the Virginia Redistricting Commission’s Partisan Map Drawers (“This is a Republican gerrymander”; “Hope the Democratic commissioners are smarter than their map drawer”)
- In Virginia, who judges the judges?
- Virginia students lagged on required immunizations last school year
- What Happens When the Sun Isn’t Shining? Virginia’s Need for Renewable Backups (That’s a classic, anti-solar-power, fossil-fuel-industry talking point. In fact, we already know VERY well how to integrate high percentages of solar and other clean power into the grid; there have been many studies on this as well as examples in states and countries. So why repeat this “OMG what do we do when the sun isn’t shining” nonsense?)
- In Virginia, who judges the judges?
- Video: 2020 VA-07 GOP Congressional Nominee Nick Freitas Falsely Claimed “It’s Definitely More Difficult” For Women to Get Pregnant From Rape (Freitas auditioning to be Virginia’s version of Todd “legitimate rape” Akin?)
- CNU announces minimum wage increase, bonuses for employees who could not work from home during the pandemic
- Loudoun judge faces backlash after contempt finding against domestic assault witness
- D.C.-area forecast: A magnificent week of weather with just a couple of blemishes
