| Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... |
by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, September 4.
- NASA’s Mars rover scores ‘phenomenal accomplishment’ (“The Perseverance rover successfully extracted samples from a Martian rock.”)
- European countries reimpose bans on US tourists
- China ‘tells US envoy John Kerry it will follow its own climate road map’
- Europe’s power companies still rely on coal despite green plans(Unacceptable.)
- Global Gas Price Surge Threatens to Dent the Economic Recovery
- Outgoing Japanese PM backs vaccine minister Tara Kono as successor – report (“Yoshihide Suga understood to want social media-savvy 58-year-old to take over, according to local media”)
- Lebanon as We Once Knew It Is Gone
- Here’s what we know about the mu variant
- What We Actually Know About Waning Immunity (“Reports of vaccines’ decline have been greatly overstated.”)
- Afghanistan: militia endure ‘heavy assaults’ from Taliban in Panjshir Valley
- Health Officials Advise White House to Scale Back Booster Plan for Now
- The pandemic is almost certainly a bigger political risk for Biden than Afghanistan (Agreed.)
- Jobs report adds fresh concerns over Monday’s unemployment cliff
- Biden: ‘There’s no question’ the delta variant weighed down jobs report
- The August jobs report shows delta is claiming livelihoods. Here’s how the government must respond. (“The best and most obvious remedy? Clamp down on covid transmissions. As has been the case since early 2020, the virus is in control of the economy; to get the economy back on firmer footing, we must control the virus…The key to more jobs is more jabs.”)
- About 100 Afghan evacuees to U.S. flagged for possible ties to Taliban or terror groups, sources say
- U.S. Struggles to Learn Who’s Who in Afghan Airlift of 124,000
- Trump administration deliberately slowed entry of Afghan allies
- U.S. heads into Labor Day with Covid vaccines but a substantially worse outbreak than this time last year
- U.S. covid deaths hit 1,500 a day amid delta scourge (“Deaths have climbed steadily in recent weeks after falling to the low 200s in early July — the latest handiwork of a contagious variant that has exploited the return to everyday activities by tens of millions of Americans, many of them unvaccinated.”)
- The harsh truth of this moment: Republicans understand power. Democrats do not. (“We’re seeing what a profound difference there is in how Democrats and Republicans view power. When Democrats have it they’re often apologetic, uncertain, hesitant to use it any way that anyone might object to. Republicans, on the other hand, will squeeze it and stretch it as far as they can. They aren’t reluctant and they aren’t afraid of a backlash. Whatever they can do, they will do…Democrats? They fret and worry, they restrain themselves, they recommit to norms the other side has already trashed, they live in fear of political repercussions that never come. And their own goals languish while Republicans turn America into a darker, meaner, crueler place.”)
- The Time for Democrats to Go Nuclear Was Yesterday
- Joe Manchin’s new threat to destroy Biden’s agenda is worse than it seems
- After a Summer of Disasters, Some Lawmakers See a Chance for Climate Action (“Congress is considering bills to help communities prepare for extreme weather and to cut the greenhouse gases that are driving climate change. But passage is not assured.”)
- Climate Expert On Policy Shifts Needed After Ida To Protect The Vulnerable
- Biden Moves to Declassify Some Documents Related to Sept. 11
- Joe Biden tells FBI to release files on 9/11 investigation – and possible Saudi links
- 9/11 was a test. The books
of the last two decades show how America failed. (“Rather than exemplify the nation’s highest values, the official response to 9/11 unleashed some of its worst qualities: deception, brutality, arrogance, ignorance, delusion, overreach and carelessness…Yet the legacy of the 9/11 era is found not just in Afghanistan or Iraq, but also in an America that drew out and heightened some of its ugliest impulses — a nation that is deeply divided (like those “separated states” bin Laden imagined); that bypasses inconvenient facts and embraces conspiracy theories; that demonizes outsiders; and that, after failing to spread freedom and democracy around the world, seems less inclined to uphold them here. “) - ‘Solar Bond’ Demand Goes Through the Roof
- Infrastructure Bill Could Alter States’ Approach to Transportation Projects (“Provisions in the bill draw on a Virginia model to promote a more calibrated and transparent approach to prioritizing projects—though Virginia’s ‘Smart Scale’ program has its critics”)
- The Left’s Case Against Jerome Powell Almost Makes Sense (“Almost.”)
- What Is Joe Manchin Doing Now? (“Maybe these are famous last words, but I don’t see Manchin ultimately tanking a reconciliation bill over concerns of this nature. Something is likely to pass, even if the final product is a skeleton of Bernie Sanders’ transformative vision. Instead, his op-ed is the latest step in a coordinated effort from centrist Democrats in both the House and Senate, and their outside peers, to secure leverage over the endgame.”)
- New Orleans begins evacuating residents amid power outages, punishing heat
- Louisiana Shell refinery left spewing chemicals after Hurricane Ida
- 900,000 In Louisiana Still Without Power Following Hurricane Ida
- Calls for change after 11 people in NYC basement apartments died during catastrophic floods (“Five of the six apartments where people died were illegal conversions.”)
- Facebook Apologizes After A.I. Puts ‘Primates’ Label on Video of Black Men
- Florida teachers on edge as mask war, COVID surge mark first weeks of school
- Trump Says He Is Unlikely to Get Covid-19 Vaccine Booster Shot
- Texas law opens door for other states to pursue abortion restrictions
- Republicans in six states rush to mimic Texas anti-abortion law
- TikTok Users and Coders Flood Texas Abortion Site With Fake Tips
- Judge shields Texas clinics from anti-abortion group’s suits
- The Texas abortion law is a classic case of might-makes-right in action
- Chait: Texas Abortion Law Turns ‘Principled’ Conservative Legalism Into a Joke (“Remember National Review’s freakout over Biden’s eviction moratorium?”)
- The Texas Abortion Ban Hinges On ‘Fetal Heartbeat.’ Doctors Call That Misleading
- Texas Is Already Creating Abortion Refugees
- How Texas abortion law is undermining Native American women’s reproductive justice
- Lyft, Uber will cover legal fees for drivers sued under Texas abortion law
- Capitol Rioter Known as QAnon Shaman Pleads Guilty
- Fact check: Sen. Joni Ernst falsely claims Biden has ‘not once’ expressed gratitude to troops who fought in the last 20 years (Ernst is horrendous, absolutely should NOT be a US Senator.)
- Watchdog Demands Probe Of Kevin McCarthy’s Threats Against Firms In Jan. 6 Investigation (“Rep. McCarthy and Rep. Greene baselessly claimed companies could be shut down if they comply with legal requests from the House select committee.”)
- CREW files ethics complaint against Kevin McCarthy & Marjorie Taylor Greene
- Washington Post Rips Kevin McCarthy, GOP’s ‘Pitiful Path’ To Jan. 6 ‘Trutherism’ (McCarthy is truly evil.)
- Kevin McCarthy’s downward spiral
- Oklahoma congressman says he has no regrets about attempts to enter Afghanistan
- Governor in hospital with flu symptoms; COVID tests negative (“New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu was admitted to a hospital Friday with flulike symptoms that have lasted for days, and after having tested negative three times for COVID-19, his chief of staff said.”)
- Labor unions vs. vaccine mandates: The workers drawing a line in the COVID battle
- Schapiro: On issues at home and abroad, Kaine connects the dots
- As Texas law takes effect, abortion looms large in Virginia governor’s race (“Democrat Terry McAuliffe calls the law ‘dangerous,’ while Republican Glenn Youngkin avoids weighing in.”)
- NEW TV AD: Terry For Virginia Releases New TV Ad “Seriously” On Glenn Youngkin’s Trumpian Opposition to COVID-19 Safety
- 50+ Latino Leaders from Across Virginia Endorse Terry McAuliffe for Governor in New Coalition – Todos Con Terry
- Youngkin utilized ride-along to feature Chesterfield police in campaign video
- Youngkin bets race on tax policy, but do the numbers add up?
- Schapiro: Glenn Youngkin gambles ideas sell better than his ID
- Dominion Energy overcharged customers by $1.2 billion since 2015, utility expert says
- Northam: Virginia DNA Data Bank has 15,000th ‘hit’ linking unsolved crime with stored DNA profile
- Flip-A-District Friday: Volume VIII (Bridgette Craighead, Rachel Levy, Jeffrey Feld, Del. Cia Price, Del. David Reid, Del. Vivian Watts, Del. Jeff Bourne)
- Maps: Proposed New Northern Virginia House of Delegates, State Senate Districts Drawn by Democratic and Republican Map Drawers
- In a first since January, Virginia records more than 4,000 new cases for second consecutive day as start of Labor Day weekend
- Friday (9/3) Virginia Data on COVID-19: With Delta Now Dominant, Hospitalizations (1,892) at Highest Level Since Mid February, 10-Day New Cases (+33,980) Highest Since Mid February
- Can Virginia End Prison Gerrymandering?
- Cycling the Arlington Loop: A View from the Handlebars
- Hill, candidate for Roanoke prosecutor, used bankruptcy court to clear unpaid tax debt
- Renado Prince vows to hold officers accountable as Portsmouth’s next police chief
- D.C.-area forecast: Other than some Sunday showers, the extended weekend is looking great
