Wednesday News: “Biden surveys Ida damage, warns of a climate-change ‘code red’”; “Time for Merrick Garland to Put the ‘Federal’ in ‘Federalism'”; “How Republicans manage to be both anarchists and authoritarians”; “Drones banned within 2 miles around Robert E. Lee monument ahead of its removal”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, September 9.

• The new climate “pledge” from the Murdochs is straight from the fossil fuel playbook (And much of the media fell for this crap.)
• Avocados and vanilla among dozens of wild crop relatives facing extinction (“Study finds agriculture and pesticide use threaten relatives of world’s most important crops, considered crucial to food security”)
• This summer was Europe’s hottest on record as Mediterranean heat soared
• South Australia to be first gigawatt scale grid to meet all demand with rooftop solar
• Climate change: Vulnerable nations call for ’emergency pact’
• Pressure mounts on UK to delay UN climate talks as delegates complain of vaccine gap
• Enough With The Climate Jargon: Scientists Aim For Clearer Messages On Global Warming
• Animals ‘shapeshifting’ in response to climate crisis, research finds (“Warm-blooded animals are changing beaks, legs and ears to adapt to hotter climate and better regulate temperature” For everyone who denies evolution…)
• When the Climate Crisis Becomes Unignorable
• Spain Is the Opening Act for the EU’s Big Green Autumn
• From deer and dogs to rats and mink, COVID-19 has spread to the animal world (“As SARS-CoV-2 spreads through some animal populations, animals may create a feedback loop as they re-infect humans”)
• Mexico’s Supreme Court Votes to Decriminalize Abortion
• Mexico hit by powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake, killing at least one
• Bitcoin bruised after chaotic debut as legal tender in El Salvador
• Australian media outlets liable for Facebook comments, court finds (“Australia’s biggest news publishers including Rupert Murdoch’s the Australian are responsible for comments that readers post on their corporate Facebook pages, the High Court ruled on Wednesday.”)
• Iran Blocking IAEA Access to Nuclear-Related Sites
• The Victims of Putin’s Brutal Crackdown on the Press (“Since April, ten media outlets and twenty journalists have been targeted by the state.”)
• ‘The soul of Kabul’: Taliban paint over murals with victory slogans
• The Other Afghan Women (“In the countryside, the endless killing of civilians turned women against the occupiers who claimed to be helping them.”)
• US-led meeting to set out framework for Taliban cooperation (“Talks involving up to 20 nations come as militants ignore calls to form inclusive government in Afghanistan”)
• Hardliners get key posts in new Taliban government
• An Incredible Exercise in Public Hypocrisy Is Unfolding Right on Schedule (“Republicans are slamming the Biden administration for leaving our Afghan allies behind and slamming them for trying to resettle the same people in the United States.”)
• Paris attacks 2015: Historic trial of 20 suspects to open in France
• Former Trump adviser Jason Miller briefly detained in Brazil as political tumult grips country
• Biden surveys Ida damage, warns of a climate-change ‘code red’
• Here Comes the Autumn of Anxiety (“Politics has already given us a completely unnecessary tragedy: thousands of preventable deaths despite the ready availability of lifesaving vaccines. And we may be about to suffer a gratuitous economic tragedy on top of that.”)
• Democrats hit the gas on Biden’s multitrillion-dollar safety net bill (“‘The rubber is hitting the road in terms of shaping the policy and fine-tuning everything,’ said one senior Democratic aide, with the party hoping to vote on the bill this month.”)
• Democrats float a tax on investments to help pay for $3.5 trillion budget plan
• Scoop: Manchin backs as little as $1 trillion of Biden’s $3.5 trillion plan (That’s a huge problem if accurate, but does anyone really trust Axios, the demon spawn of Politico? LOL)
• Amid political storms, Biden turns to natural disasters to project competence, compassion: ‘Thank God you’re safe’
• As experts debate boosters, vaccinated people are calling their own shots
• Far-right terror poses bigger threat to US than Islamist extremism post-9/11
• 20 meat and dairy firms emit more greenhouse gas than Germany, Britain or France (“Meat” production in this country is an environmental disaster, among its many, many other problems. Much better to not purchase any “meat” from factory farms and other bad actors.)
• Garland’s vow to protect women’s right to abortions has more bark than bite, analysts say
• It’s Time for Merrick Garland to Put the ‘Federal’ in ‘Federalism’ the Way Dwight Eisenhower Did
• Texas’s New Law Is The Climax Of A Record-Shattering Year For Voting Restrictions
• Texas Democrats just lost the battle over voter suppression. But maybe not forever. (“Without institutional power, sometimes public attention is the only tool you have.”)
• How Republicans manage to be both anarchists and authoritarians
• Anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers now present a real threat of violence (“Across the country, more anti-vaccine extremists are turning violent. It’s time to take the threat seriously”)
• The GOP’s delusion-fueled election ‘audits’ spell trouble for 2024
• Kevin McCarthy is the O.J. Simpson of Jan. 6
• Facebook says misinformation studies miss the full story. So does Facebook.
• The Zombie Trumpism of GOP governors gives Democrats a big opening
• The Trump Suburban Squirm
• Capitol Rioter Defenders Will Descend on Washington (“As Republican politicians and conservative pundits try whitewashing the January 6 insurrection, supporters of those facing charges are planning a demonstration that’s already raising alarms.”)
• There’s only one way for Democrats to win the abortion fight (“Like it or not, that will inevitably mean some kind of underground railroad that pays for travel to neighboring states where abortion is legal, and wide distribution, legal or not, of medication abortions.”)
• On the Texas abortion law, corporate America stays quiet (“America’s biggest businesses still aren’t sure what to say about abortion.”)
• Why the pro-choice movement must go on the offensive
• Republicans Are Trying To Make Abortions Dangerous
• Jim Jordan says vaccine mandates are un-American. George Washington thought otherwise. (“Gym” Jordan is evil in every way.)
• Trump schedules rallies in Iowa, Georgia
• The Non-Education of Ross Douthat (“The New York Times columnist insists on defending a version of the Republican party that doesn’t exist.” And yet the NY Times keeps publishing his drivel.)
• How the rise of Politico shifted political journalism off course (“Politico found enormous success by shaking up a political press that was too dull and slow. But it also reinforced many of the press corps’ worst habits — and at exactly the wrong time.”)
• With polls showing Newsom ahead, Fox News is laying out conspiracy theories that California recall election will be stolen (Fox is a menace.)
• Gov. Abbott: Abortion bill won’t force rape victims to have babies, Texas will ‘eliminate’ rapists (So, if Abbott’s able to “eliminate” rapists, why hasn’t he done so already? Perhaps because he’s completely full of crap?)
• ‘Disgusting’: Ocasio-Cortez reacts to Abbott’s comments on rape victims
• Idaho hospitals begin rationing health care amid COVID surge (Republican “death panels,” eh?)
• South Dakota Bans Clinicians From Using Telemedicine To Provide Medication Abortions
• Metro’s preferred expansion option would create second Potomac River tunnel, add Georgetown station
• Bay states seek new federal funding initiative for farm cleanup
• Jill Biden heads back to classroom at Northern Virginia Community College as a working first lady
• Virginia Democrat introduces tax credit for electric commercial vehicles
• Rep. Bobby Scott gearing up for battle on child care, school construction funding as infrastructure bill proceeds
• Kaine officially opens Fredericksburg office, says it will help serve area vets
• WaPo’s “Plum Line” Argues Virginia Election Offers Great Opportunity For Dems To “Prosecute the Case” Against “Derelict Governing” Such as in Florida
• Glenn Youngkin Has Floated Ditching Virginia’s Income Tax; New Report Finds This Would Decimate Public Education (“Local School Divisions Would See $10 Billion in Cuts to State Funding Over The Biennium and 43,000 Educator Positions Would Be At Stake”)
• Video: VA Dem Ticket Warns of “Glenn Youngkin and Republicans’ Plans to Bring Texas-Style Abortion Ban to Virginia” (Sen. Jennifer McClellan: “The Texas abortion ban is a stark reminder of what is at stake on the ballot this November… of how critical these races are”)
• Video: Hala Ayala Out with TV Ad, “Gas Station” – “My Story Is a Virginia Story” (“I built a career and a middle-class life…As lieutenant governor, I’ll build on that record to attract more good-paying jobs so every family thrives.”)
• Hala Ayala launches first TV ad for general election
• Governor Northam Announces Artifacts for New Time Capsule
• ​’We get to tell a different story:’ Virginia unveils what will replace the 1887 time capsule inside Lee monument
• Tuesday (9/7) Virginia Data on COVID-19: With Delta Now Dominant, Hospitalizations at Highest Level Since Mid February, 10-Day New Cases (+34,266) Highest Since Early February
• Gov. Northam: Virginia is proud to be the new home for many of our Afghan allies
• Afghan crisis wreaked havoc on Northern Virginia hospitals due to lack of federal planning, local officials say
• After voting against it earlier this year, Torian now says he supports repealing right-to-work (“Right-to-work” should be in air quotes, as it’s definitely NOT what it claims to be. At all.)
• Watch Live as Virginia Removes ‘Lost Cause’ Monument to Lee
• Drones banned within 2 miles around Robert E. Lee monument ahead of its removal
• Virginia to remove Robert E Lee statue from state capital Richmond (“Statue of Confederate general to come down on Wednesday”)
• Workers to begin removing Richmond’s iconic statue of Robert E. Lee
• Natural gas developer asks SCC to rule it doesn’t need state approval to build Chickahominy Pipeline
• UPDATED: Style Weekly has shut down after nearly 39 years (“Style Weekly, the Richmond region’s alternative news, arts and culture newspaper, has ceased publication after nearly 39 years.”)
• Hampton public schools saw more than 18,000 students in-person; 850 virtual for first day
• D.C.-area forecast: More humid today with late-day scattered storms; nice weather tomorrow into weekend