Friday News: “‘Everything is at stake’ as world gathers for climate talks”; “Biden Implores Democrats to Support His Transformative Agenda”; “Zuckerberg Announces Fantasy World Where Facebook Is Not a Horrible Company”; Youngkin Has Long Supported “Dangerous Conspiracy Theories”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, October 29.

WATCH: In newly unearthed video, Glenn Youngkin supports dangerous conspiracy theories about 2020 election fraud.

He’s been spreading Donald Trump’s lies since day one. Shameful. pic.twitter.com/yBKDyJfuhE

— Terry McAuliffe (@TerryMcAuliffe) October 28, 2021

• G20 leaders to commit to tackle ‘existential’ climate challenge – draft
• Biden lands in Europe ahead of COP26 climate summit
• The everyday ingredient that harms the climate (“If we ended the use of fossil fuels tomorrow, we would still face huge challenges in stopping climate change – in no small part because of one very common household ingredient: palm oil.” If it’s not grown sustainably, palm oil is a disaster.)
• ‘Everything is at stake’ as world gathers for climate talks
• Pope calls for radical action on climate change
• Why a Climate Deal Is Elusive at G-20 Meeting
• Biden meets Pope Francis at start of Europe tour
• An Electricity Crisis Complicates the Climate Crisis in Europe
• G-20 Climate Talks Threatened by Clash Over Coal Ahead of COP26
• US vs. China: How the world’s two biggest emitters stack up on climate
• COP26: Arnold Schwarzenegger angered by world leaders’ climate policies
• ‘Just give us our money’: Taliban push to unlock Afghan billions abroad
• Greece Is Getting Rewired for the Future (“As climate change bears down, Greece is upending its sources of energy and trying to reshape its economic destiny.”)
• Family Members Separated at Border May Each Get Up to $450,000
• The Delta Variant Pumped the Brakes on the Economy (“New data show that surging cases and supply-chain issues slowed growth over the past three months.”)
• Exxon CEO accused of lying about climate science to congressional panel (“Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney likens oil company bosses’ responses to those of tobacco industry at historic hearing”)
• What the oil industry still won’t tell us (“House Democrats grilled Big Oil executives about decades of disinformation. Here are five unanswered questions.”)
• Ideologues exist on the left and the right. Only one side threatens the country.
• Get real, Democrats, and pass Biden’s plan
• Biden Implores Democrats to Support His Transformative Agenda
• The president’s plan is imperfect, but a big step forward for the country (Nothing’s “perfect,” why frame it that way?)
• Treasury Secretary Yellen says spending bills will be anti-inflationary, lowering important costs
• Biden’s $1.75 Trillion Outline Leaves Democrats to Sort Details
• Biden Can’t Quite Close the Deal—with His Own Party
• Progressives win again: No infrastructure vote tonight
• Build Back Better Is Not a Consolation Prize
• Manchin, Sinema put stamp on party, to progressive chagrin
• The White House just announced a pretty good deal. But we’re not there yet.
• The Memo: Democrats stall out on brink of victory
• Here’s What’s In And Out Of Biden’s Build Back Better Compromise Deal
• There Are at Least Two Extremely Good Things to Celebrate in Biden’s New Build Back Better Plan
• Joe Manchin may soon do us all a little-noticed favor
• Biden’s new Build Back Better bill has $555 billion for climate, making it the biggest clean energy bill ever
• New budget deal calls for the most climate spending in U.S. history
• Biden wanted action on his agenda before jetting to Europe. Why progressives balked.
• Cowards, Not Crazies, Are Destroying America (“I’m not sure exactly why cowardice has become the norm among elected Republicans who aren’t dedicated extremists. But if you want to understand how the G.O.P. became such a threat to everything America should stand for, the cowards are at least as important a factor as the crazies.”)
• Amy Coney Barrett Will Move the Supreme Court to the Right. How Fast Is She Willing to Go? (Horrifying.)
• For First Time in Public, a Detainee Describes Torture at C.I.A. Black Sites
• Steve Bannon says Mike Pence should have acted on John Eastman’s coup memo (Why is Bannon not in prison yet? Has Eastman been disbarred or charged with any crimes? If not, why not?)
• ‘Coup Memo’ Attorney Now Blames Mike Pence For Not Tossing Out Election (“Pence was too much of an ‘establishment guy’ to ignore the results of a legitimate presidential vote, John Eastman said on video.”)
• Democracy’s sudden peril was an inside-job
• Chief federal judge in D.C. assails ‘almost schizophrenic’ Jan. 6 prosecutions: ‘The rioters were not mere protesters’
• Jan. 6 committee allows Trump DOJ official to postpone appearance after he loses his lawyer
• Republicans have mastered the politics of opposition (“They’re back in their comfort zone, pretending to be outraged about non-issues.”)
• Wisconsin Continues to Be One of the Primary Test Labs for Bad Conservative Ideas
• Trump campaign sells ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ T-shirts (Pathetic.)
• Tucker Carlson Goes Full 1/6 Truther in New Fox Doc (And Glenn Youngkin goes on his show!)
• Tucker Carlson Just Provided the Lowest Point of Rupert Murdoch’s Wretched Career in American Media (“This propaganda is a demonstrable threat to public safety.”)
• The Murdochs share the blame as Tucker Carlson pushes Alex Jones-esque January 6 “false flag” series (“As the WSJ editorial page publishes a letter of Trump election lies, Carlson announces sob story about the people who attacked the Capitol building on January 6” Right-wing media is a menace.)
• Zuckerberg Announces Fantasy World Where Facebook Is Not a Horrible Company
• Facebook becomes Meta as Mark Zuckerberg tries to run the metaverse. Why that’s unlikely. (“The idea of the metaverse is changing before our eyes based on innovations from disrupters. Facebook is no longer one of them.”)
• Trump’s real-estate empire pays the price for poisonous politics
• Mocking Meta: Facebook’s virtual reality name change prompts backlash (“The rebrand comes as the company faces a series of public relations crises”)
• The Real Reason Facebook Changed Its Name (“Mark Zuckerberg wants to be the hero of the metaverse because he knows Facebook is boring.”)
• Oklahoma executes inmate who dies vomiting and convulsing (IF the state is going to execute people, it needs to do so humanely, and certainly not do so in a way that’s “cruel or unusual.”)
• He’s Writing Tucker’s Deranged Jan. 6 Movie—After Directing a Pizzagater’s Opus
• Geraldo Rivera criticizes his Fox News colleague Tucker Carlson.
• Flight attendant suffers broken bones in ‘one of the worst displays of unruly behavior’ in the skies (Lock the guy up for a few years at least.)
• Andrew Cuomo Facing Sex Crime Charge In Albany Court
• Pence wades into school debate roiling Va governor’s race (Pence is lying, of course.)
• The Trailer: Not just Virginia: From county to county, an off-year battle for the suburbs
• Trump plans last minute tele-rally for Virginia’s Youngkin
• FWIW Virginia: “The Home Stretch”; President Obama Urges Dems to Vote; “Youngkin’s closing argument is… confused”
• ADVISORY: Insurrectionist Express To Travel the Commonwealth in Final Days of Election
• (“Ian Prior served with a top Youngkin staffer and two current Fox staffers in the same Trump DOJ press office”)
• Qasim Rashid: “We have the chance to take Virginia to the next level for working families. That’s what Democrats do. Let’s go!”
• ‘He’s not coming’ in person: Trump plans last minute tele-rally for Virginia’s Youngkin
• The Right’s Big Lie About a Sexual Assault in Virginia
• Youngkin Leads McAuliffe in New Poll of Likely Virginia Voters Less than a Week before Election Day (Very strange poll by Fox “News”)
• Virginia Early Voting Hits 858k; Record Early/In-Person Votes Cast Wednesday; Strong Early Voting in “Blue” Northern Virginia
• What Virginia’s early vote tells us about a tight-as-a-tick governor’s race
• Virginia AG Mark Herring Requests State Sen. Amanda Chase (R) Produce Evidence of Alleged Election “Cheating” (Spoiler: she won’t produce evidence, because of course there isn’t any…)
• Virginia AG presses GOP senator for proof of claims of fraud in statewide elections
• Virginia’s bipartisan redistricting commission has been a failure (No shit. And yet no “mea culpa” from the WaPo, which pushed this fatally flawed amendment despite being warned over and over and over again that it WAS fatally flawed.)
• Harrison Godfrey column: Staying the course on clean energy in Virginia (“This November, clean energy is on the ballot.”)
• With Hopes for Behind the Scenes Compromise on Redistricting Fading, a Murkier Supreme Court Process Awaits
• This Isn’t the First Time Banning Books Has Popped Up in Virginia Politics (“Back in 2003, a Fairfax County School Board member ran to become chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors on a platform of banning books. She lost to Gerry Connolly in a landslide. And that’s not the only referendum on book banning in northern Virginia.”)
• Virginia AG nominee took $2.6 million from group that promoted Jan. 6 rally
• Thursday (10/28) Virginia Data on COVID-19: 1-Day New Cases +1,495; 10-Day New Cases +15,243; Hospitalizations at 1,155 (Lowest Since Mid August)
• Linwood Holton, Virginia’s first GOP governor of the 20th century, who embraced civil rights, dies at 98
• A. Linwood Holton Jr., Virginia governor who took bold stance on integration, dies at 98
• “You Would Not Want to Vote For” “Disrespectful, Offensive, Contemptuous” Tim Anderson, Would You? Re-Elect Democrat Nancy Guy Instead!
• Del. Joshua Cole: “We cannot afford to have leaders like Tara Durant represent our community” (Del. Cole writes: “I do not support defunding the police. I support making our community safer for everyone. As a young Black man, this issue is personal for me.”)
• Appalachian Power announces first solar energy project is in service
• Coalfield stalwart Appalachian Power adds first solar projects to generation portfolio
• State officials say elevated levels of PFAS found in Chickahominy watershed
• Richmond Public Schools begins disciplinary action for unvaccinated employees; teacher suspension begins during RPS’ mental health week
• In 2020, the legislature passed a transgender students rights law. It largely hasn’t been enforced.
• We’re LGBTQIA+ students in Fairfax County. We’re tired of our lives being used for political gain.
• Editorial: A new home for ODU (“For Old Dominion University, membership in the Sun Belt conference should bring good things — for the school and the wider region.”)
• Pharrell not giving up on Hampton Roads but says he’s disappointed with surf park delays while at Norfolk forum
• Virginia Beach confronts inescapable costs of rising seas
• Unite the Right trial opens with competing versions of deadly Charlottesville rally
• Backers promise casino would revitalize Southside, but experts and advocates are skeptical
• Loudoun sheriff’s office investigating ‘inappropriate touching’ at a middle school
• D.C.-area forecast: Flooding rain today. Isolated damaging wind also a risk, along with coastal flooding.