Friday News: “Climate summit in final stretch with 1.5C goal at risk”; “Biden appointing infrastructure chief”; “Have Democrats reached the limits of White appeasement politics?”; “Why the Nazis Are Treating Their Trial in Charlottesville Like a Joke”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, November 12.

• COP26 draft deal treads fine line to spur climate action
• Who Has the Most Historical Responsibility for Climate Change? (“The wealthiest nations are disproportionately responsible for global warming. Whether they should pay for the damage is a sticking point at the climate talks.”)
• Disputes Remain in Waning Hours of Climate Talks
• Climate summit in final stretch with 1.5C goal at risk (“The difference between 1.5 and 2C is a world with some of our coral reefs remaining, and a world with no coral reefs. It is the difference between hundreds of millions of people facing the threat of extreme heat and droughts, and billions of people being put in that position. But every single degree counts. It’s all about turning down that thermostat. The problem is this process goes slower than the pace at which the planet is warming up.”)
• COP26: New draft climate deal steps up call for urgent action
• These researchers are trying to stop misinformation from derailing climate progress
• ‘Shame On You’: Indigenous Campaigners Demand JPMorgan End Fossil Fuel Finance (“The major American bank is helping fund the Coastal Gaslink pipeline, which threatens First Nation lands in Canada.”)
• South Africa Can’t Afford to Quit Coal. Will Rich Countries Pay for the Transition? (“Pressure to end coal-powered electricity generation has fired tensions between already-industrialized nations and developing ones”)
• Xi Jinping’s Cult of Personality Gets a Big Boost (“The increasingly autocratic leader will probably be in charge for a long time.”)
• Biden, China’s Xi expected to meet virtually on Monday – sources
• Europe Weighs Border Walls as Migrants Mass in Belarus at Poland’s Frontier
• Migrants in Peril, and Raw Emotions, in European Border Standoff
• The leader of Belarus is provoking a border crisis. He must be stopped.
• Trump Allies Help Bolsonaro Sow Doubt in Brazil’s Elections (Why are they allowed to do this?)
• Dutch face three-week, partial lockdown as COVID-19 cases soar
• Not out of the woods: COVID cases rising in Western Europe
• China slams U.S. democracy as a ‘game of the rich,’ at an event promoting Xi’s growing power
• Are we turning the corner on Covid-19 treatments? (“Covid-19 treatments are key to living with the virus. Here’s where we’re at.”)
• Biden Marks First Veterans Day in Two Decades Without Troops in Active Combat
• History Says Don’t Panic About Inflation
• COVID-19 hot spots offer sign of what could be ahead for US
• Booster shots are most popular in poorly vaccinated states where coronavirus rages
• Republican lawsuits unlikely to halt US worker vaccine mandates, experts say
• CDC director tempers Biden officials’ push to get booster shots for all adults
• The January 6th Investigation Gets Closer to Donald Trump (“Judges, national-security officials, and Liz Cheney say that the effort must proceed.”)
• What’s next in Trump’s scramble to stop the House from getting his White House docs
• Appeals court temporarily bars release of Trump White House records to House Jan. 6 committee (It’s increasingly looking like the courts are going to be the death of our democracy, sad to say.)
• House January 6 committee gives Meadows ultimatum: Appear Friday or risk criminal contempt
• The strong winds of climate change have failed to move the opinions of many Americans (“Most believe global warming is a problem, but the partisan divide is growing” Pathetic.)
• A sobering, new report shows how much work is needed to protect democracy
• Has Joe Manchin found an excuse to destroy President Biden’s agenda? (“with new inflation data, the BBB is at risk of destruction. It may be possible that one eternally grumpy Democratic senator — Joe Manchin III of West Virginia — will use inflation as an excuse to kill the most important legislation of Biden’s term. And it would be an excuse, not a justifiable response to what’s actually happening in the economy and the effect the legislation will have.”
• Biden is changing how he’s talking about his agenda. It’s overdue. (“He needs to explain what his legislation will do for Americans.”)
• McConnell won’t go to White House signing ceremony for infrastructure bill
• Death Threats, Tweets Jolt GOP Infrastructure Supporters (“‘This madness has to stop,’ said Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., an 18-term moderate, who said his offices received dozens of threatening calls following his yes vote.”)
• As criticism of GOP infrastructure bill backers grows louder, McCarthy stays quiet (Pathetic.)
• Scoop: Biden appointing infrastructure chief
• Have Democrats reached the limits of White appeasement politics? (“For half a century, as the Republican Party has stoked White grievance, the Democrats’ answer has been hiding in plain sight. It’s time we took a closer look at it.”)
• The missing piece in Democrats’ approach to the White working class (“The lesson for today is that you can suggest that Democrats ‘do a better job’ of explaining all the ways their policies will help working-class people, but if they don’t focus on Republican opposition and what it says about who those Republicans are, they’re only telling half the story — and it’s the less persuasive half.”)
• SALT Cap Is Poised to Get Looser as Democrats Debate Tax Relief (“Some version of it may be here to stay as lawmakers trade a future of unlimited tax breaks for tax cuts now.”)
• Sinema: Households Earning $9 Million a Year Are Too Poor to Pay More Tax Finally, a senator looking out for the high-seven-figure-income class. (What an idiot.)
• Mitch McConnell’s Angry Op-Ed About The Supreme Court Leaves Out A Key Detail (“The Senate minority leader failed to mention his years-long campaign to strong-arm the nation’s judiciary to the right.”)
• Conservatives Are Just Openly Endorsing Book Burning Now (“Book burning, as in the thing Nazis were into.”)
• Madison Saw Something in the Constitution We Should Open Our Eyes To (“The fight to fully realize American democracy will require a vision of the Constitution that emphasizes the ways in which it facilitates democratic practice, rather than one that sees only limits — a vision rooted in the hopes of freedmen rather than the fears of a moneyed elite. And it is to that end of democratic expansion that the Guarantee Clause holds a great deal of power and potential.”)
• Tough sentences for Jan. 6 rioters should freak Trump out (“Accountability must travel upward.”)
• Election guru Rachel Bitecofer: Democrats face “10-alarm fire” after Virginia debacle (“Democrats could still win midterms and stop Trump’s coup, says election forecaster — if they actually had a plan”)
• These maps show how Republicans are blatantly rigging elections
• Sure, Biden’s Plan Costs a Lot of Money. But the Price of Inaction Is Higher.
• Election Setbacks Embolden Dems to Go YOLO on Biden Agenda
• Key budget office caught in crosshairs over Biden spending plan
• Wow, These Folks Really Do Not Like Bridges! (“The Republican Party has become a profound threat to the American republic.”)
• Trump’s ex-Russia adviser Fiona Hill on the state of the GOP and Trump: ‘Am I a dissident now?’
• Trump’s legal woes multiply post-presidency (Does anyone actually believe that Trump will EVER face justice for his many crimes?)
• How Politico insists on getting Larry Summers wrong — in order to undermine the Biden agenda (“Even after Summers says he supports Build Back Better, Politico published a column to oppose it by claiming ‘Game, set, match Larry Summers'”)
• Facebook’s Vast Wasteland
• House Republicans promote 2022 candidates with histories of scandals
• Murkowski announces reelection bid, setting up battle with Trump
• Chris Christie Dishes on What Turned Him Off Working for Trump (“The former guv almost became Trump’s third chief of staff. But a combo of aggressive Javanka behavior and Trump’s loose lips led to Christie turning down the gig, he writes.” So it wasn’t the fascism, corruption, incompetence, etc…)
• ‘We don’t want any more Black pastors coming in here,’ says defense attorney in Arbery death trial (WTF???)
• An Air Force sergeant killed himself on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The note he left is heartbreaking.
• Rittenhouse Worship Is Just the Beginning for Twisted GOP
• Kyle Rittenhouse Doesn’t Need to be Acquitted to Win (This trial has been a complete farce.)
• Kyle Rittenhouse’s white crocodile tears hold value in America
• Prosecutors want jury to consider lesser charges in U.S. teen Rittenhouse’s murder trial
• Judge in Kyle Rittenhouse trial makes inappropriate Asian food joke (This judge sounds like a complete nut who should NOT be a judge.)
• Gov. Murphy’s Republican Foe, Jack Ciattarelli, Will Concede
• Sen. Tim Kaine speaks at Fishburne Military School Veterans Day Ceremony
• Rep. Spanberger discusses recent elections, CRT and infrastructure
• Youngkin’s wins in key congressional districts underline tough reelection bids for vulnerable Va. Democrats
• Video: Glenn Youngkin Falsely Claims That “There’s Real Confusion” About Whether a “17 Year Old Can Vote or Not” (SPOILER ALERT: the voting age for general elections in the United States has been 18 since 1970, and it’s really not confusing! LOL)
• Virginia Voter Turnout Maps by Precinct Show VERY High Turnout in “Reddest” Precincts, “Meh” or Worse Turnout in “Bluest” Precincts (You can really see this pattern play out WITHIN regions – Hampton Roads, NoVA, the Richmond area, etc.)
• Can AG-elect Miyares follow through with promise to prosecute
• Jason Miyares’s harmful attack on Virginia’s criminal justice reform
• Virginia’s perfect storm led to Glenn Youngkin winning the governor’s race
• With big federal boost, Virginia shows Medicaid surplus this year, helping offset future costs
• As steel demand rises, Virginia coal mining is on the upswing (“Operators attribute increased activity to metallurgical coal”)
• More than 35,000 children were vaccinated in the first week of Virginia’s pediatric rollout
• Thursday (11/11) Virginia Data on COVID-19: 1-Day New Cases +1,588; 10-Day New Cases +13,372; Hospitalizations at 854 (Lowest Since Mid August)
• Sen. Morrissey, local officials angle for Petersburg casino bid after failed referendum in Richmond (“New casino development plans could soon be coming to Petersburg after Richmond voters rejected the $565 million One Casino and Resort in last week’s general election.”)
• Northern Virginia sees alarming rise of mange in black bears
• Defendants attempts to connect reverend to “antifa” during hostile hearing
• Why the Nazis Are Treating Their Trial in Charlottesville Like a Joke (“It’s part of the strategy, perhaps even the ideology.”)
• D.C.-area forecast: Rain ends this morning as a cold front sets up a return of chillier air