Friday News: Trillions of $$$ in “Stranded fossil fuel assets”; “There Were Good Guys With Guns and It Didn’t Matter”; “Don’t let MAGA Republicans off the hook for enabling violence”; “In Wake of Uvalde Shooting, Spanberger Calls for Commonsense Gun Violence Prevention Efforts”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, May 27.

• Stranded fossil fuel assets could cost investors and retirement funds $2 trillion (Ditch fossil fuel investments NOW.)
• UN Chief to New College Grads: Don’t Work for “Climate Wreckers” (“António Guterres implores young people to help tackle the climate crisis instead.” Absolutely – do NOT work for or invest in any company destroying our home.)
• People in US and UK face huge financial hit if fossil fuels lose value, study shows (“Strong climate action could wipe $756bn from individuals’ pension funds and other investments in rich countries”)
• Middle East sandstorms, worsened by climate change, send thousands to hospitals
• Hydrogen may be a climate solution. There’s debate over how clean it will truly be
• Record Wind in Scotland Means Grid Tells Some Turbines to Stop (“Britain’s wind-power production hit a new record Wednesday afternoon thanks to blustery spring weather”)
• How an Organized Republican Effort Punishes Companies for Climate Action (Pure evil.)
• EU Leans Toward Delaying Pipeline Ban to Clinch Oil Embargo Deal
• The secret planning that kept the White House a step ahead of Russia
• Russia’s grain blockade may require U.S. intervention, general suggests
• Russia advances in east as Ukrainians warned of ‘difficult month ahead’
• Russia is depopulating parts of eastern Ukraine, forcibly removing thousands into remote parts of Russia (Massive war crime.)
• US preparing to approve advanced long-range rocket system for Ukraine
• How Does It End? Fissures Emerge Over What Constitutes Victory in Ukraine
• ‘90% of key Donbas city damaged’ as Russia fights for control
• Now is not the time to seek a deal with Putin (“It would be a disaster — both moral and strategic — if Mr. Putin were invited to talks before his major war objectives had been thwarted.” Agreed.)
• Boris Johnson Urges More Missiles for Ukraine to Hit ‘Crocodile’ Putin
• Widespread disbelief over N. Korea’s tiny COVID death rate
• Democrats Urge U.S. Action Against Israel’s Eviction of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta
• The real COVID surge is (much) bigger than it looks. But don’t panic
• US Wage Increases Show Signs of Peaking in Welcome Sign for Fed
• Time to force the GOP to defend its abortion extremism
• Rubio’s bizarre attack on the NBA shows folly of the GOP gun stance (“Rubio’s anger at the NBA for speaking about the Texas shooting is unintentionally revealing.”)
• The unbearable is now routine
• Don’t let MAGA Republicans off the hook for enabling violence
• Conservatives’ new scapegoat for mass shootings: ‘Culture’
• The G.O.P. War on Civil Virtue
• America May Be Broken Beyond Repair (“The real nightmare is not that the repetition of nihilist terrorism brings American politics to an inflection point, but that it doesn’t. The nightmare is that we simply stumble on, helpless as things keep getting worse.”)
• It’s Not Looking Too Good for Government of the People, by the People and for the People
• After Buffalo and Uvalde, America feels broken: Where do we go from here? (“Feeling grief, confusion and despair right now is normal. How do we turn that into something constructive?” Yep, America feels seriously f’ed thanks to Trump, Trumpism, Republicans gone completely off the far-right deep end, guns everywhere, fossil fuel addiction, racism, income inequality, the filibuster, a wildly unrepresentative US Senate, you name it.)
• Supreme Court allows Biden climate regulations while fight continues
• Scoop: Manchin revives Build Back Better
• Behind the Jan. 6 panel’s last-minute efforts to win 3 key Trump-world lawsuits
• Meadows burned papers after meeting with Scott Perry, Jan. 6 panel told
• Jan. 6 committee eyes witnesses, but Ginni Thomas unlikely to be focus
• Exclusive: DOJ interviews Georgia Republicans about interactions with Trump campaign in fake elector probe
• Eighteen-Year-Olds with AR-15s (Absolutely bonkers.)
• For the N.R.A. and Trump, the Show Must Go On in Texas
• NRA’s once-coveted ‘A’ rating no longer enough for some Republicans (Very simple: if a politician or candidate has an “A” rating from the NRA, *do not vote for them*. Period.)
• The Epidemic of Mass Shootings Is Neither Inevitable Nor Unsolvable
• ‘No way to prevent this’: why the Onion’s gun violence headline is so devastating
• Support For Gun Control Will Likely Rise After Uvalde. But History Suggests It Will Fade.
• Exclusive: McConnell says he has directed Cornyn to engage with Democrats on a ‘bipartisan solution’ on gun violence
• Don’t get snowed by Mitch McConnell’s ‘openness’ to acting on guns
• Mitch McConnell Shows Interest in Passing Gun Reform, an Act He’ll Undoubtedly Follow Up by Doing Jack S–t (McConnell is evil scum, no doubt.)
• Senate GOP signals an openness to talking about gun legislation
• There Is a Future for Gun Control (“The NRA won after Sandy Hook, but today gun safety is slowly making gains in states.” Hmmmm.)
• Three headliners pulled out of this week’s N.R.A. convention, citing Uvalde.
• On Guns, Biden’s Call for Action Is a Painful Reminder That He Cannot Make It Happen
• Republicans Propose Anything but Gun Reform (“Ridiculous suggestions include having only one door and a bigger police presence—despite officers waiting 40 minutes outside Robb Elementary.”)
• How America fails children (“US public policy is a disaster on guns — and so much more.”)
• Senators Grasp for a Bipartisan Gun Deal, Facing Long Odds
• Questions remain about law enforcement response (“Investigators are trying to explain how a gunman could walk up to a school with a rifle, enter without being stopped, barricade himself inside a class and open fire on kids”)
• A Culture That Kills Its Children Has No Future (“An America vacillating between violent struggle and idle nihilism is shuddering toward its end.”)
• Students stage walkouts across U.S. to protest Texas school massacre
• A beloved teacher was killed in the Texas school shooting. Two days later, her husband died of ‘a broken heart,’ family says
• Families deserve answers about how police responded to Texas school shooting
• Gunman’s final 90 minutes fuel questions about police delays
• NRA opens gun convention in Texas after school massacre
• There Were Good Guys With Guns and It Didn’t Matter (“Uvalde spent 40 percent of its budget on its police force last year.”)
• Texas Gov. Abbott going to Uvalde — not NRA — on Friday
• ‘She was my baby’: A family mourns, and pleads for action, in Uvalde.
• As new details emerge, experts questioned why police didn’t storm the gunman more quickly.
• Uvalde Had Prepared for School Shootings. It Did Not Stop the Rampage.
• How the official accounts about the Uvalde shooting have changed
• Police waited an hour for backup in the Uvalde shooting. That’s an outdated tactic, experts say.
• Uvalde Live Updates: Parents Express Anger at Police Response to School Massacre
• Cruz storms off after being asked why mass shootings happen ‘only in America’ (Ted Crus is one of America’s biggest douchebags. And of course he’s tight with Glenn Youngkin, another complete douchebag.)
• Uvalde Shooter Fired Outside School for 12 Minutes Before Entering
• Gunman’s Last 90 Minutes Fuel Questions About Police Response At Uvalde School (“During the siege, frustrated onlookers urged police officers to charge into the school, according to witnesses.”)
• Texas Police Lieutenant Says Cops Were Reluctant to Engage Gunman Because ‘They Could’ve Been Shot’
• Why 18-year-olds can buy AR-15s in Texas but not handguns
• On OAN, former NRA president compares mass shootings to abortions (“Host Dan Ball and guest Oliver North use Uvalde shooting as an opportunity to shill North’s new book”)
• 11-Year-Old Survivor of Uvalde Massacre Put Blood on Herself and Played Dead, Aunt Says
• Authorities investigating if retired federal agent knew of Buffalo mass shooting plans in advance
• Justice Department Won’t Charge FBI Agents in Nassar Case Failures
• Southern Baptist leaders release abuser database they kept secret for years
• Rep. Liz Cheney officially files for U.S. House
• Trump E.P.A. Chief ‘Endangered Public Safety’ by Ordering His Drivers to Speed
• Georgia gives US solar panel manufacturing a big boost with a new factory
• Five G.O.P. candidates for Michigan governor are ruled ineligible over forged petition signatures.
• Alex Jones’ Bitcoin Fairy Drops $8 Million in a Month on Infowars
• Herschel Walker fumbles gun control response – twice (This guy has serious, serious problems. Just listen to him for 30 seconds, and it’s like…no f’ing way should he be in the US Senate.)
• Ray Liotta Dies: ‘Goodfellas’ Star & ‘Field Of Dreams’ Actor Was 67 (R.I.P.)
• Does the Johnny Depp Trial Have a Point? (“Experts weigh in on the great nihilistic trial of 2022”)
• Video: New VA10 Far-Right Republican Nominee Rants That the “Left” Is Supposedly “Destroying Gender” and “the Nuclear Family”; Also “Marxism,” “Equity,” “Pure Evil,” the “Enemy,” etc. (Very dangerous language.)
• Video: “Really Emotional” Sen. Tim Kaine Says Shootings Like in Uvalde “Kind of Give Me PTSD,” Compounded by Lack of Action in US Senate (Sen. Kaine: “It’s like we have a gag rule about debating gun safety on the floor of this body,” like “about issues dealing with slavery during the 1830s”)
• Rep. Jennifer Wexton Welcomes Major Shipment of Baby Formula at Dulles Airport Alongside FLOTUS and U.S. Surgeon General (First Lady Jill Biden: “I’m here today to say to parents: You aren’t alone.”)
• Va. budget deal includes $4 billion in tax cuts, 10% raises for state workers
• Virginia budget compromise gives Gov. Glenn Youngkin partial win (Interesting how Youngkin fed the budget to the WaPo, which has been VERY favorable to him and generally provided stenographic – definitely NOT journalistic – coverage.)
• Ranking Youngkin’s Biggest Whoppers
• Youngkin Fails to Address the Root Cause of Gun Violence…Again (“Two mass shootings in a row in our country and Youngkin still refuses to talk about guns”)
• Fact Versus Fiction: Senate Democrats Release Report Laying Out the Truth on Public Education in Virginia (“We are dedicated to Virginia’s future, even if Governor Youngkin is not, and will remain a brick wall against any attempts to dismantle the world-class education system Virginia boasts.”)
• Nuclear will be major for Virginia’s electric grid as utilities decarbonize, regulator says
• Virginia Democrats Post Job Announcement for New Executive Director to Replace Andrew Whitley
• Former House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn Relaunches “Energized For Change” Political Action Committee (“Focusing on Electing Virginia Democrats ‘From the School Board to Capitol Square'”)
• Pope & Schapiro: New calls for gun violence legislation
• Virginia 10-Day New COVID-19 Cases Down 83% Compared to 1/19, But Near 3-Month High; Hospitalizations Down to 524 From ~4,000 in January, But Also Increasing
• Virginia has its first possible monkeypox case
• Editorial: The trouble with schools (“There is plenty of room for improvement in Virginia classrooms, but it’s hard to believe a new report from the administration will build momentum to achieve it.”)
• Remote work remains popular in Virginia, so what does that mean for localities?
• Virginia Beach police pulled some cops out of schools amid staff shortages. Now the school system is adding more armed officers.
• Police presence increased in Richmond schools following Uvalde shooting
• ‘That is Loudoun’s Story:’ Randall Delivers Annual State of the County
• The options for a Commanders stadium site: Bad, worse and nonexistent
• Dan Snyder’s Secret Weapon: Republicans
• Sen. Chap Petersen on 106.7 The Fan (“In an interview with 106.7 The Fan’s Brian Mitchell and JP Finlay, Petersen divulged that the Commanders were unable to produce objective metrics proving their popularity in the area, furthering his skepticism about the team’s apparent dwindling fan engagement.”)
• D.C.-area forecast: Rounds of heavy showers and thunderstorms today, some severe