Thursday News: “Boris Johnson’s Government Is Collapsing in on Itself”; “Trump has turned the nation toward anger and violence”; Right Wingers Blame “Weed, Women, and Video Games” – Anything BUT Guns – for Gun Violence; “Highland Park and an Illegitimate Supreme Court”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, July 7.

• Solar Growth Estimates for 2050 Are Aggressive, But Not Unrealistic (“To decarbonize power substantially, solar power needs to expand rapidly— but projected growth rates shouldn’t be daunting. Here’s why.”)
• Solar panel recycling market to be worth billions by 2030, say researchers
• Crude Oil Price Slump Deepens as Demand Concerns Overshadow Tight Supplies
• Brent slips under $100/barrel as sell-off continues
• Global hunger figures rose to 828M in 2021, UN says
• Ukraine raises flag on recaptured island as Russia consolidates gains in east
• Teenagers Say They Were Kidnapped and Raped by Putin’s Private Army
• Ukraine tensions run high as Lavrov flies into Bali for G20 foreign ministers summit
• Video Investigation: Russia Is Using a Secret Network to Steal Ukraine Grain
• Boris Johnson Odds: Who Are the Front-Runners to Replace PM?
• Boris Johnson’s Government Is Collapsing in on Itself
• Boris Johnson clings to power after dozens of British lawmakers resign and urge him to quit
• Johnson Set to Address Nation as Succession Race Starts
• Boris Johnson to resign as Conservative leader
• Boris Johnson expected to resign amid party revolt
• U.K.’s Boris Johnson to Resign After Scandals Grow Too Great to Handle
• Who are the contenders to lead the Conservative Party if Johnson resigns?
• Boris Johnson reached the top but was felled by his flaws
• From Brexit to Partygate, a timeline of Johnson’s career
• China: MI5 and FBI heads warn of ‘immense’ threat
• China Considers $220 Billion Stimulus With Unprecedented Bond Sales
• Griner’s Moscow trial resumes amid calls for US to seek deal
• Let’s Use Chicago Rules to Beat Russia
• Haiti’s struggle worsened in year since slaying of president
• What to make of a looming recession amid a strong labor market
• Fed Moves Toward Another Big Rate Increase as Inflation Lingers
• The Economy Is Already Cooling, So Why Is the Fed Dousing It With Cold Water?
• US Jobs Report to Show ‘Natural Slowdown’ But Not Broad Weakness
• Lesions, headaches, debilitating pain: Gay men with monkeypox share their stories
• Shell Plans to Drill in Gulf of Mexico Despite Climate, Political Debate
• Is Joe Manchin about to do the right thing? (“Lowering prices for prescription drugs may still happen, and bring other benefits with it.”)
• Democratic drug pricing bill removes insulin cost cap amid bipartisan push
• Highland Park and an Illegitimate Supreme Court (“Recent rulings on gun and abortion rights have revealed a conservative majority executing a long-standing agenda of radical right-wing ideas.”)
• SCOTUS Justices ‘Prayed With’ Her — Then Cited Her Bosses to End Roe (Absolutely appalling. They all should have recused themselves after that, and their ruling is illegitimate.)
• Roe Is Dead. How Will Democrats and the G.O.P. Evolve Without It?
• The Misogyny Is the Point (“Roe was always about power.”)
• Republicans May Have Set Themselves Up for a Showdown With the Supreme Court
• How The Supreme Court Could Turbocharge Gerrymandering — Just In Time for 2024
• Opinion: Who killed the republic? It’s not Donald Trump (“…often, in our obsession with the personal malignancy of Donald Trump, we tend to give a pass to those institutional players who might have contained him before his pathologies became civically systemic.”)
• Why the Trumpist threat in 2024 just got more dangerous (“If the Supreme Court embraces a radical legal theory, election subversion becomes more likely.”)
• How conservatism conquered America — and corrupted itself
• Trump’s possible ties to far right militias examined by January 6 committee
• Comey and McCabe, Who Infuriated Trump, Both Faced Intensive I.R.S. Audits
• Weed, Women, and Video Games: Right-Wing Media Blames Just About Everything but Guns for Highland Park Shooting
• Conservative media try to divert blame for Highland Park massacre (“It must be the fault of nagging women, or marijuana. Certainly not guns.”)
• “There Is No Reason That We Have Weapons of War”: Highland Park Shooting Shows The Limits Of Bipartisan Gun Reform
• Highland Park gunman admitted to firing on parade crowd and contemplated attack in Madison, Wisconsin, officials say
• White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield to Step Down
• Give Biden a break (Dana Milbank nails it: “Here’s the deal, Democrats: You need to give Joe Biden a break. — For weeks, Democrats have arrayed themselves in traditional circular firing formation, complaining about the president’s failure to channel outrage about mass shootings”)
• Democrats can’t rely on Biden if he doesn’t rhetorically meet the moment (“The president is lacking passion.”)
• America as a war zone: Trump has turned the nation toward anger and violence (“Donald Trump has occupied America’s hearts and minds. The trauma is everywhere, and it won’t heal overnight”)
• Guns Are Destroying Public Life
• The GOP’s Militia Problem: Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Lessons from Abroad
• Michigan GOP candidates for governor pledge loyalty to Trump in primary debate
• The Strident Writings of a Young Blake Masters Dog His Senate Run
• Democrats should listen to Kamala Harris and follow her example.
• Fulton County DA: Expect more subpoenas of Trump associates
• Georgia DA won’t rule out subpoena for Trump in election interference investigation, says more allies will be called
• The Georgia investigation remains Trump’s biggest problem yet
• Secret Service denial of Hutchinson story fuels attacks from both sides
• Republican leaders back Shapiro over Mastriano in race for governor
• Galvanized by gun violence, Pa. lt. governor candidate poised to make history
• Liz Cheney Wins the GOP’s Manhood Contest (Republican men, as a whole, are pathetic cowards.)
• Lindsey Graham will fight Georgia 2020 election subpoena, his lawyers say (That appeal should be tossed right out of court.)
• Graham’s relationship with Trump comes back to bite him
• New subpoena in probe of Georgia election subversion focuses on right-wing media smear (“Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s former attorney, was among those subpoenaed by a grand jury looking into potential criminal interference in the 2020 election certification”)
• The Right’s Dangerous ‘Just Asking Questions’ Anti-Trans Campaign Is Working
• Elon Musk had twins last year with one of his top executives (Musk is slimy on pretty much every level.)
• Wacko Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) says she would shoot her 5 grandchildren to protect their lives (Dangerously insane person unintentionally highlights the need for red-flag laws!)
• Ohio GOP House nominee says mass shootings are a fair trade for his 2nd Amendment rights
• Georgia Guidestones demolished after bombing damages mysterious monument (“The news comes after months of escalating conspiracy theories surrounding the monument that have circulated on social media.” Naturally. Social media’s going to be the ruin of us…)
• Far right called U.S. ‘Stonehenge’ satanic — and cheered when it blew up
• Police kill another Black man — and the same old questions arise
• TikTok continues to allow videos of neo-Nazi to go viral
• Facebook allowed dangerous anti-LGBTQ rhetoric to spread across the platform during Pride Month (“Right-leaning pages have posted nearly 3,500 times about topics related to Pride in June. Left-leaning pages posted nearly 2,000 times.”)
• Luria and Kiggans to square off in battleground race
• DCCC Launches New Billboard On Yesli Vega’s Comments Doubting Women Get Pregnant from Rape
• Why is Governor Youngkin Scared To Take on The Gun Lobby? (In contrast, VA Dems “are committed to ensuring that crucial gun safety measures remain in place and will never stop working until we solve the gun violence crisis.”)
• Audio: VA LG Winsome Sears Says What Happened in Highland Park, IL Shows That “there are laws about how murder, murder, murder, murder, murder, murder and yet we have murders” (Sears also says “What happens in Chicago [sic] happens here…look at what happened here in Richmond, same thing”)
• Youngkin’s pragmatic school board picks offer hope for reform (This past weekend, former VA Secretary of Education Atif Qarni said he was “pleasantly surprised” at several of Youngkin’s Board of Education picks, but definitely not about the Suparna Dutta pick.)
• Virginia expands free school lunch eligibility as pandemic policy expires
• Free-speech groups, book world fight back in Virginia obscenity case
• A tip prevented a mass shooting in Richmond, as communities tout the importance of red flag laws
• ‘Mass shooting on the Fourth of July’ intent of Richmond shooting suspects, police say
• Video: Richmond Police Department Press Conference on “Hero Citizen” Who Informed Them of “mass shooting targeting the July 4 event at Dogwood Dell” (Rep. Donald McEachin: “Thanks to the diligence and heroism of our Richmond police force, an unfathomable act of violence was stopped, and countless lives were saved.”)
• Virginia 10-Day New COVID-19 Cases Down 84% Compared to 1/19; Hospitalizations Down to 651 From ~4,000 in January; Both Up From a Couple Months Ago
• Sandwich bags and bubble wrap can be recycled. A Virginia plant is turning them into outdoor decks
• Why are people going to Martinsville for offshore wind training?
• D.C.-area forecast: Muggy with storm chances through Friday before gradual weekend drying