Friday News: “What if We’re Already Fighting the Third World War with Russia?”; Corrupt Trump-Appointed Judge “bails Trump out of special master plan”; GOP “War on Student-Debt Forgiveness Begins”; “Fluteghazi Is Dumb Even for These Reactionaries”

by Lowell

Here are a few international,  national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, September 30.

• In Brazil, the World’s Largest Tropical Wetland Has Been Overwhelmed With Unprecedented Fires and Clouds of Propaganda (“Under President Bolsonaro, climate-driven droughts and burns to clear land spawned more wildfire than ever in the Pantanal, devastating subsistence farmers, small ranchers and fishers.” Brazilians need to vote Bolsonaro out of office this weekend.)
• How Europe is responding to Russia’s ‘energy war’ as winter comes
• Climate change has come for the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter (“China’s catastrophic summer shows its climate adaptation plans still have a long way to go.”)
• EU countries approve energy windfall levies, turn to gas price cap
• Euro zone inflation soars to a record 10%, piling pressure on the European Central Bank (“Energy prices rose 40.8% year-on-year, up from 38.6% in August, followed by food, alcohol and tobacco at 11.8%, up from 10.6% last month.”)
• Gas pipeline leaks: Who is ‘sabotaging’ Nord Stream and why?
• Russian garrison half-encircled in Ukraine
• Interrogations, Electric Shocks, Detention—This Is What Russian Occupation of Ukraine Looks Like (“Everywhere I went, I was told story after story about imprisonment and torture.”)
• Putin says “mistakes” must stop as some Russians resist draft (The biggest “mistake” is, of course, Putin himself.)
• Putin to sign annexation of Ukrainian regions; U.S. to increase pressure on Moscow
• Putin’s new land grab is dangerous for Ukraine – and the world (“In effect, the move amounts to stealing territory from a sovereign power and declaring it part of Russia after an unprovoked invasion – a clear violation of international law and one reason why much of the world will not accept it.”)
• Ukraine Latest: Putin Going Ahead With UN-Denounced Land Grab
• The Carlson-Kremlin feedback loop
• Zelensky: Annexation of Ukraine “will not mean” what Russia hopes for
• Russian strike kills 25 as Kremlin to annex Ukraine regions (Yet another war crime by Russia.)
• What if We’re Already Fighting the Third World War with Russia?
• Putin Always Chooses Escalation
• U.S. says ex-Army major and his wife tried to leak military health data to Russia
• How the War in Ukraine Might End (“In recent years, a small group of scholars has focussed on war-termination theory. They see reason to fear the possible outcomes in Ukraine.”)
• The West should hunker down against Putin’s latest aggression
• Pentagon Plans to Set Up a New Command to Arm Ukraine, Officials Say
• How the Anti-war Camp Went Intellectually Bankrupt (“Critics of U.S. foreign policy from both ends of the ideological spectrum have found common cause in supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”)
• Even as Iranians Rise Up, Protests Worldwide Are Failing at Record Rates (“Mass protests, once a grave threat to even the fiercest autocrat, have plummeted in effectiveness, our Interpreter columnist writes.”)
• Why Iran’s Leading Women’s Rights Defender Thinks the Protesters Could Topple the Regime
• Iranians Are Ready For A Different Approach to Religion and Government
• Why China’s Crimes in Xinjiang Cannot Go Unpunished
• Earth’s future depends on the Amazon. This weekend, it’s up for a vote.
• Brazilians Are Holding Our Breath
• Brazil’s Upcoming Presidential Elections Are the Most Hate-Filled in Recent Memory (“With President Bolsonaro adopting very Trumpian strategies.”)
• ‘Big impact’: UK economic chaos, pound plunge hit businesses (Thanks to right-wing mis-governance, Brexit, etc.)
• Labour surges to 33-point lead over Tories in YouGov poll
• Solomons Signs US-Led Pacific Deal After Historic Meeting (“Biden commits more than $810 million to new Pacific initiative; Washington is trying to counter Beijing’s diplomacy in Pacific”)
• S. Korea, US and Japan hold anti-N. Korean submarine drills
• In Venezuela, orders to silence dissent come from the very top
• New Infectious Threats Are Coming. The US Probably Won’t Contain Them.
• The War on Student-Debt Forgiveness Begins (“Republican-led states sue over Biden’s plan to free millions of people.”)
• Biden administration scales back student loan forgiveness plan as states sue
• There’s a Mind-Bending Amount of Solar in the US Pipeline (“And there’s a lot of battery capacity too.”)
• Is the Fed Braking Too Hard?
• FDA approves first drug for ALS in 5 years despite scientists’ doubts
• Biden Has Been Silent About the Supreme Court For Too Long
• Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, Last Seen Obliterating Abortion Rights, Wants Liberal Female Colleague to Shut Her Mouth (“The archconservative, who authored the opinion ending the national right to an abortion, apparently thinks critiquing his actions ‘crosses an important line.'” Alito is one of the worst Supreme Court Justices in American history.)
• Thousands were released from prison during covid. The results are shocking. (“More than 11,000 people were eventually released. Of those, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) reported that only 17 of them committed new crimes. That’s not a typo. Seventeen. That’s a 0.15 percent recidivism rate in a country where it’s normal for 30 to 65 percent of people coming home from prison to reoffend within three years of release.”)
• Judge rules Trump lawyers don’t have to clarify Mar-a-Lago document claims (This “judge” is a corrupt, treasonous Trump-appointed disaster who shouldn’t be on the bench, whose rulings should be appealed immediately, and who probably should be charged with crimes herself.)
• Trump Special Master Deadline Extended to Dec. 16 by Judge
• Judge bails Trump out of special master plan that would have forced uncomfortable submissions in court (This “judge” is a disgrace to the judiciary, the rule of law, etc.)
• Ginni Thomas Repeats False 2020 Election Claim in Jan. 6 Interview (So she lied under oath? Isn’t that a crime?!?)
• Justices shield spouses’ work from potential conflict of interest disclosures (Why???)
• Inching closer to an ECA deal — and insurance against a 2024 coup (“Bipartisan support to prevent a 2020 repeat grows.”)
• Dangerous new threats from Trump loyalists require Democrats to act (“Democrats must disable a big weapon the GOP will wield to protect Donald Trump.”)
• Congress barrels toward “extremely busy” lame-duck session
• How a GOP Congress could impact Trump probes
• Georgia and Nevada on their minds: Senate watchers sweat two swing states
• How the GOP weaponized ignorance — and how “smart people acting like dopes” stay in power
• Why is the Senate race between J.D. Vance and Tim Ryan in red state Ohio so close? (Because Ryan’s a superb candidate and Vance is an extremist nutjob and horrible candidate.)
• He Has a 7-Point Plan for a Christian Takeover — and Wants Doug Mastriano to Lead the Charge
• A harsh ad hitting Herschel Walker shows a way forward for Democrats (“It unites abortion and gun violence into a single message.”)
• DeSantis, Once a ‘No’ on Storm Aid, Petitions a President He’s Bashed
• A Prominent Federal Judge Declares He Will No Longer Hire Clerks From Yale Law School (Another horrible Trump-appointed “judge”)
• Trump Lawyer Boris Epshteyn Appears Before Atlanta Grand Jury
• ‘It’s My Curse and My Salvation’: Trump’s Most Famous Chronicler Opens Up
• GOP Candidate’s Staffer Has a Murder-for-Hire Past (“Kari Lake, the GOP nominee for Arizona governor, has hired a staffer who ‘attempted to kill’ an FBI informant.”)
• The Memo: Michigan appears set to deliver a blow to Trump
• Warden of Texas immigrant jail fired after arrest for shooting 2 migrants (That’s cold-blooded murder.)
• Ian Latest: Biden Declares Emergency for South Carolina
• Hurricane Ian: ‘catastrophic’ damage in Florida as storm heads to South Carolina
• Trevor Noah to Exit ‘Daily Show’ After Seven Years
• Former Trump Official Pleads Guilty to Child Porn Charge, Is Sentenced to Prison
• Michigan election worker charged with tampering with voting equipment
• Conservatives Very Offended by Lizzo Twerking With Slave Owner’s Crystal Flute
• Fluteghazi Is Dumb Even for These Reactionaries
• With Threats on the Rise, Sen. Mark Warner Backs Legislation to Protect Election Workers (Among other things, the legislation would “establish threatening, intimidating, or coercing election workers as a federal crime”)
• Sen. Mark Warner backs legislation to protect election workers
• ‘This is about politics:’ Sen. Tim Kaine reacts to transgender policy changes in Virginia
• Opinion/Editorial: Riggleman’s Jan. 6 data crucial to future of democracy
• On the cusp (“Virginia is bellwether in midterm elections” Maybe, maybe not.)
• Yesli Vega Will Always Take the Extreme Position, No Questions Asked (“After NBC4 Reports Vega Supports the ‘Life at Conception Act,’ Vega Tells the Washington Post She ‘Never Read’ the Bill Before Backing It”)
• Youngkin, amid 2024 buzz, sidesteps question about completing term
• Pope & Schapiro: Student walkouts and Youngkin’s continued campaigning
• Virginia updates how it conducts risk-limiting audits for election results
• Youngkin touts RGGI funds for flood preparedness (Shameless. In fact, Youngkin wants to withdraw Virginia from RGGI!)
• ACLU of Virginia Explains, in Detail, Why It Opposes Youngkin’s Proposed “Model Policies” on the (Mis)Treatment of Transgender and Non-Binary Students (Policies “are contrary to state law” and would “result in rampant violations of the rights of students, parents, and school personnel and…inflict serious harm on transgender and nonbinary students”)
• Flood Fund future uncertain as Youngkin pushes for carbon market withdrawal
• Virginia pilot program shows promise as state faces ‘eviction tsunami’
• Del. Wren Williams’ witness: No shove in Wytheville
• Fairfax Schools vows hiring reforms after conviction of former counselor (“The school district acknowledged ‘systemic issues’ in the way it handles hiring, licensure, leave, dismissal and resignation of employees”)
• George Mason University becomes state’s last public college to freeze tuition
• Former Police Chief Faries not charged due to delay in reporting allegations
• Ian not what it once was, still could be a little troublesome for Virginia (“There could be some flooding and gusty winds, but Ian doesn’t look likely to join the hall of infamy for tropical impacts in Virginia.”)
• Editorial: Ready for the storm (“A few precautions can help ensure that Hampton Roads residents endure Ian’s heavy rain and flooding in the coming days.”)
• D.C.-area forecast: Rains from Ian arrive today, linger through weekend