Thursday News: “Ocean heat reached all-time high in 2021”; “New Covid-19 vaccine boosters are coming”; “Trump Can’t Hide From the Mar-a-Lago Photo”; Peltola Beats Palin in Alaska; “Democratic Midterm Outlook Improves, WSJ Poll Finds”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, September 1.

• Ocean heat reached all-time high in 2021, report finds (Get. Off. Of. Fossil. Fuels. ASAP!)
• The Energy of the Future Is Thousands of Years Old (“For the first entry in our climate solutions series, geothermal energy is clean and has a lot of room to grow.” It’s 24/7 clean power…also pretty much unlimited.)
• Portugal Could Hold an Answer for a Europe Captive to Russian Gas (“Long cut off from the continent’s grid, Portugal and Spain built a system based on imports and alternatives like solar that is the envy of fellow European Union nations.”)
• Russia Mulls Buying $70 Billion in Yuan, ‘Friendly’ FX
• U.S. pressure drives Russia, China and Iran closer together
• In the east, Ukraine braces to make counter-attack
• US war-gamed with Ukraine ahead of counteroffensive and encouraged more limited mission
• Report: Drunk Russian soldiers in Kherson fired assault rifles at FSB officers in deadly incident
• Witnesses to the Massacre in Mariupol (“Survivors described the defining atrocity of the war in Ukraine: the destruction of a theater that was a sanctuary for those fleeing Russia’s siege.”)
• Russian oil chief Maganov dies in ‘fall from hospital window’ (“Maganov is the latest of a number of high-profile business executives to die in mysterious circumstances.”)
• History’s bookends: Putin reversed many Gorbachev reforms
• Putin’s schedule prevents him attending Gorbachev funeral – Kremlin (His “schedule”…committing atrocities and war crimes in Ukraine?)
• Ukraine’s counteroffensive is more than just bravado
• Shelling halts UN inspection of Ukraine nuclear plant and prompts emergency shutdown of reactor
• Netanyahu unites Jewish supremacist parties ahead of November’s election (Disgusting.)
• China rejects UN report on Uyghur rights abuses in Xinjiang
• Uyghurs: China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang – UN
• New Covid-19 vaccine boosters are coming (“The FDA just approved Covid-19 vaccines that have BA.5 in their crosshairs. Will people roll up their sleeves?” Hell yes!)
• White House to encourage COVID boosters, flu shot this fall
• The Pandemic Erased Two Decades of Progress in Math and Reading
• The US May Set Up a National Green Bank Under New Climate Law
• Fact check: Trump’s false and uncorroborated claims in response to the FBI search
• Why Yesterday’s DOJ Filing Suggests a Trump Indictment Is Coming
• Trump Can’t Hide From the Mar-a-Lago Photo (“The Department of Justice keeps outsmarting the former president in its efforts to recover the government’s classified materials.”)
• Trump’s legal gambits offer fresh revelations (“The former President is not done with the strategy of delaying, distorting and trying to tie the legal system in knots”)
• DOJ’s Mar-a-Lago filing reveals damning details on the Trump papers saga
• Trump’s Legal Jab Left Him Open to Justice Dept. Strike
• The photo of classified documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, annotated
• Are Trump’s Passports the FBI’s Smoking Gun? (“DOJ’s latest filing suggests the proximity of Trump’s personal identification to top secret government documents could prove the former president is personally culpable”)
• Justice filing points to new legal trouble for Trump and lawyers, experts say (“The evidence laid out in the filing could build a case that Trump attorneys Evan Corcoran and Christina Bobb obstructed the government’s investigation into documents taken to Mar-a-Lago.”)
• A Justice Department Show of Force in the Mar-a-Lago Case (“The Justice Department’s filing Tuesday evening in former President Trump’s federal court effort to slow the Mar-a-Lago investigation presents a remarkable show of strength and confidence in the ongoing probe.”)
• U.S. Justice Dept to face off against Trump legal team over seized records
• Days before Mar-a-Lago subpoena, Trump lawyer claimed she scoured his office, closets and drawers
• Trump tells court that classified material should have been expected in presidential records found at Mar-a-Lago
• Trump team makes its 11th hour plea for independent review
• Republicans notably silent, split as Trump probe deepens
• A photo shared by the DOJ shows Trump kept a framed copy of an unflattering Time-magazine cover at his Mar-a-Lago home
• Trump’s seized passports could be a problem for him, legal experts say
• The right’s flailing attacks on the Mar-a-Lago search have aged terribly
• Trump’s Document Lies Have Been Exposed. All He Has Left Are Threats. (“The Justice Department strips bare the former president’s defense.”)
• DOJ Is Likely to Wait Past Midterms to Reveal Any Trump Charges
• What Republicans refuse to grasp about the ‘Clinton standard’
• If It Were Anyone Else, They’d Be Prosecuted
• Opinion: To win, GOP candidates have to move out of Trump’s shadow
• Right-wing media scramble to defend Trump after new DOJ filing claims they may have concealed documents (Pathetic.)
• Explore The Ways Republicans Or Democrats Could Win The Midterms
• Vulnerable Anti-abortion House Republicans Set a Trap for Themselves (“Pre-Dobbs, at-risk House Republicans bent the knee to the anti-abortion movement by backing a federal “personhood” statute. Now it actually matters.”)
• Democratic Midterm Prospects Improve as Races Heat Up, WSJ Poll Finds (“Democrats hold a slight edge over Republicans, 47% to 44%, when voters are asked which party they would support in their congressional district if the election were held today”)
• A storm is coming: It might sweep Trump and the GOP into history’s dustbin (“If Democrats can win after all, Trump is toast and the current GOP is finished. But what comes after that?”)
• Has the tide turned for Biden and the Democrats? It’s way too early to celebrate (“Republican hubris and overreach is leading toward dramatic payback — but Democrats’ sugar high could be fleeting”)
• With Trump’s help, Biden makes the GOP play defense
• “THE ‘LET’S COME TOGETHER’ STUFF? THAT’S OVER”: JOE BIDEN HITS THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL READY TO TAKE ON TRUMP (“The president has three stops scheduled in Pennsylvania this week, where Democrats have a shot at flipping a Senate seat. ‘He’s not afraid of talking about Trump anymore,’ one Biden insider tells Vanity Fair. ‘Now it’s about winning.'”
• Trump aggravates the GOP’s national security and crime problem
• Unions are growing more popular. Democrats should talk about that. (“One poll shows that a striking 71 percent of Americans say they have a favorable view of unions. Democrats should capitalize on this.”)
• Biden’s Approval Rating Surges After Hitting Low Mark In July, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Half Of Americans Say Trump Should Be Prosecuted
• Defiant Rick Scott explains ‘strategic disagreement’ with McConnell over battle for Senate
• Seems Like “Trump 2024” Can’t Decide Which Way to Jump
• Cases against arrested voters on shaky legal ground. Florida issued them voter IDs
• Ahead of midterms, Fox leans into fearmongering about “America’s crime crisis”
• Investigating parents of transgender youth has agency on ‘brink of collapse,’ staff warns (Nobody should participate in this.)
• Here’s why the Trump GOP’s crazy quotient is expanding
• Doug Mastriano associate and potential secretary of state shared conspiracy theory that Flight 93 crash was faked (Total nutjobs, as is anyone who votes for these people.)
• More Republicans Are Running Away From Mastriano as He Digs In on Election-Fraud Lies
• Insurgent Congressman Pat Ryan Says Dems Win by Getting “Real”
• Peter Thiel rebuffs Mitch McConnell over Senate rescue in Arizona
• Democrat Mary Peltola wins special U.S. House election, will be first Alaska Native elected to Congress
• Mary Peltola, a Democrat, Defeats Sarah Palin in Alaska’s Special House Election
• Alaska Special Election Upset Expands Democrats’ House Majority
• Fetterman campaign says stroke recovery factors
  into fall debate plans (“Advisers say Fetterman can engage in one-on-one conversations but struggles with more chaotic auditory environments”)
• Michigan board blocks certification of abortion rights ballot measure, throwing it to the courts (“The vote throws into limbo whether Michigan will join a growing number of states where voters will determine to what extent abortion remains legal following the fall of Roe v. Wade — with votes scheduled for November in California, Vermont, Kentucky and Montana. Along with a slew of pending court cases and state legislative battles, these ballot initiatives have the potential to remake the country’s abortion access map as the number of states implementing near-total bans has mounted.”)
• Conservative Lawyer a Likely Target in Atlanta Trump Investigation, His Lawyer Says (“John Eastman, who developed strategies to block certification of the 2020 election, appeared before a grand jury in Atlanta on Wednesday.” That guy should be in deep, deep trouble.)
• John Eastman invokes the Fifth in Georgia election probe
• Trump’s Social Media Business Is a Mess
• Body camera video shows a Columbus, Ohio, police officer fatally shooting an unarmed 20-year-old Black man
• Mississippians with no water to drink? Blame racial politics.
• Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA07) Responds After Yesli Vega Says “We Have to” Shut Down the Federal Government (“Virginia’s 7th District Is Home to Thousands of Career Federal Employees”)
• NEW: Yesli Vega (VA-07) Deletes Trump Support from Twitter Bio (DCCC: “After proudly touting her Trump affiliation in the primary, Yesli Vega is now attempting to walk it back”)
• “Jen Kiggans attacked the FBI and defended Donald Trump. She knows better but will say anything to get elected.” (“With Trump, its always worse than you thought”)
• Spanberger responds to Vega’s comments about a government shutdown
• Video: Some of the Most Unhinged Moments From Today’s VA GOP Rally in McLean with Gov. Youngkin, AG Miyares, LG Sears, etc. (For example, 10th CD GOP(Q) nominee Hung Cao compared equity to “Socialism, Marxism, Communism” and declared that “the battlefield is our schools…the victims are our children.”)
• Youngkin says Virginia law on banning obscene books needs review next session
• ‘Gender Queer’ Author ‘Relieved’ After Court Rules Book’s Sale Can’t Be Restricted in Virginia
• Exclusive: Youngkin says ‘biological boys’ should not play sports with ‘biological girls’
• Youngkin’s options for an abortion ban dim
• Youngkin talks schools, but not Congress in N.Va. rally for midterms
• A Few Reactions to the Youngkin Administration’s Dishonest, Not-in-Good-Faith “Argument” for Why Virginia Supposedly Should Pull Out of RGGI (Also, gotta love how there was “not one mention of the drastic increase in natural gas costs which are causing the increased bills.”)
• Youngkin seeks regulatory route to remove Virginia from RGGI (The headline of this article should note that Youngkin’s arguments are completely fallacious. By not doing so, it lends them legitimacy that they do NOT deserve.)
• Rallies to defend the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
• Youngkin administration blocks the release of calendar, advisor’s emails (The secrecy continues, the big question being “what is Youngkin hiding?”)
• Youngkin administration outlines plan to withdraw Virginia from carbon market by regulation (The headline of this article should note that Youngkin’s arguments are completely fallacious. By not doing so, it lends them legitimacy that they do NOT deserve.)
• Editorial: Wind project in peril (“The costs and risks associated with Dominion’s offshore wind project should be fairly shared.”)
• Virginia’s expanded train routes see record-high increase in ridership
• Hanover County school officials approve controversial transgender student policy (“Controversial” is a classic weasel word used by reporters who are afraid to upset right wingers and are desperate to appear “neutral.”)
• Ex-Norfolk Treasurer Anthony Burfoot loses second appeal of his 2016 corruption conviction
• Jailed ex-Roanoke councilman Robert Jeffrey Jr. files legal action, seeking to return to office
• Charlottesville city leaders move to toss out former police chief’s wrongful termination suit
• Virginia Judge Dismisses Case That Sought to Limit Book Sales
• Man is exposing himself, trying to grab women and girls on W&OD trail
• D.C.-area forecast: Plentiful sun keeps it warm through the holiday weekend