Thursday News: Thanks to Inflation Reduction Act, “U.S. to deploy 550 GW of new renewables by 2030”; “Biden issues stark warning of threat to US democracy”; “In the midterms, GOP extremism is the ghoul in the room”; “Youngkin’s Pelosi gaffe shows he’s not presidential material”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, November 3.

• Future generations face ‘climate carnage’ without surge in funding – UN (“Secretary general warns effects of global heating are outstripping the ability to adapt to them”)
• UN: Global warming to melt major glaciers by 2050, including Yosemite’s (Disastrous.)
• After six years, UN climate summit returns to Africa
• Countries hit hardest by climate change need much more money to prepare, UN says
• A submerged buoy-like device is harnessing the sea’s ‘epic amounts of energy’ in Scottish trial
• Ukrainians say nuclear plant again cut off from grid after Russian shelling
• G7 Foreign Ministers to Discuss Effort to Support Ukraine (“Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, and his counterparts are expected to address food and energy issues at a meeting in Germany.”)
• Russia Resumes Ukraine Grain-Export Deal in Abrupt Reversal
• Russians try to subdue Ukrainian towns by seizing mayors
• In newly liberated villages, Ukrainian investigators uncover horrific claims of Russian sexual violence
• Russia reaffirms its nuclear doctrine with statement in stark contrast to weeks of threatening rhetoric
• Republican Opposition to Helping Ukraine Grows, WSJ Poll Finds
• Can the US live in Xi Jinping’s world?
• U.S. Administration Fears Ben-Gvir Domino Effect, Considers a No-contact Policy (Ben-Gvir is a virulent racist, fascist, etc.)
• North Korea keeps up its missile barrage with launch of ICBM
• Kim Jong-un wants America’s attention
• Kim Jong Un Inches Closer to All-Out War Than Ever Before
• North Korea Sending Artillery to Russia for War in Ukraine, White House Says
• After Two Tense Days in Brazil, the Path Is Clearing for Lula’s Comeback
• Bolsonaro backers call on Brazil military to intervene after Lula victory (“Supporters of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro held rallies to call for an armed forces intervention following the election of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a move military experts say is out of the question.”)
• Biden warns GOP could set nation on ‘path to chaos’ as democratic system faces strain
• Biden implores voters to save democracy from lies, violence
• Biden links Paul Pelosi attack to Trump rhetoric
• The US Climate Bill Is a Bigger Deal Than Most People Realize (“Climate spending thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act may end up as high as $1 trillion.”)
• U.S. to deploy 550 GW of new renewables by 2030 (“ACP projects that the United States may deploy 550 GW of new renewable energy projects by 2030. Solar, wind, and energy storage capacity will help pave the way for the nation to cut economy-wide emissions by 40% below 2005 levels. This progress will be accomplished by a clean power workforce of 1 million, said ACP.”)
• Biden Warns That America’s Democratic Traditions Are in Peril
• Biden issues stark warning of threat to US democracy
• Biden urges Americans to take a stand against political violence: ‘We’re facing a defining moment’
• Biden: ‘In our bones, we know democracy is at risk’
• Is America ready to trade democracy for cheap gas? That’s fascism in a nutshell (The thing is, we won’t even get cheap gas! Plus, we need to get OFF of fossil fuels.)
• America Can Have Democracy or Political Violence. Not Both.
• Extremism Is on the Rise … Again (“I fear that too many liberals are once again caught up in the cycle, embracing apathy. My message to all of them going into Election Day: Wake up!”)
• We’re Witnessing the Post-Truth Midterms (“This cycle has been awash in lies—about everything from the last election to litter boxes to the assault on Paul Pelosi—and an Elon-owned Twitter could further fuel the right’s alternate reality.”)
• In the midterms, GOP extremism is the ghoul in the room
• The Fed orders another jumbo interest rate hike. Many are wondering what’s next
• Powell Sees Higher Peak for Rates, Path to Slow Tempo of Hikes (It’s time to chill out, give the rate hikes time to work.)
• Chris Hayes: The myth of crime as a big-city, blue-state problem (It’s also NOT high by historical standards, nor is it increasing.)
• Denying the Attack on Pelosi Is a Bridge to Supporting It (“The mental contortions of the anti-anti-DePape right”)
• Why the right keeps telling awful lies about the Pelosi attack (“We talk a lot about whether political rhetoric inspires political violence such as that directed at Pelosi, and what that might portend. But the mass denial of the violence — and its functioning as a proud marker of political identity — might be just as ominous.”)
• Where Republican Midterm Candidates Really Stand on Abortion
• Trump insists the United States is ‘rigged, crooked and evil’ (“A former American president described the United States as “evil.” This generated almost no attention whatsoever. Why is that? “In fact, TRUMP himself is “rigged, crooked and evil”)
• Stewart Rhodes wrote message to Trump after Jan. 6 calling on him to ‘save the Republic,’ arrest members of Congress
• Lawyers Who Advanced Trump’s Election Challenges Return for Midterms (Why the f*** have they not been disbarred???)
• Trump lawyers saw Justice Thomas as ‘only chance’ to stop 2020 election certification
• Ginni and Clarence Thomas’s Plausible Deniability on Jan. 6 Denies Plausibility (“The plotters were counting on Clarence to give legal cover to the coup that his wife just happened to be agitating for?”)
• U.S. Capitol Police to conduct internal review over missed camera images of Pelosi attack
• Republican door knockers intimidate voters while hunting for fraud, say officials
• GOP Insiders Are Starting to Doubt Ron DeSantis Would Actually Take On Trump
• New poll workers raising concerns in Michigan, other states
• Here we are again (“Steve Bannon is prepared this time”)
• Scoop: McCarthy privately floats replacing Chamber leadership (It’s already very conservative; McCarthy wants it to be hard right, presumably.)
• The GOP’s Biggest Donor Has a Soft Spot for Election Deniers (“The shipping magnate Dick Uihlein has been overwhelmingly giving to Republicans who don’t accept the 2020 election results.” That guy’s heinous.)
• Top Trump adviser granted immunity for testifying in Mar-a-Lago papers case (“Kash Patel will receive limited protection from prosecution for his testimony on how and if the documents were ‘declassified’”)
• Twitter plans to order remaining workers back to office after layoffs (Musk is truly an idiot.)
• Elon Musk and Right-Wing Extremism: Part of the Problem, Not the Solution
• Musk can trash his sandbox. The rest of us don’t have to play there. (“The new owner of Twitter is limited by the free market and government regulators.”)
• L’Oréal suspends advertising spending on Twitter
• Musk Plans to Eliminate Half of Twitter Jobs to Cut Costs
• QAnon supporters see Elon Musk’s takeover as a green light to rejoin Twitter
• Hey Elon: Let Me Help You Speed Run The Content Moderation Learning Curve
• Meta’s election ad restrictions just went into effect, but it will continue to profit from right-leaning ads with misleading claims
• CBS to pay $30 million for ‘reprehensible’ sexual harassment cover-up: New York AG
• Jake Tapper’s Ratings-Deficient CNN Primetime Show to End After Midterms
• What effect did the Oz-Fetterman debate have on the Senate race? Here’s what three new polls show (” For all the attention last week’s debate between John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz received, the race appears virtually unchanged — and extremely close — in its aftermath.”)
• Ye paid a settlement to former employee who alleged he praised Hitler and Nazis during meetings, documents show (This guy is just evil.)
• Republican says party ‘will never lose another election’ in Wisconsin if he wins (“Gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels’ comment is ‘a danger to our democracy’, Democrat opponent Tony Evers says” Extremely dangerous and should be 100% unacceptable.)
• Obama warns democracy ‘may not survive’ in Arizona if election deniers win
• Sen. Kaine is ‘Optimistic’ an Anti-Schedule F Bill Will Get a Floor Vote This Year (“The Democratic senator described Republican arguments that the Trump administration’s abortive effort to make thousands of federal workers effectively at-will employees was aimed at dealing with poor performers as ‘not honest.'”)
• Kaine and Throneburg hold election season forum with UVa students
• Video: Sen. Mark Warner Calls Out “amount of venom that has been launched against Nancy Pelosi over the years”; Says People Who Have Done That “bear some level of responsibility” for Violent Attack on Paul Pelosi (Sen. Warner, appearing to refer obliquely to Glenn Youngkin: “even some local politicians have been extraordinarily disrespectful”)
• Youngkin’s Pelosi gaffe shows he’s not presidential material
• Elaine Luria dedicated herself to investigating January 6. Do her voters care? (It’s worth doing it, regardless.)
• Election 2022: Two tight Congressional races expected in Virginia on Tuesday
• 6 Days Out: Jen Kiggans Continues To Campaign On Republican Plan To Cut Social Security and Medicare (“Kiggans is running on an agenda of higher premiums, higher prescription drug costs, and reduced healthcare options for Coastal Virginians.”)
• Rep. Don Beyer: “I am proud of [those]…who courageously came forward to speak out about the toxic culture Snyder created. Good riddance.” (Del. Danica Roem: “No matter who’s in charge of the organization, an NFL stadium (let alone a taxpayer funded one) does not belong along I-95 in Prince William County.”)
• Sources: U.S. attorney’s office investigating Commanders over alleged financial improprieties
• Latino voters weigh abortion, economy in 7th District race (If you’re weighing the economy, you should vote Democratic for sure, as the economy has performed much better under Democrats than under Republicans, and because today’s Republicans would only make matters much worse.)
• Youngkin stumps for GOP governors in South Dakota and Oklahoma (Disgusting.)
• Report: Agricultural investments for Bay cleanup spur economy
• Virginia patients impacted by nationwide Adderall shortage, doctors say
• Opinion/Editorial: Election integrity means easy, open access to records (“If Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares truly wants to restore trust in elections in the state, here is a good first step: Return the $20,000 deposit the NAACP made with a Freedom of Information Act request for documents that describe in detail what the AG’s new election integrity unit has done and what it has revealed about any episodes of election fraud.”)
• Virginia NAACP To Pay $20,000 Deposit “Under Protest” to Get Records Regarding Attorney General’s “Election Integrity Unit” (“We believe there’s no legitimate justification for the Attorney General’s creation of the new Election Integrity Unit, except to pander to election deniers and conspiracy theorists.”)
• How does Virginia handle guns at polling places?
• Emails sent to Youngkin’s tip line offer a litany of complaints — and praise for teachers
• Youngkin’s education tip line gripes: ‘Beowulf,’ masks and ‘grooming’ (“The Youngkin administration released 350 emails to settle a lawsuit that media outlets brought after the governor refused to release tip-line submissions.”)
• Richmond housing advocates sound alarm on new eviction numbers
• PolitiFact VA: Stoney contradicts past statements on involvement in police chief decisions
• Prince William approves Digital Gateway plan to meet rising data center demand
• Silver Line gives Metro, Dulles Airport optimism for new passengers
• Think Wonder Woman — lasso-like device Fairfax Co. police are testing restrains people without hurting them
• Something in the Water to return to Virginia Beach in April 2023
• CASEY: Via election denialism, Salem candidate stands out from the pack (Election denialism should be an automatic disqualifier for holding ANY office in America. Same thing with climate denialism)
• Roanoke GOP targets electoral board chair’s marriage to Democratic leader
• Attorneys for School Board member withdraw request for emergency injunction against Mark Taylor, will refile
• D.C.-area forecast: Sunny and mild today and an unseasonably warm weekend