by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, December 24. Also, check out the “visualization of global weather conditions forecast by supercomputers, updated every three hours”. Amazing, huh?
- Scientists say Arctic warming could be to blame for blasts of extreme cold (“Research suggests that climate change is altering the jet stream, pushing frigid air down to southern climes more frequently. But the scientific jury is still out.”)
- All I want for Christmas is 400 GW of solar installed in 2023 (“For a long time global installation projections have come up short in forecasting solar installation volumes, including a big miss in 2022. Is it possible that we could see outpaced growth in 2023, like we saw in 2022?”)
- Witness to Paradise Lost: My Year in the Dying Amazon (“The mass rainforest extermination is a climate catastrophe—and much more.” Horrific. And a lot of it comes down to worldwide consumption habits, including/especially of beef.)
- Inside the monumental, stop-start effort to arm Ukraine
- Rising to a historic destiny, Zelensky embodies America’s values
- Putin, Isolated and Distrustful, Leans on Handful of Hard-Line Advisers (What could possibly go wrong?)
- Putin tells Russian defence industry to up its game for Ukraine war
- Their Final Moments: 36 Victims of a Russian Atrocity in Bucha
- This Gym Owner’s Double Life Helped Wreck Putin’s War Plans (“A Ukrainian gym owner and a group of his regulars told The Daily Beast how they helped drive Russian forces out of Kherson by moonlighting as informants.”)
- Leaked notes from Chinese health officials estimate 250 million Covid-19 infections in December: reports
- China’s Covid Surge Might Show How Deadly Omicron Really Is
- Chinese Cities Reveal Covid Cases Surpassing National Tally
- EU Freezes Nearly €22 Billion in Funds Earmarked for Hungary
- Biden has turned around U.S. foreign policy. But the road ahead is perilous.
- Wild winter storm envelops US, snarling Christmas travel
- Sprawling winter storm continues record-breaking march across the U.S.
- Extreme Cold Grips US as Jet Stream Bends Under Climate Change
- US winter storm: Icy blast hits 200 million Americans
- U.S. deep freeze forecast to break Christmas Eve records
- Eastern US Power Grid Orders Cuts Amid System-Wide Emergency
- At least 11 dead as bitter cold and blizzard conditions set in
- It’s all too easy to get sick right now. Here’s how to protect yourself. (“Navigating flu, RSV, and Covid all at once can be overwhelming, but a bit of planning and vigilance goes a long way.”)
- How Many Republicans Died Because the GOP Turned Against Vaccines? (“Party leaders are unquestionably complicit in the premature deaths of their own supporters.”)
- Five highlights from the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill Congress just passed
- House ends Congress by passing $1.7 trillion funding package
- House approves $1.7 trillion omnibus bill amid GOP objections, sending it to Biden
- House Clears $1.7 Trillion Spending Package, Averting Shutdown
- The F.D.A. Now Says It Plainly: Morning-After Pills Are Not Abortion Pills
- January 6 Committee’s Damning Final Report on Donald Trump Should Blow Away the GOP’s Desperate Attempts to Discredit It
- Jan. 6 committee delivers whopping final report: Coup was planned months in advance (“Trump’s team had ‘fake electors’ scheme lined up well before the election, panel finds in 845-page final report”)
- How the Worst Fears for Democracy Were Averted in 2022 (No thanks to the NY Times, that’s for sure.)
- Seven takeaways from the Jan. 6 committee’s final report (“Faulty memories, an interconnected plot, and some stories that don’t add up.”)
- The Devastating New History of the January 6th Insurrection
- Extremists at the vanguard of a siege: The Jan. 6 panel’s last word
- The Jan. 6 report’s most important finding: Trump enabled extremist groups (“The committee’s report opens up new avenues for prosecutors to explore.”)
- Trump White House drafted statement attacking Barr after he publicly refuted Trump’s voter fraud claims, transcript reveals
- The Biggest Takeaway from the January 6 Report (“Rather than a large-scale dragnet, the committee zeroed in on the former president.” That’s a big mistake, actually.)
- With eyes on DOJ, a complex path for Trump Jan. 6 prosecution
- Transcripts reveal Cassidy Hutchinson was pressured to protect Trump: ‘I was scared’ (That’s a crime.)
- Jan. 6 committee recommendations would (mostly) help preserve democracy
- Republicans navigate tricky relations with a damaged Trump (They need to dump Trump – and more importantly, TrumpISM – immediately.)
- Mitch McConnell Says Trump’s Political Clout Has ‘Diminished’ (“Independent and swing voters have been turned off by Trump’s presentation of Republicans as “nasty and tended toward chaos,” McConnell said.” And fascist.)
- ‘A streak of extremism’: US book bans may increase in 2023
- Emhoff battles antisemitism as historic ‘first’ on White House team
- Donald Trump 2024: His Final Presidential Campaign (“For New York Magazine, Olivia Nuzzi goes inside Donald Trump’s sad, lonely, thirsty, broken, basically pretend run for reelection.”)
- How Democrats mostly neutralized Republican attacks on crime in the midterms
- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been vacationing in Costa Rica during one of the most consequential legislative weeks of the year
- Those government TikTok ‘bans’ hardly ban anything
- Elon Musk’s Twitter Antics Are Hurting Tesla’s Brand
- Tesla Shares Head for Worst Year Ever
- “Free speech absolutist” Elon Musk bans journalists, brings back far-right activists (“Twitter’s mercurial new boss has allowed right-wing extremists to return, while banning reporters on flimsy excuses”)
- Twitter brings Elon Musk’s genius reputation crashing down to earth (“Musk’s intense focus on his social media company purchase has devolved into the culture wars. Meanwhile, Tesla is tanking.”)
- Americans Are Realizing Tesla Isn’t the Only Electric Car
- Why Is Elon Musk Lighting Billions of Dollars on Fire?
- Exclusive: Elon Musk orders removal of Twitter suicide prevention feature, sources say (Musk is simply a bad person.)
- Journalists who won’t delete Musk tweets remain locked out of Twitter
- George Santos’s Problems Are Just Getting Started
- ‘It’s on life support.’ Hochul’s chief judge pick faces existential opposition
- Hochul Taps First Latino Judge to Head New York’s Top Court (“The nomination of Hector D. LaSalle, a moderate who leads a state court division, could anger Democratic lawmakers who wanted the governor to name a progressive.”)
- House Passes Omnibus Bill With Key Democratic Priorities, Local Wins For Virginia (Republican House “leader” Kevin McCarthy, meanwhile, froths at the mouth about supposed “woke handouts” in the budget. He clearly still doesn’t have the votes for Speaker! LOL)
- McEachin at rest, but his work carries on
- Rep. Don Beyer Welcomes House Passage of Presidential Tax Filings and Audit Transparency Act (Beyer: “this critical oversight tool was broken during the Trump presidency”)
- Video: Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA07) Warns, “Do not fall prey to Vladimir Putin’s talking points” on Russia’s “horrific atrocities” in Ukraine (Regarding Trump, Rep. Spanberger notes that he “has not backed down from those lies and those incitements to violence” and “should not hold public office ever again.”)
- POLITICO: How one Virginia special election [in SD07 on 1/10/23] became the next abortion battleground (“This seat is critical to ensure that we can protect the rights of women’s reproductive health care.” – Councilman Aaron Rouse)
- Prisoners in Virginia only get photocopies of incoming mail
- Amended Forest Service guidelines could remove Mountain Valley Pipeline roadblock
- Widower of Virginia Beach mass shooting victim hires former Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax as attorney
- What the future holds for Richmond’s former Confederate monuments
- High winds knock out power in parts of Southwest and Southside Virginia
- Power restoration begins, but outages remain as arctic blast pushes through Hampton Roads
- A new facility in Abingdon will help people during a mental health crisis, if it can open its doors
- Gusty winds caused 110,000 Virginians to lose power Friday; parts of state could see -20 degree wind chills
- D.C.-area forecast: Record cold highs possible today, and frigid for Santa
********************************************************
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
