Tuesday News: “Europe added 41.4 GW of new solar in 2022”; “Lawmakers Unveil Sprawling Spending Bill to Avoid Shutdown”; “January 6 Committee on Donald Trump: Lock Him Up”; “After 7-day campaign, Va. Democrats vote to nominate McEachin’s successor”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, December 20.

• Global temperatures in 2023 set to be among hottest on record (“Average temperatures next year will be about 1.2C above what they were before humans started to drive climate change, the Met Office says” Huge problem.)
• Big oil is behind conspiracy to deceive public, first climate racketeering lawsuit says
• The World Made a Biodiversity Pact, But We Aren’t Part of It (Thanks to…yep, Republicans yet again!)
• Bill Gates: ‘Our grandchildren will grow up in a world that is dramatically worse off’ if we don’t fix climate change
• The world has a new plan to save nature. Here’s how it works — and how it could fail.
• Europe added 41.4 GW of new solar in 2022 (“In another record year for solar, SolarPower Europe estimates PV in Europe grew by 47% in 2022, rising from 28.1 GW in 2021 to 41.4 GW this year. Germany installed the most with 7.9 GW, followed by Spain at 7.5 GW, and Poland at 4.9 GW. For the first time, the top 10 European solar markets all added at least 1 GW.” Good, keep it up!)
• Ukraine Needs Greater Military Aid Next Year, Says Zelensky
• Analysis: Russia’s grim battle for Bakhmut may yield pyrrhic victory at best
• As Putin Admits Difficulties in Occupied Ukrainian Areas, Zelensky Visits One of Them
• Russia and Belarus avoid mention of Ukraine war after talks; Bakhmut now the ‘hottest’ hot spot
• ‘We were allowed to be slaughtered’: calls by Russian forces intercepted
• China’s Covid-19 Outbreak Has US Worried About New Variants
• Why Petulant Oligarchs Rule Our World
• U.K. nurses strike over pay, testing a health-care system in crisis
• Suspense builds at border over future of US asylum rules
• Arctic blast this week brings the coldest Christmas in nearly 40 years for millions
• Biden condemns rising antisemitism in U.S. at Hanukkah reception
• An ‘Imperial Supreme Court’ Asserts Its Power, Alarming Scholars (This is a huge problem.)
• Chief justice temporarily keeps pandemic-era Title 42 border policy in place
• Electoral Count Act, crafted as response to Jan. 6, will be in omnibus bill
• Lawmakers unveil bill to avoid gov’t shutdown, boost Ukraine
• Lawmakers Unveil Sprawling Spending Bill to Avoid Shutdown
• Congress releases $1.7 trillion spending bill as shutdown looms (You can read the 4,155-page document here.)
• Cannabis Reform Dead In Congress After Objections From Republicans
• The 5 ‘known unknowns’ that will define 2024
• Donald Trump: how will prosecutors pursue the House panel’s charges?
• Congress Finds that Donald Trump Tried to Overthrow the Government
• January 6 Committee on Donald Trump: Lock Him Up (“After a months-long investigation, the January 6 committee issued criminal referrals against Donald Trump to the Justice Department.”)
• The Latest Political Humiliation for Donald Trump (“The decision by the January 6th committee to recommend criminal prosecution for the former President is unprecedented in American history.”)
• The Jan. 6 Committee Just Made History. Here’s What That Means for Prosecutors.
• Many Senate Republicans aren’t protecting Trump after Jan. 6 panel’s nod to criminal charges
• Did the January 6 Committee Finish Trump? (“The panel did major damage politically, even if its criminal referrals don’t go anywhere.”)
• McConnell on Jan. 6 criminal referral of Trump: ‘Entire nation knows who is responsible for that day’
• Pentagon Officials Feared Trump Would Try To Use Troops In His Jan. 6 Coup Attempt
• January 6 Report Presents a Devastating Case Against Trump
• Opinion: Trump represents our founders’ worst fears
• January 6 Committee Approves 4 Criminal Referrals Against Donald Trump, Urges DOJ to Prosecute
• Jan. 6 panel finds Trump responsible for violent riot (“On a historic day on Capitol Hill, the committee summarized its probe with a simple closing statement: All roads lead to Trump. Here are key takeaways.”)
• The fateful question the January 6 committee left hanging over the United States
• Justice Is Coming for Donald Trump (“Every effort to hold Donald Trump accountable has been thwarted by those who made it someone else’s job. Not any more.”)
• The Jan. 6 committee just lowered the boom on Trump. Now the ball is in DOJ’s court.
• Video, Reactions: Final January 6th House Select Committee Hearing Criminally Refers Trump and Others (Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA08): “Congress has never, in all of U.S. presidential history, referred an American president to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation and prosecution — until now.”)
• Four Jan. 6 committee members won’t return to Congress in 2023 (One of those is Rep. Elaine Luria, who has done a SUPERB job, and whose right-wing-Republican replacement will represent a MASSIVE downgrade.)
• How Trump is likely to be haunted by Jan. 6 panel long after its exit
• Jan. 6 committee summary: Ivanka Trump not ‘forthcoming’; Giuliani changed tone on stolen election during deposition
• Hogan: Trump at ‘lowest point ever’ on day of Jan. 6 report
• How Jan. 6th Committee’s Revelations of Interference in Their Investigation Can Enable the Special Counsel
• A Diminished Trump Meets a Damning Narrative
• Secret Service seized 269 knives from Trump supporters hours before Jan. 6 attack
• Jan. 6 committee avoids criticizing law enforcement in report summary
• What’s next for Trump legally and politically
• Trump’s Political Woes Add Up With Jan. 6 Criminal Referrals and Tax Return Case
• Elon Musk and Donald Trump: 2 disrupters face a reckoning
• After years of fighting for them, Democrats may release Trump tax return information (“Democrats on the chief tax-writing committee in the House could vote on Tuesday to release tax return information on Donald Trump after winning a prolonged legal battle against the former president in the final weeks of Democratic control of the lower chamber.”)
• Misinformer of the Year: Tucker Carlson
• ‘He lies’: Kevin McCarthy’s political mentor rips him as liar in scathing attack
• What Kevin McCarthy Will Do to Gain Power
• Despite Trump’s Lobbying, McCarthy’s Speaker Bid Remains Imperiled
• In the Southeast, power company money flows to news sites that attack their critics (In Virginia, Dominion money flows to news outlets that don’t criticize them?)
• George Santos Dodges Questions as Democrats Label Him ‘Unfit to Serve’
• Elon Musk’s future as Twitter CEO is suddenly in question
• How Elon Musk destroyed Twitter… and how to save it
• When Will the Elon Musk Twitter Show Actually Come to an End? (“The weekend brought more chaos at Twitter. Tesla closed at a two-year low. And Musk, who spent Sunday palling around with Jared Kushner in Qatar, failed his own confidence vote (via Twitter poll).”)
• Musk Narrows Voting on Twitter Policy to Blue Members After Poll (Complete joke.)
• Elon Musk Says ‘No One Wants’ Top Twitter Job, But Some People Raise Their Hands
• What Led Twitter Users Into Voting Elon Musk Out: Timeline
• Mike Pence flirts with Fox News’ racist great replacement theory speculation during interview (Pence is a horrible, f’ed-up person.)
• While advising Trump on judges, Conway sold her business to a firm with ties to judicial activist Leonard Leo
• Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape in Los Angeles trial
• Maricopa judge allows narrow part of Kari Lake’s Arizona election lawsuit to head to trial (“Judge Peter Thompson ruled that the majority of the claims Lake made in her initial complaint – 8 out of 10 – would be immediately dismissed…Democratic attorney Marc Elias, whose legal team is representing Hobbs, framed the court decision as a victory, pointing out that most of the claims were dismissed and that a higher hurdle lies ahead in the trial.”)
• D.C. area antisemitic attacks reflect scourge of online hate speech (“Failure to moderate commentary on social-media platforms has ugly consequences.”)
• Sen. Warner reacts to FTC settlement with ‘Fortnite’ creator over use of dark patterns
• Virginia Democrats to hold ‘firehouse’ primary ahead of special House election
• In Virginia, Democrats Sprint to Select Nominee for Special House Election (“Ms. McClellan’s main Democratic opponent is State Senator Joe Morrissey, a self-described rebel within the party. Mr. Morrissey, a former defense lawyer, was disbarred twice and spent time in jail for aiding the delinquency of a minor in 2014. The minor involved later became his wife. In January 2022, then-Gov. Ralph Northam pardoned Mr. Morrissey for his conviction in the case. Mr. Morrissey has voted against Democratic policies and has signaled his opposition to proposed state policies protecting abortion access. John Fredericks, a prominent Virginia Republican and radio host, cut an ad for Mr. Morrissey and has been encouraging his listeners to vote for him in the Democratic primary.”)
• Hard-Right-Republican SD07 Nominee Made “Special Guest Appearance” at Rally Organized by Anti-Democracy, Trumpist “Big Lie” Group with Ties to Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, etc. (This guy’s also strongly against women’s reproductive freedom.)
• After 7-day campaign, Va. Democrats vote to nominate McEachin’s successor (Go Jennifer McClellan!)
• Voting will be fast, counting slow in 4th District Democratic primary (“The Democratic Party of Virginia said it will count the votes on Wednesday at 10 a.m. in a proceeding supervised by representatives of each campaign and the news media at party headquarters in downtown Richmond.”)
• Previewing the 4th District Democrat firehouse primary
• Why Virginia banned TikTok on state owned devices
• Virginia Rules Commission objects to proposed transgender policies
• State work group on solar development achieves little consensus on new regulations
• Editorial: Virginia’s big gamble on sports betting hasn’t payed out as promised
• Editorial: Urgent education problems need correct solutions
• “Are you the only politician in Virginia who’s ever done an abortion?” (ER Nurse Kellen Squire: “NOBODY…should have to fear for their lives simply for providing or accessing healthcare for themselves”)
• Virginia could give Commanders stadium another look in Youngkin budget (Hell no.)
• Opinion: A losing fight for transparency (“Last week, the Richmond Sheriff’s Office responded to a Richmond Times-Dispatch Freedom of Information Act request for payroll records with a well-worn tactic increasingly deployed by government agencies across Virginia: obstruction by charging inflated fees.”)
• Opinion/Editorial: Anti-vax suit reduces law to absurdity (“The Family Foundation, a right wing conservative, anti-abortion group, says an individual’s mere expression of a religious objection to vaccines entitles him or her refuse vaccinations, while keeping a health care job that could spread diseases like COVID-19. Those diseases could infect not just colleagues, but people who come to the doctor’s office or the hospital seeking treatment for illness or injury.”)
• A murderous pedophile got a badge and gun in Virginia. How was that possible?
• D.C.-area forecast: Dry through midweek but then stormy and turning frigid (“Moderate to heavy rain is likely late Thursday into Friday before strong winds and plummeting temperatures.”)