by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, December 14.
- Can the U.N. Save the World from Ecological Collapse?
- Climate change will fuel humanitarian crises in 2023 -study
- Fusion? We’ve Seen This Movie Before.
- US scientists confirm ‘major breakthrough’ in nuclear fusion (“Successful experiment could pave way for abundant clean energy in future, but major hurdles remain” Don’t count on this for a decade or two…)
- The World-Changing Race to Develop the Quantum Computer (“Such a device could help address climate change and food scarcity, or break the Internet. Will the U.S. or China get there first?”)
- Cryptocurrency was always a scam — powered by white male privilege
- Russia’s ‘Sham’ Charge of Spying Makes Whelan’s Case the Hardest
- Russia Has Built Vast Defenses Across Ukraine. Will They Hold?
- Ukraine’s Secret Weapon Is Ordinary People Spying on Russian Forces
- Pentagon preparing to send Patriot missile system to Ukraine
- US poised to approve Patriot missile battery for Ukraine
- Give Ukraine the ability to strike every inch of Russian occupied territory
- Ukraine: Russian strikes thwarted, wreckage hits buildings
- Russian Trolls Made Fake Kid Rock Fan Accounts — and Fooled Donald Trump Jr.
- Russian defector says there are ‘maniacs’ in his former unit
- China reduces COVID-19 case number reporting as virus surges
- China Gives Up Counting All Covid Cases After Mass Tests End
- Xi and top Chinese leadership to hold key economic meeting as COVID spikes
- Iranian footballer sentenced to execution for ‘campaigning for women’s rights’
- Iran likely to be ousted from UN women’s body over bloody crackdown
- Meta sued for $2bn over Ethiopia violence
- UK, EU Seek to Clinch Northern Ireland Brexit Deal by February
- Harry and Meghan becomes Netflix’s biggest documentary debut yet (“In lead-up to second batch of three episodes, streaming service reveals first part racked up 81.55m viewing hours around the world”)
- England Is Over Harry and Meghan
- Biden looks to reassert US influence in Africa with summit
- After Bankman-Fried’s arrest, Washington seeks answers — and distance
- Bankman-Fried Arrest in Bahamas Sets Up US Extradition Fight
- Long COVID can be deadly — CDC report
- Covid-19 vaccines have saved more than 3 million lives in US, study says, but the fight isn’t over
- It’s Time to Wear a Mask Again, Health Experts Say
- Massive U.S. Storm Brings Tornadoes To South, Blizzard Threat To Plains
- Fed to Downshift to Half-Point Hike But Point to Higher Peak
- Biden seeks political boost from slowing inflation
- Some Good News on Inflation (“The latest Consumer Price Index indicates moderating price pressures—something the Federal Reserve should take on board in setting interest rates.”)
- Biden signs gay marriage law, calls it ‘a blow against hate’
- Lawmakers reach deal on framework for omnibus spending package
- The plan to stop a future Trumpist coup moves closer to reality
- The Electoral Count Act reform bill must pass. Here’s how to get it done.
- Manchin’s Permitting Reform Could Lead to More Oil Spills Like Keystone’s, Safety Experts Warn
- McCarthy keeps making compromises that could weaken his speakership before he’s even won it
- Can the ‘Never Kevin’ caucus hold the line?
- Despite Trump’s Lobbying, McCarthy’s Speaker Bid Remains Imperiled on the Right
- McCarthy and McConnell on collision course as Congress barrels toward messy finish
- McConnell steps up attacks on a weakened Trump
- House GOP pushes members to vote against short-term funding bill
- House GOP divided over whether McCarthy should give in on ‘motion to vacate’
- The Republicans Need a Reckoning
- The Memo: New controversies deepen GOP’s ‘extremist’ problem (Why is extremist in quotes?)
- Exclusive: An intel analyst tried to prevent the Jan. 6 attack — but DHS failed to act
- Senate Dems prepare to join the investigative fray (“Their functional 51st seat gives the party’s upper-chamber members subpoena power — and not a moment too soon, as the House GOP revs its oversight engines.”)
- Inside Team Trump’s Chaotic Attempts To Overturn The 2020 Vote In Georgia
- Texts Reveal Four Trump Allies Mixed Requests For Pardons With Big Lie Boosterism
- Justice Department has tried to access GOP Rep. Scott Perry’s text messages
- Norman Responds To TPM Revelations Of His Call For ‘Marshall Law’: Texts Came From ‘Source Of Frustration’ (Boot him from Congress, per the 14th amendment section 3.)
- The Special Counsel Investigating Trump Is Wasting No Time (“A new subpoena is the latest step showing that the DOJ’s man in charge is aggressively pursuing his target.”)
- Trump Organization Was Held in Contempt After Secret Trial Last Year
- The 6,670-Vote Majority: How Republicans Barely Won the House
- Oh, Look: Another GOP Lawmaker Wanted Trump to Declare “Marshall Law” to Steal a Second Term (These people are both evil and idiots.)
- Despite Modest GOP Gains, Democrats Maintain Grasp on Suburbs
- Democrats actually did pretty well with rural and Hispanic voters
- A notorious Trump judge just fired the first shot against birth control (“In retrospect, it was inevitable that this particular judge would come for contraception.”)
- Why Kavanaugh partying with right-wing conservatives raises ethical questions
- Postal Service will debut John Lewis stamp in 2023
- Democrats Want To Put Abortion On The Ballot — But Many States Won’t Let Them
- Ron DeSantis Takes His Authoritarian Ambitions to the Next Level (“The Florida governor announced on Tuesday that he will convene a grand jury to investigate “crimes and wrongdoing” related to COVID-19 vaccines.”)
- These could be some of the reasons DeSantis hasn’t announced a presidential run (yet)
- DeSantis Holds Early Lead Over Trump Among GOP Primary Voters, WSJ Poll Shows
- Trump’s conservative base deserting him for DeSantis – poll
- Ron DeSantis outflanks Trump on the right with his call for Covid vaccine probe (Note that the media reports this from a political jockeying frame, not from the fact that what DeSantis is doing is completely unhinged.)
- Ronald DeSantis Sics a Mighty Crew of Quacks on Vaccines (Now that’s a better headline!)
- Liberals struggle to find viable Twitter alternative after Musk takeover
- Musk Urged His Fans to Back GOP in Midterms—Then Didn’t Vote
- Elon Musk says he can stop child exploitation on Twitter. So far, he’s axed jobs and pushed out watchdogs. (Musk has been “red pilled” and gone full QAnon.)
- Anti-LGBTQ hate has increased on Twitter since Elon Musk officially acquired the company (“Media Matters has found that prominent anti-LGBTQ accounts’ “groomer” rhetoric has exploded in reach since Musk’s takeover – retweets of their use of the slur have increased over 1200%”)
- 3 problems Elon Musk can’t ignore (“The egomaniacal billionaire is struggling on multiple fronts.”)
- Musk Shakes Up Twitter’s Legal Team as He Looks to Cut More Costs
- Tesla shares have fallen 28% since Elon Musk took over Twitter, lagging other carmakers (They don’t really mean “lagging,” they mean “worse than”)
- Lawmakers unveil bipartisan bill to ban TikTok nationwide
- Kyrsten Sinema Ditching the Democrats Doesn’t Mean the Party Is Done With Her
- Gov. Kate Brown commutes sentences of all 17 people on Oregon’s death row
- Hochul’s Big Choice: Picking New York’s Most Powerful Judge
- Rep. Don Beyer – “founder and chair of the bipartisan Fusion Energy Caucus in the U.S. House” – Hails Historic Fusion Announcement
- Senator Jennifer McClellan Talks to Blue Virginia About Her Run for VA04: “We have an opportunity to elect the first African-American woman to Congress from Virginia, a voice that has been missing in that delegation”
- Video, Press Release: Sen. Jennifer McClellan Announces Her Campaign for VA04 Special Election (“McClellan announced a list of more than 50 endorsers, including 3 sitting members of Congress from Virginia who served alongside Rep. McEachin”)
- State Sens. McClellan, Morrissey seek to fill McEachin’s seat in Congress
- Report recommends eliminating dual enrollment tuition, fees for high schools
- Virginia is putting $1.3 billion towards school construction and improvements. Enrollment for grants starts in January.
- New Polling: Virginia Voters Reject “Tough-on-Crime” Policies, Show Widespread Support for Evidence-Informed Criminal Justice Reforms
- Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia Endorses Aaron Rouse for Virginia State Senate (“If elected, Aaron Rouse will champion reproductive freedom”; his Republican opponent “is a danger to Virginians’ health and rights.”)
- Del. Elizabeth Guzman (D) Will Today Announce Her Campaign for VA State Senate District 29; Poll Shows Her Starting with a 34%-8% Lead Over Incumbent Sen. Jeremy McPike (D)
- Editorial: Lunar round-trip is success worth celebrating in Hampton Roads
- Virginia Beach settles wrongful death lawsuit in killing of Donovon Lynch by officer during violent night at Oceanfront
- Virginia will soon get even more money for expanding broadband access
- Fired Loudoun Co. school superintendent, current spokesman make first court appearances
- Utility’s interconnection demands stall Virginia community solar project (“Dominion Energy is demanding that a planned 1.2-megawatt community solar project pay to install a high-speed fiber optic line between the array and the nearest substation, which the developer says will increase costs by about 50%.”)
- Virginia lawmaker Ronnie Campbell dies at 68
- Removal of A.P. Hill statue points to new era in Richmond history
- Parts of Virginia to see rain and freezing rain from strong system pushing across country
- D.C.-area forecast: Thursday morning icy spots for some, then a soaking afternoon rain
