Wednesday News: “Blame Swirls in Putin’s Inner Circle Following Mutiny”; “Supreme Court Declines to Dismantle Democracy”; “Trump hits the panic button”; “Lawsuit claims Virginia’s felony disenfranchisement violates Reconstruction-era federal law”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, June 28.

• Rising Seas Are Likely to Sow Havoc Much Sooner Than Predicted (Get off of fossil fuels on an emergency basis.)
• Tightly Packed Poultry and Pig Farms Could Be Incubating the Next Deadly Flu (These things are inhumane AND a menace. Abolish them.)
• Explainer: Why the wind power industry has hit turbulence
• Blame Swirls in Putin’s Inner Circle Following Mutiny
• Lukashenko says Putin wanted to ‘wipe out’ Prigozhin during mutiny attempt
• Putin Steps Up Effort to Undercut Wagner Leader After Revolt
• As Kremlin tries to project unity, Russians continue to confront divisions (“Despite attempts to reassert President Vladimir Putin’s strength after a failed mutiny, the official explanations for why Yevgeniy Prigozhin was allowed to escape without punishment looked unusually thin, highlighting new doubts about Putin’s competence in a crisis.”)
• Russian General Knew About Mercenary Chief’s Rebellion Plans, U.S. Officials Say
• Ukraine war: Countdown has begun to end of Putin, say Kyiv officials
• Ukraine says ‘main event’ in counteroffensive still to come
• Twin sisters among 10 killed by Russian strike on Kramatorsk (Putin’s Russia is pure evil.)
• Russia’s Mutiny Shows Ukraine Can Win the War
• Belarus leader welcomes Wagner boss Prigozhin into exile
• Putin, Prigozhin and the Danger of Disorder
• China’s $7tn energy overhaul sparks battery ‘gold rush’
• No Job, No Marriage, No Kid: China’s Workers and the Curse of 35
• China’s solar is now at twice the capacity of its coal power – report (“Solar is growing at 33.7% year-on-year and is now at twice the capacity of coal power in China, according to a new report.”)
• Amazon facing ‘urgent’ drug crisis after gutting of protections, says narcotics chief (“Brazilian government warning comes as UN report says that flourishing organized crime groups are driving a boom in environmental devastation”)
• Heatwaves could trigger energy shortages across two-thirds of North America
• New Wave of Smoke From Canada Wildfires Blankets Chicago and the Midwest
• Canadian wildfire emissions hit record high as smoke reaches Europe
• International Views of Biden and U.S. Largely Positive
• Most countries express confidence in Biden, US: poll
• Energy Department report finds growth in fossil, clean energy industries last year
• Biden Says He Thinks US Economy Will Avoid Potential Recession
• The Supreme Court Rejected a Dangerous Elections Theory. But It’s Not All Good News. (“The court actually endorsed a weaker version of it, and this version will loom over — and potentially affect — the 2024 elections.”)
• The Supreme Court Declines to Dismantle Democracy
• The Roberts Court Draws a Line (“There are limits to the conservative theories that a majority of the justices are willing to endorse.”)
• Supreme Court rejects novel legislative theory but leaves a door open for 2024 election challenges
• Supreme Court crushes plan to scramble partisan map-making
• Democracy Can Breathe a Sigh of Relief: Supreme Court Rejects Radical Election Theory (“While knocking down an extreme version of the independent state legislature theory, Chief Justice John Roberts left the door wide open for a future nail-biter in the courts, à la Bush v. Gore.”)
• The Supreme Court decides not to destroy democracy in the United States (“Six justices decided not to burn the right of the people to govern themselves to the ground.”)
• Supreme Court Rejects Theory That Would Have Transformed American Elections
• Supreme Court Refuses to Empower State Legislatures to Run Elections as They Please
• There’s a Time Bomb in Progressives’ Big Supreme Court Voting Case Win
• How the Supreme Court’s decision on election law could shut the door on future fake electors
• Thomas, Alito futures raise stakes for 2024 election (Both are completely corrupt and both should resign, immediately.)
• High Court’s Redistricting Rulings Boost Democrats’ House Hopes
• Trump’s version of US election law rejected once and for all
• John Roberts Has Wrested Back Control of the Supreme Court (Mmmmmmmaaaayyybe.)
• Supreme Court makes it more difficult to convict someone of making a threat
• Supreme Court set to end limbo over Biden’s student debt plan
• The Great Grift: More than $200 billion in COVID-19 aid may have been stolen, federal watchdog says (“His office has a backlog of more than 90,000 actionable leads into pandemic relief fraud, which amounts to nearly a century’s worth of work.”)
• In a Montana Courtroom, Debate Over Whether States Can Make a Difference on Climate Change, and if They Have a Responsibility to Try
• Trump hits the panic button: Antisemitic attacks on special counsel Jack Smith betray desperation (“When racism is the defense, Americans must prepare for potential violence”)
• This Is Why Trump Lies Like There’s No Tomorrow
• Iran memo not among the 31 records underlying charges in Trump federal indictment
• ‘It was bravado’: Trump says he wasn’t holding up classified documents in 2021 meeting
• Investigators in Trump Documents Case Also Focused on His Bedminster Club
• It’s not just Mar-a-Lago: Trump charges highlight his New Jersey life
• Why Trump’s weird reaction to the audio recording matters
• Trump Sues Carroll for Defamation Over Post-Trial Rape Claim
• McCarthy Questions Strength of Trump’s Candidacy, Then Quickly Backtracks (McCarthy is pathetic.)
• More than Trump ego maintenance: GOP move to “expunge” impeachments is part of their war on history (“Authoritarians don’t just want to control the distant past, they feel entitled to erase events we all remember”)
• McCarthy feels the heat as frustrated conservatives grow more aggressive
• The tape that perfectly encapsulates why Trump may be unfit for the Oval Office – and why it may not matter
• Trump valet arraignment delayed after losing Florida lawyer over fees dispute
• Trump wants to keep ‘communists’ and ‘Marxists’ out of the US. Here’s what the law says (“Experts say US immigration law already bars members of a Communist Party from becoming citizens or green card holders, but they say Trump might run into legal trouble if he tried to implement a blanket exclusion of all communists or Marxists.”)
• Exclusive: Rudy Giuliani interviewed in special counsel’s 2020 election interference probe
• Landmark Study Shows Higher Suicide Risk for Transgender People
• Ex-Speaker Pelosi to headline a fundraiser for Democrat seeking Sen. Sinema’s seat
• Ex-Trump Adviser Reveals ‘Profound Sense Of Danger’ In New Revelation (“John Bolton also says offering Trump a pardon should disqualify anyone from the presidency.”)
• No Labels’ signature-gathering firm has ties to Ron DeSantis (Of course.)
• Follow the money: No Labels can’t hide its right-wing ties
• White House picks fight with Greene over funding
• Liz Cheney on what’s wrong with politics: ‘We’re electing idiots’
• Tommy Tuberville Celebrates Broadband Funding He Voted Against (Tuberville is disgusting in every way.)
• Court Throws Out New York’s Civil Case Against Ivanka Trump
• RFK Jr. Claims ‘Vaccine Research’ Likely Responsible for HIV and the Spanish Flu (This guy is 100% bonkers.)
• Meet the Rich Guys Who Want RFK Jr. to be President (“Including Steve Kirsch, inventor of the computer mouse-turned-anti-vaccine crusader.”)
• Ron DeSantis Used Texas Taxpayer Resources on Campaign Trip
• DeSantis’s latest appeal to MAGA tops Trump in performative cruelty
• Kanye West accused of antisemitic abuse by former business partner
• Texas sets new power use record as dangerous heat sweeps southern U.S.
• Solar helps Texas carry energy load as heatwave puts power grid to test
• Trump Administration Angel of Darkness Stephen Miller Allegedly Wanted to Bomb Migrant Boats: Report (“Given his status as one of the most evil people to have worked for Donald Trump, this should not come as a surprise. “)
• ‘We’re Coming For Your Children’ chant at NYC Drag March elicits outrage, but activists say it’s taken out of context (“Organizers say the NYC Drag March is meant to be lighthearted and to poke fun at anti-LGBTQ sentiment.”)
• Virginia Democrats, Others React to 6-3 Supreme Court Ruling Against the “dangerous fringe” “right-wing [Independent State Legislature] theory” (“Americans demand and deserve fair, competitive elections”)
• Senators Warner and Kaine task Southern Towers owners to resolve eviction conflict with residents
• Lawsuit claims Virginia’s felony disenfranchisement violates Reconstruction-era federal law
• Turnout Last Tuesday Still Wasn’t High, But It Was Mostly Up From Previous Off/Odd-Year VA Primaries; Dem Turnout Was Generally Higher Than Republican Turnout
• Virginia budget negotiations collapse, leaving $3.6 billion in limbo
• Supreme Court to hear Virginia veteran’s case
• Environmental groups fight to keep cases against Mountain Valley Pipeline alive
• Opinion: Expelling the outlaws: Morrissey, Chase get their comeuppance
• Deadline passes for Va. Democrat trying to run for Danville-area House of Delegates seat (“Lipscomb did not file to run as a candidate prior to the state’s April deadline for regular primaries. When the local Democratic nominating committee attempted to hold a caucus to give her a shot at becoming the party’s nominee against Marshall, she didn’t comply with the caucus filing requirements. When she pressed the committee to make her the nominee anyway, she got a stern response from local Democratic activist Patricia Harper-Tunley, who accused Lipscomb of ‘cutting corners and disregarding policy.'”)
• VB school board member, conservative group speaks out against LGBTQ resolution
• Norfolk city manager resigns, City Council appoints a new one
• ‘Lunatics, simpletons and corporate ghosts’: Group demands dismissal of Lee statue case
• ‘Forever chemical’ found in Smith Mountain Lake
• D.C.-area forecast: Sunshine and some smoke today as storm chances take a break