Friday News: “Ukraine Fights to Widen Its Puncture of Russian Front Lines”; Trump’s GOP a “crime family”; Trump Alleged to Have “fraudulently inflated his wealth ten years in a row”; “Youngkin’s Biggest Power Grab May Come Well Before 2024”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, September 1.

• Carbon credit market confidence ebbs as big names retreat
• Climate change is making it unbearable to labor in Asia’s factories
• Ukraine Fights to Widen Its Puncture of Russian Front Lines (“Expanding the small southeastern breach could put critical Russian logistics lines within reach of Ukrainian artillery.”)
• Ukrainian drone attacks Russian town near major nuclear plant
• ‘The war is coming home to Russia’: Ukraine turns the tables on Moscow as drone warfare intensifies
  
• Russia’s Putin and Turkey’s Erdogan will meet next week after Ukraine grain deal unraveled
• Drone attack on Russia airbase ‘from inside Russia’ (“Ukraine’s military intelligence chief says two planes were damaged and two destroyed in Tuesday’s attack.”)
• Biden hopes Xi Jinping will attend G20 amid reports Chinese president will skip Delhi summit (“Analysts suggest Chinese leader may be reluctant to give neighbouring rival India the spotlight”)
• China Ramps Up Campaign to Boost Fragile Economy, Currency
• The US, Allies See Opportunity and Risk in China’s Slowing Economy
• China Is Suffering From the Paradox of Thrift
• Pope arrives on first visit to Mongolia as Vatican relations with Russia and China remain strained
• India Is Losing a Green-Energy Subsidy Race (“Huge green subsidies from wealthy countries could slow climate progress for some of the world’s biggest carbon emitters by drawing away badly needed resources”)
• A Saudi man is sentenced to death for tweets in the harshest verdict yet for online critics (There are so many reasons to get off of oil. Not having anything to do with despotic, murderous regimes like Saudi Arabia is one of them!)
• Thai king reduces ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra’s prison sentence to one year
• On the last day of winter, Australia reaches record 37.5 pct renewables share for the year
• Big Tech Is Coming for the Oil Patch’s Workers, and Winning
• Onshore Wind Is Poised to Grow, and Move Away from Boom and Bust Cycles
• Stocks Edge Higher With Key US Jobs Data on Radar: Markets Wrap
• U.S. Job Growth Expected to Cool
• America’s Surprising Partisan Divide on Life Expectancy
• White House asks Congress for short-term funding to avoid government shutdown
• When John Roberts wants things done, he acts. What that means for ethics rules (“Unlike with judicial pay, which naturally generated support among black-robed colleagues, the ethics issue has defied consensus in Roberts’ ranks.” Thomas should resign, immediately, since Congress doesn’t have the votes to impeach the corrupt insurrectionist.)
• Clarence Thomas Has Quite the Explanation for All Those Trips On Harlan Crow Luxury Airlines
• Thomas, Alito go on the attack over Supreme Court ethics (Neither of these slimeballs should be anywhere near the Supreme Court.)
• The Most Galling Part of Clarence Thomas’ Latest Ethics Disclosure
• Election workers have gotten death threats and warnings they will be lynched, the US government says (Terrorism.)
• It Turns Out Trump Probably Didn’t Get $2.2 Billion Richer in 2014 (“The claim: the former president fraudulently inflated his wealth ten years in a row.”)
• Trump could soon be in big legal trouble for inflating his net worth
• A net of justice is tightening around 2020 election deniers and may be closing in on Trump
• UPDATES: Trump hearings, trials will be YouTube live streamed
• Trump asks to sever Georgia election case from co-defendants seeking speedy trial
• Trump’s trial in Georgia will be livestreamed
• From RICO charges to loyalty pledges: Trump’s transformation of the GOP into a crime mob is complete (“The first Republican presidential debate made it clear: MAGA may be a cult — but the GOP is a crime family”)
• GOP senators weigh ‘special’ meeting on their leadership after McConnell’s freeze
• Playbook: Mitch McConnell’s untenable silence
• Why Is Nobody Doing Anything About Mitch McConnell?
• Nikki Haley Calls Senate A ‘Privileged Nursing Home’ After McConnell Freezes
• Ingraham Wants Mitch McConnell to Resign Just So She Can Keep Calling Biden ‘Decrepit’ (Biden, in fact, is sharp as a tack and in very good shape.)
• Capitol physician medically clears McConnell after health scares prompt new questions over his leadership position
• Mitch McConnell’s Second Freeze-up Is Going to Be Very Hard for Republicans to Ignore
• The Memo: Team Biden seeks to seize back the limelight with 2024 argument
• If Joe Biden Falters, Democrats Have Prepped the Bench
• White House ramps up war room to battle expected GOP impeachment inquiry
• Exclusive: GOP donors fret over Scott’s single status (Translation: they think he’s gay?)
• DeSantis-aligned super PAC asked for $50 million from donors on day of first GOP primary debate, leaked audio shows
• DeSantis earned his Jacksonville boos: New documents show team pushed “opposing” views on slavery (“Of course there’s a link between racist hate crimes and the ‘anti-woke’ ideology pushed by Florida’s GOP governor”)
• Ron DeSantis Is Afraid of Questions From a 15-Year-Old (“The Florida governor’s operation went to extraordinary lengths to intimidate a high school sophomore—all for a question about Donald Trump.”)
• Trump campaign aide told police officers to ‘go hang yourself’ at Jan. 6 riot
• Proud Boy Joe Biggs receives 17 years in Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy case (There was no reason not to give him the 33 years sought by prosecutors.)
• Two ex-Proud Boys leaders get some of longest sentences in Jan. 6 Capitol attack (A Trump-appointed judge was VERY lenient on thse terrorists.)
• The Rise of Vivek. The Return of Masters. The College Libertarians Won’t Go Away. (“One rapped about freedom at Harvard. The other at Stanford. Both are pals with Peter Thiel.”)
• Watch Out, Kari Lake, Blake Masters Is Going for Another Senate Run: Report
• Texas Supreme Court allows ban on gender-affirming care for most minors to take effect Friday
• Kemp rejects talk of special session, says punishing Fani Willis carries risks
• Giuliani to enter not guilty plea in Fulton County case, waive arraignment
• White man who shot Black teen who rang wrong doorbell to stand trial
• It’s Time to Unbreak CNN (“The cable network’s last boss was a disaster, but at least he showed the new one what not to do.”)
• Pennsylvania is key for Biden. Democrats there say the party is in shambles.
• Alabama AG Says He Can Prosecute People Who Assist In Out-Of-State Abortion Travel
• Matt Schlapp Held an Exorcism at CPAC Offices After Junior Employees Resigned (Schlapp is a weird, f’ed-up, fascistic dude.)
• Trump Legal Spokesperson Makes Major Freudian Slip On What Ex-President Does ‘Right’ (“He doesn’t do what’s popular or what’s right” Bingo!)
• REMINDER AS IDALIA SLAMS EAST COAST: Rep. Kiggans Voted to Cut FEMA by $2.5 Billion (“Rep. Kiggans Voted For The Default on America Act Which Would Have Cut 3,200 FEMA Staff “)
• Glenn Youngkin’s Biggest Power Grab May Come Well Before 2024 (“The Virginia governor is getting presidential buzz, but he’s focused on winning a Republican trifecta this November—an “off-off year” election that could catapult his career. The state’s senators are sounding the alarm bells: ‘I’m a little bit amazed that this isn’t a higher priority at the White House,” Senator Mark Warner tells VF.'”)
• Trump on trial, DeSantis wilting: But don’t expect Glenn Youngkin to be the Republicans’ 2024 white knight
• Many Virginia School Systems are Rejecting Youngkin’s New Anti-Trans Policy
• Video: HRC and Equality Virginia PAC Endorse Pro-Equality Champions (“Along with reproductive rights and the future of democracy in America, LGBTQ rights are very much on the ballot” – Sen. Adam Ebbin)
• Utility regulators suspend Dominion’s rules for connecting solar projects to grid
• Oxfam’s Best and Worst States to Work 2023: With Youngkin as Governor, Virginia Slips From #22 to #28 (If we want to continue moving up these rankings, we’re going to need to elect DEMOCRATS in 2023 and 2025.)
• VDOE delays release of SOL results – preliminary figures show stagnation (“This will be the first time in at least 19 years that the state education department publishes the results after August.” Great job, Youngkin administration! LOL)
• Pope & Schapiro: Budget amendments, the fall campaign & a new poll
• Freedom Virginia Launches Digital Ad Holding Delegate Emily Brewer Accountable for Voting Against Medicaid Expansion
• PEN America: “Monthslong Campaign of ‘Baseless Claims and Conspiracy Theories’ May Lead to Shutdown of [Front Royal, VA] Library” (Where the likes of Glenn Youngkin and Ron DeSantis seem to want to lead America…)
• FOIA Friday: Uneven disclosure of police policies for vehicle pursuits
• MVP equipment destroyed in early morning fires
• Commentary: No, Arlington hasn’t ‘abandoned’ ranked choice voting (Maybe not, but there really wasn’t a good reason for not using RCV this fall; in fact, it would have been a LOT clearer than during the primary, when there were multiple candidates for two openings on the County Board, complicating matters.)
• Lynchburg is talking about closing schools. Financial constraints and equity questions complicate the decision.
• Maryland man admits sending threats to Virginia, Md. lawmakers (This guy should be locked up for a long time.)
• Editorial: Shooting near Virginia Beach high school football game shows how gun violence infects our communities
• Female fire department members allege misconduct in Arlington
• Four years in, Arlington still doesn’t need to pay Amazon HQ2 incentives
• D.C.-area forecast: Perfection today before warming trend turns hot by Sunday