| Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... |
by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, December 2. And yes, “The worst timeline” really “comes into view”
- Over 100 countries back plastic treaty caps as talks reach fierce finish
- Global heat wave hot spots outpace climate change trends
- International talks on curbing plastic pollution fail to reach agreement (“Chair of talks in Busan says progress has been made but ‘a few critical issues’ are unresolved” Greeeeaaaat.)
- Divided over whether to stop making plastic, U.N. treaty talks collapse
- Top UN court to begin hearings on landmark climate change case (“ICJ to hear submissions from more than 100 groups in Pacific-led campaign to provide an advisory opinion on states’ obligations for climate harm”)
- Climate solution: Sails make a comeback in shipping, to dent its huge carbon footprint
- Kremlin says Trump threat to BRICS nations over US dollar will backfire
- He thought he would die in Putin’s gulag. Now he has a message for the world. (“Leading Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza tells Vox the world needs to start preparing now for Putin’s fall.”)
- Ukraine war briefing: Germany’s Olaf Scholz arrives in Kyiv on lightning visit (“Ukrainian president presses idea of ‘Nato umbrella’ for areas under Kyiv’s control while Kaja Kallas says it should not be ruled out.”)
- Biden surges arms to Ukraine, fearing Trump will halt U.S. aid
- Russia’s Economy Is Slowing, Opening Fissures Over Policy
- Georgian president seeks Europe’s support as she defies her own government
- Israel Builds Bases in Central Gaza, a Sign It May Be There to Stay
- Iraqi militias deploy in Syria to back government’s counteroffensive against insurgents
- Syria’s Rebels Struck When Assad’s Allies Were Weakened and Distracted
- Trump taps Massad Boulos, another in-law, as adviser on Middle East (Extremism, kleptocracy AND nepotism – the Trump administration is going to be all of those.)
- France’s far right says it will vote government down unless ‘last minute miracle’
- French Far Right’s Threat to Topple Barnier Deepens Crisis
- Romanian leftists win parliamentary election amid uncertainty over presidency (“Romanian authorities say the country is a key target for hostile actors such as Russia, and have accused video streaming platform TikTok of giving preferential treatment to one candidate. Both Russia and TikTok deny any wrongdoing.”)
- Donald Trump Wants to Kill Offshore Wind Development. Easier Said Than Done. (Insanity.)
- Trump could dismantle newly built guardrails around your wallet, consumer groups warn
- Recess appointments could put Trump at odds with conservatives on the Supreme Court
- Long a ‘Crown Jewel’ of Government, N.I.H. Is Now a Target (And OF COURSE the NY Times doesn’t say, right in its headline, that N.I.H. is a target of…the incoming TRUMP ADMINISTRATION!)
- Trump’s Next Term Could See America’s First True Oligarchs, Warns Democracy Activist Garry Kasparov
- Opposing the president-elect’s nominations (“We must attempt to derail as many of these nominations as possible—but especially Kash Patel, Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, and Robert Kennedy.”)
- Schumer Presses for F.B.I. Checks and Senate Consideration of Trump Nominees
- A dangerous and unqualified choice for the FBI
- Kash Patel’s nomination signals how bad things can get (“The worst timeline comes into view.”)
- How Kash Patel, Trump’s FBI Pick, Embraced the Unhinged QAnon Movement
- Lawmakers express doubt over Trump’s plan to replace FBI’s Christopher Wray
- A Constitutional Crisis Greater Than Watergate (“Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel threatens to turn the FBI into an instrument of personal presidential power.”)
- GOP senator praises current FBI Director Christopher Wray, calls Putin a ‘tyrant’
- John Bolton compares Kash Patel to Soviet secret police leader
- How Trump Rolled Out this Kash Patel Pick Is Part of Spinning False Claims about Rule of Law
- Amid worry about Trump, calls for career Justice Dept. staff to stay
- Pete Hegseth’s Secret History
- Trump Remains Defiant After the Collapse of the Matt Gaetz Selection
- Trump and His Team Are ‘Laughing’ at Biden’s Commitment to Decorum (“Biden called Trump a fascist. Now his White House is ensuring an orderly transfer of power — and staging photo ops with the president-elect”)
- President Biden pardons his son Hunter Biden
- Joe Biden issues pardon for son Hunter as Trump rails against ‘miscarriage of justice’
- Statement from President Joe Biden
- Trump calls Hunter Biden pardon ‘an abuse and miscarriage of Justice’ (Trump, of course, is VERY familiar with “abuse and miscarriage of Justice” – on HIS BEHALF!)
- Biden’s pardon of his son pours fuel on Trump’s claims of politicized justice (This is REALLY dumb “analysis”; in fact, what was wildly “politicized justice” was the right-wing witch hunt against Hunter Biden simply because he’s Joe Biden’s son!)
- MAGA Goes Into Full Meltdown Mode Over Hunter Biden Pardon
- Trump reacts to Biden pardoning son Hunter by raising Jan. 6 rioters’ cases (There’s ZERO compariso, of course, but Trump doesn’t care.)
- Musk’s Rivals Fear He Will Target Them With His New Power (“OpenAI’s Sam Altman ranks high on the billionaire’s list of enemies; car companies and tech giants scramble for allies in the incoming Trump administration”)
- Bernie Sanders Agrees With Elon Musk On 1 Big Government Spending Issue (There’s an argument to be made, but why start with a ridiculous, cringe-inducing sentence like “Elon Musk is right”???)
- Cheryl Hines sells products with naked RFK Jr. showering behind her (Great, huh? Nothing corrupt about this!)
- Dem lawmaker warns he is ‘very concerned’ about AI manipulating the markets
- Legislators float new process that could override localities on solar plant approvals
- State legislators consider new solar project requirements (“A new proposal could streamline solar projects by overriding local rules.”)
- Data centers and Virginia’s special kind of denialism
- Virginia lawmakers to consider proposal to support regional airports
- Small businesses hurt by Helene’s flooding left in an uncertain limbo without SBA funding
- Roanoke election results rewrite history
- Some Norfolk politicians want to switch local elections to an off-year (“After holding local elections in November this year, some Norfolk city leaders want to move local races to an odd-numbered year due to competition with federal campaigns for voter attention.”)
- Richmond’s incoming mayor aims to rebuild trust in City Hall
- Solar co-op running campaign in Richmond, Hampton Roads region
- D.C.-area forecast: A cold week but precipitation is lacking
