Wednesday News: “A Low Point of Human Inaction on Climate Change”; “Trump’s new cold war with Europe”; Trump Unhinged Tirade, “rails on affordability ‘hoax’ and immigrants in rally-style speech”; Rubio Wages War on “Woke” Calibri Font; Dems Win in Miami, Georgia

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, December 10.

• A Low Point of Human Inaction on Climate Change (“The second Trump Administration’s assault on the environment has been as damaging as expected, but other developments this year give at least some hope for the future.”)
• EU locks in “strong but realistic” emissions reduction target of 90 pct by 2040
• ‘Even the animals seem confused’: a retreating Kashmir glacier is creating an entire new world in its wake (“Kolahoi is one of many glaciers whose decline is disrupting whole ecosystems – water, wildlife and human life that it has supported for centuries”)
• Tactics to Dump Coal Are Failing in Asia as Energy Demand Booms (UGH.)
• Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds (“Data from World Inequality Report also showed top 10% of income-earners earn more than the other 90%” Insanity.)
• Exclusive: US threatens new ICC sanctions unless court pledges not to prosecute Trump
• Zelenskyy ‘ready for elections’ after Trump questions Ukrainian democracy
• Trump’s frustration with Ukraine and Europe boils over (Trump is seriously f’ed in the head.)
• The outlines of a sustainable Ukraine peace deal inch into view
• The Challenges to Europe’s Security Go Beyond Trump’s Lack of Support (“Europeans find themselves stranded between hostile powers, Russia and the U.S., with key decisions looming over the future of Ukraine.”)
• Trump’s new cold war with Europe
• Trump news at a glance: president hints at abandoning Ukraine, rambles about ‘weak’ Europe (“Trump’s sometimes incoherent Politico interview featured recycled far-right tropes about European immigration – key US politics stories from Tuesday 9 December at a glance”)
• Pope defends Europe – and its role in peace talks – from Trump
• Fears grow that Chinese gadget could be used to trigger U.S. blackouts
• Democrats Say Hegseth Balked at Call for Full Video of Boat Strike
• Inside the Pentagon’s Scramble to Deal With Boat Strike Survivors (“Officials initially weighed sending survivors of U.S. attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling to a notorious prison in El Salvador, to keep them away from American courts.”)
• ‘It’s done’ — House Armed Services chair sees no need to further probe boat strike (F*** these people.)
• FIFA chief accused of breaking ethics rules after Trump peace prize award
• Canada’s DC envoy to exit as US trade talks stall (“Kirsten Hillman’s departure leaves Ottawa minus a point person with the North American free trade deal on the table.”)
• ‘Come North!’ Canada Makes Play for H-1B Visa Holders With New Talent Drive
• U.S. Plans to Scrutinize Foreign Tourists’ Social Media History (“Even visitors from countries like Britain and France, whose citizens don’t need visas, would have to share five years’ worth of social media.” That’s insane.)
• Immigration Agents Have Often Grabbed and Mistreated Citizens, Congressional Investigators Find
• Migrants facing mandatory detention in U.S. are fighting back, and winning
• Trump once denied using this slur about Haiti and African nations. Now he boasts about it
• Trump brings legal immigration to a screeching halt (Republican always claimed, of course, that all they were against was ILLEGAL immigration. Now we know that was BULLSHIT.)
• Trump’s Speech on Economy Veers Into an Anti-Immigrant Tirade
• At the first stop on his affordability tour, Trump mocks affordability
• Trump Says Americans Are Doing Great, Even as Views on the Economy Sour (“President Trump’s speech in Pennsylvania was meant to alleviate concerns about affordability. But he kept going off script and dwelling on issues like immigration.”)
• Fact check: debunking Trump’s claims on immigration and affordability in Pennsylvania (“The US president made baseless claims during remarks on cost of living that meandered into racism and bigotry”)
• Trump rails on affordability ‘hoax’ and immigrants in rally-style speech
• Trump aides and allies float potential Noem successors as speculation grows over her tenure (“Fox News contributor and former Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, whose term ends in January, are among the names being discussed.”)
• Illinois Governor Signs Bill Imposing New Limits on Immigration Enforcement (Virginia should do the same!)
• Officers at Texas immigration detention facility accused of beatings and sexual abuse
• Federal agents arrest citizen observer watching ICE (“A 55-year-old woman who is an American citizen was arrested early Tuesday after confronting ICE officers over the arrests of three of her neighbors in the Willard Hay neighborhood of north Minneapolis. ” That’s BULLSHIT.)
• About 400 immigrant children were detained longer than the recommended limit, ICE admits
• The Supreme Court Is Crazy to Think That We Need More Money in Politics (“Alas, the carefully constructed conservative majority is a servant of the rising oligarchy and will behave as such.”)
• The Supreme Court Is About to Hand Trump a Terrifying Authoritarian Power (“Chief Justice John Roberts and the conservative majority are undoing the very fabric of American democracy, and they don’t seem to care.”)
• Federal Reserve prepares to cut interest rates for a third time this year (“The Fed’s rate-setting meeting will take place in the fog of a data blackout caused by the prolonged federal government shutdown this fall.”)
• Divisions to Dominate Fed’s Last Meeting of 2025, Leaving Rate Outlook Unclear
• Senate heads toward dueling partisan votes on health care, with each likely to fail
• GOP moves to let Obamacare subsidies expire as Trump promises ‘money to the people’
• Latest ObamaCare bill faces high hurdles and tight deadline
• Senate Republicans plan vote on a health care alternative as ACA funds look likely to expire
• GOP senator expects ObamaCare subsidies to expire: ‘Some people’s premiums are going to go up some’
• Senate Republicans set to put Cassidy-Crapo health proposal up for a vote Thursday
• Republican Governor Calls Out Trump Over Cuts to Wind Energy Projects
• The Memo: Trump battles MAGA vibe shift at end of first year back in power
• Exclusive: Tax prosecutions plunge as Trump shifts crime-fighting efforts (Horrendous.)
• Here Are All the Times Trump Attacked Female Reporters in the Last 30 Days
• Trump administration announces deal to end key Biden-era student loan repayment program
• Trump has ‘fun’ but fails to feel Americans’ pain on prices (“The president insists things have never been better. Voters dealing with rising prices feel differently.”)
• Project 2025 architects lay out 2026 policy vision (UGH.)
• Trump’s ‘Absolutely Crazed’ Threat To Those Who Question His Health Sparks Outrage (“The president melted down over what he argued was potentially seditious or even treasonous behavior.”)
• Judge Suggests Prosecutor on Comey and James Cases Should Resign as U.S. Attorney
• Rubio Stages Font Coup: Times New Roman Ousts Calibri (“The department under Blinken in early January 2023 had switched to Calibri, a modern sans-serif font, saying this was a more accessible font for people with disabilities because it did not have the decorative angular features and was the default in Microsoft products.”)
• Font of ‘wasteful’ diversity: Trump’s state department orders return to Times New Roman (“A cable from Marco Rubio reportedly said cutting Calibri from official communication would ‘abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program’” These people are completely insane.)
• Conspiracy theorist election denier given FEMA’s second-most important role (“Gregg Phillips will lead the Office of Response and Recovery, ‘the heart of what FEMA does.'”)
• Musk says DOGE was only “somewhat successful,” wouldn’t do it again
• A Senate majority could be within Democrats’ reach
• No, Democrats Shouldn’t Give Up On Texas (“After a string of disappointments, the party is tempted to give up on ever turning the state blue. History shows that that’s a mistake.”)
• Downballot Democrats Are Gearing Up for “2010 in Reverse” (“The DLCC plans to spend $50 million targeting races in 27 states.”)
• Georgia Democrat Eric Gisler flips a state House seat in district Trump won by double digits, CNN projects
• Democrat flips Georgia state House seat in district Trump won
• Georgia Democrats flip conservative seat in yet another upset
• Eileen Higgins will win Miami mayor’s race, CNN projects, breaking a nearly 30-year GOP hold
• Democrats flip Miami mayor’s office, winning control for first time in nearly 30 years
• Editorial: Eastern District deserves a lawfully appointed, professional prosecutor
• Tim Kaine believes ‘Venezuela strikes’ are illegal
• 3 separate US strikes on alleged drug boats have initially left survivors. Each time they’ve been treated differently
• Mark Warner talks Gang of 8 briefing on Caribbean boat strikes
• BREAKING: Former Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA05) Announces Candidacy for 5th Congressional District, Declaring “This Is an All-Hands-on-Deck Moment” (The district is currently MISrepresented by MAGA fanatic and 1/6/21 insurrectionist John McGuire)
• Tom Perriello announces candidacy for Congress in the Fifth District (“Good candidates like a Tom Perriello are coming out of the woodwork with the reality that Democrats are redrawing districts to create four new Democrat-majority districts, including the one representing the Charlottesville-Albemarle area where Perriello resides.”)
• Virginia Democrat Tom Perriello to run for his old seat in Congress
• Ben Cline runs interference for Trump, DoD, on illegal missile strikes (“Sixth District Congressman Ben Cline, predictably, because he’s hard-core MAGA, isn’t interested in the oversight part of his job on the matter of the Sept. 2 double-tap missile strike that killed two survivors of a legally dubious first missile strike targeting their boat in international waters off the coast of Venezuela.” Cline is so, so bad.)
• Spanberger taps Mundon King to be secretary of the commonwealth
• Video: Abigail Spanberger on Trump Giving Himself an A+++++ on the Economy – “I would start by saying I have three daughters in school at the moment & there’s no such thing as an A+ plus plus plus…How many pluses?”
• Video: VA Speaker Don Scott Says “Republicans want [redistricting] to be decided by the courts too, and not by the voters, after that shellacking they took in November.” (Speaker Scott: Republicans “have a president which they don’t want to talk about, Lord Voldemort”)
• Spanberger stops short of full embrace of redistricting effort in Virginia
• Virginia officials to weigh conforming to One Big Beautiful Bill tax breaks
• Governor-Elect Spanberger Announces Nick M. Donohue as Her VA Secretary of Transportation Appointment (Calls Donohue a “champion of modernizing and expanding mobility options”)
• Spanberger taps Nick Donohue as Virginia’s next transportation secretary
• Spanberger plans to ‘hit the ground running’ to boost Virginia’s economy. Here’s how.
• Roanoke College poll: After nearly a year of Trump, Virginians are feeling worse about the economy
• Spanberger’s energy, health care, housing bills coming next week
• Following VA State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi Winning the LG Race, the Chain Reaction of Virginia Special Elections Continues…Now HD77 Set for 1/6/26, Dem “Firehouse Primary” This Sunday (This is a deep-blue seat, so whoever wins the nomination Sunday will almost certainly win on 1/6/26)
• Special election set for Jan. 6 in House District 77 after Jones resigns
• Special elections set for Richmond-area House of Delegates, state Senate seats
• DOJ: Loudoun students’ suspension over locker room incident risks district’s federal funding
• Justice Dept. seeks to join families’ suit in Va. school locker room case
• JUST IN: School board Democrat wins Braddock District supervisor race
• Fairfax Supervisors vote to oppose casino in Tysons (“The vote was 5-4, with Chairman McKay and Supervisors Walter Alcorn, James Bierman, Rodney Lusk and Dalia Palchick voting yes. Pat Herrity, Andres Jimenez, Daniel Storck and Vice Chair Kathy Smith voted no.”)
• Virginia houses 35% of data centers worldwide. Here’s what a center in Newport News could mean. (“Newport News has been busy behind the scenes preparing to attract a data center to the city, including buying land for development and meeting with Dominion Energy to learn about data centers’ energy needs.”)
• CWG Live: Less chilly today, then trending colder again with light snow chances