by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, October 21.
- Climate change is bad for your health. And plans to boost economies may make it worse
- Extreme heat in cities a growing problem as climate warms, study finds
- COP26: Document leak reveals nations lobbying to change key climate report
- Africa, home to only three glaciers, will lose all of them due to climate change (Horrible.)
- How green politics are changing Europe
- Putin and Xi look set to disengage as world leaders meet on climate
- China conducted two hypersonic weapons tests this summer
- Once Faltering, India’s Vaccine Campaign Gives Its Billionth Dose
- Exxon Debates Abandoning Some of Its Biggest Oil and Gas Projects (“Exxon board members are weighing the fate of future projects as the company is facing pressure from investors to restrain fossil-fuel investment to limit carbon emissions and return more cash to shareholders. Environmentalists and some government officials are also pressuring the company to produce less oil and gas.”)
- Biden’s pick for China ambassador says ‘we cannot trust the Chinese’ on Taiwan (“Nicholas Burns calls Beijing an ‘aggressor’ and that US responsibility is ‘to make Taiwan a tough nut to crack’”)
- Covid: WHO warns pandemic will drag on deep into 2022
- The delta variant has a mutation that’s worrying experts: Here’s what we know so far
- Assad regime ‘siphons millions in aid’ by manipulating Syria’s currency
- Indian Engineering Giant Plans to Go Carbon Neutral by 2040
- NATO to agree master plan to deter growing Russian threat
- Crypto Miners Struggle to Cut Carbon Emissions (“Producing cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin requires lots of cheap electricity, putting pressure on the industry”)
- Moderna and J&J Covid-19 Boosters, Mixing and Matching Authorized by the FDA
- Finally, an answer for Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients. Here’s what I chose.
- ‘No more time to waste,’ chair of House climate panel warns ahead of Cop26 (“Democrat Kathy Castor warns that even Biden’s ambitious Build Back Better bill ‘doesn’t really get us to net zero by 2050’”)
- A 30-Year Campaign to Control Drug Prices Faces Yet Another Failure
- Democrats want to crack down on tax cheats. Republicans balk. (Republicans want to protect cheats.)
- This EPA Move on ‘Forever Chemicals’ Is a Big Step
- Every Senate Republican just rejected a bill to protect voting rights (“The Freedom to Vote Act would block a number of voter suppression laws — but Senate Republicans just killed it.”)
- Democrats Search for Path on Voting Rights Amid Republican Blockade
- Senate Republicans again block sweeping voting rights bill(“Party-line vote will significantly increase pressure on Democrats to do away with the filibuster”)
- 10 Republicans for Voting Rights? You May as Well Look for 10 Lords a-Leaping.
- All eyes on Manchin after Republicans again block voting rights legislation
- Joe Manchin Gonna Joe Manchin
- Democrats Split on Taxes, Climate, College as Deadline Nears
- Sinema’s giant flip-flop: She once campaigned on issues she now wants dropped from Biden’s plan (Utterly bizarre.)
- ‘Build Back Better’ plan hangs on Biden’s shuttle diplomacy (“Analysis: Keeping factions separate allows the president to lobby for his bill through peer pressure, without the acrimony of mixed political company.”)
- Democrats see light at end of tunnel on Biden agenda
- Democrats look for plan B on filibuster (Sen. Tim Kaine: “We’re going to sit down. … We’re going to talk about other strategies to get this bill passed”)
- Why Democrats are trying to fit every wish into a shrinking bill (“Democrats are banking on the popularity of these policies to keep them around.”)
- White House considers new taxes on billionaires, stock buybacks as higher corporate rate appears to fall out of economic package
- Democrats Cut Programs’ Durations to Lower Cost of Social Policy and Climate Plan
- Biden abruptly accelerates his involvement in agenda talks
- Report: Sinema Bent on Destroying Biden Presidency to Keep Taxes on the Wealthy Low This sounds extremely bad.
- Tight race in Virginia should galvanize Democrats to pass Biden’s agenda
- To Most Dems, It’s Clear: The Only Path To Voting Rights Runs Through The Filibuster
- SCOOP: Manchin Tells Associates He’s Considering Leaving the Democratic Party and Has an Exit Plan
- Manchin on party switch: ‘It’s bull—-‘ (“‘I can’t control rumors, and it’s bullshit, bullshit spelled with b, u, l, l, capital b!’ he declared, his voice rising with exasperation.”)
- Why Would Joe Manchin Switch Parties Now?
- Republicans May Revive the Most Dangerous Kind of Gerrymandering (Meanwhile, in Virginia, Dems unilaterally disarmed, for absolutely no good reason.)
- The Supreme Court floats a startling expansion to police immunity from the law (This Supreme Court is far-right activist and illegitimate, with at least one stolen seat, depending on how you look at it.)
- I Was Wrong About Donald Trump (“Having underestimated Mr. Trump in the first place, Democrats shouldn’t underestimate what it will take to counter his malign influence now. They need a bigger, bolder campaign blueprint to save democracy that doesn’t hinge on the whims of Congress.”)
- Bannon, Trump and the Insurrectionists Are Winning—For Now
- House to vote to hold Steve Bannon in contempt for defying subpoena
- Rep. Jim Jordan tells House panel he can’t recall how many times he spoke with Trump on Jan. 6
- Jim Jordan Struggles To Answer House Panel’s Questions About Jan. 6 Trump Calls (“The Ohio Republican said he did not speak to Trump during the attack. He had previously said he did.”)
- Jan. 6 Probe’s Move Into Courtrooms Could Let Trump Run Out The Clock
- Liz Cheney’s sharp rebuke of the GOP highlights a big and terrible truth (“Instead of falling back on the usual shame theater, all our focus should now be on where this is going to lead — and on what we’re going to do about it.”)
- Trump to launch new social media platform TRUTH Social
- Stymied Before, Trump Finds Backing for His Own Media Venture
- Oath Keepers in the State House: How a Militia Movement Took Root in the Republican Mainstream
- Instagram’s suggestion algorithm is promoting accounts that share misinformation
- Sinclair Broadcast Hack Linked to Notorious Russian Cybergang (Sinclair, of course, is a right-wing cesspool, and nobody should watch it. That includes WJLA-TV7 in the DC/NOVA area.)
- Facebook has been working hard to spin recent press around the company in its favor
- Suspected human remains and items belonging to Brian Laundrie found in Florida park, FBI says
- Strong probability that the suspected remains found in a Florida park are Brian Laundrie’s, family attorney says
- Fox News hosts admit the network has a strict COVID-19 vaccine and testing policy — while they celebrate job walkouts over such mandates elsewhere
- Level 5 atmospheric river to unleash flooding across drought-stricken California (“After nearly a year without rain, a series of potent Pacific storms are directed at Northern California this week, potentially bringing as much as a foot of rainfall and up to three feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada. Supercharged by a classic atmospheric river pattern, the storms could lead to flash floods and dangerous debris flows in a wide swath of the region already devastated by recent wildfires.”)
- Netflix Employee Walkout Grows Tense as Trans Rights Protesters Clash With Dave Chappelle Supporters
- NYC mayor ‘troubled’ by video showing unmasked officers forcibly removing masked subway commuter
- Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine says reconciliation is key component to infrastructure bill (“He’s hopeful an agreement on the Reconciliation Bill will be made by the end of the week”)
- Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA02): “Evoking George Soros as a shadowy funder is an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory. This is an unacceptable statement from Glenn Youngkin.”
- New Ad from 314 Action Highlights Glenn Youngkin’s Refusal to Disavow Dangerous, Anti-Science Mobs at School Board Meetings
- Glenn Youngkin and the Trump Hypocrisy Two-Step
- Video: “Morning Joe” Says Glenn Youngkin Is “Scared to Come on the Show,” Offers To Moderate Debate; Terry McAuliffe Says YES – “Anytime, Anywhere!” (“Morning Joe” says Youngkin lying about “Critical Race Theory” appears “nefarious”; McAuliffe rips Youngkin as “someone with anti-vax rhetoric on Trump radio shows every day”)
- Video: Terry for Virginia Releases New TV Ad “Our Values” Featuring President Barack Obama (“President Obama Lays Out What’s at Stake In This Election & Urges Virginians to Vote for Terry”)
- Monmouth Poll Shows Tie Race For Virginia Governor; Republicans with More Enthusiasm; Shift in “Red” Direction Since Last Month’s Poll (It’s time for Virginia Dems to really crank it up.)
- Terry McAuliffe and Glenn Youngkin take it to the wire in Virginia
- Dems scramble to protect suburbs from GOP onslaught in Virginia
- Youngkin Supporter Punches Reporter At Campaign Rally In Burke (Blue Virginia reported on this as well.)
- New Redistricting Committee All But Gives Up Map Effort
- Video: After Failing to Draw New District Lines for the General Assembly, the VA Redistricting Commission Teeters on the Edge of Failure on US House Lines as Well (Great job by everyone who advocated for Amendment 1 last year! /snark)
- Setup, process mar Virginia’s redistricting commission (Bottom line: this was a fatally flawed amendment that NEVER should have been sent to voters, and which should have been rejected by voters when they had their say. Massive f’up.)
- PolitiFact VA: Despite having lowest minimum standards, Virginia students among nation’s best
- Video: AG Mark Herring Releases New Ad Highlighting Republican Jason Miyares Taking $500k From Group “That Helped Ignite the January 6th Insurrection”
- ‘Bloody expensive.’ Major U.S. offshore wind plan hits obstacles (“The outcome of Virginia’s gubernatorial race — which has already echoed the old-energy-versus-new debate — also could shift the political environment for offshore wind’s future in the state.”)
- Editorial: Don’t overlook down-ballot races (“Don’t let the race for governor obscure the other critical contests voters will see on their ballots this year.”)
- A Closer Look at the Narrative Surrounding Virginia’s Crime Rate (“Contrary to media narrative, the nation saw an overall reduction in crime in 2020 compared to 2019. In Virginia, overall crime is actually down by more than 10%”)
- Wednesday (10/20) Virginia Data on COVID-19: 1-Day New Cases +1,822; 10-Day New Cases +23,162; Hospitalizations at 1,325
- Fairfax County approves collective bargaining ordinance
- Prince William School Board adds gender-identity to non-discrimination policy
- In Norfolk, loosened state solar laws open up chance to put panels on low-income homes (“A financing tool originally used for schools and churches moves into a new sphere”)
- Virginia Beach grant program designed to lure businesses — or get them to stay — needs improvement, city audit finds
- Albemarle board approves 40-cent cigarette tax
- D.C.-area forecast: Warm today before turning cooler, but still nice this weekend
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