by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, December 19.
- Most of the World’s Vaccines Likely Won’t Prevent an Omicron Infection (“Only Pfizer and Moderna shots, reinforced by a booster, appear to have success at stopping infections, and they are unavailable in most countries. All vaccines still seem to provide protection against serious illness from Omicron, which is the most crucial goal.”)
- Highly vaccinated countries thought they were over the worst. Denmark says the pandemic’s toughest month is just beginning.
- Gauteng’s Omicron Wave Is Already Peaking. Why? (“In Gauteng, South Africa’s Omicron epicenter, the wave seems to be cresting. In other parts of the country, too, the terrifyingly fast rise of the new variant appears already to be slowing and even receding.”)
- WHO: Omicron cases doubling in 1.5 to 3 days in places with local spread
- Boris Johnson’s Brexit Chief Quits in Body Blow to U.K. Leader
- Climate Change Exposes Iran’s Political Failures (“The worst drought in decades has led to protests as climate change exposes decades of policy failure.”)
- Nuclear energy scares people. The climate crisis is giving it another chance
- Russians Have Suddenly Stopped Buying Putin’s Anti-American Propaganda (“COVID-hit Russians have had enough of Putin spending a fortune on more conflict with the West while the problems stack up at home.”)
- Hidden Pentagon Records Reveal Patterns of Failure in Deadly Airstrikes
- Fed charts faster course away from unprecedented stimulus
- Will Trump Ruin a Red Wave in 2022?
- Republicans are shamelessly working to subvert democracy. Are Democrats paying attention? (“Voting rights activists say the country has not fully awakened to the threat”)
- Omicron’s Spread Prompts Canceled Events, Tightened Restrictions
- Will America’s ‘Immunity Wall’ Hold Up to Omicron? (“Dr. Eric Topol on the big factor that could determine how bad things get.”)
- OSHA vaccine mandate penalties to start Jan. 10
- Biden to deliver Tuesday speech on omicron variant as Covid cases rise
- Biden to Issue ‘Stark Warning’ on Vaccination Amid Covid Surge
- Vaccine Data Gaps Point to Millions More in U.S. Who Lack Shots
- Why Biden didn’t mince his words to the unvaccinated (“The emergence of Omicron has caused the White House to contemplate all options ahead of a potential surge”)
- U.S. Senate to Vote on Nord Stream 2 After Schumer-Cruz Deal
- Democrats mull hardball tactics to leapfrog parliamentarian on immigration
- ‘Stop the Steal’ leader hands over communications with GOP lawmakers to January 6 committee
- CNN Closes Offices as Covid-19 Cases Rise
- State senator dies a month after telling a local radio station he was sick with Covid-19 while in El Salvador (“Ericksen had repeatedly called for the resignation of Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, in numerous posts on his website. His latest news release, dated November 1, said the state was the ‘national leader in authoritarian government.'” Uh uh…))
- State senator who called for governor’s resignation over pandemic rules dies after saying he was sick with Covid
- New York’s surge shows no sign of slowing down.
- Glenn Youngkin wants to take Virginia out of this climate program. It would be a terrible mistake. (This is a flat-out lie by the Washington Post: “Mr. Youngkin ran not as an ideologue but as a practical businessman”)
- Virginia’s Divorce Laws MUST Change (“A Plea to Virginia’s 2022 General Assembly and Citizens of the Commonwealth”)
- Northam cancels layoffs of drinking water officials his health commissioner had cut (Good.)
- Top 100 Most-Viewed Blue Virginia Posts of 2021: People Care More About “Horse Race” Than Substance?
- Virginia Democrats split over plan to shore up abortion rights before GOP takes over (The media’s favorite storyline…”Dems split!” “Dems in disarray!” etc. In this case, for once, there’s actually some truth to it.)
- Friday Night Update from the ER in Arlington, VA: “The very sick patients we’re seeing are generally not vaccinated”; “There is some good news on the horizon” with Paxlovid (“The Coronavirus is not done with us yet”)
- Opinion: Consequential decisions facing Virginia’s economic recovery
- Marijuana is legal in Virginia but not on college campuses, causing confusion over what’s allowed
- Editorial: Room for redistricting improvement (Note that this is one of the editorial boards which repeatedly, and moronically, pushed for Amendment 1 last year.)
- New solar ordinance proposal moves forward in Franklin County
- Roanoke Police Department struggles with understaffing, while community steps up
- Police find ‘no evidence’ of hate crime in Fairfax High School altercation
- D.C.-area forecast: Much cooler and blustery Sunday. Sunnier and calmer Monday.
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