by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, December 31. Here’s hoping for a better year in 2022 than we had in 2021, which started off with a pro-Trump insurrection and coup attempt, ended with a massive Omicron/COVID wave, and in between saw Republicans sweep all three statewide offices in Virginia and also take back control of the House of Delegates. Great, huh?
The pictures from Colorado tonight are like when the comet hits in #DontLookUp
So look. Long and hard.
And then get to work breaking the power of the fossil fuel industry https://t.co/XVc43EiTzM— Bill McKibben (@billmckibben) December 31, 2021
- The climate victories of 2021 that put fossil fuels in check (“Large institutions with significant financial holdings in fossil fuel extraction corporations divested their assets”; “Activist investors leveraged their collective power to force major oil companies to change from within”; etc.)
- Covid Wave Dampens New Year Celebrations Worldwide
- South Africa says that it has passed its fourth wave of cases, and counts few added deaths.
- South Africa lifts curfew as it says COVID-19 fourth wave peaks
- Biden Warns Putin on Ukraine While Kremlin Says It’s ‘Satisfied’ After 50-Minute Talks
- Ukraine tensions: Putin tells Biden new sanctions could rupture ties
- Putin Warns Biden of ‘Complete Rupture’ of U.S.-Russia Relationship Over Ukraine
- Ashraf Ghani: Ex-Afghan president describes moment he fled the Taliban
- Omicron Blurs Oil Outlook After Demand Roars Back
- BBC faces backlash after Dershowitz analyzes Maxwell case, despite accusation from alleged Epstein victim
- Israel Approves Fourth Covid Vaccine Dose for Vulnerable
- Eyes turn to Prince Andrew after Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction (“’Maxwell did not act alone. Others must be held accountable,’ Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most high-profile accusers, tweeted after the verdict.”)
- FDA expected to authorize Pfizer-BioNTech booster shots for 12-to-15-year-olds by early next week
- Experts, governors warn of U.S. Omicron ‘blizzard’ in weeks ahead
- Americans should be learning to ‘live’ with covid-19. The unvaccinated are making that impossible.
- Omicron surge could reach its U.S. peak in mid-January, experts say
- Weekly jobless claims total 198,000, less than expected and around 52-year low
- ‘A Meltdown’: Virus Surge and Winter Storms Leave Airlines in a Mess
- A New Ban on Surprise Medical Bills Starts This Week
- Joe Biden Picked a Rough Year to Become President
- Floods, fires, freezes: how 2021 made Joe Biden a climate crisis president
- One Year After Jan. 6, the Hard Right Digs In
- Anatomy of a death threat (“Trump supporters have waged a campaign of intimidation against the state and local officials who administer U.S. elections. This visual analysis explores hundreds of menacing messages – and explains why they’re difficult to counter.”)
- Pro-Trump lawyer says his plantations were go-to spots for those aiming to overturn the 2020 election (“Lin Wood says he hosted numerous election conspiracists on his plantation properties in South Carolina after the election.”)
- Why the new legal attack from Trump allies against the House January 6 committee is a long shot
- Jan. 6 Was Just the Start of Radicalizing Trump’s Republican Party (“Even if Trump didn’t order the coup attempt, his supporters knew they were doing what he wanted.”)
- Biden urges Supreme Court to maintain workplace vaccine mandate
- Why the Supreme Court Needs (Short) Term Limits
- The big winner of 2021: American workers (“We are recovering faster than anyone expected.”)
- Retired general warns the U.S. military could lead a coup after the 2024 election (“Retired Major General Paul Eaton says war-gaming and civics education could help assure that the military is better prepared for a contested election.”)
- The 9 politicians who had the most impact in 2021
- In 2021, social media platforms enabled the deadly spread of COVID-19 lies and anti-vaccine misinformation
- The five biggest media stories of 2021
- U.S. ends case against Jeffrey Epstein’s jail guards
- Ted Cruz mistakes ‘Western Australia’ for ‘Washington State’ in botched attack on ‘power-drunk’ Dems
- Peter Thiel, Donald Trump Jr. to co-host fundraisers for Cheney challenger (Disgusting.)
- Alaska Gov. Dunleavy accepts Trump endorsement conditioned upon him not endorsing Sen. Murkowski in 2022 (This party is a cult.)
- Hundreds of Colorado homes lost and tens of thousands of residents told to evacuate due to fast-growing wildfires
- High winds, severe drought, and warm temps led to Colorado’s historic wildfire
- Man who uttered ‘Let’s go Brandon’ during Biden call-in event mulls running for office (Of course. And Republicans might actually nominate this asshole.)
- Dem Florida gov. candidate Nikki Fried calls out DeSantis’s lack of visibility as Omicron surges
- New laws in Washington region will bring plastic bag tax, leaf blower ban and ‘Emancipation Highway’ (Leaf blowers are polluting, loud and obnoxious in general.)
- With New Virginia Legislative Maps, Spanberger, Other Candidates Announce Plans
- GOP candidate Keeney drops out of race for Spanberger seat after redistricting
- Virginia Health and Hospital Leaders Urge Individuals with Mild Coronavirus Cases, Other Non-Serious Illnesses to Avoid Trips to Hospital Emergency Departments
- Virginia Sets New Records For 1-Day New COVID Cases (+13,500) and 10-Day New COVID Cases (+77,202)
- ER doctors say lack of access to COVID testing threatens to overwhelm Virginia’s emergency rooms
- AG Mark Herring Files Suit Against Town of Windsor for Pattern of Unconstitutional and Discriminatory Policing by Police Department (The “egregious treatment” of Lt. Nazario is “indicative of much larger problems within the department”)
- Virginia AG sues town, alleging discriminatory policing
- Herring investigation of Windsor Police finds ‘big racial disparities & problems’
- Virginia AG Mark Herring sues Windsor, alleging unlawful racial disparities in police traffic stops
- Herring files suit against Windsor Police Department
- Virginia’s economy on upward yet uneven rebound as 2021 ends
- Pope & Schapiro: Back-to-back-to-back House of Delegates elections
- New redistricting maps puts I-81 corridor together in one congressional district
- Parole board chairwoman said she received ‘confidential subpoena’
- Virginia Confederate monuments likely headed to black history museum
- Confederate monuments to be transferred to Black History Museum
- Roanoke, New River valley economic voices conclude difficult 2021 with relief, optimism
- Top 10 Fredericksburg-area stories of the year
- Roanoke kicks off the new year with a new plastic bag tax
- D.C.-area forecast: Morning fog and drizzle, with a mild three days on the way
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