Friday News: “Trump and his crackpots brought us to the brink of ‘losing it all’”; “The Supreme Court is ready to gut every blue state’s gun laws”; VA Board of Health Calls Youngkin’s Health Commissioner’s Comment an “Embarrassment”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, June 24.

• The Ocean Is Climate Change’s First Victim and Last Resort
• How to fix the world’s energy emergency without wrecking the environment
• Where do G7 countries like the US, Japan, and Germany stand in their shift to clean energy?
• Exxon Mobil is at a crossroads as climate crisis spurs clean energy transition
• China May Ban Solar Panels From Productive Farmland and Forests
• Chinese premier calls for more coal production as electricity demand soars (The exact opposite direction of what’s needed.)
• Sun Cable clears new hurdle for world’s biggest solar and battery project
• China’s Clean Energy Growth Outlook for 2022 Keeps Getting Bigger (“A leading think tank sees China adding 25% more wind turbines and solar panels than last year’s record.”)
• Russia’s oil earnings are booming. The U.S. and Europe need a new plan.
• EU plan for life without Russian gas a priority as leaders meet
• Why the west risks condemning Ukraine to slow strangulation (“Before war fatigue sets in further, a rethink needed to avoid a years-long conflict”)
• Cisco, Nike quit Russia, as pace of Western firms leaving speeds up
• Ukraine News: Russia Calls E.U. Move to Advance Ukraine’s Joining ‘Hostile’
• Ukraine: Not just a country, an EU candidate country
• Ukrainian army to leave battered city to avoid encirclement
• Ukrainian forces will have to leave key eastern city, Luhansk governor says; retired Russian major captured
• By purchasing oil, China and India have emerged as financiers of Russia’s war.
• Aftershock in Afghanistan as quake toll rises to 1,150 dead
• UK Conservatives lose 2 elections in blow to Boris Johnson
• A world apart, Lebanon and Sri Lanka share economic collapse
• Pope Francis orders online release of second world war-era ‘Jewish’ files
• U.S. monkeypox response mirrors early coronavirus missteps, experts say
• COVID Vaccines Saved Nearly 20 Million Lives In 1st Year, Scientists Say (“Researchers from Imperial College London estimated the shots prevented 1.9 million deaths in the United States during the first year they became available.”)
• Climate change fueling worsening droughts, wildfires
• Biden, 11 U.S. states to boost support for offshore wind energy (But NOT Youngkin’s Virginia!)
• It will be bad if Merrick Garland prosecutes Trump — and worse if he doesn’t
• The media must confront enablers of the coup attempt. Here’s how. (“It’s time to hold Republican senators accountable for their roles in the attempted coup.”)
• 5 lessons from Thursday’s devastating Jan. 6 hearing
• Trump and his crackpots brought us to the brink of ‘losing it all’
• Trump Justice Officials Cite Pressure From Him to Overturn 2020 Election
• Ringing the alarm for Merrick Garland: Department of Justice stands in real peril because of Trump (“Are you listening, Merrick Garland? Protecting the DOJ means keeping Trump’s stubby fingers off it”)
• Trump Strong-Armed Justice Dept. to Overturn Vote (“Evidence Paints Vivid Picture of Bid to Coerce Agency”)
• Fox News’s Bret Baier: ‘Patriots’ testifying before Jan. 6 panel ‘stood up’ to Trump’s bid to overturn election
• Increasingly abandoned and isolated, will Trump burn it all down?
• Five takeaways about Trump’s pressure campaign at DOJ
• What Trump’s anger at Kevin McCarthy really says about Jan. 6 (“The second-guessing of McCarthy is just more gaslighting.”)
• The Bonkers Story of How Trump Tried to Corrupt the DOJ to Steal the Election (“January 6 witnesses detail his bid to install a loyalist as acting attorney general.”)
• How Trump’s Plot to Make an “Effin’ A-hole” Attorney General and Steal the Election Almost Came to Fruition
• The Memo: First phase of Jan. 6 hearings sharpens dangers for Trump
• Trump feeling fallout of Capitol attack hearings as allies abandon ship (“The smooth and efficient proceedings with testimonies from Republicans has reportedly infuriated Trump”)
• 5 key takeaways from Thursday’s Jan. 6 hearing
• The January 6 Hearings Are Working (“And even the staunchest Trump allies know it.”)
• The Jan. 6 Hearings Have Been So Much Better Than I Expected
• January 6 Hearing: Trump an Even More Brazen Criminal Than Previously Thought
• Donald Trump’s cuckoo coup (“The January 6 committee revealed new details Thursday about Trump’s attempts to take control of the Justice Department.”)
• DOJ searches home of former official who aided alleged pro-Trump ‘coup’
• Federal Authorities Search Home of Trump Justice Dept. Official (“Federal investigators carried out an early-morning search on Wednesday at the home of Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official, in connection with the department’s sprawling criminal inquiry into efforts to overturn the 2020 election” Lock. Him. Up.)
• Trump’s Misfit Goons Simply Could Not Shut Up About What They Were Doing (“Videos. Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Ceremonies for the appointment of fake electors. The 2020 ratf*ckers couldn’t help themselves.”)
• Hearing: Trump told Justice Dept. to call election ‘corrupt’
• Jan. 6 panel names five Republicans who allegedly sought Trump pardons
• At Least 5 Members Of Congress Asked Trump For Pardons, According To Jan. 6 Committee
• Here Are the Members of Congress Who Asked Trump for Pardons After January 6
• Donald Trump attorney coordinated with Ron Johnson to pass false elector document to Mike Pence
• Rep. Scott Perry played key role in promoting false claims of fraud (He has no business being in Congress.)
• New documentary footage reveals Pence reacting on the night House pushed for him to invoke 25th Amendment
• No, Our Institutions Didn’t Hold After Jan. 6—Just Look at the GOP
• In One Day, Washington Goes in Two Directions on Guns
• The Supreme Court’s gun ruling is bad, but not for the reasons you might think (“This is a Supreme Court majority untethered to text or precedent.”)
• The Supreme Court is ready to gut every blue state’s gun laws
• The Supreme Court’s new gun ruling means virtually no gun regulation is safe
• The Supreme Court supercharges the Second Amendment
• States brace for fight over gun laws after high court ruling
• US supreme court overturns New York handgun law in bitter blow to gun-control push (“Biden says ruling ‘should trouble us all’ as conservative majority strikes down law requiring ‘proper cause’ to carry guns in public”)
• Supreme court decision to overturn New York gun law met with outrage
• The most dangerous gun ruling in history, at the worst possible time
• The Supreme Court Has Endangered the Future of Gun Control (“Clarence Thomas says any regulation not from the 1700s is probably unconstitutional.”)
• The Supreme Court Gun Ruling Could Lead to More Violence
• The Supreme Court just vastly expanded gun rights. Here’s what happens next. (“One in 4 Americans will feel the impact of the ruling, which could also affect the Senate’s gun deal, experts said.”)
• N.Y. Among Blue States Seeking Gun Limits to Blunt Court Ruling
• The Historical Cherry-Picking at the Heart of the Supreme Court’s Gun-Rights Expansion (The right-wing activist judges on this Court are an absolute disgrace.)
• Supreme Court steps on Senate’s generational statement on guns with one of its own
• In 6-3 ruling, court strikes down New York’s concealed-carry law (This court is a complete joke.)
• Confidence in U.S. Supreme Court Sinks to Historic Low
• Winning Lawyers in Supreme Court Gun Case Leave Firm
• Samuel Alito lashes out at liberals in guns case as tensions boil over at SCOTUS
• Supreme Court limits ability to enforce Miranda rights (This court is evil.)
• Alito’s Attack on Miranda Warnings Is Worse Than It Seems
• Setting gridlock aside, Congress set to OK gun violence bill
• Senate passes bipartisan gun violence bill, marking breakthrough (“The bill is poised to pass the House on Friday and be signed by President Biden. It includes the most significant new gun restrictions since the mid-1990s.”)
• Senate passes most sweeping gun bill in decades, setting up House vote
• A half-century after one movement, ‘Fierce Madres’ in Uvalde call for another
• Uvalde’s fury builds one month after school massacre as probe reveals numerous failures
• Senate Passes Bipartisan Gun-Safety Legislation By Wide Margin
• Biden administration agrees to cancel student debt of 200K borrowers who say they were defrauded
• Brian Kemp subpoenaed to testify in Fulton County Trump investigation
• California leaders vow new gun restrictions after Supreme Court ruling threatens state law
• New revelations expose Fox News’ praise of the police reaction in Uvalde as the propaganda it always was (“Network figures’ manufactured fantasy of cops acting heroically was no accident. It’s their default narrative.”)
• Group aims to strip Fox News of ad revenue over ‘fueling next insurrection’ (“Check Your Ads targeting news channel website at a time when its prominent hosts are downplaying January 6 insurrection”)
• Stefanik, the No. 3 House Republican, went rogue endorsing Carl Paladino in New York, sources say (Stefanik is the worst. And she endorsed Jen Kiggans for VA02!)
• Video: Sen. Tim Kaine Says There HAVE TO Be Consequences for Trump Being “willing to countenance and encourage violence to overturn an election and disenfranchise 80 million people” (As for Kaine’s GOP colleagues: “They’re trying to ignore it…they hope it’s going to go away”)
• Virginia Democratic Members of Congress Rip “absolutely shameful,” “troubling” Decision By a Supreme Court That’s “showing itself to be more partisan and extreme every day” (And “just one month after Uvalde,” no less.)
• Video: Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA02) Says There’s “no doubt in mind [that Trump tried to obstruct an official proceeding of Congress]”; Meanwhile, Luria’s GOP(Q) Opponent Perpetuates the “Big Lie” (That should completely disqualify Jen Kiggans from holding public office.)
• Rep. Luria on Jan 6th and Jeffrey Clark: ‘His actions are really central’ to fifth hearing
• VA02 Republican Nominee Jen Kiggans Will Never Be Honest With Coastal Virginians (Instead, Kiggans “will do or say anything to get elected.”)
• Stage is set for dramatic House races in Virginia this fall
• Pope & Schapiro: Congressional primaries and a signed budget
• As 7th District race begins, ‘no lock’ on independent voters
• Virginia Gov. Youngkin says “not many people are watching” Jan. 6 hearings as they worry about “runaway inflation” (Youngkin is completely dishonest and super-slimy.)
• New report: Virginia is one of the worst offenders when it comes to lax campaign finance laws
• Virginia 10-Day New COVID-19 Cases Down 87% Compared to 1/19; Hospitalizations Down to 528 From ~4,000 in January; Both Up From a Couple Months Ago
• Virginia Board of Health reprimands health commissioner (“After questioning Greene for nearly an hour, the board passed a resolution expressing members’ ’embarrassment’ over his views and advised him not to publicly question ‘basic scientific facts regarding disparities.'”)
• Board of Health calls commissioner’s comments an ‘embarrassment’
• Appeals court denies Mountain Valley Pipeline’s request for new judges
• Bridging the broadband gap in southwest Virginia
• Navy petty officer charged in Capitol riot wanted to ‘wipe out’ Jews, praised Hitler, DOJ says (“Hatchet Speed, of Virginia, was arrested Wednesday on four misdemeanor counts in connection with the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.”)
• 18-year-old indicted in crash that killed 2 Oakton High School students
• Newport News police chief defends officers seen using force during videotaped traffic stop arrest
• D.C.-area forecast: Sunnier today and warmer through the weekend