Thursday News: “Biden says US is ‘all in’ on Africa’s future”; “How Gen Z Could Transform American Politics”; “GOP Lawmakers Who Texted Meadows”; “QAnon…finds new life in Elon Musk’s Twitter” “How to win a congressional race in 7 days”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, December 15.

• Fusion power is tantalizing, but it won’t save the planet
• Why Do We Keep Destroying the Homes of The World’s Creatures? Dinner (In particular, beef production. The answer? Don’t buy it.)
• The surprising reasons parts of Earth are warming more slowly
• The Future of Conservation Is Taking Shape in Africa
• Omicron subvariants are a serious threat to boosters and knock out antibody treatments, study finds
• Column: India’s solar boom reverses gas momentum, cements coal use
• Musk’s Twitter tweaks foreshadow EU showdown over new rules
• Dozens freed in new Ukraine-Russia prisoner swap
• Russia warns U.S. of ‘unpredictable consequences’ if it sends Patriot missile systems to Ukraine
• U.S. planning to give Ukraine smart-bomb kits
• Ukraine: Russian strikes thwarted, but wreckage hits buildings
• European Union and NATO near long-delayed joint pledge to back Ukraine
• Heavy shelling in Russian-controlled Ukraine as Christmas truce ruled out (“Ukrainian forces staged their heaviest shelling attack in years in the country’s Russian-controlled east on Thursday, Moscow-installed officials said, as both sides ruled out a Christmas truce in the nearly 10-month-old war.”)
• EXPLAINER: What can the Patriot missile do for Ukraine?
• An Alternate Reality: How Russia’s State TV Spins the Ukraine War
• A week into China’s easing, uncertainty over virus direction
• Border clashes between India and China ‘regularly covered up’
• China’s War Against Taiwan Has Already Started
• China pushes vaccines as retreat from ‘zero-COVID’ turns messy
• China’s Leaders Plot Pivot Back Toward Boosting Economy
• In Iran, protesters are executed. The regime is losing the people.
• Germany’s half-a-trillion dollar energy bazooka may not be enough
• ‘They are joining me. I’m not joining them’: Netanyahu defends far-right allies (Indefensible.)
• US-Africa summit: Joe Biden says US is ‘all in’ on Africa’s future
• Sam Bankman-Fried’s Harsh Bahamas Jail Could Shift His Stance on Extradition
• Harry Turns on ‘Terrifying’ William Who ‘Screamed’ at Him
• White House reveals winter COVID-19 plans, more free tests
• US winter storm barrels east with millions under weather warnings
• Severe weather system leaves trail of destruction in the South
• Fed raises rates by half a percentage point in last 2022 hike
• Elizabeth Warren: The Federal Reserve Is Trying ‘To Get More People Fired’
• Powell Says Fed Still Has a ‘Ways to Go’ After Half-Point Hike
• Powell’s Inflation Outlook at Odds With Markets
• The Federal Reserve has a credibility problem
• Americans bought at least 150m guns in decade since Sandy Hook shooting
• 10 years after Sandy Hook, Biden says Americans should have ‘societal guilt’ over gun violence
• Again and again: The school shootings since Sandy Hook
• Leonard Leo’s Latest Supreme Court Play
• DOJ and SEC charge social media influencers in alleged $100 million stock pump and dump scheme
• The Senate Might Actually Fix Some of Those Election Loopholes After All
• These 9 House Republicans broke from the party to vote for stopgap funding bill
• The Hill’s Morning Report — House passes spending bill, narrowly avoiding shutdown
• GOP tempers flare as McCarthy pans McConnell’s spending strategy
• Seven scenarios for McCarthy’s Speakership vote — ranked least to most likely
• Come on down? House GOP weighs the right price to topple a speaker
• Texts Show How Members Of Congress Advanced ‘Antifa’ Conspiracy Theories In The Wake Of Jan. 6
• Lowest Opinion Of Trump Among Voters In Seven Years, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Biden Approval Rating Climbs
• In Congress, Republicans confront divisions posing long-term threats
• Mitch McConnell: I Told You These Weirdos Would Lose
• How Gen Z Could Transform American Politics (“According to our survey and others, voters ages 18 to 292 are more likely than any other cohort — even those only a decade or two older — to say that abortion should always be legal,3 that racism and racial inequality are big problems in the U.S.4 and that they favored dramatic moves to undo injustices of the past, like cash payments to descendants of enslaved people.5 What’s more, many young Americans have told us that they feel compelled to vote because their values and goals feel so at odds with the people controlling the levers of power.”)
• House votes to remove bust of Dred Scott decision author from Capitol
• Pelosi’s blunt talk about abortion rights skewers U.S. bishops
• That Sound You Hear Is Donald Trump Raging at the Mar-a-Lago Omelet Station Guy Over the New 2024 Polls
• The Crunchy-to-Alt-Right Pipeline
• N. Carolina AG to weigh charges in Meadows voter fraud case
• Senate Passes Bill Banning TikTok From Government Devices
• Musk bans Twitter account tracking his jet, threatens to sue creator (Meanwhile, Musk is perfectly fine with endangering other people, such as – ironically – Twitter’s former head of trust and safety.)
• QAnon, adrift after Trump’s defeat, finds new life in Elon Musk’s Twitter
• The 80-year-old book that explains Elon Musk and tech’s new right-wing tilt (“The long shadow of James Burnham’s The Managerial Revolution.”)
• Elon Musk’s Politics Are About As Complicated As Trump’s
• Elon Musk’s Tesla Share Sales Approach the $40 Billion Mark (“He was recently dethroned as the world’s richest person.”)
• Kanye West’s Love of Hitler Allegedly Goes Back 20 Years
• Nearly half of Trump’s posts on Truth Social in the week after the election pushed election misinformation or amplified QAnon-promoting accounts
• Kari Lake and supporters storm right-wing media to hype up her flimsy election lawsuit (A few weeks ago, Youngkin was busy campaigning for this nutjob, even called her “AWESOME!”)
• The Lost Cause finally loses (“Confederate statues were installed as an assertion of white supremacy, and they’ve been coming down as part of a challenge to that same toxic ideology.”)
• “Democracy Dies in Darkness, Huh?”: Washington Post Publisher Stuns Newsroom With Layoff Bombshell—And Hasty Exit
• Schapiro: Snap contest for U.S. House seat has crackle and pop
• Virginia Republicans are using ranked-choice voting again. Democrats still aren’t. (Democrats *absolutely* should be using Ranked Choice Voting.)
• Sen. Tim Kaine Endorses State Senator Jennifer McClellan for the VA04 Democratic Nomination Next Tuesday (Kaine says McClellan would be “worthy successor” to Rep. Donald McEachin.)
• Tim Kaine who was stranded 27 hours on I-95 during Va. storm offers tips for winter drivers
• How to win a congressional race in 7 days (according to those trying) (“A trio of high-profile Virginia lawmakers compete in a race that will last seven days and probably determine the next member of Congress.”)
• Audio: Del. Bagby for Congress Releases First Radio Ad of Campaign, Highlighting Rep. McEachin’s Legacy and Bagby’s Record as Chair of Black Caucus
• Results of Blue Virginia’s Twitter Polls on the VA04 Democratic Nomination, as Well as Several Key State Senate Democratic Primaries (Presented with numerous caveats, so take with a big grain of salt of course…)
• Opinion/Editorial: Disabled kids win big in suit
• Video: Aaron Rouse Releases First Ad of Crucial Special Election for SD7 in Virginia Beach
• Youngkin proposes $230 million behavioral health overhaul
• Recommendation: Make dual enrollment classes free across Virginia
• VDOT issues first road map for infrastructure climate resilience
• Youngkin to call for income tax changes in budget proposal
• Dominion Energy plans to deploy small modular nuclear reactors statewide by 2032 (Dominion should go all-out on energy efficiency, which is the most cost-effective thing to do, but of course that would mean their sales and profits might be lower, so of course not.)
• Prince William supervisors approve plan for growth through 2040 (“The county’s 18-year road map for growth encourages more density in rural areas, multifamily housing, and more commercial and industrial development, including data center projects that have faced fierce opposition.”)
• ‘Catfishing’ cop told Virginia police he was treated at mental health facility, records show (This whole story is disturbing.)
• Stafford School Board passes new sexually explicit materials policy, staffing standards
• Head of Virginia Beach mass shooting commission defends group amid criticism, resignations
• “I know that paving isn’t sexy” – Stoney and others discuss vision to improve road safety in Richmond
• Lynchburg metro has recovered from pandemic slower than any other metro in Virginia, federal report shows
• Appalachian Power customers oppose utility’s latest rate increase
• Hearing for delegates’ shoving case delayed to 2023
• Updates: Patchy ice north and northwest of Beltway (“Today is a mess with icy patches early, especially in colder areas west and north of downtown Washington, and then wind-driven rain all day and evening.”)