Tuesday News: “Behind the GOP’s shifting excuses for abandoning Ukraine”; “The Clarence Thomas Scandal Is Somehow Looking Even Worse”; “The New York Times Is Part of the Effing Problem”; “Judge halts removal of Confederate memorial at Arlington National Cemetery”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, December 19.

• The World Bank is running the first-ever climate reparations fund. Nobody is happy about it.
• Why we need an 859-year plan to fight climate change
• Why EU countries are not on track to meet their 2030 climate target
• Ukraine economy heads for tough 2024 as Western aid concerns grow
• They Do It for Trump (“Behind the GOP’s shifting excuses for abandoning Ukraine”)
• Inside The Russian Propaganda Mill Beaming Out Of A Florida Strip Mall
• GOP says no Christmas deal for Ukraine, border (F*** them.)
• Where is Alexei Navalny, and why has he disappeared?
• Israel strikes south Gaza and raids a hospital in the north as war grinds on with renewed US support
• Israel’s Opposition Leader Has a Message for Democrats. They May Not Like It. (“Former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid is trying to shore up support for Israel on the American center-left. But the wartime politics of both countries isn’t making it easy.”)
• The U.S. Is About To Make A Decision At The U.N. That Could Change Gaza’s Fate (“A vote Tuesday underscores the importance and the struggles of the U.S. mission to the United Nations and its leader, veteran diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield.”)
• Netanyahu Says He’s ‘Proud’ To Have Prevented Top United States Policy Goal
• This woman became the face of Israel’s music festival hostages. Why hasn’t she been released?
• Israelis Abandon Political Left Over Security Concerns After Oct. 7 (They’ve also abandoned Likud.)
• Israel’s Freed Child Hostages Are Haunted by Trauma of Captivity
• Israel pounds Gaza, Houthis vow more Red Sea attacks
• Pentagon announces new international mission to counter attacks on commercial vessels in Red Sea
• BP pauses all Red Sea shipments after rebel attacks
• Militia Attacks in Red Sea Disrupt World Shipping Map
• Pope approves blessings for same-sex couples if they don’t resemble marriage
• Don’t Confuse Pope Francis’s ‘Blessing’ With Marriage Equality
• A more aggressive China tried to influence the 2022 midterms, U.S. intelligence report says
• China earthquake: rescue efforts hampered by cold weather
• US moves to protect old growth forests as climate change threatens their survival
• Here’s how experts graded US climate progress in 2023 (“Climate experts give the U.S. mixed grades on its efforts to mitigate climate change — but they all agree there’s room for improvement.”)
• Iceland volcano erupts on Reykjanes peninsula
• Everyone expected a recession. The Fed and White House found a way out. (Totally false that “everyone” expected a recession, but the “mainstream media” certainly was pushing that narrative for whatever reasons.)
• Beware Economists Who Won’t Admit They Were Wrong
• Illegal crossings surge in remote areas as Congress, White House weigh major asylum limits
• The ridiculously stupid reason the US is letting animals spiral toward oblivion (“Good God, give this US agency a few more dollars to stop a mass extinction.”)
• COVID-19 levels high ahead of holiday travel season
• The Clarence Thomas Scandal Is Somehow Looking Even Worse (“ProPublica reports that Thomas was in debt, frustrated with his salary, and implying he’d resign from the Supreme Court if his financial situation didn’t change—just before Harlan Crow and other conservatives started lavishing him with expensive gifts and luxury vacations.” BTW, it’s fascinating that a small nonprofit newsroom like ProPublica keeps breaking this story, while the huge “mainstream media” outlets don’t do so.)
• Overturning Roe Has Been a Horror Show (“Medical nightmares are happening before our eyes, and even as Americans in red and blue states express support for abortion rights, the GOP seems determined to crack down further.”)
• Biden administration pleads with states after millions of kids lose Medicaid coverage
• Government presumption of racial disadvantage under siege by White plaintiffs
• The 118th Congress has few laws to show for its first year (The headline should make it clear that this is due to House Republicans being batshit crazy. But of course, this is the U.S. “mainstream” media, so of course it just says “Congress” generically.)
• Don’t Give In to Political Despair. Trump Is Too Great a Threat.
• Democrats’ 2024 advantage: Abortion ballot measures in key states
• Trump Asks Full D.C. Appeals Court to Review Gag Order in Election Case
• The most profound question raised by Trump’s extreme rhetoric (“Trump’s comments at a rally in New Hampshire are contrary to America’s founding values and political traditions”)
• Democrats Must Do What the GOP Won’t in Battling Trump’s Racism (“I used to loathe Democrats for how viciously they campaigned. But because Republicans have mostly surrendered, the country needs Dems to fight like hell.”)
• Video: UVA’s Larry Sabato on Trump Using “Adolf Hitler’s own words,” Wanting to Be a Dictator, GOP Governors (Hello Glenn Youngkin!) “who haven’t said ONE WORD negative about Donald Trump in public!”
• Senate Republicans recoil at Trump ‘poisoning the blood of our country’ remarks (Not a peep from Youngkin, who would be loudly OUTRAGED if a Democrat had ever said something like this.)
• Trump Is Copping Lines From F*cking Hitler
• New York AG Ridicules Trump’s Failed Courtroom Hail Marys
• The Founders didn’t want a Mar-a-Lago executive branch
• Why older voters have stuck with Biden more than younger generations
• The Alarming Calm of the Biden Campaign (“The president’s advisers insist that everything is going according to plan. podcast”)
• Mark Meadows’s bid to move Georgia election case to federal court rejected
• Senate confirms Biden nominee to run Social Security Administration (“The Senate voted Monday to confirm former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) as commissioner of the Social Security Administration”)
• The New York Times Is Part of the Effing Problem (Very much so.)
• Trump super PAC prepares to go on attack against Nikki Haley in New Hampshire
• Complaint accuses DeSantis campaign of illegally coordinating with Never Back Down
• Miami GOP Strategist Barbara Balmaseda Arrested on Capitol Riot Charges
• Texas to arrest migrants crossing border illegally under new state law
• Texas Becomes an Abortion Dystopia
• Cardin ‘angry,’ ‘disappointed’ with ex-staffer after sex tape reveal
• Eric Adams’ Brain-Melting 9/11 Quote Explains His Worst Year as Mayor Yet
• Millions of dollars at stake if Wizards, Capitals move, DC think-tank says
• Which Confederate statues are gone in the DMV — and which remain?
• If NOVA Must Have a Wizards/Capitals Arena, Make it Carbon Neutral (“Transportation will be key to whether this project succeeds and fails, as well as to a major portion of its carbon impacts.”)
• Former VA Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R): “We were initially told [proposed new Wizards/Caps arena]…would not involve the use of any direct public (taxpayer) funds. However, that does not appear to be the case.”
• Tax Policy Proposal Could Raise $1 Billion to Invest in Education, Housing, and More (“Virginia’s tax code is currently upside-down, where the wealthiest pay the least taxes as a share of income” – The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis)
• Here’s why Youngkin wants to ban TikTok for kids under 18 (Pure politics for Youngkin.)
• Virginia Inspector General says voter removals were accidental
• Virginia sends $20 million to space authority to expand launch operations
• VHHA Polling, Focus Group Research Shows Virginians are Largely Unaware of Laws Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills, Providing Access to Good Faith Estimates, and Promoting Health Care Financial Transparency
• Democrats hold firehouse primary for Frank Ruff’s 9th Senate district seat
• Up to 10 candidates to vie for party nominations for Southside state Senate seat Tuesday
• Judge halts removal of Confederate memorial at Arlington National Cemetery (Trump-appointed judge…)
• Charlottesville OKs two major apartment developments — against UVa’s wishes
• Judge reluctant to slow seizure of animals from the Natural Bridge Zoo
• Norfolk gang leader gets life in prison for brutal beating, shooting of member who tried to quit
• D.C.-area forecast: Sunny and colder with brisk breezes