Thursday News: Trump Meets Putin, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?; “Critics Challenge Dominion’s Pipeline Tactics”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, July 6.

• Trump warns of ‘severe’ consequences for North Korea as Russia, China balk at tough U.S. talk (This is not going to end well…)
• The G-20 should put climate change at the top of its list (“Accumulating evidence shows climate change is hurting the planet now.” Massive evidence.)
• GOP tensions rise over Cruz proposal (“Cruz is insisting on a reform to the Senate GOP bill that senior GOP aides say is a nonstarter with much — if not most — of the Republican conference.”)
• North Korea isn’t crazy. It’s insecure, poor, and extremely dangerous.
• Trump, in Poland, Says ‘Nobody Really Knows’ if Only Russia Meddled in U.S. Vote (Yes, we really DO know – they did.)
• Most states partly or fully rebuff Trump’s voter fraud commission
• What Happens If The Election Was A Fraud? The Constitution Doesn’t Say.
• Trump is preparing to meet Putin this week by reading tweet-length memos (“Desperate for Trump to read their memos, aides have condensed them into 140 characters.” My god…)
• Dems divided on Trump attack strategy for 2018
• Trump has made our politics ridiculous (“Let’s stop pretending that the president’s undisciplined fixations are a form of brilliance.”)
• Trump’s voter data request poses an unnoticed danger — to national security
• To win the working class, Democrats need to start talking straight (“Candor — not condescension — is the best way to unmask Trump’s false promises.”)
• As U.S. Growth Forecasts Fade, So Do Hopes of ‘Trump Bump’
• Why almost every state is partially or fully rebuffing Trump’s election commission
• Ahead of G-20 summit, new trade deal snubs the U.S. (“A new E.U.-Japan deal underscores the United States’ fall from grace.”)
• “Hitler said it best” — Trump ally Michael Savage quotes Hitler to condemn Obama (Demented.)
• What’s Worse: If Trump and Putin Get Along, Or If They Don’t? (“American and Russian presidential summits are always risky affairs. This one feels different.”)
• Trump has inspired widespread speculation about his cognitive decline at least 4 times
• Trump Meets Putin (“This week, the president has to pull off the delicate feat of standing up to Russia without blowing up the relationship entirely. Worried yet?”)
• Trumpcare Is a Job Killer (“Trumpcare Proves That Conservatives Would Rather Increase Inequality Than Create Jobs”)
• Scalise back in intensive care
• CNN Screws Up, Yet Again (“News network’s boast about a racist Reddit user has allowed the far right to claim the moral high ground”)
• It wasn’t just for the lulz: Bigoted trolls can’t get away with claiming they were just kidding
• How Trump’s voter fraud lie became the latest battleground in the GOP civil war (“There’s been surprising backlash from red states — and Trump’s voter fraud commission may have broken the law”)
• Here Are the 4 Lawsuits That Could Force Trump to Release His Taxes
• Hobby Lobby Purchased Thousands of Ancient Artifacts Smuggled Out of Iraq (“The craft-supply giant, which will open its Museum of the Bible in D.C. this fall, will pay a $3 million settlement.” There should be jail time.)
• Daily Stormer Troll Army Threatens CNN Staffers Over Reddit User Behind Trump/CNN GIF
• CASEY: You can just call him ‘Firecracker Ed’ Gillespie (“What’s with Ed Gillespie’s recently announced promise to fight for fireworks freedom? It seems to be a tactic by a gubernatorial candidate desperate to make a splash.”)
• Scott Taylor Gets New Challenger (“Dave Belote is retired Air Force officer, head of the Virginia Beach Democratic Party”)
• Critics Challenge Dominion’s Pipeline Tactics (“So Spatz sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the county, asking for all correspondence with Dominion. What he found was a cordial relationship between local officials, the town’s largest employer, Kyanite Mining, and Dominion. As early as June of 2015, Dominion was meeting with Buckingham officials at Kyanite to plan for the pipeline, followed by lunch at a local restaurant. The firm, which mines industrial minerals, could profit from a cheap supply of natural gas, and Pastor Wilson says it looks the like Kyanite will get that….Environmentalist Charlie Spatz’ FOIA request also revealed a member of the county board doing a favor for Dominion, which was hoping for approval from the Virginia Outdoors Foundation to build its pipeline across ten properties in permanent conservation easement”)
• Va Beach’s Belote to challenge Rep Taylor
• Looming Va. execution divides family of slain deputy
• Mother of Morva victim hopes he is executed Thursday, while victim’s daughter seeks clemency for her father’s killer
• Deal to save troubled Manassas mobile-home park takes shape
• Editorial: Moret understands the challenges facing rural Virginia (“Here’s what we should remember, especially in rural Virginia: We need to figure out how to succeed where everyone else has failed. That’s not a good bumper sticker slogan, but it’s still what we need to do, no matter who runs Richmond.”)
• Heavy downpours threaten today; dry weekend ahead