Friday News: “China Dares Trump to Hit Back With Hong Kong Power Grab”; “‘Petulant’ Trump wore mask on factory visit – but not in public”; “As Trump Rails Against Voting by Mail, States Open the Door for It”; “Virginia’s Unemployment Filing System Is From 1985 — And It’s Falling Apart”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, May 22.

• Microplastic pollution in oceans vastly underestimated – study (“Particles may outnumber zooplankton, which underpin marine life and regulate climate”)
• Leaked Document Lifts Lid on EU’s Green Deal ‘Recovery’ Package (“The EU has reshaped its Green Deal into a recovery package, with huge support for renewables, green hydrogen and EVs set to be announced next week.” The United States should, but won’t, do something like this.)
• Beijing to implement security laws in Hong Kong by fiat, bypassing region’s legislature (One of the top-rated comments on the WaPo story says, “Taiwan will be next. Trump throwing the TPP in the garbage was one of his first mistakes. Xi has made a fool of our president and USA looks weak right now.”
• Global markets fall as China moves to tighten control over Hong Kong
• China to propose hugely controversial national security law in Hong Kong
• China Dares Trump to Hit Back With Hong Kong Power Grab
• US investors weigh business fallout from Beijing’s power play in Hong Kong
• China’s proposed national security law could end Hong Kong as we know it
• U.S. Plans New Arms Talks Aimed at Limiting Russian, Chinese and U.S. Nuclear Warheads (“Trump seeks Russia’s help in bringing China into three-way deal”)
• Sweden is still nowhere near ‘herd immunity,’ even though it didn’t go into lockdown
• Human trials of British coronavirus vaccine to widen to 10,000
• Coronavirus live news: India sees 6,000 new cases in biggest one-day rise since pandemic began (“China abandons GDP target amid ‘great uncertainty’; Trump pictured in mask for first time; Italy death toll could be 60% higher than assumed…Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov ‘hospitalised with suspected Covid-19’”)
• The United States and the New World Disorder: Retreat From Primacy
• Trump to pull US out of third arms control deal (“The Open Skies Treaty allows Russia and western nations to conduct observation flights”)
• Trump says he won’t close the country if second wave of coronavirus hits
• Virus ‘does not spread easily’ from surfaces or animals, revised CDC website states (“CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund said Thursday that the revisions were the product of an internal review and ‘usability testing.’ The revised guidance now states, in headline-size type, ‘The virus spreads easily between people.'”)
• The CDC has gone silent. Its voice must be restored.
• White House adviser uncertain about economic rebound
• White House just lied about why Trump didn’t vote in person
• Trump skips mask in public tour of Ford plant (Of course, because Trump is sociopath.)
• First Thing: ‘petulant’ Trump wore mask on factory visit – but not in public (“President said he ‘didn’t want to give the press the pleasure’ of seeing him in face covering, although pictures emerge.”)
• Trump subverts ritual of political photo op (“The refusal to wear a mask publicly in Michigan was the latest example of President Trump upstaging the intended image of a president doing presidential things.”)
• The System Failed the Test of Trump (That’s largely because “Moscow Mitch” McConnell completely refused to stand up for the rule of law, or even the Senate’s institutional prerogatives.)
• Donald Trump Tried to Help Michael Flynn. Instead, He Played Himself. (“The Flynn motion was supposed to roll out Trump’s summer of ‘Obamagate.’ Instead, it’s poised to expose more of his administration’s dirty laundry.”)
• Appeal Court orders Flynn judge to explain himself (“The Appeals Court order is the latest twist in a remarkable series of events that have thrown the Flynn case into turmoil.”)
• Nancy Pelosi is on fire (“The speaker bashes Trump’s bad example and Mitch McConnell’s obstruction.”)
• Trump bashes Michigan AG after she calls him ‘a petulant child’ for refusing to wear mask (She’s right, although comparing them to Trump is an insult to petulant children everywhere. LOL)
• Trump counting on Supreme Court to block probes, lawsuits
• You can’t turn the economy back on like a light switch (“Magical thinking on the economy won’t make things the way they were before.”)
• Pompeo ordered officials to find a way to justify Saudi arms sale being probed by fired watchdog
• The Mike Pompeo Scandals Just Keep Piling Up
• Pompeo Quietly Visits Conservative Donors and Political Figures on State Dept. Trips
• For Republicans, It’s Just Pure Base Politics Now
• How Bad Is The COVID-19 Misinformation Epidemic?
• Black Americans and Latinos nearly 3 times as likely to know someone who died of COVID-19: POLL
• Congress is moving to another round of coronavirus relief. Here are the battle lines. (“Mitch McConnell is demanding liability protections for employers and a cut to jobless benefits. Democrats have passed the HEROES Act and want a GOP counteroffer.”)
• Is Ben Smith’s Column About Ronan Farrow Too Good to Be True? (“A close examination reveals the weaknesses in what may be called an overcorrection for resistance journalism.”)
• It Wouldn’t Be an American Reopening Without an Unfortunate Exercise of Second Amendment Freedom (“Someone armed with an AR-15 shot up an Arizona mall on Wednesday evening. Then someone else tried to shoot up a Texas naval base.”)
• Doctors’ new coronavirus threat: Patients who refuse to wear masks (“Health care workers don’t want to fight the mask culture war, but they’re being forced to.”)
• What’s Bill Barr hiding in the Mueller report? It could be Trump’s grand jury testimony (“Congress may soon see redacted grand jury information in Mueller report. Did jurors doubt the president’s word?”)
• Intelligence Officials Reportedly Struggle To Brief Trump Because He’s Like A Giant Toddler (“The president has blamed the intelligence community for failing to alert him to the coronavirus threat, but officials say he rarely reads briefings and can’t pay attention.”)
• As Trump Rails Against Voting by Mail, States Open the Door for It (“Despite the president’s opposition, states are increasingly reducing barriers to what many see as the safest way to vote amid the pandemic.”)
• Another Trump con: Now he’s cheating frontline workers and National Guard troops (“Trump is shortchanging frontline workers and denying benefits to National Guard troops. Why is anyone surprised?”)
• Senate Republicans’ probe of Hunter Biden and Ukraine is a wild goose chase
• American billionaires got $434 billion richer during the pandemic
• Senate Republicans are staking their political future on lies and conspiracy theories
• Would-be Americans are being kept from becoming citizens — and from voting in the fall
• A Trump election conspiracy collapses (“A Trump election conspiracy theory has fallen apart after Florida’s law enforcement agency said it had found no widespread voter fraud in the 2018 races for Senate and governor.”)
• A new ad makes the case against Lindsey Graham with Graham doing all the talking
• Why Did Florida Avoid a Coronavirus Disaster? (“Theory 1: A hot and humid climate…Theory 2: Protecting the elderly…Theory 3: It didn’t actually do that well”)
• Trump Is a Superspreader—of Distraction
• Trump is a menace to public health and himself (“It is not unapproved drugs but a mask that he needs to use.”)
• Joe Biden needs Elizabeth Warren — in some capacity (“Her emergence as a center-left wonk suits her.”)
• Joe Biden must be doing something right (“Democrats shouldn’t get cocky, but they should stop panicking.”)
• Biden’s vice president shortlist emerges, as Demings says she’s being vetted (“Biden has said he expects the vetting process to take five to eight weeks, which would point to an announcement occurring no sooner than July.”)
• Fox News poll: Biden opens up 8-point lead over Trump
• Trump advisers warn McSally is in trouble (“Worries about an Arizona Senate seat surface at the White House as polls show Trump losing to Joe Biden in the state, too.”)
• Wilson Roosevelt Jerman, White House staffer who served 11 presidents, dies of coronavirus at 91, family says (“Jerman worked for every president from Eisenhower to Obama. An iconic photo shows him in the elevator with Mr. and Mrs. Obama as they rode to the family quarters of the White House at the end of the day.”)
• Investors bet $27.5 million that Nanotech Energy’s graphene battery breakthrough is the real thing (“The startup claims to be ‘the world’s top supplier of graphene’ and plans to release a non-flammable, environmentally friendly lithium battery that can charge ’18 times faster than anything that is currently available on the market’ — within the next year.” Wow…if that pans out.)
• Amazon Clicks Buy on 615 Megawatts of Large-Scale Solar (“Tech giant may reach its 100 percent renewables goal five years early, but environmentalists remain skeptical of its climate goals.”)
• Scientists Warn CDC Testing Data Could Create Misleading Picture Of Pandemic
• As Tara Reade’s Expert Witness Credentials Are Questioned, So Are Verdicts (Seriously, nobody should believe a word she says about anything – on any subject.)
• President Trump: Fox News is a propaganda outlet (Duh.)
• Trump’s immigration policies are spreading COVID-19. Fox News personalities are cheering it on.
• Early release of Cohen and Manafort shows how unfair prison system is, experts say (“Just a small fraction of prisoners have been sent home because of the coronavirus pandemic. Many others lack legal help and connections to make their case.”)
• Man who filmed Ahmaud Arbery’s death arrested on murder charges, authorities say
• The Atlantic lays off almost 20% of staff
• Luria announces IRS hotline to assist with EIP stimulus payment questions
• 7th District Republican candidates call for ranked-choice voting at convention
• Former Rep. Scott Taylor (R-VA02) “backs…dangerous conspiracy theory”: Bob Good in VA05 espouses wildly out-of-the-mainstream views; Del. Nick Freitas’ VA-07 GOP Opponents Gang Up Against Him
• As Unemployment Claims Continue to Surge Nationally and in Virginia, Republicans Want to…Wait for It…”Roll Back Benefits!”
• So Much for The Atlantic’s “Juked” Story? (“It turns out that the CDC itself, as well as “several” (many?) states have been “blending” PCR and antibody tests numbers – or are unclear as to what they’re doing.”)
• AG Mark Herring Files Brief Defending Safe Voting by Mail Against Attacks From Conservative Activists Engaged in Thinly Veiled Voter Suppression
• Northam stumbles through a crisis that should have made him a rock star
• The Commonwealth Institute Applauds Gov. Northam’s Vetoes on Association Health Plan, Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement Legislation (“Action protects access to affordable and comprehensive health coverage for people in Virginia during critical time”)
• Northam vetoes three bills intended to expand insurance access (“In announcing the vetoes, Northam’s office issued a statement suggesting that the measures could have undermined the ACA by providing an alternative to buying coverage on the insurance exchange, which could lead to higher costs for those who remained. Northam won office in 2017 on a promise to expand Medicaid under the ACA, which has allowed more than 420,000 uninsured Virginians to get health coverage.”)
• Virginia lawsuit: Absentee voting not needed for coronavirus
• Lawsuit Says Virginia Absentee Voting Not Needed for Coronavirus
• Thursday (5/21) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +1,229 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 34,137), +114 Hospitalizations (to 4,093), +25 Deaths (to 1,099) From Yesterday
• Virginia’s Unemployment Filing System Is From 1985 — And It’s Falling Apart
• Virginia’s antiquated unemployment system strains under demand
• Virginia’s Small Businesses Shoulder the Burden of Trump’s Economic Disaster
• ‘This is what you signed up for.’ Nursing home staff say safety concerns were dismissed as outbreak grew.
• State’s official Eastern Shore virus data still doesn’t show hundreds of poultry worker tests
• State’s COVID-19 education work group seeks input from teachers, parents
• Video: Gov. Northam Pushes Back on Trump’s “Baseless” Charge of Mail-in-Ballot “Fraud”
• “What Happened in Staunton” on Tuesday? Were the Election Results a One-Off, a “Canary in the Coalmine,” or What?
• Virginia Records Spike in New COVID-19 Cases; Appalachian Trail, Shenandoah Nat. Park to Reopen
• Governor Northam Signs Two-Year State Budget
• Flooding forces evacuations, rescues as Roanoke River nears 16-foot level
• Editorial: A test of responsibility begins on beaches (“Gov. Northam’s decision to open the beaches today is the right call so long as everyone who visits them this weekend does so responsibly.”)
• Beaches in Virginia Beach open Friday: What is and isn’t allowed under the coronavirus rules?
• ‘We could very well lose our restaurant in two months’ — Richmond restaurants say they could crumble without more leadership from city
• Showery today before warmth surges tomorrow under sunnier skies