Tuesday News: “E.U. leaders agree to $859 billion stimulus package”; “Constitutional Crisis” as “Trump’s Occupation of American Cities Has Begun”; Republicans “Still at Odds Over Aid Package”; “Fairfax County Schools Could Start Year 100% Online”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, July 21.

• UK coronavirus vaccine prompts immune response in early test
• E.U. leaders agree to $859 billion stimulus package (“E.U. officials described the deal as a milestone that will shape how member states live with one another for years to come.” So…the E.U. is functional, while the U.S. is dysfunctional. Exceptional, eh?)
• The Inside Story of How Europe Landed Its Massive Stimulus Plan (“It was one of the most difficult negotiations in the EU’s 63-year history.”)
• Macron and Merkel Deliver an $859 Billion Breakthrough
• EU reaches ‘truly historic’ deal on pandemic recovery after fractious summit
• How Many Polar Bears Will Be Left in 2100? If Temperatures Keep Rising, Probably Not a Lot (“A new study projects that with no action on climate change, only a few, northernmost subpopulations of the bears will exist by century’s end.” Slash greenhouse gas emissions starting immediately, while massive enhancing carbon “sinks” like forests and agricultural lands.)
• Russia report reveals UK government failed to investigate Kremlin interference
• Our ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran failed — unless the goal was to help China
• Greta Thunberg gives €1m award money to climate groups (“Influential climate campaigner says Gulbenkian rights award gave her ‘more money than I can begin to imagine’”)
• Rich Americans’ homes generate 25% more greenhouse gasses than those less affluent
• Your Coronavirus Antibodies May Not Last for Long. Here’s What That Means. (“First, know it’s really not that surprising.”)
• What Trump’s sudden rediscovery of the pandemic reveals (“The President’s rediscovery of the pandemic suggests a realization that public scorn over his denial-plagued leadership may end his presidency”)
• American Death Cult Why has the Republican response to the pandemic been so mind-bogglingly disastrous?
• What You Don’t Know Can’t Hurt Trump (“‘Slow the testing down,’ he said, and it’s happening.” Utterly insane, like denying climate science or whatever.)
• Biden outlines priorities for next pandemic relief package (“deliver a lifeline to those who need it most: working families and small businesses”)
• Biden Proposes $775 Billion Plan Funded by Real Estate Taxes
• To Fight the Pandemic, Here’s My Must-Do List (Sen. Elizabeth Warren: “The Senate needs to act now. There is no time to waste.”)
• America Needs Another Bailout. Is Congress Up to the Task? (Ugh, why ask about “Congress” generically? This is all about Congressional *Republicans* and Trump!)
• Trump throws wrench into coronavirus bill negotiations with Senate Republicans (“Republican senators balk at White House’s insistence that next coronavirus bill include a payroll tax cut and cuts to funding for testing and contact tracing.” Both are unacceptable.)
• Trump to bring back coronavirus briefings in attempt to revive reelection campaign
• Majority of Voters Say U.S. Society Is Racist as Support Grows for Black Lives Matter (“An overwhelming majority of Democrats, 90%, said Black people are discriminated against, whereas 26% of Republicans agreed. A similarly large share of Democrats, 82%, believe American society is racist, a view held by 30% of Republicans.”)
• Republicans, Still at Odds Over Aid Package, Eye $1 Trillion Opening Offer
• The Memo: Trump’s grip on GOP loosens as polls sink
• How Biden is winning (“Joe Biden refuses to play into Donald Trump’s hands.”)
• Biden vows to impose “substantial and lasting costs” for foreign interference
• My Statement on Foreign Interference in U.S. Elections (Stark contrast to Trump, as Joe Biden writes, “Foreign interference in the U.S. electoral process represents an assault on the American people and their constitutional right to vote”)
• Dem leaders demand FBI briefing on ‘foreign interference campaign’ targeting lawmakers
• Biden says 4 Black women are on his list of potential running mates
• States are banning coal. Will it change the electricity mix?
• Suspect in federal judge’s home ambush railed against her in misogynistic book (Horrifying.)
• ‘Anti-Feminist’ Lawyer Is Suspect in Killing of Son of Federal Judge in N.J.
• The New Jersey Shooting Suspect Left a Pro-Trump Paper Trail (“In a trove of documents published online, Roy Den Hollander directed misogynistic and racist insults at U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas, and expressed support for the president.”)
• Trump consults Bush torture lawyer on how to skirt law and rule by decree
• ‘Things could get very ugly’: Experts fear post-election crisis as Trump sets the stage to dispute the results in November
• There’s a reason Trump stars in pro-Biden ads (“Trump’s pitiful performance suggests the debates will be a fiasco.”)
• After Trump, we will need a truth commission
• Republicans want to save themselves — but only if the price is low (“They aren’t willing to do what it takes to separate from Trump.”)
• Trump recklessly deploys forces in Portland to distract from the pandemic
• George Will reveals he is voting for Joe Biden — the first time he’s ever cast a vote for a Democrat: report
• Trump’s Occupation of American Cities Has Begun (“Protesters are being snatched from the streets without warrants. Can we call it fascism yet?” Yes.)
• A Navy Veteran Had a Question for the Feds in Portland. They Beat Him in Response.
• The unmarked federal agents arresting people in Portland, explained (“’At this point, we’re already in a constitutional crisis,’ an Oregon attorney told Vox.”)
• Trump’s Legal Justification for the Abduction of Portland Protesters Is Absurd
• Dozens of moms formed a human shield to protect protesters from officers outside a federal courthouse in Portland
• ‘It feels like an invasion,’ says Portland protester detained by federal agents
• Trump Threatens to Send Federal Law Enforcement Forces to More Cities
• Florida’s largest teachers union sues state over reopening schools
• ‘We can’t pull it off’: Florida sheriff says he can’t muster security for GOP convention
• ACLU sues Trump administration over Michael Cohen’s imprisonment
• Republican leaders vow to fill potential Supreme Court vacancy this year (Of course…)
• Does Elizabeth Warren Still Have a Shot in the Biden Veepstakes?
• Tammy Duckworth’s Stock Rises As A Possible VP Choice After A High-Profile Few Weeks
• Trump Calls Masks ‘Patriotic’ Less Than Two Months After Ridiculing Biden for Wearing One (Biden leads, Trump follows…sometimes…months later. Pathetic.)
• Lawsuit accuses former Fox News anchor Ed Henry of rape and current top talent of sexual harassment
• Tucker Carlson Accuses New York Times of Trying to ‘Injure’ His Family
• Lawsuit accuses ex-Fox News reporter Ed Henry of rape, says Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson harassed other woman
• Atlanta Mayor Says Governor ‘Completely Unreasonable,’ Vows To Fight Mask Lawsuit (Mayor Bottoms is absolutely correct.)
• St. Louis Couple Charged for Waving Guns At Black Lives Matter Protesters
• VIDEO: GOP Senate Candidate Daniel Gade Violates Virginia’s Mask Mandate at Crowded Republican Event
• Virginia Teachers, Education Leaders Praise Joe Biden’s Roadmap to Reopen Schools
• The More You Crunch the Numbers, The LESS Impressive Nick Freitas’ Victory in the VA07 GOP Convention This Past Saturday Looks
• Charniele Herring and Patrick Hope column: Reforming Virginia together (“For the first time in the history of the General Assembly, the House Courts of Justice and Public Safety committees will hold hearings that will enable the public to provide testimony and written public comment virtually. House Democrats think the public’s point of view and perspective is critical to the formation of legislation. We will hold three joint public meetings: July 22, July 29 and August 3 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.”)
• Welcome To the TOP HITS of Gerrymandering…and Why Virginians Should Vote NO on the “Piss Poor” Constitutional Redistricting Amendment
• AG Mark Herring Files Brief Defending Removal of Robert E. Lee Statue; Asks Judge to Dissolve Injunction
• Judge refuses to block Northam’s COVID-19 executive orders
• Bobby Vassar and Wyatt Durrette column: On redistricting, Virginia can do better. (What a bunch of crap.)
• Pandemic and Intra-Party Fights Complicate Virginia Redistricting
• Monday (7/20) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +945 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 78,375), +36 Hospitalizations (to 7,201), +4 Deaths (to 2,031) From Yesterday
• Audio: State Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant (R) Says COVID-19 Data “Sound[s] Dramatic” But It’s “Not a Significant Risk” to Kids
• VA Senate Dems Want to Rein In “Overcharg[ing] for Minimally Assaultive Behavior,” Such as Throwing an Onion Ring
• Mountain Valley, DEQ negotiate over environmental fines (“Mountain Valley Pipeline has agreed to pay $8,000 of the $86,000 demanded by Virginia regulators for the latest environmental violations caused by building the natural gas pipeline.” So…tiny fine to begin with, then the state negotiates it DOWN?!? How is that environmental “quality” or protection? Gov. Northam needs to step in here?)
• For rural counties, a new chance to gain from Virginia’s solar energy rush
• EDITORIAL: Atlantic Coast Pipeline RIP (Once again demonstrating that the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Start editorial page is a fact-free zone. As soon as you read the lie, “clean-burning natural gas,” you know this editorial is one you should skip. Also, how about the fact that they actually quote the climate-science-denying “John Locke Foundation?” Yep, this editorial board is completely messed up.)
• ‘No Mask, No Entry’: Virginia Liquor Stores To Enforce Customer Face Covering Policy
• Fair Maps Virginia campaign aims to get voters to embrace redistricting commission amendment (Who’s funding this?!?)
• 11 commonwealth’s attorneys form group to back criminal justice reform
• Grand jury indicts Fairfax County police officer in violent encounter with black man (“Officer Tyler Timberlake had previously been charged, but the counts were dropped for procedural reasons last week.”)
• Fairfax County Schools Could Start Year 100% Online
• Chesterfield County Public Schools will have virtual-only start this year
• With Chesterfield divided over school reopening options, School Board votes for virtual learning
• Richmond prosecutor clears police in several complaints related to civil unrest
• William & Mary raises more than $1 billion in fundraising campaign
• Finding a new police chief will be a top priority for Virginia Beach’s new city manager
• COVID-19 Cases Hit New High in Lynchburg Area
• Roanoke lays out plans for spending pandemic relief money
• Students organize first Black Lives Matter rally in King George
• Roanoke hits 100 degrees for first time in 8 years (This is the climate crisis.)
• Heat and humidity fuel late-day storms; some may be severe