Saturday News: “America…get your act together on climate change”; “As U.S. Cases Reach 181,000 in a Single Day, States Tighten Measures”; “The End Is Here: Last Two States Called in the Presidential Election”; “The crisis isn’t Trump. It’s the Republican Party.”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, November 14.

• Green giants: the massive projects that could make Australia a clean energy superpower(“The Asian Renewable Energy Hub would have an energy content equivalent to 40% of Australia’s overall electricity generation”)
• America, we’ve missed you. Now please get your act together on climate change (Correction: the climate CRISIS.)
• Biden Wants to Be the Climate President. He’ll Need Some Help From Xi Jinping. (“The U.S.-China relationship is at its lowest point in a half century, but there are also converging interests on global warming.”)
• China strikes its worst blow yet against autonomy and rule of law in Hong Kong
• It’s been a year since covid-19 emerged. The world still isn’t ready for it.
• Boris Johnson boots out top adviser Dominic Cummings (“Source says aide’s instant departure came after he was accused of briefing against PM”)
• Al Qaeda’s No. 2, Accused in U.S. Embassy Attacks, Is Secretly Killed in Iran (“Israeli agents shot Abu Muhammad al-Masri on the streets of Tehran at the behest of the U.S., officials said, but no one — Iran, Al Qaeda, the U.S. or Israel — has publicly acknowledged the killing.”)
• TikTok’s US ban has been delayed another two weeks — or maybe forever
• The Apocalyptic Politics of the Populist Right (“By refusing to concede, Trump has sent a message to his fellow strongmen that this is a fight for survival.” Very very dangerous and antithetical to democracy.)
• New U.S. Covid-19 Cases Top 180,000 for the First Time
• As U.S. Cases Reach 181,000 in a Single Day, States Tighten Measures
• U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Are Climbing Once Again: ‘It’s Traumatizing’ (“For families of those who have died, the personal pain has combined with a sense of anger that an exhausted nation has grown inured to the toll. ‘You don’t realize the situation until you live through it,’ said the son-in-law of one man who died.”)
• A fall coronavirus disaster is already here. We can’t wait until Inauguration Day to act.
• ‘Personal responsibility’ isn’t working. We need mask mandates. (Yep, these need to be enforced.)
• The Next Decade Could Be Even Worse (“A historian believes he has discovered iron laws that predict the rise and fall of societies. He has bad news.”)
• ‘No One Is Listening to Us’ (“More people than ever are hospitalized with COVID-19. Health-care workers can’t go on like this.”)
• Biden to be briefed by national security experts next week: transition official
• Defense secretary sent classified memo to White House about Afghanistan before Trump fired him
• Pentagon senior adviser accused Pompeo and senior politicians of taking money and getting rich from ‘the Israeli lobby’ (Anti-Semitic conspiracy theories at high levels of the Pentagon, no problem! LOL)
• John Kelly criticizes Trump over delay of Biden transition
• As Soon as Trump Leaves Office, He Faces Greater Risk of Prosecution (Which explains why he’s freaking out, but does NOT explain why anyone else would defend him.)
• Legal Avenues Closing As Trump Lawsuits Meet With Defeat Or Dead Ends
• Mr. President, Pack Your Bags and Be Gone (“Trump wants to preserve, protect and defend only himself.”)
• Trump strikes out in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania ballot challenges, Biden’s lead more secure
• It goes from bad to worse for the Trump legal team (“Prominent law firms have sought to withdraw from representing the Trump legal effort in Arizona and Pennsylvania.”)
• QAnon’s Dominion voter fraud conspiracy theory reaches the president (“For days after the election, adherents to the QAnon conspiracy movement had been trying to get President Donald Trump’s attention with constant false claims about voter fraud connected to a company that makes voting machines.” Key word: FALSE.)
• No, Mitch McConnell Can’t Veto Joe Biden’s Cabinet (“Under the Constitution’s presidential adjournment clause, if the Senate and House cannot agree on whether or not to adjourn, the president can adjourn Congress ‘for such time as he shall think proper.'”)
• Trump considers legacy as he wavers (“For a brief moment during a Rose Garden address, the President seemed close to acknowledging the reality that his presidency is almost over”)
• John Kelly blasts Trump for not helping with the transition: ‘The downside to not doing so could be catastrophic’
• Yellen Under Consideration by Biden Team for Treasury Chief
• ‘Purely outlandish stuff’: Trump’s legal machine grinds to a halt
• Michigan judge rejects demand to block certification of Biden win in Detroit
• President Trump taps Rudy Giuliani to take over election legal fight: Sources (Pathetic.)
• Federal Court In Pa. Rejects Effort To Block Late-Arriving Ballots Postmarked By Election Day
• The End Is Here: Last Two States Called in the Presidential Election
• Trump’s originalist judges should reject his lawsuits usurping states’ rights. The framers would.
• Biden’s agenda may rest on GOP centrists — and return of bygone Senate era
• In Trump’s final days, a 30-year-old aide purges officials seen as insufficiently loyal
• Trump’s racist appeals powered a White evangelical tsunami
• Biden calls for ‘urgent action’ from Trump amid COVID-19 surge
• Federal prosecutors assigned to monitor election malfeasance tell Barr they see no evidence of substantial irregularities
• The crisis isn’t Trump. It’s the Republican Party. (“Anne Applebaum wrote the book on why people choose to collaborate with authoritarian regimes. So what does she think of the GOP?”)
• Bill Maher Embarrasses Trump Legal Adviser Jenna Ellis
• Republicans never gave Obama a chance. I fear it’ll be the same with Biden. (“The goal of a reconciled and unified America won’t be easy.”)
• Christopher Krebs Hasn’t Been Fired, Yet
• Trump Hints at His Election Loss But Still Withholds Concession to Biden
• Charles Koch Says His Partisanship Was a Mistake (Riiiiiight.)
• Twitter might not ban Trump. But we should still ignore him. (Twitter absolutely should ban him for massive, constant violation of Twitter rules.)
• You think Democrats have problems? Look at the GOP. (“Both sides have challenges. One side has way more.”)
• Jones Day Attorneys Voice Dismay About Election Suits on Calls
• Arizona calls vindicate Fox News Decision Desk (Or it got lucky?)
• Senator-elect Tommy Tuberville flubs basics of the Constitution, World War II and the 2000 election. (This guy is dumber than a rock…shouldn’t be elected to ANYTHING, just based on having a zero IQ.)
• Trump attacks N.Y. gov, says he’ll withhold Covid vaccine from state until Cuomo approves (WTF?)
• Tech companies under pressure to ban far-right forum used for militia organizing
• Trump-Fox feedback loop amplifies deranged conspiracy theory about Dominion and vote stealing
• Stop the Steal’s massive disinformation campaign connected to Roger Stone
• Young Kim defeats Gil Cisneros in another victory for Republicans in Orange County
• With Biden Ahead, Georgia Begins Hand Recount Of Nearly 5 Million Ballots
• ‘They know their vote matters’: the Georgia Senate runoffs battle is already on
• Why Matthew Yglesias Left Vox (“Like Andrew Sullivan, who joined Substack after parting ways with New York magazine, and Glenn Greenwald, who joined Substack after resigning from The Intercept, which he co-founded, Yglesias felt that he could no longer speak his mind without riling his colleagues.”)
• Two accused ‘dead’ Georgia voters very much alive despite claims – and they voted legally
• How The Navajo Nation Helped Flip Arizona For Democrats
• Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene challenges House mask rule with ‘my body, my choice” (Total nutjob.)
• Fox Business’ Lou Dobbs Has Full-On Election Meltdown: Denies Trump What’s ‘Rightfully His’ (“The Trump sycophant demanded to know why Republicans ‘just say we’re not going to accept the results of this election.'”)
• Audio: Sen. Warner Says He “hasn’t “talked to a single Republican Senator that doesn’t acknowledge that Joe Biden is going to be president.”
• “Congressman Ben Cline is staying on the Trump Train, drinking the Kool-Aid, pushing fake news and conspiracy theories”
• Schapiro: AAS as Virginia’s centrist AOC (Hahaha, wuuut?)
• November 2020 Turnout By Precinct in Virginia Ranged From Mid-20%s to Upper 80%s
• Northam announces new COVID-19 restrictions in response to surging cases across the state
• Video: Governor Ralph Northam Announces New Statewide Measures to Contain COVID-19
• Are You Exempt? New COVID-19 Restrictions Don’t Always Apply, State Officials Say
• Friday (11/13) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +1,235 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 199,262), +69 Hospitalizations (to 13,408), +27 Deaths (to 3,785)
• As coronavirus surges again, Washington region heads back toward shutdowns
• Virginia cities hope to cash in after voters approved casino measures
• Needing to Focus His Time and Energy on Safely Reopening Schools, Prince William County School Board Chair Babur Lateef Says, “I have decided not to seek the office of Lieutenant Governor next year”
• Fairfax judge rules cash bond unconstitutional
• Facebook post by Virginia Wesleyan dean asks Biden voters to “unfriend” him, causes an uproar at university (“The school official’s private post went public and called anyone who voted for Joe Biden ‘ignorant, anti-American and anti-Christian.'” Alrighty…)
• Va. judge rebukes Fairfax County police, prosecutors for failing to disclose key evidence in murder case
• Fairfax County Schools to Continue Studying In-Person Pilot Program
• Fairfax County teachers push back on return-to-school plans
• Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins ’85 To Serve as Interim VMI Superintendent
• Judge grants bond to two Newport News police officers in killing case
• James River now at its highest since 2003 near downtown Richmond; flooding to diminish by Sunday
• Free Lance–Star closing offices to public due to COVID-19 increase
• Virginia’s Natural Bridge is NOT for Sale, Despite Rumors
• D.C.-area forecast: Cooler and sunny today, then another cold front delivers showers Sunday (“50s today and 60s tomorrow. Some gusty showers are a risk along the next cold front.”)