Saturday News: “J&J Vaccine Gets Step Closer to Use”; “Just how nuts is the Republican Party?”; “The GOP’s whining about Biden is absurd. Good thing Democrats are ignoring it.”; “Vaccine Picture Improves for Virginia”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, January 30.

Here’s Marjorie Taylor Greene the day after the Capitol riot saying “it was a hard thing we did yesterday, but I wouldn’t do anything else. I wouldn’t do anything else.” This video is beyond disturbing. pic.twitter.com/MaN1IviBlw

— Scott Dworkin (@funder) January 30, 2021

• Russia braces for second weekend of pro-Navalny protests
• Alexei Navalny may be in jail, but he’s helping to give birth to a new Russia (“The protests across Russia show that society is waking up.”)
• Astra-EU Fight Opens New Rift in Global Bid to End Pandemic
• Japan Discovers New Types of U.K. Coronavirus Strain
• J&J Vaccine Gets Step Closer to Use
• Covid Mutations Undercut Optimism Even as More Vaccines Get Near
• Trump White House donated 8,700 ventilators to other nations. Officials now don’t know where many of them are, watchdog finds.
• Latest Covid Surge Appears to Flame Out Even in Worst Hot Spots
• Will Novavax and Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccines work against variants?
• Johnson & Johnson Executive Says Vaccine Works Where It Counts: Preventing Deaths
• Black Lives Matter movement nominated for Nobel peace prize
• G.M. Announcement Shakes Up U.S. Automakers’ Transition to Electric Cars
• U.S. CDC issues federal transportation mask mandate effective February 1
• Dizzying pace of Biden’s climate action sounds death knell for era of denialism
• Wall Street faces Washington crackdown after GameStop rollercoaster
• Some districts and parents push for return to in-person learning (“The US is still months away from vaccinating the majority of Americans against the virus, but the push to reopen public schools has been reignited.”)
• In race against time on virus mutations, U.S. is ‘falling behind’
• Biden says Congress needs to ‘act now’ on $1.9tn Covid relief proposal (“President said he supported passing relief with or without Republicans”)
• Biden, Democrats prepare to move beyond efforts to woo Republicans
• The U.S. is finally catching up to the domestic terrorism threat
• The ‘civil war’ for the soul of the GOP is over before it began. Trump won — again. (“Trump may be gone, but Trumpism still reigns in the Republican Party.”)
• Democrats have prevailed, but Trumpism is still here. We can’t be complacent.
• House Democrats building elaborate, emotionally charged case against Trump
• Senate Republicans say Trump should be held accountable for riot — but not by them (Cowards.)
• Biden wants Democrats to keep Trump trial short
• Memo to Democrats: Trump’s trial won’t be a distraction. Do it right.
• American fascism isn’t going away (“A conversation with Yale’s Jason Stanley about the latent pathologies in American politics.”)
• The GOP’s whining about Biden is absurd. Good thing Democrats are ignoring it.
• Just how nuts is the Republican Party? (“The GOP doesn’t care to operate in the real world.”)
• Reporters are hounding the wrong people about the covid-19 rescue package (“Where is Republican cooperation?”)
• Biden signs executive orders at furious pace (Good, keep reversing everything Trump did by executive order.)
• Legal Pressure on Trump Increases With Judge’s Order in Fraud Inquiry
• After Trump, Democrats set out on a mission to ‘repair the courts’ (“The White House and senators are coordinating on an ambitious judicial project. Some Democrats want to fill every vacancy by the end of 2022.”)
• Actions by Proud Boy at Capitol show ‘planning, determination, and coordination,’ U.S. alleges
• Two members of the Proud Boys face conspiracy charges in US Capitol riot
• Proud Boys Charged With Conspiracy in Capitol Riot
• Many of my fellow politicians won’t tell voters the truth. The result was Jan. 6. (From Eric Cantor of all people.)
• GOP Pols Knew Who Taylor Greene Was—and Did Nothing (“Holding your breath waiting for the GOP to expel Marjorie Taylor Greene? I’ve got news for you. You’re going to suffocate.”)
• RJC slams Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ‘indefensible’ Jewish space laser comments
• Rep. Cori Bush moving office away from Marjorie Taylor Greene ‘for my team’s safety’
• Marjorie Taylor Greene Controversies Are Piling Up. Republicans are Quiet. (If Republicans wanted to get rid of her, they could. But clearly they don’t want to and/or aren’t willing to do so.)
• In a Pre-Election Video, Marjorie Taylor Greene Endorsed Political Violence
• Lawmakers say Marjorie Taylor Greene is a safety threat. GOP leaders are ignoring it.
• NRA laid the groundwork for deadly Capitol riot for years, say gun control advocates (“Militia groups, QAnon, Capitol rioters and anti-lockdown protesters are all linked by toxic NRA ideology”)
• Job Seekers With Trump White House on Their Résumés Face a Cold Reality
• “Stop the Steal” Organizer Called for “Execution” of Trump’s Foes
• A Major Trump Forum Scrubs Its Archives of Thousands of Pre-Riot Posts
• “Stop The Steal” organizer bragged about a phone call with “people from the White House” weeks before the insurrection
• Republicans Can’t Believe Democrats Don’t Want to Work With Them Just Because of the Guns and the Death Threats and the Crackpot Conspiracy Theories (“What gives, honestly? Who wouldn’t want to work alongside such well-adjusted, not at all dangerous people? “)
• George W. Bush to thank Dick Cheney, father of Liz Cheney, ‘for his daughter’s service’
• With Biden in office, when will Breyer retire? (Hopefully very soon…the summer at latest!)
• Lifelong Republican Donor Quits GOP: ‘Absolutely’ Now The Party Of QAnon (“If you stay in the Republican Party, you have to pay homage to Trump and I don’t do that. I don’t pray to any man”)
• We’re Destroying the Very Things – and People – Keeping Us Safe (“We need systemic change to the healthcare system in the United States of America, now.”)
• 6 Killed In Liquid Nitrogen Leak At Georgia Poultry Plant (The vast majority of the “meat” industry is a disgrace in a variety of ways, including worker safety – or lack thereof.)
• Heritage Foundation Welcomes Chad Wolf, Ken Cuccinelli, Mark Morgan as New Fellows (Absolutely disgraceful.)
• Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward rejects call for audit of party elections (Massive hypocrisy.)
• Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA11) Endorses Mark Herring for Attorney General (Connolly: “Mark Herring has been the most progressive and effective Attorney General in Virginia history”)
• Schapiro: New role for unchastened Chase: victim (It’s not a “new role,” it’s the same ol’ same ol’. As for Chase being a woman, one would hope that the same behavior by a man would lead to the same result – censure – but who knows.)
• Gov. Northam Announces Legislative Steps to Increase Equity in State Procurement (“Virginia to establish goals of 23.1 percent discretionary spending with woman- and minority-owned businesses and 42 percent with SWaM-certified businesses”)
• Northam and lawmakers want more state contracts going to women- and minority-owned businesses
• Vaccine Picture Improves for Virginia
• Friday (1/29) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +4,238 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 497,912), +128 Hospitalizations (to 21,241), +71 Deaths (to 6,379)
• Times-Dispatch report outlined race, ethnicity gaps in vaccine distribution. Here’s how Virginia responded.
• Bill to cap cost of online education at Virginia colleges is tabled
• When Virginia Energy Companies Overcharge, Who Deserves the Money?
• Two Bills Advance to Facilitate COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution
• The Energy Bill List Gets Longer. How Do You Choose What To Focus On? (Three energy priorities: building energy efficiency codes, right to shop for renewable energy, Clean Car Standard)
• Sen. David Suetterlein wants statue of Booker T. Washington, born into slavery in Hardy, in Virginia State Capitol
• Christopulos: Another misleading poll from Mountain Valley Pipeline supporters
• As PPP reopens with new rules, Roanoke-area businesses seek second round of help
• Fairfax Policy Cutting Ties With ICE Is The First Of Its Kind In Virginia
• University of Virginia announces athletic department layoffs
• With retirement, police chief of Fairfax County, Va., leaves department at a crossroads (“Lawmakers praised Edwin C. Roessler’s community engagement, but officers were sometimes skeptical of his leadership.”)
• State’s Tallest Highrise Made From Wood (“Apex is a wind power company based in Charlottesville, and true to its mission, the firm wanted its headquarters to be green. That’s why it’s building an eight-story highrise from a surprising material – wood.”)
• D.C. area awaits biggest snowstorm in two years; snowfall starts Sunday, possibly lasting to Tuesday
• Chilly today ahead of a snowstorm that gets underway Sunday morning