Friday News: “‘This is really, really bad’: scientists on the scorching US heatwave”; “Joe Manchin reaches out to Republicans, and they slap him in the face”; “Biden signs bill making Juneteenth a national holiday”; “Trump was wrong about the law, Obamacare politics and his judges”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, June 18.

• Five years before a vaccine can ‘hold the line’ against Covid variants, England’s medical chief says
• Germany Has Given Half its Residents at Least One Covid Shot
• Many Expected to Shun Iran Vote Seen as Presidential Race of One
• These Iranians Want a Boycott. The Regime Will Still Win.
• Judge under U.S. sanctions set for presidency as Iranians vote
• EU Opens Up for Americans Wanting to Vacation Abroad
• Taiwan Wants German Vaccines. China May Be Standing in Its Way.
• Nicaragua Denies Entry to New York Times Journalist Amid Escalating Crisis
• Some Of America’s Allies Have Their Own Big Elections On The Horizon
• Netanyahu Ordered Illegal Shredding of Docs at His Office Before Bennett Took Over, Sources Say (“It’s unclear which, or how many, documents were destroyed at Netanyahu’s orders”)
• It’s Not Too Late to Avert a Historic Shame (“As the U.S. military prepares to leave Afghanistan, it’s running out of time to evacuate the Afghans who have helped the United States.”)
• EXCLUSIVE Pacific undersea cable project sinks after U.S. warns against Chinese bid
• Bernie Sanders: Washington’s Dangerous New Consensus on China
• Putin Hails Biden After Russian Senator Questions U.S. Leader’s Fitness
• Putin polls higher than Biden among Trump voters (That kinda says it all…)
• Australian wind projects grind to a halt in face of grid hurdles and falling prices
• Democracy Is Surprisingly Easy to Undermine (“Politicians around the world are borrowing Trump’s ‘Stop the Steal’ tactics. The false fraud allegations are profoundly dangerous.”)
• Shell Gets Greener, Even as Climate Advocates Say, ‘Go Faster’ (“Royal Dutch Shell, though still reliant on profits from fossil fuels, is investing more in renewable energy. Critics say the changes have to come quicker.”)
• Venezuela’s Maduro Pleads for Foreign Capital, Biden Deal in Caracas Interview
• Ageing process is unstoppable, finds unprecedented study (“Research suggests humans cannot slow the rate at which they get older because of biological constraints”)
• Why Biden’s persistent optimism may be warranted (“Breakthroughs are still possible.”)
• Why Trump must be prosecuted: Nothing less can break the twisted bond with his supporters (“Not prosecuting Trump would send an unacceptable message. In a democracy nobody should be above the law” Also, prosecute Trump’s corrupt, scumbag minions…)
• High Hopes for Johnson & Johnson’s Covid Vaccine Have Fizzled in the U.S. (“Production problems and a brief pause on its use kept the one-dose vaccine from becoming the game changer that health officials across the country believed it would be.”)
• Record-shattering heat wave bakes western US, raising drought and fire concerns (This is the climate crisis. We’d better deal with it on an emergency basis.)
• ‘This is really, really bad’: scientists on the scorching US heatwave (“Researchers had long forewarned of this crisis and now they’re seeing their studies and models become real life”)
• Newly released video shows former NYPD cop striking officer with flagpole during Capitol riot, DOJ says
• Justice Department releases harrowing new bodycam footage from January 6 attack
• In first, U.S. charges Jan. 6 defendant with bringing firearms to Capitol under controversial federal rioting law
• Where was the FBI before the attack on the Capitol? (Crucial question; we need answers, ASAP!)
• Congressman Reveals True Terror Of Republicans Now Downplaying Capitol Riot
• The Republican Party’s mission: whitewash the Trump presidency (“Republicans are acting as if parts of Trump’s presidency never happened”)
• Trump tells Fox News he ‘didn’t win’ election but doesn’t drop fraud lie (“Ex-president says ‘We got 75m votes and we didn’t win but let’s see what happens’ seven months after election called” Trump’s completely unhinged, also dangerous and anti-democracy.)
• The sycophantic inner circle egging on Trump – and fueling his big lie (“Despite audit after audit, the CEO of MyPillow, a state senator and a rightwing TV host remain convinced of election fraud”)
• Joe Manchin’s sweeping new voting rights proposal, explained (“The pivotal senator has released a potentially transformative plan to promote fair elections.”)
• McConnell Has Just One Play Against Joe Manchin’s Voting Rights Compromise (“It’s not that complicated, even if it has been amazingly successful. But it’s also something that hasn’t really been tested, and that is the part that could be about to change.”)
• McConnell vows to block voting bill in Senate, spurning Manchin’s proposed compromise
• Can Chuck Schumer Figure It All Out?
• Democrats scramble to unify before election bill brawl
• Joe Manchin reaches out to Republicans, and they slap him in the face
• At least someone is doing something to protect voting rights (“If the government won’t, it will be up to all of us to protect voting.”)
• Stacey Abrams backs Manchin’s voting rights compromise as Senate eyes vote
• Schumer Set to Challenge GOP With Vote to Advance Election Bill
• Obamacare’s Win at the Supreme Court Is Even Bigger Than It Appears
• John Roberts Just Pulled Off His Greatest Judicial Magic Trick (“Somehow, Roberts was able to create a six-justice majority to hold that Philadelphia violated the Constitution when it ended its contract with a foster care agency that turns away against same-sex couples. He united the three liberals together with Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh in support of a taxpayer-funded agency’s ability to discriminate against gay people. At the same time, Roberts affirmed that preventing anti-gay discrimination is a compelling state interest. And, to top it all off, he upheld a landmark precedent that a supermajority of the court apparently wants to overturn. We may never see a more masterful display of constitutional prestidigitation.”)
• An epic Supreme Court showdown over religion and LGBTQ rights ends in a whimper (“The Court’s decision in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia punts most of the important issued raised by the case.”)
• Trump was wrong about the law, Obamacare politics and his judges (“Analysis: The former president promised that his Supreme Court picks would overturn the Affordable Care Act. He met the court’s ruling with the deafening silence of defeat.”)
• A Supreme Court trio is checking the power of the conservative majority (“Roberts, Kavanaugh and Barrett have seized the Supreme Court for now”)
• Supreme Court Conservative Shift Hits Bump With Moderate Rulings
• ‘Obamacare’ survives: Supreme Court dismisses big challenge
• Health care ruling saves Republicans from themselves
• Obamacare is part of America now. Republicans must stop undermining it.
• ‘Alito was just pissed’: Trump’s Supreme Court breaks down along surprising lines
• Public option fades with little outcry from progressives
• Obamacare Is Here to Stay. Brace for New Health Care Battles. (“Republicans in Congress have largely abandoned efforts to repeal the law. With the latest Supreme Court ruling, health policy now shifts to new territory.”)
• Bad strategy? How the Republican attack on voting rights could backfire
• Trump-DOJ revelations should newly shame his Republican enablers (Yes, if they had any shame.)
• Revitalizing a Damaged State Department (“Career officials wonder whether Antony Blinken is up to the task.”)
• DCCC taps members for large leadership team (” Incumbent-protection efforts will be helmed by Rep. Ami Bera of California with assistance from Reps. Jennifer Wexton of Virginia and Steven Horsford of Nevada. All three used to represent swing areas that have become safer in recent years.”)
• 13 Republicans Try to Create Crisis Over Biden’s ‘Cognitive Function’ With Letter to White House Physician (Hahahaha, Ronny Jackson…)
• It’s not only politics that’s driving the low vaccination rate in the South (“People living there, along with the remainder of the Deep South, have had the worst rates of almost every health indicator for decades: low rates of influenza vaccination, high rates of obesity and diabetes, high rates of cigarette smoking and shorter lifespans.”)
• Op-Ed: Giving people a license to discriminate because of their religious beliefs
• Bulldozed and bisected: Highway construction built a legacy of inequality (“Will their removal heal historic wounds?”)
• Wall Street Wrestles With Abrupt Arrival of Juneteenth Law
• Republicans want to hide behind Juneteenth while they enable modern-day racism
• Biden signs bill making Juneteenth a national holiday; federal workers to get Friday off
• Biden signs bill making Juneteenth, marking the end of slavery, a federal holiday
• Right-wing “critical race theory” attacks are supercharging a racist movement to undo decades of civil rights advancement
• Parents who opposed critical race theory on Fox News are GOP activists, report says (Of course…)
• How a Conservative Activist Invented the Conflict Over Critical Race Theory (“To Christopher Rufo, a term for a school of legal scholarship looked like ‘the perfect weapon.'”)
• The Company Eric Adams Keeps He’s the candidate of old political-machine guys like Democratic fixer Frank Carone. What would that mean in City Hall?
• Sen. Tim Kaine: It’s “Absolutely Imperative” To Protect Voting Rights; Hopes For “comprehensive voting rights bill—with all 50 Democrats on board—on the Senate floor for a vote in the coming weeks”
• SCOTUS Upholds ACA After AG Mark Herring and His Colleagues Defended It Against Efforts By the Trump Administration To Repeal It
• Giffords Endorses Terry McAuliffe for Governor; Second National Gun Violence Prevention Group Backs Terry This Week
• Governor Northam Announces Task Force on Culturally Inclusive School Meals and Calendars (“The Task Force on Culturally Inclusive School Meals and Calendars will meet biweekly throughout June and July to identify best practices and form recommendations.”)
• Thursday (6/17) Virginia Data on COVID-19: Hospitalizations, 10-Day New COVID Cases Near Lowest Points Since Start of Pandemic
• Del. Jay Jones Pledges to Work “relentlessly to hold Republicans accountable for their far-right agenda and use all of my energy to elect the entire Democratic statewide ticket and our House candidates in every corner of the Commonwealth”
• FWIW Virginia: The General Election Starts Now, Including on Digital Media (“Youngkin’s big digital spending continues his trend of dumping money into paid media across the state”)
• Everytown For Gun Safety Action Fund Endorses AG Mark Herring For Third Term
• Virginia is changing expectations for child care providers to put focus on early education
• VCU Health Seeks to Address Racial Disparities in Sickle Cell Anemia Treatment
• Editorial: Could Southside or Southwest Virginia be a “regional technology hub”?
• Hampton Roads has 5 coronavirus ‘outbreaks in progress’ right now. What does that mean?
• Northam coming to Fort Monroe, where first Africans landed, to commemorate Juneteenth
• Williams: Richmond’s monuments to oppression need to be gone, but not forgotten.
• Arlington poised to rename Lee Highway after John M. Langston, a trail-blazing Black abolitionist congressman
• Charlottesville approves limited, application-based virtual school option
• 9 speakers protest critical race theory during Williamsburg, James City School Board meeting (This is heavily fueled by right-wing media’s recent obsession with this formerly obscure topic.)
• D.C.-area forecast: Heat is back but today’s humidity is low while the sun is bright