Thursday News: “‘Gobsmackingly bananas’: scientists stunned by planet’s record September heat”; “McCarthy ouster exposes the Republican Party’s destructive tendencies”; “If ever a defendant deserved a gag order, it’s Donald Trump”; “New report: Black people are disproportionately incarcerated in Virginia”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, October 5.

• September sizzled to records and was so much warmer than average scientists call it ‘mind-blowing’
• Climate Change Is Pushing These Migratory Birds to the Brink (Ugh.)
• Earth is on track for its hottest year yet, according to a European climate agency
• ‘Gobsmackingly bananas’: scientists stunned by planet’s record September heat (“The carbon emissions driving the climate crisis and rapid arrival of an El Niño event are to blame, researchers say”)
• Global carbon emissions from electric power may peak this year, report says (“Thinktank says rapid growth of wind and solar is near rate required if world is to hit 2030 target as part of 1.5C pathway”)
• Europe could become energy self-sufficient in $2 trillion push, study says (Do it!)
• New technology uses wind power to reduce cargo ships’ emissions, fuel use
• Why Summers May Never Be the Same
• Oil Extends Plunge as Brent Falls Below $85 on Demand Worries
• A Wartime Election in Ukraine? The Prospect Is Stirring Anxiety. (“Normally, President Volodymyr Zelensky would be running for re-election next spring. An election appears to be unlikely, but he has not ruled one out.”)
• As U.S. support wobbles, E.U. looks to long term strategies on Ukraine
• House Speaker turmoil imperils future Ukraine funding
• Russia Withdraws Black Sea Fleet Vessels From Crimea Base After Ukrainian Attacks
• Biden says he will deliver ‘major’ speech on Ukraine
• Russia launches more drone attacks as Ukrainian President Zelenskyy travels to a European forum
• North Korea’s halt of nuclear reactor suggests bid to obtain weapons-grade plutonium – report
• Aftermath of an Assassination: Inside the India-Canada Crisis
• Himalayan lake flooding kills 14, more than 100 missing in India
• Scoop: Senior Biden advisers quietly visit Saudi Arabia to discuss mega-deal
• Poland’s Election Is Neither Free nor Fair
• Poland election turns Germany into punchbag, straining Western alliance (“Fighting to win an unprecedented third term in office, Poland’s nationalist government has seized on a target close to home: Germany, its NATO ally and biggest trading partner.”)
• Rishi Sunak slows Mexico and Canada trade talks as he eyes pact with U.S.
• Biden approves new section of border wall as Mexico crossings rise (“Around 20 miles (32km) will be built in Starr County along its border with Mexico, where officials report high numbers of crossings.”)
• Biden cancels $9 billion in student debt for 125,000 borrowers
• Medicare to start negotiations with drug companies to lower prescription prices
• The Faith Factor in Climate Change: How Religion Impacts American Attitudes on Climate and Environmental Policy
• This Year’s Record Heat Redefined Summer for Americans
• Fed’s Bid to Avoid Recession Tested by Yields Nearing 20-Year Highs
• McCarthy’s tenure as House speaker was marked by dysfunction
• McCarthy’s Ouster Raises Likelihood of a Government Shutdown
• The Ripples of Republican Chaos
• Holy entitlement, Batman! Republicans are furious Democrats didn’t save Kevin McCarthy from himself (“Democrats are sick of bailing the GOP out of their own messes, and boy, are Republicans whining about it”)
• Imagine If Democrats Had Done It (“The Republican party is sustained by two fundamental asymmetries. And there’s no cure for either of them.”)
• McCarthy ouster exposes the Republican Party’s destructive tendencies
• Vote to oust McCarthy is a warning sign for democracy, scholars say (“The speaker’s defeat at the hands of a hard-right fringe in the Republican Party will make it difficult for the House to function.”)
• McCarthy thought he could harness forces of disruption. Instead they devoured him.
• Who voted Kevin McCarthy out? These 8 House Republicans.
• McCarthy’s legacy is one of damage to the House and his former office (“In the actions he took to get the job and in the nine months he managed to hold it, McCarthy damaged the House as an institution and debased the speakership.”)
• Republicans Cut Off Their Own Heads
• The real life consequences of a Congress in crisis
• Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as House speaker could cost GOP its best fundraiser heading into 2024
• McCarthy’s Ouster Is Proof That Appeasement Doesn’t Work (“The political-obituary writers will not be kind to one of the weakest House Speakers ever.”)
• House GOP quietly panics over how to escape its self-inflicted mess
• GOP Fantasy Collides With Reality (“The requisite for Republican leadership is serving delusion—that Trump won in 2020, that the Republicans did not lose in 2022. Fail at that and you’re out.”)
• What Can Patrick McHenry, the Interim Speaker, Do? (Not much.)
• McCarthy behind move to kick Pelosi out of her office, sources say — so he can move into it
• House GOP takes revenge on Democrats after McCarthy ousting
• McCarthy drama causes headaches for front-line Republicans
• Gaetz Supports Scalise and Jordan to Replace McCarthy as Speaker
• Steve Scalise, No. 2 House Republican, Joins Race to Succeed McCarthy
• 20 GOP senators led by Rick Scott vow to block bills not related to funding government
• Mitch McConnell Warns House Republicans About ‘Hammerlock Of Dysfunction’ (“The Senate GOP leader urged those in the House to ditch a rule he said would make the job of any future speaker ‘impossible.’”)
• How Kevin McCarthy’s Embrace Of Trump Sealed His Fate (“McCarthy’s decision to accept Trump-backed candidates in House elections shrunk his margin for survival as speaker.”)
• Kevin McCarthy’s Downfall Is the Culmination of the Tea Party
• Trump’s intensifying rhetoric offers insight into how he might govern again as president
• ‘Trump’s generals’ need to warn voters that he is unfit to serve
• Authoritarianism Expert’s Chilling Trump Warning: ‘Violence Is His Political Project Now’ (“It is the thing, besides his own victimhood, that he brings up the most”)
• Right-wing media figures, from QAnon-linked to Fox News, call for Trump to be House speaker
• Trump is not ruling out being the new House speaker
• Hours After Gag Order, Trump Launches Fresh Vitriol Against New York Judge
• If ever a defendant deserved a gag order, it’s Donald Trump
• Trump Announces $45.5 Million Fund-Raising Haul, Tripling DeSantis
• Ron DeSantis’ money problems deepen ahead of a key stretch in the GOP primary
• Ron DeSantis, Flailing Presidential Candidate, Is Still Waging a Higher-Ed Culture War (“One of the governor’s allies, Richard Corcoran, was recently elected president of New College, where students say DeSantis has carried out a “hostile takeover” of the school’s leadership.”)
• Appeals court doubtful on Trump’s lawsuit against Twitter
• There Are Tapes: GOP Rep. Has Recording of Kevin McCarthy ‘Belittling’ Him
• Former Mike Pence Aide Claims Matt Gaetz Likely Came To D.C. ‘For The Teenage Interns’
• Leaked Video Shows Matt Gaetz Courting Corporate Megadonors
• From a Capitol Hill Basement, Bannon Stokes the Republican Party Meltdown
• Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson calls out John Kelly: ‘He knew Mr. Trump’s record’
• Giuliani to lose 2nd attorney in Georgia, leaving him without local legal team
• Vivek Ramaswamy’s Campaign Rhetoric Is Marching Toward the Medieval
• ‘There is no alternative’: Cornel West, the US Green party presidential hopeful, is not backing down (Nutjob.)
• Elon Musk’s Machine for Fascism: A Tale of Three Elections
• Musk Strips Headlines Out of News Organizations’ Posts on X (Bizarre.)
• Colorado high court to hear case against Christian baker who refused to make trans-themed cake
• Bob Menendez’s wife hit and killed a man while driving on Bogota’s Main Street in 2018
• The Bob Menendez Corruption Case Takes a Wildly F–ked-Up Turn (“According to new reports, the Mercedes Benz that Senator Bob Menendez’s wife received as part of an alleged corruption scheme was the replacement for a car she struck and killed a man with.”)
• Bidens’ dog, Commander, involved in more White House biting incidents than previously reported
• GOP candidate says he smeared ‘fecal matter’ on daycare center because of Obama: report (WTF???)
• Schapiro: In conservative coup, Good gets the best of McCarthy (It wasn’t a “conservative coup,” it was a far-right-extremist coup.)
• Virginia hunting for ‘lost practices’ to progress toward Bay cleanup goals
• Meet the Latest Pro-Trump, Far-Right, Anti-Democracy Billionaire Trying to Buy Virginia’s Elections for Glenn Youngkin (We’d all better vote like our lives depend on it!)
• DLCC: Youngkin Continues to Aggregate Out-of-State Billionaire Funding to Put Virginia Under Full MAGA Control (The $$ includes “$2 million from far-right billionaire Jeff Yass and $1 million from Thomas Peterffy, another major Republican donor.”)
• Williams: Education has been a winning formula for Youngkin, but not for educators and students
• Virginia budget puts millions toward support staff as schools struggle to find teachers
• Big Pharma Rewarding Virginia Republicans for Killing Drug Affordability Proposal
• EMILY’s List Memo: Democratic Pro-Choice Women are Defending Our Rights in Virginia (“Given their extreme records, it’s clear leading Republicans, including House Speaker Todd Gilbert and Lt. Gov. and President of the Senate Winsome Earle-Sears, would put forth the most restrictive abortion bans possible.”)
• New report: Black people are disproportionately incarcerated in Virginia (“Black people in Virginia are incarcerated at a rate that is four times the rate for white people. That’s according to a new report from the Prison Policy Initiative.”)
• Va. localities should improve security against shootings, commission says
• Dulles Metro station used by 1 million passengers since opening
• NEW: Monty Mason Launches Public Safety Ad Featuring Newport News Sheriff Gabe Morgan (“I trust Monty Mason to keep us safe. You should, too.” – Sheriff Morgan)
• Climate change brings a growing challenge for wildlife sanctuary
• Samuels library in Va. has funding restored with LGBTQ policies unchanged
• Editorial: Collecting eviction information will help shape Virginia policy
• VCU recommends pedestrian safety upgrades
• In House District 89 race, candidates want to tackle education and rising cost of living (This is exactly how NOT to report on U.S. politics at this point. In fact, in this race, there’s one normal candidate – Karen Jenkins – and one far-right-extremist candidate – Baxter Ennis, who you can learn more about here. For starters, Ennis is a 2020 election “truther” who rants about the FBI “stamp[ing] down on these violent Antifa thugs” – comparing them to “Hitler’s Brown Shirt thugs that eventually bullied their way into power” – and who is a big fan of batsh*t-crazy Michele Bachmann. Of course, the Virginian-Pilot doesn’t highlight any of that; it’s called a whitewash.)
• CASEY: ‘Animal House’-type allegations swirl around Liberty University in Lynchburg
• Virginia Tech to issue rebates to students, boost faculty and graduate student pay
• Virginia Tech’s Marr wins ‘genius grant’ for COVID-19 research
• House District 58 race: Republican Shaia vs. incumbent Democrat Willett (“Shaia said she opposes Virginia’s participation in RGGI” – ’nuff said.)
• Virginia trooper alleged retaliation by top commanders for speaking out on pay
• Key casino stakeholder failed to report finances, could lose NASDAQ listing
• ‘Fixin’ to ride the lightning’: Soldier who was handcuffed, hit, pepper-sprayed during traffic stop appeals case after jury mostly sides with police
• Prince William GOP chairman resigns after son charged with raping child (Yikes.)
• What it’s like to be a Fairfax Co. librarian in an era of banned books
• Loudoun Co. to open waitlist for Housing Choice Vouchers for first time in over 10 years
• D.C.-area forecast: Less sun but still warm today before the weekend turns much cooler