National and Virginia News Headlines: Tuesday Morning

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, August 4. Also, gotta love watching Scott Walker - Koch brothers' puppet - get punk'd for just that!*GOP candidates range from hopeless to hapless on climate change (In a sane world, this alone would be an automatic disqualifier for holding elective office, let alone president, in America.) *Donald Trump Was Totally Right to Skip the Big Candidate Forum in New Hampshire("...maybe he had an inkling of what we know for certain now-14 candidates racing against the clock to recite canned talking points makes for a total snoozefest." Although there was plenty o'crazy too!) *The GOP field's calculated crazy talk (I'd say some of it's calculated, some of it they really believe.) *Mr. Obama's Clean Power Plan sets an important example (Now it's time for Congress to act by passing a cap-and-trade or carbon tax plan.) *Republican effort to defund Planned Parenthood stalls *The Campaign Against Planned Parenthood Is Causing a Headache for Republicans *The Declining Marginal Value of Crazy ("Donald Trump has flooded the market with a new, purer brand of Crazy that has left the other candidates scrambling and basically unable to compete.") *After Killing of Cecil the Lion, Delta Joins Airline Ban on Game Trophies (It's about freakin' time. Now what about all the other airlines?) *EXCLUSIVE: The Restrictions Journalists Agreed To In Order To Attend The Koch Brothers' Conference ("Representatives of Freedom Partners, the Associated Press and Politico did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the restrictions." Of course they didn't; what can they say?) *Va. Republicans to oust McAuliffe's Supreme Court pick, install their own ("Justice Jane Marum Roush was sworn in last week but could be replaced as soon as next month") *Political sniping as Virginia GOP upends McAuliffe Supreme Court appointment *Virginia reacts to EPA's Clean Power Plan *Editorial: How should Virginia meet its carbon goals? ("Another option might involve joining the RGGI - the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. It's a compact of nine northeastern states (10, before New Jersey dropped out) that created a region-wide carbon market. In essence, the RGGI is a cap-and-trade system...") *Conviction to cost McDonnell money as well as time ("Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell will likely lose about $3,700 a month in pension payments as a result of his conviction last year on corruption charges, according to the formula the state uses to calculate benefits") *Alpha Natural Resources files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection *College costs rise for Virginia undergrads *Virginia commonwealth secretary reports on voting rights (" Secretary of the Commonwealth Levar Stoney told a mixture of Charlottesville leaders and residents that it was watching his father bounce between jobs all his life that sparked his fight for reforming ex-felon rights restoration.") *State investigators seek correspondence between Mayor Sessoms, Virginia Beach developers *Nats tumble out of first place in NL East despite rally against Arizona *Nationals vs. Diamondbacks weather forecast: Still toasty, chance of showers