Wednesday News: “Remembering Stephen Hawking”; Conor Lamb Holds Small Lead, Declares Victory – GOP the “Clear Loser”; “Trump’s presidency is becoming ‘The Purge’”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, March 14.

• House Race in Pennsylvania Is Too Close to Call Winner (Lamb leads 49.8%-49.6% with 100% of precincts reporting. “In a special election widely seen as a signpost for Democratic success in midterm elections, there was a virtual dead heat in a staunchly Republican district that President Trump won by nearly 20 points.”)
• Stephen Hawking, physicist who came to symbolize the power of the human mind, dies at 76 (“Initially given two years to live, a diagnosis that threw him into a profound depression, he found the strength to complete his doctorate and rise to the position of Lucasian professor of mathematics at the University of Cambridge, the same post held by Isaac Newton 300 years earlier.” Well that sucks…)
• Remembering Stephen Hawking
• ‘Mind over matter’: Stephen Hawking – obituary by Roger Penrose (“Theoretical physicist who made revolutionary contributions to our understanding of the nature of the universe”)
• From The Simpsons to Pink Floyd: Stephen Hawking in popular culture
• No Winner Yet in Pennsylvania Special Election, But the GOP Is the Clear Loser (“But while we don’t have a clear winner in this election, we do have a clear loser: the Republican Party. This was, as I argued some time ago, the “no excuses” special election for the GOP. PA-18 is a strongly Republican, and a strongly pro-Trump district.”)
• Democrat Conor Lamb pulls ahead, but the Pennsylvania special election is too close to call (“The DCCC is already celebrating.”)
• The Pennsylvania special election shows the 2018 House battleground is enormous (“By one calculation, more than 110 seats could theoretically be in play, based on tonight’s results.”)
• Democrats Can Run the Conor Lamb Strategy Over and Over (“Democrats need to win two dozen Republican seats to gain a House majority. Approximately 118 districts have more Democratic-leaning electorates than the 18th district of Pennsylvania, which voted for Donald Trump by nearly 20 points, and which Democrat Conor Lamb turned into a competitive race.”)
• The Pennsylvania Special Election Is Too Close to Call, But That’s Already Big for Democrats
• Rex Tillerson Gets Fired the Day After He Criticized Russia
• A True Believer in Trump’s Worldview (“Mr. Pompeo opposes the Iran nuclear deal and doubts North Korea will give up its arsenal.”)
• Editorial: Having a Torturer Lead the C.I.A. (“Few American officials were so directly involved in abuse after 9/11 as Gina Haspel.” Why isn’t she in prison for this?)
• Trump’s presidency is becoming ‘The Purge’ (“Anti-Putin? Prepare to be purged.”)
• This major challenge to local news has gone almost unnoticed (“If the government approves a merger between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media, it could trigger a hemorrhage in local reporting.”)
• Tillerson’s departure removes another check on an impulsive Trump
• Tillerson attacks Trump without ever mentioning his name (“On his way out the door, Tillerson thanked everyone but the guy who made him secretary of state.”)
• Rex Tillerson has been fired. Experts say he did damage that could last “a generation.” (“Tillerson was ‘one of the worst secretaries of state’ in modern history, according to experts from across the political spectrum.”)
• Why Did Trump Fire Tillerson Now? (“The specific timing of the move—following the secretary of state’s split from the president to condemn a Russian attack in the U.K.—raises questions about its motive.”)
• Tillerson’s Ouster Could Kill the Iran Nuclear Deal (“The secretary of state’s would-be replacement, Mike Pompeo, is an ardent hawk who says the agreement is ‘disastrous.’” Killing the deal would be disastrous, actually.)
• Schumer struggles to quell Warren-led rebellion (“Senate Democrats are feuding over legislation to roll back the Dodd-Frank law — and the minority leader is caught in between.”)
• Trump makes bizarre trip to inspect prototypes of a wall he has no money to build (“A word salad.”)
• Manafort could face ‘rest of life in prison,’ judge says (After Manafort, who’s next? Trump himself?)
• 7,000 Pairs Of Shoes Flanked The Capitol In Powerful Nod To Gun Violence
• Dems are angry over Hillary Clinton’s latest comments (“Even some of Clinton’s own former aides and surrogates say the former Democratic presidential nominee should back away from the discussion about her failed campaign because it’s harmful to the party.”)
• Gina Haspel, Trump’s CIA director pick, oversaw the torture of dozens of people (“She also tried to destroy video evidence of the torture of two suspects.” Send her to The Hague.)
• What Firing Rex Tillerson Could Mean For Trump — And The World
• Trump’s USDA Believes That Factory Farmed Animals Have It Too Good (Sociopaths.)
• The Rex Tillerson Story Is Full of Holes (“Was it his health? His feud with Trump? Did he find out Friday or today?”)
• Warner: “Deepfake” altered videos present threat to US political process
• Republicans Face an Uphill Battle When it Comes to Challenging Tim Kaine (Especially with the extremists/wackos they’ve got running.)
• The conspiracy theorists attacked him. He’s fighting back in court. (Go Brennan Gilmore!)
• Former Tom Perriello Chief of Staff Brennan Gilmore, Who Caught Deadly Cville Attack on Video, Sues Infowars, Gateway Pundit for Defamation and “Severe Emotional Distress”
• Governor Northam Calls April 11 Special Session for General Assembly to Complete Work on State Budget
• Democratic 2nd Congressional District hopefuls debate (Why can’t newspapers post full video or at least highlights of these debates? It’s super easy, and I can say that confidently because I’ve done it probably 100 times by now.)
• Democrat drops out of 5th District race, leaving 4 seeking to challenge Rep. Tom Garrett (“Lawrence Gaughan has dropped out of the 5th District Democratic nominating contest…Gaughan said he has no plans to run as an independent candidate.”)
• Editorial: A surprising session, that’s not over yet (“The big shocker of this year’s legislature came Feb. 15, when Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, wrote an op-ed piece in The Roanoke Times in which he signaled a way for some Republicans to back Medicaid expansion. That way involved, among other things, a requirement that new recipients must work, or at least be seeking work.”)
• Schapiro: On Medicaid expansion, the doctor is in (“Hanger, from every indication, doesn’t want to be the lone Republican to break ranks, knowing his defection could augur a huge victory for Northam by setting up a tie-breaking vote by Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax — though such a vote by a lieutenant governor might be legally dubious.”)
• Reducing licensing barriers to work in Virginia
• What’s Next on the Ag Business Front? Virginia’s Going Hemp
• Virginia Republicans Divided On Medicaid Expansion
• School resource officer accidentally discharges sidearm at Va. school (Expect a lot more of this if we arm more people in schools.)
• Time to move forward, say Fairfax Co. female firefighters, executives
• Report does not substantiate claims Fairfax County fire department is hostile to women (“The investigation was the latest for a department that has long been accused of fostering a toxic environment for women.”)
• Hanover should keep Confederate school names, majority of survey respondents say
• Roanoke County budget proposal calls for flat tax rate, 2% employee raise
• Proposed Newport News schools budget includes 2 percent minimum raises, 7 ESL teachers
• Staying cold and breezy as winter holds on tight(“Temperatures should finally moderate somewhat by Sunday, though we may have to start paying attention to another snow threat for early next week, if the models keep showing it.”)