| Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... |
by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, March 13.
- British parliament to vote on whether to leave EU without a deal
- U.K. Weighs No-Deal Brexit Vote as May Is Thrown Into Crisis (“Parliament rejects premier’s divorce deal by 391 votes to 242”)
- British Politics Enters the Meltdown Phase (“Theresa May’s Brexit deal is dead. Now what?”)
- Theresa May’s Brexit deal fails — again (“Now Parliament is expected to vote on whether it wants to leave the EU without a deal on March 29 — or ask for a deadline extension.”)
- The Brexit impasse reflects a broad failure of political leadership
- Thousands of ISIS troops surrender amid attack on final stronghold in Syria
- Several Boeing 737 Max 8 pilots in U.S. complained about suspected safety flaw
- Trump’s FAA increasingly isolated as other countries ban Boeing jet (“Boeing’s CEO spoke with Trump by phone on Tuesday morning.”)
- Looking at 47 months in jail in Virginia case, Paul Manafort faces 2nd sentencing in DC case
- Trump vowed to eliminate the debt in 8 years. He’s on track to leave it at least 50 percent higher.
- Even by Trump’s standards, this year’s budget stands out for dishonesty
- The real college admissions scandal is what’s legal (“The fraud only worked because the whole system is corrupt.”)
- Lori Loughlin, Felicity Huffman among 50 charged in college admissions scheme
- Jared Kushner Shows There’s a Shady-Yet-Legal Way to Get Rich Kids Into College (“As Daniel Golden reported in his 2006 book, Jared Kushner — son-in-law of Donald Trump, husband of Ivanka Trump, and son of Charles Kushner — was accepted into Harvard shortly after his father pledged $2.5 million to the school. Writing for ProPublica in 2016, Golden noted that Kushner’s high-school teachers didn’t think he was Harvard material.”)
- Anyone Complaining About Affirmative Action Now Looks Completely Ridiculous (“400-Gs to a soccer coach to recruit a kid who couldn’t play soccer?”)
- The College Admissions Scandal Is About More Than Just Bribery (“Most U.S. institutions of higher education don’t even try to live up to their egalitarian ideals.”)
- The elaborate college admissions cheating ring is the real scandal of college sports
- Admissions scandal reveals why America’s elite colleges are under fire (“Bribery scandal, affirmative action lawsuits show cultural turn against selective universities.”)
- All College Admissions Are a Pay-to-Play Scandal
- GOP running out of options on Trump’s border emergency (“The Senate parliamentarian is unlikely to allow Republicans to significantly amend a resolution blocking the president’s emergency declaration.”)
- Pence, GOP senators discuss offer to kill Trump emergency disapproval resolution
- Waiting in Vain for the Mueller Report (“Expectations that the special counsel will deliver a long narrative of Donald Trump’s malfeasance are likely to be disappointed.”)
- Exclusive: Biden to run for White House, says Dem lawmaker
- O’Rourke and Biden, signaling presidential bids, would infuse centrism into a left-leaning Democratic field (There’s the corporate media’s favorite word again – “centrism”)
- Tucker Carlson needs to go. Now. (So does the entire Fox “News” white supremacist, Trumpster propaganda network)
- Fox’s week from hell (“The network hopes advertising executives have been ignoring the headlines”)
- Tucker Carlson and the Folly of Debating Bigots on Their Terms (“Trump’s status as a serial liar, a grifter, an adulterer, and an admitted sexual predator suggests that the corruption and amorality of the vessel is actually immaterial to those who claim fealty to God and family above all else. All is forgivable as long as Trump pursues key parts of their agenda — the appointment of conservative judges, tax cuts for the wealthy, and draconian anti-choice legislation, to name a few.”)
- House Democrats introduce bill to offer 2.5 million immigrants chance at permanent status (“The Dream and Promise Act would allow DREAMers to apply for legalization, and TPS holders to apply for green cards.”)
- Politico Just Reverted to Its Worst Instincts in Pursuit of Elizabeth Warren’s Tech Hypocrisy (“Tiger Beat on the Potomac magicked up the lamest kind of gotcha.”)
- Sanders aide apologizes for questioning American Jews’ ‘dual allegiance’ to Israel (“The 2020 candidate’s deputy press secretary later deleted her Facebook post after POLITICO began asking about it.” WTF?)
- Dems flock to Pelosi on Trump impeachment
- The President* Thinks He’s an Expert on Everything, But Has Bottomless Disdain for Actual Expertise (“Airplanes!”)
- Ryan warns Trump could be beat in 2020 (“Ryan bemoaned the political polarization that was a defining characteristic of his tenure as speaker, blaming the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus for derailing attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and blaming technology for deepening the political divide.”)
- Gov. Gavin Newsom Suspends Death Penalty In California
- Cardinal George Pell sentenced to 6 years in prison for child sex abuse (“Pell is the highest-ranking Catholic cleric worldwide to be convicted of child sex abuse.” Lots more should be in jail.)
- Appeals court rules Ohio can defund Planned Parenthood (“Four of the 11 Sixth Circuit judges who sided with Ohio in Tuesday’s decision were appointed by President Donald Trump.”)
- Trump’s Lower-Court Judges Are Dismantling Roe v. Wade One Terrible Ruling at a Time
- Kevin McCarthy Is Lying About Ilhan Omar (“He says she made derogatory comments about Jews. He’s really covering for his party.”)
- How Facebook and Amazon Help Hate Groups Raise Money
- ‘The Simpsons’ Boss Al Jean: Michael Jackson Used the Show to ‘Groom Boys’
- House passes Congresswoman Wexton’s FinCEN Improvement Act
- Audio: RTD Political Reporter Says Virginia Dems “Still Energized Despite Their Governor’s Troubles” (“With Donald Trump in the White House, the political tides in Virginia are shifting so powerfully toward the Democrats”)
- Governor Northam Vetoes Bill to Issue De Facto Concealed Handgun Permits
- Northam’s first 2019 veto stops fast tracking concealed carry permits
- New Report Highlights Climate Change, Toxic Flooding Threats to Vulnerable Communities in Virginia
- The stunning demand for power from Loudoun County’s data centers
- Study: Virginia Bucks National Trend for School Spending
- Sunshine Week: Government is stronger in the light
- Tim Chapman Responds to Fairfax County Strategic Plan Survey
- Williams: Richmond’s attendance officers are at the frontline of student trauma. The school district cannot afford to let them go.
- Pretending to be official, firm misled Virginia businesses, Herring says
- Loudoun County supervisors table expansion of resource officers into elementary schools
- Fairfax County Public Schools in Court Over Sexual Misconduct (“Virginia’s largest school district is defending itself against three separate federal lawsuits filed by students who say the school system botched sexual misconduct investigations.”)
- Revised Newport News schools budget proposal includes request for more money from city
- Springlike weather takes charge while winter steps back
