Saturday News: “When a Desert Wind Blew $10 Billion of Global Trade Off Course”; “Biden attacks new Ga. voting law as modern ‘Jim Crow’”; “12 major party candidates to seek nominations for governor”; Virginia Beach Shootings

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, March 27.

• Global warming is endangering more than we think. We must adjust. (Start by calling it the Climate CRISIS)
• US fears China is flirting with seizing control of Taiwan
• Brazil’s daily death toll reaches 3,650; Spain records increase in infection rate – as it happened
• The ‘Green Energy’ That Might Be Ruining the Planet (“The biomass industry is warming up the South’s economy, but many experts worry it’s doing the same to the climate. Will the Biden Administration embrace it, or cut it loose?”)
• Israel’s Democracy Is Broken, and Netanyahu Is to Blame (“The country’s morass is a resultt of the toxic political environment he created.”)
• When a Desert Wind Blew $10 Billion of Global Trade Off Course
• In Suez Canal, Stuck Ship Is a Warning About Excessive Globalization
• Suez Shows Civilization Is More Vulnerable Than We Think
• Here’s How A Long Shutdown Of The Suez Canal Might Roil The Global Economy
• Piracy fears mount as ships take long way around Africa to avoid blocked Suez Canal
• Ever Given owners plan new attempt to free the ship on Saturday using high tide
• Refloat Efforts Suspended; U.S. Seeks to Help: Suez Update
• Dozens of protesters killed in Myanmar on ‘day of shame for armed forces’
• President Biden Invites 40 World Leaders to Leaders Summit on Climate
• “No evidence” to support former CDC director’s theory that coronavirus escaped from lab, scientists say
• North Korea says Biden administration took wrong first step over latest missile test (F*** them.)
• Biden fires majority of DHS advisory council members
• Nearly Half Of States Will Make All Adults COVID-19 Vaccine Eligible By April 15
• Ban on US water shutoffs could have prevented thousands of Covid deaths – study (“Researchers say half a million infections might have been stopped if more states had suspended disconnections during pandemic”)
• America arrives at a moment of introspection on the coronavirus
• As Pandemic Upends Teaching, Fewer Students Want to Pursue It (“Disruptions to education during the pandemic are turning people away from a profession that was already struggling to attract new recruits.”)
• The Real Border Crisis (“America has tried to solve its immigration problem for decades through brute force. It doesn’t work.”)
• Border Crossings by Migrant Children to Rise Sharply, U.S. Estimates Show
• What So Many People Are Getting Wrong About the “Border Crisis” (“And why it’s time for the US government to stop getting caught off guard and going into crisis mode every few years.”)
• 2021 Is Already The Year Of Anti-Abortion Legislation (“State legislatures with eyes on a Supreme Court showdown have introduced more than 500 bills restricting the procedure.”)
• Conservative groups are writing GOP voter suppression bills — and spending millions to pass them (“Right-wing groups like Heritage and ALEC are crafting model legislation as GOP pushes over 250 restrictions”)
• Since 1994, the GOP is getting a lot more bang (House seats) for its buck (votes)
• After Trump tried to intervene in the 2020 vote, state Republicans are moving to take more control of elections (Totally unacceptable; Congress needs to act.)
• Three times Mark Zuckerberg misled Congress about extremism and misinformation on Facebook (“What Facebook says it’s doing and what it is actually doing can sometimes be two very different things”)
• Elizabeth Warren’s Push To Diversify Federal Judges Is Finally Catching On
• Fox News Is Learning That Going Off the Cliff Into Paranoid Delusion Programming Has Its Drawbacks (“Dominion Voting Systems has filed a $1.6 billion lawsuit against the network over its election-fraud claims.” Good, bankrupt the @#$#!ers!)
• Reality catches up with propaganda channel (“Eleven Fox programs whine about press conference treatment as Dominion lawsuit drops”)
• Many accused in the Capitol attack placed their campaign cash on Trump, Republicans
• The secret strategy that explains how Joe Manchin wields his power (“The West Virginia senator is a canny operator, and he’s in control of all major legislation in the Biden era.”)
• A scorching reply to Georgia’s vile new voting law unmasks a big GOP lie (“Republicans are ramping up voter suppression precisely because they lost the last election legitimately.”)
• Kemp fires back at Biden: Nothing ‘Jim Crow’ about Georgia law (Kemp is…wait for it…LYING)
• Georgia’s new voting law needs to be covered as a civil rights issue — not just as partisan politics (“Between expanding voting it or suppressing it, there aren’t simply two sides”)
• Democrats see Georgia as opening salvo in war on voting rights
• Georgia Republicans Pay Tribute to the Lost Cause
• How Trump’s election fraud lie turned into law in Georgia
• Coke, Delta Defend Failure to Stop Georgia Election Curbs (Nope, indefensible.)
• Why Georgia’s New Voting Law Is Such A Big Deal
• John Roberts Said “Things Have Changed Dramatically” in the South. Georgia Shows Why He’s Wrong. (Roberts is completely delusional if he really believes that.)
• Biden assails Georgia voting law: ‘This is Jim Crow in the 21st Century’
• Statement by President Biden on the Attack on the Right to Vote in Georgia
• Georgia governor signed a voter suppression law under a painting of a slave plantation
• Union president says MLB players ready to discuss moving All-Star Game from Georgia in wake of voter-restriction laws (Absolutely, do it!)
• Calls for economic boycott grow after Georgia adopts voter restrictions
• Commentary: Why MLB should consider moving the 2021 All-Star game from Atlanta
• What Does Georgia’s New Voting Law SB 202 Do?
• Georgia’s restrictive new voting law, explained
• “Disturbing!” Black Georgia Lawmakers React to Arrest of Colleague Park Cannon
• GOP senator flashes congressional pin after car was pulled over by Capitol Police, sources say
• Kristi Noem—the GOP’s Rising Star—Fades
• Colorado mass shooting suspect moved to another jail over ‘safety concerns’
• JAMA Editor Placed on Leave After Deputy’s Comments on Racism
• Arkansas governor signs bill allowing medical workers to refuse treatment to LGBTQ people (WTF???)
• Michigan GOP chair quips on video about assassination, ‘three witches’
• Beloved Children’s Author Beverly Cleary Has Died at the Age of 104
• Gov. Andrew Cuomo Aides Receive Subpoenas in Sexual-Harassment Investigation
• Following Congressional Hearing, Sen. Mark Warner Presses Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Vaccine Misinformation (“Despite…promises, Facebook’s enforcement of its own policies is consistently and demonstrably insufficient”)
• 12 major party candidates to seek nominations for governor – seven Republicans and five Democrats
• In Response to Unified Democratic Condemnation, Virginia Republicans Double Down on Far Right Extremism (“Every one of these candidates is either too extreme or too afraid of Donald Trump and Amanda Chase to condemn the blatant racism that plagues their party”)
• Qualified GOP Candidates for May 8 Convention
• Governor Northam Signs Additional Bills – On Food Insecurity, Bicycle Safety, Commonwealth Clean Energy Policy, Passenger Rail in SW Virginia, etc. – into Law
• Friday (3/26) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +1,799 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 612,062), +57 Hospitalizations (to 26,144), +7 Deaths (to 10,154)
• Johnson & Johnson Shortage Won’t Slow Down Virginia Vaccine Plan
• Va. reserving vaccine slots for Black, Latino residents to improve access, high demand in Richmond leads to more doses
• VIDEO: VA House, Senate Leadership Create Asian-American and Pacific Islander Caucus (Speaker Filler-Corn: “The formation of this caucus should send a loud and clear message that AAPI Virginians belong in the Commonwealth.”)
• Va. lawmakers form Asian American and Pacific Islander caucus, pledge to fight hate crimes
• Virginia Lt. Gov. Fairfax says ‘no’ to possible public hearing on sexual assault allegations
• The Next Virginia Governor Could Wipe Out New Voting Rights Gains
• Audio: VA Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran on Parole Board Outside, Independent Investigation, “Enormous Transformation” in Virginia Since He Ran For Governor in 2009 on Death Penalty, etc.(“We have nothing to hide in the governor’s office…we’ve addressed [the Parole Board issue] numerous times and the sooner we can remove any cloud over this issue, the better”)
• House Democrats back legalization this summer of small amounts of marijuana; Northam supportive
• Va. House leaders back legalizing home-grown marijuana this summer
• Marijuana Advocates Believe Northam has Heard Their Message to Speed Up Legalization
• Schapiro: Loads of questions or just loaded questions? (“VMI investigation”)
• Record number of Black and Latino students accepted to Maggie Walker Governor’s School​
• Active COVID-19 cases among William & Mary students spike to spring semester high of 57
• After 16 years as Chesapeake’s top prosecutor, Nancy Parr will retire at the end of 2021
• Hampton councilwoman enters bid for city treasurer as races for constitutional officers begin
• SCC upholds its denial of Appalachian Power’s bid to raise rates
• 10,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine coming to Richmond, Henrico next week
• Liberty-linked gym owner sues Reuters, claiming it implied he’s another Falwell ‘pool boy’
• Hill, Snook release wide-ranging statement on Walker’s controversial post
• One voter outreach group used to offer rides to the polls. Now they’re helping people get vaccinated. (“The Arlington Democrats have transformed their ‘get out the vote’ efforts into a push to get their neighbors vaccinated, with phone banking, free rides, and registration help.”)
• Two people were killed and at least eight injured in Virginia Beach shooting incidents
• Police: 2 dead in Virginia Beach oceanfront shootings
• D.C.-area forecast: Beautiful today, stormy late Sunday and cooler to start the workweek (“Changeable weather is a sure sign spring is kicking into gear.”)