Saturday News: “Biden Says He’s Convinced Putin Has Decided to Invade Ukraine”; “National Archives: Trump took classified items to Mar-a-Lago”; “Biden’s biggest enemy: Trump judges”; Lucas Says Youngkin Adds to Virginia’s “ugly history with insurrectionists”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, February 19.

• An ‘emerging crisis’: The climate is changing too fast for plants and animals to adapt
• Bitcoin miners revived a dying coal plant – then CO2 emissions soared (For this reason alone, f*** Bitcoin.)
• Storm Eunice unleashes record-setting winds, widespread damage in England (“Eunice arrived right on the heels of destructive Storm Dudley. The windstorm duo struck Europe with deadly force, unloading 100-mph winds in areas and causing a frightening scene on a commuter ferry in Germany.”)
• Biden says he’s convinced Russia will invade Ukraine, but still hopes diplomacy will prevail
• Biden Says He’s Convinced Putin Has Decided to Invade Ukraine
• “Bleak’ new intelligence assessment driving new urgency from Biden administration on Russia
• President Says Ukrainian Capital Will Be a Target
• Russia Planning Post-Invasion Arrest and Assassination Campaign in Ukraine, U.S. Officials Say
• Metadata shows pro-Russian separatists filmed evacuation video days earlier
• The Olympics show what happens when Putin’s transgressions go unchecked
• Ukraine rebels mobilize troops amid Russia invasion fears
• “This is essentially an invasion force”: A military analyst explains Russia’s massive troop buildup near Ukraine (“Russia may never invade, but it has the ability to do so.”)
• U.S. braces for false-flag operations by Kremlin ahead of potential invasion
• Russia Wants Its Own Sphere. America Has Other Ideas
• Harris vows ‘swift, severe and united’ response
• Harris warns Russia of unprecedented sanctions if it invades
• Russia Holds Strategic Ballistic Missile Drills: Ukraine Update (Totally irresponsible.)
• Canada Protests: Police Clamp Down on Ottawa Demonstrators
• Canada protests: Police begin to make arrests at Ottawa protest
• Canadian police arrest at least 100 protesters in bid to break up Ottawa truck blockade (“At least 21 vehicles towed as police start breaking up protest camp that has paralysed Canada’s capital for several weeks”)
• Vaccine refusal is child abuse
• JPMorgan Expects String of Nine Straight Fed Rate Hikes
• Fed approves rules banning its officials from trading stocks, bonds and also cryptocurrencies
• Wonking Out: What to Expect When You’re Expecting Inflation
• Wary of Being Left in the Dark, Americans Produce Their Own Power (“The market for backup generators, solar panels and ‘microgrids’ is booming as homeowners and businesses grapple with a less reliable electric grid. For some, it’s a money saver. For others, it’s about staying healthy.”)
• Federal Judge Ruins Trump’s Three-Day Weekend, Rules He Can Be Held Liable for January 6 Violence (“According to the judge, there is clear evidence to suggest that Trump shared an “unlawful goal” with the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers to disrupt the election certification, and sent the rioters in knowing they would commit acts of violence.”)
• Material Recovered From Trump by Archives Included Classified Information (LOCK. HIM. UP.)
• National Archives: Trump took classified items to Mar-a-Lago
• Judge Allows Civil Suits to Proceed Against Trump Over Jan. 6
• The president, the extremists and the conspiracy to storm the Capitol
• Judge says Trump could be culpable for January 6 and says lawsuits against the former President can proceed (Trump is VERY much culpable for January 6, and should be treated accordingly = both civilly and criminally.)
• Trump’s luck may finally be running out (“It has often been tempting, but never a safe wager, to predict the demise of Donald Trump. — He lost the presidency and both houses of Congress, and was impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors twice.”)
• A week of legal setbacks for Trump in Washington, New York
• How Trump Said Too Much and Helped New York Investigators (“Donald Trump couldn’t help himself, and in his boastful attempts to show that he knows everything, he managed to hand investigators exactly what they needed.”)
• If voters don’t stop it, election deniers could kill American democracy
• Pence says he believes RNC’s clarification of ‘legitimate political discourse,’ calls Jan. 6 a ‘tragic day’
• Just what Democrats need, another self-defeating round of self-flagellation (“Why all Democrats can talk about is how bad their own side is.” Whenever you see a supposed “Democrat” talking almost exclusively about how bad the *Democrats* are, as opposed to a bunch of fascists, you know they’re not much of a Democrat.)
• Susan Collins tries to ‘Trump proof’ the 2024 election — behind Trump’s back (“How Republicans can focus on preventing a 2024 Trump coup — while pretending not to.”)
• Zuckerberg Has Burned $500 Billion Turning Facebook to Meta (“The social-media Goliath has fallen out of the top-ten largest companies in the world by market capitalization.”)
• A Trump judge’s new decision would undo more than 50 years of voting rights law (“Trump Judge Lee Rudofsky’s decision could completely neutralize the Voting Rights Act when the GOP controls the White House.”)
• Biden’s biggest enemy: Trump judges (“Trump-appointed judges are making party-line rulings to block President Biden’s agenda”)
• Trump judges are tag-teaming the Voting Rights Act
• Black and Native people are kindred spirits in adversity. Deb Haaland understands that.
• Texas led the country in new renewable energy projects last year (“Texas installed 7,352 megawatts of new wind, solar and energy installation projects last year, significantly outpacing California, which installed 2,697 megawatts of storage projects…Texas is experiencing a rise in renewable energy deployment not necessarily due to concerns over human-caused climate change, but rather because of the low costs of renewable energy sources like solar and wind development.”)
• The Meaning of San Francisco’s School-Board Recall (“Just how attached to the anti-racist ethos are liberal voters? Not very.”)
• ‘Clear and Convincing Danger’: Federal Judge Refuses to Let Oath Keepers Founder Stewart Rhodes Out of Jail Pending Seditious Conspiracy Trial
• This CNN Report on Hillary Clinton Manages to Find a New Wrong Way to Cover Her (“After 30 years of bad coverage, we’ve improbably stumbled on a fresh variety.” Of course, CNN played a major role in electing Trump, so not surprising that they still suck…)
• Family: Judge in Potter case swayed by ‘white woman tears’
• Daunte Wright family ‘cheated’ by two-year sentence for officer who shot him dead
• California bill would allow citizens to enforce weapons ban (Every “blue” state should do this.)
• New York Times editor Dean Baquet doesn’t care what you think (Baquet represents everything wrong with US political journalism. Absolutely disgrace.)
• Right-wing media’s January 6 propaganda campaign now claims the FBI planted pipe bombs at the DNC and RNC (“It’s a familiar pipeline of misinformation from Tucker Carlson and his far-right media allies” Is this really covered under the First Amendment?)
• Ben Shapiro defends Elon Musk’s Hitler meme (Musk has gone completely off the deep end. Buy a hybrid or electric vehicle from anyone BUT Tesla!)
• The growing links between Gab CEO Andrew Torba and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes
• Nick Kristof Flunks Politics 101
• Wisconsin Republicans seek to jail more officials as part of their review of the 2020 presidential election (WTF is going on here?)
• Phone data shows California family made numerous calls for help on fatal hike
• Meet the antisemitic Republican hoping to defeat Virginia’s first Jewish congresswoman
• Spanberger leaping into new district, but won’t move family before January
• Metro’s prospects rise as omicron fades, but looming financial shortfall will shape service
• Thoughts Ahead of Virginia “Budget Day” This Sunday: “Youngkin doesn’t have a plan to pay for his exorbitant spending plan of nearly $4 billion”
• DPVA Chairwoman on Republican Attempts to Withdraw Virginia’s Support for Federal Certification of the Equal Rights Amendment (“This raises one important question: What part of the word equality does [Jason Miyares] not believe in?”)
• Virginia attorney general withdraws state from ERA lawsuit
• Schapiro: An aggravation lawmakers, especially Democrats, don’t need
• Sen. Adam Ebbin’s “One Month In: Youngkin Status Report” – “Behind the vest and family man persona, the Governor has shown a surprising mean streak”
• Del. Rip Sullivan’s Midpoint Update: Youngkin Only Listens to “Parents Who Agree with Him,” “Loud Parents”(Youngkin pushing to have Virginia join “some of the lowest ranked education systems, such as Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, and South Carolina”)
• Youngkin’s call to require officers in every school gets bipartisan pushback
• Virginia IT chief picked by Youngkin leaving after less than a month on the job (“It was not immediately clear why Wittmer was leaving. The Richmond Times-Disptach first reported of Wittmer’s departure. The Hill has reached out to VITA and Youngkin’s office for further comment.”)
• Va. Gov. Youngkin lost on his Cabinet pick, but could gain influence on vital state boards
• Mountain Valley Pipeline Investor Says “Very Low Probability of Pipeline Completion” (Cites “continued legal and regulatory challenges”)
• 10-Day New COVID-19 Cases Down 83% Compared to 1/19; Hospitalizations Continue Declining; Deaths Remain High
• State Senators want solar developers to study potential adverse impacts (Sure, as long as fossil fuel devleopers have to “study potential adverse impacts,” including on the climate…)
• Head makes bid for the state Senate (Hard pass.)
• Dominion Energy customers to receive refunds, rate reductions
• Loudoun Co. could be ‘safe haven site’ for Afghan asylum seekers
• Daniel Snyder doesn’t deserve the sweetheart deal Virginia lawmakers want to give him
• Fairfax Co. schools to keep mask mandate for now (“The superintendent of the Fairfax County, Virginia, public schools said the school mask mandate will be lifted March 1 in accordance with a new law, but remains in place for now.”)
• Orphaned black bears get placed with new foster mama bears in Virginia
• D.C.-area forecast: Strong winds today usher in a frigid night, then Sunday chill gives way to Monday warmth