Friday News: “Putin Plans New Ukraine Push Despite Losses as He Prepares for Years of War”; “The 14th Amendment’s Time to Shine Has Come”; “The Trump Enablers Dance On”; “China, tax cuts and Youngkin’s mixed messaging”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, January 27.

• Earth’s ‘geological thermostat’ is too slow to prevent climate change (“Rock weathering has helped keep Earth’s climate relatively stable for millions of years, but the process isn’t fast enough to keep up with human carbon emissions”)
• Big Oil poised to smash annual profit records — sparking outcry from campaigners and activists
• Europe Needs a Climate Tech Plan to Compete With the US, an Early Tesla Investor Says
• Russia’s War on Ukraine Changed Global Oil Trade
• Zelenskyy demands more sanctions as Russia bombards Ukraine; explosions heard near nuclear plant
• Putin Plans New Ukraine Push Despite Losses as He Prepares for Years of War
• Ukraine war: Zelensky’s government launches anti-corruption drive
• Fighting intensifies in east Ukraine, Kyiv seeks more weapons
• Russia Strikes Another Blow to Press Freedom With Move Against News Site
• F-16 fighter jets could be next after Ukraine’s breakthrough on tanks
• The US Hasn’t Noticed That China-Made Cars Are Taking Over the World
• China Mulls Protecting Solar Tech Dominance With Export Ban
• Senior ISIS Leader in Somalia Killed in U.S. Special Operations Raid (Good riddance.)
• Scoop: CIA director visiting Israel, West Bank as concern over violence intensifies
• Palestinians suspend security coordination with Israel after deadly Jenin raid
• The U.S.-Israel military simulation is a show of force to Iran
• Jerusalem, West Bank on edge after outbreak of violence
• India just took a dangerous step on disinformation
• Analysis: India’s rapid take-up of electric vehicles prompts rethink about long-term fuel needs
• India’s Adani slammed by $48 bln stock rout, clouds record share sale
• Elon Musk’s Twitter Sued In Germany Over Antisemitic Posts, Holocaust Denial (“The clash is likely the first salvo in a pending European battle over Twitter’s runaway hate speech under Musk’s regime.”)
• Consumer Spending Data to Show Latest Impact of Inflation
• The time has come for a major reset at the CDC
• Students prod colleges to let campus greens grow wild (Cities and counties should do the same.)
• Not an anomaly: 2020’s red states have higher murder rates
• The 14th Amendment’s Time to Shine Has Come (“…the text plainly says that you lose members of Congress if your state restricts the franchise, you lose the right to federal office if you worked to overthrow the federal government, and you don’t get to muck around with the full faith and credit as regards the public debt.”)
• Red-state Americans see abortion access slipping away
• RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel Fights For Reelection In Leadership Feud
• Key Republicans oppose House GOP bill to abolish tax code
• Key Republican says new gun legislation is unlikely despite California shootings (This wouldn’t be the case in any other country.)
• Lawmakers submit more than 140 amendments as House opens process for first time in seven years
• New MAGA Push: Defund the Government, It’s Too Woke (“Woke,” of course, is a vague word that right wingers use to describe literally ANYTHING they don’t like, on any subject.)
• House Democrats’ new leader Jeffries vows not to ‘go off the cliff’ on debt ceiling
• The FBI’s latest scandal should be strike three for Christopher Wray (“Wray already blundered on Jan. 6, 2021, and failed to track domestic terror.”)
• Garland’s special counsels: The mistake keeps getting worse
• Kavanaugh touts ‘great relations’ among justices on divided Supreme Court (LOL, alrighty…)
• CNN Poll: Nearly three-quarters of Americans think House GOP leaders haven’t paid enough attention to most important problems
• First on CNN: National Archives asks former presidents and vice presidents to check for classified and presidential documents
• Former Trump DHS official Ken Cuccinelli testifying in grand jury investigation around 2020 election interference
• Donald Trump’s 2024 Campaign Faces Trouble in Crucial Iowa
• Report: Donald Trump Is Armed, Dangerous, and Text Messaging
• The Trump Enablers Dance On (“As the ex-President runs unopposed, so far, even Facebook welcomes him back.”)
• Fascists expertly exploit the free press: Media rush to rehabilitate reputations of Trump’s regime (“Kellyanne Conway is back and using the media to shamelessly promote herself for a role on Trump’s campaign”)
• Pundits Might Be Done With Trump, But GOP Voters Aren’t
• John Durham’s Big Ol’ “Deep State” Hunt Did Find Some Shady Deals—Connected to Trump
• Barr Pressed Durham to Find Flaws in the Russia Investigation. It Didn’t Go Well. (“The review by John Durham at one point veered into a criminal investigation related to Donald Trump himself, even as it failed to find wrongdoing in the origins of the Russia inquiry.”)
• AI wrote a bill to regulate AI. Now Rep. Ted Lieu wants Congress to pass it.
• Trump unveils new education policy loaded with culture war proposals (The phrase “culture wars” is completely misleading. What’s really happening is a far-right assault on Black people, LGBTQ people, women’s reproductive freedom, etc.)
• Elon Musk meets with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Hakeem Jeffries (Gack.)
• We’re About to See How Kevin McCarthy’s Most Audacious Concession Plays Out
• “That just cannot stand”: Warner and Rubio united in demanding access to Trump, Biden documents
• George Santos Posted ‘Deeply Offensive’ Comment About Hitler, Jews (Yet again, the NY Times, NY Daily News, Newsday, etc. missed this.)
• George Santos Reportedly Joked About Killing “Jews and Blacks”
• As Santos digs in, both parties ramp up campaign plans for his demise
• Gallego’s early Sinema challenge squeezes Senate progressives
• Democrat Adam Schiff announces bid for Feinstein’s US Senate seat in California
• How Native Americans Will Shape the Future of Water in the West
• Colorado baker loses appeal over transgender birthday cake
• Texas Regulators Won’t Stop an Oilfield Waste Dump Site Next to Wetlands, Streams and Wells
• Matt Schlapp allegedly groped a young man—hurting his already dwindling influence
• GOP Rep. Cory Mills hands out dummy grenades to House members (Nutjob.)
• Despite major differences, mainstream media suggest Pence and Biden document cases let Trump off the hook (The media, particularly NY Times’ “journalists” like Peter Baker, is seriously f’ed up.)
• Elon Musk ‘doesn’t seem like’ right person to own Twitter, says co-founder
• Revealed: Trump secretly donated $1m to discredited Arizona election ‘audit’
• Meta is restoring full ad access to Trump — the company’s biggest political advertiser
• Meta’s Rationale for Letting Trump Back on Facebook Couldn’t Be More Dumb
• Google let Daily Wire advertise to climate crisis deniers, research shows
• On Trump’s Social Network: Ads for Miracle Cures, Scams and Fake Merchandise
• What Happened to the Washington Post? (“After a decade of growth, the paper is laying off staff and was reportedly on track to lose money last year. Its publisher and C.E.O. says it’s all part of a bold strategy.”)
• Calif. seeks to disbar Trump adviser John Eastman over Jan. 6 charges (This should have happened to Eastman a long time ago. It also should happen to many other Trump lawyers/fellow coup plotters.)
• Ron DeSantis thinks he can troll his way to the White House — but there’s a big flaw in his strategy (“Bigotry, book bans, and science hatred don’t play as well outside of the MAGA base”)
• DeSantis wades into RNC race: ‘I like what Harmeet Dhillon has said’
• Backlash grows against DeSantis decision to block AP African American studies class
• 5 Memphis ex-police are charged with murder and jailed over the death of Tyre Nichols
• Video: Sen. Mark Warner Rips House GOP “Fiscal Terrorism” on Debt Ceiling, Says “It is time for them to put up or shut up” (Warner also says Ted Cruz bill on COVID vaccines in the military would “undermine respect for discipline” and “reflects somebody who’s not very familiar with the military.”)
• Warner, Spanberger warn about Chinese Communist Party influence
• BREAKING: All Proposed Abortion Bans Blocked in Committee (“Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia celebrates defeat of SB1284, SB1385, and SB1483 by reproductive rights champions on Senate Education and Health Committee”)
• Virginia Democrats reject three abortion restriction bills
• Virginia Democrats Defeat 15-Week Abortion Ban And Glenn Youngkin’s Anti-Choice Agenda
• Ally compromises on governor’s push for $200M in transportation funds
• Opinion: China, tax cuts and Youngkin’s mixed messaging (“…there’s little evidence that lowering taxes, as a matter of policy, will boost the overall economy. In the long run, however, it could have the opposite effect.”)
• Pope & Schapiro: Tax cuts, abortion restrictions & the Parole Board
• Here’s How Democrats and Local Advocates Are Fighting for Reproductive Freedom in Virginia
• VA House Republicans Cave to MAGA Conspiracy Theories, Vote to Weaken Our Democracy (Disgraceful.)
• State lawmakers consider regulations for payday lending apps
• Youngkin claims students were wronged. College experts say they needn’t worry. (“A delay in delivery of letters of National Merit commendations will have little effect on the college prospects of any high school student or their access to financial aid, according to experts”)
• Bill increasing parental oversight of school library materials clears House but faces tough Senate
• Virginia House votes to repeal Clean Cars law (The Senate needs to toss this garbage right where it belongs…in Sen. Lucas’ trash can.)
• Editorial: Another swing at Virginia’s open government law
• Hot topics roil Virginia General Assembly but lead to few new laws (“Virginia’s Republican-controlled House of Delegates and Democratic-controlled Senate are cancelling out one another in considering controversial issues.” This is the classic way the mainstream media reports – false equivalence/balance, “both sides-ism,” etc. Totally absurd model at a time when the Republican Party has gone far right, Trumpist, etc.)
• Virginia hospitals have to publish their prices. Would lawsuits compel them to obey?
• Avian flu has been spreading among wild birds in Virginia for the past year
• Blue Virginia Interview: Arlington/Falls Church Commonwealth’s Attorney Says She’s Running for Reelection Because “it took centuries to get to where we are now…I’m not done after three years” (Dehghani-Tafti also rebuts her primary opponent’s criticisms, says “a trial is NOT where reform happens.”)
• Virginia Supreme Court reverses jury’s $1M award for family of man killed by Virginia Beach officer
• Pittsylvania County’s unique approach to solving broadband challenges
• Let’s keep the Shenandoah clean
• D.C.-area forecast: Some clouds and January chill today, but milder this weekend