by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, February 17.
- Beware a climate ‘doom loop,’ where crisis is harder to solve, report says
- How a Tiny NATO Nation Tackled a Big Problem: Arming Ukraine (“Luxembourg’s challenges in buying arms on the open market underscore the struggle to keep Ukraine supplied until Western weapons arrive in the spring.”)
- Ukraine’s Allies Are Determined to Show Unity at Munich Security Conference (“Officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris, are convening for an event that has taken on a quasi-official nature.”)
- U.S. Watchdogs Want to Deploy Staff to Ukraine War Zone to Track Arms and Aid Up Close
- In wake of Ukraine war, U.S. and allies are hunting down Russian spies
- How the War in Ukraine Ends (“An eminent historian envisions a settlement among Russia, Ukraine, and the West.”)
- Ukraine burns through ammunition faster than it can be produced
- Ukraine war live updates: World leaders convene in Munich; Zelenskyy rules out conceding territory for peace
- Key moments in a year of war after Russia invaded Ukraine
- Ukrainian refugees safe, but not at peace, after year of war
- Inside the Basement Where an Entire Ukrainian Village Spent a Harrowing Month in Captivity
- Biden says Chinese President Xi doesn’t want to damage relations with U.S. after spy balloon
- Biden says objects shot down over North America last week appear to not be part of China’s spy balloon operation
- Biden: No evidence of “sudden increase” in unidentified objects in U.S. airspace
- China calls its Covid response a ‘miracle in human history.’ The data isn’t so clear
- N. Korea Threatens Unprecedented Response To South-U.S. Military Drills
- Taliban bans contraception calling use a ‘western conspiracy’ (Just like some Republicans in this country!)
- Friends of Israel, Be Very Afraid
- A new Supreme Court decision leaves a Trump judge in charge of the Mexican border
- Immunity acquired from a Covid infection is as protective as vaccination against severe illness and death, study finds
- Adderall’s Disappearing Act Has Left Millions Without Treatment
- America’s Teenage Girls Are Not Okay (“Rising teen anxiety is a national crisis.”)
- Here’s a dirty little secret about Trump’s tax cuts (“We’re probably stuck with them, because neither party seems to want to let them lapse.”)
- The EPA Can’t Do Its Job With So Few People
- The Ohio Derailment Is Proof That the U.S. Rail Industry Doesn’t Take Safety Seriously Enough
- The Ohio train wreck shows toxic risk of valuing efficiency over safety
- Musk’s Twitter is getting worse (“The broken Twitter everyone warned us about is finally here.”)
- The Right Don’t Need No Education
- Who’s Afraid of Black History?
- Expanding Gun Background Checks Is Hugely Popular. Republicans Don’t Care.
- States cannot wait for Congress to act on guns
- Biden remains ‘healthy, vigorous,’ doctor says after physical exam
- Is a Woman Ever Going to Win the White House? (“Trump’s performative macho is scaring voters in both parties away from women candidates.”)
- It’s Time to Prepare for a Possible Trump Indictment
- Grand jury report recommends perjury charges
- Trump election probe grand jury believes some witnesses lied
- This Grand Jury Report Offers Us Some Tasty Breadcrumbs in the Trump Georgia Case
- Republican losers look to run again in ’24 — and the party’s at odds how to stop them
- UFOs and CRT: Republicans are in a constant state of panic about the “other” (“It’s all about scaring gullible, racist white people and feeding off of that dark energy as a way of holding power”)
- Angelo Carusone: Explosive new court filings prove with “crystal clarity” Fox knew it was pushing falsehoods and conspiracy theories about Dominion
- New filing shows Tucker Carlson tried to get a Fox reporter fired for correctly fact-checking Donald Trump’s false claims about Dominion
- They knew it was a lie: The behind-the-scenes happenings at Fox while the network pushed false claims about Dominion (“Newly released filing in defamation lawsuit shows the full extent of how Fox lied about Dominion and dishonestly pushed the ‘Big Lie’ after the 2020 election”)
- Fox News stars and executives privately trashed Trump’s election fraud claims, court document reveals
- Fox Stars Privately Expressed Disbelief About Election Fraud Claims. ‘Crazy Stuff.’
- Off the air, Fox News stars blasted the election fraud claims they peddled
- The Contradictions of Ron DeSantis
- Ron DeSantis Shouldn’t Be Covered Like Just Another Republican
- Ronald DeSantis Is Leading Florida to Freedom, One Ban at a Time (“With each law restricting what people can say, read, and study, they become more Free.”)
- Haley sounds her dog whistles as she makes a play for the MAGA base (“It’s not just Donald Trump who’s trying to channel White grievance.”)
- Mike Pence’s craven effort to appease MAGA points to a deeper conflict (“Pence can’t outrun his tortured relationship with MAGA and Jan. 6.” Pathetic.)
- Lindsey Graham in GOP hot seat for speedy judicial nominees
- The California Senate Race Begins With a Scuffle Over Candidates’ Progressive Bona Fides
- Fetterman Checks In to Hospital for Treatment of Clinical Depression (Feel better!)
- Fetterman Joins Countless Other Lawmakers Who Have Sought Treatment at Hospital
- Businessman, economist, cop, international sex crimes expert? The stories of Congressman Andy Ogles
- The Pointless Nikki Haley Campaign
- We Need to Talk About Norfolk Southern’s Anti-Labor Policies
- Kari Lake loses appeal of loss in Arizona governor’s race (Never forget that Youngkin called this extremist lunatic “AWESOME!”)
- Tesla Fired Buffalo Workers Seeking to Organize, Union Says
- Idaho lawmakers introduce legislation to criminalize those who administer COVID vaccines (Utterly insane.)
- YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki is stepping down (YouTube is a mess.)
- Alex Jones is ‘holding firearms’ for Jan. 6 rioters, bankruptcy docs show
- Video: Regarding TikTok, Sen. Mark Warner Says He’s Pushing For a “comprehensive [approach] rather than a one-off where you name a specific company” (Sen. Warner also continues to make his case for putting the new FBI headquarters in Springfield, VA, which he says “really looks like the face of Virginia…of America”)
- Leading Up to VA04 Special Election on 2/21, “Informing Democracy” Report Identifies Election Officials “Who Raise Anti-Democracy Concerns”
- Black people live every day with hurdles that former health chief tried to diminish
- Pope & Schapiro: A budget standoff and a looming end of session
- Editorial: The Chesapeake Bay’s delicious bounty (“Oyster recovery is an encouraging sign that Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts are working and should encourage Virginia and other bay states to stay the course.”)
- Virginia is still for lovers: why the marriage equality ban should be repealed
- VA Senate Education and Health Committee Defeats Harmful So-called “Born Alive” and Biased Counseling Bills (These bills are “vehicles for anti-abortion politicians to push misinformation, stoke fear, and bully patients and providers”)
- Three interesting bills of the week: housing authority pets, CCTV testimony and inmate autopsies
- Democratic-led panel kills ‘parental rights’ bills on school books, gender identity
- House panel kills Prescription Drug Affordability Board proposal (Gotta love how they say “Democratic-led panel kills ‘parental rights’ bills” but just “House panel” – not “Republican-led House panel” for the Prescription Drug Affordability Board headline. Why?)
- Youngkin won’t commit to legalizing retail cannabis while in office
- Gov. Youngkin wants to open the flow of information — about periods
- Virginia bills aim to refine how colleges assess threats after U-Va. shooting
- Senate panel kills Petersburg casino bill, but its bid could revive in budget
- More Richmond city employees file for union elections (“The three units that filed Thursday comprise roughly half of the city’s employees.”)
- Republican lawmakers kill bill to codify staff, faculty seats on UVa Board of Visitors
- Guess what part of Virginia has seen the fastest growth in highly digitalized jobs: It’s coal country.
- Small modular nuclear reactors: a good deal for Southwest Virginia? (“Imposing SMRs on Southwest Virginia is disturbing….It’s not at all clear that SMR technology will succeed, or when. Levelized cost charts of electric power generation rate nuclear as among the very most expensive means to generate electric power at utility scale. If nuclear waste management, insurance and decommissioning costs are included, actual costs are far higher.” Massive boondoggle, in other words, and a terrible idea overall.)
- After-School Satan Club holds first meeting ‘without incident’ despite protesters at Chesapeake school, lawyer says
- Metro identifies man killed in train incident involving dog on leash
- D.C.-area forecast: Gusty and wet this morning, then a blustery afternoon
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