Tuesday News: “China’s Balloon-Size Blunder Is a Huge Opportunity”; “The G.O.P.’s Long War Against Medicare and Social Security”; “Biden fires Architect of the Capitol”; “3 Killed in Shootings at Michigan State University”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, February 14.

• Big Oil’s Been Secretly Validating Critics’ Concerns about Carbon Capture (“A DeSmog analysis of subpoenaed internal oil industry communications shows CCS as the strategic linchpin for more oil and gas development.”)
• ‘Think of the unthinkable’: IMF chief warns world is a very different place after crises like Covid
• NATO allies weigh more arms for Ukraine as Russian forces close in on Bakhmut
• Scheme to send Russian convicts to the war appears to have grown fast
• Ukraine’s allies prepare pledges of more ammunition and air defences
• U.S. warns Ukraine it faces a pivotal moment in war
• Russia Has Already Lost in the Long Run
• Russian Prisoners of War in Ukraine Recount ‘Gigantic’ Losses
• Exclusive: Ex-Russian military bomber engineer seeks asylum at U.S. border, offers military secrets
• How My Work For Trump and Giuliani Sought to Make Ukraine Defenseless (By Lev Parnas)
• Pentagon memo says object shot down over Canada was a ‘small, metallic balloon’
• Significant portion of Chinese balloon payload recovered, US official says
• US recovers electronic components from suspected Chinese spy balloon
• China’s Balloon-Size Blunder Is a Huge Opportunity (“Beijing has given the United States a rare opportunity to rally public concern and build international solidarity.”)
• China goes on the offensive as balloon fallout threatens to damage credibility
• Balloon furor deflates China’s commercial charm offensive
• Moldova’s pro-EU President Sandu accuses Russia of coup plot
• Indian government raids BBC offices after documentary critical of Modi (Appalling.)
• ‘They hate us’: earthquake tests ties between Syrian refugees and Turkish hosts
• Jared Kushner’s money from Saudi Arabia comes into sharper focus
• A Fresh, Foul Aroma Surrounds the Ties Between Jared Kushner, Donald Trump, and MBS (“A report from over the weekend is chockfull of troubling details.”)
• Major Israeli Protests Against Judicial Overhaul Threaten Unrest (“Israel president warns of ‘constitutional and social collapse’”)
• Israel Is Sitting on a Powder Keg
• There is a way out of Israel’s crisis. Netanyahu should take it.
• Cyclone Gabrielle worst storm to hit New Zealand this century, says PM
• New Zealand minister decries climate crisis ‘lost decades’ in wake of Cyclone Gabrielle
• US inflation likely eased again last month if more gradually
• U.S. Inflation Data Is Expected to Show Price Pressures Cooled
• The Future of Long COVID (“This emergency is not about to end.”)
• 2 Ways This Debt Ceiling Debate Ends (“And why it could be either better or worse than 2011.”)
• Efforts to Combat Disinformation Are Waning at Social Media Giants (That’s the exact opposite of what should be happening.)
• The Republican war on energy efficiency will cost the poor the most
• From brownfield to green wellspring (“Plots of land abandoned as graveyards of hazardous materials are being reborn as clean energy hubs”)
• Indoor Pollutant Concentrations Are Significantly Lower in Homes Without a Gas Stove, Nonprofit Finds
• The G.O.P.’s Long War Against Medicare and Social Security
• Rescuing Farm Animals From Cruelty Should Be Legal
• Conservatives gloat as Congress starts off with little to show
• Teen girls and LGBTQ+ youth plagued by violence and trauma, survey says
• Teen girls bear worst of mental health crisis
• Teen girls ‘engulfed’ in violence and trauma, CDC finds
• Antisemitism is on the rise in the U.S., surveys say
• Biden is succeeding in building the economy from ‘bottom up, middle out’ (“Workers at the lower end of the wage scale are improving.”)
• GOP attorneys general call for scrapping FDA approval of abortion pill
• Barr and Durham Made a Mockery of the Rules I Wrote
• The Supreme Court showdown over Biden’s student debt relief program, explained (“The law is very explicit that Biden’s student debt relief program is lawful. The Court’s Republican majority is unlikely to care.”)
• Mass shootings leave Americans feeling helpless
• Biden fires Architect of the Capitol after calls for his resignation (Good riddance. Now, DeJoy needs to go.)
• Ron Klain Looks Back on Biden’s First Two Years as President (“We have been declared dead, dead, dead many times”)
• Sarah Huckabee Sanders Has a Funny Idea of What the Republican Party Should Be
• Biden Will Name Fed’s Lael Brainard as His Top Economic Adviser
• Trump Grand Jury Says Witnesses May Have Lied Under Oath
• Judge orders partial release of Georgia grand jury report on possible 2020 election crimes
• Pence search gives Biden cover, puts Trump in worse shape (“Pence and Biden did what Trump refused to do.”)
• Pence to fight special counsel subpoena on Trump’s 2020 election denial
• Report: Trump’s Habit of Clogging Toilets With Government Documents Even Grosser Than Previously Thought
• Anti-choice figures twist Rihanna’s pregnancy and powerful Super Bowl performance into anti-choice propaganda
• GOP objections to the ‘Black national anthem’ are about control
• DeSantis’s corporate donors under fire for ‘hypocrisy’ over Black History Month
• Ron DeSantis Has a Glaring Vulnerability
• The College Board Regrets Not Calling Out Ron DeSantis’s Racist Bullshit Sooner
• Right-wing media divided as Trump and DeSantis supporters lob “grooming” accusations against both candidates
• Will Yet Another Republican Join the Presidential Race? (“Tim Scott is reportedly making moves, joining an already crowded list of potential candidates—a scenario Donald Trump’s team is likely very giddy about.”)
• Marjorie Taylor Greene Makes Absolutely Baffling 9/11 Claim In Bonkers New Video (“The conspiracy theorist lawmaker has some unusual thoughts about the suspected Chinese spy balloon, President Biden and 9/11, all rolled up in one.” She’s completely unhinged.)
• Elon Musk is cribbing from Rupert Murdoch’s right-wing media playbook
• Elon Musk’s latest Twitter tantrum is an attempt to amplify propaganda (“The ‘shadowbanning’ myth is a pretext to boost far-right voices on social media — even if people don’t follow them”)
• Twitter is just showing everyone all of Elon’s tweets now (Use the “block” and “mute” buttons generously!)
• The “nepo babies” of right-wing media (“In an ecosystem that’s steeped in lies and questionable hires, nepo babies are a staple”)
• Suspect has died of apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after mass shooting at Michigan State University left 3 dead and 5 injured, police say
• Jackson May Be the Center of an ‘Apartheid’ Miss.
• Health concerns grow in East Palestine, Ohio, after train derailment
• Ford to build battery plant in Michigan in drive with Chinese tech partner
• Ford will build $3.5 billion battery factory in Michigan that Virginia governor rejected
• Senators Collins and Warner team up to expand Alzheimer’s disease research and treatment
• Virginia to FBI, GSA: Springfield Best Location for New FBI Headquarters
• After Glenn Youngkin Drives Away a Massive $3.5 Billion Investment with 2,500 Good Jobs for Southside, Ford Announces It’s Locating in Michigan (Again, it’s important to emphasize that Youngkin has no problem with tons of other Virginia companies doing major business with China.)
• Former Rep. Riggleman ponders independent run for governor. Why that’s unlikely to succeed.
• Lawmakers scramble to address statewide educator shortage
• VA Senate and House Democrats Hold “Crossover” Priorities Press Conference (“As Senator Aaron Rouse says, ‘At halftime, you get together with your team, come up with your plan, and get back to work!'”)
• House GOP pressures Senate on Virginia budget talks, hints at no new spending plan
• Virginia Latino Caucus Releases Crossover Update
• Bill to stop colleges from holding transcripts hostage voted down again
• Virginia Senate panel again rejects Youngkin-backed bill to treat overdose deaths as homicides
• Complex energy legislation puts burden on Virginia’s part-time lawmakers (“As sprawling utility legislation becomes a perennial feature in Virginia’s statehouse, lawmakers are considering plans to revive a state commission that would help vet and analyze bills related to electric utilities.”)
• Editorial: In light of Richneck shooting, treat complaints with urgency
• Bill to require study of menhaden in Chesapeake Bay scaled back
• Senate panel kills House crime bills, including Youngkin priority
• Va. House panel rejects bills to boost prison oversight, give inmates free phone calls
• Youngkin Admin Opposes Bill to Safeguard Women from Prosecution for Seeking Reproductive Healthcare (“Governor Youngkin’s eagerness to imprison women and doctors for seeking and providing reproductive care is a dangerous step”)
• In righting wrongs, former state registrar helped create a more equitable, inclusive Virginia
• A bill protecting medical workers from violence has bipartisan support
• Towing companies ignite passions in General Assembly
• Video: Three Democratic Candidates for Jennifer McClellan’s (Almost Certainly) Soon-to-Be-Vacated State Senate District Speak to Henrico Democrats (The candidates are Del. Lamont Bagby, Del. Dawn Adams and Alexsis Rodgers)
• After keeping Disney and Walmart out, rich landowners battle Amazon (“Amazon wants to build a data center in Warrenton, Va. After hiring its former town manager, the company is facing a revolt from wealthy local conservationists.”)
• In Va., Democratic challengers take on party’s incumbent prosecutors (“A trio of Democrats in Loudoun, Arlington and Fairfax counties who swept into office after the 2019 election are facing opponents from within their own party.”)
• Keeping taxes low and reviving local projects: What casino tax revenue will mean for Southwest Virginia
• Richmond is the fastest growing region in Virginia
• Endangered North Atlantic right whale washes ashore in Virginia Beach
• D.C.-area forecast: Mild sunshine delivers heart-warming weather