Tuesday News: “Chinese Balloons Were Spotted Near US Bases During Trump’s Era”; “Rescuers in race against time as Turkey-Syria quake death toll passes 5,000”; “What to expect from Biden’s big speech”; “Florida is officially a laboratory for fascism in the U.S.”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, February 7.

• A Searing Message for the Fossil-Fuel Industry, from the U.N. Secretary-General (“Forget diplomatic language—it’s a moment for some home truths.”)
• BP Slows Transition to Renewable Energy as Oil Bonanza Continues (Oil companies are bad actors.)
• We don’t need ‘miracle’ technologies to fix the climate. We have the tools now
• Twice as Much Land in Developing Nations Will be Swamped by Rising Seas than Previously Projected, New Research Shows (This is the fault of the fossil fuel industry.)
• BP posts record 2022 earnings to join Big Oil profit bonanza (We should tax the oil industry’s windfall profits heavily.)
• Zelensky May Go to Brussels as He Navigates E.U. Political Support
• UN chief fears world is heading towards ‘wider war’ over Russia-Ukraine conflict (“António Guterres warns in speech to general assembly that ‘chances of escalation and bloodshed are growing’”)
• Russia’s budget deficit soars as energy revenues slump by almost half
• Biden expected to visit Poland this month to mark first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
• Eastern Ukraine Braces for New Russian Offensive
• Kyiv’s forces holding on to Bakhmut, Zelensky says; U.N. chief warns of ‘wider war’
• Ukraine reports record Russian deaths as Moscow presses offensive in east
• This wasn’t the first Chinese balloon over the U.S. Why were the others ignored?
• ‘Total miscalculation’: China goes into crisis management mode on balloon fallout
• Mainstream reporting echoes right-wing hysteria over Chinese surveillance balloon (The “mainstream media’ in this country is largely trash.)
• China’s Balloon May Have Taught Pentagon More Than Beijing Learned From It, General Says
• Exclusive: US intel assessment documents Chinese spy balloon incident under Trump
• U-2 Spy Planes Snooped On Chinese Surveillance Balloon
• Chinese Balloons Were Spotted Near US Bases During Trump’s Era
• Eek, a balloon! How China easily got Republicans to beclown themselves (“Once again, the GOP proves it’s the party of insecure men overcompensating”)
• Exclusive: Record-breaking 2022 for North Korea crypto theft, UN report says
• Magnitude 7.8 quake kills over 5,000 people in Turkey and Syria
• Aid, rescuers rushed to Turkey, Syria after deadly quake
• First Thing: Turkey and Syria earthquake death toll ‘could pass 20,000’
• Engineers, search dogs sent to Turkey, Syria after quake
• A glance at the world’s deadliest quakes in past 25 years
• Rescuers in race against time as Turkey-Syria quake death toll passes 5,000
• Scoop: U.S asked Israel and PA to “pause” certain actions in West Bank and at UN
• From This Hill, You Can See the Next Intifada
• Rishi Sunak Reshapes UK Government Departments After Rocky Start
• How Myanmar’s Military Hangs On to Power Despite Sanctions
• Third day of strikes and protests in France over Macron pension plans
• Biden aims to deliver reassurance in State of Union address
• What to expect from Biden’s big speech
• Biden Will Seek Billionaire Tax, New Levy on Stock Buybacks in State of the Union
• Kevin McCarthy Says U.S. Will Not Default In Debt Ceiling Fight
• President Biden to Lay Down Economic Challenge to House Republicans
• A review of Biden’s legislative and policy successes over united GOP opposition (It’s truly amazing.)
• The Biden economy: Waning inflation, record jobs, lingering uncertainty (There’s always “lingering uncertainty” in life, that goes without saying and doesn’t have to be in a news headline.)
• Biden’s economic success may reset the 2024 race (“A still-humming economy puts Biden in the driver’s seat for reelection.”)
• Companies Adding 100,000 Green Jobs Under New US Climate Law
• McCarthy Urges Negotiations on Debt Limit With No ‘Lines in Sand’
• Centrist Republican lawmaker rules out sidestepping McCarthy on debt ceiling (It’s a flat-out lie by NBC “News” to call this person a “centrist.”)
• Media largely fail to mention Trump’s role in the January 6 Capitol insurrection while reporting on his 2024 presidential campaign (The political media in this country is a disgrace, for the most part.)
• Federal judge says constitutional right to abortion may still exist, despite Dobbs
• The Worst Judge in America Could Outlaw the Abortion Pill Nationwide. It Gets Worse.
• How a major election theory case at the U.S. Supreme Court could get thrown out
• Joe Biden Has a Bully Pulpit, and He Should Focus It on the Supreme Court
• Prosecutors must carefully select which charges, if any, to bring against Trump
• Trump Does Not React Well to Prosecutor Declaring He Should Be Indicted Immediately
• The Ugly Road to 2024 (“The 2024 Republican primary is already ugly. Because any candidate who wants to win needs the full support of Trump’s MAGA base of voters”)
• McCarthy, Scalise go to war with U.S. Chamber after group backed some Democrats in 2020 and 2022 elections
• The ‘He Gets Us’ commercials promote Jesus. Who’s behind them and what is the goal?
• Club for Growth Distances Itself Further From Trump (It’s so misleading and dishonest to call this the “Club for Growth,” when it’s actually a virulently anti-government organization.)
• Florida is officially a laboratory for fascism in the U.S.
• The George Santos Saga Gets Even Worse
• Trump’s lawsuit against Bob Woodward is absurd — and dangerous
• Neo-Nazi leader among 2 arrested in plot to attack Baltimore’s power grid, feds say
• FBI Arrests 2 in ‘Racially Motivated’ Plot to Attack Baltimore Power Grid
• Ex-RNC Chair Michael Steele Rips ‘Putz’ Tucker Carlson After Racist Meltdown (“The Fox News host is livid over the number of Black women being appointed to the overwhelmingly white and male federal judiciary.”)
• Musk’s Twitter Has Just 180,000 U.S. Subscribers, Two Months After Launch (Pathetic – “less than 0.2% of monthly active users”)
• As Fox continues its Matt Schlapp blackout, the Schlapps find safe spaces in other right-wing media
• ERCOT advanced 15 GW of solar in 2022, moving 5x faster than other RTOs/ISOs
• Ron DeSantis to Take Control of Disney’s District Board in New Bill
• “The same media that hypes an idiot balloon story endlessly will then turn around and blame people for being ignorant about important policy issues.” (“Our national discourse has become a never ending stream of red wavy right wing bullshit.”)
• Sen. Kaine discusses President’s address, economy, reelection and more
• Warner & Kaine Urge Virginia General Assembly to Repeal Ban on Same-Sex Marriage in State Constitution
• “Elections Daily” Inaugural 2023 VA State Senate Rankings Show Dems with 20 Safe/Likely/Lean; Rs with 16 Safe/Likely/Lean; 4 Tossups (Dems start the cycle holding a narrow, 22-18 edge in the State Senate.)
• GOP kills Virginia lawmaker’s attempt to ban Jan. 6 rioters from public positions (“HB 1562 would have gone further than existing law by making the civil office bans permanent.” Republicans protecting insurrectionists and traitors.)
• Full Disclosure Briefing: Can Virginia land a regional tech hub?
• Schapiro: When perception and reality collide for a newbie politician (“Not that Warner, despite a mini-exploratory campaign, really was interested in national office. Why does it seem that is about the only thing that interests Youngkin?”)
• Column: Gov. Youngkin is playing politics with Virginia’s economy
• Va. parents say Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed history standards fail their children
• Virginia explores ways to prevent human trafficking
• The gas stove culture wars come to Virginia (They’re not “culture wars,” they’re Republicans’ assault on science, public health, etc. in this case.)
• Virginia legislature weighing novel proposal to fill State Corporation Commission vacancies
• “Second Look” bill gets through Virginia Senate
• Virginia Senate approves bill targeting Chinese ownership of farmland
• VA Senate Unanimously Passes McClellan-Hashmi Bill to Increase Support Staff in Virginia’s K-12 Schools (“Bill Raises Number of School Social Workers, Psychologists and Nurses in Districts Across Virginia”)
• Dulles Greenway bill clears House but faces uncertainty in Senate
• After controversial start of charity poker, Virginia might change the rules yet again
• Reforming solitary confinement in Virginia gets bipartisan push — led by 2 Hampton Roads lawmakers
• Bill would change the way Virginia Beach fills council vacancies. City election officials call it ‘unworkable.’
• Fairfax At-Large School Board Member Rachna Sizemore Heizer Announces Reelection Bid in Braddock District (Megan McLaughlin, the current Braddock district representative on the School Board, is retiring after 12 years)

Del. March complains that fellow Republicans ‘attempted to humiliate me’ (“The Floyd County Republican says Lt. Gov. Earle-Sears ‘refused to shake my hand and yelled something . . before leaving and slamming my door.’”)

• NAACP voices concern, questions legality of changes to Arlington ‘Missing Middle’ proposal
• Arlington sees more than a third of 2022’s carjacking total in first month of 2023
• Editorial: Honoring the Chincoteague pony (“With bipartisan support in Richmond, the Chincoteague pony is poised to be designated as the commonwealth’s official state pony.”)
• D.C.-area forecast: Sun and clouds as a warming trend continues (“Highs could reach the 60s Wednesday through Friday before a cooler weekend; showers possible Thursday and late Friday.”)