by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, March 2.
- Climate change increasing conflict between humans and wildlife globally.
- Climate change and the risk of spreading diseases
- Leave Russia? A Year Later, Many Companies Can’t, or Won’t.
- In the Donbas, Russia’s vast numbers of troops weigh heavily on Ukraine’s defenders
- Russia says Ukrainian saboteurs launch cross-border attack
- India G20: US and Russia trade blows at talks in Delhi
- Situation ‘critical’ in Bakhmut as retreat contemplated; Russia and U.S. keep their distance at G-20
- Life in one Kyiv apartment building shows widespread toll away from the front line
- China leading US in technology race in all but a few fields, thinktank finds (“Year-long study finds China leads in 37 of 44 areas it tracked, with potential for a monopoly in areas such as nanoscale materials and synthetic biology”)
- Opposition vows challenge as Tinubu wins Nigerian presidency
- Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s political kingmaker, wins a flawed election
- US condemns Israel far right minister’s call for Palestinian town ‘to be erased’
- U.S. Condemns Smotrich’s ‘Repugnant, Disgusting’ Call for Israel to Wipe Out Palestinian Village
- Scoop: McConnell says U.S. shouldn’t weigh in on Bibi’s judicial overhaul plan (So, McConnell’s cool with the far right in Israel destroying that country’s democracy. Got it.)
- ‘Havana syndrome’ not caused by energy weapon or foreign adversary, intelligence review finds
- Japan births fall to record low as population crisis deepens (Solution: immigration.)
- How Do You Stop Lawmakers From Destroying the Law? (“Mexico’s president is destroying democracy from the inside.”)
- Greece train crash: Rail workers strike as anger over crash grows
- UN urged to intervene over destruction of US abortion rights
- Fed Might Be Winning Inflation Fight, Depending on Index Used
- In LGBTQ America, bisexuals are the ‘invisible majority’
- The campaign to make insulin less expensive just scored a major victory
- As Emissions From Agriculture Rise and Climate Change Batters American Farms, Congress Tackles the Farm Bill
- Bipartisan Senate Group Mulls Social Security Investment Fund, Higher Retirement Age (“Raising the retirement age would be highly controversial and Congress is not likely to do so anytime soon.”)
- Joe Biden Gets Big Laughs With Another Zinger For Marjorie Taylor Greene
- Joe Biden rallies Democrats in glimpse of possible re-election campaign (“The president celebrated in a speech his party’s successes so far in his first term while House Democrats eye regaining the chamber”)
- Biden strikes campaign tones in speech to House Democrats
- The Republican Senators Sounded Like a Wingnut Xylophone at Merrick Garland’s Hearing
- Biden set for first veto on Senate bill opposing climate-friendly investing
- Supreme Court will not hear case to oust Biden, reinstate Trump
- Biden administration lawyer may have saved student loan forgiveness plan at Supreme Court, experts say
- Biden says he’s not confident Supreme Court will clear student loan forgiveness plan
- Kevin McCarthy’s J6 footage deal endangers our country the same way Edward Snowden did: expert
- Trump’s enablers must face consequences, too (“Accessories to authoritarianism should not be able to launder their reputations.” That includes Glenn Youngkin.)
- The FBI Desperately Wants to Let Trump Off the Hook (Chrisopher Wray should have been fired a long time ago, for many reasons.)
- ‘Bullying worked’: Experts blast FBI after bombshell report reveals agents were ‘afraid’ to raid Mar-a-Lago
- Kellyanne Conway Meets With Prosecutors as Trump Inquiry Escalates
- Pence won’t commit to supporting Trump if he’s the nominee
- “Non-Person” Donald Trump faces “soft ban” at Fox
- Trump set to headline diminished gathering of conservatives
- Trump is poised for a CPAC love fest or face plant. There is no in between.
- Opinion | Republicans Can’t Wait for Trump to Implode (“He’s weaker than he’s been in years — yet still tops the 2024 field.”)
- GOP attacks on Buttigieg have taken strikingly personal tone after Ohio derailment (Pure homophobia.)
- The Excellence of Kamala Harris
- Ron DeSantis installs rightwing figures on board of former Disney district (Fascism)
- The Spectacular Fall of Lori Lightfoot
- Lori Lightfoot’s Downfall Is Bigger Than Just Chicago (“Voters have sent conservative Democrat Paul Vallas and progressive Brandon Johnson to an April run-off, kicking sitting-mayor Lightfoot out of the running in a race that speaks to national trends around policing and public safety.”)
- The Chicago mayor’s race shows Democrats still have a crime problem (“Incumbent mayors in Chicago almost never lose a reelection bid. But Lori Lightfoot ran into an issue that’s plaguing Democrats across the country.”)
- Fox Can’t Ignore the Dominion Lawsuit Revelations (“Sean Hannity was recently put on blast by a radio caller demanding to know why Fox “lied” about the 2020 election, while Howard Kurtz said he is prohibited from covering the suit.”)
- Tesla Shares Drop After Investor Day Disappoints
- Starbucks committed ‘egregious’ violations in battling union, judge rules
- Rupert Murdoch usually settles his many lawsuits — so why is he toughing out the Dominion case? (“Maintaining the image of a news outlet is starting to become almost impossible for Fox News”)
- Fox producers thought Jeanine Pirro was “nuts.” Then the network promoted her to its top-rated show.
- Fox’s Laura Ingraham participated in Ron DeSantis donor event ahead of his expected presidential run
- Florida GOP lawmaker pitches bill to eliminate the Florida Democratic Party (Pure fascism.)
- Democrats Could Literally Be Banned From Elections Thanks to New, Batshit Florida Bill
- Lake appeals loss in governor’s race to state Supreme Court (Youngkin campaigned for this lunatic last fall, even called her “AWESOME!”)
- Tennessee Governor Set to Ban Drag Shows Would Rather Not Talk About the Time He Dressed in Drag
- Video appears to show Texas drag bill author dressed in drag
- Kaine reacts to drugmaker’s cap on the cost of insulin
- A Texas Republican Wants to Ban People From Reading About How to Get an Abortion Online (Also fascism)
- Sen. Kaine introduces bill to boost hiring of military spouses
- VA Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow Announces Resignation (The Virginia NAACP had stated that Balow “declared war on teaching accurate American History”)
- Jillian Balow resigns from Virginia Department of Education (“The superintendent of public instruction’s tenure was marked with high-profile fights.”)
- Youngkin resumes out-of-state travel amid mixed signals on 2024 plans (“Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) made a fundraising trip to New York on Wednesday amid mixed signals about his presidential ambitions in the 2024 cycle.”)
- CNalysis’ Initial 2023 Virginia General Assembly Ratings: “56% chance of a Democratic majority in the House of Delegates,” 63% Chance in State Senate (There are “46 Solid D seats in the House and 18 Solid D seats in the Senate” vs “just 40 Solid R seats in the House and 14 Solid R seats in the Senate”)
- VPAP Analysis of 2023 General Assembly Legislation: 867 Out of 2,200 Bills Passed, Most Without Much If Any Controversy (On the other hand, 73% of bills by Democratic delegates were killed in the GOP-controlled House of Delegates)
- A dog, a food fight and other energy highlights from the 2023 General Assembly session (“Of the roughly 60 energy bills I followed this session, only a handful made it to the governor’s desk.”)
- Lawmakers reject new restrictions on political contributions (again)
- VA Del. Wendy Gooditis, First Elected in 2017 “Blue Tsunami,” Announces Retirement After “Redistricting eliminated House District 10” (Del. Gooditis: “During my tenure, we have expanded Medicaid, passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act, advanced voting rights, and ratified the Equal Rights Amendment.”)
- Schapiro: Little-noticed Big Brother bill is surprise casualty
- Virginia’s new cannabis authority faces more responsibilities, possible budget cuts
- Liz Cheney named professor at UVa Center for Politics
- Mountain Valley Pipeline does not threaten endangered species, federal agency finds (Fossil fuels in general absolutely DO threaten endangered species.)
- Virginia’s coming hurricane wind crisis
- Kyle McDaniel Enters Race for Fairfax County School Board At-Large, Joins Three Other Candidates for Democratic Endorsement (Among other things, McDaniel is focusing on “making up for COVID learning loss” and enhancing school safety.)
- Henrico County, environmental groups reach settlement over sewage overflows
- Next year there might be no Democrats in the state Senate west of Charlottesville (Right, and there are no Republicans in the Senate in heavily populated Northern Virginia)
- Virginia Beach School Board approves $15.4 million project to replace 3 schools. Now, it’s up to the city.
- D.C.-area forecast: A warm afternoon after morning showers; rainy and much cooler Friday
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