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by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, March 18.
- Cherry blossoms hitting earlier peaks due to climate change, scientists warn
- ‘Bewildering’ to omit meat-eating reduction from UN climate plan (Slashing meat production/consumption would have MASSIVE environmental benefits, as well as animal welfare and health benefits. It’s a no brainer.)
- Will Earth hit a climate “tipping point?” Here’s why experts say this framework is problematic (“We can still stop some environmental damage before it gets worse and slowly reverse the trend of global heating” First, switch from fossil fuels to clean energy – ASAP!)
- Putin warns the West a Russia-NATO conflict is just one step from World War Three (Putin seems increasingly unhinged.)
- Western leaders slam Putin election win as ‘illegitimate’; Ukraine hit with wave of drone attacks
- Putin Warns Russia Won’t Stop After Predictable Election Win
- Rosenberg: Putin’s fifth term likely to be more of the same
- Putin bromance has US intelligence officials fearing second Trump term
- Johnson’s Plan B for Ukraine leaves questions unanswered
- Putin gets fifth term in election that was never in doubt, after harshest crackdown since Soviet era (Totally illegitimate, not a real election.)
- West condemns Russian ‘pseudo-election’ as Putin claims landslide win
- Ten years since its illegal annexation, Crimea is a template for newly occupied parts of Ukraine
- Allegations UNRWA collaborated with Hamas are ‘flat-out lies’: Van Hollen
- Israel launches another raid on Gaza’s main hospital, charging that Hamas has regrouped there
- Gaza Amputees Fight for Survival in Hospitals Hollowed Out by War
- Netanyahu Says Schumer’s Calls For His Removal Are ‘Totally Inappropriate’ (Netanyahu, of course, has interfered in US politics *constantly* for many years. So…f*** him.)
- Netanyahu’s response to Schumer widens rift in US-Israeli relations (The rift is with Netanyahu and the far right in Israel, not with the country overall.)
- Germans thought they were immune to nationalism after confronting their Nazi past. They were wrong
- China’s economy shows signs of improvement, but its property sector is still in the doldrums
- The House’s move against TikTok goes too far — and not far enough
- Extreme Heat Toasted the Caribbean’s Corals
- Protesters Take to Streets in Cuba as Lights Go Out Across Island
- The Unforgivable Silence on Sudan
- Trump Doubles Down on Migrants ‘Poisoning’ the Country
- Trump Escalates His Dehumanization of Migrants: Some Are ‘Not People … These Are Animals’ (Trump is really, really sick – and extremely dangerous.)
- Kushner Deal in Serbia Follows Earlier Interest by Trump (Kushner is wildly corrupt.)
- Climate change is fuelling the US insurance problem
- Why EVs are now almost as cheap as gas cars (“Cost is the main barrier for U.S. car buyers thinking of making the switch, according to a 2022 Cox Automotive survey. If prices keep dropping as they did last month, more Americans may be willing to ditch their gas-guzzlers for electric cars.” Electric vehicles also are cheaper to maintain and fuel than internal combustion engine vehicles.)
- Across the US, batteries and green energies like wind and solar combine for major climate solution
- Biden to sign executive order to expand research on women’s health
- Border security deadlock heightens risk of government shutdown (This is an utterly ridiculous headline by the WaPo, as it fails to point out that this is 100% Republicans’ – and Trump’s – fault. Pathetic as always by the WaPo.)
- Supreme Court examines whether government can combat disinformation online
- The Strongman Fantasy — And Dictatorship in Real Life — Quite a few Americans like the idea of strongman rule. (Really disturbing.)
- Trump Just Made the 2024 Choice as Vivid as Possible
- Pelosi: Democrats ‘have to win this election’ following Trump’s ‘bloodbath’ remarks
- ‘A campaign for vengeance’: critics warn of a radical second Trump term (“After a chaotic first term, experienced advisers are ready to usher in a second presidency ‘driven by imaginary grievances’” No need for the “critics warn” formulation, by the way.)
- Trump ramps up dark rhetoric in Ohio stump speech for Senate candidate Bernie Moreno
- Trump says he’ll decide whether to support a national abortion ban ‘pretty soon’
- Trump doubles down on call for Liz Cheney to be prosecuted (Trump is a fascist.)
- Trump Economic Advisers Float Three Names for Fed Chair (Nightmarish.)
- Why Pence’s Refusal to Endorse Trump Matters (Seriously!)
- In on the Joke: The Comedic Trick Trump Uses to Normalize His Behavior (“It is a way of inverting and reversing assumptions in a carnivalesque kind of way. It’s a way of upending morality…It’s a thing that gives him permission to go on the attack in really hostile ways while saving face as just sort of an old satirist or something.”)
- A Surprising New Poll Shows How a Conviction Could Actually Hurt Trump
- Opinion: Mike Pence’s bombshell announcement
- The GOP’s Claim That We Were Better Off in 2020 Is So Weird (In fact, 2020 was one of the worst years in US history – in significant part because of Trump, by the way.)
- ‘Knock it off’: Speaker Mike Johnson tries to stop Republicans from campaigning against each other in bitter primary battles
- MAGA Reps Suddenly Face an Existential Threat: Themselves
- Adult MAGA rage is making schools more dangerous for students
- Musk is a MAGA megaphone and a federal contractor. That’s a problem.
- Republican Bill Cassidy derides Trump and calls 2024 race ‘sorry state of affairs’ (“Louisiana senator expressed disapproval of the former president, saying: ‘Is this a person we want to have an office?’”)
- The G.O.P. Flamethrower With a Right-Wing Vision for North Carolina (“Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor, has a long history of inflammatory statements and has called for weaving religious beliefs into government.” Why not use the word EXTREMIST – or Christofascst, for that matter – right in the headline? Why use vague words like “inflammatory” and “flamethrower” instead?)
- Chart of the Day: California surges beyond 100 pct renewables
- Virginia lawmakers send more than 30 gun bills to skeptical governor (“Skeptical” is certainly one word for Youngkin’s view towards gun violence prevention.)
- Youngkin administration considers bill to expand local authority to lower speed limits
- Youngkin’s amendment to Virginia Beach voting system bill faces opposition
- Badly Divided Loudoun GOP Barely Reelects…THIS GUY as Its Chair, Demonstrating Yet Again How Off-the-F’ing-Deep-End the Trumpified/MAGA GOP(Q) Has Gone. (This guy attacked Women’s History Month and asked, “Do you think the sea level would lower, if we just took all the boats out of the water?”)
- Poisons still get into the James, 50 years after Kepone
- Henry County has the state’s biggest imbalance between deaths and births
- Fairfax Co. firefighters battle house fire after reports of explosion
- D.C.-area forecast: Highs mostly in the 50s instead of the 70s this week
