by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, July 20.
- ‘It affects everything’: why is Hollywood so scared to tackle the climate crisis?
- How the world’s tech crashed all at once (“CrowdStrike is everywhere”)
- Slow recovery from IT outage begins as experts warn of future risks (“Fault in CrowdStrike caused airports, businesses and healthcare services to languish in ‘largest outage in history’”)
- Ukrainian nationalist ex-MP shot dead in Lviv street
- Trump Has ‘Very Good’ Phone Call With Ukraine’s Zelenskiy (WTF???)
- Russia Punishes Those Who Seek the Truth
- What We Know About the Weaponization of Sexual Violence on October 7th (“Rape is a shocking and sadly predictable feature of war. But the nature of the crime makes it difficult to document and, consequently, to prosecute.”)
- Top U.N. court says Israel’s occupation of West Bank, East Jerusalem is ‘unlawful’
- Strike on Tel Aviv Draws Global Attention to Houthi Momentum
- 13 Palestinians killed in central Gaza strikes as cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas grind on
- Italy’s Meloni says she can work with EU head von der Leyen despite party vote
- Blinken says Iran’s nuclear weapon breakout time is probably down to 1-2 weeks (That’s largely Trump’s fault, by the way.)
- Bangladesh blocks roads and internet, deploys army to curb protests
- Democracy remains at risk in Guatemala, says UN human rights chief
- Project 2025 Plan for Trump Presidency Has Far-Reaching Threats to Science
- Foreign officials courted Trump allies at the Republican convention
- The RNC clarified Trump’s 2024 persona: Moderate authoritarian weirdo (“The Trump campaign is at once a savvy, disciplined operation and an illiberal narcissist’s personality cult.”)
- The totalitarian tell in Trump’s “unity” speech
- Was That the Worst Convention Speech of All Time? (“It was certainly the longest and the least tethered to reality — and showed that Trump, an elderly man in decline, is unfit for the presidency.”)
- Plans Are Afoot In Trumpland To Call The Election A Win, No Matter What
- A Searing Reminder That Trump Is Unwell (“His bizarre diatribe at the RNC shows why the pro-democracy coalition is so worried about beating him.”)
- GOP called for unity as it continued to feature far-right figures, ideas (“The lineup of speakers at the Republican National Convention underlined the centrality of extremist voices that were once on the fringe, analysts say.”)
- Trump’s RNC speech was divisive, but front pages of mainstream media claimed it was “unifying” and “healing”
- In the Blood (“Trump and Vance make the case for Herrenvolk Democracy”)
- George W. Bush’s Attorney General Is Worried About Trump
- Trump calls for UAW leader to be “fired immediately”
- Charlottesville tiki torch rioter endorses Donald Trump at his Jan. 6 sentencing
- Horny for fascism (“You ever have one of those days where nothing surprises you but the sheer volume of things not surprising you is kind of overwhelming? Here’s Politico reporter Natalie Allison with an extremely unsurprising yet deeply stupid bit of not-journalism”)
- Right-wing media brought Trump back from the brink. Now he’s the GOP presidential nominee.
- “Biden Girl Memo to the President: Dear old dad may have been right for his time—and I love him—but things are different now” (President Biden, please pass the torch, like you promised, to the next generation – and save America from the destruction of our democracy. )
- Joe Biden, Allies Are Furious at Democrats Trying to Push Him Out: “They Are Julius Caesar-ing This Man” (As Joe Biden would say, “c’mon, man!”)
- Pressure mounts on Biden as tally of Democrats urging withdrawal passes 30 (“US president reportedly feeling ‘angry and betrayed’ as speculation swirls that announcement could be imminent”)
- Biden Plots to Salvage Campaign Many Allies Believe Already Over
- Biden’s ability to win back skeptical Democrats tested at a perilous moment for his campaign
- Arguo Ergo Sum, Motherfuckers (“‘I Argue Therefore I Am’ is the Superpower of the Democratic Party”)
- This Crew Is Totally Beatable (“Democrats just need to believe they can do it.”)
- Twelve more Democrats, including two senators, call on Biden to drop out
- Secluded in Rehoboth, Biden Stews at Allies’ Pressure to Drop Out of the Race
- Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown calls for Biden to drop out of the 2024 race
- Biden’s family starts discussing his exit plan from the 2024 race
- Michael Moritz, Democratic Megadonor, Urges Biden Exit: ‘Clock Has Run Out’
- Democratic consensus solidifies around Harris, should Biden step aside
- The Quiet, Righteous Rage of Kamala Harris (“America spent years turning the vice president into a joke. In the end, she might get the last laugh.”)
- Team Trump Is Taking Stock of Kamala Harris
- Kamala Harris allies weighing how they could build a campaign if Biden exits
- VP Harris and Democratic donors discuss ‘emerging needs’ with Biden campaign in crisis
- Ocasio-Cortez Warns of ‘Enormous Peril’ if Democrats Push Biden Aside (In fact, there’s peril either way.)
- Trump shooter flew drone over venue hours before attempted assassination, source says
- Investigators piece together a puzzling portrait of the shooter who sought to assassinate Trump (“Thomas Matthew Crooks was an intelligent, unassuming loner, who expressed an interest in guns and was far from outspoken about politics.”)
- Pro-Trump multimillionaire and election denier boosts funds to far-right voter-conspiracy groups (“Ex-Overstock chief Patrick Byrne using Maga-allied America Project to steer large amounts to groups pushing fringe theories” Evil.)
- Sheila Jackson Lee, long-serving Democratic congresswoman and advocate for Black Americans, dies at 74 (R.I.P.)
- Florida OKs Misleading Statement To Print Next To Pro-Choice Ballot Measure (“The supposedly nonpartisan committee that drafted it included an economist from the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation, the group behind Project 2025.”)
- Outage causes outrage as Va. senator vows scrutiny of CrowdStrike (“Following a failed overnight software upgrade linked to Microsoft’s CrowdStrike system Friday morning that grounded flights, disrupted businesses, interrupted broadcasts and prevented millions of financial transactions, Sen. Mark Warner expressed concerns about why the company’s patch wasn’t first tested before its rollout.”)
- Politics at the border: Kaine backs Biden, faults GOP for blocking solutions (“believe that Joe Biden is going to make the right decision for the United States, put country first” What Kaine actually said here is not the same as what the headline says, by the way.)
- US Senator Tim Kaine calls for US recognition of Palestine, following Knesset vote
- Audio: On MAGA Radio, LG Winsome Sears Desperately Grovels to Get Back in “Changed Man” (LOL!) Trump’s Good Graces; Says She’s “Exploring” a 2025 Run for Governor, Definitely Will NOT Run for Reelection as LG (Sears also notes that she’s recovering from COVID.)
- Youngkin speaks about energy plan ahead of update in coming weeks (Youngkin is terrible on energy issues, just as he is on everything else.)
- Virginia hopefuls woo support at RNC with oyster buffets, charter bus chats (The “mainstream media” loves articles like this.)
- Hampton Roads leaders address gun violence with ideas to reduce it, including legislation, programs and more funding
- Fairfax Co. approves update to school boundary policy despite criticism from some families
- Follower of far-right group who assaulted officer on Jan. 6 sentenced (“Fairfax County’s Joseph Brody, who was also found guilty of destroying media equipment at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot, received 18 months in prison.”)
- Richmond spokesperson received $14K in severance (“Petula Burks left the city post amid spending issues, FOIA lawsuit”)
- Richmond’s Columbus statue finds new home outside Virginia
- D.C.-area forecast: Occasional showers today, then a seasonably hot Sunday
