by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, December 23.
- Three-quarters of the world’s land is drying out, ‘redefining life on Earth’
- 2024 was a fantastic year for energy storage
- Did democracy survive the 2024 global election marathon? (“With the benefit of hindsight, 2024 might be better remembered as a year in which voters used the ballot box to punish incumbents for economic issues that were often well beyond their control. There is little evidence from the elections to show global trends to either the left or the right side of politics, rather it was who was in power at the time who lost out.”)
- Donald Trump’s transition team seeks to pull US out of WHO ‘on day one’ (Brilliant. NOT!)
- Zelensky’s slow shift toward negotiating for Ukraine’s future (“A new U.S. president and battlefield realities appear to be pushing Ukraine’s leader, who had long insisted on fighting for every inch of occupied land, to the table.”)
- Satellite Images Show North Korea Boosting Arms Flow to Russia (And we’re just allowing this???)
- Sending Troops to Help Russia Was North Korea’s Idea, U.S. Officials Say
- Why Are North Korean Troops in Ukraine Taking Heavy Casualties?
- A dam ignited rare Tibetan protests. They ended in beatings and arrests, BBC finds
- Biden Team to Probe Chinese Chips, Setting Up Trump for Tariffs
- Nissan, Honda announce plans to merge, creating world’s No. 3 automaker
- Top Arab Diplomats Visit Syria to Build Ties With New Leadership
- Middle East crisis live: 20 killed in Gaza overnight with strike on ‘humanitarian zone’ among deadly attacks
- Under Biden, a generational shift in U.S. views of Israel
- Organized Looting Throws Gaza Deeper Into Chaos
- Panama’s Leader Takes Up Feud With Trump Over Canal Control (So irresponsible by Bloomberg; it’s not a “feud,” it’s Trump threatening the invade Panama and seize the Panama Canal! The media sucks SO bad!)
- President-Elect Threatens to Take Control of Panama Canal, Greenland
- Trump Picks Callista Gingrich for Ambassador to Switzerland (“In announcing his choice of various envoys, including ambassador to Denmark, the president-elect again floated the idea of the United States acquiring Greenland.” Ugh and UGH.)
- The ‘Anthropological Change’ Happening in Venezuela (“Maduro is still in place, but a pro-democracy movement is transforming the beleaguered country.”)
- Biden Commutes 37 Death Sentences Ahead of Trump’s Plan to Resume Federal Executions
- Joe Biden commutes sentences of 37 out of 40 federal death row inmates (“The clemency action applies to all federal death row inmates except three convicted of terrorism or hate-motivated mass murder”)
- We’re Already Seeing Signs That Trump Is Tanking the Economy (“Your stock portfolio may grow. But say goodbye to next year’s raise—and maybe even your job.”)
- Trump signals plans to use all levers of power against the media (Maybe you guys should have thought of this the past few years, when you might have been able to actually head off the disaster, but instead were busy normalizing and sanewashing Donald Trump while trashing the economy, denigrating Joe Biden, etc. Brilliant.)
- The Trump Administration Chooses Violence (“Pete Hegseth and Daniel Penny represent the authoritarianism of the right.”)
- Inside the Trump team’s plans to try to end birthright citizenship
- Trump reiterates anti-immigration promise at rightwing convention rally (“In speech president-elect doubles down on idea that his clear but relatively narrow victory was in fact a landslide”)
- Trump Previews Second Term in Sprawling Speech to Conservative Conference (This is exactly how NOT to write a headline about Trump – using vague words like “previews” and “sprawling.” How about just saying it’s bonkers, extreme, filled with lies, etc??? Nope, because the NY Times is a bunch of cowards.)
- Media’s suck-up moment (Disgraceful.)
- Why Big Tech is funding Trump’s inauguration
- Trump picks billionaire financier for deputy defense secretary (Yet ANOTHER unqualified billionaire. This is going to be a kleptocracy combined with a kakistocracy…)
- Trump bristles at Musk’s rocketing profile as Democrats play on the president-elect’s vanity
- Trump addresses Elon Musk’s growing political influence: ‘He’s not going to be president’ (“I’m safe. You know why he can’t be? He wasn’t born in this country.”)
- Trump Finally Addresses Rumors About Elon Musk As ‘Shadow President’
- Donald Trump Is The New Republic’s 2024 Scoundrel of the Year
- Democrats Are Adrift as Donald Trump Prepares to Take Power (“Party has yet to land on a clear message or a leading messenger”)
- GOP congressman says it feels like Elon Musk is ‘our prime minister’ (That’s f’ed up.)
- The new right celebrates Trump at a conservative conference and sidesteps inconsistencies (By the “new right” AP really means to say -but doesn’t – a bunch of far-right extremists.)
- Trump’s big Mike Johnson decision (“A messy Capitol Hill endgame has the president-elect pondering a change in House leadership.”)
- House Ethics Committee Is Expected to Release Report on Gaetz’s Conduct
- “Put on your big boy pants”: Democrats rediscover a will to fight with government shutdown battle
- New research shows the massive hole Dems are in (“Even voters who previously backed Democrats cast the party as weak and overly focused on diversity and elites.”)
- Fetterman: Kash Patel Told Me He Won’t Go After Trump’s ‘Enemies List’ (Fetterman actually BELIEVES Kash Patel???)
- John Fetterman to fellow Democrats on second Trump term: ‘You gotta chill out’ (Hahahaha, ok.)
- Retiring U.S. Rep. Kay Granger experiencing ‘dementia issues,’ per family
- “The Brown Round-Up”: The Racist Chain Letter Terrorizing an Oregon County (“Recipients—including a mayor—were told to surveil “brown folks” at churches, schools, and stores”)
- Joe Manchin torches Democrats on the way out the door (This is the equivalent of writing a “DOG BARKS!” headline. Of *course* Manchin “torches Democrats on the way out the door” – what else would that guy do???)
- 25 for 2025: Here Are 25 Things to Keep an Eye On as Virginia Heads Into 2025 (Among MANY other things, In 2025 the entire Virginia House of Delegates, as well as the governorship, Lt. Governor and Attorney General’s positions, are up for election.)
- Virginia House speaker: Trump downsizing may send Virginia unemployment surging higher (Exactly right by Don Scott.)
- Natural gas projects accelerate as Virginia’s energy needs soar (Not good at all.)
- Virginia’s population growth is driven mostly by immigration
- Virginia Politics Insider: Time grows short (“Anna Bryson reports that Victor Salgado, a former Justice Department prosecutor, recently became the fifth candidate seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. He joins state Sens. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, and Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, outgoing Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and Dr. Babur Lateef, chair of the Prince William County School Board.”)
- Lucas is a yes on tax relief, but a no on Youngkin’s ‘sanctuary city’ ban
- 2024 recap: What happened in Richmond
- Accreditor issues warning to University of Lynchburg over fiscal responsibility, student outcome standards
- D.C. area forecast and updates: Sunny, still cold today. Freezing rain possible Tuesday.
