by Lowell
Here are a few international, national, and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, February 27.
- How Climate Change Puts the Safety of Drinking Water at Risk
- USAID workers will be given 15 minutes to clear their workspaces as the agency gets dismantled (Cruel, deranged and severely damaging.)
- Trump administration says it’s cutting 90% of USAID foreign aid contracts
- Supreme Court grants Trump request to pause USAID payments order
- Chief Justice John Roberts pauses order for Trump admin to pay $2 billion in foreign aid by midnight (Roberts f’ing sucks.)
- Supreme Court pauses order for Trump administration to restart foreign aid (“The emergency appeal marks the first time Trump’s efforts to drastically remake the federal government reached the nation’s highest court” Yep, we’re screwed.)
- Did Russia Invade Ukraine? Is Putin a Dictator? We Asked Every Republican Member of Congress (“Two simple questions, few straight answers”)
- US, Russia Meet in Turkey in Early Step Toward Restoring Ties
- North Korea Is Sending More Troops to Russia, South Korea Says
- A Ukraine ceasefire deal is starting to come into view. Would it work? (“It depends on two of the most undependable men on the planet.” So…no.)
- EU pushes back against Trump tariff threats and his caustic comments that bloc is out to get the US
- Indifference or Hostility? Trump’s View of European Allies Raises Alarm
- Europe, appalled, watches as Trump becomes Putin’s poodle
- Trump threatens to slap 25% tariffs on EU, says bloc was always meant to hurt the U.S. (Trump is, of course, totally wrong. As always.)
- Trump says US won’t give Ukraine security guarantees ‘beyond very much’ ahead of Starmer meeting (Worthless.)
- Trump, Starmer at odds over security guarantees for Ukraine ahead of critical talks
- British PM Starmer to meet Trump at the White House
- Trump posts music video promoting his plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza and build a luxury resort
- Israel’s refusal to withdraw from this narrow strip of desert could threaten the Gaza ceasefire
- Andrew Tate, who faces rape and trafficking charges in Romania, has left for the US (Ee gads, WTF???)
- ‘Buy Canada, Bye America’: Trump’s Taunts Spur Fury in the North
- Economists are starting to worry about a serious Trump recession
- U.S. Economy Shows Signs of Strain From Trump’s Tariffs and Spending Cuts
- Republicans Gamble on a Regressive Economic Agenda
- Trump Team Weighs Pulling Funds for Moderna Bird Flu Vaccine
- FDA cancels meeting to select flu strains for next season’s shots
- RFK Jr. Dismisses Measles Outbreak As ‘Not Unusual’ After Child’s Death (Completely false and deranged.)
- Musk claims DOGE ‘restored’ Ebola prevention effort. Officials disagree.
- RFK Jr. Has Horrific Response to Measles Death
- The Supreme Court is in “radical agreement” that a bizarre DEI rule needs to go
- In Trump’s Washington, a Moscow-Like Chill Takes Hold (“A new administration’s efforts to pressure the news media, punish political opponents and tame the nation’s tycoons evoke the early days of President Vladimir V. Putin’s reign in Russia.”)
- Trump administration briefing: president praises Doge’s efforts and threatens US media
- Justice Department tells judges it can’t comply with court-ordered deadline to release frozen aid funding
- Mulvaney says Trump, Musk ‘itching for a fight’ with courts on federal worker cuts
- Musk dominates, disparages federal workers at first Trump Cabinet meeting
- Trump cabinet flunkies hail wannabe Caesar and Elon, his oligarch pal (“Special adviser showed instinctive feel for authoritarianism as he addressed the president’s first full cabinet meeting”)
- Musk And His ‘Humble Tech Support’ Effort Get Star Turn At Trump’s Cabinet Meeting
- Trump Press Sec Seethes at Media over Musk as More Bad Econ News Hits
- Trump’s nominee for solicitor general won’t rule out ignoring court orders in ‘extreme cases’
- US government spending has not slowed under Trump so far, data shows
- DOGE reps will fan out across the government
- Elon Musk’s conflicts of interest ‘should scare every American’, experts say (“Doge’s work allows Musk to keep control of companies with billions in federal contracts as he guts government agencies”)
- Dozens of DOGE ‘receipts’ saved no money and killed contracts meant to boost efficiency
- A look at the misleading and incorrect claims on DOGE’s ‘wall of receipts’ (Nice job by Laura Barron-Lopez – she’s consistently excellent.)
- Senate Republicans voice DOGE concerns in meeting with White House chief of staff
- Musk’s Empire Is Reaping $2 Million Per Day From Trump (WILDLY corrupt. Imagine if this headline had been “Soros’ Empire Is Reaping $2 Million Per Day From Biden”???)
- Trump Administration Escalates Layoffs of Federal Workers (Heinous.)
- Trump Orders Federal Agencies To Submit Plans For ‘Large-Scale’ Firings, Per Memo
- Environmental Protection Agency Will Lose 65 Percent of Staff, Trump Says
- Three Former E.P.A. Leaders: You’ll Miss It When It’s Gone
- EPA urges White House to strike down landmark climate finding
- Johnson Tries to Shrug Off Anti-DOGE Town Halls as the Work of ‘Paid Protesters’ (Johson is beyond heinous.)
- Republicans terrified of crossing Trump due to physical threats, Democrat says (“Eric Swalwell says threats to them and their families are stopping GOP officials from criticizing president” Then they should quit.)
- Who Is the Anonymous Data Expert Telling Elon Which Cuts to Make?
- Cruel and Usual: Republicans Prepare to Gut Medicaid (“And their own supporters will be among the biggest victims”)
- The House Republican budget leaves states holding the bag on Medicaid
- Johnson rules out steepest Medicaid cut options
- Is Trump lying about cutting Medicaid — or is Congress? (Obnoxious headline – it’s not “Congress” generically that’s lying, it’s HOUSE REPUBLICANS – SAY THAT!)
- Social Security Administration Could Cut Half Its Workforc (Disastrous.)
- Senate Republicans say House budget won’t fly with them
- Top Social Security deputies leave amid rumored staff cuts
- VA pauses billions in cuts lauded by Musk as lawmakers and veterans decry loss of critical care
- America’s Most Dangerous (and Ridiculous) Prosecutor (“Ed Martin is like a toddler with a power tool. Someone is going to get hurt.”)
- Transgender US military personnel must be identified and stood down, says Pentagon memo (“Being transgender is not compatible with service, court filing says, foreshadowing removal of people from service within 60 days” Why isn’t it “compatible with service”???)
- Resistance Is Not Enough. The Left Must Address the Grievances of the Working Class.
- WHCA head: Public ‘can no longer trust’ pool reports under White House control (They all need to walk out. NOW!)
- White House Correspondents’ Association cedes control of pool reports to Trump administration
- Jeff Bezos’s Hypocritical Assertion of Power
- The Washington Post’s Strategy Is to Do Whatever Jeff Bezos Wants
- Legendary WaPo Editor Slams Bezos’ ‘Disgusting’ MAGA Makeover
- Jeff Bezos is muzzling the Washington Post’s opinion section. That’s a death knell
- WaPo Owner Jeff Bezos’ Attitude: “Freedom is what the boss tells you to write and think” (Or, as veteran WaPo columnist Philip Bump puts it, “what the actual fuck”)
- Today I am ending my professional association with The Washington Post. (Time for everyone to cancel their subscriptions to Bezos’ rag.)
- Gene Hackman, His Wife, and Dog Found Dead in Their Home
- Video: Referring to Gov. Youngkin’s Record Number of Vetoes, Sen. Mark Warner Says “When I was governor I had a 2:1 Republican legislature, but I found ways to work together…obviously other Governors take a different approach.” (Warner also comments on Musk, Ukraine, Trump voters starting to have “buyer’s remorse,” etc.)
- Sen. Warner: Federal spending cuts could be ‘recipe for disaster’ for Hampton Roads
- Video: Sen. Tim Kaine Speaks on Senate Floor Ahead of Vote to Terminate Trump’s Sham Energy Emergency (“TRUMP is the energy emergency”)
- Senate defeats Democratic resolution to end Trump’s energy emergency
- Sen. Kaine Excoriates Trump for Declaring a Bogus Energy Emergency (“In Senate floor debate, Republican Senators back the president, raising concerns about the reliability of the country’s electric grid.”)
- House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA11) Rebukes Trump’s Orders to Federal Agencies to Prepare for Mass Firings of Federal Workers (“Donald Trump is not a king, and we are not his subjects.”)
- Ranking Members Gerry Connolly (D-VA11) and Maxwell Frost Request Answers From EPA on the Ceased Enforcement of Environmental Protection Laws and Enactment of Project 2025 Playbook
- Hundreds protest GOP, Trump agenda at Rep. Wittman event in Midlothian
- Meet Former Del. Dave LaRock, Who Is Challenging Winsome Earle-Sears for the 2025 VA GOP Gubernatorial Nomination From Her Faaaaar Right (“Stop the Steal,” “VA DOGE,” Ivermectin, hardcore Trump/MAGA supporter, etc.)
- Hard-right LaRock files for Va. governor, promises ‘Virginia DOGE’ (Wow, the WaPo actually called Dave LaRock “hard right” in its headline. Of course, so is Winsome Earle-Sears; arguably, LaRock is more accurately described as a fascist, but…small steps? LOL)
- Earle-Sears draws two challengers for Republican nomination: Chase and LaRock
- Amanda Chase, ‘Trump in heels,’ running for governor again
- Amanda Chase announces run for governor
- Youngkin has about 900 bills to sign or veto by March 24
- Youngkin likely to add to his record number of vetoes (Well, obviously – I mean, if Youngkin vetoes even a single bill, he’ll “add to his record number of vetoes”…)
- Federal layoffs shake up Virginia ahead of 2025 governor’s race
- Freezing foreign aid is bad for Virginia’s farmers, businesses and universities
- Tougher academic standards ahead for Virginia students
- Arlington Republicans warn public about fake recruitment flyers featuring Elon Musk’s controversial ‘Roman salute’
- Virginia Tech set to open its new Innovation Campus this week (“Virginia Tech is about to open a new Innovation Campus in Alexandria. The big grand opening is Friday. The Innovation Campus Academic Building One looks like something that arrived from outer space. It has a series of folding planes that were designed to maximize exposure to the sun in a way that harnesses solar energy for 500 grad students. They’ll be studying everything from machine learning and artificial intelligence to wireless technology and drones.”)
- 2 people seriously wounded in shooting at ODU; students ‘not involved’
- CWG Live updates: Morning showers are followed by a mild, windy afternoon
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