by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, February 18. As the brilliant David Rothkopf says, “By any measure, the first few weeks of this new administration has been far more harrowing and destructive than we could possibly have imagined.” Unfortunately, “thus far we have not seen US demonstrations equivalent to those we’ve seen in Israel or Georgia or Germany. We have not seen Democrats effectively block GOP initiatives. We have not seen moderate Republicans—if any remain—stand up to block senior level administration appointments that pose a profound risk to us all regardless of political party.” And the bottom line is “the answer to whether they will succeed on their destructive dangerous mission does not lie with them. It lies with us. It lies with people within our capitol city and within our government but also in cities and towns across America. It lies with you and with me.”
- There are many ways Trump could trigger a global collapse. Here’s how to survive if that happens
- Trump and Putin Teams Meet in Saudi With Europe Sidelined (F*** this.)
- Peace or Partition? — Russians and Americans speak about Ukraine, without Ukrainians (TOTALLY unacceptable.)
- Top Russian and US officials are discussing improving ties and ending the Ukraine war — without Kyiv (“The meeting in Riyadh is meant to pave the way for a meeting between U.S. President Trump and Russian President Putin.”)
- Why is Saudi Arabia hosting talks between the US and Russia? (“In addition to hosting international boxing bouts and electronic music festivals, Saudi Arabia has sought to project an image of being a global peacekeeper, hosting aid donor meetings and peace conferences…The crown prince also has warm ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who refused to isolate the prince after the Khashoggi murder.”)
- Ukraine will not accept a Saudi-talks peace deal, says Zelenskyy
- Trump’s rush for a deal with Putin leaves Ukraine and Europe scrambling
- A spurious U.S. ‘realism’ about Ukraine flirts with catastrophe (Wait, I actually agree with right wingnut George Will for once???)
- Trump and Vance have smashed the old order – how should Europe respond? (“Should the continent seek rapprochement or go its own way?” Definitely the latter.)
- Europe’s Leaders, Dazed by an Ally Acting Like an Adversary, Recalculate
- JD Vance’s Debacle in Germany Exposes MAGA’s Sinister Global Endgame (“Did you know that the United States is joining an international fascist network?”)
- Starmer says US ‘backstop’ needed for Ukraine deal
- The Guardian view on the US, China and the rest: Trump is opening doors for Xi (“The US president’s bullying of allies and partners is short-termist and will boost Beijing’s power, not Washington’s”)
- Xi’s Embrace of China Tech CEOs Spurs Hope of Big Economic Shift
- Trump Pushes Business Interests in Golf, Mideast and New York as Conflicts Abound (WILDLY corrupt!)
- Egypt is developing a plan to rebuild Gaza, countering Trump’s call to depopulate the territory (It won’t work unless Hamas is gone for good.)
- Hamas to Release Four Dead Hostages on Thursday
- Argentina president faces impeachment calls over crypto crash (The fact that this insane extremist got elected, and is some sort of role model for MAGA, says a lot about humans in the age of social media…)
- Delta Plane Overturns at Toronto Airport While Landing
- Survivors of Delta plane crash in Toronto describe ‘hanging like bats’ and chaos inside the upside-down aircraft
- Can the Fed Look Past Trump’s Tariffs?
- How the Supreme Court Responds to this Request From Trump Matters—for All of Us (“Democracy was abandoned in a basket on John Roberts’s doorstep.”)
- Trump Cuts Target Next Generation of Scientists and Public Health Leaders
- We Hold America’s Fate in Our Hands (“Are we willing to make the sacrifices required to stop the crisis that is now unfolding?”)
- Trump and allies celebrated court orders against Biden they now claim are ‘tyrannical’
- ‘No Kings Day’: Protesters Denounce Trump and Musk
- Thousands Gather on Presidents’ Day to Call Trump a Tyrant
- Where Do You Protest Elon Musk? Everywhere, It Turns Out. (“From Stonewall to Tesla dealerships, protesters are pioneering a form of opposition that doesn’t necessarily center on Washington, D.C..”)
- Judge to rule swiftly on effort to block DOGE from assessing data and firing federal employees
- Scoop: Dems prep for Trump legal meltdown
- Judge appears inclined to deny request to block DOGE’s mass firings, access to data
- Musk’s DOGE expected to arrive at SEC in coming days
- Top Social Security official exits after clash with Musk’s DOGE over data
- Social Security Head Steps Down Over DOGE Access Of Recipient Information: AP Sources
- The DOGE-and-Pony Show’s Latest Stunt With the IRS is, Flatly, Appalling
- Elon Musk’s DOGE Seeking Access To Heavily Guarded Taxpayer Information: Report
- Who’s in charge of DOGE? Not Elon Musk, White House says
- Department of Homeland Security preparing to fire hundreds of senior leaders this week
- GOP flinches at Musk cuts
- The Death of Government Expertise (“Why Trump and Musk are on a firing spree”)
- A team from SpaceX is being brought in to overhaul FAA’s air traffic control system
- Exclusive: FDA staff reviewing Musk’s Neuralink were included in DOGE employee firings, sources say (Corrupt AF.)
- No, 150-Year-Olds Aren’t Collecting Social Security Benefits (Musk is firehose of lies. HUGE lies at that!)
- Elon Musk ridiculed a blind person on X. Then a mob went to work. (Evil.)
- Elon Musk Says Team Behind CBS’s ‘60 Minutes’ Deserves ‘A Long Prison Sentence’ (Fascist for sure.)
- Trump nominates January 6 activist to serve as top DC prosecutor (Disgusting.)
- The Heroic Groups Leading the Lawsuits Against the Musk Coup (Bottom line – “we are not powerless, but we cannot waste any time as the Muskrats are very much living up to their motto of ‘move fast and break things'”)
- Video: UVA Prof. Larry Sabato Talks About “one of the most disturbing posts that [Trump] has ever made”; Dems Doing “a terrible job, so far at least, of mobilizing opposition to Trump”
Solar has taken off in red states. Trump’s funding freeze is causing panic- Hegseth claims Biden administration targeted him with IRS audit (Anyone who voted to confirm Hegseth should be defeated at the next electoral opportunity.)
- WSJ asks Kennedy to cast aside ‘antivax hooey’ amid Texas measles outbreak
- Measles outbreak in Texas rises to at least 48 cases — the state’s worst in nearly 30 years
- NYC Mayor Adams calls demands to resign over Trump DOJ indictment dismissal a ‘modern day Mein Kampf,’ sparking outrage (Adams is a seriously disturbed individual. And yes, again, if voters had done the bare MINIMUM of research prior to the NY City Democratic mayoral primary four years ago, they would NOT have nominated Adams, because it was obvious the guy was a slimeball. But god forbid many voters educate themselves before casting their ballots.)
- Governor weighs removing NYC Mayor Adams after his top deputies quit amid criminal case turmoil
- Four Adams Deputy Mayors Quit Following Trump Deal
- Mass resignations from Eric Adams’ administration spark chaos in NYC government (Nobody in their right mind should want to be associated with Eric Adams. Also, WTF was the deal after Adams was elected, with people in the media and even some Democrats thinking that Adams was some sort of role model??? So. F’ing. Stupid.)
- ‘Turned out the lights’: Fury hits Washington Post as it refuses to run $115K anti-Musk ad (“Democracy defender and elections lawyer Marc Elias pointed out that in October, the paper ran an ad from a right-wing group funded by Musk to attack Elias personally for his work.”)
- Video: In Munich, Sen. Mark Warner Says His Telephone Townhall with Sen. Tim Kaine Had 71k Listeners (vs. 3k-5k Normally), Highlighting How Trump/DOGE Are Creating “Huge Concern” Among Virginians
- Va. lawmakers worry about data centers. But they’re leery of acting. (“Only a handful of General Assembly bills survive to address mushrooming demands for power and water from lucrative data center projects.”)
- Data center tax break extension to be decided by conference committee
- Bills targeting alleged campus terror connections fail in General Assembly (“Pro-Palestine student groups said the legislation could suppress free speech.”)
- Senate committee advances license plate reader bill, with some changes (“The issue of tracking license plates continues to create controversy as the General Assembly heads into its final days.”)
- State Senate committee delays surveillance network expansion
- License plate reader bill survives, but surveillance concerns loom
- An amended license plate recognition bill is headed to the Senate floor after twists and turns (“Del. Charniele Herring’s bill that would put up “guardrails” regarding ALPRs, or license plate recognition technology, was killed, brought back, and then amended before it passed the Senate Finance Committee on Monday evening.”)
- Virginia ranked last in US for math recovery from 2019-2024
- We interrupt this legislative session for some good news (“Sometimes Richmond’s sausage factory comes out with products truly worth savoring. So, after my recent assessments of the sorry state of solar and data center legislation, I want to take a moment to celebrate a few of the good bills that are making their way through the House and Senate, often with bipartisan support. “)
- Earle-Sears: Virginians will be ‘all right’ despite federal workforce purge (“Earle-Sears made it clear that she supports the efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the advisory agency headed by billionaire Elon Musk under the president’s direction.” This article sucks, btw – mostly just stenography of Sears’ wildly false statements/claims, with no correction. It’s really amazing how bad the “news” media is…)
- Can we avoid solar projects in rural Virginia with more rooftop solar in Northern Virginia? Here’s why that math doesn’t work out. (The main problem is that rooftop solar costs WAAAAYYY more than utility-scale, ground-mounted solar, which is very cheap.)
- Commentary: The future is here. Will Virginia embrace it? (“It’s time to broaden the conversation beyond data centers.”)
- Overdose crisis spurs school notification bills, but key details still up for debate
- Massive snow storm could drop 12 inches in Hampton Roads, near record (“As of Monday evening, estimates call for 8 to 12 inches of snow from Williamsburg to Norfolk, extending into North Carolina.”)
- CWG Live updates: Wintry chill today; chance of a little snow Wednesday into Thursday (“Cold settles in for an extended stay.”)
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