Friday News: “Greenpeace loss will embolden big oil and gas”; “Administration Officials Believe Order Lets Immigration Agents Enter Homes Without Warrants”; “Musk threatens Pentagon leakers after NYT report on secret China war briefing”; “Trump’s Appetite for Revenge Is Insatiable”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, March 21.

• Glacier meltdown risks food and water supply of 2 billion people, says UN (“Unesco report highlights ‘unprecedented’ glacier loss driven by climate crisis, threatening ecosystems, agriculture and water sources” Disastrous.)
• Greenpeace loss will embolden big oil and gas to pursue protesters: ‘No one will feel safe’ (This is really bad.)
• West Papuan Indigenous people call for KitKat boycott over alleged ecocide (“Thousands of acres of rainforest is being cleared to produce palm oil, used in popular Nestlé and Mondelēz brands” That’s just evil.)
• Russian drones hammer Ukraine’s Odesa as Czech leader visits
• Ukraine’s ‘chaotic’ withdrawal from Russia, in its soldiers’ words
• This AP map shows sabotage across Europe that has been blamed on Russia and its proxies
• Europe needs money to back Ukraine. Why is it reluctant to spend Russia’s? (“The concerns are twofold: economic and legal.”)
• NATO to Ask Europe and Canada for 30% Boost in Military Capacity
• Musk Set to Receive Top-Secret Briefing on U.S. War Plans for China (“The Trump adviser is expected to get a look at the Pentagon blueprint despite his companies’ financial stakes in China and defense contracts” This is beyond outrageous, wildly corrupt and a massive security risk!)
• Elon Musk threatens Pentagon leakers after NYT report on secret China war briefing (“‘They will be found,’ warns U.S. President Donald Trump’s billionaire adviser as White House lashes out at the media.”)
• Finland is again ranked the happiest country in the world. The US falls to its lowest-ever position
• Middle East crisis live: Israeli minister orders army to ‘seize more ground’ in Gaza and threatens partial annexation (“Israel Katz says that if Hamas does not release hostages, the ‘more territory it will lose, which will be annexed by Israel’ as he threatens ‘permanent occupation’”)
• Netanyahu is waging war on Gaza and on us – his ‘enemies within’. It’s the path to autocracy
• Germany Set for Trillion-Euro Defense and Infrastructure Splurge
• Germany’s Landmark Spending Bill Wins Final Lawmaker Backing
• Sudan army retakes presidential palace as Khartoum battle rages
• Trump’s bullying is turning Canada from friend to foe
• Tesla Vandalism Surges in Canada as Trump and Musk Face Backlash (As Musk loves to say, “interesting”)
• US rejects Mexico’s request for water as Trump opens new battle front (“State department turns down special request to supply city of Tijuana in drought-affected north for first time ever”)
• Why Bukele opened his infamous prison to Trump
• Detentions of European tourists at US borders spark fears of traveling to America
• Britain beefs up travel warnings over US border enforcement
• London’s Heathrow Airport Shuttered by Nearby Fire, Disrupting Travel
• Trump travel ban may hit MLB players from Cuba, Venezuela (“President Trump could announce a travel ban as soon as Friday, under an executive order he issued on his first day in office.”)
• Judge rips DOJ’s ‘woefully insufficient’ response to questions on Alien Enemies Act case
• Venezuelan migrant deported from U.S. to El Salvador has no criminal record, documents show
• Here are the names of the Venezuelans deported by the U.S. to El Salvador
• In Deportations, Trump Tied Gang to Venezuela’s Government. Intelligence Contradicts Him.
• We’re Finally Seeing the “Evidence” Against the Migrants Deported by Trump. It’s Unbelievable.
• Administration Officials Believe Order Lets Immigration Agents Enter Homes Without Warrants (“It remains unclear whether the Trump administration will apply the law in this way. But such an interpretation, experts say, would infringe on basic civil liberties.”)
• Judge blocks Trump administration from deporting Georgetown researcher who was in U.S. legally (“U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles issued the brief directive Thursday after Badar Khan Suri’s wife said in a sworn court declaration that the couple has no ties to Hamas.”)
• The Meaning of Article II and ‘Executive Power’ to Trump (“President Trump has cited Article II to justify everything from deportations to firing civil servants—these assertions present a challenge to constitutional order.”)
• Fired, rehired and baffled: Confusion reigns for thousands of reinstated federal workers
• Trump’s Appetite for Revenge Is Insatiable (“The president is making good on his campaign promise.”)
• Why “Constitutional Crisis” Fails to Capture Trump’s Attack on the Rule of Law (“The Administration’s defiance of Congress and the judiciary has both flouted and made use of the country’s legal system.”)
• Trump Promised an American Boom. He Now Says It May Take a While (It’s definitely not happening.)
• That World-Beating American Economy Was Nice While It Lasted
• Storm chasers and meteorologists warn Trump’s cuts to NOAA threaten public safety (“This needs to be stopped because it’s going to end up costing a lot of people’s lives!”)
• Judge bars Musk’s DOGE team from Social Security records in scathing ruling …
• Social Security Acting Head Says DOGE Ruling Threatens Agency
• Big Law Firm Reaches Deal With Trump Over Executive Order (This is a f’ing disgrace by Paul, Weiss.)
• Trump rescinds order targeting Paul, Weiss citing commitments from law firm
• Trump Ramps Up Attacks On Judges, Calls Out Justice John Roberts (“Trump baselessly argued that rulings and decisions from judges that he disagrees with could ‘very well lead to the destruction of our Country!'”)
• Why Is the Trump Administration Going Out of Its Way to Piss Off John Roberts? (“The chief justice has long shown he’s willing to be on Trump’s side. Except when the president pulls stunts like this.”)
• Trump’s move to dismantle education department was a conservative dream for decades (“Conservatives in the US have long argued that control over education should lie with the states.” Which is how it USED to be, back in the good ol’ days of Jim Crow, segregation, etc. THAT is what right wingers want to go back to, apparently.)
• How the Education Department cuts could hurt low-income and rural schools
• Trump signs executive order pretending to shut down Department of Education
• We ran the wrong headline about Trump firing the FTC commissioners (“This is wildly illegal,” one person wrote in The Washington Post’s comment section. ‘Just say that. Don’t say the fired people said it was illegal. Say it as the Washington Post when you know it’s true. Democracy dies, thanks in part to this rag.'”)
• Why a DOJ prosecutor resigned, telling coworkers and bosses ‘you serve no man’
• Pentagon spokesman sidelined after uproar over Jackie Robinson article
• Editorial: Trump administration’s clumsy attempt to whitewash military history sparks outcry
• ‘We Don’t Want an AI Demo, We Want Answers’: Federal Workers Grill Trump Appointee During All-Hands
• Exclusive: FBI scales back staffing and tracking of domestic terrorism probes
• People named in JFK assassination documents are not happy their personal information was released
• White House scrambles after JFK files expose Social Security numbers (This administration is completely incompetent, in addition to being corrupt and evil.)
• Vivian Wilson Talks to Teen Vogue About Elon Musk, Her “Pathetic Man-Child,” “F-cking Cringe” Dad (“‘The Nazi salute shit was insane,’ she told the magazine, echoing the sentiments of (hopefully) half of America.”)
• Trump Threatens Tesla Vandals With Severe Punishment: ‘WE ARE LOOKING FOR YOU!’ (Reminder: Musk heavily financed Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.)
• In latest blow to Tesla, regulators recall nearly all Cybertrucks (They should be recalled, permanently, for being hideously ugly, among other things. I mean, seriously, who in their right mind would actually buy one of these???)
• Tesla confirms it can’t sell the Cybertruck even with tax credit and discounts (Because it’s…a piece of crap? Just spitballin’ here.)
• Republican Representative’s Defense of Elon Musk Drowned Out by Boos (Very much deserved.)
• Tesla faces a ‘brand crisis tornado.’ The one guy who can fix it is MIA
• Scoop: Musk’s PAC offers $100 to Wisconsin voters in pitch against “activist judges”
• New political spending signals Elon Musk’s huge role in the GOP is still growing
• Listeners keep calling in to right-wing radio shows to complain about Trump’s policies
• “I don’t regret the vote”: Why most Trump voters stand by him, even as he ruins their lives (“It’s not totally hopeless: Some swing voters who backed Trump may learn their lesson”)
• MAGA Influencer And Fox News Guest Indicted On Child Sex Abuse Charges (“The right-wing personality known as Raw Ricci built his following by filming homeless people in San Francisco.”)
• Virginia Dems Blast Trump’s “Devastating,” “Horrible” Attempt to Dismantle the Department of Education – “and Virginia’s Republicans continue to let him—it’s shameful” (What Trump’s doing is, of course, illegal and unconstitutional as well as destructive.)
• Virginians respond to Trump’s Education Department EO (The media loves staying neutral, even when democracy – and their own freedoms – is under grave threat…)
• Mark Warner introduces legislation to protect future of federal workforce
• Sen. Warner seeks answers about ICE detaining US citizen
• Kaine rejects calls for Schumer’s exit amid budget controversy, urges Democratic unity
• Amid push for energy, Senator Tim Kaine visits Lynchburg for Framatome expansion
• Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA08) on the Arrest of His Constituent, Georgetown Postdoctoral Fellow Badar Khan Suri, in Rosslyn Monday Night: “if [this] happened in another country, most of us would not hesitate to call ‘authoritarianism.’” (Arrests like this one are “intended to have a chilling effect and discourage the free expression of political views which Trump dislikes.”)
• Masked officials detain Rosslyn man for deportation despite no charges (Good headline.)
• Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA11) Launches Investigation Into Commerce Secretary’s Unlawful Promotion of Plummeting Tesla Stock on Live Television
• Youngkin: ‘Virginia is ready to take full responsibility for K-12 education’ (That’s a complete joke; I mean, Virginia’s going to do all the functions the Education Department does, from student loans to civil rights enforcement, Pell Grants, special education, etc??? More likely, Youngkin is just spouting off without any clue what he’s even talking about.)
• Youngkin says Virginia has jobs for fired feds. Many come with big pay cuts. (Wow, a decent headline in an article by Vozzella and Schneider. Miraculous!)
• “Good old moderate Glenn Youngkin is attending Trump’s ceremony…where he’ll issue his executive order attempting to dismantle the Department of Education.” (“Remember when the Washington Post covered him as a moderate during his campaign? Despite all the evidence to the contrary. I do.”)
• Mark Rozell: For Democrats, governor’s race offers a chance to reset (I almost never link to Mark Rozell’s columns, because they’re usually really bad, but this one’s ok – nothing special, but nothing horrible either – so I linked to it. LOL)
• Pope & Schapiro: Governor Youngkin faces legislation deadline
• New Analysis by J. Miles Coleman of UVA’s Center for Politics Finds VA HoD Republicans “probably more exposed than Democrats” Heading Into the November 2025 Elections (Here are some of the top targets for VA House of Delegates Democrats this fall)
• Indigenous Peoples Day removed, then re-added, to board-approved Va. education standards
• Virginia’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board proposal awaits Youngkin’s action
• Why the PDAB bill deserves Gov. Youngkin’s veto
• Bills Increasing Small-Scale Solar Requirements in Virginia Awaiting Action by Youngkin (“The governor, a Trump ally, has highlighted the low cost of solar but also voiced intermittent concerns over efforts to develop renewable energy.” Youngkin is a fossil fuel industry tool.)
• Virginia’s lumber industry looks to Trump, new markets for help
• Charlottesville activists demand a town hall with their congressman
• Hackworth, Pillion and Stanley say they want to replace Appalachian Power with another utility
• CWG Live updates: Sunny and blustery today, then briefly warmer tomorrow