by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, April 2.
- ‘Is it “woke” to care about the environment?’: how Trump’s cuts are dismantling global conservation work (Right wingers just decided to use the word “woke” to describe ANYTHING/EVERYTHING they don’t like, for whatever reasons. It’s bonkers. And racist.)
- Putin begins biggest Russian military call-up in years
- Russia and Ukraine Adopt Similar Tactic With Trump: Make Nice and Take It Slow
- Trump just handed the global auto market to China
- White House issues warning to China for war games near Taiwan
- Hegseth indicates US backing for Taiwan – but it is transactional Trump who has the final word (“Defence secretary’s trip to Asia shows the Trump administration is engaged with the region, but analysts warn Taipei to tread carefully”)
- Danish prime minister heads to Greenland as Trump seeks control of the Arctic territory
- White House studying cost of Greenland takeover, long in Trump’s sights (If Trump ever orders some sort of military action against Greenland, it would be wildly illegal. It would also trigger NATO’s Article 5)
- Schooled by Trump, Americans are learning to dislike their allies (Only Republicans, not Democrats.)
- Musk’s Doge to fire all local workers and US diplomats from USAID, sources say (Insanity. And evil. And illegal???)
- Only One Thing Explains Trump’s Tariff Madness (“Don’t fall for the Coherence Fallacy. The president believes (mistakenly) that he’s figured out how to get rid of the progressive income tax.”)
- Trump poised to reshape global economy and how world does business
- Trump to escalate global trade tensions with new reciprocal tariffs on US trading partners (How are they “reciprocal” exactly?)
- Trump’s day of clarity, but without the clarity
- Three big unknowns ahead of Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs
- Trump to impose sweeping tariffs, escalating global trade tensions
- Trump Tariff Plans Still in Limbo Ahead of Rose Garden Event
- Israel to expand military operation and seize ‘large areas’ of Gaza
- USAID cuts put US on sidelines of Myanmar aid, former officials say
- Canada’s Conservative Prime Minister Candidate Sure Seems Wired In with the Wing Nuts (“What’s this, corporate ties to Elon Musk and Koch Industries while claiming to be the candidate for the working class?”)
- Costa Rican former President Oscar Arias says US revoked his visa (” Former Costa Rican President and Nobel Prize winner Oscar Arias said on Tuesday that the U.S. had revoked his visa to enter the country, weeks after he criticized U.S. President Donald Trump on social media saying he was behaving like ‘a Roman emperor.'”)
- How Fox is handling reports that the Trump administration may have erroneously sent people to a foreign torture prison
- Fox keeps calling migrants sent to El Salvador prison “criminals” and “terrorists” despite reporting that several deportees were likely falsely accused
- Some Conservative Voices Raise Alarm Over Trump’s Immigration Tactics
- Judge rules Mahmoud Khalil’s deportation case must continue in New Jersey (“Ruling does not guarantee Columbia University protester will be moved out of a detention facility in Louisiana”)
- Trump Is Asking the Supreme Court To Let Him Have Black Sites (“The Trump administration inadvertently revealed on Monday that it is attempting to trap Venezuelan migrants in a catch-22 that would effectively block them from challenging their deportation and detention in an El Salvador prison.”)
- A Tale of Two Men — 1. Manliness — We are all learning about Kilmar Abrego Garcia today, thanks to the Atlantic.
- Choosing lawlessness (“Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia is a citizen of El Salvador who came to the United States in 2011, when he was around 16 years old. He has never been convicted of any crime. Abrego Garcia is married to Jennifer Vasquez Sura, a United States citizen, and the couple was living in Maryland with their five-year-old son.”)
- The Lawlessness Is the Point (” If JD Vance were capable of shame, he’d be embarrassed by what just happened. After the news broke that President Trump’s administration admitted to deporting a Maryland man in “error,” Vance lashed out at podcaster Jon Favreau, who had asked him to comment on what had transpired.”)
- Rogan warns of Trump admin’s “horrific” deportations
- The White House tries a Supreme Court bait and switch (“The Trump administration can’t keep its legal arguments straight on Venezuelan migrant deportations.”)
- At CDC, Trump administration’s job cuts wipe out wide array of specialists (This is an unmitigated DISASTER.)
- ‘It’s a bloodbath’: Massive wave of job cuts underway at US health agencies (Again – unmitigated DISASTER!)
- Entire staff responsible for utility assistance included in HHS cuts, sources say
- ‘One of the darkest days’: NIH purges agency leadership amid mass layoffs (This is vandalism on a massive scale. Like the Visigoths just took over in the US.)
- Doctor Behind Award-Winning Parkinson’s Research Among Scientists Purged From NIH
- Elon Musk’s disclosure of planned Social Security fraud arrest troubles top law enforcement officials: Sources
- Planned Parenthood Is Latest Target in Trump’s Washington
- Federal Judge Allows DOGE to Take Over $500 Million Office Building for Free (WTF???)
- Waltz and staff used Gmail for government communications, officials say (Imagine if this happened in a *Democratic* administration???)
- Naval Academy removes nearly 400 books from library in new DEI purge ordered by Hegseth’s office
- Adam Schiff places hold on Ed Martin’s nomination to be D.C. U.S. attorney
- Trump-Allied Prosecutor Looks to Undermine Biden Pardons
- Johnson Fails to Kill Bipartisan Measure to Allow Proxy Voting for New Parents
- House Republicans Lose a Floor Vote, End the Work Week on a Tuesday (Utterly pathetic.)
- Republicans see ‘warning signs’ for the midterms after GOP underperformances
- Democrats win, Elon loses in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election
- Republicans reel as Dem over-performances hit a swing state and MAGA country
- Bonus Episode: Wisconsin Supreme Court Election
- MAGA’s brutal jolt: Takeaways from the Wisconsin and Florida special elections
- Tuesday’s Results Give Democrats a ‘Big Psychological Boost’
- Republicans win twice in Florida but results may stoke anxiety about midterms (“The result dashes Democrats’ hopes of pulling off a major upset but they closed the gap.”)
- Elon Musk Goes Bust (“Trump’s billionaire aide was humilitated in a key election last night”)
- Bice: Elon Musk group removes video from $1M winner after she says she got money to ‘vote’
- Liberal Judge Wins Wisconsin Supreme Court Seat, Defying Musk’s Millions
- Democrats have a new boogeyman in Elon Musk: Takeaways from Tuesday’s elections
- Elon Musk Tried to Buy Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. He Lost.
- Musk Mocked Relentlessly Over His Spectacular Election Flub (“The billionaire’s failure to buy a state Supreme Court election inspired a rare victory lap for Democrats.”)
- Liberal Wins Wisconsin Court Race, Despite Musk’s Millions
- Liberal candidate wins Wisconsin Supreme Court race in blow to Trump, Musk
- Susan Crawford wins Wisconsin Supreme Court race, defying Elon Musk
- Cory Booker Just Gave The Longest Speech In The History of The US Senate (“In speech that began Monday night, Democratic senator warns of ‘grave and urgent’ danger of Trump administration”)
- Cory Booker breaks record for longest Senate speech with Trump condemnation
- For 25 Hours, Cory Booker Gave Democrats Something to Believe In
- With a nod to America’s civil rights legacy, Sen. Cory Booker makes a mark of his own
- Booker’s speech tops 350M likes on TikTok live
- Cory Booker’s epic Senate speech puts Democrats back in the spotlight
- Dozens of free measles vaccine clinics close in Texas as federal funding is cut
- Trump administration suspends a host of federal grants to Princeton University
- Watch the moment when Cory Booker ended his 25-hour speech, the longest in Senate history
- Louisiana voters reject far-right governor’s constitutional amendments
- Val Kilmer, Film Star Who Played Batman and Jim Morrison, Dies at 65 (R.I.P.)
- White House warns of Trump veto if Tim Kaine ‘stunt’ vote to cancel tariffs passes Senate (It should pass AND Trump should sign it – but he won’t, of course.)
- Video: Sen. Tim Kaine Asks Sen. Cory Booker About “the signs of the times economically,” and Whether in 2026 America Will Celebrate 250 Years of Democracy – “not a requium, not a wake, but a celebration” (250 years after Patrick Henry’s “give me liberty or give me death” speech, the questions are: “Do we retain the ability to recognize tyranny? Do we retain the virtue to defeat it?”)
- Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA11) Requests Transcribed Interviews with Members of the “Houthi PC small group” Signal Chat (“This information is critical to our investigation into the Signal chat breach”)
- Last Night’s Major Democratic Overperformances in FL, WI Could Mean Virginia Republicans Are in Potentially “Really Really Big Trouble” in November (And watch out Rob Wittman (R-VA01) and Jen Kiggans (R-VA02) in 2026?)
- Video: DPVA Chair Lamont Bagby Says “Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Winsome Earle-Sears, and Glenn Youngkin are making it very easy for us to get our message across because they’re showing exactly what happens when you let extremists have power.”
- Even on April Fools’ Day, Winsome Earle-Sears’ Extreme Record Is No Joke (For instance, “Sears supports an extreme six week abortion ban similar to the law that took effect in Texas that bans abortion before most women know they are pregnant.”)
- Political theater takes center stage as legislature returns for veto session (It’s really NOT “theater” or some big game, as the political media seems to think.)
- Editorial: Lawmakers should stay true to their legislative intent during veto session (This is another really bad/cowardly habit of the political media – insteead of singling out who the problem is, which in this case is very much Republicans, they instead refer generically to “lawmakers.” F’ing stupid. And misleading.)
- Democrats likely to reject ‘the vast bulk’ of Youngkin’s budget amendments
- Dominion requests rate hike that could increase power bills by $20 a month
- Newly-approved state study aims to codify Virginia’s coastal resilience funding
- Immigrant rights groups want lawmakers to reject some of the governor’s amendments
- Schapiro: UVA’s political climate could get a lot hotter
- Gilbert puts his name in the running for US Attorney
- The Virginians most at risk in a trade war with Canada are west of the Blue Ridge. Here’s why.
- Mountain Valley Pipeline, critics clash over Southgate extension plan (“Mountain Valley says Southgate is needed to deliver natural gas to North Carolina. Opponents argue that the proposal has changed from the original plan and needs a brand-new regulatory review.”)
- Should Virginia Beach have at-large council members? Election system may be put to a vote
- ‘We are here to keep you safe:’ In Arlington, ICE raids renew a debate over policing (“County leaders recently raised the bar for police cooperation with immigration officials, but advocates say more protection is needed.”)
- How Fairfax’s ‘challenging budget year’ may impact a college program for disabled students
- Richmond’s zero-fare bus funding could run out soon
- Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia fully reopened, but storm recovery continues
- Inmate dies in Fairfax County jail, officials say (“Sam Zu Yung, 32, was found unresponsive about 6:15 p.m. in his single cell at the county’s adult detention center, police said.”)
- CWG Live updates: Average April weather today, then temperatures soar tomorrow
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