by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, May 2.
- Collapsing bird numbers in North America prompt fears of ecological crisis – research (“Study using citizen data finds three-quarters of nearly 500 species in decline, with steepest trend in areas where they once thrived”)
- Attenborough at 99: naturalist ‘goes further than before’ to speak out against industrial fishing in new film (“The celebrated presenter warns of ‘modern day colonialism at sea’ as he highlights the destruction caused by overfishing and bottom trawling”)
- Trump administration readies first sale of military equipment to Ukraine (“State department certifies licence for ‘$50m or more’ in defence hardware and services after minerals deal signed”)
- Intelligence suggests Putin’s immediate goals for Ukraine war may have shifted
- Since Cease-Fire Talks Began, Life in Ukraine Has Become More Dangerous, U.N. Says
- Once Banished From Trump’s White House, Volodymyr Zelensky Has New Hope
- Ukraine minerals deal is largely symbolic – but that’s enough for Donald Trump
- China Hints at Possible Thaw With US in Evaluating Trade Talks
- German spy agency ranks far-right AfD “extremist” (JD Vance loves the AfD. What does that tell you?)
- Activists say ship aiming to sail to Gaza was attacked by drones (“The incident happened off the coast of Malta. The government said a fire onboard the ship was ‘brought under control overnight’.”)
- Inside Trump’s high stakes nuclear gamble with Iran
- Iran must ‘walk away’ from all uranium enrichment, Rubio says
- Israel strikes near Syrian presidential palace in ‘message’ to Sharaa
- Donald Trump is looming over Australia’s election
- Padilla, Kaine, Van Hollen, Schumer to Force Senate Vote Demanding Answers on Trump Administration’s Compliance With Court Orders and El Salvador’s Horrific Human Rights Record
- Marco Rubio Adds a New Title Under Trump: Interim National Security Adviser (As long as I live, I’ll never understand how Rubio was confirmed 99-0 by the US Senate.)
- Trump to nominate national security advisor Mike Waltz as UN ambassador
- Why Trump’s White House turned on Mike Waltz
- Mike Waltz out as national security adviser, but Trump says he’ll be ambassador to U.N.
- Mike Waltz Accidentally Reveals Obscure App the Government Is Using to Archive Signal Messages
- Trump moves Mike Waltz from national security adviser to UN ambassador role
- Trump news at a glance: Rubio now holds four titles after Waltz out as national security chief (“Marco Rubio becomes the first person since Henry Kissinger to hold the national security adviser and secretary of state positions at the same time”)
- A Trumpworld power struggle muscles Waltz out
- A Witch Hunt at the State Department
- Senior State Department official sought internal communications with journalists, European officials, and Trump critics
- Tulsi Gabbard is out to prove Covid came from a lab (This person should NOT be DNI)
- A Trump-Appointed Judge Struck a Major Blow Against the Legality of Trump’s Deportation Strategy (“Migration is not invasion, he decided, and a street gang is not an army.”)
- Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump’s Use of Alien Enemies Act to Deport Venezuelans
- Judge bars deportations of Venezuelans from South Texas under the Alien Enemies Act (The fact is, the VAST majority of migrants are NOT in any way/shape/form “alien enemies.” That’s just completely false.)
- Human rights nightmares show ‘the crazies’ who wanted to abolish ICE were right
- U.S. Ends Chinese Tariff Loophole, Raising the Cost of Online Goods
- Companies Are Serving Notice: We’re Raising Prices Because of Tariffs
- US Hiring Seen Slowing, With Brunt of Tariff Impact Coming Later
- Jobs report Friday to provide important clues on where the economy is heading
- Ketanji Brown Jackson sharply condemns Trump’s attacks on judges
- These judges ruled against Trump. Then their families came under attack. (That’s horrendous.)
- Senate overturns EPA rule on seven highly toxic air pollutants (“If also passed by the House as expected, the action will be the first time Congress has weakened protections under the Clean Air Act”)
- Why Are Americans So Obsessed With Protein? Blame MAGA. (“From the Liver King to the podcast bros to RFK Jr.’s MAHA constituents, America’s infatuation with protein has reached a fever pitch—and it’s undeniably gendered.” So stupid.)
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shows the fallacy of ‘doing your own research’
- STAT+: Autism evaluations are being canceled over fears about a national registry
- RFK Jr. asks CDC for new measles treatment guidance amid his unfounded claims
- Exclusive: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones (Utter insanity.)
- HHS redirects $500 million to Trump appointee’s vaccine project, bypassing reviews (Illegal and unconstitutional, presumably.)
- Trump Administration Cancels $1 Billion in Grants for Student Mental Health
- House Republicans look to sunset clean energy credits, hike endowment tax
- GOP leaders take more time for key megabill markup after Medicaid snags
- The White House wants to avoid Medicaid cuts. To GOP hard-liners, they’re essential.
- Trump to Propose Slashing $163 Billion in Government Programs in Budget Blueprint (” The president’s budget wish list would cut health research, climate and education programs ” None of those things, by the way, have ANYTHING to do with the deficit problem – that’s almost 100% caused by massive tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, as well as growing healthcare costs as the population ages, etc….)
- Led by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA11), House Oversight Dems Demand Musk’s Financial Disclosure, SF-86, etc. to “Examine His Conflicts of Interest and Liabilities, Including Ties to China and Russia”
- Ed Martin, Trump’s controversial U.S. attorney pick, on thin ice in the Senate
- Trump nominee gives misleading testimony about ties to alleged ‘Nazi sympathizer’
- Army plans for a potential parade on Trump’s birthday call for 6,600 soldiers, AP learns (This is third-world-dictator-style shit.)
- Pentagon Inspector General Expands Investigation Into Hegseth’s Use of Signal
- Senate Democrats lament missed chance after tariff vote tumult (Another failure by Chuck Schumer?)
- Orders to Investigate Columbia Protesters Raised Alarms in Justice Dept.
- Key Trump officials appeared more than 500 times on Fox networks in the first 100 days of his presidency (Just imagine if key Biden officials had appeared more than 500 times in the first 100 days on…whatever the far-LEFT equivalent of far-RIGHT Fox “News” is. Actually, there isn’t a far-LEFT equivalent of Fox “News,” so…whatever.)
- Abbe Lowell launches his own law firm (“Hunter Biden’s former lawyer is teaming up with attorneys who have quit major law firms over Trump’s executive orders targeting the legal industry.”)
- Microsoft drops a law firm that appeased Trump, hires firm that’s fighting Trump
- Trump signs executive order directing federal funding cuts to PBS and NPR (This, despite YEARS of “both-sides,” false-equivalence, sanewashing, whitewashing, appeasing, etc, etc. by PBS and NPR. So…nope, their strategy didn’t work, but it perverted their political coverage and helped lead to disaster for our country. Great job, huh?)
- Fired DOJ attorney says on TikTok that Trump pardons cost $1 billion
- All By Himself (“John Fetterman insists he is in good health. But staffers past and present say they no longer recognize the man they once knew.”)
- A Massive Power Grab Could Help North Carolina Republicans Steal an Election (“A new GOP majority on the state election board could overturn a state supreme court race.”)
- Video: Sen. Mark Warner Says “I believe things will get better, but boy oh boy it has been a rough first quarter for America” (“If some of the cuts continue as stupidly as they’ve been laid out, we’re going to see these same kind of effects across Virginia and across our nation… Hampton Roads will feel this effect as well.”)
- Warner urges Republican lawmakers to support congressional tariff control
- Cancer will stop a staunch congressional friend of federal employees (“Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia) battled the GOP to support federal workers but now faces his ‘final chapter full of pride … you all have been a joy to serve.'”)
- Video: Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA08) After Attending Hearing on Dr. Badar Khan Suri – “It is Kafkaesque when somebody can be kidnapped without reason, without acknowledgment, without logic, without charges” (This represents a grave “threat to our Constitution, to our rights.”)
- Virginia Democrats Think They Have a New Rallying Cry: Government Job Cuts (“One of the states with the largest federal worker populations in the country is set to be a test of how much the cuts to the federal workforce resonate with voters.”)
- Lt. Gov. Earle-Sears opposed anti-discrimination marriage bill in handwritten note (Virulent homophobia.)
- Rozia Henson, the First Openly Gay Black Man Elected to the VA House of Delegates, Says He’s “‘morally opposed’ to the Lieutenant Governor’s demonstration of poor leadership” (After News of Her Comments on Being “morally opposed” to Marriage Equality)
- Top Youngkin strategist steps aside in wake of GOP turmoil and infighting
- Youngkin aide steps down amid controversy over GOP’s lieutenant governor candidate (“Matt Moran had headed up the Virginia governor’s Spirit of Virginia PAC.”)
- Amid Reid controversy, Moran ‘steps away’ as head of Youngkin’s PAC
- Secret audio raises questions in GOP dispute but offers no clear answers
- Early voting in the primaries starts today. Here are 10 things to know. (“Democrats, by contrast, have six candidates for lieutenant governor…and two for attorney general”)
- Virginia’s 2025 primary election: A guide on voting and key races to watch (“Early voting begins May 2. On the ballot are the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and all 100 seats in the House of Delegates.”)
- Early voting starts Friday for June 17 primary election
- Only one Republican incumbent in the House of Delegates will face a primary: Del. Terry Austin
- Commentary: Trump’s tariffs could devastate Virginia’s soybean farmers – and the GOP
- Pope & Schapiro: A bumpy week for Virginia Republicans (Interesting: one of the few remaining reasons to subscribe to
the Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA political columnist Jeff Schapiro – an institution for “39 years 4 months and 29 days,” as he says – announced this a.m. that he’s leaving the paper. Good luck at Radio IQ!) - Glenn Youngkin Dismisses Economic Pain Trump is Causing Virginians, Justifying Attacks on Workforce (“Republican Nominee Winsome Earle-Sears refused to comment”)
- May Day anti-Trump protests in Richmond show support for workers’ rights
- May Day rally in Roanoke pushes back against Trump policies
- Hampton Roads school divisions hope to keep and attract teachers with higher pay
- Editorial: Watchdog report finds Hampton VA staff overworked, stretched thin
- After middle schooler harasses Asian child on video, schools head shares message on hate
- CWG Live updates: Summerlike today, slight rain chance; stormier starting Saturday
