by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, September 20.
- ‘Something is working’: UN climate chief optimistic about green transition (“Exclusive: Simon Stiell believes economic benefits will compel countries to speed up climate action”
- Efficiency is not “embroidery” for renewables and electrification – it’s fundamental (Exactly – if you don’t understand the importance of energy efficiency, you don’t understand energy – period.)
- Ted Cruz claims without evidence that China is funding U.S. climate lawsuits (Ted Cruz is a nutjob.)
- Solar-Powered Cars and Trucks Are Almost Here (“New, power-sipping EVs due next year are efficient enough to gain 10 to 40 miles of daily charge from the sun alone”)
- Poland scrambles aircraft as Russia attacks Ukraine with hundreds of drones and missiles
- Russia launches a large-scale attack on Ukraine, killing 3 and wounding dozens
- Zelenskiy Will Meet Trump at UNGA to Push on Security Guarantees
- Russian warplanes breach NATO airspace in ‘dangerous provocation’ over Estonia (Shoot them down if they do this again.)
- Estonia seeks Nato consultation after Russian jets violate airspace
- The U.S. Is Quietly Pausing Some Arms Sales to Europe (“As part of the ‘America First’ agenda, the Department of Defense is stockpiling weapons.”)
- Cyberattack disrupts European airports including Heathrow, Brussels (Russia?)
- Democrats rapidly shift on Israel amid Gaza assault, evidence of famine (“A growing number of prominent Democrats are calling for cutting off sales of offensive weapons to Israel, part of a broad shift in opinion on Israel in the party.”)
- Trump administration plans $6.4 billion in weapons sales to Israel, sources say
- One hellscape to another: Gazans tell of dire conditions in Israeli-declared humanitarian zone
- Trump says U.S. military has struck another alleged drug boat, killing 3 (And…is there any evidence this actually was a drug boat?)
- Trump Says US Hit Drug-Trafficking Boat, Killing Three in Strike
- The chilling reason the military is silent now (“This is what happens when you purge the JAGs.”)
- Trump again asks supreme court to end protections for Venezuelans in US
- Trump imposes $100K fee on H-1B visas in new immigration action
- Trump unveils $100K yearly fee on H-1B visas in clampdown on legal immigration (So…Republicans always claimed that they simply didn’t like ILLEGAL immigration, tossing out taunts like “what part of ILLEGAL don’t you understand?” But here they’re clamping down on LEGAL immigration. Hmmmm…)
- Trump administration to add $100,000 fee for H-1B visas
- Congressional candidate thrown to ground during protest outside ICE facility (“Kat Abughazaleh, 26, a Democrat running for the 9th Congressional District seat in Illinois, was among the demonstrators who clashed with federal agents.”)
- I’m a Congressional Candidate. I Was Assaulted by ICE.
- Congressional candidates are tear-gassed, thrown to the ground by ICE near Chicago (This is wildly unacceptable.)
- Immigrant rights activists braced for crackdown as Trump threatens to target ‘leftwing’ groups
- Children’s Hospital Chaplain Jailed by Trump Administration Finally Released (“Ayman Soliman, a beloved former children’s hospital chaplain in the Cincinnati area, was released on today”)
- Bureau of Labor Statistics postpones key data report
- Wall Street Bets Rates Will Drop Much More Than Fed’s Forecasts
- Vaccine panel tension exposes broader conflict about science under RFK Jr. (“Members were unprepared, misunderstood or ignored key data and highlighted flawed or inconclusive research, said medical associations and experts who watched the meetings.”)
- Kennedy’s Vaccine Mess
- RFK Jr.’s dismantling of the vaccine schedule has only just begun (“Why it matters that the CDC is altering the childhood immunization schedule.”)
- Federal vaccine panel remade by RFK Jr. votes to maintain insurance coverage for Covid shots
- The Age of Monsters (“We live in an age of monsters: Elon Musk, Donald Trump, the Ellison family, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, the sundry billionaires who don’t own apps. This may sound like a caustic and dramatic comment coming from me. Some of them are genuine monsters: Musk, Trump, probably Thiel. In other cases, like with Zuckerberg, they are probably more or less normal and might even be okay to have lunch with. But functionally, in the role they play and power they wield in our society, they are monsters. And the function of the Trump era has been to wind them all together into a single formation, first by allurement and then by force.” Also, RFK Jr. is most definitely a monster.)
- This is how Trump ends democracy (“The past week has revealed Trump’s road map to one-party rule. Will Americans let him follow it?” So far, the vast majority of Americans seem to fall into a few categories: 1) those who actually SUPPORT Trump destroying our democracy and entrenching himself as a dictator – that’s probably 35%-40% of the population; 2) of the remaining 60%-65%, probably have of those are oblivious, uncaring, uninformed, unengaged/checked out, pretending to be helpless, etc.; 3) maybe 30%, max, who actually care, but a very very small percent of that 30% who are particularly engaged. And THAT is how democracy ends.)
- Remember This Week—It’s the Week America Became a Different Place (“Trump 2.0 has executed any number of offenses against the Constitution, human decency, and more. But here’s why the Jimmy Kimmel matter is different—and the most dangerous move yet.”)
- Trump Says Critical Coverage of Him Is ‘Really Illegal’ (Trump is an autocrat, thug, wannabe dictator, completely unAmerican, etc.)
- Pentagon demands journalists pledge to not obtain unauthorized material (The Trump administration’s assault on the First Amendment continues/accelerates.)
- Ted Cruz rips FCC chair’s Jimmy Kimmel threat as ‘unbelievably dangerous’
- Senator Ted Cruz says US broadcast regulator acted like ‘mafioso’ on Jimmy Kimmel
- The right’s big lie about Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension
- Jimmy Kimmel and the strongman’s fear of comedians
- Anna Gomez Calls Kimmel Suspension “Most Alarming Attack” on the First Amendment in Recent Memory
- Iger’s Choice (“Disney and ABC need to decide if they’re willing to back Kimmel”)
- Pressure mounts on Disney over pulling Jimmy Kimmel as some boycott calls spread
- If the FCC Chairman Is the Story of the Week, Something Has Gone Really Wrong (“And yet, here we are.”)
- Trump Snaps at Ted Cruz’s Shock Warning About Free Speech (“The president said the FCC chairman was a courageous patriot for taking on broadcast networks that criticized him.” Trump just means that Carr is defending HIM, personally, like a Mafia don.))
- I have now been a journalist for 40 years. The forces ranged against my profession have never been so powerful
- Federal Judge Strikes Trump Defamation Lawsuit For Being Too Annoying to Read (“Lawsuits rarely get tossed under Rule 8. But then again, lawsuits rarely spend 85 meandering pages talking about things like the plaintiff’s ‘singular brilliance.'”)
- Judge Dismisses Trump’s Lawsuit Against The New York Times
- Judge rejects Trump’s New York Times lawsuit for being ‘decidedly improper and impermissible’
- Censorship Is the Authoritarian’s Dream (“The right to free expression must include the right to say horrible and evil things.”)
- Government shutdown looms after Senate rejects House-passed stopgap funding bill
- Trump is destroying America. Are his voters starting to realize that? (“Democrats are on the right track by picking a shutdown fight over cruel Republican health care choices.”)
- U.S. Attorney Investigating Two Trump Foes Resigns After President Seeks to Oust Him (Trump corrupts our judicial system.)
- Trump says he wants prosecutor who has investigated but not charged Letitia James removed from post
- Prosecutor in Va. resigns after declining to charge Trump’s political foes (“‘I want him out,’ the president said about U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert, who had recently declined to prosecute New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI director James Comey.”)
- Trump Says He Wants Removal of U.S. Attorney Overseeing Probe into Letitia James
- US attorney for Eastern District of Virginia resigning under pressure from Trump administration (This is very, very bad.)
- The Census Bureau is now headed by a Trump official in an acting position (This is NOT good.)
- Who’s paying for the White House ballroom and what’s in it for them
- Right-wing extremist violence is more frequent and more deadly (“Right-wing violence accounts for 75%+ of U.S. domestic terrorism deaths since 2001”)
- The Campaign to Punish Critics of Charlie Kirk
- Congressional Black Caucus says resolution honoring Charlie Kirk ‘not about healing’ (Decrying Kirk’s assassination is one thing – everyone should do that; honoring what he stood for is something completely different.)
- House approves resolution honoring Charlie Kirk with dozens of Democrats opposed
- Solar and batteries had a record-setting, grid-stabilizing summer in Texas
- Schumer, Wary of Blowback, Holds Out on Mamdani
- Sen. Tim Kaine Joins Handful of Democratic Colleagues in Calling for “a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel, in accordance with international law and the principles of a two-state solution”
- Finally! | Ben Cline sets first Sixth District town hall in 2025 calendar year (“Ten months after his last open meeting with constituents, Sixth District Congressman Ben Cline will hold a town hall event in Lexington on Thursday, Sept. 25. The town hall will take place from 5:30 to 6:30 pm in Room 200 at the Rockbridge County Courthouse, 20 S. Randolph St., in Lexington.”)
- Virginia awaits word from the CDC on who should get the new COVID vaccine and who will pay
- Poll | Democrats with big leads in 2025 Virginia races, up and down the ticket
- As voting starts in Virginia, a tense scene turns chummy between candidates (It wasn’t “chummy,” that’s just f’ing moronic by the WaPo…my god, what is the deal with these people??? Also, they love dumb “stories” like this, while completely ignoring substance, such as John Reid’s extremely long and extensive history of far-right, conspiratorial, etc. comments. Just complete garbage “journalism” by the Bezos Post…)
- Early voting kicks off in Virginia with rare moment of cross-party congeniality (“Congeniality” is a better word than “chummy,” but still…this was just Spanberger handling a super-awkward situation very well.)
- Audio: 2025 VA Dem LG Nominee Ghazala Hashmi Says Her GOP Opponent “has aligned himself to Donald Trump and to MAGA extremism”; “I don’t find [him] to be a credible opponent in that regard [of speaking seriously about the issues that matter to Virginians]”
- DLCC: Momentum Behind Virginia Democrats on First Day of Early Voting (“Protecting and expanding the one-seat Democratic majority in the Virginia House of Delegates is a top priority for the DLCC in 2025”)
- Democrats hope to extend map, pick off more GOP House seats
- Video: New Ad by HD86 VA Dem Candidate Virgil Thornton Says Incumbent Del. A.C. Cordoza (R) “has a long history of predatory behavior,” “was even caught running a sexting ring…that ‘targeted teens’” (Also: “Court records show Cordoza was charged with pulling a gun on a retired state trooper.”)
- Loudoun transmission line debate tees up SCC response to data center needs, resident concerns
- ‘Time is money’: Fairfax supervisors slam road project delays
- New Google data center near Richmond sparks fears over higher bills, water, and climate
- CWG Live updates: Clouds at times this weekend, pleasant overall
