Friday News: “150 days of Kavanaugh stops, and it just keeps getting worse”; “Trump Posts Vile Video of Obamas in Manic Late-Night Rampage”; Trump Wanted Dulles Airport and Penn Station Named After Him; New 10D-1R (or not?) U.S. House Map for Virginia Released

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, February 6.

• What Trump’s plans for the Arctic mean for the global climate crisis (“With plans to sell off over a million acres of natural habitat for oil and gas development, the Trump administration is ignoring the dire impact on its fragile ecosystem” Pure evil.)
• How climate change is threatening the future of the Winter Olympics
• America Is Trying to Bully the World Over Climate Change (“The Trump administration has sabotaged a key maritime treaty.”)
• MethaneSAT Releases First Global Assessment of Oil and Gas Climate Pollution (“Nearly a year after the Environmental Defense Fund lost contact with an $88 million satellite, data from the spacecraft reveal higher-than-expected methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.”)
• Q&A: Tech Billionaires’ AI Space Empire Fantasies Are ‘An Insidious Form of Climate Denial’ (“Science journalist Adam Becker speaks with DeSmog about how Silicon Valley tech billionaires have invented new forms of greenwashing and climate denial in their quest for ever-more fantastic technology.” Excellent book, btw, I just read it…)
• In Trump’s war on global justice, court staff and U.N. face terrorist‑grade sanctions (“Trump’s sanctions on U.N. expert Francesca Albanese and the International Criminal Court froze assets and disrupted war crimes investigations. The clash is part of the broader campaign by his administration to strongarm allies, enemies and world bodies into toeing the U.S. line.”)
• Trump Is Remaking the Global Oil Market, and Exxon and Chevron Want In
• Cryptocrash (“Second, the fact that BTC is now lower than it was before the 2024 election is significant in two ways. It shows the limits of political favor — all the boasts about making American a crypto superpower, all the deregulatory talk and pardons for cryptocriminals, in the end couldn’t defy gravity.”)
• Bitcoin Drops to Lowest Price Since Trump Was Elected as Crypto Faces Slump
• Big Tech to Spend $650 Billion This Year as AI Race Intensifies
• Epstein built ties to Russians and sought to meet Putin, files show
• Russia Says Top Intelligence Official Wounded in Shooting
• A Second Wave of Popular Anger Is Building in Iran (“The heavy-handed response to protests has deepened people’s hatred of the regime, and Iranians are speaking out.”)
• Iran Is at Work on Missile and Nuclear Sites, Satellite Images Show
• Iran and US hold high-stakes talks in Oman as confrontation looms
• US and Iran talks to begin as fears of direct conflict continue
• Oman mediates indirect US-Iran talks over Tehran’s nuclear program
• A war with Iran would be a huge gamble for a president on shaky political ground
• Revealed: Private jet owned by Trump friend used by ICE to deport Palestinians to West Bank
• Opposition to US has hardened in western Europe after Greenland threat, poll finds (“Large majorities in six nations express antipathy to Trump’s US and support European self-assertion”)
• 150 days of Kavanaugh stops, and it just keeps getting worse (“Kavanaugh stops would always be bad. As a tool in the Trump administration’s authoritarianism arsenal, they are worse. The consequences are everywhere.” Brett Kavanaugh never should have been confirmed; absolutely disgraceful that he was.)
• ICE and CBP’s Face-Recognition App Can’t Actually Verify Who People Are (“ICE has used Mobile Fortify to identify immigrants and citizens alike over 100,000 times, by one estimate. It wasn’t built to work like that—and only got approved after DHS abandoned its own privacy rules.”)
• DHS watchdog details extensive probes into Trump’s immigration crackdown (“The investigations include reviews of hiring, interior immigration enforcement and expedited removal of individuals by ICE and CBP.”)
• Democrats Should Seek DHS Bill Without ICE Money, Hoyer Says
• Senators Clash Over Immigration Enforcement, Risking a D.H.S. Shutdown
• Those seeking to sue ICE for injuries or damage face an uphill battle (“Scores of claims are expected to arise out of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Experts say suing the government will be tough.”)
• Tulsi Gabbard is showing why her job shouldn’t exist
• GOP, Democrats expect DHS shutdown after talks fizzle
• DHS has requested expedited deportation proceedings against family of Liam Conejo Ramos
• Kennedy Makes Unfounded Claim That Keto Diet Can ‘Cure’ Schizophrenia (Yep, we have an insane person in charge of the country’s health.)
• Why a Republican Supreme Court just handed a victory to Democrats (“The short answer is that this Supreme Court loves gerrymandering more than it hates Democrats.”)
• We Are Witnessing the Imperial Presidency on Steroids (“The founders wouldn’t recognize the executive branch’s monstrous powers — but they sure would fear them”)
• Trump’s Plan to Nationalize Elections Using Fabricated Claims of Foreign Interference (“A recent history of Donald’s attempts to conjure up foreign election interference in an effort to seize voting machines and control elections in the name of national security.”)
• White House Offers Shifting Story on Gabbard’s Presence at Georgia Raid
• Trump’s FBI Raid Could Lead to a Takeover of Elections in Georgia’s Largest County (“Trump wants control ‘over the voting in at least 15 places.’ He could start in Fulton County, Georgia.”)
• ‘Grind the country to a halt’: Democrat urges national strike if Trump meddles in midterms (“In wake of Donald Trump’s call for Republicans to ‘take over’ voting, senator Ruben Gallego urges citizens to take a stand and give the ‘ultimate response’”)
• Donald Trump Already Knows the 2026 Election Is “Rigged” (“The question is not if he will undermine confidence in the midterms but how.”)
• As affordability concerns mount, House Republicans turn to voting restrictions (“The SAVE America Act, up for a vote next week in the House, has been a rare rallying point for a divided GOP.”)
• Trump admin moves to finalize return of Schedule F (“Officials estimate that around 50,000 federal workers will be stripped of their civil service protections beginning in around a month, as unions, employee associations and good government groups decry their positions’ politicization.”)
• The Intellectual Edgelords of the GOP (“The mainstreaming of transgressive ideas is the culmination of a yearslong conservative project.”)
• Donald Trump prompts fury after posting racist video about Barack and Michelle Obama
• Trump Posts Vile Video of Obamas in Manic Late-Night Rampage (“The 79-year-old president spent the night spewing out conspiracy theories.” In a sane, functional country, the president would be impeached/removed immediately, as he’s a danger to us all.)
• Slotkin rejects Justice Department request for interview on Democrats’ video about ‘illegal orders’
• A Revolt Inside Paul Weiss Over the Epstein Files Took Down Brad Karp
• Trump wanted Dulles Airport and Penn Station named after him as condition of releasing rail tunnel funds (Insanity.)
• Trump promises Schumer funding for NY tunnel project — if Penn Station and Dulles Airport are renamed after him (WTF???)
• Pardoned January 6 rioter pleads guilty to threatening US Democratic leader Jeffries
• Maryland man facing attempted murder charges after showing up at OMB Director Russell Vought’s home
• DNC Congratulates Democratic Nominee Tom Malinowski on His Victory in NJ-11 Special Election Primary
• Democrats Mess With Winning in Texas (“Once again, the party’s statewide candidates seem to have grander ambitions than victory.”)
• How Jeff Bezos Broke The Washington Post (“The paper of record for the nation’s capital cut a third of its staff this week. It didn’t have to be like this.”)
• Marty Baron Warns That Jeff Bezos Is Shredding The Washington Post to “Ingratiate Himself With Donald Trump” (“The former editor of the paper tells Vanity Fair that the ‘tremendous’ newsroom brings in readers, but Trump has driven the owner and his publisher, Will Lewis, to decisions that have sent those readers out ;the back door.'”)
• No suspects and a new reward: Family pleads for Nancy Guthrie’s return as search enters sixth day
• Sens. Mark Warner, Tim Kaine Slam Trump Administration Rule to Make It Easier to Fire Federal Workers (“If we want to continue to lead the world, then we must have a federal workforce based on merit, not politics.”)
• Video: Sen. Mark Warner Says Trump “will do anything not to suffer another defeat like he suffered in 2020”; Warns “if we don’t step up…the very future of our democracy could be at stake” (What Trump’s doing “is a direct threat to free-and-fair elections.”)
• Senator Warner raises concerns about potential for ICE at polling sites
• Kaine again seeks to remove Robert E. Lee reference from Arlington House
• [UPDATED with Map] Report by Brandon Jarvis: VA “General Assembly Democrats have reached agreement on a 10-1 map”; “Sen. Lucas says the maps are competitive” (“The proposed map should be out within next 24 hours; This could result in a net pick up of 4 House seats during the midterms”)
• Check out Va. Dems proposed 10-1 congressional map
• Virginia Democrats release long-awaited 10–1 congressional map
• Virginia Democrats: That was one hasty, flawed remap bid (Totally unsurprising that Mark Rozell – who always criticizes Democrats – would…yep, criticize Democrats, lol.)
• General Assembly Democrats release redistricting map (“The map shows most of Southwest Virginia drawn into the 9th District, which would likely be the last remaining Republican stronghold out of the state’s 11 districts.”)
• Virginia Democrats Propose New Congressional Maps Ahead of Midterms (“As they appeal a ruling blocking their redistricting efforts, the state’s Democrats proposed redrawing districts in a way that would strongly favor them.”)
• Map Favored by House of Delegates Becomes Virginia’s New Democratic Gerrymander (“No, this is not a “10-1” map as promised by Virginia Democrats. On the contrary, it’s an 8-3 map, and in Republican wave years could produce a 7-4 map. Senator Lucas alluded to this on February 4th when asked about the maps. In all likelihood, this map will produce a 10-1 Democratic delegation in 2026, as it is highly likely a 2018-esque blue tsunami will crash upon the shores of the Commonwealth.”)
• Virginia Democrats reach agreement on 10-1 map
• 10 things to know about the Democrats’ proposed redistricting map (“The map would eliminate one of the party’s top fundraisers this year, either Beth Macy or Tom Perriello. It could also create some new constituencies to oppose redistricting.”)
• New Virginia congressional maps give us a heavyweight race in the Sixth (“Back to the new Sixth: looks like we’re going to end up having a race for the Democratic Party nomination between Macy and former Fifth District Congressman Tom Perriello, who announced last fall that he was running for the Democratic nomination in the Fifth, but Perriello lives in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area, which will move into the Sixth…Complicating matters in the new heavyweight battle in the Sixth: both Perriello and Macy have already earned the endorsements of Spanberger and U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine. Perriello had also gotten endorsements from U.S. Sen. Mark Warner and Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi. Can you say, awkward?”)
• Virginia Democrats propose potential 10–1 congressional map for 2026 midterms (“These are not ordinary times, and Virginia will not sit on the sidelines while it happens.”)
• Redistricting, RGGI, and revoking ICE cooperation
• Virginia Democrats show map to counter Trump redistricting but its future is unclear
• Virginia House Democrats pass new gun laws, but not all Democrats voted for them
• Virginia House Democrats Pass Common-Sense Gun Safety Bills to Protect Communities and Save Lives (“Ghost guns,” “assault firearms,” “civil accountability.” for the firearms industry, etc.)
• ‘Housing near jobs’ bills have cleared Virginia House and Senate
• Bills to bolster local emergency management personnel funding punted
• Virginia Gov. Spanberger Enters Stage Left (Rupert Murdoch’s far-right Wall Street Journal editorial page weighs in…LOL!)
• The Spanberger folks weren’t ignoring me: It was technical issues (Hahaha, seriously?)
• Solar Siting Reforms Advance in Virginia After Years of Failed Attempts (“Legislation would create a set of statewide development standards as guidance for localities that have become resistant to solar.”)
• Here’s what a new congressional map could mean for Hampton Roads.
• Natural Bridge Zoo operators indicted by grand jury for animal cruelty, forgery
• UVA Football player charged with rape, abduction: Who knew what, when?
• CWG Live: Late afternoon and evening snow showers, then severe weekend cold (“Wind gusts of 45-55 mph Saturday threaten power outages and deliver brutal wind chills.”)