Tuesday (6/9) News: “‘Severe’ stress on oceans as rate of sea level rise doubles in 10 years”; The “tinhorn Fox News theocrat has evangelized the military”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, June 9.

• World’s largest banks pledged $906bn to fossil fuel companies in ‘unfathomable’ increase in 2025, report finds (“JPMorgan Chase leads 65 banks making decisions incompatible with restraining rising temperatures, researchers say” EVIL.)
• ‘Severe’ stress on oceans as rate of sea level rise doubles in 10 years, UN warns (“Global effort needed to limit effects of pollution, industrial fishing and climate crisis, World Ocean Assessment says”)
• I Helped Fight the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak Yet. The New One Terrifies Me.
• ‘They are isolated … they are alone’: Zelenskyy on Russia, Putin’s lies – and fighting back (“In a wide-ranging interview, an upbeat Ukrainian president also discusses Donald Trump, King Charles, and how Kyiv is prepared to share its experience of drone warfare with the west”)
• Ukraine war briefing: Russia’s Peskov admits ‘certain problems’ with fuel supplies after energy sites targeted
• Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un vow stronger ties as North Korea visit wraps up
• A Challenge in the U.S.-Iran Talks: Both Sides Demand Victory (“Washington and Tehran would need to defend any potential deal as a win for their side. And each has a leader whose approach to talks is vexing mediators.”)
• Iran war has no end in sight at 100 days, despite Trump’s vow
• Trump Wants to Call the Shots. But in Iran, He Keeps Hitting His Limits. (“President Trump is grappling with his own version of the sort of Middle East crisis that beset his predecessors, and that he promised to avoid.”)
• Iran’s Attack on Israel Reveals New and Aggressive Regional Ambitions (“Move shows appetite for risk that didn’t exist before the war”)
• Crew Is Rescued After U.S. Helicopter Goes Down Near Strait of Hormuz
• Complex relationship between Trump and Netanyahu continues to undermine Middle East ceasefire
• The growing US-Israel split over Iran (“Trump and Netanyahu do not want the same things.”)
• Trump’s grip on the GOP leaves Netanyahu with few places to turn (Massive f’up, both morally and strategically, by Netanyahu to push for Trump’s election. Nobody should ever forgive Netanyahu, or the Israeli far-right, for this.)
• Defying Trump with brief Iran fight, Israel seeks sway over peace talks
• UPDATE: Trump administration looking to transfer billions in Iranian assets to Kushner clients
• Israel launches new strikes on Lebanon
• Israeli air strikes hit Lebanese city of Tyre after Iranian warning to stop attacks
• Lebanon Is Teetering at the Abyss of a New Civil Wa (“A ceasefire agreement with Israel requiring the government to dismantle Hezbollah reignites sectarian tensions”)
• Netanyahu and Trump are at odds over the war they started together
• They Went to Jared (“How Donald Trump’s son-in-law used his position to hop in bed with autocrats—and sell out America.”)
• The Key to Fighting a Trump Real Estate Deal: Democracy (“There’s a reason the first family’s construction projects go more smoothly in Saudi Arabia than in Albania.”)
• Andrew Tate’s Empire of Abuse (“How the defining figure of the manosphere built a fortune—and became a political force—by systematically exploiting women.” Absolute evil.)
• A noxious orange cloud looms over the World Cup (“If there’s a way to spoil it, the FIFA Peace Prize winner will find it.”)
• Court blocks Trump’s $100K visa fee
• Judge Throws Out Policy Imposing $100,000 Fees for Skilled Worker Visas
• Homan planning largest ICE deployment in New York City: ‘It’s coming’
• ‘I love you, sir’: Todd Blanche, devoted Trump enforcer, tapped to do his bidding full time (“Attorney general pick joined Trump’s legal team in 2023 – there seems little doubt he would be prepared to carry out the president’s wishes”)
• Trump Nominates Blanche for Attorney General, Setting Up Confirmation Fight (The “mainstream” media’s “safe space” is to describe things as a “battle,” “fight,” etc.; that way they can stay “neutral” and “objective” – LOL)
• Republicans hope Trump retreats on Pulte to save spy law
• Treasury Market Is Telling Kevin Warsh Rates Need to Be Higher
• Trump calls on Thune to fire Senate parliamentarian to pass SAVE America Act
• 
  Some Republicans say Trump should close the door on paying out Jan. 6 rioters (And by “some” – a junk word, BTW – NBC News actually means “very few.”)
• Something Tells Me Trump’s Not Giving Up on His Weaponization Slush Fund (“The president’s little hissy fit on NBC made it pretty clear he’s not done protecting the Bear Spray Brigade.”)
• In Trump’s second term, fewer seats for women at the table (“A Post review shows the president built a more male-dominated Cabinet this term, and every departure has been a woman — with a man chosen to replace each of them.”)
• How the Pentagon picked a fight with Mormons (“Are Mormons Christian? Pete Hegseth’s Department of Defense accidentally weighed in.”)
• Why Does Pete Hegseth Feel Like He Has the Final Say on What Religions Are Valid? (“The tinhorn Fox News theocrat has evangelized the military to the point that it only recognizes a handful of religions and spiritualities.”)
• Editorial: Hegseth again halts promotions of qualified Black, female officers (“Do Hegseth and others in the administration expect us to believe that white men are disproportionately qualified for military leadership?” Yep, that’s EXACTLY what Hegseth et al expect everyone to believe – because THEY believe it. And yes, they are virulent racists, sexists, etc.)
• How America Gave Up on Its Own History (“Unable to agree on how to interpret the American story, the country’s schools, universities, and political institutions have stopped trying to tell it at all.”)
• Un-Happy Birthday, USA: It’s hard to celebrate an America in regress
• 51% of U.S. adults say the American Dream is out of reach for most people right now: CNBC survey
• Scoop: Dems place $30 million bet on reshaping 2028 House maps
• Trump’s latest ‘voter fraud’ claims may backfire on him in the fall (“The pushback against his claims about California’s primaries will inoculate the public against similar unsupported charges in November’s midterms.” Mmmmayyybe.)
• Trump Previews Fall Strategy With Baseless Claims of California Vote Fraud (Apparently, the “mainstream” media is not allowed to use words like “false” or “lies” when it comes to Trump’s wild lies; instead, they go with “unsubstantiated,” “baseless,” blah blah blah. Such a bad joke.
• Experts warn Trump ‘inventing fraud’ in California as president ramps up baseless claims (That word, “baseless,” again…)
• Why Did NPR Fire Its Climate Editor? (NPR has some good programs, but its “news” is a total f’ing joke and nobody should ever listen to it.)
• Scott Pelley, Donald Trump and the sound of the truth — or endless lies.
• Fire Bari Weiss (“Memo to the Ellisons: no news organization survives when credible journalists accuse the boss of tampering with the content of multiple news stories.”)
• Progressive Nithya Raman advances to November runoff against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass
• Some Maine Democrats are wavering on Graham Platner (Dems need to take back the US Senate, so if Platner gets the nomination, it will be important that he defeat Susan Collins, but…seriously? This guy??? WTF???)
• Platner fuels anxieties among Democrats as Maine picks its candidate
• A first test for Platner and other key races to watch in Tuesday’s primaries in Maine and beyond
• Right-wing media’s focus on fraud paves the way for cuts to Medicaid home healthcare services
• Vance refers Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota attorney general to DOJ for fraud investigation (Vance is a fascist thug.)
• No walking allowed in heart of Midtown for Monday’s Knicks game (“The secure zone starts at 4 p.m. and covers the area between 30th and 35th streets and Seventh and Eighth avenues. The Knicks also said that a strict no-bag policy will be in place for Monday night’s game, and you can expect “TSA-level security” for entry.”)
• Trump booed at Madison Square Garden for Game 3 of NBA Finals
• Trump Responds To Being Booed By Knicks Fans In The Most Trump Way Possible (“The president’s “enthusiastic” claim about the arena crowd was met with disbelief.”)
• Trump Administration Killed Criminal Investigation of GOP Senator’s Coal Companies (“EPA and Justice Department officials were looking into potential criminal violations by the vast coal empire owned by Sen. Jim Justice. Then the Office of the Deputy Attorney General told them ‘pencils down.'”)
• Despite right-wing media fearmongering, crime is at a record low in Mamdani’s New York City
• A flesh-eating cattle parasite spreads beyond Texas as new screwworm cases are found
• Alaskans Reel From the Loss of National Science Foundation Ocean-Monitoring Instruments
• Kennedy Center removes Trump’s name from its website after US judge’s order (“Performing arts venue takes down references to a ‘Trump Kennedy Center’ in compliance with judge’s ruling”)
• Trump news at a glance: watchdog group sues to block president’s ‘deeply corrupt’ birthday party
• Video: Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA10) Says Trump Still Wants $1.8B Slush Fund, and “Republicans in Congress are afraid of him” (Also: “Bibi has more control over Trump than vice versa sometimes.”)
• Ben Cline wants your photos for some dumb congressional time capsule (It is truly moronic.)
• Spanberger, Virginia legislators inch closer to legal recreational marijuana market in the state budget
• Judge approves settlement over rejected Virginia student voter registrations (“Agreement bars election officials from denying applications over missing dorm details.”)
• Hospitals, sheriffs and prosecutors, and their different approaches to gun violence
• Report: Roughly 1 in 5 rural Virginia hospitals at risk of closure
• State to reorganize nursing scholarship programs after more than $10 million in funding was left unused (“The scholarship programs were created to bolster the state’s healthcare workforce, particularly in rural areas where staffing shortages have been most severe.”)
• Spanberger names dozens of new appointees to Virginia college boards
• Attorney general opens review of Republican nomination process for Lynchburg City Council candidates (“The party-run nomination was the first of its kind under a new state law that favors, but doesn’t explicitly require, state-run primaries.”)
• Arlington high school nurse named Virginia’s ‘Nurse of the Year’
• Here’s what’s fueling Danville’s ‘comeback’: The number of people moving out has dropped
• ‘We trusted you:’ Parents of abused infants confront former Henrico nurse in court
• Arlington sees drop in crime over past few years (Arlington’s had a progressive prosecutor during those years, too.)
• Council strengthens rules requiring removal of snow, ice from sidewalks
• DC-area forecast: Nice today before rising heat, humidity, and storm chances