Saturday News: “Biden says US will not be intimidated by reckless Putin”; CPAC/MAGA Are Pro-Putin; During “Racist Meltdown,” “Trump Says Mitch McConnell Has a ‘Death Wish’”; “Youngkin trans policy demands what he’s against: big government”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, October 1.

• Nord Stream rupture may mark biggest single methane release ever recorded, U.N. says (Massive crime by Putin.)
• To understand the scale of the climate emergency, look at hurricanes
• The Most Abundant Chemical in the Universe Could Become a Hot Commodity (“Hydrogen and the fuel cells that use it have some cost barriers, but the upside for transportation and powering our homes is huge.”)
• These Scientists Tried a Coral-Breeding Moonshot—and It Worked
• Putin raises stakes in speech full of anti-Western bile
• Facts on the ground matter more than rants at the Kremlin
• Alexei Navalny: This is what a post-Putin Russia should look like
• Russia, drawn deeper into Ukraine, loses grip on conflict on its periphery
• Ukraine war: Biden says US will not be intimidated by reckless Putin
• Putin’s desperate attempt to annex parts of Ukraine (“These are all just gestures made out of weakness because he’s losing on the ground.”)
• ‘He’s not going to scare us’: Why the West isn’t buying Putin’s bluster
• Ukraine forces ‘completely surround’ Russian-held town
• Ukraine Latest: Russians Forces Said to be Encircled in Lyman
• Ukrainian troops say they’ve surrounded Russian forces in Lyman
• Putin Is Trying to Outcrazy the West
• Ukrainian Troops Approach Key City in a Region Illegally Annexed by Putin (“Ukrainian forces appeared to be edging closer to encircling Lyman, a strategic rail hub in the country’s east.”)
• Panic, Bribes and Ditched Cars: Portraits of Flight From Russia
• Zelensky: Ukraine submits “accelerated” NATO application (Admit Ukraine ASAP!)
• Statement from President Biden on Russia’s Attempts to Annex Ukrainian Territory
• Putin’s ‘annexation’ announcement changes little on the ground in Ukraine
• Putin’s Newest Annexation Is Dire for Russia Too (“His baldly illegitimate claim to four Ukrainian provinces shows contempt for the global order—and his own subjects.”)
• Ukraine has always been ready to negotiate. The question is how.
• Welcome to Cold War 2 (Except that this time, Russia is a shadow of the Soviet Union.)
• Russia accused of ‘kidnapping’ head of Ukraine nuclear plant (Under Putin’s regime, Russia is a terrorist state.)
• Putin Decries U.S. ‘Satanism’ in Bizarre Speech Annexing Parts of Ukraine (“His speech celebrating an illegal annexation in Ukraine turned into an anti-trans rant in which he blamed the West for blowing up Nord Stream.”)
• Liz Truss’ Woes Multiply After Media Blitz (If the election were held today, her party – the Conservatives – would get annihilated.)
• U.K.’s Market Woes Show Pitfalls for Other Economies
• Bolsonaro Might Be Beaten, and It Feels Too Good to Be True
• Cuba Makes Rare Request for U.S. Aid After Devastation From Hurricane Ian
• In China, Living Not ‘With Covid,’ but With ‘Zero Covid’
• Analysis: Iran leaders in ‘disarray’ struggle to close ranks over protests
• More Americans are moving into hurricane zones even as climate risks mount
• Why roll the dice on covid? Get the booster and don’t take the chance.
• How the Remote Work Craze Made Housing Affordability Worse (“So what happened? Like many people, I’ve speculated that the pandemic-induced rise in remote work led to a demand for more space at home.”)
• Extreme rainfall from Hurricane Ian worsened by climate breakdown – study
• Judge Cannon shows the courts have been politicized far beyond SCOTUS (“The legitimacy crisis isn’t just about the Supreme Court, and a Trump judge’s latest gift to the president who appointed her shows why.”)
• You thought the Supreme Court’s last term was bad? Brace yourself.
• Supreme Court rearranges its seating chart as Jackson takes the bench
• The Oath Keepers’ Radical Legal Defense of January 6th (“Legal experts say the interpretation of the Insurrection Act put forward by Stewart Rhodes and his lawyers would dangerously expand the power of the President.”)
• Ranking Trump and the top seven GOP White House contenders
• For Obama, One Trump Term Wasn’t a Big Worry, but ‘Eight Years Would Be a Problem’ (So, so wrong…in fact, one term was a disaster, as many of us thought at the time.)
• Obama Privately Warned Reporters Trump Would Destroy America in 8 Years in Last Days in Office (“Though for some reason he thought four years would be ‘okay.'” Very, very weird.)
• Ginni Thomas still believes Trump’s false claim the 2020 election was stolen (She’s completely unhinged. And evil.)
• Feds seek to fast-track appeal in Trump Mar-a-Lago documents fight (“The Justice Department moved to quickly dismantle the independent review of documents seized from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, contending that the review — ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon — is impeding its criminal investigation.” Cannon herself should be charged with obstruction of justice and maybe other crimes – conspiracy?)
• Trump’s legal team divided over how to handle Mar-a-Lago case
• Tucker Carlson Secretly Tried to Get Jared Kushner to Broker Pardon for Roger Stone, Book Reveals
• Jared Kushner Allegedly Tried to ‘Inflate’ 2020 Poll Numbers to Avoid Trump’s Tantrums, Book Says
• Trump deposition in Carroll defamation lawsuit set for October 19 as fate of case remains in limbo
• Poll: Most U.S. voters now say Trump should not be allowed to serve as president again
• Judge upholds Georgia election laws on all counts in voting rights case (Ugh.)
• Facebook scrambles to escape stock’s death spiral as users flee, sales drop
• GOP congressional candidate Joe Kent’s ties to white nationalists include interview with Nazi sympathizer
• Darkened skin in anti-Abrams ad racially charged, ‘pernicious,’ political analyst says
• 35 family members of Uvalde shooting victims throw their support behind Beto O’Rourke ahead of debate
• Five takeaways from the Abbott-O’Rourke debate showdown in Texas
• Abbott, O’Rourke clash over gun restrictions in lone Texas gubernatorial debate
• Trump launches direct attack on McConnell a month out from midterm elections
• Trump Says Mitch McConnell Has a ‘Death Wish’ During Racist Meltdown
• Trump Warns Mitch McConnell Has ‘DEATH WISH’ In Truth Social Rant
• Dysfunction in Texas AG’s office as Paxton seeks third term
• Hurricane Ian’s Staggering Scale of Wreckage Becomes Clearer in Florida
• Elon Musk’s Texts Shatter the Myth of the Tech Genius (Anyone who’s ever read his tweets knows that the guy’s a f’ing idiot.)
• Fox prime time goes all-in against John Fetterman
• Ohio’s Ryan Offers Potential Road Map for Democrats Struggling in Rust Belt
• Fox’s Jeanine Pirro is back in the hot seat in $1.6 billion election defamation case
• Gavin Newsom’s trolling deftly unmasks Ron DeSantis’s cruelty
• Newsom signs bill protecting transgender youths and families fleeing red-state policies
• Fired Fox News Anchor Must Face ‘Revenge Porn’ Allegations, Judge Rules
• Fox News anchor openly encourages viewers to vote for Republicans in the midterms (For any Democrat – or anyone, really – who treats Fox as a legitimate news network…)
• Climate denial abounds on Fox as Hurricane Ian devastates Florida (Fox is a disgrace to humanity.)
• Trevor Noah’s ‘Daily Show’ departure hints at deeper problems in late night TV (How about Amber Ruffin to succeed Trevor Noah? Samantha Bee?)
• Warner, Bowser Announce $20 Million in Funding for Long Bridge Crossing (Project “includes not only a new bridge dedicated to passenger rail, but also a bicycle and pedestrian bridge, which will make it safer and more convenient to cross the Potomac River”)
• US House Votes for Continuing Resolution to Keep Government Open; All Virginia Dems Vote Yes, All Virginia Rs Vote to Shut Down the Government
• End Citizens United Calls for DOJ Investigation Into Yesli Vega For “fail[ing] to disclose upwards of $50,000 in assets, as required by federal law”
• Daily Progress: The Many “Lies of Omission” by Anti-Abortion Extremist Yesli Vega (“Not responding to questions or changing positions to fool constituents may be smart politics. It is also betrayal.”)
• The Cancer on Conservatism Spreads (“As its bizarre love for Vladimir Putin grows, ‘America First’ is transforming into Blame America First – and KGBob is among them.”)
• Spanberger expresses frustration and calls for new Democratic leadership in the House (Speaker Pelosi’s response nailed it: “First of all, [Rep. Spanberger’s] bill is contained in this bill; other members have ideas too, to improve upon the bill…whatever the members want to do, I fully support…so this is an interesting press release, but it’s more important to write a bill…we have to have the votes to bring it up…this is the legislative process…her bill is in the bill, others had ideas too.”)
• Spanberger breaks with Pelosi over handling of stock-trading bill
• Schapiro: Youngkin trans policy demands what he’s against: big government
• Glenn Youngkin Campaigned Earlier This Week for CT Gov Candidate Who’s Got an Extremist Tax Plan, “Has No Clue About Climate Change,” Is a Big Fan of “School Choice,” Got an “A” Rating from the NRA, etc. (Also, the president of the anti-abortion “Family Institute of Connecticut” said Stefanowski has “common ground with us”)
• Column: The hypocrisy of free speech in Youngkin new ‘guidance’ on trans-youth accommodations
• Virginia tried to crack down on unlicensed poker. It’s still happening in the open.
• I regret calling for Justin Fairfax to resign
• COVID cases in Virginia are down to lowest level in five months
• Rural Outreach is Not Optional. It’s Time to Take it Seriously. (Rural GroundGame: “We currently have billboards set up in 3 congressional districts that will be seen at least 1.5 million times by Election Day”)
• Alexandria tells Va. leaders it won’t follow Youngkin’s transgender youth rights rollback (No school district should even consider it.)
• Alexandria City Council decries Governor Youngkin’s anti-trans schools proposal
• We’re not done with Ian: Here’s what to expect in the weekend ahead (“Flooded roadways, downed power lines and thousands of power outages were reported across Hampton Roads as vestiges from Hurricane Ian battered the region Friday.”)
• Metro delays opening of Potomac Yard station until 2023 (Can Metro ever get things done AHEAD of schedule or at least ON schedule?)
• D.C.-area forecast: Periodic raindrops throughout the weekend (“The heavier rain of last night moves off, but additional waves are likely into early week. Temperatures are quite cool, as well.”)