by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, February 16.
- JPMorgan’s Exit From Climate Group Sparks ‘Greenhushing’ Debate
- ‘They lied’: plastics producers deceived public about recycling, report reveals
- ‘It’s almost carbon-negative’: how hemp became a surprise building material (“Proponents of the material tout its non-toxic and mould, fire and infestation-resistant properties”)
- Russian activist and Putin critic Alexei Navalny dies in prison (Reminder: Putin is pure evil, and any American who supports him is a disgrace.)
- Russian opposition leader Navalny has died, prison service says
- Alexei Navalny, Putin’s Most Ardent Critic, Dies in Prison
- Russia has obtained a ‘troubling’ emerging anti-satellite weapon, the White House says
- President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine is visiting Berlin and Paris to shore up support as the U.S. wavers.
- Trump Is at Odds With NATO — and Reality
- Trump’s Threat to nato Is the Scariest Kind of Gaffe: It’s Real (“Consider yourself warned.”)
- In Munich, Harris Aims to Reassure Europe as Donald Trump Disparages NATO
- US warns key Ukrainian town could fall to Russia
- White House hits Johnson for going on recess without passing Ukraine aid
- Iran’s Rise as Global Arms Supplier Vexes U.S. and Its Allies
- Britain’s Labour Party deals double blow to PM Sunak’s Conservatives
- Greece legalizes same-sex marriage despite church opposition
- Carmakers pumped the brakes on hybrid cars too soon (“In the age of electric vehicles, the hybrid is still a contender.”)
- Fed’s Bostic Says May Take ‘Some Time’ to Hit Rate-Cut Threshold
- A Battery Company CEO on the ‘Massive’ Effect of the Inflation Reduction Act
- The Supreme Court will decide if the government can seize control of YouTube and Twitter
- Trump Owns Dobbs and Everything That Comes With It
- House GOP sets rule-vote failure record
- Former FBI informant charged with lying about the Bidens’ role in Ukraine business, undercutting GOP impeachment inquiry (The word “undercutting” is an interesting choice – how about the fact that this “inquiry” was always a complete f’ing joke and this is just the latest evidence of that?)
- FBI informant charged with lying about Joe and Hunter Biden’s ties to Ukrainian energy company
- Raskin calls on GOP to end Biden impeachment inquiry after indictment of FBI informant
- Biden’s lawyers forcefully protested Hur report before its release
- Republicans Say Latest in Long String of Losses Is Not a Sign They Are Doing Anything Wrong (“Mazi Pilip was apparently an outlier, as were 2022, 2020, and 2018.”)
- Four signs Trump’s weaknesses are deepening (“The former president can talk, but he can’t deliver.”)
- Ruling expected in Donald Trump’s $370m New York fraud trial
- Donald Trump Will Be the First Former President to Face a Criminal Trial, Judge Rules
- Trump to stand trial on March 25 in NY criminal hush money case
- Raw court drama unfolded in Trump’s staggering legal battles
- MAGA fatigue and the “exhaustion of outrage addiction” (“Tucker Carlson being summoned to Moscow is not a show of strength. It’s evidence of weakness”)
- Fact check: Trump makes false and evidence-free claims at Manhattan courthouse
- Donald Trump is moving to fully eradicate the G.O.P. establishment’s independence, and remake it in his own image.
- We’re Running Out of Names for Trump. At Least Polite Ones.
- Incitement by the numbers: More than 200 Jan. 6 defendants say they came to Capitol because Trump told them to, report says
- Delay tactics and quick trips: Takeaways from two Trump case hearings in New York and Georgia
- Fani Willis takes the stand as she fights to stay on Trump criminal case
- Fani Willis’ Strange, Furious Testimony May Have Blown Up Her Case Against Trump
- ‘I’m not on trial’: Fani Willis denies wrongdoing over relationship with Trump prosecutor
- Shrinking margin creates new headaches for GOP
- The final repudiation of ‘2000 Mules’
- Kansas City confronts a crisis that’s all too familiar
- Gov. DeSantis calls for limiting school book challenges in Florida
- Reporter asks Ron DeSantis why he can affirm his height with lifts, but stands against gender-affirming care (LOL)
- Elon Musk’s X Gave Check Marks to Terrorist Group Leaders, Report Says
- Activists Are Picketing Antony Blinken’s House. The Protest Is Righteous, Disturbing — and Wrong
- Rep. Matt Rosendale ends Senate campaign after a week
- Witness Told Feds She Was Paid for Sex Parties With Gaetz
- Joe Rogan and Bret Weinstein Promote AIDS Denialism to an Audience of Millions (Horrible.)
- Has Wired Given Up On Fact Checking? Publishes Facts-Optional Screed Against Section 230 That Gets Almost Everything Wrong
- Video: Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA07) Says Trump’s Appalling NATO Comments Show How “completely unprepared, ill equipped and absolutely not deserving of the role this man is” (“Tyrants and terrorists alike are watching” to see whether the U.S. stands by our allies, including Ukraine.)
- Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA10) Announces $35 Million in Infrastructure Law Funding for Continued Support of New Dulles Airport Terminal (Recall that nearly every House Republican – including all from Virginia – voted against this critical infrastructure funding.)
- After VA GOP Viciously Attacks First Black Speaker, Don Scott, VA Senate President Pro Tem Louise Lucas Vows to “hold [Glenn Youngkin] accountable for trash like this” (Youngkin has now apologized, as have the leaders of the VA GOP and the VA House GOP)
- Youngkin, Republicans disavow Va. GOP message disparaging House speaker (See what the WaPo does, how it frames this? Always around the Republican perspective and to their advantage. In this case, of course, the horrible rhetoric – a lot of it aimed at leading African-American legislators, etc. – has been going on for a looong time, with Youngkin and others not expressing any objection to it all that time. And, of course, the WaPo never reported on that, but now reports on Youngkin’s “disavow[al]” of that natsy rhetoric. Stenographers, pretty much.)
- ‘Personnel changes’ coming to Virginia GOP after post attacking House Speaker
- Virginia GOP post attacking Democratic House Speaker Don Scott leads to rebuke from top Republicans (The Virginian-Pilot also focused on Republicans’ rebuking the attacks on Don Scott, not on the loooong time in which the VA GOP did this shit with no pushback at all from “top Republicans”)
- Virginia House Democratic Caucus Statement on Shootings in Cities Across the Country on Anniversary of Parkland Shooting (Also, video of Del. Adele McClure speaking about how this situation is unacceptable and needs to change.)
- Marriage equality bills likely to head to Youngkin’s desk (And Youngkin is likely to veto them, unfortunately.)
- No big changes to Virginia’s Constitution…yet
- Pope & Schapiro: Halfway point of the 2024 General Assembly session
- VIDEO: Senator Hashmi, Delegate Price Celebrate Legislative Milestone in the Fight to Protect Contraception in Virginia
- Democratic lawmakers hope Youngkin will sign right to contraception bills
- Three interesting bills: labor trafficking, city council salary caps and employee retaliation
- FOIA Friday: police officer history and body cam footage in Byers case
- Here’s how rural Virginia is faring so far in this year’s General Assembly session
- As bills pass between chambers, party and policy can clash
- Editorial: Legislature should approve bill bolstering Virginia’s resilience efforts
- Advocates call on state lawmakers to support parental rights (The phrase “parental rights” should be in quotes in this headline, given that it’s what the right-wing groups claim they’re advocating – their own “branding” – but really are pushing to discriminate against LGBTQ kids, restrict the teaching of African-American history, etc.)
- Caps, Wizards arena plan stripped from one version of Va. state budget
- Commentary: Sen. Lucas is right to kill the arena, just maybe for the wrong reasons
- ACLU files lawsuits against Virginia education department’s transgender model policies
- Public school integration in Virginia started slowly, with just a few students. Their stories are now being shared.
- Virginia adds 21 stops to the U.S. Civil Rights Trail
- Final charge against former Loudoun Co. superintendent dropped (Great job by Jason Miyares and his office, eh? LOL)
- Albemarle commonwealth’s attorney loses another bid to prosecute 2017 torch cases
- CoStar plans to move headquarters from D.C. to Arlington
- D.C.-area forecast: Increasing clouds today ahead of accumulating snow tonight (“Up to several inches could pile up overnight into early Saturday; the snow could fall quite heavily for a time.”)
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