by Lowell
Here are a few international, national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Friday, February 14. As David Rothkopf says, “This week Trump, Vance, and Hegseth have sought to actively repudiate virtually every foundational value, idea, ideal and structure of the past 100 years of US natsec policy including our alliances, defense of democracy, opposition to aggression, and rejection of both fascism and authoritarianism.” That’s pretty much where we’re at right now, sad to say – but we can’t just give up, this is our country, after all!
- EVs and datacentres driving new global ‘age of electricity’, says watchdog (“Forecast for rising global electricity use likely to stoke fears of rising costs and stalled efforts to fight climate crisis”)
- Industry influence over UN aviation body ‘extremely concerning’ (“Exclusive: Firms outnumber green groups at environmental talks, with related events sponsored by fossil fuel companies”)
- Was the world’s most influential climate target doomed from the start?
- Vance warns Russia of possible sanctions if it refuses good peace deal with Ukraine
- It Took Trump Only Twenty-four Days to Sell Out Ukraine (“Amid the chaos in Washington, the President’s phone call with Putin has Moscow filled with glee.”)
- Zelenskyy and Vance to hold talks as Europe pushes back against Trump’s Ukraine comments (“Macron has warned the west not to ‘capitulate’ to Russia after Trump suggested Putin might not make concessions in a peace deal”)
- Vance to meet Zelensky as Ukraine says Russia hit Chernobyl
- Zelenskiy Says He’ll Talk to Russia as Part of Trump Plan
- Putin Assembles Team of Heavyweights to Negotiate Ukraine Deal
- Chernobyl radiation shield hit by Russian drone, Ukraine says (Putin is f’ing nuts.)
- Ukraine on ‘irreversible path’ to Nato membership, Starmer tells Zelenskyy (“Prime minister uses call with Ukraine president to restate UK support in face of Trump interventions”)
- European boots on the ground in Ukraine might be Trump’s toughest ask
- Ukraine’s Zelenskyy has a very bad week thanks to Trump and Putin. Here’s why.
- Zelensky says he does not ‘see a ready US plan’ for ending Ukraine war
- Russia denies Ukrainian claim it struck Chernobyl reactor shell as radiation levels remain normal
- Trump and Hegseth send NATO scrambling over future of Ukraine (What a disaster.)
- Vance Wields Threat of Sanctions, Military Action to Push Putin Into Ukraine Deal
- Pete Hegseth Crumbles When Asked What Russia Is Conceding to Ukraine (Anyone who voted to confirm Hegseth has this on their hands and on their consciences. If they have any consciences, that is.)
- Listen Closely to What Hegseth Is Saying (“The defense secretary is signaling a major shift.”)
- Russian crypto kingpin returns to Russia as part of swap for Marc Fogel
- Senior Republican senator ‘puzzled and disturbed’ by Hegseth’s Ukraine remarks (“Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker is breaking with the line from the Trump White House.”)
- ‘White supremacists in suits and ties’: the rightwing Afrikaner group in Trump’s ear
- Trump Moves to Impose Reciprocal Tariffs as Soon as April
- Trump signs a plan for reciprocal tariffs on US trading partners, ushering in economic uncertainty
- U.S. and India to double bilateral trade in five years, Prime Minister Modi says, as Trump tariffs loom
- Elon Musk met with Modi during the Indian prime minister’s US visit. What does he want from India?
- Hamas announces further details of Israeli hostages it will free this weekend (“Israel warned Thursday that Hamas must release three living hostages this weekend or face a resumption of the war in Gaza”)
- Trump wants to play peacemaker. Israel may have other plans. (“Threat to attack Iran’s nuclear sites pushes the president out of his comfort zone.”)
- Exclusive: Trump’s foreign aid freeze stops anti-fentanyl work in Mexico
- Mexican president blasts US for harboring drug cartels
- Hegseth team invites far-right activist Jack Posobiec on overseas trip (WILDLY unacceptable.)
- Did Secret Data Doom Biden? (“But now, Politico has waded in with a take about as spicy as years-old paprika: the conventional wisdom was right all along! The Biden economy was terrible, a former banker and bank regulator, tells readers. Voters were right to think that the strongest labor market in living memory was actual awful, he argues, not just because of inflation, but because of a sinister underlying darkness in the economy that government statistics failed to represent. It’s a remarkable piece of goalpost shifting, vibe gazing and faux naivety, all far less clever than it thinks it is.”)
- Trump’s shock and awe campaign rocks the courts
- Is Trump really going to defy the judiciary? (“What happens then? No one really knows, because there isn’t much in the way of historical precedent.”)
- Judge orders Trump administration to restore funds for foreign aid programs
- The Strategy Behind Trump’s Defiance of the Law (“His violations follow an old playbook—trigger lawsuits, giving the Supreme Court a chance to declare statutes unconstitutional.”)
- RFK Jr. Won. Now What? (“America’s health is in the hands of an anti-vaccine conspiracist.”)
- The Great Surrender (“Senate Republicans have confirmed Trump’s least qualified Cabinet nominees—and given up their role as an independent check on the president.”)
- Trump Prepares to Wipe Out Years of Progress on Gun Violence (“An executive order threatens ‘ghost gun’ regulations, red flag laws, and more.”)
- DOGE software approval alarms Labor Department employees (“Elon Musk’s DOGE subordinates received approval to use software at the Labor Department that could be used to transfer large amounts of data, two employees said.”)
- There’s a Term for What Trump and Musk Are Doing (“How regime change happens in America”)
- Billionaire Airbnb Co-Founder Is Said to Take Role in Musk’s Government Initiative
- “What the Lord established”: Elon Musk is camouflaging a Christian nationalist takeover (“Project 2025 was clear: First, purge federal workers. Then replace them with theocrats and fanatics”)
- What the DOGE Takeover Really Means (“In the dark corners of social media where Elon Musk and the people who aspire to work for him live, it’s clear: This is about putting ‘traditional’ Americans back in charge.”)
- Trump administration directs agency heads to fire most probationary staff (That is SO stupid. And nasty. And counterproductive. And…)
- Fact check: Musk, Trump deceive about a Trump-era Pentagon contract for ‘social deception’ defense
- “We’ve Been Essentially Muzzled”: Department of Education Halts Thousands of Civil Rights Investigations Under Trump
- Trump Wants to Destroy All Academia, Not Just the Woke Parts
- How the Trumps Turned an Election Victory Into a Cash Bonanza (Can you even IMAGINE the reaction by Republicans and by the “mainstream media” if Obama, Clinton, Biden or Harris had done anything like this???)
- Linda McMahon Just Showed the Senate How Little She Knows About Education (“Trump’s pick to head the DoE will be in charge of gutting it.”)
- Don’t Expect Republicans to Stop Trump’s Constitutional Chaos (“Sure, a few GOP lawmakers have warned the president against defying court rulings. But he’s already done just that, with the encouragement of top allies like JD Vance, Elon Musk and Mike Johnson.”)
- House Republicans advance their budget after appeasing hard-liners
- The GOP’s budget plan: Tax cuts for the rich, austerity for the poor
- Defiance in New York
- Federal prosecutors in New York and Washington resign after refusing to drop Adams charges
- Danielle Sassoon and Other Officials Resign After Order to Drop Eric Adams Case
- How the Justice Dept. Helped Sink Its Own Case Against Eric Adams
- Read Danielle Sassoon’s Letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi
- Trump Appointee Quits Instead of Dropping Eric Adams Charges, Alleges Quid Pro Quo
- Run Eric Adams Out Of Office (Adams is corrupt AF.)
- Drama over Adams case raises questions about Trump administration’s ‘weaponization’ of justice
- Trump insults McConnell over RFK Jr. vote, casts doubts on polio diagnosis (Sociopathic.)
- What in the Mitch McConnell Is Going On?! (“We’re in a weird place when the architect of our doom is now the only Republican with the stones to vote against RFK Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, and Pete Hegseth.”)
- Kennedy Center staff describe climate of fear as events drop from calendar (Time for any legitimate artist to ditch the Kennedy Center, sad to say.)
- Stars pull out of shows and positions at Kennedy Center after Trump takeover
- Texas Judge Fines New York Doctor and Orders Her to Stop Sending Abortion Pills to Texas
- ‘Honestly terrifying’: Yosemite National Park is in chaos
- ‘Transgender’ and ‘queer’ erased from Stonewall Uprising national monument website
- Video: Sen. Mark Warner Urges People to Speak Up Loudly, Republican Colleagues to “Show Some Courage” Against Trump/Musk Acting Like “Kings,” Not Respecting the Constitution or the Law
- VA Dems: “It’s Truly Pathetic” That “Glenn Youngkin Doesn’t Have the Spine to Save His Own ‘Signature’ Program” (Youngkin’s “more focused on sucking up to Trump than benefiting students across the Commonwealth”)
- Securing Another Win for Virginians: Constitutional Amendments (on Reproductive Freedom, Marriage Equality, Voting Rights) Pass Both Chambers
- VoteVets Announces It’s “All In for Abigail”: “directly contributing $500,000 to Abigail Spanberger’s campaign…largest single donation in the 20-year history of VoteVets”
- Unpaid for existing work, federal contractors ice Virginia jobs
- Silence of the lambs: Youngkin, Miyares and the rule of law (“As Trump tests the rule of law, Youngkin and Miyares continue to endorse his actions or remain silent.”)
- Issues scuttled in Virginia legislative session likely to resurface in fall
- School funding showdown looms as legislature sends sales tax bill to Youngkin again
- Boysko removed from committee posts after anti-casino testimony
- Pope & Schapiro: General Assembly session winding down
- After years of work, Virginia’s new gambling authority in limbo
- Contraception access likely to remain a hot issue beyond General Assembly session
- Joachim: The VHSL’s transgender policy, and the harmful myth of a ‘war’ on women’s sports
- 3 interesting bills: overtime for domestic workers, heat regulations, new rules for sex offenders
- Region slowly recovers from massive power outages
- No safety protocol at Richmond water plant, initial report says
- Report explains how Richmond lost water during storm, suggests fixes
- Richmond Public Schools is out of snow days. Now what?
- Loudoun Supervisors Weigh Impacts of Eliminating By-right Data Center Allowances
- Roanoke City Council to try again Friday to seek consensus on new member
- Orange County sheriff parts ways with deputy who said ICE should round up protesters
- Fusion energy offers opportunity to reimagine Wise County’s energy future (It definitely isn’t; this is NOT going to happen.)
- CWG Live updates: Colder but bright today, with a wet weekend ahead (“A quick snow dusting possible as rain starts tomorrow; patchy flooding possible Saturday night into Sunday”)
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