Saturday News: “U.S., Israel Strike Iran”; “Why Have You Started This War, Mr. President?”; “‘Attempted corporate murder’: Trump’s threats against Anthropic chill AI industry”; “The Many Shades of Complicity in the Epstein Fallout”

by Lowell

Here are a few international, national, and political, for Saturday, February 28.

• To Extract Hot Water From the Earth, a Plan to Pipe It In First (“Developers are using a new geothermal technology in Germany to produce clean energy.”)
• A Tiny Caribbean Island Sued the Netherlands Over Climate Change, and Won (“The case shows that climate change is a fundamental human rights violation—and the victory of Bonaire, a Dutch territory, could open the door for similar lawsuits globally.”)
• Researchers praise ‘stunning’ results of new prostate cancer treatment (“Early trials of the drug VIR-5500 showed it shrinking tumours in some patients”)
• Elon Musk Moves Against the Russians in Ukraine (“Russian forces falter as the world’s richest man intervenes in the war once again.”)
• Analysis: Trump’s Call for Regime Change in Iran Carries Dangers
• U.S. and Israel launch attack on Iran as Trump calls for regime change (“Iran launches missiles at Israel; retaliatory strikes also targeting U.S. bases, official says”)
• U.S., Israel Strike Iran: Live Updates (“Iran retaliates with attacks on Israel and U.S. bases, while Trump urges Iranians to seize power”)
• US and Israel launch a major attack on Iran and Trump urges Iranians to ‘take over your government’
• Why Have You Started This War, Mr. President?
• Trump’s Enormous Gamble on Regime Change in Iran (“A few paths to success, many to failure”)
• U.S. AND ISRAEL BEGIN “MAJOR COMBAT OPERATIONS” IN IRAN (“Operation Epic Fury, as the Pentagon dubbed the attack, started exactly as Trump’s 10-day deadline to Iran expired. Israel’s name for the joint operation is Lion’s Roar.”)
• Israel targets Khamenei, top leaders in bid to bring down Iran’s regime
• Trump Starts Massive Strikes, Urging Iranians to Seize Power (Just a reminder that Maureen Dowd wrote in April 2016: “Hillary the Hawk, Donald the Dove“)
• Trump Gives Rationale for Iran Attack in Eight-Minute Video
• Iran Targets US Bases in Gulf in Retaliation for Airstrikes
• Yet another mid-talks attack jeopardises chances of Iran taking Trump seriously (“Second Israeli-US attack during nuclear negotiations may finally jettison any chance of agreement”)
• A world on edge as Trump bombs Iran and triggers war in the Middle East. There was no need for this (“We cannot know where this foolish, reckless attack will end – but new hatreds will be seeded, terrorist vendettas sown and, ultimately, little will be achieved”)
• US and Israel attack Iran as Tehran retaliates across Middle East
• Chaos and Panic Grip Tehran as Airstrikes Shake City (“Iranians were beginning their workweek as U.S. and Israeli strikes sent people fleeing parts of the capital and parents racing to collect children from schools.”)
• With the US on the brink of war with Iran, Fox’s biggest stars are more focused on the left being mean to the US men’s hockey team (Fox “News” is relentless right-wing propaganda; that’s it, really.)
• How Israel Lost Americans
• The True Story of ISIS’s Rise in Syria (“The rebellion against Assad led to sudden freedom, but also to crime and inequality. The Islamic State took advantage.”)
• Islamic State emerges from rubble of north-east Syria to exploit discontent with al-Sharaa
• US backs Pakistan’s ‘right to defend itself’ against Taliban after strikes on Afghanistan (“Taliban offer to resolve dispute via dialogue after Pakistan bombed cities in Afghanistan in latest escalation with its neighbour”)
• ‘Adventurism has had its day’: speedboat shootout leaves Miami’s exiled Cubans bewildered
• Federal judge blocks new DHS policy that would allow arrest of thousands of legal refugees (“‘The new policy turns the refugees’ American Dream into a dystopian nightmare,’ Judge Tunheim wrote.”)
• Judges question Pam Bondi’s social media posts on Minnesota arrests (“The judge said Bondi’s posting of the names and arrest photos undercut prosecutors’ request for an order to prohibit defense attorneys from publicly disclosing personal information about immigration agents involved in the case against Flores.”)
• Renee Good’s family says Trump hasn’t contacted them after her death (“Neither president nor anyone in administration has reached out after Good was killed by immigration officer, says family”)
• How Trump Will Fill His Gulags (“DHS is rewriting its detention rules to ignore the law—and entrap millions.”)
• DHS shutdown could go on for a while — because voters aren’t paying attention (“Lawmakers, home for legislative recess, found their voters focused on other issues, like mail service and inflation.”)
• FEMA taps billions for disasters, warning Democrats of ‘dire’ shutdown impact (“The agency sent out more than $5 billion in a single week, considerably shrinking cash for disasters amid the DHS shutdown.”)
• Abolish ICE? Absolutely — and DHS too
• Classified Report Finds Kristi Noem Created Security Vulnerabilities at Airports (“Noem’s handling of issue related to allowing travelers to keep shoes on at checkpoints fits pattern of incidents that has alarmed some national-security officials”)
• Without Weighing Costs to Public Health, EPA Rolls Back Air Pollution Standards for Coal Plants (“The federal Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for coal and oil-fired power plants were strengthened during the Biden administration.”)
• Midterm ‘blue wave’ could block Trump’s agenda and launch investigations – here’s what’s at stake
• The Psychotic MAGA Plan to Change How We Vote Forever (“It all stems from a paranoid fantasy that China stole the 2020 election from Donald Trump.” These are all insane people.)
• Could the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act Decision Affect the Midterms?
• Trump says he’s thinking of putting Republican Senator Ted Cruz on Supreme Court
• RFK Jr. suggests buying liver or ‘cheap cuts’ instead of steak
• New poll: Trump’s SOTU “pivot” to affordability didn’t work (“A poll conducted in the two days after Trump’s State of the Union address reveals the public is still skeptical the president can deliver on affordability”)
• The Many Shades of Complicity in the Epstein Fallout (“Philosophers have long wrestled with what to do about the onlookers and profiteers surrounding those who have done terrible things.”)
• Musk casts himself as a champion for victims of Epstein, despite appearing in latest files
• The ‘Crazy’ Plot to Release the Epstein Files (“How an unlikely duo of lawmakers partnered with victims to try to hold the powerful accountable”)
• Bill Clinton denies having any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes in historic deposition
• Bill Clinton says in House testimony he had ‘no idea’ about Epstein’s crimes
• The Republican Party’s Relentless Obsession with Hillary Clinton Is More Than a Little Weird (“On Thursday, she was called before Rep. James Comer’s Oversight Committee and Live Bait Shoppe to answer questions for six hours about Jeffrey Epstein. To what end?”)
• Trump told FBI Director Kash Patel he didn’t like his Olympics hijinks (“Trump told Patel directly that he wasn’t pleased about his viral locker-room partying with the U.S. men’s hockey team, as well as his use of a government jet to travel to Italy.”)
• Trump Administration Shuns Anthropic, Embraces OpenAI in Clash Over Guardrails (“OpenAI chief says deal for Pentagon to use its tools in classified settings includes the same prohibitions that Anthropic had wanted”)
• Anthropic to take Trump’s Pentagon to court over AI dispute
• The nuclear nightmare at the heart of the Trump-Anthropic fight (“Should we trust Claude to stop a missile attack?”)
• Pentagon declares Anthropic a threat to national security
• ‘Attempted corporate murder’: Trump’s threats against Anthropic chill AI industry
• Silicon Valley Rallies Behind Anthropic in A.I. Clash With Trump
• OpenAI strikes deal with Pentagon, hours after rival Anthropic was blacklisted by Trump
• Everybody Loses (“Paramount winning control of Warner Bros. is the worst-case scenario.”)
• Abrupt Change for Warner Bros. Prompts Many Grim Faces
• Departing CBS News producer claims political bias as Paramount poised to buy Warner Bros (“Mary Walsh, leaving after 46 years, says staffers told to ‘aim our reporting at a particular part of the political spectrum’”)
• ‘Not a done deal’: California vows ‘vigorous’ review of Paramount-Warner Bros takeover (“Attorney general says $111bn deal will be investigated amid concerns over monopoly power and job losses”)
• Democratic lawmakers push back on Paramount’s potential takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery (“Sen. Elizabeth Warren called the deal an ‘antitrust disaster,’ while California’s attorney general vowed a ‘vigorous’ investigation.”)
• Hegseth cancels troop attendance at top-ranked schools
• SecDef Hegseth Announces Trans Scouts In Scouting America Will Be Outed, Segregated (“The policy is the latest in a trend of organizations capitulating to Trump over transgender people.”)
• Kamala Harris Endorses Jasmine Crockett in Texas Senate Race
• Kamala Harris makes last-minute pitch for Jasmine Crockett with robocall
• Voting rights groups sue Georgia for refusing to release voter purge records
• How Kansas Republicans weaponized the law to target 300 trans driver’s license holders (“SB 244 was put into effect virtually overnight, causing chaos, panic and fear in the trans community.” Disgusting. And WHY???)
• Sen. Mark Warner Condemns Pentagon Pressure Campaign and Raises Concerns About Politicized Directive Targeting Anthropic (Warner: “sweeping directive and rhetoric risk undermining defense readiness, private-sector partnerships, and safeguards around AI use in national security”)
• Video: Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11) Says “at some point in time, President Trump will have to answer questions under oath about Jeffrey Epstein” (Also says Bill Clinton “answered every question openly and transparently…there are no inconsistencies in [his] statements”)
• Oversight Dem: Clinton testimony means Trump should testify in Epstein case (“CNN’s Erin Burnett talks to Rep. James Walkinshaw who sits on the oversight committee and was inside the room for the depositions of both Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.”)
• The two faces of Ben Cline when it comes to deficits, the national debt (“One year into Trump 2.0, we’ve added another $1.9 trillion, to get to, gulp, $37.3 trillion.”)
• One Week Before Early Voting Starts, YES Campaign Launches Six-Figure Media Buy Reaching Black and Spanish-Speaking Voters Across the Commonwealth (“Targeted digital and radio ads engage Black and Latino voters statewide ahead of April 21 referendum”)
• Virginia consumers feeling more ‘optimistic,’ poll finds
• Proposal to eliminate data center tax break creates strange bedfellows in Virginia
• Collective bargaining is a solution to Virginia’s looming care crisis
• New legislation would protect Virginia workers from extreme heat
• PFAS legislation for menstrual products, cosmetics moving forward
• Fairfax County casino bill headed to Virginia House of Delegates vote
• New Fairfax County casino bill advances to full Virginia House
• Bills to allow by-right housing in commercial districts concern Fairfax County officials (“HB 816 by Del. Dan Helmer (D-10) and SB 454 by state Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg (D-16) would require local zoning ordinances to permit by-right multifamily and mixed-use residential development on a portion of commercial or business zoning district land.”)
• George Mason’s new board ignored the warning and failed its first test
• Critics say ‘Free Palestine’ mural on North Side is racist. Artist and shop owner disagree
• Norfolk schools superintendent can begin work, despite licensure holdup
• Confederate statues in Virginia’s Capitol Square may soon be removed
• Long criminal history tied to Fairfax County bus stop stabbing suspect
• CWG Live: Climatological winter ends on a springlike note (“This warmth is brief, with wintrier weather possible early next week. But then 70 by late week?”)