by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, March 21. Yes, Spring officially began yesterday, but it sure doesn’t feel like it!
- In congratulatory call to Putin, Trump ignored advisers’ prominent warning (Yep, we have a “president” who is – as former State Dept. official Max Bergmann tweeted – “beholden to a hostile foreign power. This is an urgent national security crisis.”)
- Report: Austin Suspect Kills Himself In Explosion As Police Move In For Arrest
- In Hidden-Camera Exposé, Cambridge Analytica Executives Boast Of Role In Trump Win (So, basically, Trump won because of a combination of toxic factors, including deliberate manipulation of people via social media, particularly Facebook.)
- Trump faces backlash after congratulating Putin on election win (“‘An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections,’ said McCain, a frequent critic of Trump who has pressed him to take a more aggressive approach toward the Kremlin.”)
- Congress Stymied on $1.3 Trillion Bill With Days to Go Before Shutdown
- Cambridge Analytica execs boast of role in getting Trump elected (“Execs from firm at heart of Facebook data breach say they used ‘unattributable and untrackable’ ads, according to undercover expose”)
- Spending bill delay raises risk of partial government shutdown
- Trump subjected to trifecta of sex-scandal lawsuits (“The president, already dealing with the Russia probe, is at the center of litigation in two states related to allegations of affairs or harassment.”)
- Where Is Mark Zuckerberg? (“As regulators and chaos circle the company following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook’s leader has gone absent without leave.” My level of respect for Zuckerberg has gone to zero.)
- Not Even Cambridge Analytica Believed Its Hype (“If the consulting firm’s ‘psychometric’ modeling was really the key to winning campaigns, why would it even flirt with sketchier skullduggery?”)
- Watch Members of Congress Go Off on Betsy DeVos at a Budget Hearing (How did we get to the point America where someone so crazy, corrupt and stupid can be our Secretary of Education?)
- Putin, a Little Man Still Trying to Prove His Bigness (“Putin is still a little man strutting to be one of the big boys.”)
- Mitch McConnell Issues Strong Defense of Robert Mueller (Pass legislation protecting him then. And if Trump fires him, start impeachment proceedings immediately.)
- An “Ashamed” Fox News Commentator Just Quit The “Propaganda Machine” (Nobody should appear on this dangerous, far-right propaganda network.)
- New NRA ad attacks Parkland students and suggests teachers should be armed with AR-15s (The NRA is completely unhinged. And evil.)
- Breitbart’s readership plunges (Such a shame.)
- I worked at Facebook. I know how Cambridge Analytica could have happened. (“It’s high time for external oversight.”)
- Israel admits bombing suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007, warns Iran
- One Of The Last Anti-Abortion Democrats In Congress Just Won A Primary Against A Progressive Challenger
- A D.C. leader’s anti-Semitic remarks are only part of the problem (“Trayon White Sr. apologized to the Jewish community, but his bizarre statements about climate are troubling, too.” Absolutely disgraceful.)
- Lawmakers zero in on Zuckerberg (“As the calls for answers mount, Zuckerberg has remained silent. His company has sought to send the signal that it takes the matter seriously even as it faults Cambridge Analytica and other players.” Pathetic.)
- The Facebook data breach wasn’t a hack. It was a wake-up call. (“Facebook expected its user data to be harvested. It just didn’t expect Cambridge Analytica to do it 50 million times.”)
- Facebook Besieged by Wall Street, Washington and Europe
- 2 Republican senators suggest they’d support impeaching Trump if he fired Mueller (What about the other 49?)
- 4 winners and 2 losers in the Illinois primary election
- The All-American Violence (“If it’s not bombs in Austin, it’s gunshots in a Maryland school.”)
- Sen. Tim Kaine on fake news, Corey Stewart and bipartisan deals in 2018
- Governor’s office says Northam will veto bill aimed at thwarting carbon rule (“…the draft rule, which has its roots in a working group convened by former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, another Democrat, has been an exercise in finding a path to regulate carbon without the assent of the Republican-controlled legislature.”)
- Schapiro: Could SCC fight have something to do with Medicaid?
- Editorial: Warner’s plan to jump-start economic development in Appalachia
- Gambling within guide rails
- Report finds death rates rise for white, middle-class Virginians
- Richmond School Board: Ban assault weapons; improve school safety
- Area near Mount Vernon estate in Va. headed for overhaul, with 13,000 homes, parks and hotels (“Fairfax County board approves plan to remake a portion of Richmond Highway long known for run-down motels, shopping plazas and traffic congestion”)
- W.Va. judge denies injunction to remove pipeline protesters from trees (That’s good, but the bottom line is that these pipelines shouldn’t be built in the first place.)
- Franklin County supervisors postpone decision on pipeline monitoring agreement
- Gun advocates are angry after video of Virginia candidate sawing an AR-15 goes viral
- Opinion/Editorial: Darkness lightens in House of Delegates
- Editorial: Public should know details of Whitaker case (“THE TRIAL of Portsmouth minister and City Council member Mark Whitaker was postponed again on Tuesday, just as the public was on the verge of learning more about the government’s case against him. For almost a year, the case has been covered in an unusual shroud of secrecy, raising questions and concerns about how it is being handled.”)
- Perjury charge against Kessler dismissed
- A snow day for our first full day of spring, then staying cold through the weekend
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