by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, March 21.
- Contentious Hunt for Covid’s Origin Points to China Animal Trade (That needs to end, NOW, for a whole host of reasons, including that it’s appalling cruel, destructive, AND can lead to deadly pandemics.)
- Drug companies defend vaccine monopolies in face of global outcry
- Rich Countries Signed Away a Chance to Vaccinate the World (“American and European officials gave up leverage that could have guaranteed vaccine access for billions of people, which risks prolonging the pandemic. A growing chorus of health officials and groups are calling for governments to force companies to publish vaccine recipes and ramp up manufacturing.”)
- India Battles a Second Covid-19 Wave and Vaccine Skepticism
- India, the world’s largest democracy, is now powered by a cult of personality
- Canadian Conservative party votes not to recognize climate crisis as real (“Delegates vote 54%-46% against policy change request; Leader O’Toole has sought ambitious climate change agenda” At this point, anyone who denies or minimizes the climate crisis is just completely f’ed up.)
- Netanyahu turns to extremist party that calls for expelling Arabs from Israel
- Israel: Thousands rally against Netanyahu ahead of tight election contest (“Opinion polls have forecast a tight race on Tuesday, with Netanyahu and his religious and nationalist allies struggling to secure a majority of seats in the 120-member Knesset, or parliament.”)
- Libya has staged an unlikely comeback. The United States can help make it stick.
- Erdogan pulls Turkey out of European treaty aimed at protecting women from violence (Erdogan is horrendous.)
- Saudi-Led Jets Strike Yemen Rebel Sites After Aramco Hit
- Saudi oil giant Aramco to scale back spending after 2020 profit slump
- Youth climate activists are back with new, sharper demands for countries and corporations (“The Fridays for Future movement returned to spotlight a dangerous shortfall in climate action.” Yep, we’ve got to massively ramp up action, NOW.)
- ‘Never seen anything like it’: locals watch helplessly as floodwaters rise across New South Wales
- Myanmar protesters voice defiance as junta reminds of “external threats”
- America’s Right-Wing “Patriots” Are Fawning Over the British Monarchy to Own the Libs (The same folks who fawn over Putin, eh? Real “patriots”…not.)
- SEC signals tougher line with oil companies on climate
- How the US and China can jump-start cooperation on climate change (“To be legitimate climate leaders on the world stage, the US and China must start by raising ambition at home.”)
- Biden Eyes New Goal After US Clears 100M Shots Since Jan. 20 (“With the nation now administering about 2.5 million shots per day, the U.S. cleared Biden’s goal of 100 million coronavirus vaccine shots a month early.”)
- Spring breakers flock to South Florida while some residents worry about another Covid-19 surge
- GOP picks fight over states’ rights in coronavirus relief (Republicans love “states’ rights”…except when they hate “states’ rights”)
- ‘A nightmare scenario’: Extremists in police ranks spark growing concern after Capitol riot (“Racially biased policing was already a concern. Now, charges against officers in the Capitol riot inflame fears of extremists infiltrating law enforcement.”)
- Bill Nelson: Former astronaut and senator nominated as Nasa chief
- U.S. races to find bed space for migrant children as number of unaccompanied minors in government custody hits 15,500
- Supporters Rally Across The Nation Against Anti-Asian Hate After Spa Shootings
- Asian Americans must not fight white terror alone
- ‘A new chapter in an old story’: what the Atlanta shootings reveal about the US
- How Asian American Leaders Say The Biden Administration Can Address Hate
- After enduring racism in silence, Atlanta-area Asian Americans speak up
- DNC reports best-ever February fundraising for a non-presidential year
- Atlanta Suspect’s Fixation on Sex Is Familiar Thorn for Evangelicals (“The man accused of killing eight people, including six women of Asian descent, blamed ‘sexual addiction,’ a disputed term used in parts of evangelical culture.”)
- The Evangelicals’ Trump Obsession Has Tarnished Christianity (“Evangelical Christians thought lining up behind Donald Trump would be worth it. But they couldn’t have been more wrong.” That’s what usually happens when you sell your soul to the devil.)
- Can Merrick Garland Uncover Trump’s Role in the Capitol Riot? (“The ongoing federal criminal inquiry is the most promising route to the truth.”)
- Old Pol, New Tricks (“Biden’s got the buzz. Who’s smirking now? “)
- Conservative George W. Bush Is Now Too Liberal for His Party
- GOP warns HR 1 could be ‘absolutely devastating for Republicans’ (Republicans clearly believe that the more people vote, the worse for them.)
- Republicans see attacking transgender youth as a convenient way to whip up bigotry
- How ‘sex addiction’ has historically been used to absolve white men
- MyPillow, MyMovie, MyFascistAmerica: Mike Lindell’s upbeat, incoherent “Absolute Proof”
- Ivanka Trump, Miami Beach Bum, Plots Her Next Move (Hard pass.)
- Outer fence surrounding Capitol complex to be removed this weekend
- Florida’s DeSantis positions himself as Trump’s heir to the White House
- Trump inner circle tightens grip on the GOP’s most valued prize — the former president’s endorsement — sparking a new brawl among top MAGA lieutenants
- ‘It’s not a local issue anymore’: D.C. statehood moves from political fringe to the center of the national Democratic agenda
- Some U.S. troops view Capitol riots, racial protests equally, worrying Pentagon leaders
- Ron Johnson falsely claims there was ‘no violence’ on Senate side of US Capitol on January 6 (Ron Johnson is completely bonkers. And a virulent racist. And an extremist, seditionist, etc.)
- Unmasked: man behind cult set to replace QAnon
- Under Fire, The NCAA Apologizes And Unveils New Weight Room For Women’s Tournament
- NCAA’s message to women’s basketball players: You’re worth less ( I’m tired. Not from today or from yesterday but from 40 years of it. Forty years tired of writing the same damn story about the same NCAA shortchangers in suits who would begrudge women’s athletes so much as an equal amount…”)
- A reptilian nightmare: Florida bans nonnative species despite industry outcry
- Julia Letlow wins House race in Louisiana to replace her husband
- Column: No, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ record on COVID-19 isn’t a success
- 2021 elections are 2022 bellwethers for both parties
- Virginia’s vaccine supply is finally about to surge. But health officials may need more staff to keep up. (“Virginia expects to start getting between 500,000 and 650,000 doses a week by next month, and the newer Johnson & Johnson vaccine has begun to augment existing supply.”)
- Northam hopes pandemic is in ‘rear view mirror’ by end of term; infection took his sense of smell
- Interview with VA Secretary of Education Atif Qarni: Top Accomplishments the Past Three Years; Reopening Schools Safely Despite Republicans’ COVID denial, “misinformation and gaslighting and a lot of hostility”
- Opinion: Progressives on the march in the Old Dominion (The dripping contempt for progressives couldn’t be any more obvious by this guy, who unsurprisingly is tight with…yep, Dominion. It’s all so predictable.)
- Video: Corey Stewart Rips Pete Snyder For Ties to the “Anti-Trump Haters” Lincoln Project, Supposedly Sharing an Apartment with Rick Wilson and “Some Russian Prostitutes” (Stewart even bizarrely speculates, without any evidence, whether Snyder and Wilson were living with female or male prostitutes. WTF?!?)
- Latest Stats Show 68/100 VA House of Delegates Districts Being Contested By Rs and Ds; Just 9 GOP-Held Seats Without a Dem Challenger
- Saturday (3/20) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +1,563 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 603,745), +47 Hospitalizations (to 25,758), +12 Deaths (to 10,104)
- A year of COVID-19: Successes and failures in Virginia’s response to the novel coronavirus (“Just over 600,000 Virginians — about 1 in every 14 — have contracted COVID-19, and more than 10,000 have died after being infected with the virus.”)
- Latinos in Va. are the most likely to be infected, hospitalized or die from COVID. They’re 6% of vaccinations
- The vital role churches are playing in vaccinating Black Virginians
- With birth rates falling in Virginia, researchers worry pandemic may accelerate decline
- What Virginia’s gubernatorial candidates will do about broadband
- Can Starlink solve Virginia’s broadband challenges?
- Gibson: Here’s who killed the partisan gerrymander (Hahahahaha, wuuuut?)
- Hampton University opens vaccine center, has plans for mobile clinic
- Amid frustrations over pandemic response, two Virginia counties want their own health departments (“Loudoun and Prince William officials say the state system of health districts has hampered their ability to serve their fast-growing communities.”)
- A high school football team told adults they were spit on and called the n-word. Nothing changed until a player posted, ‘enough is enough!’ (“Two Virginia school systems are now working together to ‘repair the harm done’.”)
- Joint Statement from Fairfax County Public Schools and Arlington Public Schools Regarding the Incident Involving Wakefield High School and Marshall High School on March 5, 2021
- Voters choosing new Southwest Virginia senator in Tuesday special election
- Virginia women’s swimming and diving team wins first national championship
- VCU removed from NCAA tournament due to positive COVID tests (“We are devastated for our players and coaches.”)
- D.C.-area forecast: Springtime splendor sticks around into midweek
********************************************************
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
