Thread: President Joe Biden

Originally Posted by Cujo

The problem with these fucking Landreth spam threads is there's so much Landreth spam it doesn't leave room for members to discuss and whatever discussion there is gets buried under all the Landreth spam.

Easily solved with the block button. You look stupid just moaning about it.

• Biden in Puerto Rico: 'We'''re going to make sure you get every single dollar promised'

President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, and Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Deanne Criswell are visiting Ponce, Puerto Rico, on Monday – weeks after Hurricane Fiona ravaged the US territory.

In Puerto Rico, Biden received a briefing on the storm and met with individuals who have been impacted. He also announced $60 million in funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law to shore up levees and flood walls, and to create a new flood warning system to help residents better prepare for future storms.

“We have to ensure that when the next hurricane strikes, Puerto Rico is ready,” Biden said during his remarks at the Port of Ponce.

Biden hailed the people of Puerto Rico for their resilience and promised that as long as he’s president, the federal government is not leaving until “every single thing we can do is done.”

Hurricane Fiona, Biden said, has been an “all too familiar nightmare” for Puerto Ricans who survived Hurricane Maria in 2017.

“Through these disasters so many people have been displaced from their homes, lost their jobs and savings or suffered injuries – often unseen but many times seen – but somehow, the people of Puerto Rico keep getting back up with resilience and determination,” he remarked.

“You deserve every bit of help your country can give you. That’s what I’m determined to do and that’s what I promise you,” the President continued. “After Maria, Congress approved billions of dollars to Puerto Rico, much of it not having gotten here initially. We’re going to make sure you get every single dollar promised.”

______________

• Biden’s trip to Puerto Rico rekindles memories of Trump’s

Those in attendance could be forgiven if they were suffering, in that moment, from a bout of deja vu: Five years ago to the day, then-President Donald Trump had visited the island, too. He was there to survey the damage done by Hurricane Maria amid a heightening rift with the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz, who had grown increasingly frustrated and critical with his hurricane response.

Instead of an indoor basketball court, Trump went to a makeshift supply center at Calvary Chapel. While he took the time to hand out supplies, he also decided to shoot paper towels, as if he were the presidential incarnation of Steph Curry and the arms of the needy in front of him were an inviting basketball net.

“There’s a lot of love in this room,” Trump declared thereafter. He gave his team an A+ grade.

On Monday, there was no paper towel shot-putting. No grade giving either.

______________

• Why Biden world isn’t overly worried about House GOP investigations

Congressional Republicans are talking more openly about their desire to investigate every aspect of the Biden administration — and family — should they regain control of one or both houses of Congress.

Inside Biden world, aides and allies aren’t entirely displeased with the chatter.

There is a growing confidence in the White House that the House Republicans clamoring for a hodgepodge of investigations will overreach — and that their attempts will backfire politically, with key voters recoiling at blatant partisan rancor. Officials believe they can use GOP efforts to their political advantage heading into the 2024 cycle, betting a pro-Trump Republican conference fixated on Biden will elevate “ultra-MAGA Republicans” and provide a useful foil for Biden, allowing him to draw sharp contrasts between his governing and their obfuscating.

“Their sense for what will resonate with middle-of-the-road folks [is wrong]. It’s not going to be the kind of extremist performance that these hearings will likely end up being,” one White House ally said. “It might make the base feel good, and it’s going to give [Republican Reps.] Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene something awesome to say on their live stream, but it’s not going to be what convinces suburban women in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.”

The GOP’s investigative wish list is long, and it runs the gamut. But members have made it clear they believe digging into the business dealings of the president’s son, Hunter Biden, is at the top of the agenda — hoping it may yield a smoking gun on President Joe Biden. Also ranking high, a coronavirus “origins” probe that would put Anthony Fauci in the hot seat and a multi-committee dive into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan last year that sparked bipartisan criticism.

President Biden - Congrats @TheJudge44 on home run 62. History made, more history to make.: https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1577462671582134272

___________

Biden speaks at reproductive rights taskforce meeting

• Remarks by President Biden and Vice President Harris at the Second Meeting of the Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access

So it is important for everyone to know what is at stake. To stop and reverse these attacks on women, we need to pass such a national law. And so we need the American people to make their voices heard and take a stand on the right of all women to exercise their choice, to have access to reproductive healthcare.

And I’ll close by mentioning that, as we know, Justice Clarence Thomas said the quiet part out loud in terms of the other rights that are also now at stake, such as access to contraception and same-sex marriage, marriage equality.

___________

• Indian-Origin Dr Vivek Murthy Is US Representative On WHO Executive Board

Biden Confirms US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy To Join WHO Executive Board

US President Joe Biden nominated Dr Vivek Murthy to serve as America's representative on the executive board of the World Health Organization.

Dr Murthy will serve in the new position alongside his continued duties as the Surgeon General, the White House said in a statement.

He was confirmed by the US Senate in March 2021 to serve as the 21st Surgeon General of the country. He previously served as the 19th Surgeon General under President Barack Obama.

As the nation's doctor, the Surgeon General's mission is to help lay the foundation for a healthier country, relying on the best scientific information available to provide clear, consistent and equitable guidance and resources for the public.

"While serving as the 21st Surgeon General, Dr Murthy is focused on drawing attention to and working across government to address a number of critical public health issues, including the growing proliferation of health misinformation, the ongoing youth mental health crisis, well-being and burnout in the health worker community, and social isolation and loneliness," said the White House.

As the Vice Admiral of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, Dr Murthy also commands a uniformed service of over 6,000 dedicated public health officers, serving the most underserved and vulnerable populations.

"The first Surgeon General of Indian descent, Dr Murthy, was raised in Miami and is a graduate of Harvard, the Yale School of Medicine, and the Yale School of Management. A renowned physician, research scientist, entrepreneur and author, he lives in Washington, DC with his wife Dr Alice Chen, and their two children," the White House said.

_____________

• Biden tells Al Sharpton he will run for president again in 2024

• Biden, DeSantis project unity in response to Hurricane Ian

President Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) put their political rivalry on hold Wednesday as the two toured damage from Hurricane Ian and projected a sense of unity in vowing to help the hardest-hit parts of the state rebuild.

“Today we have one job and only one job. That is to make sure the people of Florida get everything they need to fully recover,” Biden said in prepared remarks as DeSantis stood behind him.

Asked about DeSantis’s response to the storm, Biden told reporters: “I think he’s done a good job. We have very different political philosophies, but we’ve worked hand in glove.”

Biden and DeSantis emphasized the cooperation between the federal government and state and local officials, highlighting emergency declarations and the allocation of federal resources that allowed for a prompt response to the storm before it even made landfall.

“We were very fortunate to have good coordination with the White House and FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] from the very beginning of this,” DeSantis said.

The two men were in Fort Myers, one of the areas that sustained the most damage when Hurricane Ian made landfall last week as a Category 4 storm that destroyed homes and left millions without power. State and local officials warned rebuilding would be a years-long process in some areas.

Biden received a briefing on the response and recovery efforts from DeSantis and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and met with residents and small-business owners impacted by the storm. Biden also met with Florida Sens. Rick Scott (R) and Marco Rubio (R), as well as Rep. Byron Donalds (R).

Before arriving, Biden issued an amended disaster declaration that doubled the eligibility window for fully covered federal aid from 30 days to 60 days. In his remarks, he spoke about federal aid to provide temporary housing, insurance assistance, food, water and other critical supplies.

DeSantis, meanwhile, repeatedly thanked the federal government as a whole for cutting through red tape to expedite assistance before, during and after the storm made landfall.

The White House has downplayed any tension between Biden and DeSantis or whether other political disagreements would overshadow the meeting on Wednesday, wary of shifting attention away from the hurricane response. The president last week called their political rivalry “irrelevant” during the emergency.

The two leaders have spoken multiple times on the phone over the past week about Hurricane Ian. Wednesday was also not the first time the two leaders have been in person together. Biden and DeSantis met in July 2021 after the deadly condo collapse in Surfside, Fla., that killed roughly 100 people.

Biden and DeSantis could face one another in a potential 2024 presidential election. DeSantis is seen as a contender should he run for his party’s nomination, although former President Trump’s plans could be a factor in the Florida governor’s decision.

DeSantis, who is up for reelection to a second term in November, has raised his national profile recently and leaned into culture war issues last month by flying migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

Scott and Rubio are two other Republicans who are at odds with the Biden administration. Scott, the chief of the Senate GOP’s campaign team, has been bashed by Biden over his tax plan and has been a consistent foil for Biden in speeches. Rubio, who is up for reelection this year, has criticized the administration on its handling of multiple issues, from immigration to abortion rights.

DeSantis, Biden, first lady Jill Biden, and Florida’s first lady Casey DeSantis all greeted each other with handshakes.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) felt the ire of Republicans in 2012 after photographers captured pictures of him shaking hands with then-President Obama, who put his hand on the governor’s shoulder. The former governor was repeatedly put on the defensive during the 2016 GOP presidential primary for embracing Obama.

Biden earlier this week visited Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Fiona, a visit that was compared with former President Trump’s visit to the U.S. territory after the devastation from Hurricane Maria in 2017.

The president sought to contrast his support for Puerto Rico with the Trump administration’s response and has emphasized that he has the plight of Puerto Rico in mind even as much of the nation’s attention has shifted to Florida and damage from Hurricane Ian.

____________

• NPR poll: Biden's approval rating up

With just over a month to go in the 2022 midterm elections, Democrats are starting to rally around President Biden, according to the latest NPR/Marist poll.

Biden's approval rating is up to 44%, which marks a third straight month of improvement. He had bottomed out in July at about 36%. Democrats are also largely keeping pace with Republicans on enthusiasm about the elections this fall, a continued trend after the Supreme Court's June Dobbs decision, which overturned the guaranteed right to an abortion in this country.

_____________

Extra

DeSantis

What a difference a man makes

• Biden touts recent IBM, Micron investments amid broader economic concerns

Biden was in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., on Thursday to celebrate a planned $20 billion investment from IBM over the next decade to boost research and development initiatives and semiconductor manufacturing.

The IBM announcement came on the heels of Micron, another semiconductor manufacturer, unveiling plans to spend $100 billion on a new facility near Syracuse, N.Y. Micron previously announced a major investment in its Boise, Idaho, campus.

And Biden visited Ohio last month to highlight a groundbreaking for a new Intel facility.

“As we saw during the pandemic, when factories that make these chips shut down around the world, the global economy literally comes to a screeching halt,” Biden said Thursday.

“More Americans have learned the phrase ‘supply chain,’” he added. “Well guess what. The supply chain is going to start here and end here, in the United States.”

Those investments aim to restore microchip manufacturing to the U.S. over the next decade after companies outsourced production to Asian countries. Biden noted that car prices skyrocketed in recent years due to a shortage of chips, which are also used in smartphones, appliances and weapon systems.

The IBM announcement is the latest economic win for the White House since the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, which passed with bipartisan support and included more than $50 billion in incentives for manufacturers to build domestic semiconductor plants. It also included more than $80 billion for the National Science Foundation to support innovation and research.

_____________

• Biden to pardon all federal offenses of simple marijuana possession

President Biden will pardon everyone who has been convicted of simple possession of marijuana under federal law, the White House announced Thursday.

“There are thousands of people who have prior federal convictions for marijuana possession, who may be denied employment, housing, or educational opportunities as a result. My action will help relieve the collateral consequences arising from these convictions,” Biden said in a statement.

The pardons will also include people who have been convicted of simple possession in the District of Columbia.

The announcement represents the most significant action on marijuana the Biden administration has taken to date — and a major step towards decriminalization.

Marijuana is illegal under federal law, even as states have moved toward legal use for recreational and medical purposes.

As a candidate, Biden stopped short of endorsing legalization of recreational marijuana, but he supported moving towards decriminalization.

“Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. It’s time that we right these wrongs,” he said in a video announcing the move.

_____________

• Biden: Putin could escalate "prospect of Armageddon" with nuclear weapons

President Biden warned Thursday that the Russian invasion of Ukraine invites the highest nuclear "prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis."

Why it matters: Kremlin officials hinted at using nuclear weapons ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin signing laws Wednesday claiming the annexation of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk into Russia, vowing to defend the Ukrainian regions as Russian territory.

• Russian forces do not fully control any of those four regions and have suffered a series of major setbacks eight months into the invasion, as Ukraine's military advances in the country's south and northeast.
• Biden's comments come after Russian forces fired seven missiles into residential buildings on Thursday in the city of Zaporizhzhia — home to Europe's largest nuclear power station.

Details: "Putin is "not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons because his military is, you might say, significantly underperforming," Biden said at a fundraiser Thursday.

• "We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis," he added.
• "First time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have a direct threat of the use nuclear weapon if in fact things continue down the path they are going."
• "I'm trying to figure out what is Putin's off ramp?" he said. "Where does he find a way out? Where does he find himself in a position that he does not not only lose face but lose significant power within Russia?"

"I don't think there's any such thing as the ability to easily [use] a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon."

What they're saying: Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Biden's comments were "an appeal to start yet another world war with unpredictable, monstrous consequences," according to the Russian state-owned RIA news agency.

Worth noting: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday the U.S. had "not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture, nor do we have indication that Russia is preparing to imminently use nuclear weapons."

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier Thursday Putin "understands that after the use of nuclear weapons he would be unable any more to preserve, so to speak, his life, and I'm confident of that."

The big picture: As Zelensky spoke of Ukrainian forces recapturing dozens of settlements and roughly 195 square miles in the southern Kherson region and "successes in the eastern direction" since the start of October, a key Russian-installed leader in Ukraine publicly criticized "generals and ministers" in Moscow Thursday.

• Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-controlled areas of the Kherson region, suggested in a video address that Putin's defense minister "should consider killing himself" due to military failures in Ukraine, Reuters notes.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Russians have fled to neighboring countries since Putin issued a mobilization order and Alaskan officials said Thursday two had requested asylum in the U.S. after arriving in the state by boat.

What we're watching: The Biden administration announced this week a new $625 million security assistance package for Ukraine, which last week announced it was accelerating its bid to join NATO.

https://www.axios.com/2022/10/07/bid...ine-armageddon

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Biden tells Al Sharpton he will run for president again in 2024

Please no.

Originally Posted by Cujo

The problem with these fucking Landreth spam threads is there's so much Landreth spam it doesn't leave room for members to discuss and whatever discussion there is gets buried under all the Landreth spam.

Totally. Please someone start a Biden Part 2 thread.

Florida mayor not offended by Biden’s ‘salty language’ on live microphone

• Biden administration has reunited 500 families separated under Trump

The Biden administration has reunited 500 children separated from their parents under the Trump White House’s zero tolerance border policy, an official told The Hill Friday.

The benchmark follows nearly two years of steady work by the Biden administration, which tasked itself with reuniting an estimated more than 1,000 children who remained separated from their parents due to the 2018 Trump policy.

“Five hundred is a really important milestone. Obviously, the first step for these families is that physical reunification and going through that process,” Michelle Brané, executive director of the administration’s Family Reunification Task Force, told The Hill.

“Those are 500 individual children that are now with their parents.”

The Biden administration launched its family reunification task force weeks into taking office, pledging to contact the parents, many of whom are outside the U.S. and may no longer reside in their home country.

Outrage over the policy pushed Trump to suspend it, but not before separating more than 5,000 children from their parents.

Brané said the task force still has nearly 700 children it is still trying to reunify with their parents.

• Biden signs executive order on EU-U.S. data privacy agreement

U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order Friday that would limit the ability of American national security agencies to access people’s personal information as part of a transatlantic data sharing agreement with the European Union.

The decree follows lengthy negotiations between the United States and the EU after the bloc’s highest court ruled in 2020 that Washington did not sufficiently protect Europe’s data when it was transferred across the Atlantic. The judges’ concerns focused on how U.S. surveillance programs did not have proper measures for European citizens to address how the government collected their data.

The order will create a new body within the U.S. Department of Justice that will oversee how American national security agencies are able to access and use information from both European and U.S. citizens. It will also give new powers to the civil liberties protection officials within the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, a body that oversees agencies’ work, to investigate possible breaches of people’s privacy rights.

When it is established, the so-called Data Protection Review Court within the Department of Justice will allow people to file lawsuits via a so-called “special advocate” to challenge how their data is used by these agencies, marking a potentially significant limit to how the likes of the National Security Agency operate.

The court’s decisions are intended to be independent and binding, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a briefing Thursday.

“These commitments fully address the Court of Justice of the European Union’s 2020 Schrems II decision and will cover personal data transfers to the United States under EU law,” Raimondo told reporters.

• Joe Biden Ribs Republicans With Deadpan Response To 'Socialist' Slam

President Joe Biden on Friday mocked conservative Republicans who previously slammed his infrastructure program as “socialist” and voted against it — but who have since asked his administration for grants from it.

“I didn’t know there were that many socialist Republicans,” Biden deadpanned during a speech at a Volvo automobile plant in Hagerstown, Maryland.

The president, citing a CNN report from this week, noted how Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) were among numerous Republicans who had lambasted the program in public but then requested cash to fund projects in their states.

“Folks, look, you can’t make this stuff up. You’ve got to say, and I’ve got to say, I was surprised to see so many socialists in the Republican caucus,” Biden cracked.

____________

Just for fun.

• Wisconsin lawsuit targeting Biden's student debt relief plan tossed

Judge tosses Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty lawsuit challenging Biden's student loan forgiveness plan

A federal district judge on Thursday tossed a conservative legal group's lawsuit challenging President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty sued Biden and U.S. Education Department officials earlier this week, arguing that the plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for millions of borrowers was illegal executive overreach.

Originally Posted by russellsimpson

I'm glad you're starting to realise the effects your posts have on people.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) ... among numerous Republicans who had lambasted the program in public but then requested cash to fund projects in their states.

Since he's a particular arsehole about blocking spending even when it's desperately needed, it's good to embarrass him.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

I'm glad you're starting to realise the effects your posts have on people.

I realized that many a decade prior.

I put it down to the fact that we probably reside on different planets but haven't the consciousness to realize it yet..
or something to that effect.

• President Biden praises U.S. jobs data, but seeks ‘stable growth’

President Joe Biden hailed new job numbers Friday, saying the slowdown in job growth shows the United States is transitioning to “more stable growth,” although he warns that there is “still a lot of work” to be done.

America’s employers slowed their hiring in September but still added 263,000 jobs, a solid figure that will likely keep the Federal Reserve on pace to keep raising interest rates aggressively to fight persistently high inflation.

Friday’s government report showed that hiring fell from 315,000 in August to the weakest monthly gain since April 2021. The unemployment rate dropped from 3.7 percent to 3.5 percent, matching a half-century low.

The president also used his speech at a Volvo manufacturing plant in Maryland to slam Republicans who had voted against his infrastructure plan, declaring it socialism, but are now seeking funds under the bill for their districts.

“I didn’t know that many socialist Republicans,” he told the audience.

_____________

• Biden Heads for the Midterms with Ten Million New Jobs

With the September jobs report in hand, there’s only one more employment update left before the midterms. The October report will be released on Friday, November 4th—just four days before the polls open. Yes, there is a possibility of a last-minute surprise, but, based on what we know today, the Democrats and Joe Biden can go to the voters and make a very strong case: since his January, 2021, Inauguration, the American economy has created ten million jobs.

Last month, according to the Labor Department’s payroll survey, over-all employment rose by two hundred and sixty-three thousand. While that figure was lower than the three hundred and fifteen thousand increase during August, it still represents healthy job growth in an economy where the unemployment rate now stands at just 3.5 per cent—tying the lowest figure for the past half a century. The U.S. economy has added, on average, half a million jobs per month since Biden took office. White House officials were quick to point out that this pace of job growth is unprecedented for the first half-term of a Presidency.

Even though there are still deeply rooted racial and educational fissures in the labor market, the jobs gains over the past twenty months have been widely spread. When Donald Trump left office, the unemployment rate among Hispanics was 8.6 per cent: last month, it hit an all-time low of 3.8 per cent. During the same period, the Black jobless rate has fallen from 9.2 per cent to 5.8 per cent. (The white unemployment rate is now 3.1 per cent.)

getting back to Biden,

I'm starting to wonder who is in charge at the State Department.. Whoever it is, they have imo done a masterfully stupid job. We may be on the verge of witnessing the collapse of the American Empire diplomatically speaking. Nucleur war is, unfortunately, not off the table.

• Biden administration imposes limits on semiconductor exports to China

The Biden administration on Friday announced new export restrictions aimed at hobbling China's ability to make advanced semiconductors, escalating the tech conflict between the world's two biggest economies.

Why it matters: The move is expected to reshape the interplay between American and foreign chipmakers, potentially undermining China while also heightening the risk of a countermove.

The big picture: The decision reflects the increasing concern in the U.S. that China is using American technology to advance its military ambitions.

• Advanced chips are viewed as crucial to China's development of new weapons, the Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported.
• "This will set the Chinese back years," Jim Lewis, a technology and cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Reuters.

Zoom in: In the U.S., the export limits could hurt companies that previously relied on sales to China, though such relationships have become politically fraught in recent years.

• The imposition of restrictions "remains a key risk" to wafer fab equipment production in the U.S., Bank of America analyst Vivek Arya said Friday in a research note.
• The VanEck Semiconductor ETF, which seeks to track the performance of 25 large semiconductor companies, was down more than 5% on Friday afternoon. Part of that drop, however, was attributable to disappointing preliminary third-quarter results from Advanced Micro Devices, which warned of weakening demand for PCs.

What they're saying: "We are assessing the impact of the new export controls on the U.S. semiconductor industry and working with our member companies and the U.S. government to ensure compliance," the Semiconductor Industry Association said in a statement.

• "We understand the goal of ensuring national security and urge the U.S. government to implement the rules in a targeted way — and in collaboration with international partners — to help level the playing field and mitigate unintended harm to U.S. innovation.”

The other side: "What the U.S. is doing is purely ‘sci-tech hegemony,'" Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told the Journal. "It seeks to use its technological prowess as an advantage to hobble and suppress the development of emerging markets and developing countries," including China.

• Biden vows continued aid to Ukraine in call after Russian strikes

President Biden on Monday spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to condemn the Russian military’s missile strikes in Kyiv and nine other Ukrainian cities while pledging continued U.S. support for the country.

Biden “expressed his condemnation of Russia’s missile strikes across Ukraine, including in Kyiv, and conveyed his condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured in these senseless attacks,” the White House said in a readout of the call.

Biden also pledged to continue providing support to Ukraine for the country to defend itself amid Russia’s invasion, including advanced air defense systems.

“He also underscored his ongoing engagement with allies and partners to continue imposing costs on Russia, holding Russia accountable for its war crimes and atrocities, and providing Ukraine with security, economic, and humanitarian assistance,” according to the White House.

Zelensky said that the two leaders had a “productive conversation.”

“Air defense is currently the number 1 priority in our defense cooperation. We also need US leadership with the G7’s tough stance and with support for our UN GA resolution,” Zelensky said in a statement on Twitter.

The Ukrainian president is set to address the Group of Seven (G-7) nations in an emergency meeting following the Russian strikes.

Congress has passed more than $53 billion in security, economic and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine this year. Last month, $12.3 billion in security and financial assistance to the country was included in the continuing resolution to fund the government through Dec. 16.

___________

• Biden brokers breakthrough maritime deal between Israel and Lebanon

The Biden administration has successfully brokered a deal between warring states Israel and Lebanon delineating maritime borders, allowing gas extraction from a key field in the eastern Mediterranean.

Amos Hochstein, the State Department’s senior adviser for energy security, brokered the deal over a year of negotiations, shuttling between Israel and Lebanon on text that satisfied both countries’ economic and security needs.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Tuesday said that Israel and Lebanon had “reached a historic agreement”

“Tomorrow I will assemble the political-security cabinet followed by a government meeting. The draft agreement fully complies with the principles presented by Israel in the security and economic fields,” he tweeted.

“This is a historic achievement that will strengthen Israel’s security, bring billions into Israel’s economy and ensure stability on the northern border.”

The information office of Lebanese President Michel Aoun had earlier tweeted that the “final version” of the agreement presented by Hochstein “satisfies Lebanon, meets its demands and preserves its right to its natural wealth.”

The tweet by the Lebanese president followed a statement published early Tuesday from the head of Israel’s National Security Council, Eyal Hulata, who said that “All our demands have been met, the changes we demanded have been fixed. We have preserved Israel’s security interests.”

Both Israeli and Lebanese officials had signaled optimism in completing the talks. A formal announcement and signing ceremony is reportedly expected for October 20.

Bless him:

"Two words: Made In America"

Originally Posted by russellsimpson

We may be on the verge of witnessing the collapse of the American Empire diplomatically speaking

Possibly just wishful thinking on your part. Whether you like it or not, the world is split into several spheres of influence and the US leads the largest and most influential with China leading themselves an a Pacific island or two with Russia trying desperately not to see the ex-Soviet allies all run away while cementing their place as the pariah state of the world.

^ When you can't spell nuclear you have a problem. Remember it's Russell.