Reality Winner's attorney says Winner has been released from prison early due to "time earned from exemplary behavior while incarcerated." Winner was sentenced to more than 5 years in prison in 2018 for leaking a classified document on Russia's election interference.
https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand/status/1404580948931395591
Shawn Adkins, a man who has long been considered a person of interest in the disappearance and murder of Hailey Dunn, who went missing in 2010 and was found dead in 2013, has been arrested and charged with murder.
https://www.bigcountryhomepage.com/news/investigator-arrest-made-in-murder-of-hailey-dunn-teen-who-went-missing-in-2010/
https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/crime/shawn-adkins-arrested-murder-hailey-dunn-person-of-interest/513-74e20390-f7b3-4d95-8447-c870e38afae7
A cashier in a GA supermarket asked a man to put on a mask. An argument ensued, he "left the store without making his purchase, but immediately returned inside. Tucker walked directly back to the cashier, pulled out a handgun and shot her." She later died.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/cashier-dead-wounded-argument-georgia-stores-mask-policy/story?id=78275587
NBA's Competition Committee met Monday to further explore rules changes to restrict unnatural motions on jump shots players use to draw fouls. NBA wants to limit players - including stars like Trae Young, James Harden - from leaning backwards and sideways to draw fouls.
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1404531586771689479
The Senate has confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first appeals court judge of President Joe Biden's tenure. Biden has promised to name a Black woman to the Supreme Court, and many view Jackson as a top contender should a vacancy arise.
https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-donald-trump-joe-biden-us-supreme-court-courts-ecb20a20f438c222efb5ac2953842d71
Justice Department national security chief (Trump appointee) resigns over investigating Democrats
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/john-demers-resign-justice-chief-b1865587.html
Millennials are about to get screwed yet again if Biden doesn't cancel student-loan debt
https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-refusal-cancel-student-debt-forgiveness-create-millennial-crisis-2021-6
Democracy Is Already Dying in the States
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/06/manchin-republicans-bipartisan/619167/
Coronavirus infections dropping where people are vaccinated, rising where they are not
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/06/14/covid-cases-vaccination-rates/
Condo developer plans to buy $1-billion worth of single-family houses in Canada with a plan of renting them and profiting on the housing crisis ripping across the country
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-condo-developer-to-buy-1-billion-worth-of-single-family-houses-in/
The US government has spent the past week assessing a report of a leak at a Chinese nuclear power plant, after a French company that part owns and helps operate it warned of an "imminent radiological threat"
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/14/politics/china-nuclear-reactor-leak-us-monitoring/index.html
Scientists warn G7 that cost of breaching 1.5˚C warming limit will far exceed costs of achieving it | "2˚C warming would put hundreds of millions of people—mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent—outside of the climate 'niche' that supports high human population densities today."
https://phys.org/news/2021-06-scientists-g7-breaching-15c-limit.html
US and Japan block G7 deal to end coal
https://www.politico.eu/article/us-and-japan-g7-block-deal-on-coal/
Deb Haaland has advised the president to reinstate former boundaries at Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah, and also in a marine area off New England.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/climate/bears-ears-biden-haaland.html
As President Joe Biden meets Russian leader Vladimir Putin, he and his aides are paying close attention to the Moscow-Beijing dynamic.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/14/us-officials-russia-links-china-putin-biden-jinping-494314
Sources at Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan Publishers, and Simon & Schuster said they hadn't heard about potential Trump book offers. Most said they wouldn't touch a Trump project. https://politico.com/news/2021/06/15/trump-book-publishers-494559
U.S. and EU resolve 17-year Boeing-Airbus dispute
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/15/us-and-eu-truce-boeing-airbus-dispute.html
US military guns keep vanishing, some used in street crimes
https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-business-gun-politics-crime-6caba27108d05a8b7c1860959d1ae130
Online leftists seem Big Mad at Jon Stewart for treating the lab leak theory as verrrry plausible (of course it is) on Colbert tonight. They're deeply committed to the "conspiracy theory" line & notion that thinking/speaking critically about CCP puts Asian Americans in danger.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1404665481886195717
Then-WH chief of staff Mark Meadows sent acting AG Rosen a video of an election conspiracy theory involving Italian satellites switching votes. Rosen forwarded it to acting Deputy AG Richard Donoghue, who responded, "Pure insanity."
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/15/politics/trump-allies-emails-justice-department-2020-election/index.html
The Biden administration says its new plan to combat domestic terrorism involves enhancing its analysis of threats, improving the sharing of intelligence within law enforcement agencies and working with tech companies to eliminate terrorist content online.
https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-donald-trump-joe-biden-business-race-and-ethnicity-84a84878e61009485af6b3542bfbb69a
Biden Promised Student Debt Relief. Where the Hell Is It?
https://www.vice.com/en/article/akgkma/biden-promised-student-debt-relief-where-the-hell-is-it
All state-mandated capacity restrictions in New York have been lifted, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) just announced, because 70% of adult New Yorkers have received their first coronavirus vaccine dose. Cuomo is having an event thanking business and union leaders. Fireworks tonite.
https://twitter.com/JimmyVielkind/status/1404840843249340419
Rev. Barber Says West Virginians Are Ready for 'Non-Violent Sit-Ins' Against Manchin for Abetting GOP Voter Suppression | "This is a moral issue, a constitutional issue, and we're gonna stand and fight against it—even if we gotta go to jail."
https://www.commondreams.org/node/328361
___________________________________
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/15/statement-by-president-joseph-r-biden-jr-on-the-national-strategy-for-countering-domestic-terrorism/
Statement by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on the National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism
June 15, 2021
• Statements and Releases
Domestic terrorism – driven by hate, bigotry, and other forms of extremism— is a stain on the soul of America. It goes against everything our country strives for and it poses a direct challenge to our national security, democracy, and unity.
To meet this serious and growing threat, on my first day in office I directed my national security team to confront the rise in domestic terrorism with the necessary resources and resolve. Today, I am releasing the first-ever National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism. It lays out a comprehensive approach to protecting our nation from domestic terrorism while safeguarding our bedrock civil rights and civil liberties – values that make us who we are as Americans. We have to take both short-term steps to counter the very real threats of today and longer-term measures to diminish the drivers that will contribute to this ongoing challenge to our democracy.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/National-Strategy-for-Countering-Domestic-Terrorism.pdf
This is a project that should unite all Americans. Together we must affirm that domestic terrorism has no place in our society. We must work to root out the hatreds that can too often drive violence. And we must recommit to defending and protecting our basic freedoms, which belong to all Americans in equal measure, and which are not only the foundation of our democracy – they are our enduring advantage in the world.
___________________________________
National Strategy For Countering Domestic Terrorism | For the first time, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has designated "Domestic Violent Extremism" as a National Priority Area within the Department's Homeland Security Grant Program, which means that over $77 million will be allocated to state, local, tribal, and territorial partners to prevent, protect against, and respond to domestic violent extremism. DHS and FBI are working to strengthen local prevention, threat assessment, and threat management frameworks. The Department of Defense (DOD) is incorporating training for servicemembers separating or retiring from the military on potential targeting of those with military training by violent extremist actors. The U.S. Government will improve public awareness of federal resources to address concerning or threatening behavior before violence occurs.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/National-Strategy-for-Countering-Domestic-Terrorism.pdf
The work of Federal law enforcement as well as our state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement partners is critical to countering domestic terrorism. The U.S. Government will increase support to Federal, state, and local law enforcement in addressing domestic terrorism nationwide. U.S. Attorney's Offices and FBI field offices across the country have formally made domestic terrorism a top priority and are tracking comprehensively domestic terrorism-related cases, reallocating or requesting appropriate funding and resources as needed to target the threat. That includes over $100 million in additional resources for DOJ, FBI, and DHS included in the President's Fiscal Year 2022 Budget to ensure that the Federal Government has the analysts, investigators, prosecutors, and other personnel and resources it needs to thwart domestic terrorism and do justice when the law has been broken. State, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement will have access to increased intelligence sharing and training on domestic terrorism and associated threats. DOJ is closely examining whether new legislative authorities that balance safety and the protection of civil liberties are necessary and appropriate.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/National-Strategy-for-Countering-Domestic-Terrorism.pdf
The U.S. Government is improving employee screening to enhance methods for identifying domestic terrorists who might pose insider threats. The Office of Personnel Management will consider updates to the forms used to apply for sensitive roles in the Federal Government that could assist investigators in identifying potential domestic terrorism threats. DOD, DOJ, and DHS are similarly pursuing efforts to ensure domestic terrorists are not employed within our military or law enforcement ranks and improve screening and vetting processes. Training and resources will be developed for state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement partners as well as sensitive private sector partners to enable them to enhance their own employee screening programs and prevent individuals who pose domestic terrorism threats from being placed in positions of trust.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/National-Strategy-for-Countering-Domestic-Terrorism.pdf
Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on the National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism | For the first time, the Department of Homeland Security has designated domestic violent extremism as a national priority area within the Department of Homeland Security grant program. And that means that more than $77 million will be allocated to state and local and other partners to prevent, protect against, and respond to domestic violent extremism. In addition, the Department of Defense is incorporating training for servicemembers separating or retiring from the military, who may potentially be targeted by those who seek to radicalize them. We will work to improve public awareness of federal resources to address concerning or threatening behavior before violence occurs. And on that, I would just note that one of the things we're talking about is the need to do something in this space, like the "See something" — "If you see something, say something" concept that has been promulgated previously by DHS. This involves creating contexts in which those who are family members or friends or co-workers know that there are pathways and avenues to raise concerns and seek help for those who they have perceived to be radicalizing and potentially radicalizing towards violence. We will also be (inaudible) efforts to address online terrorist recruitment and mobilization to violence through increased information sharing with the technology sector and through the creation of innovative approaches to fostering digital literacy and building resilience to terrorist recruitment and mobilization. One of the principal tools now at our disposal is our decision to join the Christchurch Call to Action to Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online. This is an international partnership between governments and technology companies that works to develop new solutions to eliminating terrorist content online while safeguarding the freedom of online expression. The previous administration had decided against participation in this important endeavor, and we determined that it was in our interest to join it and to work collaboratively with countries that share our values and the private sector in countering these pernicious developments in which online platforms are used to promote radicalization and violence. Pillar three involves the disruption and deterrence of domestic terrorist activity. The work of federal law enforcement, as well as our state, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement partners, is critical to countering domestic terrorism. The U.S. government will increase support to these law enforcement partners in addressing domestic terrorism nationwide. U.S. attorney's offices and FBI field offices across the country have formally made domestic terrorism a top priority and are tracking comprehensively domestic-terrorism-related cases, reallocating or requesting appropriate funding and resources as needed to target the threat. That includes over $100 million in additional resources for the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security that are included in the President's fiscal year 2022 budget to ensure that we have the analysts, investigators, prosecutors, and other personnel, and resources that we need to thwart domestic terrorism and bring domestic terrorists to justice when the law has been broken. State, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement will have access to increased intelligence sharing and training on domestic terrorism and associated threats as well. Within the federal government, we have a special responsibility to ensure that we address the possibility of insider threats, especially among those who have the opportunity to be working in law enforcement or in the military. The Office of Personnel Management will consider updates to the forms used to apply for sensitive roles in the federal government that could assist investigators in identifying potential domestic terrorism threats. The Department of Defense, Department of Justice, and Homeland Security Department are similarly pursuing efforts to ensure that domestic terrorists are not employed within our military or law enforcement ranks, and that they improve their screening and vetting processes. Training and resources will be developed for state, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement partners, as well as for sensitive private sector partners, to enable them to enhance their own employee screening program and to prevent individuals, who pose domestic terrorism threats, from being placed in positions of trust. The fourth pillar of this strategy involves confronting long-term contributors to domestic terrorism. It's important to recognize that there are broader efforts that must be pursued in tandem to the work that we will do specifically to counter the domestic terrorism challenge. This work has to happen in parallel to the strategy to address some of the long-term drivers and enablers of domestic terrorism, including economic inequality, those who feel left behind by the 21st century economy, structural racism, and the proliferation of guns.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/06/15/background-press-call-by-senior-administration-officials-on-the-national-strategy-for-countering-domestic-terrorism/
So, as the strategy indicates, they are relooking at a number of things, and one of those is the one you rightly flag, which is how they understand — quite literally how they define "extremism" for these purposes. They are working that quite hard, both as a policy matter with the security experts and with lawyers at the Defense Department and elsewhere, to ensure they're doing this in a way they feel ratchets up the protections but also respects expression and association protections, again, for service members and for others.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/06/15/background-press-call-by-senior-administration-officials-on-the-national-strategy-for-countering-domestic-terrorism/
Newly released emails show a top Justice Department official emailed then-US Attorney BJay Pak in Atlanta at 10:09p Jan. 3 to "Please call ASAP." By 8a the next morning, Pak resigned, reportedly because he refused to investigate Trump's false claims of election fraud.
https://twitter.com/bluestein/status/1404867605849071616
Schumer says he is convening a meeting tomorrow with the 11 Senate Budget Committee Democrats to discuss taking up budget resolution, which would unlock reconciliation process along party lines. Says he wants budget resolution and bipartisan infrastructure deal to pass in July
https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1404869185289719808
Republican legislation across the U.S. would restrict voting methods and accommodations that people with disabilities are disproportionately likely to rely on. "The disability community is part of the larger fight against voter suppression."
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/us/politics/disability-voting-rights.html
Fire Garland already: Biden's admin DOJ Asks Supreme Court To Reinstate Death Penalty. The new filing undermines what President Biden has publicly said about his support for ending the death penalty.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/boston-bomber-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-death-penalty_n_60c8d3fae4b09ba204a98f52
Biden administration to expand program admitting young Central Americans
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-06-15/biden-administration-to-expand-program-admitting-central-american-children
21 Republicans vote against awarding medals to police who defended Capitol on Jan. 6
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/558620-21-republicans-vote-against-awarding-medals-to-police-who-defended-capitol-on
House to move forward with investigating Jan. 6 insurrection
https://www.axios.com/pelosi-house-capitol-riots-investigation-eb4939c5-762f-4e09-bdcc-24a53b67d8b8.html
Reminder: The cost of climate change is estimated to be around 8 trillion by 2050
https://phys.org/news/2019-11-climate-impacts-world-trillion.html
As homelessness continues to rise in the wake of the pandemic, an overwhelmed city issues an ultimatum: 48 hours to clear camp.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/12/homeless-camps-portland/
Democrats Replace "Mothers" With "Birthing People In Maternal Health Guidance
https://www.newsweek.com/biden-admin-replaces-mothers-birthing-people-maternal-health-guidance-1598343
Can't get an anti-lynching bill passed, the For the People Act to protect our voting rights or the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act: Senate Passes Bill Establishing Juneteenth As A National Holiday
https://twitter.com/Essence/status/1404913745059536897
Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin start a summit in the Swiss city of Geneva in an effort to dial back tensions. Dont be surprised if Putin expresses support for normalized relations with the US today. After annexing Crimea, supporting Assad, meddling in US elections, trying to assassinate Skripal, etc, to then have Biden embrace normalized relations would be a huge victory for Putin.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1405132310027149316
https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1405132310027149316
Phoenix Suns All-NBA guard Chris Paul has entered COVID-19 health and safety protocols and is sidelined for an indefinite period of time
https://twitter.com/shamscharania/status/1405142801625620483
Chris Paul is vaccinated, he will not miss much time. Because his body already has a level of immunity to the virus, he'll likely produce the necessary antibodies faster, beat the virus, and prevent it from causing extensive damage to his lungs.
Kawhi Leonard is expected to miss Game 5 against the Jazz tonight with a knee injury suffered in game 4
https://twitter.com/WindhorstESPN/status/1405150340010422281
Clippers fear All-NBA star Kawhi Leonard has suffered an ACL injury, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. He is out indefinitely.
https://twitter.com/shamscharania/status/1405205626180059143
After one season, Stan Van Gundy is out as the New Orleans Pelicans coach.
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1405177130263187456
Washington and coach Scott Brooks couldn't come to an agreement on a new deal and are agreeing to part ways
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1405184982927265794
NOW DO THE REST OF US ALREADY: Biden administration cancels $500 million of student debt of 18,000 scammed students
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/biden-administration-cancels-500-million-of-student-debt-of-scammed-students-11623856689
https://www.newsweek.com/18000-people-granted-student-loan-relief-amounting-more-500-million-1601194
Merrick Garland seems to operate as though the last four years didn't happen
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/15/garland-never-investigated-possible-crime-scene-now-hes-playing-catch-up/
The Department of Justice has vacated a controversial decision instituted during the Trump administration that limited asylum for domestic violence victims:
https://justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1404796/download
In her 2019 memoir, "The Education of an Idealist," Samantha Power, who emigrated from Ireland as a child, described how she knew, even before being naturalized, that she had become an American. "I now thought like an American, reacting to problems in the world — like the Bosnia war — by asking myself, 'What, if anything, can we, America, do about it?'" | President Biden, however, is still a believer. He wants to restore America's international leadership, although without constantly projecting military force. When he chose Power to helm U.S.A.I.D. — a job that has not, in the past, been particularly high profile — he sent a message to the world that humanitarian aid would be central to his foreign policy. Power is by far the best-known person ever to serve as U.S.A.I.D. administrator, and because Biden has elevated her position to the National Security Council, she'll likely be the most powerful. | "I'm at an agency that is about advancing citizens' prospects for economic development, for being able to send their kids to school, for being able to get vaccinated, so almost inevitably I'm focused on those things," she said. "But as it happens, as a citizen, I think that's what America can best be focused on now. Because we've still got it." The first big test of this lies in what America does to help vaccinate the rest of the world against Covid-19. "This is the place where you can show tangible results on the ground," said Power. "It's not about saying democracy is better. It's not about an expressive agenda. It's about a very, very tangible results-based agenda, and coming in after people have felt the absence of that leadership, the absence of that catalytic power and the absence of that belief that our fates are connected." When we spoke, Power promised there would be a big announcement about vaccines at the Group of 7 meeting that took place last week. Last Thursday, Biden said that the United States would donate half a billion vaccine doses to low- and middle-income countries through Covax, the international vaccine-sharing initiative that Trump refused to join. It would be the biggest vaccine donation any country has made so far and spurred other countries to step up their contributions. By the end of the meeting, leaders had pledged a billion doses by 2022. | During the Trump years, Power said, U.S.A.I.D. wasn't allowed to use the term "climate change." "Imagine you work for this agency, you see the planet getting warmer every day, you see more conflict caused by climate every year, you see more displacement caused by climate, you do the emergency response, you have to feed the people who've been displaced, and you can't use the words 'climate change' in the agency," she said. | "There is a very clear sense that we lost four years of progress," said Steinberg. "And now the question is, can you revive this under American leadership and cooperation, given the growing challenges of conflict and climate change and Covid?" Steinberg's not sure. He compares U.S.A.I.D. to a lion that's been in a cage so long, it stays put even when the door is open. He said: "That's my biggest concern about what A.I.D. is going to be. Are they going to be capable of meeting our collective — and Samantha's specific — expectations of playing in this area?" Big national ambitions are risky. But in a world as broken as ours, so is the lack of them.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/opinion/samantha-power.html
They all didn't wanna listen to me about the start of the season. I knew exactly what would happen. I only wanted to protect the well being of the players which ultimately is the PRODUCT & BENEFIT of OUR GAME! These injuries isn't just "PART OF THE GAME". It's the lack of PURE RIM REST rest before starting back up. 8, possibly 9 ALL-STARS has missed Playoff games(most in league history). This is the best time of the year for our league and fans but missing a ton of our fav players. It's insane. If there's one person that know about the body and how it works all year round it's ME! I speak for the health of all our players and I hate to see this many injuries this time of the year. Sorry fans wish you guys were seeing all your fav guys right now.
https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1405236532215095301
https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1405236534786232320
U.S.-Russia Presidential Joint Statement on Strategic Stability
June 16, 2021
• Statements and Releases
We, President of the United States of America Joseph R. Biden and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, note the United States and Russia have demonstrated that, even in periods of tension, they are able to make progress on our shared goals of ensuring predictability in the strategic sphere, reducing the risk of armed conflicts and the threat of nuclear war.
The recent extension of the New START Treaty exemplifies our commitment to nuclear arms control. Today, we reaffirm the principle that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.
Consistent with these goals, the United States and Russia will embark together on an integrated bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue in the near future that will be deliberate and robust. Through this Dialogue, we seek to lay the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures.
###
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/16/u-s-russia-presidential-joint-statement-on-strategic-stability/
I just called Officer Fanone and confirmed this story. This is really incredible. Also relayed an interaction he had with another members Chief of Staff that was really incredibly bad and disrespectful.
https://twitter.com/AdamKinzinger/status/1405247293801078793
Officer Fanone just ran into @Rep_Clyde at Capitol (he's the "Jan 6 was a typical tour" guy). Fanone introduced himself as "someone who fought to defend the Capitol" and put out his hand. Clyde refused to shake it. To honor Trump, @housegop will dishonor the police.
https://twitter.com/RepSwalwell/status/1405244468568145921
Legislative Nerd Note: There is no such thing as a Motion to Recommit with Instructions any longer. But House Republicans are acting like it still exists in order to convince you that this vote is occurring. But it isn't.
https://twitter.com/jamiedupree/status/1405270159363743748
It's probably not a good sign for the future of Congress and the nation if one party is willing to repeatedly mislead the public about the votes that are taking place (or in this case *not* taking place) on the House floor.
https://twitter.com/jamiedupree/status/1405295371064995841
In a rebuke of Trump/Barr DOJ, Garland DOJ has told John Bolton that it has closed its criminal investigation into him. DOJ is also close to dropping its lawsuit against him. Trump had pressured DOJ to pursue Bolton.
https://nytimes.com/2021/06/16/us/politics/john-bolton-book-justice-department.html
Leaked Audio of Sen. Joe Manchin Call With Billionaire Donors Provides Rare Glimpse of Dealmaking on Filibuster and January 6 Commission | "What I'm asking for, I need to go back, I need to find three more Republican, good Republican senators that will vote for the commission. So at least we can tamp down where people say, 'Well, Republicans won't even do the simple lift, common sense of basically voting to do a commission that was truly bipartisan.' It just really emboldens the far left saying, 'I told you, how's that bipartisan working for you now, Joe?'"
Well... how's that bipartisanship working out for you now, Joe?
"I really need you guys to bribe and pressure some republicans into doing the right thing."
https://theintercept.com/2021/06/16/joe-manchin-leaked-billionaire-donors-no-labels/
The House passes a bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery, sending it to Biden to sign into law
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/16/politics/house-vote-juneteenth-federal-holiday-senate-passed-june-19/index.html
14 Reps voted against making Juneteenth a federal holiday (all Rs): Mo Brooks
Andy Biggs (AZ)
Mo Brooks (AL)
Andrew Clyde (GA)
Scott Desjarlais (TN)
Paul Gosar (AZ)
Ronny Jackson (TX)
Doug LaMalfa (CA)
Thomas Massie (KY)
Tom McClintock (CA)
Ralph Norman (SC)
Mike Rogers (AL)
Matt Rosendale (MT)
Chip Roy (TX)
Tom Tiffany (WI)
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/16/politics/house-vote-juneteenth-federal-holiday-senate-passed-june-19/index.html
AG Garland uses "certification" power for the first time to overturn two Trump-era immigration orders that had made it difficult for some immigrants to win asylum cases.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/garland-overturns-two-trump-era-rules-made-it-hard-immigrants-n1271078
Noor bin Laden, Osama bin Laden's niece, protests the Biden-Putin summit in Geneva with a "Trump Won" flag.
https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1405183917959925771
https://twitter.com/i/status/1405183917959925771
With Jacob deGrom coming out of the game, a summary of his perfect, but short night:
- 3 perfect innings pitched (8 strikeouts)
- Struck out final 7 batters he faced
- 1-1, RBI single as hitter (only at-bat)
deGrom's ERA for the season is now 0.54
https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/1405319183869546501
Today, President Biden met President Putin for a bilateral meeting in Geneva. Read President Biden's remarks here: https://whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/06/16/remarks-by-president-biden-in-press-conference-4/
_____________________________________________
Remarks by President Biden in Press Conference
June 16, 2021
• Speeches and Remarks
Hôtel du Parc des Eaux-Vives
Geneva, Switzerland
7:20 P.M. CEST
THE PRESIDENT: It's been a long day for you all. (Laughs.) I know it was easy getting into the — the pre-meeting. There was no problem getting through those doors, was it — was there?
Anyway, hello, everyone. Well, I've just finished the — the last meeting of this week's long trip, the U.S.-Russian Summit.
And I know there were a lot of hype around this meeting, but it's pretty straightforward to me — the meeting. One, there is no substitute, as those of you who have covered me for a while know, for a face-to-face dialogue between leaders. None. And President Putin and I had a — share a unique responsibility to manage the relationship between two powerful and proud countries — a relationship that has to be stable and predictable. And it should be able to — we should be able to cooperate where it's in our mutual interests.
And where we have differences, I wanted President Putin to understand why I say what I say and why I do what I do, and how we'll respond to specific kinds of actions that harm America's interests.
Now, I told President Putin my agenda is not against Russia or anyone else; it's for the American people: fighting COVID-19; rebuilding our economy; reestablishing our relationships around the world with our allies and friends; and protecting our people. That's my responsibility as President.
I also told him that no President of the United States could keep faith with the American people if they did not speak out to defend our democratic values, to stand up for the universal rights and fundamental freedoms that all men and women have, in our view. That's just part of the DNA of our country.
So, human rights is going to always be on the table, I told him. It's not about just going after Russia when they violate human rights; it's about who we are. How could I be the President of the United States of America and not speak out against the violation of human rights?
I told him that, unlike other countries, including Russia, we're uniquely a product of an idea. You've heard me say this before, again and again, but I'm going to keep saying it. What's that idea? We don't derive our rights from the government; we possess them because we're born — period. And we yield them to a government.
And so, at the forum, I pointed out to him that that's why we're going raise our concerns about cases like Aleksey Navalny. I made it clear to President Putin that we'll continue to raise issues of fundamental human rights because that's what we are, that's who we are. The idea is: "We hold these truths self-evident that all men and women…" We haven't lived up to it completely, but we've always widened the arc of commitment and included more and more people.
And I raised the case of two wrongfully imprisoned American citizens: Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed.
I also raised the ability of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty to operate, and the importance of a free press and freedom of speech.
I made it clear that we will not tolerate attempts to violate our democratic sovereignty or destabilize our democratic elections, and we would respond.
The bottom line is, I told President Putin that we need to have some basic rules of the road that we can all abide by.
I also said there are areas where there's a mutual interest for us to cooperate, for our people — Russian and American people — but also for the benefit of the world and the security of the world. One of those areas is strategic stability.
You asked me many times what was I going to discuss with Putin. Before I came, I told you I only negotiate with the individual. And now I can tell you what I was intending to do all along, and that is to discuss and raise the issue of strategic stability and try to set up a mechanism whereby we dealt with it.
We discussed in detail the next steps our countries need to take on arms control measures — the steps we need to take to reduce the risk of unintended conflict.
And I'm pleased that he agreed today to launch a bilateral strategic stability dialogue — diplomatic speak for saying, get our military experts and our — our diplomats together to work on a mechanism that can lead to control of new and dangerous and sophisticated weapons that are coming on the scene now that reduce the times of response, that raise the prospects of accidental war. And we went into some detail of what those weapons systems were.
Another area we spent a great deal of time on was cyber and cybersecurity. I talked about the proposition that certain critical infrastructure should be off limits to attack — period — by cyber or any other means. I gave them a list, if I'm not mistaken — I don't have it in front of me — 16 specific entities; 16 defined as critical infrastructure under U.S. policy, from the energy sector to our water systems.
Of course, the principle is one thing. It has to be backed up by practice. Responsible countries need to take action against criminals who conduct ransomware activities on their territory.
So we agreed to task experts in both our — both our countries to work on specific understandings about what's off limits and to follow up on specific cases that originate in other countries — either of our countries.
There is a long list of other issues we spent time on, from the urgent need to preserve and reopen the humanitarian corridors in Syria so that we can get food — just simple food and basic necessities to people who are starving to death; how to build it and how it is in the interest of both Russia and the United States to ensure that Iran — Iran — does not acquire nuclear weapons. We agreed to work together there because it's as much interest — Russia's interest as ours. And to how we can ensure the Arctic remains a region of cooperation rather than conflict.
I caught part of President's — Putin's press conference, and he talked about the need for us to be able to have some kind of modus operandi where we dealt with making sure the Arctic was, in fact, a free zone.
And to how we can each contribute to the shared effort of preventing a resurgence of terrorism in Afghanistan. It's very much in — in the interest of Russia not to have a resurgence of terrorism in Afghanistan.
There are also areas that are more challenging. I communicated the United States' unwavering commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
We agreed to pursue diplomacy related to the Minsk Agreement. And I shared our concerns about Belarus. He didn't disagree with what happened; he just has a different perspective of what to do about it.
But I know you have a lot of questions, so let me close with this: It was important to meet in person so there can be no mistake about or misrepresentations about what I wanted to communicate.
I did what I came to do: Number one, identify areas of practical work our two countries can do to advance our mutual interests and also benefit the world.
Two, communicate directly — directly — that the United States will respond to actions that impair our vital interests or those of our allies.
And three, to clearly lay out our country's priorities and our values so he heard it straight from me.
And I must tell you, the tone of the entire meetings — I guess it was a total of four hours — was — was good, positive. There wasn't any — any strident action taken. Where we disagreed — I disagreed, stated where it was. Where he disagreed, he stated. But it was not done in a hyperbolic atmosphere. That is too much of what's been going on.
Over this last week, I believe — I hope — the United States has shown the world that we are back, standing with our Allies. We rallied our fellow democracies to make concert — concerted commitments to take on the biggest challenges our world faces.
And now we've established a clear basis on how we intend to deal with Russia and the U.S.-Russia relationship.
There's more work ahead. I'm not suggesting that any of this is done, but we've gotten a lot of business done on this trip.
And before I take your questions, I want to say one last thing. Folks, look, this is about — this about how we move from here. This is — I listened to, again, a significant portion of what President Putin's press conference was, and as he pointed out, this is about practical, straightforward, no-nonsense decisions that we have to make or not make.
We'll find out within the next six months to a year whether or not we actually have a strategic dialogue that matters. We'll find out whether we work to deal with everything from release of people in Russian prisons or not. We'll find out whether we have a cybersecurity arrangement that begins to bring some order.
Because, look, the countries that most are likely to be damaged — failure to do that — are the major countries. For example, when I talked about the pipeline that cyber hit for $5 million — that ransomware hit in the United States, I looked at him and I said, "Well, how would you feel if ransomware took on the pipelines from your oil fields?" He said it would matter.
This is not about just our self-interest; it's about a mutual self-interest.
I'll take your questions. And as usual, folks, they gave me a list of the people I'm going to call on.
So, Jonathan, Associated Press.
Q Thank you, sir. U.S. intelligence has said that Russia tried to interfere in the last two presidential elections, and that Russia groups are behind hacks like SolarWinds and some of the ransomware attacks you just mentioned. Putin, in his news conference just now, accepted no responsibility for any misbehavior. Your predecessor opted not to demand that Putin stop these disruptions. So what is something concrete, sir, that you achieved today to prevent that from happening again? And what were the consequences you threatened?
THE PRESIDENT: Whether I stopped it from happening again — he knows I will take action, like we did when — this last time out. What happened was: We, in fact, made it clear that we were not going to continue to allow this to go on. The end result was we ended up withdrawing — they went withdrawing ambassadors, and we closed down some of their facilities in the United States, et cetera. And he knows there are consequences.
Now, look, one of the consequences that I know — I don't know; I shouldn't say this; it's unfair of me — I suspect you may all think doesn't matter, but I'm confidence it matters to him — confident it matter to him and other world leaders of big nations: his credibility worldwide shrinks.
Let's get this straight: How would it be if the United States were viewed by the rest of the world as interfering with the elections directly of other countries, and everybody knew it? What would it be like if we engaged in activities that he is engaged in? It diminishes the standing of a country that is desperately trying to make sure it maintains its standing as a major world power.
And so it's not just what I do; it's what the actions that other countries take — in this case, Russia — that are contrary to international norms. It's the price they pay. They are not — they are not able to dictate what happens in the world. There are other nations of significant consequence — i.e. the United States of America being one of them.
Q Mr. President, just a quick follow on the same theme of consequences. You said, just now, that you spoke to him a lot about human rights. What did you say would happen if opposition leader Aleksey Navalny dies?
THE PRESIDENT: I made it clear to him that I believe the consequences of that would be devastating for Russia.
I'll go back to the same point: What do you think happens when he's saying, "It's not about hurting Navalny," this — you know, all the stuff he says to rationalize the treatment of Navalny — and then he dies in prison?
I pointed out to him that it matters a great deal when a country, in fact — and they asked me why I thought that it was important to continue to have problems with the President of Syria. I said, "Because he's in violation of an international norm. It's called a Chemical Weapons Treaty. Can't be trusted."
It's about trust. It's about their ability to influence other nations in a positive way.
Look, would you like to trade our economy for Russia's economy? Would you like to trade? And, by the way, we talked about trade. I don't have any problem with doing business with Russia, as long as they do it based upon international norms. It's in our interest to see the Russian people do well economically. I don't have a problem with that.
But if they do not act according to international norms, then guess what? That will not — that only won't it happen with us, it will not happen with other nations. And he kind of talked about that — didn't he, today? — about how the need to reach out to other countries to invest in Russia. They won't as long as they are convinced that, in fact, the violations —
For example, the American businessman who was in house arrest. And I pointed out, "You want to get American business to invest? Let him go. Change the dynamic." Because American businessmen, they're not — they're not ready to show up. They don't want to hang around in Moscow.
I mean, I — look, guys, I know we make foreign policy out to be this great, great skill that somehow is, sort of, like a secret code. Pract- — all foreign policy is, is a logical extension of personal relationships. It's the way human nature functions.
And understand, when you run a country that does not abide by international norms, and yet you need those international norms to be somehow managed so that you can participate in the benefits that flow from them, it hurts you. That's not a satisfying answer: "Biden said he'd invade Russia." You know, it is not — you know. By the way, that was a joke. That's not true.
But my generic point is, it is — it is more complicated than that.
David Sanger. I thought I saw David. There he is.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. In the run-up to this discussion, there's been a lot of talk about the two countries spilling down into a Cold War. And I'm wondering if there was anything that you emerged from in the discussion that made you think that he —
THE PRESIDENT: With your permission, I'm going to take my coat off. The sun is hot.
Q — anything that would make you think that Mr. Putin has decided to move away from his fundamental role as a disrupter, particularly a disrupter of NATO and the United States?
And if I could also just follow up on your description of how you gave him a list of critical infrastructure in the United States. Did you lay out very clearly what it was that the penalty would be for interfering in that critical infrastructure? Did you leave that vague? Did he respond in any way to it?
THE PRESIDENT: Let me answer your first — well, I'll second question, first.
I pointed out to him that we have significant cyber capability. And he knows it. He doesn't know exactly what it is, but it's significant. And if, in fact, they violate these basic norms, we will respond with cyber. He knows.
Q In the cyber way.
THE PRESIDENT: In the cyber way.
Number two, I — I think that the last thing he wants now is a Cold War. Without quoting him — which I don't think is appropriate — let me ask a rhetorical question: You got a multi-thousand-mile border with China. China is moving ahead, hellbent on election, as they say, seeking to be the most powerful economy in the world and the largest and the most powerful military in the world.
You're in a situation where your economy is struggling, you need to move it in a more aggressive way, in terms of growing it. And you — I don't think he's looking for a Cold War with the United States.
I don't think it's about a — as I said to him, I said, "Your generation and mine are about 10 years apart. This is not a 'kumbaya' moment, as you used to say back in the '60s in the United States, like, 'Let's hug and love each other.' But it's clearly not in anybody's interest — your country's or mine — for us to be in a situation where we're in a new Cold War." And I truly believe he thinks that — he understands that.
But that does not mean he's ready to, quote, figuratively speaking, "lay down his arms," and say, "Come on." He still, I believe, is concerned about being, quote, "encircled." He still is concerned that we, in fact, are looking to take him down, et cetera. He still has those concerns, but I don't think they are the driving force as to the kind of relationship he's looking for with the United States.
Jennifer. Jennifer Jacobs.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. Is there a particular reason why the summit lasted only about three hours? We know you had maybe allotted four to five hours. Was there any reason it ran shorter?
Also, did — President Putin said that there were no threats or scare tactics issued. Do you agree with that assessment, that there were no threats or scare tactics?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q And also, did you touch on Afghanistan and the safe withdrawal of troops?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Yes, yes, and yes. Let me go back to the first part.
The reason it didn't go longer is: When is the last time two heads of state have spent over two hours in direct conversation across a table, going into excruciating detail? You may know of a time; I don't. I can't think of one.
So we didn't need, as we got through, when we brought in the larger group — our defense, our intelligence, and our foreign — well, our — my foreign minister — wasn't the foreign minister — my Secretary of State was with me the whole time — our ambassador, et cetera. We brought everybody in. We had covered so much.
And so there was a summary done by him and by me of what we covered. Lavrov and Blinken talked about what we had covered. We raised things that required more amplification or made sure we didn't have any misunderstandings. And — and so it was — it was — kind of, after two hours there, we looked at each other like, "Okay, what next?"
What is going to happen next is we're going to be able to look back — look ahead in three to six months, and say, "Did the things we agreed to sit down and try to work out, did it work? Do we — are we closer to a major strategic stability talks and progress? Are we further along in terms of…" — and go down the line. That's going to be the test.
I'm not sitting here saying because the President and I agreed that we would do these things, that all of a sudden, it's going to work. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is I think there's a genuine prospect to significantly improve relations between our two countries without us giving up a single, solitary thing based on principle and/or values.
Q There were no threats issued?
THE PRESIDENT: No, no, no. No. There were no threats. There were — as a matter of fact, I heard he quoted my mom and quoted other people today. There was — it was very, as we say — which will shock you, coming from me — somewhat colloquial. And we talked about basic, basic, fundamental things. There was a — it was — and you know how I am: I explain things based on personal basis. "What happens if," for example.
And so, there are no threats, just simple assertions made. And no "Well, if you do that, then we'll do this" — wasn't anything I said. It was just letting him know where I stood; what I thought we could accomplish together; and what, in fact — if it was — if there were violations of American sovereignty, what would we do.
Q Can you share what you asked him about Afghanistan? What was your particular request for Afghanistan and the U.S. troops?
THE PRESIDENT: No, he asked us about Afghanistan. He said that he hopes that we're able to maintain some peace and security, and I said, "That has a lot to do with you." He indicated that he was prepared to, quote, "help" on Afghanistan — I won't go into detail now; and help on — on Iran; and help on — and, in return, we told him what we wanted to do relative to bringing some stability and economic security or physical security to the people of Syria and Libya.
So, we had those discussions.
Yamiche.
Q Thanks so much, Mr. President. Did you — you say that you didn't issue any threats. Were there any ultimatums made when it comes to ransomware? And how will you measure success, especially when it comes to these working groups on Russian meddling and on cybersecurity?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, it's going to be real easy. They either — for example, on cybersecurity, are we going to work out where they take action against ransomware criminals on Russian territory? They didn't do it. I don't think they planned it, in this case. And they — are they going to act? We'll find out.
Will we commit — what can we commit to act in terms of anything affecting violating international norms that negatively affects Russia? What are we going to agree to do?
And so, I think we have real opportunities to — to move. And I think that one of the things that I noticed when we had the larger meeting is that people who are very, very well-informed started thinking, "You know, this could be a real problem." What happens if that ransomware outfit were sitting in Florida or Maine and took action, as I said, on their — their single lifeline to their economy: oil? That would be devastating. And they're like — you could see them kind of go, "Oh, we do that," but like, "Whoa."
So it's in — it's in everybody's interest that these things be acted on. We'll see, though, what happens from these groups we put together.
Q Can I ask a quick follow-up question?
THE PRESIDENT: (Laughs.) The third one, yes. Go ahead.
Q Mr. President, when President Putin was questioned today about human rights, he said the reason why he's cracking down on opposition leaders is because he doesn't want something like January 6th to happen in Russia. And he also said he doesn't want to see groups formed like Black Lives Matter. What's your response to that, please?
THE PRESIDENT: (Laughs.) My response is kind of what I communicated — that I think that's a — that's a ridiculous comparison. It's one thing for literally criminals to break through cordon, go into the Capitol, kill a police officer, and be held unaccountable than it is for people objecting and marching on the Capitol and saying, "You are not allowing me to speak freely. You are not allowing me to do A, B, C, or D."
And so, they're very different criteria.
Steve. Steve Holland, Reuters.
Q President — sorry — President Putin said he was satisfied with the answer about your comment about him being a "killer." Could you give us your side on this? What did you tell him?
THE PRESIDENT: He's satisfied. Why would I bring it up again? (Laughs.)
Q And now that you've talked to him, do you believe you can trust him?
THE PRESIDENT: Look, this is not about trust; this is about self-interest and verification of self-interest. That's what it's about. So, I — virtually almost — almost anyone that I would work out an agreement with that affected the American people's interests, I don't say, "Well, I trust you. No problem." Let's see what happens.
You know, as that old expression goes, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating." We're going to know shortly.
Igor, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty.
Q Hello, Mr. President. Hello, Mr. President —
THE PRESIDENT: You want to go on the shade? You can't — can you see?
Q Thank you. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: All right.
Q Yeah. So, I think you know attacks in civil society and the free — free press continue inside Russia.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q For example, Radio Free Europe —
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q — Radio Liberty; Voice of America; Current Time TV channel, where I work, are branded foreign agents — and several other independent media. So, we are essentially being forced out in Russia 30 years after President Yeltsin invited us in.
My question is: After your talks with President Putin, how interested do you think he is in improving the media climate in Russia?
THE PRESIDENT: I wouldn't put it that way, in terms of improving the climate. I would, in fact, put it in terms of how much interest does he have in burnishing Russia's reputation that is not — is viewed as not being contrary to democratic principles and free speech.
That's a judgment I cannot make. I don't know. But it's not because I think he — he is interested in changing the nature of a closed society or closed government's actions relative to what he thinks is the right of government to do what it does; it's a very different approach.
And, you know, there's a couple of really good biogra- — I told him I read a couple — I read most everything he's written and the speeches he's made. And — and I've read a couple of very good biographies, which many of you have as well.
And I think I pointed out to him that Russia had an opportunity — that brief shining moment after Gorbachev and after things began to change drastically — to actually generate a democratic government. But what happened was it failed and there was a great, great race among Russian intellectuals to determine what form of government would they choose and how would they choose it.
And based on what I believe, Mr. Putin decided was that Russia has always been a major international power when it's been totally united as a Russian state, not based on ideology — whether it was going back to Tsar and Commissar, straight through to the — the revolution — the Russian Revolution, and to where they are today.
And I think that it's clear to me — and I've said it — that I think he decided that the way for Russia to be able to sustain itself as a great — quote, "great power" is to in fact unite the Russian people on just the strength of the government — the government controls — not necessarily ideologically, but the government.
And I think that's the — that's the choice that was made. I think it — I — I'm not going to second guess whether it could have been fundamentally different. But I do think it does not lend itself to Russia maintaining itself as one of the great powers in the world.
Q Sir, one more question —
Q One more on COVID — on COVID-19, Mr. President —
Q Sir, could we ask you one more question, please, sir? Thank you, sir. Did military response ever come up in this conversation today? Did you — in terms of the red lines that you laid down, is military response an option for a ransomware attack?
And President Putin had called you, in his press conference, an "experienced person." You famously told him he didn't have a soul. Do you now have a deeper understanding of him after this meeting?
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much.
Q Mr. President —
Q But on the military — military response, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: No, we didn't talk about military response.
Q In the spirit, Mr. President, of you saying that there is no substitute for face-to-face dialogue, and also with what you said at NATO that the biggest problems right now are Russia and China — you've spoken many times about how you have spent perhaps more time with President Xi than any other world leader.
So is there going to become a time where you might call him, old friend to old friend, and ask him to open up China to the World Health Organization investigators who are trying to get to the bottom of COVID-19?
THE PRESIDENT: Let's get something straight. We know each other well; we're not old friends. It's just pure business.
Q So, I guess, my question would be that you've said that you were going to press China. You signed on to the G7 communiqué that said you — the G7 were calling on China to open up to let the investigators in. But China basically says they don't want to be interfered with anymore. So, what happens now?
THE PRESIDENT: The impact — the world's attitude toward China as it develops. China is trying very hard to project itself as a responsible and — and a very, very forthcoming nation; that they are trying very hard to talk about how they're taking and helping the world in terms of COVID-19 and vaccines. And they're trying very hard.
Look, certain things you don't have to explain to the people of the world. They see the results. Is China really actually trying to get to the bottom of this?
One thing we did discuss, as I told you, in the EU and at the G7 and with NATO: What we should be doing and what I'm going to make an effort to do is rally the world to work on what is going to be the physical mechanism available to detect, early on, the next pandemic and have a mechanism by which we can respond to it and respond to it early. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. And we need to do that.
Thank you.
Q Any progress on the detained Americans, sir?
Q What did Putin say about Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed?
Q Sir, what do you say to the families of the detained Americans?
Q President Biden, why are you so confident Russia —
THE PRESIDENT: The families of the detained Americans, I have hope for.
Q Say it again; we can't hear you.
THE PRESIDENT: I said the families of the detained Americans came up and we discussed it. We're going to follow through with that discussion. I am — I am not going to walk away on that issue.
Q Why are you so confident he'll change his behavior, Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT: I'm not confident he'll change his behavior. Where the hell — what do you do all the time? When did I say I was confident? I said —
Q You said in the next six months you'll be able to determine —
THE PRESIDENT: I said — what I said was — let's get it straight. I said: What will change their behavior is if the rest of world reacts to them and it diminishes their standing in the world. I'm not confident of anything; I'm just stating a fact.
Q But given his past behavior has not changed and, in that press conference, after sitting down with you for several hours, he denied any involvement in cyberattacks; he downplayed human rights abuses; he even refused to say Aleksey Navalny's name. So how does that account to a constructive meeting, as President — President Putin framed it?
THE PRESIDENT: If you don't understand that, you're in the wrong business.
Thank you.
7:53 P.M. CEST
_____________________________________________
In secret recording, Florida Republican threatens to send Russian-Ukrainian 'hit squad' after rival
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/17/secret-recording-florida-republican-threat-hit-squad-494976
Given recent Chinese government quality control issues in virus management & nuclear power, not sure I'd volunteer for this mission if it were me...: China launched three astronauts into space on Thursday to staff its new space station, as the country continues to make leaps and bounds in space exploration
https://twitter.com/i/status/1405496238468968453
In leaked audio, Sen. Joe Manchin says he's "open" to lowering the filibuster threshold to 55 votes from 60.
https://theintercept.com/2021/06/16/joe-manchin-leaked-billionaire-donors-no-labels/
Supreme Court upholds PPACA in 7-2 ruling
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/558916-supreme-court-upholds-obamacare-in-7-2-ruling
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-supreme-court-rejects-republican-challenge-obamacare-law-2021-06-17/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-17/u-s-supreme-court-upholds-affordable-care-act-kq0z6b7j
Are any Republicans expressing dissapointment that the PPACA suit that many of their party's own AGs brought, failed? Or is the prevailing reaction that Democrats were wrong about Amy Barrett? Chuck Grassley statement on today's PPACA court decision, specifically on Democrats' warnings last year that Amy Coney Barrett would gut the health care law: "They lied, lied, lied." Also, one of Trump's justices did want to overturn the law, Neil Gorsuch. Just because she didn't this time, doesn't mean she won't the next time.
Russia's propaganda circuit is in disarray. Putin himself disputed their narrative about Biden's nonexistent "dementia," describing him as an experienced, detail-oriented statesman who doesn't miss a thing. After months of describing Biden as a wreck, they're forced to backtrack.
https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1405542203003326464
US to invest more than $3 billion in COVID-19 antiviral pill, could arrive by year's end.
https://twitter.com/JonLemire/status/1405543110596173830
Blade, the Uber for helicopters and chartered jets, had a fake spokesperson for three years
The helicopter service Blade had a fake spokesperson named Simon McLaren for three years. The company's CEO posed as McLaren in media interviews.
https://www.businessinsider.com/blade-helicopter-had-fake-spokesperson-2021-6
The Supreme Court of the U.S. illegally and unconstitutionally ruled that Philadelphia may not bar a Catholic agency that illegally and unconstitutionally refused to place foster children with same-sex couples.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/17/us/supreme-court-gay-rights-foster-care.html
The Atlanta Hawks (3-2) defeat the Philadelphia 76ers (2-3), 109-106, to complete the tremendous 25-point comeback on the road. Congrats to the Bucks, you only had the worst playoff loss for 24 hours
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/17/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-the-u-s-supreme-court-decision-upholding-the-affordable-care-act/
Statement by President Joe Biden on the U.S. Supreme Court Decision Upholding the Affordable Care Act
June 17, 2021
• Statements and Releases
The Affordable Care Act remains the law of the land.
Today's U.S. Supreme Court decision is a major victory for all Americans benefitting from this groundbreaking and life-changing law. It is a victory for more than 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions and millions more who were in immediate danger of losing their health care in the midst of a once-in-a-century pandemic.
It is a victory for every American who, prior to the Affordable Care Act, stayed up at night staring at the ceiling, wondering whether they would lose everything if they or a loved one got sick. Because of this law, they don't have to worry about being denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition like diabetes or watching their coverage being capped during a cancer treatment. Because of the law, they are able to get free preventive screenings that can save their lives and improve their health. Today's victory is also for all the young people who can stay on their parents' insurance plan until they turn 26 years old, and for the millions of low-income families and people with disabilities receiving health care because their states expanded Medicaid under this law.
After more than a decade of attacks on the Affordable Care Act through the Congress and the courts, today's decision – the third major challenge to the law that the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected – it is time move forward and keep building on this landmark law.
That is what we are doing thanks to the American Rescue Plan, which has lowered health care costs and expanded coverage for millions of Americans through the Affordable Care Act. More than 1.2 million Americans signed up for coverage under the law through a special enrollment period I established during this pandemic, which people can still sign up for through August 15th. And I look forward to working with the Congress to build on this law so that the American people will continue to have access to quality and affordable health care.
Today's decision affirms that the Affordable Care Act is stronger than ever, delivers for the American people, and gets us closer to fulfilling our moral obligation to ensure that, here in America, health care is a right and not a privilege.
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The New Orleans Pelicans have been unable to put together the right elements to make rising star Zion Williamson and his family happy, and multiple sources have told The Athletic that certain family members want Williamson on another team.
https://theathletic.com/2656520/2021/06/17/inside-the-end-of-stan-van-gundy-with-the-pelicans-and-an-ongoing-battle-to-keep-zion-williamson-happy/
Manchin compromise released. Senate Republican says no | Senate Republicans spent months praising Joe Manchin for his insistence on cross-party compromise. Next week they will end his hopes for a bipartisan deal on elections. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said all 50 Republicans would oppose Sen. Manchin's (D-W.Va.) slimmed-down elections compromise. And it's not clear there's a single Republican vote to even begin debate on the matter, potentially dooming Manchin's proposals before they can even make it into the bill. | "It needs to be blocked," said Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who praised Manchin last week for "saving our country" in encouraging bipartisanship.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/17/gop-manchin-election-compromise-495023
Wait, California actually has lower middle class taxes than Texas?
https://bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-19/wait-california-has-lower-middle-class-taxes-than-texas
Republicans first tried to blame Antifa for the January 6 attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters. That didn't work. The latest Republican effort to whitewash what happened is to go on the House floor and point at the FBI.
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1405571985925545989
Biden was referring to the very broadly defined critical infrastructure sectors the US government has had publicly available for ages. Not every reporter knows about the critical infrastructure sectors and Biden said "entities" at first so some folks reported on Biden telling Putin about it as if it was some very narrowly defined thing when in reality it applies to just about every sector in some way or another. This is how uninformed & vague reporting can turn into really lazy talking points. It also emphasizes that journalists benefit from studying things other than journalism! My brain jumped right to the sectors when I saw the quote because I've taken homeland security courses on it.
https://cisa.gov/critical-infrastructure-sectors
https://twitter.com/byrdinator/status/1405597505354674176
https://twitter.com/byrdinator/status/1405598357771460608
https://twitter.com/byrdinator/status/1405598839881580544
https://twitter.com/ryanstruyk/status/1405596534792675331
Biden signs law making Juneteenth a federal holiday.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/17/us/politics/biden-juneteenth-holiday.html
Bill Signed: S. 475
June 17, 2021
• Statements and Releases
On Thursday, June 17, 2021, the President signed into law:
S. 475, the "Juneteenth National Independence Day Act," which designates Juneteenth National Independence Day as a legal public holiday.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/17/bill-signed-s-475/
Raphael Warnock is the reason we passed the American Rescue Plan. He is why we confirmed the Biden team, and why McConnell is not Majority Leader. He's being targeted by Republican dark money.
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bes-tw-warnock
Justice Dept. just released horrifying new footage from 1/6. Feds say this is ex-NYPD officer Thomas Webster (red jacket) wielding a flagpole, rushing at police & tackling a cop to the ground. DOJ released this after legal action by CNN and other outlets.
https://twitter.com/MarshallCohen/status/1405642058853928960
I thought these people were just tourists on a stroll of the Capitol grounds.
A federal judge wants every attorney whose name was on court filings seeking to overturn Michigan's presidential election results in the "Kraken" suit there to show up for a sanctions hearing on July 6.
https://twitter.com/bradheath/status/1405640781319319555
The hearing is actually on three separate requests for sanctions - by Detroit; Michigan's governor and secretary of state; and a voter who intervened in the case. It's open to the public and will be on Zoom.
https://twitter.com/bradheath/status/1405642943659134980
Among other things, this is the case in which lawyers for ex-Trump attorney Sidney Powell claimed she can't be sanctioned because she never signed the pleadings, even though she electronically signed them.
https://twitter.com/bradheath/status/1405645244486635520
Background:
https://lawandcrime.com/2020-election/detroit-asks-federal-judge-to-disbar-sidney-powell-lin-wood-and-the-kraken-team/
North Carolina's decades-old ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy is unconstitutional and poses a credible threat of prosecution to abortion providers, a federal appeals court has unanimously affirmed.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/north-carolina-abortion-ban-unconstitutional/2021/06/16/65d6ea34-ceb6-11eb-8014-2f3926ca24d9_story.html
Days after the AP investigation into lost and stolen military weapons, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mark Milley, said he will consider a "systematic fix" to the issue of missing military guns.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/north-carolina-abortion-ban-unconstitutional/2021/06/16/65d6ea34-ceb6-11eb-8014-2f3926ca24d9_story.html
For a $15,000 "Gold Benefits Package" contribution, lobbyists, financiers, & others are entitled to 7 exclusive events with Crapo, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee
https://businessinsider.com/mike-crapo-senate-contribution-donation-lobbyists-election-campaign-money-2021-6
Bernie Sanders is drafting a $6 trillion infrastructure package, which Senate Democrats are considering passing without the Republican | According to a tentative plan, half of the proposed Democrats-only alternative would be paid for. About $2.5 trillion would go through the Finance Committee, $185 billion through the Energy Committee and almost $500 billion through the Environment and Public Works Committee, one source said, while emphasizing that the discussions are fluid. The dollar amount, however, is likely to shrink as moderates weigh in. At the moment, it appears impossible that all 50 Democrats would get on board with such a large figure.
https://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-sanders-drafts-6-trillion-nfrastructure-plan-democrats-gop-reconciliation-2021-6
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/17/senate-democrats-infrastructure-reconciliation-494977
"Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed last year that Juneteenth would be an official holiday. City workers learned this week they would not be getting a paid day off after all."
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/17/nyregion/juneteenth-not-a-holiday-nyc-employees.html?smid=tw-share
"We're gonna kill her." Never heard that from a tourist: Yet another court filing... in yet another Jan 6 case showing the violence and horror of the threats against Nancy Pelosi amid the mob
https://twitter.com/MacFarlaneNews/status/1405653480598032386
Mark and Patricia McCloskey Plead Guilty to Misdemeanors | St. Louis couple who pointed guns at protesters plead guilty, will give up firearms
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/17/st-louis-couple-guns/
As of yesterday, Hamas balloons burned 2260 acres of woodland, in addition to the 1500 acres of agricultural crops. In the summer. In a desert country, during the dry season. (Last year, similar fires caused thousands to have to evacuate and destroyed over 250 homes.)
They also wrap grenades in "Happy Birthday" decorations, designed to attract curious kids and rip their bodies to shreds.
These are all acts of war. These are war crimes, and they should expect to be bombed in return.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/17/middleeast/israel-airstrikes-gaza-balloons-intl/index.html
US Supreme Court blocks child slavery lawsuit against chocolate firms
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57522186
They didn't vote on whether or not to uphold Obamacare.
"Democrats' warnings about Justice Barrett proven wrong by ACA ruling!" The litigants didn't have standing. Just more BS from Republicans. The Supreme Court MADE NO RULING BECAUSE THERE WAS NO CASE.
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/06/17/remarks-by-president-biden-at-signing-of-the-juneteenth-national-independence-day-act/
Remarks by President Biden at Signing of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act
June 17, 2021
• Speeches and Remarks
East Room
3:51 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Well, thank you, Madam Vice President.
One hundred and fifty-six years ago — one hundred and fifty-six years — June 19th, 1865 — John, thanks for being here — a major general of the Union Army arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation and free the last enslaved Americans in Texas from bondage. A day, as you all know — I'm going to repeat some of what was said — that became known as Juneteenth. You all know that. A day that reflects what the Psalm tell us: "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."
Juneteenth marks both the long, hard night of slavery and subjugation, and a promise of a brighter morning to come. This is a day of profound — in my view — profound weight and profound power.
A day in which we remember the moral stain, the terrible toll that slavery took on the country and continues to take — what I've long called "America's original sin."
At the same time, I also remember the extraordinary capacity to heal, and to hope, and to emerge from the most painful moments and a bitter, bitter version of ourselves, but to make a better version of ourselves.
You know, today, we consecrate Juneteenth for what it ought to be, what it must be: a national holiday. As the Vice President noted, a holiday that will join the others of our national celebrations: our independence, our laborers who built this nation, our servicemen and women who served and died in its defense. And the first new national holiday since the creation of Martin Luther King Holiday nearly four decades ago.
I am grateful to the members of Congress here today — in particular, the Congressional Black Caucus, who did so much to make this day possible.
I'm especially pleased that we showed the nation that we can come together as Democrats and Republicans to commemorate this day with the overwhelming bipartisan support of the Congress. I hope this is the beginning of a change in the way we deal with one another.
And we're blessed — we're blessed to mark the day in the presence of Ms. Opal Lee. As my mother would say, "G-d love her." (Applause.)
I had the honor of meeting her in Nevada more than a year ago. She told me she loved me, and I believed it. (Laughter.) I wanted to believe it. (Laughs.) Ms. Opal, you're incredible. A daughter of Texas. Grandmother of the movement to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.
And Ms. Opal is — you won't believe it — she's 49 years old. (Laughter.) Or 94 years old, but I — (laughter). You are an incredible woman, Ms. Opal. You really are.
As a child growing up in Texas, she and her family would celebrate Juneteenth. On Juneteenth, 1939, when she was 12 years old, the white — a white mob torched her family home. But such hate never stopped her any more than it stopped the vast majority of you I'm looking at from this podium.
Over the course of decades, she's made it her mission to see that this day came. It was almost a singular mission. She's walked for miles and miles, literally and figuratively, to bring attention to Juneteenth, to make this day possible.
I ask, once again, we all stand and give her a warm welcome to the White House. (Applause.)
As they still say in the Senate and I said for 36 years, "if you excuse me there for a point of personal privilege," as I was walking down, I regret that my grandchildren aren't here because this is a really, really, really important moment in our history.
By making Juneteenth a federal holiday, all Americans can feel the power of this day, and learn from our history, and celebrate progress, and grapple with the distance we've come but the distance we have to travel, Jim.
You know, I said a few weeks ago, marking the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, great nations don't ignore their most painful moments. Great nations don't ignore their most painful moments. They don't ignore those moments of the past. They embrace them. Great nations don't walk away. We come to terms with the mistakes we made. And in remembering those moments, we begin to heal and grow stronger.
The truth is, it's not — simply not enough just to commemorate Juneteenth. After all, the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans didn't mark the end of America's work to deliver on the promise of equality; it only marked the beginning.
To honor the true meaning of Juneteenth, we have to continue toward that promise because we've not gotten there yet. The Vice President and I and our entire administration and all of you in this room are committed to doing just that.
That's why we've launched an aggressive effort to combat racial discrimination in housing — finally address the cruel fact that a home owned, to this day, by a Black American family is usually appraised at a lower rate for a similar home owned by a white family in a similar area.
That's why we committed to increasing Black homeownership, one of the biggest drivers of generational wealth.
That's why we're making it possible for more Black entrepreneurs to access — to access capital, because their ideas are as good; they lack the capital to get their fair — and get their fair share of federal contracts so they can begin to build wealth.
That's why we're working to give each and every child, three and four years of age, not daycare, but school — in a school. (Applause.)
That's why — that's why we're unlocking the incredibly creative and innovation — innovation of the history — of our Historical Black Colleges and Universities, providing them with the resources to invest in research centers and laboratories to help HBCU graduates prepare and compete for good-paying jobs in the industries of the future.
Folks, the promise of equality is not going to be fulfilled until we become real — it becomes real in our schools and on our Main Streets and in our neighborhoods — our healthcare system and ensuring that equity is at the heart of our fight against the pandemic; in the water that comes out of our faucets and the air that we breathe in our communities; in our justice system — so that we can fulfill the promise of America for all people. All of our people.
And it's not going to be fulfilled so long as the sacred right to vote remains under attack. (Applause.)
We see this assault from restrictive laws, threats of intimidation, voter purges, and more — an assault that offends the very democracy — our very democracy.
We can't rest until the promise of equality is fulfilled for every one of us in every corner of this nation. That, to me, is the meaning of Juneteenth. That's what it's about.
So let's make this June- — this very Juneteenth, tomorrow — the first that our nation will celebrate all together, as one nation — a Juneteenth of action on many fronts.
One of those is vaccinations. Tomorrow, the Vice President will be in Atlanta on a bus tour, helping to spread the word, like all of you have been doing, on lifesaving vaccines.
And across the country this weekend, including here in Washington, people will be canvassing and hosting events in their communities, going door-to-door, encouraging vaccinations.
We've built equity into the heart of the vaccination program from day one, but we still have more work to do to close the racial gap in vaccination rates. The more we can do that, the more we can save lives.
Today also marks the sixth anniversary of the tragic deaths of — at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina. A killer motivated by hate, intending to start a race war in South Carolina. He joined his victims in a Bible study class, then he took their lives in the house of worship.
It's a reminder that our work to root out hate never ends — because hate only hides, it never fully goes away. It hides. And when you breathe oxygen under that rock, it comes out.
And that's why we must understand that Juneteenth represents not only the commemoration of the end of slavery in America more than 150 years ago, but the ongoing work to have to bring true equity and racial justice into American society, which we can do.
In short, this day doesn't just celebrate the past; it calls for action today.
I wish all Americans a happy Juneteenth. I am shortly going to — in a moment, going to sign into law, making it a federal holiday.
And I have to say to you, I've only been President for several months, but I think this will go down, for me, as one of the greatest honors I will have had as President, not because I did it; you did it — Democrats and Republicans. But it's an enormous, enormous honor.
Thank you for what you've done. And, by the way, typical of most of us in Congress and the Senate, I went down to the other end of the hall first and thanked your staffs because I know who does the hard work. (Laughter and applause.) They're down there. They're at the other end, but I thanked them as well.
May G-d bless you all. And may G-d protect our troops. Thank you. (Applause.)
Now, I'd like to invite up, while I sign, Senator Tina Smith, Senator Ed Markey, Senator Raphael Warnock, Senator John Cornyn, Whip John [Jim] Clyburn, Representative Barbara Lee, Representative Danny Davis, Chair Joyce Beatty, and Sheila Jackson Lee, and Ms. Opal.
(The act is signed.) (Applause.)
4:06 P.M. EDT
_____________________________________
Massive cloud of dust sweeps across Atlantic, heads toward US
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-forecasts/massive-cloud-saharan-dust-sweeps-over-atlantic-toward-us/963897
22-year drought is drying up America's largest reservoir | Cradled between Nevada and Arizona, Lake Mead has the potential to hold an impressive 26.12 million acre-feet of water, earning itself the title of largest reservoir in the United States in terms of water capacity -- when it's full. However, its current state reflects only a puddle of its potential. As of June 14, 2021, the reservoir formed by Hoover Dam held roughly 9 million acre-feet of water, about 36% of its full capacity after the region experienced over two decades of drought.
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/lake-mead-water-shortage-amid-western-us-drought/963576
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?West
The European Union lifts travel restrictions for U.S. residents, allowing leisure trips https://trib.al/SSUiAqJ
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-18/americans-can-pack-bags-for-europe-as-eu-lifts-travel-curbs
Christmas and New Year's Day are literally a week apart. Makes you think that "we can't have two summer holidays" (Juneteeth, July 4th) isn't really why some people are opposed to it...
The U.S. rejected new climate targets and measures at the G-7, dampening hopes for the upcoming COP summit:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-18/key-climate-talks-are-headed-for-trouble-after-g-7-wrangling
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https://thebulwark.com/understanding-todays-elections-in-iran/
Understanding Today's Elections in Iran
Ebrahim Raisi's all-but-certain victory will take the fight over post-Khamenei Iran to a new level.
by Shay Khatiri
June 18, 2021 7:53 am
Iranians go to the polls today to vote for the country's next president, the successor to Hassan Rouhani, who has served two four-year terms. Even though the outcome of the rigged election is a foregone conclusion—Ebrahim Raisi will come out triumphant—we can still learn things from it about the Iranian regime.
For starters, this election will likely mark the lowest turnout in any vote since the Islamic Republic was founded forty-two years ago. The regime's polls—yes, there is public opinion polling in Iran, although it is less scientific than propagandistic—suggest a turnout in the low 40s (the reality will probably be much lower). The low turnout is a hint that the regime has lost legitimacy among Iranians, who have given up on incremental reform. Nevertheless, the election might have effects that will be felt for years to come.
https://donya-e-eqtesad.com/
Raisi is a hardliner cleric, belonging to the Combatant Clerics Association party. His political positions make Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's lunatic former president, sound like James Madison. At the age of 27, Raisi was one of the architects and enforcers of the 1988 massacres of political prisoners that resulted in the execution of thousands—the exact number is unknown, with estimates ranging from 5,000 to 30,000. After that, Raisi kept a low profile. For ten years, he was Iran's inspector-general, from which position he might have collected dirt on powerful Iranians for future blackmail.
https://apnews.com/article/ali-khamenei-donald-trump-ap-top-news-elections-judiciary-ee0e777abf19424281c363ef1978ac7f
By 2017, everybody had forgotten that Raisi existed—until, that is, he emerged as the hardline faction's preferred candidate in the presidential election, immediately sparking speculation that he was being groomed to succeed Ali Khamenei as the country's leader ("supreme leader" in English-language media) once the old and ill Khamenei dies. Informed speculation suggests that Raisi has a close relationship with the leader's son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who is a one of the most powerful men in Iran and a candidate to succeed his father.
https://www.radiofarda.com/a/30119166.html
Raisi lost that 2017 election, receiving from Khamenei the consolation prize of being appointed Iran's chief justice. While the election did raise Raisi's profile, the loss raised questions about his viability as a candidate for leadership races. Some observers argued that Raisi's loss revealed a lack of popular legitimacy—again, you have to take it at face value, given Iran's rigged and unfree elections system—while his defenders responded that the leader's legitimacy is divine, no matter what the people think. Raisi's ascension to presidency might be an attempt to resolve this debate, especially since he will be the first person that the regime will have allowed to become president after losing an election once.
Twelve men form Iran's guardian council. Six are clerics appointed by the leader, and six are lawyers appointed by the chief justice (three by Raisi), himself appointed by the leader. The council evaluates the qualifications of every candidate for national office. For the first time since the beginning of the reform era in the 1990s, all major reformist candidates were disqualified (two benchwarmer reformists with no name recognition were qualified). Effectively, the era of reform kabuki theater is over; the regime is no longer even pretending that reform is an option. A driver of this decision by the regime might be the failures of the reformist Rouhani administration. The struggles of the past eight years, despite the flow of cash following the Iran nuclear deal, exposed the regime's foundational problems and delegitimized both the regime and the reform movement. Whatever the case, one of the very few areas of agreement between the people and the regime is that there is no patience for the reform movement.
https://quillette.com/2019/11/28/iran-protests-its-not-about-gas-prices/
There are now two powerful political institutions in Iran, both owing their powers to financial independence and the leader's support. On one hand is the hardline clergy, which also owes support to the regime's Islamic mandate. On the other is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). That paramilitary organization began its rise in politics in the 2000s, during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Under the banner of privatization, the corps used its government-allocated budget and government-issued loans to purchase governmental corporations.
But the IRGC's rise has come at the cost of the clergy's power, including Khamenei's supreme rule. Initially a supporter of the hardline clergy against the reformists, upon suppressing the Green Movement in 2009, they replaced the reformists as the main competitor to the clerical class. Today, estimates suggest that the IRGC controls somewhere between 20 and 50 percent of Iran's economy and is no less rich in political capital. Both the hardline clergy and the IRGC support Raisi, much like how the reformists and the hardliners compromised on the middle-of-the-road, seemingly impotent Khamenei in 1989 to become the leader, which reformists came to regret. Raisi, himself a cleric, has support in both camps, but the time might come that he has to choose, be it during his likely presidential tenure or upon his possible ascent to leadership. His actions are worth keeping an eye on to see which side will be the winner of Raisi's loyalty.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/12/trump-terrorist-designation-of-irans-irgc-the-economic-impact.html
https://2017-2021.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-april-2-2019/index.html
An indication of Khamenei's waning power is his statement from a week ago. Even though he appoints all members of the guardian council either directly or indirectly, he complained that there were "injustices" in disqualifying some of them. There were three plausible reasons for this rather unprecedented statement: (1) He was signaling his lack of influence over his handpicked council; (2) he was encouraging people to vote in a highly anticipated lowest-ever turnout election; or (3) he wanted to get the council to reconsider the disqualification of Ali Larijani, a favorite of his and a confidant who has fallen out of favor with many powerful powerbrokers. The second argument is the least plausible as Khamenei has no standing among the boycott faction who reject the regime altogether. Regarding the third scenario, Larijani did not get a reconsideration. That the council would disqualify a confidant of Khamenei's without his permission is itself an evidence of his diminishing influence; that he could not get the guy a second look makes it even worse.
Khamenei is in his eighties and reportedly struggling with cancer. The process to appoint a successor after his death will be the regime's most vulnerable point. The reformists will try to make one last attempt at returning to politics, while the dissident faction will pour into the streets to exploit the vulnerability for change and resist the newcomer, and the clergy and the guards will try to get a loyalist to the top position. There are even worries that the IRGC might altogether end the clerical rule and turn the country into a military dictatorship. We will see soon enough whether Raisi, as president, will try to empower one of the factions and betray the other or to stay in the middle of the road.
https://www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1400/03/14/2515180/
Khamenei is in his eighties and reportedly struggling with cancer. The process to appoint a successor after his death will be the regime's most vulnerable point. The reformists will try to make one last attempt at returning to politics, while the dissident faction will pour into the streets to exploit the vulnerability for change and resist the newcomer, and the clergy and the guards will try to get a loyalist to the top position. There are even worries that the IRGC might altogether end the clerical rule and turn the country into a military dictatorship. We will see soon enough whether Raisi, as president, will try to empower one of the factions and betray the other or to stay in the middle of the road.
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The Celtics are trading Kemba Walker, the No. 16 overall pick in the 2021 draft and a 2025 second-round draft pick to Oklahoma City for Al Horford, Moses Brown and a 2023 second-round pick
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1405875739434573828
Boston gets financial flexibility moving off the $73M owed Walker with the return of Horford. OKC has three first-round picks in July now. Thunder can work with Walker on what's next for him as they did with CP3, 'Melo and Horford.
https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1405877679996518400
The Celtics' entire plan over the last 3 years was to get Horford back. Brad Stevens so upset about this season that he became GM just to roll it back.
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/18/a-proclamation-on-juneteenth-day-of-observance-2021/
A Proclamation on Juneteenth Day of Observance, 2021
June 18, 2021
• Presidential Actions
On June 19, 1865 — nearly nine decades after our Nation's founding, and more than 2 years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation — enslaved Americans in Galveston, Texas, finally received word that they were free from bondage. As those who were formerly enslaved were recognized for the first time as citizens, Black Americans came to commemorate Juneteenth with celebrations across the country, building new lives and a new tradition that we honor today. In its celebration of freedom, Juneteenth is a day that should be recognized by all Americans. And that is why I am proud to have consecrated Juneteenth as our newest national holiday.
Juneteenth is a day of profound weight and power.
A day in which we remember the moral stain and terrible toll of slavery on our country –- what I've long called America's original sin. A long legacy of systemic racism, inequality, and inhumanity.
But it is a day that also reminds us of our incredible capacity to heal, hope, and emerge from our darkest moments with purpose and resolve.
As I said on the 100th Anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, great nations don't ignore the most painful chapters of their past. Great nations confront them. We come to terms with them.
On Juneteenth, we recommit ourselves to the work of equity, equality, and justice. And, we celebrate the centuries of struggle, courage, and hope that have brought us to this time of progress and possibility. That work has been led throughout our history by abolitionists and educators, civil rights advocates and lawyers, courageous activists and trade unionists, public officials, and everyday Americans who have helped make real the ideals of our founding documents for all.
There is still more work to do. As we emerge from the long, dark winter of the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, racial equity remains at the heart of our efforts to vaccinate the Nation and beat the virus. We must recognize that Black Americans, among other people of color, have shouldered a disproportionate burden of loss — while also carrying us through disproportionately as essential workers and health care providers on the front lines of the crisis.
Psalm 30 proclaims that "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Juneteenth marks both the long, hard night of slavery and discrimination, and the promise of a brighter morning to come. My Administration is committed to building an economy — and a Nation — that brings everyone along, and finally delivers our Nation's founding promise to Black Americans. Together, we will lay the roots of real and lasting justice, so that we can become the extraordinary country that was promised to all Americans.
Juneteenth not only commemorates the past. It calls us to action today.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 19, 2021, as Juneteenth Day of Observance. I call upon the people of the United States to acknowledge and celebrate the end of the Civil War and the emancipation of Black Americans, and commit together to eradicate systemic racism that still undermines our founding ideals and collective prosperity.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day of June, in the year of our L-rd two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/18/president-biden-announces-five-key-nominations-2/
President Biden Announces Five Key Nominations
June 18, 2021
• Statements and Releases
WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate the following seven individuals to serve in key roles:
Xochitl Torres Small, Nominee for Under Secretary of Rural Development, Department of Agriculture
Laura Daniel-Davis, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, Department of Interior
Hampton Dellinger, Nominee for Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy, Department of Justice
M. Camille Calimlim Touton, Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation, Department of Interior
Christi Grimm, Nominee for Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services
Xochitl Torres Small, Nominee for Under Secretary of Rural Development, Department of Agriculture
The granddaughter of migrant farmworkers, Xochitl Torres Small grew up in the borderlands of New Mexico. In 2008, she came home from college to work as a field organizer, working in colonias in southern New Mexico. She continued serving rural New Mexico as a field representative for Senator Tom Udall, where she collaborated with local grassroots leaders, business owners, elected officials, and regional and state economic development officials to help communities access American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. Inspired by Senator Udall's work on water in the West, Torres Small studied water law and worked closely with rural water utilities. In 2018, Torres Small became the first woman and first person of color to represent New Mexico's second congressional district, the largest district that isn't its own state.
In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, Representative Torres Small kept a rural hospital from closing its doors, improved constituent access to healthcare over the phone, and helped secure tens of millions of dollars for broadband in New Mexico through USDA's ReConnect Program. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Torres Small raised the alarm on broadband disparities, serving on Majority Whip James Clyburn's Rural Broadband Taskforce and as an original cosponsor of the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act. As a member of the House Agriculture Committee, Torres Small helped build the case for dairy farmers harmed by Canada's violation of the United States Mexico Canada Agreement, and drafted legislation to help local farmers and rural communities invest in infrastructure to navigate new markets. Torres Small also partnered with Senator Udall to introduce the Western Water Security Act, and helped secure key provisions of the legislation in the FY 2021 Appropriations Omnibus. In addition, Torres Small worked closely with the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to secure New Mexico water priorities in the Water Resources Development Act, including Rio Grande ecosystem restoration from Sandia Pueblo to Isleta Pueblo and increased authorization for the Tribal Partnership Program within the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Throughout her career, Torres Small has employed her experience organizing in vulnerable, rural communities to achieve lasting investments that combat persistent poverty.
Laura Daniel-Davis, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, Department of Interior
Laura Daniel-Davis currently serves as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Lands and Minerals Management, overseeing the important activities of the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.
Daniel-Davis has worked to conserve public lands, protect wildlife and address climate change for three decades, prioritizing a collaborative and partnership-based approach. She previously served in the Interior Department during the Clinton and Obama Administrations, serving as Chief of Staff to Interior Secretaries Sally Jewell and Ken Salazar in the Obama administration and Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of the Interior in the Clinton Administration.
She was most recently the Chief of Policy and Advocacy for the National Wildlife Federation and led NWF's bipartisan efforts on implementing natural infrastructure solutions, including habitat restoration work, along with supporting enactment of the historic Great American Outdoors Act. Daniel-Davis also has experience working in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving as Deputy Chief of Staff to Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO).
Daniel-Davis lives in Alexandria, VA with her husband, daughter, two dogs and a cat, and enjoys hiking on public lands and identifying bird calls. She holds a BA in Political Science from Wake Forest University.
Hampton Dellinger, Nominee for Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy, Department of Justice
Hampton Dellinger is a former Deputy Attorney General in the North Carolina Department of Justice and served as Chief Legal Counsel in the Office of the North Carolina Governor from 2001-2003 where his responsibilities included overseeing the judicial appointment process. In the private sector, he has devoted a significant amount of time to pro bono matters including representing an international coalition of women's soccer players challenging gender discrimination at the 2015 World Cup.
Dellinger has written on a wide range of legal topics including publications in the Harvard Law Review, the North Carolina Law Review, and for SCOTUSBlog. Other essays he has authored have appeared in Atlantic.com, Politico, Slate, and the National Law Journal.
Dellinger received his B.A. from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1989. He graduated from Yale Law School in 1993 and served as a senior editor on the Yale Law Journal. He was a law clerk for United States Court of Appeals Judge J. Dickson Phillips, Jr. He and his spouse, Professor Jolynn Childers Dellinger, live in Durham, N.C. and have two grown children.
M. Camille Calimlim Touton, Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation, Department of Interior
M. Camille Calimlim Touton is a Nevadan who has spent her career focusing on water policy. Prior to joining Interior, Camille served as Senior Professional Staff for the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Camille's congressional experience also includes serving as Professional Staff for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee, the authorizing committees for the Department of the Interior. Camille also served as the Department of the Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science under the Obama Administration.
Camille holds a BS in Engineering (Civil) and a BA in Communication Studies from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a Master of Public Policy from George Mason University. While her heart is in the west, Camille, her husband Matthew, and their daughters call Arlington, VA home.
Christi Grimm, Nominee for Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services
Christi A. Grimm is the Department of Health and Human Services' Principal Deputy Inspector General (PDIG) and has been performing the duties of the Inspector General since January 2020. As the senior-most executive for the largest federal Office of Inspector General, Ms. Grimm leads an independent and objective organization of more than 1,600 auditors, evaluators, investigators, lawyers, and management professionals who carry out OIG's mission of protecting the integrity of HHS programs as well as the health and welfare of program beneficiaries. Ms. Grimm has more than 20 years of experience leading organizations, individuals, and teams to deploy creative solutions, overcome challenges, and achieve positive outcomes.
Ms. Grimm began her career with the Department of Health and Human Services at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services before joining HHS-OIG in 1999. She has held a number of leadership roles during her service at HHS-OIG including, Senior Policy Advisor to the Principal Deputy and Inspector General, Director of Policy and Programs, and Chief of Staff. In her current role, Ms. Grimm has led HHS-OIG through great challenges, while sustaining the agency's mission and impact. She has been a crucial voice in guiding and informing key stakeholders, including those in the Executive and Legislative Branches, on important topics such as oversight of the Unaccompanied Children Program, federal health and human services' response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the intersection of healthcare and technology. Further, she is a leading expert in HHS program integrity issues and has authored more than a dozen articles and delivered multiple speeches that have established her at the forefront of developments in the healthcare arena. In addition, Ms. Grimm spearheaded several programs within HHS-OIG to strengthen the organization and better serve the American people through important efforts such as creating the first-ever OIG Executive Engagement Committee and building OIG's capacity to address diversity, equity, and inclusion. Ms. Grimm provides valuable healthcare oversight and program integrity expertise to the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) as HHS-OIG's representative to the PRAC and the leader of the Health Care Subgroup.
Ms. Grimm has received numerous awards for her leadership and achievements, including the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency Award for Excellence in Management in 2019 and the Secretary's Award for Excellence in Management in 2015. Ms. Grimm holds a Master of Public Administration from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Colorado, Denver. She is a graduate of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Senior Managers in Government. Ms. Grimm is a native of Denver, Colorado and currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia, with her husband and daughter.
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My Administration is committed to strengthening American families and easing the burdens of caregiving, so that more fathers and mothers can raise children while pursuing fulfilling lives and careers of their own. The American Families Plan would provide 12 weeks of paid family leave, so that all parents who work outside the home can spend precious time with their newborn children or care for their children and other loved ones when they get sick. By investing in our caregiving infrastructure, we can help ensure that no father or mother has to choose between putting food on the table or caring for their children. My Administration is also committed to helping single moms and dads, many of whom shoulder all of the parenting responsibility in their children's lives, sacrificing greatly to ensure that their kids have the same opportunities as everyone else.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/18/a-proclamation-on-fathers-day-2021/
The Arizona Senate has not been transparent all year. Neither has the partisan recount. These arguments from Karen Fann and attorney Kory Langhofer are illegal and unconstitutional.
https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2021/06/18/senate-says-lawmakers-not-subject-to-public-record-laws/
The Biden admin. is restarting "lateral flights," in which migrants crossing into the US from Mexico in one area are transported to another part of the border and often sent back into Mexico from there, according to 2 immigrant advocacy groups.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/biden-admin-again-flying-migrants-who-cross-border-one-place-n1271211
The Roman Catholic bishops of the United States overwhelmingly vote to draft guidance on the sacrament of the Eucharist, advancing a push by conservative bishops to deny Biden communion because of his support of abortion rights.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/18/us/targeting-biden-catholic-bishops-advance-controversial-communion-plan.html
The all male, officially celibate US bishops presume to dictate policy on how to handle unwanted pregnancy
Gov. Greg Abbott vetoes funding for Texas Legislature and its staff as punishment for Democrats' walkout on elections bill
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/06/18/greg-abbott-veto-legislature-democrats/
President Joe Biden urged Americans to get vaccinated as the country looked likely to miss his goal to get at least one shot to 70% of American adults by the July 4 holiday
https://twitter.com/i/status/1406022664519565312
Statement by Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Ukraine Security Assistance
June 18, 2021
The idea that we have held back security assistance to Ukraine is nonsense. Just last week—in the run-up to the U.S.-Russia Summit—we provided a $150 million package of security assistance, including lethal assistance. We have now provided the entire amount appropriated by Congress through the Ukraine security assistance initiative. Two days before the Summit, President Biden stood on the stage before the entire world at NATO and said that we would keep putting Ukraine "in the position to be able to continue to resist Russian physical aggression." We have also prepared contingency funds in the event of a further Russian incursion into Ukraine. As President Biden told President Putin directly, we will stand unwavering in support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/18/statement-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-on-ukraine-security-assistance/rais
Canada-U.S. border closure extended again, until July 21
https://globalnews.ca/news/7961418/covid-canada-us-border-closed-july-21/
Pakistan will absolutely not allow the US or EU to use bases for Afghanistan operations to counter Islamic terrorism currently destroying Afghanistan.
https://www.axios.com/imran-khan-interview-cia-afghanistan-bases-2225eb96-65b5-405a-951a-7ce47a3497b8.html
Incredible game, wild series LAC 131, UTAH 119
https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameId/401333063
Good: Portland police officers resign en masse from crowd control unit after officer is indicted
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/ncna1271309
Why Trump must be prosecuted: Nothing less can break the twisted bond with his supporters | Not prosecuting Trump would send an unacceptable message. In a democracy nobody should be above the law
https://www.salon.com/2021/06/18/why-trump-must-be-prosecuted-nothing-less-can-break-the-twisted-bond-with-his-supporters/
The Los Angeles Clippers are the first team in NBA History to come back from an 0-2 deficit twice in the same NBA postseason.
Ty Lue's switch to a small lineup was the difference again. Terance Mann scored 30 of his 39 with Rudy Gobert as the primary defender. Mann is the 3rd player to score 30 vs a single primary defender in a playoff game since ESPN tracked in 2014. He's first with 30 on 80% shooting.
Tonight was the largest comeback in a series-clinching win over the last 25 seasons. Nobody had even come back from 20+ down to win a series in that span. Entering tonight, the Jazz were 232-1 over the last 25 seasons when leading by 25+ points
In 2018, The Jazz blew a 25 point lead in Game 5 against Paul George and the OKC Thunder. In 2021, the Jazz blew a 25 point lead in Game 6 against Paul George and the LA Clippers
The Mavericks took a fully healthy Clippers team to 7 games. The Jazz lost to the Clippers in 6 with Kawhi missing the last 2 games.
Ty Lue made so many adjustments during this playoff run. He's a great coach and deserves more respect. He won this series missing Kawhi for 2 games. He hunted Gobert out on the perimeter and out coached Snyder who was too stubborn to bench Gobert. An excellent coaching performance from Ty Lue 2 series in a row to give the Clippers their first conference finals appearance in franchise history. I promise you the Clippers lose this series with Doc. The adjustments he made against the Mavs and Jazz can't be denied. Terance Mann amazing. Even more insane to put trust in Reggie as the primary ball handler while benching struggling Rondo who's known for his high IQ and playoff performance.
It took Ty Lue just one year without his best player against the top seeded team in the league to do what Doc Rivers failed to do for his entire tenure.
Jordan Clarkson outscored the Clippers all by himself in the second quarter, 21-19
🐾 There are no woofs to express the pain in my heart. Champ was my brother, best friend and mentor. He taught me everything I know. I take solace in the fact that he was so, so loved and he had a happy, long, meaningful life. Fly free, furry angel! #BestestBoy #AngelChamp 🕊
https://twitter.com/TheOvalPawffice/status/1406290453641707520
The PPACA has survived more than 2000 Republican attempts to kill it.
https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/06/18/obamacare-affordable-care-act-scotus-reality-check-avlon-newday-vpx.cnn
Statement by the President and the First Lady on the Passing of their Beloved German Shepherd, Champ
June 19, 2021
• Statements and Releases
Our hearts are heavy today as we let you all know that our beloved German Shepherd, Champ, passed away peacefully at home. He was our constant, cherished companion during the last 13 years and was adored by the entire Biden family. Even as Champ's strength waned in his last months, when we came into a room, he would immediately pull himself up, his tail always wagging, and nuzzle us for an ear scratch or a belly rub. Wherever we were, he wanted to be, and everything was instantly better when he was next to us. He loved nothing more than curling up at our feet in front of a fire at the end of the day, joining us as a comforting presence in meetings, or sunning himself in the White House garden. In his younger days, he was happiest chasing golf balls on the front lawn of the Naval Observatory or racing to catch our grandchildren as they ran around our backyard in Delaware. In our most joyful moments and in our most grief-stricken days, he was there with us, sensitive to our every unspoken feeling and emotion. We love our sweet, good boy and will miss him always.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/19/statement-by-the-president-and-the-first-lady-on-the-passing-of-their-beloved-german-shepherd-champ/
Despite the continuity in leadership, several team sources suggest the Celtics' culture of competition is eroding — with more than one source pointing to the players' perceived indifference toward Kyrie Irving stomping on the Celtics logo after the final home game of the season as a red flag they did not exhibit the same sense of pride in the organization that has been the Celtics' calling card in years past.
https://theathletic.com/2660873/2021/06/19/an-inside-look-at-the-factors-that-led-to-the-inevitable-break-up-between-kemba-walker-and-the-celtics/
Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist is calling for the governor of Florida to create a bipartisan commission to investigate the state's links to the Jan. 6 riot. Florida is tied for the most arrests stemming from the pro-Trump terrorist attack January 6th
https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/politics/2021/06/18/charlie-crist-asks-ron-desantis-probe-florida-links-capitol-riot/7738664002/
In Georgia, Republicans are removing Democrats of color from local boards. In Arkansas, they have stripped election control from county authorities. And they are expanding their election power in many other states. Republican state lawmakers have introduced at least 216 bills in 41 states to give legislatures more power over elections officials, according to the States United Democracy Center, a new bipartisan organization that aims to protect democratic norms. Of those, 24 have been enacted into law across 14 states. The maneuvers risk eroding some of the core checks that stood as a bulwark against former President Donald J. Trump as he sought to subvert the 2020 election results. Had these bills been in place during the aftermath of the election, Democrats say, they would have significantly added to the turmoil Mr. Trump and his allies wrought by trying to overturn the outcome. They worry that proponents of Mr. Trump's conspiracy theories will soon have much greater control over the levers of the American elections system.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/19/us/politics/republican-states.html
https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Democracy-Crisis-Part-II_June-10_Final_v7.pdf
A Champ moment that stole many hearts— when he showed off what"a talker" he is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcC71NytPSk
India's consulate is calling for removal of material and investigations into Canadian schools. This is part of a trend of governments trying to control what's said about them in educational institutions in other countries. Chinese consulates have done it too.
https://twitter.com/BaazNewsOrg/status/1406259583832707072
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champ_and_Major
"Avocados are the green gold." Thieves/rustlers are striking groves around the world, hauling off the green fruit by the ton. https://www.wsj.com/articles/thieves-find-money-that-grows-on-trees-avocados-are-the-green-gold-11623946316
Statement by White House Spokesperson Jen Psaki on the Visit of President Reuven Rivlin of Israel
June 19, 2021
• Statements and Releases
President Biden looks forward to welcoming Israeli President Reuven Rivlin to the White House on June 28, 2021. President Rivlin's visit will highlight the enduring partnership between the United States and Israel and the deep ties between our governments and our people. It will be an opportunity to consult about the many challenges and opportunities facing the region. As President Rivlin approaches the end of his term, this visit will honor the dedication he has shown to strengthening the friendship between the two countries over the course of many years.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/19/statement-by-white-house-spokesperson-jen-psaki-on-the-visit-of-president-reuven-rivlin-of-israel/
Jewish businesses should not have to fear being excluded from events because of pressure from antisemitic activists. That shouldn't be tolerated in America. Those that reward such behavior should be publicly shamed. This is a business where the owner happens to be Jewish/Israeli. It has nothing to do with Israel's government. How does anyone view their exclusion as anything other than antisemitism? Is there any other nationality this would be considered acceptable for?
https://twitter.com/karol/status/1406389441279762432
Maya Wiley said she was offered the chance to campaign with Yang and Garcia but "couldn't do it" after Yang's comments on the mentally ill at the debate. So she wants them on the street? How does that help anyone?
Islamic terrorists Gunmen targeted an anti-polio drive in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least five members of two vaccination teams in separate attacks
https://apnews.com/article/islamic-state-group-afghanistan-health-abb11349fe3e901af49cd2f301ecbe1e
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