3/16/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Mar. 16, 2021

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Where the Light Enters: Building a Family, Discovering Myself

An intimate look at the love that built the Biden family and the delicate balancing act of the woman at its center

"How did you get this number?" Those were the first words Jill Biden spoke to U.S. senator Joe Biden when he called her out of the blue to ask her on a date.


Growing up, Jill had wanted two things: a marriage like her parents'—strong, loving, and full of laughter—and a career. An early heartbreak had left her uncertain about love, until she met Joe. But as they grew closer, Jill faced difficult questions: How would politics shape her family and professional life? And was she ready to become a mother to Joe's two young sons?

She soon found herself falling in love with her three "boys," learning to balance life as a mother, wife, educator, and political spouse. Through the challenges of public scrutiny, complicated family dynamics, and personal losses, she grew alongside her family, and she extended the family circle at every turn: with her students, military families, friends and staff at the White House, and more.

This is the story of how Jill built a family—and a life—of her own. From the pranks she played to keep everyone laughing to the traditions she formed that would carry them through tragedy, hers is the spirited journey of a woman embracing many roles.

Where the Light Enters is a candid, heartwarming glimpse into the creation of a beloved American family, and the life of a woman at its center     source from

March 15, 2021
President Biden Delivers Remarks on $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Aid
President Biden delivered remarks in the State Dining Room at the White House on implementing the American Rescue Plan. He announced that Gene Sperling will be overseeing the implementation. Mr. Sperling served as the director of the White House National Economic Council under former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.


In this May 7, 2013 file photo, National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling speaks in Washington.
Former NEC director Gene Sperling tapped to implement Biden Covid relief plan

Mar. 15 - Former National Economic Council director Gene Sperling will oversee the implementation of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan, the White House announced Monday.

Sperling, who led the National Economic Council under Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, will play a role similar to Biden’s when the latter was vice president during the 2009 financial crisis. Biden at the time was in charge of initiating the the Obama Recovery Act.
Sperling, according to a senior administration official, will work with the heads of the White House policy councils and key leaders at federal agencies so they can get the relief bill’s mandated funds out as quickly as possible and maximize their impact.

The official said the administration is going to partner with state and local governments on the effort, similar to how Biden implemented the Recovery Act over a decade ago.

Biden signed the coronavirus relief package on Thursday.

As CNBC reported in February, Sperling was being floated to replace Neera Tanden as the administration’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget.    source from

Eugene B. "Gene" Sperling (born December 24, 1958) is an American economist, who was Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.[1] He is the only person to serve as National Economic Advisor under two Presidents.[2] Outside of government, he founded the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution in 2002.[3]

In February 2021, as the nomination of Neera Tanden for OMB director faced opposition, Sperling was considered to be one of the leading contenders to assume the top position.[4][5]

He recently authored Economic Dignity, which was released on May 5, 2020.
from Wikipedia

March 15, 2021
White House Daily Briefing
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki held a briefing on news of the day. She was asked many times about the sexual harassment allegations against Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) and new reports of an adviser questioning county official’s loyalty to the governor. She told reporters that “the president finds them troubling and hard to read” and added that the White House would continue to work with Governor Cuomo on the COVID-19 response. She also discussed the Biden administration’s response to the increase of unaccompanied minors at the border and efforts to find more facilities to house them.


First Lady Dr. Jill Biden visited the Samuel Smith Elementary School
First Lady Touts Child Care, Job, Direct Payments Benefits in American Recovery Act


Mar. 16 -BURLINGTON, NJ -- First Lady Dr. Jill Biden made her first stop in her national "Help is Here" tour in South Jersey on Monday to underscore the benefits of the recently enacted American Recovery Act just days after President Joe Biden signed it into law. Governor Phil Murphy, United States Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker and Congressman Andy Kim (NJ-3) were among the dignitaries who welcomed Dr. Biden to the Samuel Smith Elementary School in Burlington.

The $1.9 trillion COVID relief package contains $360 billion in state and local aid, of which the State of New Jersey will see approximately $6.434 billion, plus another $189 million to expand broadband internet across the state. An additional $1.823 billion will be split among the 21 counties and $1.741 billion divided among all 565 municipalities.
  
"This is a celebration of all that the American Rescue Plan means for our State and for our families," said Murphy during the event. "Today, New Jerseyans are waking up to find that much-needed direct financial support has hit heir bank accounts. That means the rent or mortgage can be paid; the utility bills can be paid; grocery and clothes can be bought, among so many other possibilities."

"For us in state and local government, the American Rescue Plan means that we can better protect our frontline public health workers and first responders and our educators. It means that we can work to get even more vaccine doses into the arms of the New Jerseyans who patiently are waiting their turn," said Murphy who noted that as of that morning the State had surpassed more than three million vaccine doses administered.
 
The federal funds also will provide direct, flexible, federal assistance for New Jersey to help the state and local communities combat COVID-19, keep firefighters, police officers, teachers and other essential workers on the job, and spur economic recovery.


Dr. Biden praised the State for the work to get vaccines administered and its work to get children back to school in-person.    source from

3/15/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Mar. 15, 2021

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Fauci says Covid guidelines 'will be much more liberal' by July 4 if US cases drop

Mar. 14 - Washington (CNN)Federal Covid-19 guidelines "will be much more liberal" by the Fourth of July if US cases drop as more Americans are vaccinated, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday.

"If by the time we get to the Fourth of July, with the rollout of the vaccine, we get the level of infection so low -- I'm not going to be able to tell you exactly what the specific guidelines of the (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) are, but I can tell you for sure (guidelines) will be much more liberal than they are right now about what you can do," the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union."


Asked whether people will return to a degree of normal without masks and distancing by the summer holiday, Fauci, President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, replied: "Yes ... there will be a greater degree of confidence" in that.

The comments from Fauci come nearly a week after the CDC released new guidance saying people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 can safely visit with other vaccinated people and small groups of unvaccinated people in some circumstances.     continue to read

Ukraine and the Art of Strategy
The Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, subsequent war in Eastern Ukraine and economic sanctions imposed by the West, transformed European politics. These events marked a dramatic shift away from the optimism of the post-Cold War era. The conflict did not escalate to the levels originally feared but nor was either side able to bring it to a definitive conclusion. Ukraine suffered a loss of territory but was not forced into changing its policies away from the Westward course adopted as a result of the EuroMaidan uprising of February 2014. President Putin was left supporting a separatist enclave as Russia's economy suffered significant damage.

In Ukraine and the Art of Strategy, Lawrence Freedman-author of the landmark Strategy: A History-provides an account of the origins and course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict through the lens of strategy. Freedman describes the development of President Putin's anxieties that former Soviet countries were being drawn towards the European Union, the effective pressure he put on President Yanokvych of Ukraine during 2013 to turn away from the EU and the resulting 'EuroMaidan Revolution' which led to Yanukovych fleeing. He explores the reluctance of Putin to use Russian forces to do more that consolidate the insurgency in Eastern Ukraine, the failure of the Minsk peace process and the limits of the international response. Putin's strategic-making is kept in view at all times, including his use of 'information warfare' and attempts to influence the American election. In contrast to those who see the Russian leader as a master operator who catches out the West with bold moves Freedman sees him as impulsive and so forced to improvise when his gambles fail.


Freedman's application of his strategic perspective to this supremely important conflict challenges our understanding of some of its key features and the idea that Vladimir Putin is unmatched as a strategic mastermind.     source from
US Secretary of State Discusses Russia, China With French Counterpart - State Department

Mar. 14 - MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed Russia, China and Iran with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Sunday, the State Department said.
"Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Le Drian emphasized the special role of the Transatlantic Alliance in addressing global security challenges. The Secretary and the Foreign Minister discussed Iran, Russia, and China, and the political process in Libya," State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
Blinken also talked about peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean with his French counterpart on Sunday.
Earlier in the week, Blinken held talks with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, discussing the situations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Myanmar.     source from

March 12, 2021
White House Daily Briefing
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan held a briefing. Mr. Sullivan gave an overview of the “Quad” summit President Biden participated in that morning, outlining common interests in the Indo-Pacific region. The press secretary reiterated the president’s support of the ongoing investigations into accusations of sexual harassment made against Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) but did not join the growing number of Democrats calling for him to resign. She also clarified the July 4 goal made in the president’s prime-time address--that is, that small gatherings will be permissible for the holiday but not massive events.
Monday
March 15, 2021
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3/12/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Mar. 12, 2021

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MARCH 11, 2021
President Biden Signs $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Bill
President Biden signed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 economic relief bill into law. He spoke briefly about the bill, also known as the “American Rescue Plan” and was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris.


Biden will announce that he is ordering U.S. states, territories and tribes to make all adults eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine by May 1, administration officials said.
Joe Biden signs $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, eyes next stage of pandemic fight


Mar. 12 - Hours after signing his $1.9 trillion stimulus bill into law on Thursday, President Joe Biden prepared to tell Americans in a televised address he is taking aggressive action to speed COVID-19 vaccinations and move the country closer to normality by July 4.

Biden signed the measure, designed to bring relief to Americans and boost the economy, with Vice President Kamala Harris at his side in the Oval Office. The package is a major political victory for the Democratic president some 50 days into his administration.     more details

MARCH 11, 2021
White House Daily Briefing
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki held a briefing shortly after President Biden signed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, also known as the “American Rescue Plan.” She announced direct deposits for stimulus checks will start in the coming days and spoke about other benefits of the bill. She also previewed President Biden’s primetime address, saying it will focus on COVID-19's impact on the country and how the nation moves forward from the pandemic.
Biden to Meet Virtually With Quad Leaders from Japan, India, Australia

Mar. 12 - WASHINGTON—U.S. President Joe Biden will hold an online meeting on Friday with the leaders of Japan, India, and Australia, the White House said on Tuesday, the first leader-level meeting of a four-country group that seeks to promote a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific region in response to increased military and economic aggression by China’s ruling communist party in the region.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the meeting of the “Quad” countries showed the importance placed by Biden on U.S. allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region.     more details

On Wings of Eagles: The Inspiring True Story of One Man's Patriotic Spirit--and His Heroic Mission to Save His Countrymen

#1 bestselling author Ken Follett tells the inspiring true story of the Middle East hostage crisis that began in 1978, and of the unconventional means one American used to save his countrymen. . . . 

When two of his employees were held hostage in a heavily guarded prison fortress in Iran, one man took matters into his own hands: businessman H. Ross Perot. His team consisted of a group of volunteers from the executive ranks of his corporation, handpicked and trained by a retired Green Beret officer. To free the imprisoned Americans, they would face incalculable odds on a mission that only true heroes would have dared. . .
 quoted from


President Joe Biden Addresses Asian-American Hate Crimes, COVID Vaccines & More In Coronavirus Memorial Speech

Mar. 12 - President Joe Biden marked the one year of coronavirus with an inclusive speech on Thursday (March 11).

The 78-year-old Commander in Chief addressed a handful of issues, including Asian-American hate crimes and the vaccine roll out, all while honoring the 500,000+ lives that were lost.

“No more searching day and night for an appointment for you and your loved ones,” he mentioned about the roll out, adding that all adults, no matter what age, will be able to get the vaccine by May.

He continued, “If we do our part, if we do this together, by July the fourth, there is a good chance that you, your family and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or your neighborhood and have a cookout or a BBQ and celebrate Independence Day. After this long hard year, that will make this Independence Day something truly special, where we not only mark our independence as a nation, but we begin to mark our independence from this virus.”

Biden also denounced rising “vicious hate attacks” on Asian-Americans: “So many of them are fellow Americans, are on the frontlines of this pandemic trying to save lives – and still are forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America. It’s wrong. It’s un-American. And it must stop.”     source from

MARCH 11, 2021
President Biden Addresses Nation on One-Year Anniversary of Coronavirus Pandemic
President Biden addressed the nation from the White House on the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic hitting the U.S. and the shutdowns that resulted from the virus. During his remarks, the president announced that he will order states to make all adults in the U.S. eligible for COVID-19 vaccines by May 1. He also discussed reopening schools and increasing the number of vaccination sites across the country. At the beginning of his remarks, President Biden said that to date, the number of Americans who died from the virus is 527,726. 
WATCH LIVE: Biden addresses nation on one-year anniversary of Covid-19 shutdowns — 3/11/2021
Mar. 12, 2021
Kosovo Sends Entire Platoon of Peacekeepers To Aid US in the Middle East

Mar. 12 - ​The restoration of neoliberal-neoconservative axis of interventionism in Washington is proceeding apace, with the announcement that Kosovo has sent its first contingent of peacekeepers abroad
.
The renegade province of Serbia, recognized by the US as an independent state since 2008 but in reality at best a vassal principality, held a ceremony on Tuesday for a platoon – 32 troops in total – that departed for Kuwait, and from there to parts unknown.

AP reported that the troops will be deployed for six months after "a request from the US Central Command" and will be under the command of the Iowa National Guard.     continue to read

3/11/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Mar. 11, 2021

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Best Books of 2018 --The Economist
Fascism: A Warning
A personal and urgent examination of Fascism in the twentieth century and how its legacy shapes today’s world, written by one of America’s most admired public servants, the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state

A Fascist, observes Madeleine Albright, “is someone who claims to speak for a whole nation or group, is utterly unconcerned with the rights of others, and is willing to use violence and whatever other means are necessary to achieve the goals he or she might have.” 

The twentieth century was defined by the clash between democracy and Fascism, a struggle that created uncertainty about the survival of human freedom and left millions dead. Given the horrors of that experience, one might expect the world to reject the spiritual successors to Hitler and Mussolini should they arise in our era. In Fascism: A Warning, Madeleine Albright draws on her experiences as a child in war-torn Europe and her distinguished career as a diplomat to question that assumption.

Fascism, as she shows, not only endured through the twentieth century but now presents a more virulent threat to peace and justice than at any time since the end of World War II.  The momentum toward democracy that swept the world when the Berlin Wall fell has gone into reverse.  The United States, which historically championed the free world, is led by a president who exacerbates division and heaps scorn on democratic institutions.  In many countries, economic, technological, and cultural factors are weakening the political center and empowering the extremes of right and left.  Contemporary leaders such as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are employing many of the tactics used by Fascists in the 1920s and 30s.


Fascism: A Warning is a book for our times that is relevant to all times.  Written  by someone who has not only studied history but helped to shape it, this call to arms teaches us the lessons we must understand and the questions we must answer if we are to save ourselves from repeating the tragic errors of the past.     source

March 10, 2021
President Biden Hosts Event with Johnson & Johnson and Merck CEOs
President Biden, Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky, and Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier spoke about the two companies' partnership to produce additional supply of the newly-approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The president thanked the CEOs of the rival pharmaceutical companies for coming together and “putting patriotism and public health first.” He announced the federal government would be purchasing an additional 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for “maximum flexibility” and the need to be prepared for the unexpected. President Biden told reporters the U.S. would share its potential vaccine surplus with the rest of the world once Americans are “taken care of first.” He also previewed his primetime address planned for the following night, saying he would lay out the next phase of his administration’s COVID-19 response and what he would ask of the American people.
Biden announces plans to purchase 100 million more Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine doses

Mar. 11 - Washington (CNN)President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he is directing the US Department of Health and Human Services to purchase an additional 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine.


The administration and the pharmaceutical giant still need to negotiate when these 100 million doses will be available but it will likely happen later this year as Johnson & Johnson works to ramp up production.

"There is light at the end of this dark tunnel of this past year, but we cannot let our guard down now or assume victory is inevitable. Together we're going to get through this pandemic and usher in a healthier and more hopeful future," Biden said alongside the CEOs of Johnson & Johnson and Merck, which is helping to manufacture the Johnson & Johnson's vaccine under a deal brokered by the White House.     continue to read

March 10, 2021
White House Daily Briefing
Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, held a briefing with reporters to discuss news of the day and other policy topics, including the American Rescue Plan, vaccine distribution, and the president’s upcoming meetings with Asian leaders. At the top of the briefing, former U.S. ambassador to Mexico and now White House Southern Border Coordinator Roberta Jacobson updated reporters on the president’s immigration policy and on border security.


National Security Council Coordinator for the U.S. Southern Border Roberta Jacobson speaks at a press briefing at the White House on Wednesday
Biden administration says it’s struggling for right message on immigration
“I will certainly agree that we are trying to walk and chew gum at the same time,” said Ambassador Roberta Jacobson.


Mar. 11 - President Joe Biden’s coordinator for the southern border acknowledged on Wednesday that the administration sometimes struggled to convey an ultimately promising message to migrants while also urging them not to travel to the U.S. until the country’s immigration system was better equipped.

The remarks from Ambassador Roberta Jacobson, a special assistant to the president who previously served as the U.S. envoy to Mexico, come as the southern border is experiencing a rapid influx of unaccompanied migrant children — provoking criticism from Republicans and some Democrats of the administration’s handling of the situation.

“I think, when you look at the issue of mixed messages, it is difficult at times to convey both hope in the future and the danger that is now. And that is what we’re trying to do,” Jacobson told reporters at a White House press briefing.

“I will certainly agree that we are trying to walk and chew gum at the same time. We are trying to convey to everybody in the region that we will have legal processes for people in the future, and we’re standing those up as soon as we can,” Jacobson said.
“But at the same time, you cannot come through irregular means,” she added. “It’s dangerous, and the majority of people will be sent out of the United States, because that is the truth of it. We want to be honest with people. And so we are trying to send both messages.”

Smugglers, however, are only propagating the message that the U.S. southern border is ready for a surge of migrants, Jacobson warned, which is not the case. “It’s really important that that message get out, because the perception is not the same as the reality,” she said.

Although numerous administration officials have emphasized in recent weeks that now is not the time for migrants to seek entry to the U.S., conservative critics of Biden’s current immigration policy have blamed the president for not more forcefully discouraging people from Central American countries from traveling north.     continue to read

3/10/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | Mar. 10, 2021

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Change: How to Make Big Things Happen

Most of what we know about how ideas spread comes from bestselling authors who give us a compelling picture of a world, in which "influencers" are king, "sticky" ideas "go viral," and good behavior is "nudged" forward. The problem is that the world they describe is a world where information spreads, but beliefs and behaviors stay the same.
 
When it comes to lasting change in what we think or the way we live, the dynamics are different: beliefs and behaviors are not transmitted from person to person in the simple way that a virus is. The real story of social change is more complex. When we are exposed to a new idea, our social networks guide our responses in striking and surprising ways.
 
Drawing on deep-yet-accessible research and fascinating examples from the spread of coronavirus to the success of the Black Lives Matter movement, the failure of Google+, and the rise of political polarization, Change presents groundbreaking and paradigm-shifting new science for understanding what drives change, and how we can change the world around us.     source

MARCH 9, 2021
White House Daily Briefing
Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, fielded questions on news of the day and the president’s agenda, including immigration policy, the president’s economic relief plan, and the possibility of a vaccine passport. She also responded to a question on the incident at the White House involving the Bidens younger dog, Major, that resulted in a “minor injury” of a guest. Press Secretary Psaki was joined by White House National Economic Council Deputy Director Bharat Ramamurti gave brief remarks at the top of the briefing and answered a few questions on economic relief for small businesses
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council Bharat Ramamurti, March 9, 2021 

​MR. RAMAMURTI:  Good afternoon.  Earlier today, the President had the chance to visit a couple of small businesses here in town.  One is a locally owned hardware store that’s been around for 150 years.  The other, which leases part of the same space, is an urban farm that was founded just eight years ago.

 
Like other small businesses across the country, these companies help serve their communities.  The hardware store sponsors Little League teams and holds events with the Cub Scouts.  The urban farm serves hundreds of local households and supplies food for local farmers markets. 
 
Unfortunately, a lot of companies like this, with fewer than 20 employees, were left out of previous rounds of small-business relief.  Too many mom-and-pop businesses and too many minority-owned businesses were left behind, while larger, well-connected businesses got funds quickly.
 
The President and the Vice President have made it a top priority to ensure that this round of small business relief is distributed more equitably and that the companies that may not have gotten relief before have a shot at getting relief now.  So, today we want to share some early results of how this administration is already making good on that commitment.      quoted from


Banning Major and Champ from the White House is a bunch of malarkey

Mar. 10 - (CNN)Come on, man! The first shelter dog to live in the White House, Major the German Shepherd, has entered and exited as if through a revolving door. As someone in one of the nearly 60% (depending on who you ask) US households that own a pet, I'm not happy with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden's decision to send Major and his older companion, Champ, back to Delaware after an apparent "biting incident."     continue to read



President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Mar 8, 2021.
In message to China, Biden to meet Australia, India, Japan PMs


Mar. 10 - WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden will hold first-ever joint talks on Friday (Mar 12) with the leaders of Australia, India and Japan, boosting an emerging four-way alliance often cast as a bulwark against China.

It will be one of the first summits, albeit in virtual format, for Biden, who has vowed to revive US alliances in the wake of the disarray of Donald Trump's administration.

"That President Biden has made this one of his earliest multilateral engagements speaks to the importance that we place on close cooperation with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Tuesday.

Amid rising tensions with China, it will mark the first meeting at the leaders' level of the so-called "Quad".

Both Psaki and India, which earlier announced the participation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said that the talks would take up climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic - two key priorities for Biden.     continue to read

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