United States | News & Politics

Cross post from https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/30692457

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The US has rejected a Canadian proposal to establish a task force that would tackle Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers, as the Trump administration re-evaluates its positions across multilateral organizations, according to people familiar with the matter.

Canada, which holds this year’s revolving G-7 presidency, will host a summit of foreign ministers in Charlevoix, Québec, next week. In negotiations to formulate a joint statement on maritime issues, the US is pushing to strengthen language around China while watering down wording on Russia, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters that aren’t public.

The term “shadow fleet” is used to refer to aging oil tankers concealed to overcome Western sanctions imposed on Moscow since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. [...]

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Cross post from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/30692026

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In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, asked for unanimous consent (UC) to pass a simple resolution he introduced condemning Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children and called on Russia to work with the international community to return all abducted Ukrainian children to their families.

Since Russia’s full-scale war of aggression started in 2022, the Russian government has abducted, forcibly transferred, or facilitated the illegal deportation of at least 20,000 Ukrainian children. Senate Republicans rejected the resolution. They also objected to every other straightforward resolution offered by Senate Democrats, including urging Russian President Putin to end the war, clarifying that Russia started the war, stating that Russia committed war crimes, reaffirming the U.S.-Ukraine relationship and support for its sovereignty, and clarifying that no nation should forcibly seize territory of another.

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Georgetown Law School’s dean rejected on Thursday a warning from the top federal prosecutor for Washington D.C. that his office will not hire the school’s students if it does not eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs (DEI).

US House Republicans unveiled a spending bill Saturday that would keep federal agencies funded through 30 September, pushing ahead with a go-it-alone strategy that seems certain to spark a major confrontation with Democrats over the contours of government spending.

The 99-page bill would provide a slight boost to defense programs while trimming non-defense programs below 2024 budget year levels. That approach is likely to be a non-starter for most Democrats who have long insisted that defense and non-defense spending move in the same direction.

It got 100,000 signatures in its first 11 days. I know quite a few of people on the fediverse are fed up of seeing bot posts about violence against musk cars to distract people from the real problems, so do something that will make a change. But you'll also need to help others who feel the same and who aren't around here.

The first time around, there were millions of signatures on the petition so you'll need to help spread the word about the website. Tell your neighbourhood, your friends and family, work colleagues, and if you're out and hear people moaning, tell them about it.

Maybe someone can make a separate post to brainstorm ideas? The instance I'm currently on has very few political channels, so maybe you can re-post this elsewhere.

President Trump’s shifting positions and outright lies have presented the American public with dueling narratives at every turn.

“He says so much, you can’t really pin him down,” said Julian E. Zelizer, a Princeton history professor and editor of a book of essays about Mr. Trump’s first term. “The point isn’t to have a contradiction, the point is to have cover.”

Tony Schwartz, the ghostwriter of Mr. Trump’s book “The Art of the Deal,” has said the president has one goal. “His aim is never accuracy,” Mr. Schwartz wrote in an opinion essay during Mr. Trump’s first term, “it’s domination.”

Experts say the dissonance can become dangerous. “Once you undermine consistency, the shared sense of reality, you’re undermining the basis of democracy,” said Jason Stanley, a Yale professor who has written books about propaganda and the erasure of history. “If there’s no shared sense of reality, we can’t collectively make decisions. So the only decision maker will be the disrupter in chief.”

Mr. Stanley said Mr. Trump’s contradictions boil down to a simple truth.

“If you’re constantly contradicting yourself,” he said, “you’re constantly lying.”

Move comes even as Trump has tried to show that Musk’s cost-slashing agency doesn’t have the final say

"They are not being talked to like they are children. We are helping them understand why their strategy is a bad idea," the source said.

Fuuuuuuuck you!

Said a second House Democrat who spoke anonymously: "It doesn't surprise me leadership is very upset. They gave specific instructions not to do that."

Fuuuuuuck you!

The Supreme Court moves at a glacial pace. Sure, it’s got a bit more to do now with the Trump Administration creating new constitutional crises on a daily basis, but for the most part, it’s willing to sit back and let cases pile up until the conservative majority can undermine rights by issuing an 82-page op-ed that makes it clear the law will be whatever the justices want it to be.

The list of invitees at the White House crypto summit illustrates the tight link between Trump and new cohort of political donors.