ANONYMOUS - OUR VOICE

Officer Kim Potter Should Be Awarded For Killing Daunte Wright

armageddon Officer Kim Potter Should Be Awarded For Killing Daunte Wright

By Theodore Shoebat Learning about the real Daunte Wright, Kim Potter should be awarded: source https://shoebat.com/2021/04/15/officer-...

Could Egypt See Another Revolution In A Few Years, Or Perhaps, Will Tigray Have Intervention Sooner Than Expected?

<a href="https://shoebat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04152021d.png"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-143564 jetpack-lazy-image" data-lazy-sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" data-lazy-srcset="https://shoebat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04152021d-300x157.png 300w, https://shoebat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04152021d-1024x536.png 1024w, https://shoebat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04152021d-768x402.png 768w, https://shoebat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04152021d.png 1200w" height="157" loading="lazy" src="https://shoebat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04152021d-300x157.png?is-pending-load=1" srcset="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" width="300" /></a>
<img alt="" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-143564" height="157" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" src="https://shoebat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04152021d-300x157.png" srcset="https://shoebat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04152021d-300x157.png 300w, https://shoebat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04152021d-1024x536.png 1024w, https://shoebat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04152021d-768x402.png 768w, https://shoebat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/04152021d.png 1200w" width="300" />
Last year, Egypt’s population reached 100 million, for the continually growing African crossroads between the Middle East, East, Africa, and North Africa by land, and Europe by sea puts her in a critical position in the world. At the same time, Egypt is also a very poor country plagued by corruption and most importantly, an inability to feed herself from her own resource, and so continually stands at the edge of revolution.
According to recent news, the Russian foreign minister met with Egyptian President Sisi to discuss Egypt’s concerns over Ethiopia’s Nile Dam.
<blockquote readability="74.854744996772">
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Egypt this week to discuss Cairo’s concerns over Ethiopia’s Nile Dam, as well as joint infrastructure cooperation and defense ties.
Lavrov arrived in the Egyptian capital Sunday to meet with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Lavrov’s counterpart, Sameh Shoukry.
Among the topics of discussion was the El-Dabaa nuclear power plant being built by a Russian firm northwest of Alexandria and a nearly $7 billion Russian industrial zone in Port Said near the Suez Canal.
During a press conference Monday following their meeting, Lavrov and Shoukry said they also discussed the civil war in Syria, where Russia has supported President Bashar al-Assad and pushed for countries to reestablish ties Damascus after a decade of civil war. Egypt recently joined the United Arab Emirates in questioning Syria’s 2011 expulsion from the Arab league.
Lavrov also discussed Libya’s stalemated conflict, one of particular interest to Cairo as the conflict lies just beyond Egypt’s western border.
Shoukry in the press conference suggested Cairo is seeking Russia’s support in Egypt’s dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
The Egyptian foreign minister said his government relies on Russia “to push parties to refrain from unilateral actions,” in likely reference to the Ethiopian government’s promise to fill the dam’s reservoir for a second time before July without coming to agreement with downstream countries Egypt and Sudan.
The latest round of talks over the dam fell through last week as Egypt ramped up pressure on Addis Ababa with a military show of force. Egyptian officials blamed Addis Ababa for refusing outside mediation.
Egypt is facing lesser support from the new US administration of President Joe Biden after enjoying strong backing from the Trump administration on the dam.
Lavrov on Monday said his government had not been asked to mediate the talks, but said he supported a settlement led by the African Union to the crisis.
Sisi also discussed military and security ties with Lavrov, according to a statement by Sisi’s office.
Sisi, a former top general who overthrew, with broad popular support, Egypt’s first democratically elected president in a 2013 coup, was highly praised Donald Trump when Trump was president.
Russia has made significant inroads into supplying Egypt with military arms, moving forward a deal to transfer some two dozen Su-35 fighter aircraft to Cairo despite the threat of economic sanctions from Washington.
Sisi’s 2013 coup and subsequent bloody crackdown on dissent led to a rift with the US administration of President Barack Obama, which suspended certain arms sales to Egypt until 2015.
Egypt’s government has continued to diversify its purchases of foreign military arms, also purchasing fighter jets from France.
Lavrov headed next to Tehran, where he has coordinated with Iran’s government over its ongoing negotiations with European Union countries over an eventual return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement with the United States. (<a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/04/russian-fm-talks-nile-dam-defense-cooperation-egypt-trip">source</a>)
</blockquote>
Ethiopia and Egypt have been fighting for years over the construction of a dam in Ethiopia on her side of the Nile, which holds one of two sources for the river (the Blue Nile part). Egypt deems most attempts to do anything to the Nile to be a direct threat to her interests, since she is at the “bottom” of the river as it flows and is most vulnerable to any changes. Egypt will make a legal argument about this based on <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/2/egypt-disputes-ethiopiarenaissancedam.html">a 1929 treaty</a> with the British allowing Egypt to veto changes to the Nile that she believes may threaten her interests, to which Ethiopia responds that those apply to the White Nile, and not her part, which is the Blue Nile. Relations have also deteriorated so much that violence has been threatened between the two nations.
In November 2020, I wrote a piece about Ethiopia-Russian relations, noting that Ethiopia is both a historical power in East Africa as well as is known to maintain good relations with both the US/NATO and Russia/USSR alike, and how she has relations with Russia that go back centuries. During the 20th century, Russia eventually overthrew the ruler Haile Selassie after failing to, in their accounting, fully ‘pull’ him to ‘their side’, and replaced him with the Communist Derg dictatorship, to which the US and NATO gave strong support to already existing separatists groups in Tigray, of which that conflict has extended through today and is part of the current Tigrayan crisis.
I noted there is a possibility that there could be a US/NATO style intervention in Tigray, in the name of ‘human rights’. In the context of Egypt, we know that after Israel, Egypt is the next largest recipient of US foreign aid, and this is for geopolitical reasons.
Egypt wants all the water they can get. They don’t want Ethiopia putting up any dams. They are also meeting more closely with the Russians, which the US/NATO does not support. Considering that Russia has long ties with Ethiopia, one may wonder if Egypt is asking Russia to talk to Ethiopia.
It is not that Egypt is going to “pressure” Russia at all, or the US/NATO for that matter. What seems to be here is a matter of interests, and in the view of the US/NATO, if they can keep some relative control over Egypt for the time.
Returning to earlier, if the US and NATO- as now the US will NEVER go anywhere without NATO because of the rebalancing of the power distribution that is going to happen in the future -declare that Tigray has been suffering at the hands of ‘horrible human rights abuses’, such as which the news media has been quietly but consistently reporting one, then they can seize control over any access to an Ethiopian dam with ‘humanitarian intervention’ and prevent it from being built, thus pacifying Egypt. The Russians would side with Ethiopia, but considering the number and nature of objectively horrible crimes taking place in Tigray, which there is legitimate blame that can be placed on Ethiopia and Eritrea for it, means that Russia will have a hard time backing them without appearing as thought they are backing a real ‘bad guy’. Thus support will most likely be verbal, and limited to some weapons shipments or small operations, but unlikely a lot more. This would also give Europe a foothold in East Africa again, as she did so during the late 19th and early 20th century leading up to World War I. This is not to mention the ability to help further secure not just mineral operations, but new <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/apr/14/environmental-campaigners-condemn-uganda-total-cnooc-eacop-east-african-oil-pipeline">oil pipelines that the French</a> are building in nearby Tanzania.
Given these conditions, it is not unreasonable to suspect that if Egypt does not have another “revolution”- and a pro US/NATO one -there may be a hastening of events in Tigray to make sure that the current status quo is the same and if not, becomes more amenable to the US/NATO side.
<h3><a>Donate now to help support the work of this site. When you donate, you are not donating to just any commentary group, but one that is endlessly observing the news, reading between the lines and separating hysteria and perception from reality. In shoebat.com, we are working every day, tirelessly investigating global trends and providing data and analysis to tell you what lies for the future.</a></h3>
 
 
source <a href="https://shoebat.com/2021/04/15/could-egypt-see-another-revolution-in-a-few-years-or-perhaps-will-tigray-have-intervention-sooner-than-expected/">https://shoebat.com/2021/04/15/could-egypt-see-another-revolution-in-a-few-years-or-perhaps-will-tigray-have-intervention-sooner-than-expected/</a>

armageddon Could Egypt See Another Revolution In A Few Years, Or Perhaps, Will Tigray Have Intervention Sooner Than Expected?

Last year, Egypt’s population reached 100 million, for the continually growing African crossroads between the Middle East, East, Africa, a...

Biden makes good on his promise to punish Russia for the massive SolarWinds hack

<div class="c-float-left">
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1618532564_125_56335" data-cdata='{"asset_id":19433750,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TuT0QLbr3Ev0se9v6mTleNSsrYQ=/0x0:840x214/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rmxmnKBnlfU5h86Wnu1mnFzBRd4=/0x0:840x214/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sHt-wGMNVoHDOqP6wSiEJ9JINNs=/0x0:840x214/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hITirzaU6GMPrOobhXhFm3nxa7o=/0x0:840x214/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Zz-6LOuM8kFJpE1w--HBsyko0vs=/0x0:840x214/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uDCeRWXZA9NVuNXmeB0vEiNFdR0=/0x0:840x214/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sKGkEMFjRgxqPrjKg-vktXBVL6k=/0x0:840x214/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jkUvXTW4fQOLHN8zFyEsICN7F8g=/0x0:840x214/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ja0zKqPqO_kOmbVYH-BheK8LDSo=/0x0:840x214/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="Open Sourced logo" data-upload-width="840" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9indh3vUqeOVX6_RpyVYHqtr2tE=/0x0:840x214/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6wfj5r7x_PzmkizGIIBaNJ9QhZ4=/0x0:840x214/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zo7IA05WcPqiet8eRAEqVg7uDLY=/0x0:840x214/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4qLRQ8PPHsa98KZSiqivHKgNaGw=/0x0:840x214/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pQCwf5gGIEeFkMEy_zNh6rA9Jpk=/0x0:840x214/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rnyRIV-v_2lMw_dLqcmEayj__lk=/0x0:840x214/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rfzpn72Dv504LsYEMn6fyKLLv2U=/0x0:840x214/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/674czWvVLcYvd3V1hJucJX7M_Vc=/0x0:840x214/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wqEhpUGEfNJmOwIt1jVwele8l4M=/0x0:840x214/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8OMsyfRtzq9gLLWcX6LZKKVfsys=/0x0:840x214/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:840x214):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19433750/open_sourced_story_logo.png 1920w" /></picture></figure>
</div>
The Biden administration has officially blamed and sanctioned Russia for its role in the <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/12/14/22174314/government-hack-solarwinds-cozybear-russia">massive SolarWinds hack</a> that compromised computer systems in multiple government agencies as well as private companies.
In an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/15/executive-order-on-blocking-property-with-respect-to-specified-harmful-foreign-activities-of-the-government-of-the-russian-federation/">executive order</a> issued April 15, President Biden levied a variety of economic sanctions against several Russian financial institutions, technology companies, and individuals designated as having participated in “<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/15/fact-sheet-imposing-costs-for-harmful-foreign-activities-by-the-russian-government/">harmful foreign activities</a>,” including but not limited to the hack.
In a short speech addressing today’s actions, Biden said his administration concluded that the Russian government “interfered in our elections” and was behind the “totally inappropriate” SolarWinds hack.
Biden said he spoke with Russian president Putin on Wednesday to tell him about the measures, but also hoped that the countries would have a stable and productive relationship moving forward, possibly with the two leaders meeting in person for a summit in the summer.
“I was clear with President Putin that we could have gone further, but I chose not to do so,” Biden said. “Now is the time to de-escalate.”
First reported last December, the series of attacks, linked to software made by the Texas-based software company SolarWinds, infiltrated at least nine federal agencies, including the Commerce, Energy, and Justice Departments, as well as more than 100 private companies, the Biden administration <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/02/17/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-and-deputy-national-security-advisor-for-cyber-and-emerging-technology-anne-neuberger-february-17-2021/">said in February</a>. Officials were initially hesitant to assign blame for the hack — or even acknowledge its existence — under the Trump administration, but they would eventually say the attack was “likely Russian in origin.” Trump said very little and even suggested that China, not Russia, might have been behind it. Russia has always denied any involvement.
The hacks are believed to have begun in March 2020 through network monitoring software called Orion Platform, which is made by SolarWinds. The hackers were able to insert malware into Orion Platform software updates which, once installed, gave hackers access to those systems. This is called a supply chain attack. At one point, there were fears that the attack affected thousands of SolarWinds’ government and private clients. The hack was only discovered when a cybersecurity company that makes hacking tools <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/08/technology/fireeye-hacked-russians.html">found</a> that its own systems had been breached.
In contrast to his predecessor, Biden — then as a president-elect — said his administration would do everything possible to improve its own cybersecurity defenses, which the hack made clear were very much lacking, and that the breach would be a “top priority.” Biden also promised “substantial costs” for the perpetrators.
Four months later, the Biden administration is formally naming the Russian Intelligence Service (SVR) — which it says includes the groups known as Cozy Bear, APT29, and The Dukes — as being behind the hack. That group has also been blamed for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/us/russian-hackers-read-obamas-unclassified-emails-officials-say.html">previous hacks on government systems</a>, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/7/13/17568710/mueller-russia-gru-email-hacking-indictment-trump">Democratic National Committee</a>, and <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/16/21327021/russia-hackers-covid19-coronavirus-vaccine-attacks-uk-us-canada">even institutions</a> doing research on Covid-19 and vaccine development. It’s long been linked to Russian intelligence, which Russia has long denied.
The National Security Agency (NSA), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also released on April 15 a <a href="https://media.defense.gov/2021/Apr/15/2002621240/-1/-1/0/CSA_SVR_TARGETS_US_ALLIES_UOO13234021.PDF/CSA_SVR_TARGETS_US_ALLIES_UOO13234021.PDF">cybersecurity advisory</a> about the vulnerabilities Russian hackers have exploited — and continue to exploit, as the advisory notably pointed out — in software from companies including Fortinet, Synacor, Pulse Secure, Citrix, and VMware. (Pulse Secure told Recode that the issue identified in its software has <a href="https://kb.pulsesecure.net/articles/Pulse_Security_Advisories/SA44101/">since been patched</a>.)
Biden’s executive order doesn't just address the hack or Russia’s other cyber malfeasances. It also says the Russian government has tried to undermine free and fair elections in the United States and its allies, targeted dissidents and journalists, and violated international law by refusing to respect other nation-states’ territorial integrity. The sanctions will also apply to individuals associated with the occupation of Crimea; reports that the Russian government <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21307008/russian-bounties-us-troops-afghanistan-trump-explained">paid bounties</a> to Taliban militants to kill American soldiers will be “handled through diplomatic, military and intelligence channels”; and 10 Russians who work at the country’s diplomatic mission in Washington have been expelled.
Russia’s response to the executive order, for now, is to promise that there will be a response.
“Such aggressive behavior will certainly receive a decisive rebuff, and the response to sanctions will be inevitable,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova <a href="https://www.interfax.ru/russia/761436">told a Russian news agency</a>.
<a href="http://www.vox.com/open-sourced">Open Sourced</a> is made possible by Omidyar Network. All Open Sourced content is editorially independent and produced by our journalists.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22385555/biden-solarwinds-hack-russia-sanctions">https://www.vox.com/recode/22385555/biden-solarwinds-hack-russia-sanctions</a>

vox Biden makes good on his promise to punish Russia for the massive SolarWinds hack

The Biden administration has officially blamed and sanctioned Russia for its role in the massive SolarWinds hack that compromised compu...

Will Biden’s Russia sanctions actually stop Putin?

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bAOsy8DOkE43JPJ_SAGS6220CHU=/0x21:4412x2331/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22446768/1231790600.jpg" /></div>
Russia can’t seem to quit antagonizing the United States and its friends. In just the past year, the Kremlin <a href="https://www.vox.com/22187866/usa-cyber-hack-solar-winds-microsoft">hacked its way into the computer systems of the US government and Fortune 500 companies</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/3/16/22334415/intelligence-2020-election-russia-iran-china-interference-influence">interfered in the 2020 election</a>, and amassed a <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-amasses-troops-near-u-s-ally-ukraine-what-putin-n1263894">large military force on Ukraine’s border</a>.
As punishment, President <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/15/fact-sheet-imposing-costs-for-harmful-foreign-activities-by-the-russian-government/">Joe Biden</a> on Thursday announced a series of measures designed to, as the White House put it, “defend our national interests and impose costs for Russian Government actions that seek to harm us.”
Those <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/04/15/executive-order-on-blocking-property-with-respect-to-specified-harmful-foreign-activities-of-the-government-of-the-russian-federation/">measures</a> include sanctioning six Russian technology firms that support the Russian intelligence service’s cyber program; 32 entities and individuals involved in election interference and disinformation campaigns; limits on US financial interaction with Russia’s sovereign debt; and, in coordination with allies, eight figures “associated” with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The US also expelled 10 diplomats from Moscow’s embassy in Washington, DC, and officially blamed the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (known as the SVR) for hacking SolarWinds software to spy on American officials and businesses.
The US surely took or will take covert action, too. Last week, White House press secretary <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/04/09/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-and-secretary-of-transportation-pete-buttigieg-april-9-2021/">Jen Psaki</a> reiterated the administration’s message that Russia would suffer “consequences, some unseen and some seen” for its many aggressions. It’s unclear what that might be, but experts assume a cyberattack is most likely.
Any way you look at it, this is a significant decision by Biden that most analysts say will cause real pain to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his cronies. “This is definitely the biggest sanctions action toward Russia since the start of the Ukraine crisis in 2014,” said Edward Fishman, a former State Department sanctions official.
The real question, though, isn’t whether Russia will suffer financially from these measures, but whether they will compel Putin to end his aggressions toward the US and its friends.
The consensus among Democrats, Republicans, and current and former US government officials I spoke to: They won’t.
“These sanctions are punitive and will hurt the Russian economy, but they don’t provide any inducement for better behavior,” Angela Stent, who served as the US national intelligence officer for Russia from 2004 to 2006, told me.
After an address about his Russia actions later in the day, a reporter asked if Putin gave him any indication that he’d change his behavior. Biden didn’t say “yes,” but he did say that in conversations “I urged him to respond appropriately, not to exceed, because we can move as well.”
That doesn’t mean the measures are feckless. Biden may have found a larger strategic reason to hold back: making clear to Putin that if he continues to threaten America and its friends — namely Ukraine — he’ll face worse punishments. Much worse.
Top Democrats clearly want the White House to go further than it did to castigate Putin.
Sen. <a href="https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=B732B3E7-62B7-4DF6-B06B-1AB98F44F197">Mark Warner</a> (D-VA), the Senate Intelligence Committee chair, and Sen. <a href="https://www.menendez.senate.gov/newsroom/press/chairman-menendez-statement-on-biden-administrations-sanctions-package-on-russia">Robert Menendez</a> (D-NJ), the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, separately called the sanctions and expulsion package a “first step.”
A Democratic Congressional aide summed up the general feeling in the party like this: “This was quite a punch in the face [to Russia], but we need a combo.”
They believe the US could have done a lot more to inflict real pain on Putin and Russia.
Tim Morrison, who served as President Donald Trump’s top National Security Council official for Europe, has a few ideas in mind.
Biden could’ve sanctioned companies building the Russia-to-Germany <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/14/nord-stream-russia-germany-481437">Nord Stream 2 pipeline</a>. Moscow sees the <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/04/09/sanctions-wont-stop-nord-stream-2-diplomacy-will/">95 percent</a> completed pipeline as a way to make money, and Berlin sees it as a much-needed energy delivery system. But Washington, under both Trump and Biden, views the pipeline as a naked effort by the Kremlin to extend its influence into the heart of Europe.
If the US had sanctioned the many firms involved in construction, as <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/14/nord-stream-russia-germany-481437">mandated by Congress</a>, it would deal a big blow to Putin. “Kill it,” Morrison told me. “Kill it now.” However, the Biden administration is looking to appoint a <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/07/biden-envoy-nord-stream-2-479706">Nord Stream 2 special envoy</a> with the express purpose of making sure the pipeline is never finished.
Biden was asked why he didn’t place sanctions over Nord Stream 2 during his Thursday afternoon address. It’s “a complicated issue affecting our allies in Europe,” the president responded, adding “that still is an issue that is in play.”
Morrison, who’s now at the Hudson Institute think tank in Washington, DC, also said Biden should have closed <a href="https://sanfrancisco.mid.ru/en_US/russian-consulates">all five Russian consulates</a> in the US.
Those tougher actions would show Putin the US was really serious about stopping him.
“We’re holding things back. We shouldn’t be holding things back. It’s going to be perceived by Putin as what it is: unserious,” Morrison told me. Putin is “a dime-store magician, not a strategic genius, but he can read people. That’s why he’s still alive.”
That Biden didn’t go as far as he could have means Putin is unlikely to stop the cyber espionage, election interference, and other actions that put him on America’s bad side.
The latest measures “are unlikely to change Putin’s calculations in any fundamental way,” said John Sipher, who formerly ran the CIA’s Russia operations. “Putin will continue to use asymmetric means to damage the West, and he has the tools and experience to weather any domestic economic or political damage created by the sanctions.”
But why not do everything Morrison prescribed and see if that would work? The reason, experts tell me, is that Biden thinks he can make Putin hesitate before authorizing the worst actions.
Fishman, the former US sanctions official now at the Atlantic Council think tank in DC, explained that sometimes the sanctions and punishments you don’t use can be more effective than the ones you do.
“Sanctions are most impactful as a threat, before they’re imposed, to deter future actions by another government,” he told me. “What Biden is showing is he’s not going to hold back when it comes to sanctions against Russia, but he has more arrows in his quiver.”
In other words, Putin not only has to deal with the fallout of these imposed penalties but also has to worry about future reprimands should he push Biden too far.
That “sword of Damocles,” as Fishman called it, comes in real handy right now. Russia has <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-amasses-troops-near-u-s-ally-ukraine-what-putin-n1263894">tens of thousands of troops and a convoy of tanks</a> near Ukraine’s border. The concern is Putin may be gearing up for yet another invasion of the country, designed to bolster the Kremlin-aligned forces who’ve been fighting in Ukraine since 2014.
Such a possibility is certainly weighing on Biden’s mind. In a Tuesday call with Putin, Biden “emphasized the United States’ unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” per a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/13/readout-of-president-joseph-r-biden-jr-call-with-president-vladimir-putin-of-russia-4-13/">White House readout</a>. “The President voiced our concerns over the sudden Russian military build-up in occupied Crimea and on Ukraine’s borders, and called on Russia to de-escalate tensions.”
If Biden had used up every sanctions and diplomatic option available to him, Putin may have just gone ahead and invaded Ukraine anyway because he’d have no further moves to fear, experts said. There’s always the chance of Biden authorizing direct military action or pushing to get Ukraine in NATO, but experts believe those would be steps too far — and Putin knows that.
Biden keeping more options in the holster, then, was the right move for the time being.
“Everything Putin has done merits stronger sanctions,” said Evelyn Farkas, a former top Pentagon official for Russia in the Obama administration. “But when we’re talking about ongoing foreign policy and diplomacy, this makes sense to me.”
There’s more Biden is trying to communicate with these measures, said Sipher, the former CIA agent. “This effort has a symbolic effect in that it makes clear that the new administration plans to focus on the Kremlin’s malign behavior, and Putin needs to assume that the Biden administration will consider future and stronger pushback.”
All told, Putin is unlikely to ever stop trying to weaken the US wherever he can, regardless of what the US does to him, his cronies, or his country. But if the Biden administration can at least stop Putin from doing the worst — like a larger invasion of a US partner nation in Europe — then these and the threat of further penalties would prove a success.
“These new sanctions are pretty kick-ass,” Farkas said.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22385716/russia-sanctions-biden-cyber-ukraine">https://www.vox.com/22385716/russia-sanctions-biden-cyber-ukraine</a>

vox Will Biden’s Russia sanctions actually stop Putin?

Russia can’t seem to quit antagonizing the United States and its friends. In just the past year, the Kremlin hacked its way into the comput...

The economy is improving — but the pandemic isn’t over yet

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SxpMTL-iKp63nwoGxLdSKmpeVCA=/0x682:4764x3176/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22446935/1232078567.jpg" /></div>
Economic data released Thursday shows some hopeful signs of a strong post-pandemic recovery, five weeks after the federal government implemented a sweeping Covid-19 recovery bill — and as increased rates of vaccinations continue to push more Americans back into their local economies.
According to the <a href="https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OPA/newsreleases/ui-claims/20210685.pdf">Department of Labor</a>, US jobless claims totaled 576,000 last week, the lowest number since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. That’s far below the 710,000 jobless claims <a href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/initial-jobless-claims-tumble-193-000-to-lowest-level-of-pandemic-51618492946">economists polled by the Wall Street Journal</a> expected to see this week, and the first time the Labor Department has reported under 600,000 unemployment claims in over a year. It’s a sign that the economy is recovering after months spent languishing in pandemic-induced recession.
“We’re gaining momentum here, which is just unquestionable,” Grant Thornton chief economist Diane Swonk told the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/15/business/stock-market-today">New York Times</a>, while also noting that so many unemployed people is no cause for celebration. “You’re still not popping champagne corks.”
Nevertheless, the numbers are vastly different from those that came at the beginning of the pandemic. When the US locked down for the first time last March, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/finance/548373-weekly-jobless-claims-fall-by-200k-to-lowest-level-since-march-2020?rl=1">jobless claims skyrocketed, peaking at 3.3 million a week</a>. Before that, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/4/16/21223049/unemployment-filings-high-great-depression">the highest total was 700,000 in 1982</a>. In 2021, 700,000 jobless claims has been taken as a good sign, down from 900,000 in early January.
Other economic indicators are also pointing to a potential recovery. For instance, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/15/business/stock-market-today">retail spending rose nearly 10 percent in March</a>. Double-digit gains in restaurants and bars suggest that the distribution of vaccines is at least partially responsible for the economic growth, as more people return to public settings with coronavirus protections in place.
But other <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/us-economy-march-retail-sales-coronavirus-recovery-11618450223">economists and business leaders</a> attribute much of this economic growth to the <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/03/09/974841565/heres-whats-in-the-american-rescue-plan-as-it-heads-toward-final-passage">$1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan</a> signed by President Joe Biden in March. While the rollout of a massive child tax credit and billions spent on housing assistance are aiding the overall economy, the $1,400 stimulus checks sent out to many Americans are seen as having led directly to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/retail-sales-economy-2f20ee18d72ed056412fde0fe94f9fae">current retail spending boom</a>, now at its highest point since May 2020. Shoppers spent more on clothing, sporting goods, and electronics in March than in any month in 2021, the <a href="https://www.census.gov/retail/marts/www/marts_current.pdf">Commerce Department</a> found.
“Spending will almost certainly drop back in April as some of the stimulus boost wears off,” <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/15/us-retail-sales-march-2021.html">Michael Pearce, senior US economist at Capital Economics</a>, told NBC News. “But with the vaccination rollout proceeding at a rapid pace and household finances in strong shape, we expect overall consumption growth to continue rebounding rapidly in the second quarter too.”
The economy is still a long way from the heights of February 2020, when 8.5 million more Americans had jobs than do today. A full recovery could take up to three years, though it’ll likely happen sooner, according to the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/14/u-s-labor-market-inches-back-from-the-covid-19-shock-but-recovery-is-far-from-complete/">Pew Research Center</a> — getting there will require curbing the Covid-19 epidemic, a goal the US is making progress toward but has not yet reached.
Good economic news doesn’t mean the pandemic — and all the problems it has created — are over. A full economic recovery is likely incumbent on the US reaching herd immunity (generally seen as when <a href="https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19/2020/12/15/22176555/anthony-fauci-covid-19-vaccine-herd-immunity-goal">70 to 85 percent of the public</a> has some immunity to Covid-19), ensuring the country is no longer at the mercy of coronavirus-induced shutdowns.
At the moment, Covid-19 cases nationally are on the rise, <a href="https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2021/04/14/why-michigan-covid-surge/7220320002/">especially in Michigan</a>, where children and adults under age 30 now make up 30 percent of Covid-infected patients statewide and hospitalizations are at highs not seen since last fall. Overall, the US is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html">averaging more than 70,000 cases</a> per day. The rate of vaccinations has also been increasing, with the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/12/covid-19-cases-deaths-vaccinations-daily-update.html">CDC regularly reporting record-breaking days</a>; at the moment, the US is vaccinating an average of 3.3 million people per day, according to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/covid-19-vaccine-doses.html">New York Times</a>. This has led to a situation that <a href="https://www.today.com/video/dr-fauci-it-s-a-race-between-the-vaccine-and-the-virus-108746821523">Dr. Anthony Fauci</a>, chief medical adviser to the president, has described as “a race between the vaccine and the virus.”
Despite this, there is some concern herd immunity may be further off than it could be, especially in regions with low levels of vaccine confidence and demand. <a href="https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=3695">A Quinnipiac University poll</a> released Wednesday found that roughly 45 percent of Republicans do not plan on getting vaccinated, suggesting the inroads Biden has tried to make to depoliticize the vaccine haven’t worked. Some states are already seeing a surplus of vaccines relative to demand. As of early April, Alabama had administered just 61.4 percent of its doses, an <a href="https://www.axios.com/america-coronavirus-vaccines-republicans-rural-states-34755cbf-384e-4539-bb45-68a775581f6f.html">Axios</a> analysis found.
If that lack of uptake is due to concern about the vaccine’s safety or efficacy, those numbers may change. Some research, including polling by the <a href="https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-march-2021/">Kaiser Family Foundation</a>, has found the number of Americans who want to see how the vaccine affects others before taking it declining as the pandemic goes on — and the number of people willing to take it increasing. As of March 2021, Kaiser’s pollsters found 62 percent of adults saying they’d gotten the vaccine or would as soon as possible, up from 55 percent in February.
Like the economic numbers, these figures are promising, and could usher in even further economic gains. These are badly needed, as unemployment remains elevated at 6 percent, <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf">as of March</a>, (though less than half of its <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R46554.pdf">pandemic high of 14.8 percent</a>). Within that unemployment figure is a reminder that the absence of a total economic recovery is affecting workers of color the most.
The unemployment rate for Hispanic workers is almost 2 percentage points higher than the overall unemployment rate, currently standing at 7.9 percent. For Black workers, it’s even higher, 3.6 percentage points above the overall unemployment rate at 9.6 percent. White workers, meanwhile, were under the topline number, at 5.4 percent.
Overall, however, economists remain bullish. <a href="https://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/global-economic-outlook-2021">Morgan Stanley</a> is forecasting a 6.4 percent increase in global GDP this year, and a slightly more modest 5.9 percent increase in the US. It would be a stunning reversal of fortunes for a world economy that plunged to record depths in 2020.
“This was the deepest, swiftest recession ever, but it’s also turning into the fastest recovery, ZipRecruiter labor economist Julia Pollak told the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/15/business/stock-market-today">New York Times</a>. “And I don’t think we should lose sight of that just because some of the measures are a little stubborn.”
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/15/22385989/april-unemployment-numbers-economy-improving-pandemic">https://www.vox.com/2021/4/15/22385989/april-unemployment-numbers-economy-improving-pandemic</a>

vox The economy is improving — but the pandemic isn’t over yet

Economic data released Thursday shows some hopeful signs of a strong post-pandemic recovery, five weeks after the federal government implem...

Jeff Bezos seems to be reckoning with his legacy in the wake of the Amazon union drive

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/n1NK4Kt84SeMmlbLtTRG31WsNgM=/0x126:5080x2786/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22446681/1299433567.jpg" /></div>
In his final letter to Amazon shareholders before <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22264330/amazon-ceo-andy-jassy-jeff-bezos-aws">stepping aside as CEO</a>, Jeff Bezos offered a vigorous defense of the company’s treatment of its warehouse employees. But the billionaire also admitted that the retail giant needs to get its act together in the wake of a historic union drive at a company warehouse in Alabama.
“I think we need to do a better job for our employees,” Bezos wrote in the letter. “While the voting results were lopsided and our direct relationship with employees is strong, it’s clear to me that we need a better vision for how we create value for employees — a vision for their success.”
While much of Bezos’s final shareholder letter focused on all the good and value Bezos believes his company has accomplished for customers, shareholders, and Amazon merchants, the employee discussion hints at a CEO perhaps finally aware — even if just slightly — of his complicated legacy. Rather than just vague talking points, Bezos offered examples of how Amazon might seek to improve when it comes to employee treatment.
For example, Bezos said he wants Amazon to continue to invent ways to reduce the most common type of injuries that Amazon warehouse employees suffer: strains and sprains from repetitive work.
“We have always wanted to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company,” Bezos said. “We won’t change that. It’s what got us here. But I am committing us to an addition. We are going to be Earth’s Best Employer and Earth’s Safest Place to Work.”
Amazon aiming to be the world’s best employer is indeed a departure for the company; Amazon employees have told Recode over the years that even HR executives at the company have stated internally some version of the reality that Amazon is “customer-obsessed” and not “employee-obsessed.”
<div class="c-float-right">
<div>
<div class="c-entry-sidebar">
Are you a current or former Amazon employee and have thoughts on this topic? Please email Jason Del Rey at jason@recode.net or jasondelrey@protonmail.com. His phone number and Signal number are available upon request by email.
</div>
</div>
</div>
But, as Amazon execs often do when the company faces critical scrutiny, Bezos offered a vigorous defense of the company that was dismissive of some employee complaints and the journalists who report on them.
“If you read some of the news reports, you might think we have no care for employees,” Bezos wrote. “In those reports, our employees are sometimes accused of being desperate souls and treated as robots. That’s not accurate. They’re sophisticated and thoughtful people who have options for where to work. When we survey fulfillment center employees, 94% say they would recommend Amazon to a friend as a place to work.”
An Amazon spokesperson did not immediately offer an explanation on how Amazon calculated the 94 percent figure.
Bezos’s letter comes a week after a majority of workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22375964/amazon-union-vote-results-what-happens-next">voted against unionizing</a> with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The election was only the second union vote at a US Amazon warehouse in the company’s 25-year history, and the largest by far. While 738 workers voted in favor of unionizing, 1,798 voted against it. Another 505 ballots were challenged — most of them by Amazon, the union said — and were not counted in the results. Even if many of those went in the union’s favor, the loss would have still been a resounding one.
The union has said it plans to file unfair labor practice charges against Amazon relating to its behavior during, and in the months leading up to, the election. And no matter the outcome of the challenge, <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22375964/amazon-union-vote-results-what-happens-next">Amazon will face other labor battles</a> in the months ahead. While Amazon often touts its starting hourly pay of $15 for warehouse workers and medical and retirement benefits from day one of employment, pro-union workers say they have issues with facets of the work, such as Amazon’s strict surveillance of their every move, the amount and duration of break times, and production quotas.
Bezos argued that the performance goals are reasonable.
“We set achievable performance goals that take into account tenure and actual employee performance data,” he wrote. “Performance is evaluated over a long period of time as we know that a variety of things can impact performance in any given week, day, or hour. If employees are on track to miss a performance target over a period of time, their manager talks with them and provides coaching.”
On the topic of workplace injuries, Bezos said the company has already launched one program to “coach small groups of employees on body mechanics, proactive wellness, and safety” and is developing a staffing system that will automatically rotate workers into different roles to help prevent injuries. Amazon warehouse employees and managers have told Recode over the past year that it is not uncommon for performance goals to take precedence over the manual rotation of worker roles intended to prevent injuries.
The fact that warehouse working conditions made up a significant portion of the shareholder letter — and that Bezos said he will focus on employee improvements in his new role as executive chair of the Amazon board of directors — seems like a clear sign that the world’s richest man sees the threat to his company’s future of focusing on customer satisfaction at the expense of employees.
But Bezos’s outright dismissal that some Amazon warehouse workers feel like they are treated like robots points to a CEO disconnected, or shielded, from the everyday life of his massive front-line workforce.
Yes, it is absolutely true that there are Amazon warehouse workers who appreciate the pay and benefits that the company offers, especially in light of other employment options in the areas in which they live. But Bezos, in his final days as CEO, would also do well to at least hear from the many pickers, packers, stowers — and low-level managers who oversee them — who describe demoralizing work overseen by robots, computer algorithms, and metric-obsessed managers who have little regard for their human well-being.
Like its founder’s legacy, the discussion of whether Amazon is a good employer is complicated.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22385644/jeff-bezos-amazon-warehouse-work-union-shareholder-letter-2021">https://www.vox.com/recode/22385644/jeff-bezos-amazon-warehouse-work-union-shareholder-letter-2021</a>

vox Jeff Bezos seems to be reckoning with his legacy in the wake of the Amazon union drive

In his final letter to Amazon shareholders before stepping aside as CEO , Jeff Bezos offered a vigorous defense of the company’s treatment ...