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JAKE SULLIVAN - THE LAST GUY IN THE ROOMBiden often turns to Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, when he is considering final options and looking for advice and counsel. "He develops and puts forward the policy options before the president for him to decide," said one U.S. official. Sullivan, 47, was national security adviser for Biden when he was vice president and deputy chief of staff to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He gathers policy options from across government agencies and prepares them for Biden to consider, the traditional role of the national security adviser. JON FINER - ASKING QUESTIONSSullivan relies heavily on his deputy national security adviser, Jon Finer.

Persons: Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Evelyn Hockstein, ANTONY BLINKEN, Biden, Blinken, Benjamin Netanyahu, JAKE SULLIVAN, Sullivan, Jake, Hillary Clinton, BRETT MCGURK, Brett McGurk, McGurk, George W, Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, BILL BURNS, spymaster, Bill Burns, It's, Burns, LLOYD AUSTIN, STARK, Lloyd Austin, Yoav Gallant, Israel, KAMALA HARRIS, Kamala Harris, Harris, ”, JON, Jon, John Kerry's, Kerry, Arshad Mohammed, Nandita Bose, Don Durfee, Heather Timmons, Deepa Babington Organizations: U.S, Hamas, REUTERS, Rights, Israeli, Biden, White House, National Security, U.S ., CIA, . Defense, Pentagon, Islamic State, U.S . Army, ISIS, Palestinian, West Bank, Palestinian Authority, Washington Post, Thomson Locations: Israel, Tel Aviv, Gaza, East, North Africa, Saudi Arabia, United States, Qatar, Doha, Iran, Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, Ankara, U.S, Austin, Dubai, West

☆ Opinion: Nikki Haley is ready for her closeup
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Opinion Nicole Hemmer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Nikki Haley is instructive. But nowhere does it talk in depth about policy or what the Koch brothers’ organization represents within the Republican coalition. What makes Haley interesting in this race is not, in fact, her position in the polls but her position in the party. Haley was, after all, Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, an interesting position for someone who so sharply diverges from Trump’s ostensibly non-interventionist foreign policy. Or maybe it’s Haley, the standard-bearer for a more inclusive Republican Party, defined by her identities as a woman and Indian-American.

Persons: Nicole Hemmer, Carolyn T, Robert M, “, Who, Clinton, Hillary Clinton’s, Donald Trump’s, ”, Trump, Voters don’t, —, Nikki Haley, Haley, George W . Bush, Paul Ryan, David, Charles Koch, Koch, it’s Haley, Patrick Hruby, Jon Stewart, Colbert Organizations: Rogers Center, Vanderbilt University, “ Partisans, Conservative, CNN, Trump, —, Voters, Republican, South Carolina Gov, Prosperity, The New York Times, GOP, United Nations, Social Security, Republican Party, United Auto Workers, Columbia Journalism, New York Times, Washington Post, Times, Post, Political Journalism Locations: Trump, Afghanistan, Iran, Ukraine, Charleston, Detroit

☆ Make America Build Again
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +37 min

America is the sixth-most-expensive place in the world to build subways and trolleys. The solutions will cost trillions of dollars and require a pace of building unseen in America since World War II. Perhaps the single most pressing question we face today is: How do we make America build again? "For this class of projects, federal environmental laws are more the exception." The prospect of overhauling our hard-won environmental laws might feel like sacrilege to anyone who cares about the Earth.

Persons: Anne, Marie Griger's, Griger, —, They're, Obama, I'm, we've, We've, I'd, It's, Matt Harrison Clough, Jamie Pleune, AECOM, Joe Biden's, There's, David Adelman, David Spence, Spence, James Coleman, NECA, Coleman, everyone's, Danielle Stokes, Nobody, Bill McKibben, Mother Jones, McKibben, Michael Gerrard, Columbia University —, they've, David Pettit, it's, Zachary Liscow, That's who's, Adam Rogers Organizations: RES Group, Environmental, Infrastructure Investment, Jobs, Land Management, Forest Service, University of Utah, Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, Brookings, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, White, University of Texas, Greenpeace, Natural Resources Defense Council, Act, NEPA, Berkeley, University of California, University of Southern, Southern Methodist University, Ecosystems Conservation, GOP, Biden, Motorola, Telecommunications, Conservatives, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, University of Richmond, UC Berkeley, USC, Star, Sabin, Climate, Columbia University, Natural Resources Defense, Republicans, Democrats, Management, Budget, Yale Law School Locations: Panama, Colorado, . California, Los Angeles, San Francisco, China, America, Washington, , Wyoming, Nantucket, New England, San Francisco ., University of Southern California, California, New York, Florida, Southern California, Las Vegas

☆ Opinion | On This Issue, the House G.O.P. ‘Whack Jobs’ Have a Point
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Peter Suderman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

That is no way to manage a government budget, and it’s not just right-of-center rabble-rousers who feel this way. Because spending bills are negotiated not only out of public view but out of sight from most legislators, there is little democratic accountability to the budget process. In September, explaining on the floor of Congress his motion to vacate Mr. McCarthy as speaker, Mr. Gaetz cast his vote as a demand to end that dysfunction. This demand is not unique to Mr. Gaetz, or to the specific vote that led to Mr. McCarthy’s removal. Mr. McCarthy was ousted after failing to do so by the end of Congress’s fiscal year and proceeding instead with a continuing resolution, supported by some Democrats.

Persons: it’s, McCarthy, Gaetz, ”, “, Mr Organizations: Mr, Congress

☆ Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin travels the globe to keep crypto alive as the U.S. cracks down
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +17 min

Today, the biggest challenge for Buterin and the ethereum community is making sure that it provides actual value to people. Buterin was named the world's youngest crypto billionaire at age 27 as the crypto market swelled to its peak in 2021. And he isn't, according to his own estimation, the be-all and end-all authority on the ethereum network. About the ethereum network, he says, "On the other hand, you've got your laptop. In terms of what's next for ethereum — Buterin says a big priority is focusing on privacy and scalability through zero-knowledge rollups.

Persons: Vitalik Buterin, Buterin, coder, doesn't, Czech Republic Pavel Sinagl, that's, clasped, Buterin wasn't, cryptocurrencies, Sam Bankman, Luna, they're, Dmitry, Vitalik, Dmitry Buterin, ethereum blockchains, you've, Satoshi Nakamoto, ethereum, — Buterin Organizations: CNBC PRAGUE, CNBC, Canadian, U.S . Tornado, Buterin, U.S, Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, CFTC, People's Bank of China, tinker, Ethereum, Ethereum Foundation Locations: Prague, Russia, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Netherlands, Paralelní Polis, Holešovice, China, U.S, Africa, Argentina, Buenos Aires, San Francisco, CBDCs, Moscow, ethereum, Denver, Paris

In later years, she stepped over the White House threshold as a visiting senator and Cabinet member, but never in the long-sought role of Madam President. She fell short each time, and kept her distance from the White House during the Trump years. She again was a regular presence at the White House, with a seat next to Obama at the Cabinet table. She and President Clinton first celebrated the Praemium Imperiale prizes at the White House in 1994. She also showcased American sculpture in the first lady's garden at the White House.

Persons: Hillary Clinton, ”, Clinton, —, She's, Obama, Madam, Jill Biden, she’s, Lisa Caputo, Clinton's, Bill Clinton, Ellen Fitzpatrick, Jacqueline Kennedy’s, John F, Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Hillary, Fitzpatrick, “, “ I’ve, I’ve, Monica Lewinsky, Chelsea, Miss Lewinsky, Sen, Barack Obama, Osama bin Laden, Melanne Verveer, Hillary Clinton’s, Verveer, I’m Organizations: WASHINGTON, Vogue, Japan Art Association, White, Trump, University of New, White House, U.S, Senate, Democratic, National Endowment, Arts, Humanities Locations: Arkansas, U.S, University of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Martha’s, New York

☆ Kamala Harris has 'rabbit ears' for any criticism about her, a new book claims
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The vice president has "rabbit ears" for criticism, author Franklin Foer wrote. "Harris possessed what one of her colleagues described as 'rabbit ears," Foer wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Watch: How Kamala Harris compares with Joe Biden on Medicare for All, gun control, marijuana legalization, and 7 other key issues"She let the criticism guide her," he added. The book, which is about Joe Biden's presidency, delves into the dynamic between him and his vice president. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.

Persons: Kamala Harris, Franklin Foer, Joe Biden's, Harris, Foer, Joe Biden, Biden, Obama, Ron Klain, Al Gore, Olivier DOULIERY, OLIVIER DOULIERY, we're, I'm, it's Organizations: Service, Fox News, Central America, White, Staff, Getty Locations: Wall, Silicon, AFP

☆ The awkward debate moment where GOP candidates reluctantly backed Trump shows why they don't stand a chance to unseat him
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Paul Squire | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

During the first GOP debate, most candidates said they'd support Donald Trump if he were convicted. The awkward moment was a coup for Trump, who skipped the debate entirely to chat with Tucker Carlson in a pre-recorded interview. Trump has argued that the candidates challenging him for the GOP nod were no threat to him. AdvertisementAdvertisementSince he stunned the Republican establishment in 2016, Trump has built his political brand on being the brash, tough outsider. It's a bizarre situation: A group of politicians running to unseat Donald Trump who all say they'll still back him even if he's a convicted criminal.

Persons: Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, they'd, Vivek Ramaswamy, Trump —, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Doug Burgum, glanced, Mike Pence — Trump's, who's, —, Asa Hutchinson, Chris Christie, Trump, Tucker Carlson, He's, he's Organizations: GOP, Service, Republican, Trump, Washington DC Locations: glanced, Wall, Silicon

☆ Kamala Harris says she makes sure Biden doesn't get 'sugarcoated' information
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Kamala Harris spoke about her role as Vice President in a new interview. She says one key role for her is making sure that Biden doesn't get "sugarcoated" information. That was the assessment that Ron Klain, the former White House Chief of Staff, gave to POLITICO as the outlet interviewed Harris about her role as vice president. Harris, he said, makes sure there's "no one spreading bullshit in the Oval Office." Asking about Klain's comments by POLITICO, Harris concurred, albeit in softer language, saying she ensures President Joe Biden gets information that's "not sugarcoated and not filtered and not through some policy wonk-speak."

Persons: Kamala Harris, Biden doesn't, Ron Klain, Harris, Joe Biden, Biden, hasn't, Ron DeSantis, She's, that's Organizations: Service, White, Staff, POLITICO, Florida Gov, Black Republicans, DeSantis Locations: Wall, Silicon, Florida

☆ India is a rising force in Southeast Asia as region seeks to counter China's dominance
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Sumathi Bala | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

(Photo credit RAVEENDRAN/AFP via Getty Images) Raveendran | Afp | Getty ImagesIndia is taking major strides to expand its influence in Southeast Asia, a move that will allow countries to counter China's dominance in the region. "India certainly is becoming more ambitious in Southeast Asia. "This is particularly salient to the maritime sphere, namely the South China Sea, where overlapping sovereignty disputes threaten regional stability and openness," he added. "It continues to maintain a very independent streak in its foreign policy, which suits a large number of Southeast Asian countries." While China remained the most influential and strategic power in Southeast Asia, its standing has diminished, the Southeast Asia survey from February showed.

Persons: Pant, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Narendra Modi's, Satoru Nagao, Nagao, Derek Grossman, Modi, Xi Jinping, Ted Aljibe, Enrique Manalo, Rand's Grossman, Joanne Lin, Lin, ISEAS's Lin Organizations: Indian, Getty, Afp, Observer Research Foundation, CNBC, Southeast, Hudson Institute, Vietnam Air Force, Rand Corporation, TED ALJIBE, Initiative, ASEAN Studies, Yusof Ishak Institute, Observers, Pant Observer Research, China -, Wilson Center, ASEAN Wonk, U.S, ASEAN Studies Centre, Yusof, Ukraine, U.S ., New Delhi's Observer Research Foundation Locations: New Delhi, AFP, Southeast Asia, India, China, Beijing, Vietnam, Tokyo, China —, Manila, Philippine, Delhi, The Hague, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, ISEAS, Singapore, Asia, Europe, China - U.S, U.S, New

☆ An Internet Veteran’s Guide to Not Being Scared of Technology
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Kashmir Hill | More About Kashmir Hill | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

That was the question that Mike Masnick found himself fielding this summer in a WhatsApp chat with about 100 directors, actors and screenwriters. The group, including marquee talent, was worried about a grim possible future in which deepfake versions of actors perform screenplays written by ChatGPT. is one reason for the writers’ and actors’ strikes that have paralyzed the film and television industry.) plus human” is the future, he pointed to the singer Grimes. “Let people be creative and they’ll do creative things and expand the interest in your own work,” Mr. Masnick, 48, said.

Persons: Mike Masnick, ChatGPT, Masnick, ’, “, Grimes, ” Mr, ” Organizations: Hollywood, Spotify

☆ Lessons on Leadership From a Barbarian King
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Jamie Kreiner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Some five million of Theoderic’s subjects in Italy were Romans. Around 100,000 of them were Goths, most of whom had long ago adopted many elements of Roman culture. They drank Roman wine, used Roman tableware and spoke some Latin. Theoderic treated Goths and Romans as parallel populations who owed different things to the kingdom and required different forms of support. Today, American and European writers wonder if there are any lessons for our quagmires of multiculturalism.

Persons: Theoderic, Wiemer, wonk, skimpily, Machiavelli Organizations: Christian Locations: Italy

☆ New Oral History Peers Back at Obama, His Era and the Tradeoffs He Made
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Peter Baker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The first tranche of interviews being made available does not include those of the former president, first lady or other major recognizable figures from the Obama era. Instead, it is tightly focused on one issue that the researchers deemed vital to his presidency, a wonk’s feast of policy discussion rather than a broader look at Mr. Obama himself or his overall eight years in power. As he sucked down his favorite Fiji water, Mr. Obama would tease scientists and engineers. We don’t need to look at any more of those.”The focus on climate change in the first set of interviews also highlighted the larger trade-offs Mr. Obama made between competing priorities. At one point as he was expending all of his influence to pass the Affordable Care Act, he ruefully explained his priorities to Mr. Chu.

Persons: Obama, “, ”, I’m, Steven Chu, Steve, we’ve, We’ve, ruefully, Chu Organizations: “ Energy Locations: Fiji

☆ A mysterious new Chinese military blimp was spotted by a satellite in a desert military base
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

BlackSky, a US satellite firm, recorded footage of a mysterious Chinese blimp. The 100 foot blimp was hovering over a remote military base in northwest China. It was pictured shortly before the US shot down a Chinese spy balloon. They show a blimp, believed to be around 100 feet long, over the runway of a military base in Xinjiang Province, northeastern China. Aerospace experts who analysed the images for CNN said they showed a runway and other features indicating that the base was capable of launching airships.

☆ Susan Rice to step down as Biden's domestic policy chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Carol E. Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Susan Rice speaks on December 11, 2020, after being nominated to be Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council by US President-elect Joe Biden (R), in Wilmington, Delaware. President Joe Biden's domestic policy adviser, Susan Rice, is stepping down from her post next month, multiple current and former senior administration officials told NBC News. White House chief of staff Jeff Zients said Rice, who served as national security adviser during the Obama administration, has been critical to driving Biden's agenda and has taken the Domestic Policy Council "to new heights." Rice, who was on Biden's short list for vice president, entered the job without a domestic policy background, having served in foreign policy roles during the Obama and Clinton administrations. Deputy White House chief of staff Jen O'Malley Dillon echoed Klain's praise in a written statement.

☆ Inside a Texas Socialite’s Party Palace, Where She Entertained Tom Brady and George H.W. Bush
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Katherine Clarke | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

When they say opposites attract, they might well be talking about wealthy Texas couple John Thrash and his wife, Becca Cason Thrash. While Mr. Thrash, a green energy entrepreneur and architecture wonk, sometimes hides from the spotlight, his wife admits she courts it shamelessly. In some ways, their elaborate Texas home, slated to come up for auction next month with a guide price of $19.5 million, is the physical manifestation of those differences. When Mr. Thrash, 68, built the home in the late 1990s, he was inspired by his love of the work of both Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright. He envisioned doing some entertaining, but he didn’t count on the property becoming Houston’s party central.

But add a candidate representing the Bernie Sanders wing of the party, Ro Khanna, and a living legend who got her start with the Black Panthers and would become the only Black woman in the Senate, Barbara Lee — now you're talking about a California Senate race for the ages. Reaching voters isn’t easy in California, with a population approaching 40 million and a land mass bigger than that of many countries. But the race will affect the future of the Democratic Party, both in California and beyond. “An appointment would be a way to make sure that this country has the essential voice of a Black woman,” Allison said. And I don’t see and I don’t understand why it isn’t happening.”Meanwhile, as Lee watches Feinstein, Bernieworld is watching Lee.

☆ Bitcoin vs. FTX: Crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried is the problem
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Joshua Hendrickson | Joshua Hendrickson Is An Associate Professor Of Economics At The University Of Mississippi | Senior Fellow At The Bitcoin Policy Institute. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Much of the crypto industry has deviated from the principles that were critical to the development of Bitcoin itself. But much of the crypto industry has deviated from the principles that were critical to the development of Bitcoin itself. As the stunning collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX highlights, the crypto industry is filled with scams, Ponzi schemes and bad actors. As a result, it has become increasingly clear that Bitcoin must be understood as something outside this crypto industry. Whereas Bitcoin was created to be a censorship-resistant, trustless digital form of money, crypto has become a space dominated by get-rich-quick-schemes.

☆ Beyond Catastrophe: A New Climate Reality Is Coming Into View
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( David Wallace-Wells | Photographs Devin Oktar Yalkin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +53 min

Beyond Catastrophe A New Climate Reality Is Coming Into View By David Wallace-WellsYou can never really see the future, only imagine it, then try to make sense of the new world when it arrives. (A United Nations report released this week ahead of the COP27 climate conference in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, confirmed that range.) A little lower is possible, with much more concerted action; a little higher, too, with slower action and bad climate luck. There were climate-change skeptics in some very conspicuous positions of global power. New emissions peaks are expected both this year and next, which means that more damage is being done to the future climate of the planet right now than at any previous point in history.

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Ash Carter, who served as a U.S. defense secretary during the Obama administration, died late on Monday at the age of 68 after a sudden cardiac event, his family said in a statement on Tuesday. Under Carter, the U.S. military opened all military roles to women and also ended a ban on openly serving transgender service members. "To choose service members on other grounds than military qualifications is social policy and has no place in our military," Carter said at the time. Before becoming defense secretary, Carter served as deputy defense secretary and chief operating officer in the Pentagon. Since leaving public service, Carter led the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard's Kennedy School.

☆ Special elections are confusing, chaotic messes that bleed taxpayers — and could often be avoided if politicians quit before leveling up, flaming out, or dropping dead
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Grace Panetta | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

Young's death triggered an unprecedented series of three statewide votes — a special primary, a special general election held along with a regular primary, and a regular general election — within five months. The Alaska special election is just one of the more than 120 congressional special elections conducted over the past two decades, an Insider analysis found. Special elections bombard votersSpecial elections routinely attract special attention. Rebecca Blackwell/APIn 2022, special elections are 'a perfect storm of confusion'Special congressional elections are, on balance, less democratic than regular elections. "We knew from the beginning that it would be harder to win a special election," McCready said of his September 2019 special election.

☆ Patagonia's CEO gets candid: How sustainability, diversity, and social justice guide the beloved brand
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

As CEO of Patagonia, Ryan Gellert wrestles with a paradox: The outdoor-gear maker's good works, philanthropy, and intentions are still not enough to justify its existence. To Gellert, who took over from the widely respected Rose Marcario, the company could always be doing more. And we need business to step up. Patagonia really struggled in Europe, and that never made sense to me. One of the things that I love more than anything about Patagonia is that we are an unapologetically for-profit business.

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