#Russian budget

[russianreader]

Teachers' Day in Bryansk

A martial dance performance, given, allegedly, at the recent Teachers’ Day celebration in Bryansk Source: Kolokol XXI (Telegram), 6 October 2024 Distinguished teachers awarded for their many years of work and achievements On October 5, the country and the Bryansk Region celebrate Teachers’ Day. This is the day when our teachers are thanked and given flowers, and concerts and matinees are…

[astralbondpro]

Viy (1967) // Konstantin Yershov and Georgi Kropachyov

[gnomewithalaptop]

Bro why are there so many suffixes in Kazakh what's happening

[hasdrubal-gisco]

the only takeaway you should have from "A was paid $B by C state" is that A's state apparently doesn't have B+1 dollars

[silverspleen]

My memory is not like the other one

Turn to strike my face

Always second place

Tell me again, why is it I

Never can do anything right?

Complicated theories of life

Sarcastically

But we both know

The way it's gonna go In the same way

Maybe I'm not all that you thought

And we don't move

Like we used to do

In the same way

Maybe you're not such a hot rod

- Hot Rod by Dayglow

Obscure fanart Sunday with more Movies That Were Designed Specifically To Appeal To Dragoon - this time Sputnik (2020) aka “what if the xenomorph worked like Venom.” Ft astronaut “I am 100% fine, let me go home” Konstantin and Konstantin 2: Electric Boogaloo: Wilder and Wetter edition.

[nationnow]

Vladimir Putins signs chilling $145 billion defense budget - World News - News

Russia’s 2025 military budget has reached historic high spending levels as it seeks to prevail in the war in Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin approved the country’s budget, which was posted to a government website over the weekend. The national defense accounted for about 32.5% of the total budget, which amounts to 13.5 trillion rubles, over $145 billion dollars. The budget reflects a 28.3%…

[head-post]

BRICS unveiled blockchain-based payment system to compete with dollar

The BRICS countries have long been trying to move away from the dollar, but the creation of a common currency blocks the dominance of the Chinese economy, so any common currency will de facto be the yuan, IntelliNews reports.

However, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told Russian media that a solution has already been proposed: a new blockchain-based payment system called BRICS Pay will be used instead of a currency.

“We believe that creating an independent BRICS payment system is an important goal for the future, which would be based on state-of-the-art tools such as digital technologies and blockchain. The main thing is to make sure it is convenient for governments, common people and businesses, as well as cost-effective and free of politics.”

Read more HERE

[david-box]

idk wtf this Madam Secretary show actually is but I cannot stand a "Female Character in Men's World learns that things are more than black and white and she can't always do the progressive thing because Complications" plot most of the time and find it ridiculous in a show about the SECRETARY OF FUCKING STATE. the woman is like 5th in line to the presidency and doesn't know that the political situation in Bahrain That's Clearly Meant To Look Like Saudi Arabia has a sexism and corruption problem in the fake royal family? Not just, like, upset about this. She doesn't know how to deal with it? At all? Girl the FUCK is this show on about

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #26

July 5-12 2024

The IRS announced it had managed to collect $1 billion in back taxes from high-wealth tax cheats. The program focused on persons with more than $1 million in yearly income who owned more than $250,000 in unpaid taxes. Thanks to money in Biden's 2022 Inflation Reduction Act the IRS is able to undertake more enforcement against rich tax cheats after years of Republicans cutting the agency's budget, which they hope to do again if they win power again.

The Biden administration announced a $244 million dollar investment in the federal government’s registered apprenticeship program. This marks the largest investment in the program's history with grants going out to 52 programs in 32 states. The President is focused on getting well paying blue collar opportunities to people and more people are taking part in the apprenticeship program than ever before. Republican pledge to cut it, even as employers struggle to find qualified workers.

The Department of Transportation announced the largest single project in the department's history, $11 billion dollars in grants for the The Hudson River Tunnel. Part of the $66 billion the Biden Administration has invested in our rail system the tunnel, the most complex Infrastructure project in the nation would link New York and New Jersey by rail under the Hudson. Once finished it's believed it'll impact 20% of the American economy by improving and speeding connection throughout the Northeast.

The Department of Energy announced $1.7 billion to save auto worker's jobs and convert factories to electronic vehicles. The Biden administration will used the money to save or reopen factories in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, and Virginia and retool them to make electric cars. The project will save 15,000 skilled union worker jobs, and created 2,900 new high-quality jobs.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development reached a settlement with The Appraisal Foundation over racial discrimination. TAF is the organization responsible for setting standards and qualifications for real estate appraisers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics last year found that TAF was 94.7% White and 0.6% Black, making it the least racially diverse of the 800 occupations surveyed. Black and Latino home owners are far more likely to have their houses under valued than whites. Under the settlement with HUD TAF will have to take serious steps to increase diversity and remove structural barriers to diversity.

The Department of Justice disrupted an effort by the Russian government to influence public opinion through AI bots. The DoJ shut down nearly 1,000 twitter accounts that were linked to a Russian Bot farm. The bots used AI technology to not only generate tweets but also AI image faces for profile pictures. The effort seemed focused on boosting support for Russia's war against Ukraine and spread negative stories/impressions about Ukraine.

The Department of Transportation announces $1.5 billion to help local authorities buy made in America buses. 80% of the funding will go toward zero or low-emission technology, a part of the President's goal of reaching zero emissions by 2050. This is part of the $5 billion the DOT has spent over the last 3 years replacing aging buses with new cleaner technology.

President Biden with Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau and Finnish President Alexander Stubb signed a new agreement on the arctic. The new trilateral agreement between the 3 NATO partners, known as the ICE Pact, will boost production of ice breaking ships, the 3 plan to build as many as 90 between them in the coming years. The alliance hopes to be a counter weight to China's current dominance in the ice breaker market and help western allies respond to Russia's aggressive push into the arctic waters.

The Department of Transportation announced $1.1 billion for greater rail safety. The program seeks to, where ever possible, eliminate rail crossings, thus removing the dangers and inconvenience to communities divided by rail lines. It will also help update and improve safety measures at rail crossings.

The Department of the Interior announced $120 million to help tribal communities prepare for climate disasters. This funding is part of half a billion dollars the Biden administration has spent to help tribes build climate resilience, which itself is part of a $50 billion dollar effort to build climate resilience across the nation. This funding will help support drought measures, wildland fire mitigation, community-driven relocation, managed retreat, protect-in-place efforts, and ocean and coastal management.

The USDA announced $100 million in additional funds to help feed low income kids over the summer. Known as "SUN Bucks" or "Summer EBT" the new Biden program grants the families of kids who qualify for free meals at school $120 dollars pre-child for groceries. This comes on top of the traditional SUN Meals program which offers school meals to qualifying children over the summer, as well as the new under President Biden SUN Meals To-Go program which is now offering delivery of meals to low-income children in rural areas. This grant is meant to help local governments build up the Infrastructure to support and distribute SUN Bucks. If fully implemented SUN Bucks could help 30 million kids, but many Republican governors have refused the funding.

USAID announced its giving $100 million to the UN World Food Program to deliver urgently needed food assistance in Gaza. This will bring the total humanitarian aid given by the US to the Palestinian people since the war started in October 2023 to $774 million, the single largest donor nation. President Biden at his press conference last night said that Israel and Hamas have agreed in principle to a ceasefire deal that will end the war and release the hostages. US negotiators are working to close the final gaps between the two sides and end the war.

The Senate confirmed Nancy Maldonado to serve as a Judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Maldonado is the 202nd federal Judge appointed by President Biden to be confirmed. She will the first Latino judge to ever serve on the 7th Circuit which covers Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

Bonus: At the NATO summit in Washington DC President Biden joined 32 allies in the Ukraine compact. Allies from Japan to Iceland confirmed their support for Ukraine and deepening their commitments to building Ukraine's forces and keeping a free and Democratic Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. World leaders such as British Prime Minster Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, praised President Biden's experience and leadership during the NATO summit

[meowmeowirena]

after more than a decade of avoiding it, im trudging through doctor zhivago

[relaxedstyles]

[reportwire]

EU looks to dedicate €1B to howitzer shells for Ukraine

Press play to listen to this article Voiced by artificial intelligence. BRUSSELS — In a new blueprint for military support to Ukraine, the European Union will propose that €1 billion should be specifically dedicated to ammunition, particularly 155mm artillery shells, according to a document seen by POLITICO. The EU is helping supply Ukraine with arms through an off-budget, inter-governmental…

[mylittleredgirl]

one of the rats i took in is named socks, same as the clintons’ white house cat, so i thought i could source names for the others that way

and now my favorite wikipedia article is the list of presidential pets

did you know:

andrew jackson had a parrot named Poll who attended jackson's funeral... but had to be removed for screaming profanity

"Fido" became the default dog name because of lincoln's dog fido, and i am definitely naming my next dog fido because we need to bring that back

andrew johnson had no pets of his own but fed the mice in the presidential bedroom

there were a few dogs named Hector and Caruso over the years, which is not notable except that i really like those names for rat purposes.

hands down the best name is a snake named Emily Spinach

many pets named for the political process, in escalating order of hilarity: Veto (good solid sounding dog name), President (definitely named for joke potential), possums named Mr. Reciprocity and Mr. Protection (not qualities especially noted in possums; named for the republican party platform of the day) and a pair of lion cubs named Tax Reduction and Budget Bureau.

calvin coolidge was the one to name Tax Reduction and Budget Bureau. his presidential successor was Herbert Hoover who came to the white house with "Mr. Cat - a cat."

the only rat in the list is named jonathan (and he was a piebald/hooded rat like socks, so the rat who started this wikipedia dive may need to be renamed after all)

"Rebecca – raccoon. Rebecca was intended for a Thanksgiving feast; First Lady Grace had a tree-house built for her instead."

Fala, FDR's scottish terrier, seems to be the most famous presidential pet in history and has a longer wikipedia page than most people. he is credited with helping FDR win re-election, and is even immortalized in FDR's memorial statue. in fact, fala was so popular with american soldiers that they used "what's the name of the president's dog?" as a field test in WWII if they suspected a german soldier had snuck into their ranks.

lyndon johnson had two beagles named Him and Her

Pushinka, daughter of russian space dogs, instrument of world peace

amy carter named her cat Misty Malarky Ying Yang, and good for her for making newspapers print a made-up-song-about-your-cat kind of name.

ronald reagan had a fish named Ronald Reagan II

both FDR and joe biden had german shepherds named Major who had to be "removed from the premises for biting incidents."

the funniest name here isn't even a pet, it's "Zebulon Pike," the guy who gave thomas jefferson a pair of grizzly bear cubs. pike's peak is named for him. there aren't nearly enough babies named zebulon today.

FDR and Fala immortalized.

[strangertheories]

I really despise the Marvelification of Stranger Things, because all the interviews nowadays are constantly referencing how fast paced and epic and big the finale will be but the reason people fell in love with the show wasn't special effects or long episodes; it was the plot, it was the characters, it was the mystery. Stranger Things 1 may have been a story about a government conspiracy and a monster, but that's not why we stuck around. The show can throw amazing CGI, Russians, a battle within the American army and an apocalypse at the audience with the biggest budget known to man but if they forget to ground it and keep it central, it'll just get lost amongst a plethora of other "epic" blockbusters. We want Steven King, not Avengers.

[liberalsarecool]

House Republicans only pass stripped down budgets with votes from Democrats.

They repeat Russian propaganda.

Their voters are indoctrinated muppets.

Expectations could not be lower, yet they roll out worse behavior every day.