It’s Saturday.
For Saturday August 28th, 2021, President Biden has received his daily brief, though it’s not listed on the schedule. At 11:00 a.m. D.C., time, he received a national security briefing on the ongoing situation in Afghanistan.
When Biden Bits was published on Friday, President Biden had tweeted 1 time. He added another 2 tweets giving him a Friday Tweeting Total of 3 tweets and 2 retweets.
The White House published the following readout of the meeting between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. met today at the White House with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett of Israel to reaffirm the historic partnership between the United States and Israel and consult on the full range of global and regional challenges facing the two countries. The President expressed appreciation for Israel’s condolences for yesterday’s attack in Kabul that killed U.S. service members and Afghan civilians.
The President conveyed his ironclad support for Israel’s security and right to self-defense. As part of this extraordinary bilateral defense and security cooperation, the President underscored his administration’s full support for replenishing Israel’s Iron Dome system.
The leaders discussed the most critical challenges facing the Middle East, including the threat posed by Iran. The President made clear his commitment to ensure Iran never develops a nuclear weapon. The leaders reviewed steps to deter and contain Iran’s dangerous regional behavior. They reiterated their commitments to work constructively and deepen cooperation to address all aspects of Israel’s security against Iran and other threats.
The President and Prime Minister Bennett shared their perspectives on the unprecedented challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, both at home and around the world, and agreed that their respective teams would remain closely engaged to share expertise on this urgent global challenge.
The President expressed his full support for strong and expanding relations among Israel, its Arab neighbors, and Muslim states globally. The two leaders noted that Israel’s historic partnerships with Egypt and Jordan remain crucial to regional stability. They discussed ways to further deepen Israel’s relationships with Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates, and their goal of identifying new opportunities to expand such partnerships.
The President and Prime Minister Bennett also exchanged views on efforts to advance peace, security, and prosperity for both Israelis and Palestinians. The President underscored the importance of steps to improve the lives of Palestinians and support greater economic opportunities for them. He also noted the importance of refraining from actions that could exacerbate tensions, contribute to a sense of unfairness, and undermine efforts to build trust. President Biden reaffirmed his view that a negotiated two-state solution is the only viable path to achieving a lasting resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
President Biden also emphasized that his administration would strengthen bilateral cooperation with Israel in ways that would benefit both U.S. citizens and Israeli citizens, including by working together towards Israel’s inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program. The leaders directed their teams to enhance consultations as Israel works on addressing the program’s requirements.
White House.gov. 08/27/2021.
The White House published a readout of his call with Gulf Coast Governors ahead of Hurricane Ida making landfall.
This afternoon, President Biden convened a call with the Governors of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall, and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Julie Rodriguez to discuss ongoing preparations for Hurricane Ida, which is projected to strengthen to a Category 4 Hurricane. Ida is expected to make landfall on the Gulf Coast as a dangerous Major Hurricane on Sunday, the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall on the Gulf Coast. Earlier this afternoon, the President approved an Emergency Declaration for the State of Louisiana.
The President and the Governors talked about the potential impacts of Ida, and the concerns about life-threatening storm surge, heavy rainfall, and hurricane-force winds. They discussed the actions the States are taking to pre-position resources and initiate evacuation operations, including moving nursing home residents out of harm’s way. Governor Edwards spoke of his commitment to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in shelters through the use of masks, rapid testing, and social distancing. The President emphasized the importance of getting vaccinated. They discussed the need for residents in the storm’s path to prepare now for significant impacts given the intensity of the storm and the expected rainfall and storm surge, including by visiting Ready.gov and listening to local officials’ guidance.
FEMA is pre-positioning food, water, generators, and other resources in the region. It has more than 2,000 personnel in the affected region and has activated another 500 to provide response support. Urban Search and Rescue teams and additional ambulances are deploying to the region, and the U.S. Coast Guard is prepositioning aircraft and vessels for deep water search and rescue efforts. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has deployed a Power Restoration Team to Alexandria, Louisiana in anticipation of widespread power outages. The President described the mutual assistance that is being provided by numerous electric utilities from outside the storm’s path, which involves the staging of more than 11,000 line and tree crews and other equipment to support the restoration of power.
On the call, the President made clear that impacted communities will have the full support of the Federal government to augment state and local emergency response efforts.
White House.gov. 08/27/2021.
The President and his team were joined on the call by:
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves
As of 5:18 a.m., my time:
As of 6:32 a.m., my time.
With some business out of the way let’s move on to Coffee Talk…
The week has felt endless…as summer crawls it’s away into fall (September 1st is Wednesday predicted temp via iPhone weather app *99…) I want to talk about fun things…Okay, just one fun thing…
On Wednesday I mentioned that the sale of the Disneyland Magic Key had arrived.
After what feels like a lifetime waiting, I now have magic keys!
Our first planned as of now trip is October 7th and 8th, 2021…
Yesterday in sad news, I discovered that my favorite ride…
Will be closed for refurbishment. It’s shutdown from September 7th, 2021. That’s the day after Labor Day, until sometime in the Fall of 2021, Disney’s trip planning calendar only goes thru October 9th, 2021, it’s still closed. Sigh.
There is a small tiny chance that we might use our keys early and go on Labor Day…
Of course, given the other news I received yesterday, all planned adventures might have to be put on hold…
The Daughter-in-law’s sister has tested positive for the coronavirus. On the positive side of things; my son hasn’t been around me, my mom, or dad, or any family member for the last 10 days…we’ve chatted on the phone, but not in person.
My husband’s work is also experiencing some positive cases, luckily so far, none of the people in direct contact with my husband have tested positive. They do mask they do social distance still, but yeah, I think we are up to 3 known cases.
But overall, I’m honestly not sad, we got our keys. Will I get to use them? I don’t know, but for right now I can celebrate that I finally after years of trying am a Disney Annual Pass Holder aka a Magic Key Holder.
This is an Open Thread.
President Biden has not tweeted for Saturday, but has retweeted 2 times.
HAPPY SATURDAY! I hope everyone is doing well!
