- President Obama on Georgia GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s rousing recent campaign speeches

Nine months have elapsed since Russia invaded Ukraine, and ever-shifting geopolitical negotiations have significantly altered where the war stands now. 
 

• As detailed yesterday, President Biden signaled willingness to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin, provided the lil guy was truly interested in discussing a resolution to the conflict. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded today by saying that giving up any territory Russia illegally annexed is off the table, so talks will likely remain at a standstill. Putin has reportedly complained about the “comprehensive political and financial support for Ukraine,” from Western nations. Oh sorry, Vladimir, is that bothering you? Maybe something you should have considered before invading a sovereign country.
   

• French President Emmanuel Macron, who came to the White House for an official state visit this week, has been perhaps one of the strongest supporters in the European Union of continued aid to Ukraine, and he and President Biden discussed this shared goal at length yesterday. But not all members of the E.U. see America’s presence in the conflict as an inherent positive, as today Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said that the invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated that Europe is too reliant on the United States for its own security. 
   

• The G-7 nations and Australia joined the E.U. today in adopting the $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian oil, a key step towards reordering the global oil market to prevent price hikes and simultaneously starve the Kremlin of funding for its war on Ukraine. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen (who had the idea for the price cap in the first place) said in a statement that the agreement will help restrict Putin’s “primary source of revenue…while simultaneously preserving the stability of global energy supplies.” Russia is the No. 2 producer of oil in the world, exporting roughly 5 million barrels per day.

Although Putin has publicly maintained a defiant posture, it appears as though he is privately beginning to squirm in his seat.
 

• In the first contact between a G-7 leader and the Kremlin since Russia suffered a string of military defeats and began shelling Ukrainian energy infrastructure, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke with Putin today. Putin deflected about an E.U. proposal to create a tribunal on alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine by claiming it was Ukraine who was inflicting “more and more bloody crimes against the civilian population,” without any evidentiary support for such a claim. Scholz reportedly condemned the ongoing Russian airstrikes against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure and told Putin that a diplomatic solution, “including a withdrawal of Russian troops, must be reached as soon as possible.” A spokesperson for the European Commission (an arm of the E.U) said that the group had not been briefed ahead of Scholz’s call. Some E.U. countries have also suggested that conversations with Putin risk the appearance of division among Western allies. 
   

• Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan was able to contact his family for the first time in over a week today. Whelan, who like WNBA star Brittney Griner is being held prisoner by the Kremlin, recently fell ill. The week of silence from Russian authorities about his whereabouts that followed caused the White House to express concern about his safety and well-being. Griner was recently transported to one of the most brutal penal colonies in Russia, and efforts by the Biden Administration to bring her and Whelan home remain ongoing.  
   

All of Europe is bracing for a bitter winter, but hope remains that regulations put in place by a united coalition of Western allies will be able to rob Putin of the leverage he has used for too long.

BIG NEWS everyone! Crooked Coffee’s best-selling coffee accessory, The Cold Brewer, is finally back in stock, just in time for the holidays. The Cold Brewer sold out in a few days when it first launched. And we all know that cold brew isn’t just a summer drink. I am all about year-round cold brew. There’s nothing better than waking up to delicious homemade cold brew, and The Cold Brewer makes it really easy and much more affordable than a daily Starbucks run. 

It’s the perfect gift for the coffee-lover in your life or for yourself, because having fresh cold brew in the fridge makes for a perfect afternoon pick-me-up or the ideal grab-and-go when you’re running late in the morning. Plus, if you’re still gift shopping, we have 3 exclusive Holiday Box gift sets available, one for every hard-to-shop-for person on your list. Each box includes 2 bags of coffee plus a fun activity, whether it’s baking the perfect donut, crochet-ing the coolest little penguin, or crafting up a funny refrigerator poem with our custom magnetic poetry set. Perfect for your roommate, your dad, or that dreaded round of “White Elephant” with co-workers.

Head to crooked.com/coffee to grab yours today before they sell out…again.

In a letter yesterday to the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws sub-committee, President Biden broke his silence about the Democratic Presidential primary calendar that has caused so many headaches in recent years. He did not explicitly name the state he would like to see go first in the letter (the slot held by Iowa in previous elections) but said that Dems should give up “restrictive” caucuses that demand too much time from voters and prioritize diversity. In other words: See ya later, Iowa. While not specified in his letter, Biden has reportedly personally told certain DNC members that he would like to see South Carolina moved to Iowa’s spot. Biden’s bias for the Palmetto State makes sense, because South Carolina’s primary in 2020 gave the president his first big win after disappointing finishes in other states. I’m sure DNC Chairman Jamie Harrison, former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, was pleased to accommodate him as well. So today, the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee members overwhelmingly signed onto a plan to move South Carolina to the first slot and move Georgia and Michigan up in the calendar as well. The updated schedule will still have to go before the full DNC for a vote early next year, but Chairman Harrison touted the new calendar as more “reflective of the values of the Democratic Party.”

President Biden signed the forced deal between rail companies and their unionized workers into law today, effectively ending the monthslong dispute. Rail workers will receive salary increases and immediate payouts, but are still left with zero paid sick leave. 

Alex Jones filed for personal bankruptcy in Texas, citing debts of $1.5 billion he has been ordered to pay Sandy Hook families for harassing them. 

Closing arguments were heard today in the case involving twice-elected state attorney Andrew Warren, who claims he was fired by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) on expressly political grounds because Warren would not pursue criminal charges against abortion patients or providers or gender transition treatments. 

President Biden went to Boston today to join the phone bank run by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers to help Sen. Raphael Warnock’s (D-GA) reelection campaign effort. 

Police in Tampa, FL issued an arrest warrant last night for former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown related to domestic battery of a female partner, which resulted in a standoff outside of Brown’s house. 

A New York prosecutor argued today that disgraced former president Donald Trump knew about a 15-year tax fraud carried out by longtime executives at the Trump Organization. “Yeah, DUH!” said everyone.

According to preliminary findings in a new Department of Commerce Investigation, four of the largest solar manufacturers are evading steep tariffs on solar products manufactured in China by using other countries as pass-throughs in the production process. The findings come at an opportune time, just as many large solar industry groups and lawmakers have been aggressively lobbying Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to drop the investigation. But the Biden Administration is undeterred, and remains clear-eyed on steering clean energy manufacturing jobs back to the United States. The investigation was initially launched back in March after a small U.S. solar manufacturer in California said it was being driven to financial ruin because competitors were making panels with materials illegally sourced in China.

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Cochise County, AZ was forced to certify its midterm election results yesterday after a judge ruled that Republican supervisors broke the law by refusing to do so by the vote count deadline. Nice try, you election-denying loons.
 

The Department of Health and Human Services reported that mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) is expected to no longer be considered a health emergency in the United States as of February 1st of next year. Apparently vaccines work. Who knew?


Over 900,000 immigrants became legal United States citizens via naturalization this year, the highest number since 2008.