That didn't take long... the 30 Houses Progressive Democrats led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has early Tuesday afternoon issued a complete retraction of their letter sent to the Biden White House urging diplomacy on Ukraine, per an official statement [emphasis ours]:

"The Congressional Progressive Caucus hereby withdraws its recent letter to the White House regarding Ukraine."

"The letter was drafted several months ago, but unfortunately was released by staff without vetting. As Chair of the Caucus, I accept responsibility for this. Because of the timing, our message is being conflated by some as being equivalent to the recent statement by Republican Leader McCarthy threatening an end to aid to Ukraine if Republicans take over. The proximity of these statements created the unfortunate appearance that Democrats, who have strongly and unanimously supported and voted for every package of military, strategic, and economic assistance to the Ukrainian people, are somehow aligned with Republicans who seek to pull the plug on American support for President Zelensky and the Ukrainian forces."

The New York state Supreme Court has reinstated all employees who were fired for not being vaccinated, ordering back pay and saying their rights had been violated.

The court found Monday that "being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting COVID-19." New York City Mayor Eric Adams claimed earlier this year that his administration would not rehire employees who had been fired over their vaccination status.

NYC alone fired roughly 1,400 employees for being unvaccinated earlier this year after the city adopted a vaccine mandate under former Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Many of those fired were police officers and firefighters.

Joe Biden and Mohammed bin Salman "don't like or trust each other," sources tell the newspaper.

US-Saudi relations are "fracturing" due to the dislike and distrust between President Joe Biden and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing government sources in Riyadh.

The 37-year-old crown prince, who is the day-to-day ruler of the Gulf monarchy and son of King Salman, "mocks President Biden in private," makes fun of his plentiful public gaffes, and "questions his mental acuity," according to the paper's sources.

In the span of a few hours on Sunday, the senior-most Russian defense authorities — Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu and General Gennady Gerasimov — called their counterparts in the U.S., U.K., France, and Turkey, with the same message — Ukraine is preparing to detonate a so-called "dirty bomb" — high explosive-wrapped radiological material, designed to contaminate large areas with deadly radioactive isotopes.

Russia is not only concerned about the immediate impact of Ukraine detonating such a devise in terms of the harm that would be done to people and the environment, but also about the potential for such an event to be used by Ukraine's western allies to directly intervene militarily in the ongoing conflict, similar to what occurred in Syria when allegations about the use of Sarin nerve agent by the Syrian government against civilians were used by the U.S., U.K., and France to justify an attack on Syrian military and infrastructure targets. (It turned out that the allegations of Sarin use were false; the jury is still out about the use of commercial chlorine as a weapon.)

Russia is to raise the matter at the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

In return, Western governments on Monday accused Russia of plans to deploy a dirty bomb. "We've been very clear with the Russians ... about the severe consequences that would result from nuclear use," said U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price. "There would be consequences for Russia whether it uses a dirty bomb or a nuclear bomb."

Ukraine is requesting that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) send a team to Ukraine to investigate.

Russia is about to greatly enhance its military arsenal, the country's former president, Dmitry Medvedev, said on Monday, adding that output of tanks, high-precision missiles, drones, and artillery pieces is growing "multifold."

He made the statement after inspecting the production lines of Russia's leading arms manufacturer, the Uralvagonzavod tank plant.

Medvedev, who is currently the deputy head of the Russian Security Council, posted a video on Telegram showing him touring the production halls of the plant together with a delegation of government officials. The video also featured dozens of modern T-72B3 and T-90M battle tanks under construction at the facility, including ones that appeared to be in the final assembly stage.

The official said he has repeatedly seen claims by Western analysts "that Russia will soon run out of military equipment and weapons."

"Don't hold your breath," he wrote. "The production of weapons and special equipment is increasing multifold in all directions: from tanks and guns to high-precision missiles and drones. Wait!" Medvedev added.

US President Joe Biden admitted he could "drop dead tomorrow" while trying to reassure American voters that he still has enough energy to run for office again in 2024. His comments come amid widespread concerns about his allegedly deteriorating health and regular gaffes.

In a clip from an interview with MSNBC released on Sunday, Biden, 79, was asked what he would tell Americans that were not sure whether he should seek re-election because of his advanced age.

"I think it's a legitimate thing to be concerned about anyone's age, including mine," he replied, describing himself as "a great respecter of fate."

"I could get a disease tomorrow. I could, you know, drop dead tomorrow," he added.

However, Biden went on to say that the best way to make a judgment about his health is to watch him. "You know, am I slowing up? Do I not have the same pace?" he asked, suggesting that if Americans are uncertain about his abilities, they should support another candidate.

The US may send decades-old missiles that its own military no longer uses to Ukraine to provide air defense against Russian missiles, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing two anonymous officials.

The MIM-23 Hawk missile system was introduced in 1960, though it has since been upgraded several times. According to Reuters, Washington may send a few of them to Kiev to see if the stockpile is in good shape after spending years in storage.

The transfer would be done under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) and could be announced as soon as this week, sources told the news agency.

Rishi Sunak has taken office as the UK's new prime minister. He met with King Charles III on Tuesday, immediately after the monarch formally accepted the resignation of his predecessor Liz Truss.

As is customary, the King has formally requested that Conservative Party leader Sunak form a government.

Truss announced her resignation last week after spending just 44 days in office, becoming the country's shortest-serving prime minister. She stepped down after coming under pressure for proposing unpopular economic measures aimed at mitigating soaring inflation and the cost-of-living crisis.

Sunak, a former finance minister, was then selected by the ruling Conservative Party to replace her, after former office holder Boris Johnson withdrew from the contest.

He is the first person of color to hold the position, and the first Hindu.

Elon Musk is back in the headlines again (not that he ever really went away). He's going to save free speech on Twitter (honest)! He's going to end the war on Ukraine (that he supported with Starlink)! He's going to give Taiwan to the Chinese (and not just because of Tesla's Shanghai factory)! Yes, Elon Musk is a WEF Young Global Leader and a self-promoting charlatan who would have amounted to absolutely nothing without unrelenting support from government and his globalist pals, and he is the next white hat saviour that is being set up to mislead the masses with their next hopium fix. But as James peels back the layers of this technocratic huckster, you'll find that it's even worse than that . . .

"You see them on the street. You watch them on TV. You might even vote for one this fall. You think they're people just like you. You're wrong. Dead wrong." — They Live

We're living in two worlds.

There's the world we see (or are made to see) and then there's the one we sense (and occasionally catch a glimpse of), the latter of which is a far cry from the propaganda-driven reality manufactured by the government and its corporate sponsors, including the media.

Indeed, what most Americans perceive as life in America — privileged, progressive and free — is a far cry from reality, where economic inequality is growing, real agendas and real power are buried beneath layers of Orwellian doublespeak and corporate obfuscation, and "freedom," such that it is, is meted out in small, legalistic doses by militarized police and federal agents armed to the teeth.

All is not as it seems.

Monsters with human faces walk among us. Many of them work for the U.S. government.

This is the premise of John Carpenter's film They Live, which was released in November 1988 and remains unnervingly, chillingly appropriate for our modern age.

Best known for his horror film Halloween, which assumes that there is a form of evil so dark that it can't be killed, Carpenter's larger body of work is infused with a strong anti-authoritarian, anti-establishment, laconic bent that speaks to the filmmaker's concerns about the unraveling of our society, particularly our government.

Time and again, Carpenter portrays the government working against its own citizens, a populace out of touch with reality, technology run amok, and a future more horrific than any horror film.

In Escape from New York, Carpenter presents fascism as the future of America.

In The Thing, a remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic of the same name, Carpenter presupposes that increasingly we are all becoming dehumanized.

In Christine, the film adaptation of Stephen King's novel about a demon-possessed car, technology exhibits a will and consciousness of its own and goes on a murderous rampage.

In In the Mouth of Madness, Carpenter notes that evil grows when people lose "the ability to know the difference between reality and fantasy."