Puppet Masters
Speaking for the first time about the incident during a televised address to the nation on April 25, Zeman said that one version of events is that Russian intelligence was involved in the deadly explosion.
The other version, he said, was that the blast was caused by inexpert handling of ammunition.
"I take both lines [of investigation] seriously and I wish that they are thoroughly investigated," Zeman said.
In The Revolt of the Public, Martin Gurri, a former CIA analyst, contends that western élites are experiencing a collapse of authority deriving from a failure to distinguish between legitimate criticism and - what he terms - illegitimate rebellion. Once control over the justifying myth of America was lost, the mask was off. And the disparity between the myth and public experience of it became only too evident.
Writing in 2014, Gurri foresaw that the Establishment would respond by denouncing all evidence of public discontent, as lies and disinformation. The Establishment would, in Gurri's telling, be so constrained within their 'bubble' that they would be unable to assimilate their loss of monopoly over their own confected 'reality'. This Establishment denial would be made manifest, he argued, in a delusional, ham-fisted authoritarian manner. His predictions have been vindicated with Trumpist dissidence denounced as a threat to 'our democracy' - amidst a media and social platform crackdown. Such a response would only confirm the suspicions of the public, thus setting off a vicious circle of yet more "distrust and loss of legitimacy", Gurri concluded.
Comment: Is globalism the end product of American exceptionalism? This may be precisely why it does not, will not work. Neither the Russians, the Chinese nor what is left of the rational US public will bow to obey this master.
"It is high time that Congress reinstates the state and local tax deduction, so we can get more dollars back into the pockets of so many struggling families," intoned Gottheimer, one of 32 members of the SALT caucus, which includes 8 Republicans.
Pressure on Biden to repeal the SALT cap has been amping up, mainly from tri-state Democrats like Gottheimer, fellow New Jerseyan Bill Pascrell, and Tom Suozzi of New York. "No SALT, no deal!" the trio power-tweeted a few weeks back. Just a few days ago, Gottheimer even came up with a new way to argue the plan, offering to pay for the repeal of the SALT cap by increasing audits.
"There is a way to do this by going after what people owe already," he said.
The effort by the "SALT caucus" to hold a $2 trillion relief bill hostage in order to help what they're calling "struggling families" in the "middle class" is just the latest development in a years-long saga revealing Congress at its phoniest and most shameless.

Home Affairs Minister Priti Patel • Dep. Foreign Minister Alan Duncan
In another section of the book - the diaries of his time in the Foreign Office - he excoriates Priti Patel, currently the British home secretary, as "compromised," "deceitful," "morally corrupt," "contemptible" and "quite despicable." All these characterizations were used by Duncan to describe Patel's relationship with Israel. Patel was then the UK minister for international development, deciding how to dole out British aid money around the world - a form of "soft power."
Duncan's diary entries on Patel stand out, because they shed new light on a 2017 scandal Patel briefly but memorably caused for May's government.
Comment: Having publicly stated the obvious, given Israel's abilities to infiltrate and compromise other governments, looking repeatedly over his shoulder should be Duncan's next move. He is, after all, In the Thick of It.

Patrisse Khan-Cullors • Dustin Moskovitz • Jack Dorsey
Philanthropists linked to Facebook, Twitter and Netflix have donated more than $7.5 million to a host of non-profits controlled by Khan-Cullors, who has helped them lobby for "net neutrality."
The issue of net neutrality is about who controls the Internet. Proponents, including human rights groups, want a free flow of views and information. They fear content can be controlled by phone and cable companies — the Internet service providers — in how they set fees and speeds for content producers and users. Big Tech firms, many of which already engage in censoring content they don't agree with, don't want ISPs to control the Internet — and their profits.
The source of the fire is unknown at the moment, but Syria's oil ministry reports "an apparent drone attack coming from Lebanese territory" is responsible for the incident.
The ministry didn't provide any information about the ship's name, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the vessel was Iranian.
Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) allegedly shows the vessel with a plume of black smoke rising in front of the bridge.
Mohamed Yehia, head of Multimedia Output, BBC Arabic, also tweets out an image of the vessel and recites the SANA report.
There are no official reports of the incident neither the source of the fire on the vessel.
However, we must add that Israeli and Iranian ships have been subject to regular attacks in recent weeks and months. Tel Aviv and Tehran blame each other.
Last week, the US issued a rare warning to its closest Mideast ally Israel over its escalating actions against Iran. The Biden administration has voiced displeasure with Israel's recent covert attacks against Iranian targets.
Some of those attacks have been Israeli forces bombing dozens of Iranian oil tankers.
"Come here," demands A, crooking a finger.
"No, never mind. Go Away," A says angrily.
R leaves, confused.
'No, wait, come here," A says again.
"OMG why did you do that?!" A is now yelling.
"Do what?" R asks, alarmed.
"Oh, you know very well," A responds.
R steps back, defensively folds arms.
"R, come on, we have to talk," A pleads tearfully.
R shakes head, steps tentatively towards A.
"Never mind, go away. And YOU get no more of anything," A says petulantly.
R, confused, ignores A and looks over at C.
R and C walk off into the sunset.
A stomps foot angrily and yells threats at them both unless they return.
Our players in this little fiction? America, Russia and a cameo appearance by China.
Biden's first 100 days in office have been busy. A slew of executive orders did away with nearly all of Donald Trump's policies as the Democratic president opened up the country's Mexican border, launched a bid for gun control and banned key fossil fuel projects. The coronavirus vaccine rollout continues at home, while internationally, Biden has hit Russia with economic sanctions and strained relations with Turkey by recognizing the Armenian genocide.

Kamala Harris's children's book will be given to migrant children coming to Long Beach.
Unaccompanied migrant kids brought from the U.S.-Mexico border to a new shelter in Long Beach, Calif., will be given a copy of her 2019 children's book, Superheroes are Everywhere, in their welcome kits.
It's just the latest open-arms gesture by the Biden administration, whose mixed messaging regarding the border and immigration has been credited with the surge from Central America to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Comment: Government funds paid for Kamala's "book," with no disclosure of who is profiting from the purchase. That has to be all kinds of illegal.
Fox News reports:
A White House official told Fox News Harris wasn't aware of the welcome packs, and that these kinds of efforts are usually organized by members of the community.
Health and Human Services could not be reached for comment on who is purchasing the books for the children.
More than 172,000 migrants were encountered by authorities in March alone. Among those were 18,890 unaccompanied children - a 100% increase from the already high numbers encountered in February, and the highest number recorded.
Smugglers have used groups of child migrants to divert Border Patrol so they can get adults through a different part of the border when officials are overwhelmed, while images of children being dumped at the border alone by smugglers have been released.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks outside of the Democratic National Committee headquarters on November 19, 2020 in Washington, D.C.
"The Biden Administration and President Biden have definitely exceeded expectations that progressives had," Democratic Socialist Ocasio-Cortez said during a virtual town hall meeting.
"A lot of us expected a much more conservative administration."
Comment: Conservative now means anything to the left of AOC and Karl Marx. If you're not a member of the progressive ruling class cult, that makes you a 'conservative.' And when they say it, it's an insult, by the way.
Ocasio-Cortez gave Biden her leftist seal of approval largely based on his actions in pushing through the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package, known as the American Rescue Plan.
She said his willingness to show flexibility in negotiations has been "very impressive" and led to the passage of "progressive legislation."
"It's been good so far," the congresswoman said.











Comment: RT reports: See also: America's stake in the Czech elections, and President Zeman's policies