“PROMINENT RUSSIAN MILITARY BLOGGER KILLED IN ST. PETERSBURG CAFÉ EXPLOSION”
Things are not always what they seem.
Layers, smoke, trick mirrors, deception.
What looks to be a Ukrainian intelligence operation is quite likely something else.
One of Mad Vlad Putin’s main goals is to crackdown on the Russian people; to follow in the footsteps of his hero Joseph Stalin and make Russia one big prison (and morgue) acting as chief warden (and mortician). This is especially important one year after his brutal incursion into Ukraine because so many of the Russian people are wishing he were gone: once friendly oligarchs and disenfranchised FSB and GRU cronies along with ex-generals weary of seeing their troops slaughtered for just a few yards of Ukrainian turf.
How do you accomplish instilling fear into your citizens while insisting on the need for even more draconian powers?
With false-flag terrorism.
If you want to know who blew up Putin propagandist Vladen Tatarsky to smithereens with a booby-trapped bust of himself, look no further than Russia’s powerful internal security service, the FSB. Ukraine has denied responsibility for this vanity killing (a bomb hidden within a bust of the victim—brilliant). But citing Ukrainian intelligence as the culprit may garner sympathy and pump up the few remaining pro-Putin militarists. Putin’s goons will more likely blame it on some domestic anti-Putin organization, round up all the usual suspects and dump them into a gulag or psych ward (another Stalinist-era tactic).
Putin pulled a similar stunt in September 1999 when, to consolidate his new power as prime minister of Russia, got his FSB (which he had earlier ruled as director) to plant bombs that exploded in or near five apartment buildings in Russian cities, including Moscow. Putin blamed this outrage on Chechen separatists and triggered the Second Chechen War, which made him hugely popular in the eyes of the Russian populace, which was hungry for revenge.
More than 300 men, women and children were killed in this wave of false-flag terror.
Chalk them up as Putin’s first round of murder victims, sacrificed to propel him from prime minister to president.
“XI & PUTIN HAVE THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL UNDECLARED ALLIANCE IN THE WORLD”
Again, don’t believe everything you read, even when it comes from a prestigious journal, in this case Foreign Policy, written by a highly esteemed sage, Graham Allison of Harvard University, who appears to be indulging in our latest national group fantasy as we beat a drum towards war.
Shock! Horror! We are supposed to quake in our boots, right?
I have the utmost respect for the man who authored the definitive work on the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, but (based on reliable sources) here is what I believe is really going down:
China is shrewdly trying to alarm the United States by pretending to side with Russia though it has done no such thing. Again, smoke, mirrors and deception.
All Putin got from his so-called “historic” meeting with Xi Jinping in Moscow was Beijing’s offer to share some intelligence. That and some components for unmanned aircraft. The Russian dictator walked away from the encounter bitterly disappointed and wondered aloud to his closest advisers why Xi even bothered to fly in for “their” photo op (which was actually Xi’s photo op.)
Xi concluded his visit to Moscow by saying, “Change is coming that hasn’t happened in 100 years and we are driving this change together.”
What Xi meant by change is, “You are now the junior partner of our always tense relationship and you will help us by incapacitating yourselves even further than you already have done through your misguided, bloody and downright stupid war on Ukraine.”
To which Putin lamely replied, “I agree,” before bowing his head as Xi departed in his motorcade, leaving Mad Vlad to the ongoing care of his numerous physicians.
Bottom line: Putin needs weapons from China and he’s NOT getting any.
This “change” is purely about China’s emasculation of Russia and Putin knows it.
Xi is running circles around Putin as part of China’s long-term strategy of strengthening itself through weakening both Russia and the United States.
Xi needs only to WALK circles around Joe Biden.
As (literally) witnessed by…
“CHINESE SPY BALLOON DID GATHER INTELLIGENCE FROM SENSITIVE US MILITARY SITES BEFORE IT WAS SHOT DOWN, US INTELLIGENCE REVEALS”
Duh. Their balloon was doing figure eights above our nation’s nuclear ICBM silos in Montana and dispatching electronic signals by satellite in real time back to China. Meanwhile, our military continues to fret about whether it is woke enough.
Do you think the Chinese military-intelligence complex would go to the trouble and expense of dispatching a balloon halfway across the globe just to snap souvenir photos like those taken by Chinese tourists in Solvang?
Speaking of which, I’ve often wondered why Chinese visitors, in droves, seem to have a fetish for Danish-style architecture or a passion for aebleskivers (fried batter balls). Gee, you think it might have something to do with Solvang’s close proximity to Vandenberg Air Force Base, a SpaceX launch site and from where a Minuteman III ICBM test missile was launched last month?
Woke or awaken, take your pick.
“PUTIN’S WARNINGS IGNORED AS FINLAND TO JOIN NATO ALLIANCE”
Finland officially became the 31st member country of NATO last Tuesday. This is yet another slap in the face for putrid Putin while Finland’s protection from its aggressive neighbor is now assured by 30 other countries.
Mad Vlad had said, “The expansion [of NATO] into this territory [Finland] would certainly provoke our response.”
Translation: Perhaps Dmitry (Drunkard) Medvedev will eruct another inebriated rant, this time about dropping a bomb on Helsinki.
For the sixth year in a row, Finland has ranked # 1 in the World Happiness Report.
The Finns just got even happier.
“US INDICTS RUSSIAN SPY WHO TRIED TO INFILTRATE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT”
Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov was planted in the USA as an “illegal” by Russia’s GRU (military intelligence) and while masquerading as a Brazilian citizen named Victor Muller Ferreira earned a master’s degree at Johns Hopkins in foreign policy then signed up as an intern with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
Upon arriving in The Netherlands, Cherkasov was extradited to Brazil and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for falsely obtaining Brazilian identity documents.
Chekasov has now been indicted in the United States on charges of espionage. Turns out, FBI Counterintelligence had been onto him for quite some time.
Which explains the following…
“RUSSIA ARRESTS WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTER ON SPYING CHARGE”
Emboldened by Joe Biden’s shoddy, inequitable trade of notorious “Merchant of Death” Viktor Bout for basketball player Brittney Griner, poisonous Putin now has someone to trade for Chekasov’s safe return to Russia.
“NEWSOM FORMS NEW GROUP TO FIGHT ‘RISING AUTHORITARIANISM’ IN RED STATES”
Governor Gruesome is supposedly heading to red states to invigorate lonely Democrats.
The Washington Post reports: “He is setting out on his first trip this weekend to Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama to meet with local activists with his wife and his children in tow.”
Translation: Gavin is taking his family on an all-expense paid vacation (spring break) courtesy of the Democratic Party.
“RFK JR. IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT, WILL CHALLENGE BIDEN FOR DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION”
I’d take RFK Jr. any day of the week over Joe Biden and Gavin Newsom.
Says he: “My top priority will be to end the corrupt merger between state and corporate power that has ruined our economy, shattered the middle class, polluted our landscapes and waters, poisoned our children and robbed us of our values and freedoms.”
Amen, brother.
“THE UNSEALED INDICTMENT AGAINST DONALD TRUMP”
This document can be summed up in one British word:
The modern American vernacular: NOTHINGBURGER.
As in, moldy Lettuce, sour pickles—and regurgitated beef from those who will never recover from Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Oh, add a banana, because this is what our country is becoming via a highly politicized Justice Department and judicial system: A banana republic.
“EVERYONE ON EARTH WILL DIE UNLESS WE STOP RAPIDLY DEVELOPING BOTS”
Eliezer Yudkowsky, cofounder of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, believes humans will lose to a “horrific dangerous technology.”
Mr. Yudkowsky posits that artificial intelligence (AI) will not do what we want, “does not care for us nor for sentient life in general” but will perceive human beings “as atoms that it can use for something else.”
And while we’re on the subject of AI…
“THE CALIFORNIA NEWSPAPER THAT HAS NO REPORTERS LEFT”
Which paper: The Salinas Californian.
How: Gannett, the owner over 1,000 newspapers nationwide, provides copy from its other newspapers.
Reports msn.com: “The only original content comes in the form of paid obituaries, making death virtually the only sign of life.”
Which sadly suggests the newspaper business is dying deader than a doornail.
My forecast: Within five years almost all newspapers will be paperless.
Reasons: 1) The cost of newsprint; 2) the cost of physical distribution; 3) smart phone and tablet preference/addiction.
As for content: Newspaper editors can now order up copy on any topic of their choosing from an artificial intelligence platform called ChatGPT. I requested a brief column from ChatGPT explaining Easter Sunday:
“Easter Sunday is one of the most significant religious holidays in the Christian calendar, and it is observed by millions of Christians around the world. It marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, three days after his crucifixion, as described in the Bible.
“For Christians, Easter Sunday represents the triumph of life over death and hope over despair. It is a time to reflect on the sacrifice and teachings of Jesus, and to celebrate the new beginning that his resurrection brings.
“Easter Sunday is typically celebrated with church services, family gatherings, and traditional foods, such as hot cross buns and Easter eggs. It is also a time for prayer, reflection, and gratitude for the blessings in our lives.
“While Easter Sunday has deep religious significance for Christians, it is also a time for people of all faiths to come together in celebration of renewal, hope, and the beauty of the spring season.
“As we celebrate Easter Sunday, let us remember the message of love, compassion, and forgiveness that Jesus taught us, and let us strive to live those values in our daily lives.”
There is nothing stylistic about ChatGPT’s copy. But it works as straight reportage and it’s free for any newspaper to publish—in contrast to having to pay journalists a salary plus benefits—and quite likely what you will read in future newspapers, despite journalists’ unions trying to stave off the inevitable.
Or, as the Wall Street Journal put it three days ago, “The robots have finally come for my job.”
“ALBERT EINSTEIN & CHARLIE CHAPLIN’S FRIENDSHIP BEGAN WITH A HILARIOUS EXCHANGE OF MUTUAL ADMIRATION”
“What I admire most about your art is your universality,” Einstein said to Chaplin.
Chaplin replied (with perfect comedic timing), “True, but your glory is even greater! The whole world admires you even though they don’t understand a word of what you say.”
Sir Charlie’s ghost is often present on Coast Village Road at the Montecito Inn, of which he may or may not have been a founding owner when it was built in 1928. Some say it was Chaplin’s weekend getaway from Hollywood. He and his pal “Fatty” Arbuckle would bring sweet young things to Montecito amid promises of making them into starlets.
These days Chaplin plays harmless pranks on unsuspecting hotel guests and restaurant patrons.
For instance, he’ll jerk a barstool, prompting a male customer to pratfall while concurrently causing a female to slip on an imaginary banana peel and they’ll engage each other on the floor—Charlie’s slapstick style of sparking a new romance. Strangely, no injuries occur from these pratfalls and slippages (which of course have nothing to do with stiff martinis…).
Costumed as The Tramp, Chaplin is seen walking through walls; he sometimes flicks empty glasses off serving trays and taps the shoulders of certain patrons. And if you’re having a private moment in the toilet, he switches the light off or silently unbolts the lock, leading to potentially embarrassing encounters.
I personally saw Charlie at work years ago while minding my own martini inside The Montecito Bar (now a high-end sushi restaurant). For no rational reason, the heavy glass door opened very slowly outward as if someone had pulled the handle for entry. But no one was there. All of a sudden, when the door was open as wide as it would go, in a split second it slammed shut with such forces that the glass shattered into a million pieces.
Another time, I watched as a half-glass of red wine spilled all by itself onto my friend’s brand-new white linen jacket.
Chaplin’s spiritual presence extends to the bar-and-grill next door, whose former maître d’ told me, “One time I was serving a movie executive and he ordered our Dover sole. Everything is set up on a jack stand. Suddenly, for no reason at all, against the laws of physics, the whole jack stand of trays flips up, away from me and the plate with the fish on it goes sailing up in the air, in an arc, and the other plate goes flying off and the fish comes down right in the middle of the plate—a physically impossible maneuver. I laughed because it was so darn funny and a big wad of snot flew out of my nose right onto the fish. The whole thing was right out of a Chaplin movie.
“See that wall?” the former maître d’ continued. “It’s closest to the Montecito Inn. We have customers who tell us about noises in the night from the inn. A member of my staff saw Charlie just before opening time. He was costumed as The Champ: bowler hat, moustache, legs splayed, walking out, walking backwards, walking out again, walking backwards. The waitress screamed and ran out the door into my arms. She would never work in that section again.”
Attending his deathbed, a priest told Chaplin, “May the Lord have mercy on your soul.”
Sir Charlie replied, “Why not? After all, it belongs to Him.”
And He apparently delivered dear Charlie’s spirit to Montecito.