SHOT: President Trump Is a Better Dealbreaker Than Dealmaker.

-Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker.

CHASER: North Korea responds to Trump cancelling US summit, says it’s ready to ‘resolve issues anytime.’

–Business Insider.

CHARLIE MARTIN: Five Ways to Know If You Can Talk to Someone about Climate.

HMM: Congressional Measure to Recognize Israeli Sovereignty Over Golan Heights Killed. “Officials blame House GOP leadership for preventing vote on historic measure.”

Damascus can’t even keep control over the 99% of its territory Israel didn’t annex.

BLUE STATE BLUES: Swamped by Growth, Silicon Valley Weighs Taxing Big Employers.

It is unusual for cities to opt for a direct tax on employment to fund housing or services, said Jared Walczak, an analyst at the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation, a conservative-leaning research group that tracks U.S. tax policies. Cities usually try to incentive growth, keeping business taxes low or concocting tax incentives.

But up and down the West Coast, cities are struggling to manage multidimensional housing crises and growing wealth gaps, where pockets of prosperity displace others on the fringe.

In Silicon Valley, the problem is so severe that some are hoping for a limit—or at least a remedy—to growth while housing supply and public transit catch up.

It’s damn near illegal to build affordable housing in the Bay Area, and Sacramento has wasted tens of billions on a high-speed train to nowhere while the state’s streets and highways crumble — but more government is always the answer to failed governance.

“Get the hell out of my way!” the wise man once said.

ACLU OPEN LETTER TO JEFF BEZOS: We demand that Amazon stop powering a government surveillance infrastructure that poses a grave threat to customers and communities across the country.

LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: What Happened at the DOJ-Congress Meeting Yesterday and Much, Much More. “Yesterday Congressional leaders met with DOJ and intelligence officials to obtain information about the agency’s rogue, unchecked investigation into RUSSIA-collusion and the 2016 presidential campaign. As I predicted immediately upon hearing about this meeting, there was no document production. We don’t know much about the meeting because classified information was discussed, but one person did make a statement. Guess who that was? Mr. Adam Schiff.”

The most dangerous place in the world is between Schiff and a CNN camera.

POLL: Majority says calling MS-13 members ‘animals’ is fair. “Fifty-six percent of American adults in the Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll said referring to members of the gang as ‘animals’ is fair, compared to 44 percent who said the characterization was unfair.”

Yet another torpedo, circling back.

FURTHEST THING FROM MY MIND, ACTUALLY: Don’t Make Bill Kristol Run For President.

BLUE WAVE? How the Battle for the House Is Shaping Up.

If you had asked me six months ago who I thought would win control of the House of Representatives in 2018, I wouldn’t have hesitated before answering, “It’s early, but Democrats are heavily favored, although conventional wisdom has been very slow to catch up.” With a raft of GOP retirements in highly vulnerable open seats, a president with job approval ratings in the 30s, and a generic ballot lead for Democrats in the double digits, it was increasingly difficult to spell out a path to victory for Republicans. In fact, things were bad enough that it appeared their losses could grow into the 40 or even 50 seat range.

Things have changed. If the election were held today, it’s not clear who would hold the chamber. I might put a thumb on the scale for Republicans, but right now – and it is still early – the House is likely to be close. Once again, conventional wisdom seems slow to catch up, with analysts still discussing the toxic environment for Republicans.

Read the whole thing. After that, try spending less time on the internet and more time volunteering for a local campaign.

STEPHEN KRUISER AND TWEET OF THE DAY: “Actors were more enjoyable when they had publicists who didn’t let them speak to the public & reveal how stupid they were.”

The old studio system did have its charms.

PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH: Pentagon Is Speeding Up Arms Exports to Saudi Arabia, Other Allies.

WELL, YES: Venezuela is now a dictatorship.

Maduro is not alone in the world. In recent years, Venezuela has rebuilt its strategic global alliances, giving clear preference – in the form of oil diplomacy and insider access to Latin American politics – to countries that share Maduro’s world view and governing style.

The regime’s relationships with the authoritarian governments of Russia, China, Turkey, Bolivia and Cuba – all of which congratulated Maduro on his win – are strong.

These countries’ leaders practice a new kind of authoritarianism. In the 21st century, dictatorships do not necessarily take on the classic form – that of Mao, Lenin or the Latin American military juntas of the 1970s and 1980s.

Instead, Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the like often maintain a democratic facade. They hold elections – but they do so under corrupt conditions, ensuring that they and their parties stay in power.

They decry capitalism and imperialism, claiming to rule in the name of the people. Meanwhile, they amass great personal wealth and power.

Venezuela’s Maduro, who enriched his inner circle while the country starved, is now indisputably part of this crowd.

Looting the country is the entire point of stealing elections.

SHOW YOUR WORK: James Clapper Says Russia DECIDED the 2016 Election: Swung at Least ‘80,000 Votes in Three States.’

NEWS YOU CAN USE: How to Reduce Healthcare Costs by 92%.

JUSTICE: Harvey Weinstein to Be Arrested on Friday in New York.

STICKING IT TO THE MAN: Convenience stores work around cold beer prohibition by offering ‘Chill Indiana bags.’

Gas stations will be selling reusable “Chill Indiana bags” that will make beer cold “by the time that customer reaches their destination.”

For years, gas stations have been pushing for lawmakers to update Indiana’s code, allowing them to sell cold beer with their alcohol licenses. And for years, they have been thwarted by liquor stores unwilling to share their cold beer profits.

Currently gas stations and grocery stores can only serve room temperature beer.

What a stupid law.

THAT’S WHAT SKYNET TOLD HIM TO SAY: Mark Zuckerberg Warns Elon Musk: More People Will Die if We ‘Slow Down Progress’ on AI.

J.E. DYER: When The Obama Administration Became The Deep State.

In early January 2017, then-President Barack Obama, SHMOTUS Joe Biden, and a small sub-group of the national security team began their transition to what’s commonly called the “Deep State.” Based on the footprints they left behind we can tell that they took time from their real jobs of running the country, this proto-deep state planned, coordinated, and leaked a timed media burst of articles about Trump and Russia. Each of the stories was leaked to different outlets. Each story was published between the 10th and 12th of January. This was the turning point when the Obama Administration became the deep state.

At NRO on Tuesday, Andrew McCarthy came to an important conclusion about the Trump-Russia investigation. It has been increasingly clear that the investigation – to the extent we may call it that – started quite a while before 31 July 2016, the date long given for its formal launch. McCarthy suggests it began in the early spring, probably around the end of March.

Read the whole thing.

SHOT: No amount of alcohol, sausage or bacon is safe according to cancer experts.

CHASER: Always listen to the experts. They’ll tell you what can’t be done and why. Then do it.

REARMAMENT: House rejects limit on new nuclear warhead.

The rejected amendment would have fenced half the 2019 funding for low-yield nuclear warhead development in lieu of an assessment of its impact on strategic stability and options to reduce the risk of miscalculation. Reps. Jim Garamendi, D-Calif., and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., sponsored it.

The amendment was defeated 188-226 largely along party lines, with seven Democrats voting “no” with Republicans and five Republicans voting “yes” with Democrats.

The Pentagon’s Nuclear Posture Review, released in February, called for the creation of two new nuclear designs — a low-yield variant of the W76 nuclear warhead on Trident II missiles aboard America’s nuclear submarines, as well as a potential new sea-launched nuclear cruise missile.

Tactical nukes are a smart choice for added deterrence.

MICHAEL CAPUTO: A 2nd Possible Mole Approached Me in May of 2016 and Mueller Was Very Interested in Hearing About That. “Somebody who I believe was organized by the investigators.”

THEY HIDE LOTS OF STUFF FROM CONGRESS, APPARENTLY: Andrew McCabe Spent $70,000 On A Table. The FBI Hid It From Congress.

ACCESS: Cohen Got $400,000 From Ukraine To Broker Trump Meeting, Says BBC.

CHANGE: Adam Ford Sells ‘Babylon Bee,’ Takes on the Facebook-Google Mafia’s ‘Duopoly on Information.’

WELL, GOOD: China Disinvited from Participating in 2018 RIMPAC Exercise.

Citing actions in the South China Sea that run counter to international norms and a pursuit of free and open seas, Department of Defense spokesman Marine Lt. Col. Christopher Logan said the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) would not be participating in the exercise despite its participation in submarine safety and other non-warfighting components of the exercise in previous years.

“The United States is committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific. China’s continued militarization of disputed features in the South China Sea only serve to raise tensions and destabilize the region. As an initial response to China’s continued militarization of the South China Sea we have disinvited the PLA Navy from the 2018 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise. China’s behavior is inconsistent with the principles and purposes of the RIMPAC exercise,” Logan said.

“We have strong evidence that China has deployed anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, and electronic jammers to contested features in the Spratly Islands region of the South China Sea. China’s landing of bomber aircraft at Woody Island has also raised tensions,” he continued.

“We believe these recent deployments and the continued militarization of these features is a violation of the promise that President Xi made to the United States and the World not to militarize the Spratly Islands.”

There’s no reason to share naval experience and knowhow with China while they refuse to recognize international law and norms concerning freedom of the seas.