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PTINS

Burnt Ends
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Posts posted by PTINS

  1. 21 hours ago, Tex Pete said:

    More of a splintery wooden cock guy.

    Woodcock Guy?

    What was it before you changed it? movie review (2007) | Roger Ebert

    5 hours ago, RGBIII said:

    Fireworks Diwali GIF

    Boom!!!

    1506537373-blawn.gif

    image.png

    4 hours ago, cmontexas said:

    Out of the 100,000 people that show up at DKR every home game, how many actually follow or care about recruiting or know the roster?

    350: SP Tree Fiddy – Mr. Throwback Thursday

    So much more fun when I open Surly, and the first thing I see is that we got Coleman, and flipped Hollywood from 'bama.

    Allowed me to speed reed 20+ pages of $9.95 by skimming the normal dribble.

  2. From Julia Davis, January 8, 2026

    A Sobering New Year for Russia’s Propagandists

    A Sobering New Year for Russia’s Propagandists, Russia’s new year is off to a rocky start, as its hopes and dreams are dashed by reality.

    Just one month ago, Sergey Karnaukhov, who hosts the program Karnaukhov’s Labyrinth on the Solovyov Live channel, confidently boasted that the Kremlin fortified its Venezuelan Comrade, President Nicolás Maduro.  

    Using words he later came to regret, he said: “Maduro made the right decision: he started to rely on Russia . . . If it wasn’t for Russia, Venezuela would be on fire right now.”  

    Karnaukhov predicted that if there was any attempt by the United States to act against Venezuela, it would be able to sink all the American ships, using an array of Russian weapons. He added, “How did we do it? At some point in time, movies will be made about it, books will be written about it.” 

    In January, after an audacious US raid on Venezuela that ended with Maduro’s capture, Karnaukhov’s humility was restored. He meekly surmised: “If Russia stands in America’s way, it will crush us too.”  

    Head of RT Margarita Simonyan expressed jealousy about US capabilities, apparently referring to Russia’s multiple failed attempts to kidnap or assassinate the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in contrast to Maduro’s rapid extraction to the United States. 

    Appearing on a radio show, In More Detail, political scientist Alexander Kazakov advised the Russians to lean into the principles of the Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza: “Do not weep; do not wax indignant.” Host Marat Bulatov chimed in and urged fellow Russian citizens to stop demanding a statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin in response to America’s recent actions. He said, “Don’t look for our president, since many are asking right now, ‘Where is the president of Russia? What happened?’.” 

    Bulatov correctly anticipated that Putin wouldn’t rush to say anything. Instead, in his televised remarks during the Orthodox Christmas celebrations, the Russian president inferred that his country’s invasion of a neighboring country is not merely a “special operation,” but a crusade directed by God. This reaffirmed that recurring statements by government-directed state media about a “holy war” are a state-approved propaganda narrative.  

    The events of the new year have sobered Russia’s regime mouthpieces. In December, the decorated state TV host Vladimir Solovyovwas thrilled with the outcome of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and President Zelenskyy. He predicted that Ukraine would be sidelined and the US would ally with Russia against Europe.  

    Instead, the United States, with support from the British armed forces, seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker in the North Atlantic on January 7. The Marinera is described as part of a shadow fleet carrying oil for Venezuela, Russia, and Iran to circumvent US sanctions.  

    The state media outlet TASS reported demands from Russia’s Foreign Ministry directed at the United States: “Taking into account reports that there are Russian nationals among the crew, we demand the American side ensure proper and humane treatment of them, strictly observe their rights and interests, and put no obstacles for their soonest return to the Motherland.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the crew might be subject to prosecution in the US.  

    During his show on January 7, Karnaukhov noted: “The reaction in Russia to the arrest of our ship is very boisterous, especially among the experts. They are starting to demand harsh measures from the government. People say that everything starts with small things. If we respond solely with notes of protest, gesticulating with our hands and drawing our red lines that faded long ago, Americans will understand that everything is permissible.” 

    During his show Gasparyan on January 8, host Armen Gasparyan reported “mighty discontent” among his viewers over Venezuela and the ship seizure. They had been writing to the show in significant numbers to express their upset, and to complain that “Donald Trump failed to meet their expectations,” he said. 

    He said viewers were angry because some state propagandists (who he referred to as “certain fools”) had convinced them that the US-UK relationship was broken, something contradicted by the joint military operation to seize Marinera. According to Gasparyan, Russians believed “deteriorating relations between Buckingham Palace [sic] and Trump” were so severe that “this alliance was dead.” 

    Russia’s influential and extreme “Z-bloggers” were so disturbed by the latest turn of events that some asked whether the American president should be “allowed to physically live out the remainder of his term.”  

    In a post on Twitter/X, the ultra-nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin remarked: “The so-called [Ukraine] peace deal was impossible from the very beginning. It was a pure waste of time. Russia is now morally prepared for a radical, full-fledged war with the West”. 

    Julia Davis is a columnist for The Daily Beast and the creator of the Russian Media Monitor. She is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Screen Actors Guild, and Women In Film. 

  3. 33 minutes ago, Hermanator said:

    Late bloomer. Highly ranked late bloomers don't stay with the team that signed them out of HS anymore. He can trade on his HS grade for a bigger payday than what Texas will offer him.

    After 1 year he's clearly last out of the 4 they took out of HS last year.

    Re Ffrench; He was ranked as a Ffive Star until shortly before signing day. Why???

  4. 4 hours ago, Vertigo said:

    So reading the tealeaves on Coleman - If he wants to play with someone who is going to get him to the next level in his final season, his choices are:

    Arch Manning in Sark's offense with weapons around him

    Marcel Reed in first time play caller Holmon Wiggin's offense with no weapons around him

    Brendan Sorsby in second year playcaller Mack Leftwich's offense in the B12

    First year starter Keelon Russell in Deboer/Grubb's offense with less weapons around him

    To me the choice seems fairly obvious unless he just wants to be home in Alabama, but I doubt that is the case.

    YARN | That is a lucid, intelligent, well-thought-out suggestion Overruled  | My Cousin Vinny (1992) | Video gifs by quotes | d668f900 | 紗

    2 hours ago, Park Gothic said:

    Y'all are both wrong. I sell carcinogens - no middleman, I get them directly from the source. Beaumont is like Cedar Rapids for guys like me.

    Real job. It's less interesting than whatever you're imagining so no real need to click on this box.

    Beaumont (and the Eastern District of Texas) is a preferred forum for plaintiffs in IP litigation.

    You work at a gas station?

  5. 14 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

    What Twicehorn said - we can believe this is a chess move against China, or we can believe that the owner of Citgo, who donated millions to Trump, was looking to get access to that oil.

    Citgo gave money to Trump? Funny!

    picCorporateStructure.png

    I have no idea what exactly is sanctioned and how that impacts Citgo & PDVSA, and Venezuela. Exxon & Conoco are still owed $$$/??? for their assets that were renationalized, so they may have a lien of sorts, or first dibs, on some of these assets.

    CITGO has ~ 800,000 BPD of US Refining capacity, ~ 4% of the total capacity, including the big one in Lake Charles.

    I am also confident you have looked at this graphic longer than Team Trump.

    I would not be surprised if some tankers loaded "sanctioned" oil from Venezuela, transferred it into an unsanctioned tankers on the high seas, and unloaded the "unsanctioned" oil in the US.

    On 1/8/2026 at 10:09 AM, eat em up said:

    https://x.com/bxieus/status/2008696299328053373?s=20

    Could be referencing this?

    Evidently the heavy oil is best for making fuel for tankers and heavy ships. We corner Chinese access to that, then they're less likely to fuck with us on rare earth minerals?

    We aren' t cornering shit.

    Current Venezuela production is ~ 25% of the former capacity. If it isn't being produced now, it won't be missed.

    The oil complex is a worldwide, zero sum game, driven by macro supply-demand fundamentals. It is mature, with nationalized and private companies buying and selling a commodity with well defined benchmarks; the epitome of supply-demand fundamentals at work. Economics 101, at its core, but quickly transitioning into probably the most complex trading platform that exists.

    YARN | A lotta ins, a lotta outs, a lotta what-have-yous. | The Big  Lebowski | Video gifs by quotes | 1c37276a | 紗

    The "bunker fuel" used in marine transportation is the bottom-of-the-barrel stuff, between low grade diesel and tar. It is cheaper, and the among the worst environment friendly fuels. Most of the newer marine transportation ships have propulsion from cleaner burning engines, or engines that run on LNG, or batteries.

    Some refineries (a lot of the US) are designed form the heavy/sour crude slates, which sell at big discounts to the Oil Market Benchmarks (WTI, West Texas Intermediate, and /Brent (North Sea) grades. That means they are more efficient and profitable refining the lower cost grades, but within reason, they can refine anything. Conversely, refineries that aren't designed top refine heavy/sour crude cannot refine heavy/sour crude. Nobody builds refineries to make tanker fuels, it is the after birth of refining; Aviation fuel > gasoline > diesel >> marine fuels.

    China's new 400,000 BPD Guangdong Refinery that just came on line is designed to refine heavy/sour crude. The refinery is owned 60/40, between PetroChina/ & PDVSA. Hmmm? The corollary to the Belt & Road initiative; China will build infrastructure in China, to help monetize natural resources assets in Venezuela. Interrupting the Venezuela supply will affect operations, short term, but they will go into the world market to replace it, from Canada and Mexico and the other producers of heavy/sour crude.

    Good thing Canada & Mexico love us. Oh, wait.

    The US policy of blocking the Keystone Pipeline was stupid from the word go. It will only get worse. It was a fit for purpose, direct pipeline, from the Canadian production to the US refineries on the Gulf Coast. We forced Canada to find other outlets for their crude oil, so they did, and built an over the mountain pipeline and a huge oil export terminal on the Pacific, which is now the closest source of American heavy/sour crude for China. Not American as in US, but American as in North, Central & South America.

    I'm guessing China was getting ready to inject steroids into Venezuela's oil production, and since Xi stiff armed the Donald, the Donald took his ball and attacked Venezuela.

    One more point;

    While the world oil market is mature, the NGL marketplace is not. It is driven by a handful of US companies, and the development of worldwide gas processing and NGL trading, in and by foreign countries, is in its infancy.

    The PetroChina Complex also includes a new world class petrochemical plant that turns Natural Gas Liquids (NGL, ethane and propane) into plastics. There is probably limited interaction between the actual Refining and Petrochemical assets in Guangdong. Colocating them provides synergies in infrastructure, shared utilities, import/export terminals, and operating and maintenance functions and personnel.

    PetroChina's NGL imports come primarily (all?) from ... the US. I don't doubt that some of the China petrochemical complex is owned by subsidiaries of US companies. US companies controlling the supply of NGL in the US and exporting the NGL to subsidiaries abroad, away from the legal, environmental, and general NIMBY mindset in the US.

    The companies earmarked to come fix Venezuela are probably Exxon, Chevron and Conoco/Phillips. Conoco and Phillips are 2 separate and distinct companies, from the combined companies assets of Conoco and Phillips, that were spilt apart between Conoco, the production company, and Phillips, the refining and petrochemical company. They are separate entities, but joined at the hip, contractually.

    These are the same companies behind a significant portion of the NGL trading with China. They are in the middle of taking away China's heavy/sour crude supply from Venezuela and supplying China's NGL's/Pet-Chem business.

    They didn't ask to be put in this place, but it goes with the territory.

    YARN | Listen, I'm a politician, which means I'm a cheat and a liar, and  when I'm not kissing babies, I'm stealing their lollipops | The Hunt for Red  October (1990) |

  6. 20 minutes ago, BlackCat said:

    I dont see how Coleman is supposed to turn down some absurd offer from Tech. Lubbock blows but Id live on the moon for a year for whatever theyre throwing at him.

    Well, Lubbock is like the moon; dusty and mono-colored, and so flat you can see the curvature of the earth moon. Lubbock does have those 30 mph winds, creating new fun things to do, like getting dirt our of your ears.

    20 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

    This has been a really challenging week for Bobby to come up with narratives that don’t call into question the performance of the coaching and scouting staff.

    “I don’t know why all of you keep asking us super chat questions on whether Texas has a plan. Of course they have a plan! It’s a plan, and they have a back-up plan to that plan, and, what? No, I can’t tell you about it. When I asked Brandon Harris what I was allowed to say this morning he just winked at me and then John Bianco texted surveillance photos of my kids.”

    YARN | I mean, you're NASA for crying out loud! | Armageddon (1998) | Video  gifs by quotes | 7f423af0 | 紗

  7. 15 hours ago, bad_teammate said:

    Agreed.

    So you're Moore and Baxter and you end up at... Kentucky? OK, cool, but is that really what you were envisioning? How much more are you really making and you're at Kentucky now.

    Lockett gets in the motherfucker. Great, now where are you going and for how much, actually?

    That "jerry jones" comment with a like from Baxter is actually kind of encouraging. It indicates a plan and a process, which are two very good things to have in a time of chaos. Even a weak plan is better than none.

    Moore took his NIL money and started a food truck business, Jive Turkey, w/ his mother, in Austin, the unofficial food truck capital of the world. I thought that was pretty clever, that people would be supportive of using his NIL winnings in a manner that was taking care of his family, whether they were Texas fans or not.

    I expect the food truck is transferring with him to Kentucky. I'll take the under on how well $15 "Deep Fried Turkey Tacos" do in Lexington v. Austin.

    YARN | I made one decision in my life based on money. | Moneyball (2011) |  Video clips by quotes | 05683c4d | 紗

  8. 2 hours ago, Portal Pirate said:

    I would bone Michael Dell's wife on camera if it got us 5 solid OL by Friday.

    2 hours ago, Portal Pirate said:

    Throw in Cam Coleman and I’d have her like this. IMG_7940.jpeg

    If you boned Dell's wife and left her looking like this, you don't need Dell, you just got the wife, and her half is enough.

    46 minutes ago, SameSame said:

    So what happens when he simply unenrolls at Udub, then enrolls at LSU and starts suiting up and playing? What's to stop that?

    Someone explain this to me like I'm 5.

    36 minutes ago, WBT said:

    Nothing. Washington might sue but they will lose.

    If the BIG is standing behind Washington, Washington and the BIG should file a Tortious Interference claim against LSU and the SEC. With the filing and the responses, it would not get settled prior to the fall, which means the POS doesn't get to play football in the fall for either team, and if the POS plays somewhere else, he doesn't get a dime.

    Escalating this from Wash v. LSU to the BIG v. the SEC would force the issue that the rats nest of the varied laws and regulations and guidelines do not work in concert with each other, to the detriment of all parties, and needs to be resolved.

  9. 16 hours ago, Macanudo said:

    This. This. This. Sure, the big oil companies may be for it because shareholder value is all that matters, not American jobs. Those jobs out in Midland go away if oil prices crater. And then the jobs in Houston and NOLA crater. And then the jobs in Dallas and OKC crater. And then....

    This country is so fucking shortsighted.

    It is a matter of perspective, but the US Oil & Gas Industry is nowhere what the perception is. Production volumes have increased considerably in the past 10-15 years, but the number of companies and their employees is much, much smaller. Where possible, everything is done on a contract basis, eliminating the feast or famine hiring and firing of days gone by.

    There are 4 Integrated oil companies ("Big Oil or Super Majors" w/ Production & Refining/Petrochemicals) of note in the US (Exxon, Chevron, Conoco & Phillips, & Marathon).

    All of the "independents" listed are either midstream (pipeline & processing companies) or refining companies, focused on the US Lower 48 & Canada, with limited international exposure outside of that. None of them are exploration/production companies, the smaller segment that drills wells and is most reactive to shorter term economic cycles.

    The 2023 Revenue for the 4 largest Integrated US companies was $1,098 Billion, and for the all of the largest US Oil & Gas companies was $1,634 Billion (12 companies with +$30 Billion in 2023 Revenue).

    The 2023 Revenue for the 4 largest non-O&G Companies was $1,845 Billion.

    • Walmart: $612.3 billion (United States)

    • Amazon: $514.0 billion (United States)

    • Apple: $394.3 billion (United States)

    • UnitedHealth Group: $324.2 billion (United States)

    US total exports of crude oil & petroleum products & natural gas liquids (NGL) is ~ 10 MM BPD, with a significant portion of that going to Europe (transportation fuels) & SE Asia (NGL/petrochemical feedstocks). Given the symbiotic relationship between crude oil and the finished products, it is prudent to consider how the US "activities" on the supply/crude side impact the relations with our customers on the product side.

    Approximately 40% of those product exports go to China, with ~ 75% of that being the NGL volumes for petrochemical plants. Some of those petrochemical plants are partners w/ US affiliates, the aforementioned integrated companies.

    Following is the listing of the largest Oil & Gas companies by Revenue, highlighted as noted.

    • US Integrated (Production and Refining/Petrochemicals) - 4 companies

    • US Independent (Production, or Midstream (pipeline & processing) or Refining) - 8 companies

    • Somewhat aligned w/ US, IMO

    • Somewhat hostile w/ US, IMO

    Largest oil and gas companies by revenue in $US Billion

    #

    Company Name

    Country

    2022

    2023

    1

    Saudi Aramco

     Saudi Arabia

    400.4

    604.3

    2

    Sinopec

     China

    424.8

    478.5

    3

    China National Petroleum Corporation

     China

    435.1

    435.1

    4

    ExxonMobil

     United States

    285.6

    413.6

    5

    Shell

     United Kingdom

    272.6

    386.2

    6

    TotalEnergies

     France

    205.8

    285.8

    7

    BP

     United Kingdom

    157.7

    248.8

    8

    Chevron Corporation

     United States

    162.4

    246.2

    9

    Marathon Petroleum

     United States

    119.9

    179.9

    10

    Valero Energy

     United States

    113.9

    176.3

    11

    Phillips 66

     United States

    114.8

    175.7

    12

    Equinor

     Norway

    88.7

    150.8

    13

    Eni

     Italy

    90.5

    139.3

    14

    Lukoil

     Russia

    128.3

    128.3

    15

    Rosneft

     Russia

    121.1

    124.9

    16

    Reliance Industries

     India

    107.0

    124.0

    17

    Petrobras

     Brazil

    83.9

    124.0

    18

    Pemex

     Mexico

    72.6

    122.7

    19

    Indian Oil

     India

    99.8

    119.5

    20

    Eneos Holdings

     Japan

    99.3

    115.6

    21

    Iraq National Oil Company

     Iraq

    75.6

    115.0

    22

    Engie

     France

    57.9

    98.9

    23

    PTT

     Thailand

    70.7

    96.3

    24

    Pertamina

     Indonesia

    57.5

    95.9

    25

    Energy Transfer Partners

     United States

    67.4

    89.8

    26

    ONGC

     India

    87.0

    87.0

    27

    Petronas

     Malaysia

    59.8

    85.4

    28

    Repsol

     Spain

    61.6

    82.9

    29

    ConocoPhillips

     United States

    45.8

    82.1

    30

    Gazprom

     Russia

    138.7

    80.0

    31

    Sonatrach

     Algeria

    34.0

    76.9

    32

    Idemitsu Kosan

     Japan

    60.8

    72.8

    33

    SOCAR

     Azerbaijan

    45.5

    70.0

    34

    OMV Group

     Austria

    42.0

    68.2

    35

    Bharat Petroleum

     India

    58.8

    68.0

    36

    SK Innovation

     South Korea

    42.1

    64.4

    37

    China National Offshore Oil

     China

    38.1

    62.7

    38

    PKN Orlen

     Poland

    32.3

    62.6

    39

    Hindustan Petroleum

     India

    50.8

    59.4

    40

    Guanghui Energy

     China

    58.6

    58.6

    41

    Enterprise Products

     United States

    40.7

    58.1

    42

    Plains All American Pipeline

     United States

    42.0

    57.3

    43

    Cenovus Energy

     Canada

    38.9

    55.1

    44

    QatarEnergy

     Qatar

    34.9

    53.8

    45

    Kuwait Petroleum Corporation

     Kuwait

    52.7

    52.7

    46

    Ecopetrol

     Colombia

    27.5

    47.8

    47

    GS Caltex

     South Korea

    31.0

    46.8

    48

    PBF Energy

     United States

    27.3

    46.8

    49

    Suncor Energy

     Canada

    32.7

    44.9

    50

    Centrica

     United Kingdom

    41.6

    41.6

    51

    CPC Corporation

     Taiwan

    31.9

    41.0

    52

    Enbridge

     Canada

    37.5

    40.9

    53

    Petrovietnam

     Vietnam

    27.1

    39.8

    54

    OQ

     Oman

    39.1

    39.1

    55

    HF Sinclair

     United States

    38.2

    38.2

    56

    Occidental Petroleum

     United States

    26.3

    37.0

    57

    Cheniere Energy

     United States

    33.4

    33.4

    58

    CEPSA

     Spain

    26.4

    32.8

    59

    Canadian Natural Resources

     Canada

    26.2

    32.5

    60

    Empresas Copec

     Chile

    30.7

    30.7

    61

    Surgutneftegas

     Russia

    25.6

    25.6

    62

    Transneft

     Russia

    14.6

    14.6

    63

    PDVSA

     Venezuela

    11.0

    11.0

    64

    National Iranian Oil Company

     Iran

    no info

    no info

    14 hours ago, KYHorn said:

    It's worth mentioning that Greenland looks gigantic on maps and Venezuela has the "largest oil reserves in the world".

    Flat maps are hard to interpret, but Greenland still large, ~ 27% the size of the US Lower 48, or more than 3 times the size of Texas.

    Screenshot 2026-01-07 at 9.40.22 AM.png

  10. 20 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

    These are very important words:

    "Transitions are not moral moments but exercises in power management. Venezuela’s last successful one survived because it accepted ambiguity and continuity long enough to stabilize the system. Anyone expecting clean breaks, instant legitimacy, or orderly handovers in this country is not being hopeful."

    Now....realize that they apply to our future....if we are to have one....as well. One does not simply shake off an authoritarian government and its sycophants like a hangover following a single bad decision (look, generic tequila is ALWAYS a bad idea). If we emerge from this current authoritarian shitfest, the transition cannot look like "well, that was nasty. Anyway, back to normal." What must follow is a period of real ambiguity and counter-intuitive actions that may be just as distasteful as the actions that must be undone and corrected.

    15 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

    @wildcat09

    An anecdote from Uzbekistan: An unnamed company had to rent warehouses to store its pallets of local cash because the government refused to let them convert it into hard currency and putting it into a local bank meant that you basically lost access without paying a bribe. Occasionally the government would offer to convert but only if they took a 20 percent haircut. The firm had all this money listed as profit on its balance sheets, and walking away would have caused issues with auditors so it chose to maintain a minimum local presence and continue trying to solve the issue. The government felt this was very clever and would tell them that the money belonged to Uzbekistan and shouldn’t leave. One can imagine what this did to the investment climate.

    He mentions that the government was happy to see their educated citizens leave. I mentioned it above. It is a classic feature of idiot third world socialism, as opposed to what the Russians and East Europeans did after a course correction and the Chinese after a longer one. Those regimes internalized that a functioning country, even one building socialism, needed an intelligentsia and competent technical, scientific, and administrative class. They used a range of coercive and persuasive methods to build and retain them. The Berlin Wall was meant to keep the intelligent and talented IN, not the capitalists out.

    Idiot third world socialism is cunning, not smart. It is true that an illiterate and impoverished populace is easier to cow and rule over; and the leaders have the mentality of a successful crime kingpin; not realizing that this criminal mentality cannot enrich itself forever in the absence of prosperous rule followers to prey on.

    There is also internalized the deep idiot third world socialist belief that anyone who has or creates an extra measure of anything: wealth, intelligence, talent— must have somehow attained it by dubious or criminal means since that is the way they look at the world. (See: Cambodia and executing all the literate). The Chinese and Russians would show off their talented and intelligent as proof of what socialism could create. The idiot third world socialist simply tears down or welcomes their flight so that the promised equality may come prevail.

    In my youth, I formed the opinion that democracy works for an educated populace. I still believe that.

    However, as I realized a long time, that no longer applies to the US.

    That is complicated by the evolution of US policy to a binary state, either or, with nothing in between.

    We are either "Who cares what happens over there" or "Who cares, we take what we want."

    I am more pissed than disillusioned.

    We lived at Clark AFB in the Philippines when I was 2-4 year old, and my father was stationed in Taiwan in the late 60's. I have wanted to go back there all my life, and now I'm not sure that's such a good idea.

  11. 1 hour ago, wildcat09 said:

    Can you post an unrolled version of the thread? Those of us who don't have twitter accounts can't view it.

    "My Venezuela experience as head of trading in the region for Cargill.

    Cargill was/is the leading producer of critical staple ingredients such as flour, pasta, vegetable oil, and rice in VZ. I am not saying I agree with grabbing the dictator, but I did have a front row seat to the damage a kleptocracy did to innocent people.

    1. The government took over our "minute rice" facility at gunpoint because we were "gouging" the nation's poor. The government was never able to run the plant. It never ran again. It was returned years later with no equipment inside

    2. There are 1000's of generals in the army. They are each given a slice of the economy to loot. The large number of generals made it difficult to organize a coup against the regime.

    3. The government opened grocery stores and sold staples below the cost we sold them to the government. In theory they used petro oil money to lower grocery prices. Our regular grocery outlets were forced out of business. When the government demanded we sell them products below cost we simply had to shut down. The populous became ever more dependent on the government handouts. (PS this is the mayor of New York City's proposal.

    4. Dollars- We needed dollars to go buy raw materials like wheat from places like the US and Canada. The government would periodically allocate us some dollars that could only be spent for raw materials and freight. Eventually only the local companies that can and would pay bribes got dollar allocations. We had several facilities closed for lack of raw material

    5. My employees liked working for Cargill. The office was an armed compound with access to a gym, high speed internet, global communications, and a weekly box of basic staples. Cargill provided a safe and secure environment if only for the working hours.

    6. Employees became very close to others inside the apartment building. Going out on the street with a desperate population was not advisable.

    7. I needed wood pallets for feed. We tried to export wood pallets to swap for grain. We refused to pay the bribes it would take to export the pallets

    8. I once tried to set up a closed loop wheat planting to flour mill supply chain. A. They came and stole all the seed wheat for food. When we tried to ship in seed wheat in containers via US donors there was no way to get it out of the port without it being stolen

    9. Livestock- Our feed business completely collapsed. Even if you could raise a pig, you couldn't defend it from being stolen. People with guns were hungry.

    10. Employees- In the end my highly skilled team alone with other highly educated people chose to leave. Cargill often found jobs for them in other Latin countries. The regime was more than happy to see the well-educated leave the country. Setting these employees up with high quality stable jobs after fleeing remains one of the best things I ever did in my career. No one remembers millions in trading earnings.

    This is a short list. In my opinion the first money spent needs to happen now and it needs to be food. The US is already on the clock. The current regime does not care if it starves the population. The orgy of theft will actually accelerate if they believe their days are numbered. VZ should be an outstanding customer of US grown ag products. Rice, bread wheat, veg oil ect. Feed the people first.

    Jeff Kazin

    Former head trading Cargill"

  12. 1 hour ago, Voluminous Banality said:

    Watched all of this. He doesn't have a lot of lower-the-shoulder power to his game at all. He also lacks the long speed of Isaac Brown.

    He has good initial burst/acceleration, great shiftiness to avoid tacklers, and excellent patience/vision. Also a good receiver out of the backfield.

    Looks like a solid all-around back and definitely an upgrade from Wisner.

    All Texas needs is a good initial burst and acceleration. That gets you positive yardage and moves the chains. Occasionally, the plays go like you draw. them up, and you get the long TD's.

    Yes, it would be a bonus to get high end 100M speed, but that should not be attribute #7.

    59 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

    How many of those players they signed were the best at their position? Indiana isn’t going after the Cam Coleman’s or trying to entice a Jayden Baugh into the portal. They’ve signed a few very good players - but none of those guys are top players being chased by multiple top teams.

    This. Texas needs quality players. We might need a high end WR. It is also possible 1 of our 5* WR actually plays like a 5* WR.

    52 minutes ago, Horn of Gabriel said:

    Most importantly he has an elite trait: to make the first defender who is going to hit him in the backfield after the O-line whiffs miss. That'll play at Texas.

    32 minutes ago, farmersnotfighting said:

    The staff not knowing what "all in" means in consistent with them not knowing what "all gas no breaks" means either.

    This pisses me off more than Tom Herman's antics. Get a big lead, control the game, put the offense in a box, play prevent defense that folds like a cheap tent, and squeak out a one possession game. Those style points, or lack there of, is the difference between being in the playoffs and watching them.

    How about we at least try "All Gas, No brakes!" Go full throttle, get a big lead, feather in the younger guys with the experienced guys, and let our high end recruits see the field and get some game experience.

    Any quality skill position player is probably gone in 3 years whether he red shirts or not. Redshirting a WR thinking he needs, or will be here, for 5 years is way beyond ignorant.

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