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2 hours ago, 'stache said:

LOL, yeah, starting a new war without consulting Congress, kidnapping its leader, and doing it solely to take over it's petroleum reserves is a non-event. Is it now US policy to overthrow every bad leader or just the ones sitting on oil reserves? I'm 100% right, you people are literally incapable of finding fault in anything this dipshit and his yes men do, it's every one else who is derranged. Oh right, you "didn't vote for him" (wink wink) so it's okay. As to your broader point, there is literally nothing this asshole has done well in the last year, not a single thing helpful to the American people, except giving assholes a license to shit on "others" they don't like.

Oh, I don't even think it's even about oil reserves. That's a post-hoc justification.

It's just an ego-fit by Trump that has some vague connections to something "good," and a whole lot of pretty bad outcomes. He took out a world leader, quien es mas macho?

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  • Carrizo Chorizo
    Carrizo Chorizo

    Trump has focused heavily on foreign policy to his own detriment. I wish he would focus more domestically, but what can I do? Let's go way back to January 2025. What was one of the first big push

  • So, just so we're clear on your logical consistencies: Supplying weapons and funding to a sovereign nation who was invaded unprovoked by a country with a heavily vested interest in destabilizing the

  • Fudge Nuggets
    Fudge Nuggets

    We need the War Crimes tribunal to send the dotard a fake letter asking him to show up in The Hague to receive his Nobel Peace Prize like the cops do with  free TVs for crooks with outstanding warrant

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7 minutes ago, Arepa Papi said:

Glazing is a slang term that means to excessively praise or compliment someone, often to the point where it feels unwarranted or annoying.

No one is "glazing" Russia or China.

Long experience has taught us the regime change without pretty exquisite post-coup planning opens us up to local resentment and for our enemies to make further inroads in supporting our opponents, or people who may become our opponents.

This is showing all the earmarks of a hasty, poorly thought out even if militarily well-executed feat of clumsy international "diplomacy."

35 minutes ago, Arepa Papi said:

Bombing the Iranian nuclear sites was unquestionably a good move. Israel/Gaza peace deal has long term potential.

Quit dealing with dumb hypotheticals. Here what has actually happened.

We just bombed Iran and Russia and China didn’t lift a finger. We took out their guy in Venezuela without them knowing and while rendering their air defense systems nutless. Soft power is downstream from “hard power” and they’ve been shown to be utterly useless. Quit glazing China and Russia because you don’t like the President.

image.gif

27 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Oh, I don't even think it's even about oil reserves. That's a post-hoc justification.

It's just an ego-fit by Trump that has some vague connections to something "good," and a whole lot of pretty bad outcomes. He took out a world leader, quien es mas macho?

Do you not see any upside in taking out the dictator of a socialist regime that is actively cooperating with our three biggest adversaries, has large amounts of natural resources, has a significant role in both drug and human trafficking and has actively worked to destabilize our country? Oh and it’s in our hemisphere.

8 minutes ago, Arepa Papi said:

Do you not see any upside in taking out the dictator of a socialist regime that is actively cooperating with our three biggest adversaries, has large amounts of natural resources, has a significant role in both drug and human trafficking and has actively worked to destabilize our country? Oh and it’s in our hemisphere.

I see as much downside as upside.

?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.vlipsy.com%2Fclips%

51 minutes ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

What does this mean?

I think it means I don’t like people trying to cover for pedophiles.

6 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

I see as much downside as upside.

?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.vlipsy.com%2Fclips%

wow that’s surprising. I wonder why?

Every President since Obama has wanted Maduro out. Now it’s a bad idea? Oh

16 minutes ago, Arepa Papi said:

Do you not see any upside in taking out the dictator of a socialist regime that is actively cooperating with our three biggest adversaries, has large amounts of natural resources, has a significant role in both drug and human trafficking and has actively worked to destabilize our country? Oh and it’s in our hemisphere.

We left the dictator’s people in charge, so it’s not regime change. I’m not even sure it’s regime decapitation. Although our President is now publicly threatening to kill the woman currently in charge of Venezuela, so that’s some fantastic optics, and who knows who will replace her.

As for Venezuela actively cooperating with our adversaries, for fuck’s sake our own administration is actively cooperating with Russia at the expense of Ukraine in the “negotiations”, to the point of taking talking points from Putin’s people.

Go back to the fucking crypto thread.

Edited by atomheartbevo

4 minutes ago, Arepa Papi said:

wow that’s surprising. I wonder why?

Every President since Obama has wanted Maduro out. Now it’s a bad idea? Oh

Assuming that's true, they probably held off an "extraction" or other coup-type operation pending some kind of plan for a post-Maduro Venezuela, which seems conspicuously lacking here. And that whole pesky international law thing.

Just encanting "Maduro bad" is some sixth-grade foreign policy.

1 hour ago, Arepa Papi said:

Glazing is a slang term that means to excessively praise or compliment someone, often to the point where it feels unwarranted or annoying.

Sounds like a term created to describe our dipshit cabinet

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"glazing"

17676610708156150665161475401416.jpg

10 hours ago, Captainant said:

Yeah putting Steven "cruelty is the point" Miller in charge will definitely secure the Nobel Prize

Maybe he could build some camps for "workers" there.

1 minute ago, Sbbruin said:

Maybe he could build some camps for "workers" there.

Who could then gain their freedom after working?

23 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Assuming that's true, they probably held off an "extraction" or other coup-type operation pending some kind of plan for a post-Maduro Venezuela, which seems conspicuously lacking here. And that whole pesky international law thing.

Just encanting "Maduro bad" is some sixth-grade foreign policy.

image.jpeg

Edited by Sawbonz

4 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Who could then gain their freedom after working?

El trabajo libera.

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NBC News
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Trump says the U.S. may reimburse oil companies for rebui...

Big oil firms will either "get reimbursed by us or through revenue," Trump told NBC News in an exclusive interview.

President Donald Trump said he believes the U.S. oil industry could get expanded operations in Venezuela "up and running" in fewer than 18 months.

"I think we can do it in less time than that, but it’ll be a lot of money," Trump told NBC News in an interview Monday.

"A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent, and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue," he said.

Whether the U.S. government ultimately agrees to reimburse the oil industry's costs in Venezuela, or alternatively, decides that future revenue is sufficient repayment, will likely be a key factor for the oil companies as they consider their options.

Ricky Gervais Lol GIF

I can't imagine Steven Miller wants to be surrounded by Venezuelans 24/7.

8 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

I can't imagine Steven Miller wants to be surrounded by Venezuelans 24/7.

Put him on the couch!

26 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

I can't imagine Steven Miller wants to be surrounded by Venezuelans 24/7.

Or leave his wife alone with a South African.

Some interesting discussion in the comments with some nice background links about the history of this movement. I think we've also had folks talk over here on our site about Elmo's granddad being a big proponent of this.

Technocracy, Inc. and the Technate of America
The Technocracy movement had its brief heyday in the 1930s, its leading proponent engineer Howard Scott (1890-1970) and his Technocracy Incorporated, founded in 1933. The movement was ideologically somewhat diverse and fractious, but Scott’s version was fueled by the Great Depression and the crisis of capitalism, quack economics, post-First-World-War isolationism, and an infatuation with Fascist form and ritual. At the core of its ideology was a rejection of the “price system” underlying the global economy, in which money as a medium of exchange determines the value of goods and services and financial considerations are fundamental to all economic decision making. Citing the Depression as Exhibit A, movement adherents viewed this system as inherently unsustainable and predicted a total system collapse no later than 1940.

Technocracy Inc.’s prescriptive program had economic, political and geopolitical elements. At the core was a shift from the price system to what Scott called “an energy theory of value”, in which goods and services were to be valued based not on money but in terms of the energy inputs required to produce them. This in turn would necessitate the abandonment of democracy and the embrace of a technocracy—government by an unelected, technically skilled, empirically-driven elite with the expertise necessary to determine values and make rational resource-allocation decisions. The outward manifestations of this authoritarian outlook had a distinctly Fascist flavor: Technocracy Inc. members wore a uniform of double-breasted suit, gray shirt, and blue tie, with the red Technocracy logo worn on the lapel; drove gray-painted cars; and saluted one another in public.

Technocracy, Inc.’s geopolitical program was simultaneously expansionist, isolationist, and autarchic. It called for a “Technate” consisting of a union of the nations of North America, Central America, the Caribbean and northeastern Pacific, along with the northern tier of South America. The rationale was that “the natural resources and the natural boundaries of this area make it an independent, self-sustaining geographical unit.” (The Technocrat, vol. 3 no. 4 (Sept. 1937), p. 3) In keeping with Technocracy Inc.’s authoritarian tendencies, the Technate would ensure its security by enacting a “Continental integration and mobilization”, and “complete conscription of men, materials, machines, and wealth by the government of the United States”, which were to be “placed before all other objectives of the American peoples” (The Technocrat, vol. 9 no. 3 (Apr. 1941), quoted in Manuel L. Quezon III, “Weekend Reading: Everything Old Is New Again”, posted Feb. 15, 2025).

Key to this project was the construction of a chain of far-flung “defense bases” along the Technate’s borders. Behind these the Technate would be entirely secure, its economy “self-sustaining” and independent of global trade, and its defenses sufficient to deter would-be invaders. As such, it would have no need to become involved in the conflicts of either Europe or Asia.

“Opposition to American entry into the wars raging outside our Area is a keystone of Technocracy’s current basic policy. Lest that policy be mis- construed by uninformed persons in the public, Technocracy points out that this position is not held on the basis of humanitarian or pacifist tenets. America is worth fighting for! But we need fight for America only on American terms and from our own Continental defenses. Competent strategy will keep war out of our Area.” (Ibid.)

As with the broader isolationist movement, Technocracy, Inc. had its legs cut out from under it by the attack on Pearl Harbor, the subsequent entry of the United States into the Second World War, and the nation’s near-total mobilization to fight the good fight against Fascism, all within a democratic, capitalist framework. Nevertheless, the organization survives to this day, with a web site, membership and online meetings.

6 minutes ago, bolverk said:

At the core was a shift from the price system to what Scott called “an energy theory of value”, in which goods and services were to be valued based not on money but in terms of the energy inputs required to produce them.

That was an amazingly prescient prediction of the cryptobros! Back in the 1930's.

3 hours ago, Foosters said:

wont someone rid me of these meddlesome pedophile supporters

you live in retard land where up is down and well you know.

you get a horrible everything

there is no escape. i tried.

@InkaUtexas since you’ve been mentioning food. Thread of former Cargill exec experiences. Some of this reminds me of Uzbekistan back in the Karimov era.

1 hour ago, horn_of_the_morning said:

Take it FWIW

Saw reports they were shooting at drones.

And journalists were being detained earlier in Caracas, so nothing has changed between leaders.

2 hours ago, Sawbonz said:

There it is

Also, a pretty good sign that this administration had no plan for what to do after capturing Maduro and probably didn't really talk to the oil companies, just told them that we were going to "run" Venezuela.

Normally, something as important as to whether or not the US taxpayers or private oil companies were going to fund the new/rebuilt o&g infrastructure to the tune of billions of dollars seems like something that would have already been worked out and already shared with Congress.

But..

IMG-0180.jpg

2 hours ago, bolverk said:

At the core was a shift from the price system to what Scott called “an energy theory of value”, in which goods and services were to be valued based not on money but in terms of the energy inputs required to produce them.

Rainbow Thumbs Down GIF by Mind Pump Media

On 1/4/2026 at 12:20 PM, YChang said:

If I said that to one of my friend’s Venezuelan wife, she would legit kill me on the spot.

This brings up an important point - while arepas may be mid, the women of Venezuela are not and they are also not getting enough attention in all this. And I’d like to remedy that. Personally.

Edited by Chad Fuck

15 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Oh, I don't even think it's even about oil reserves. That's a post-hoc justification.

It's just an ego-fit by Trump that has some vague connections to something "good," and a whole lot of pretty bad outcomes. He took out a world leader, quien es mas macho?

I'm usually on the same page with your posts, but come on, it's about the fucking oil, full stop. Feeling like a military badass is the side benefit.

12 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

@InkaUtexas since you’ve been mentioning food. Thread of former Cargill exec experiences. Some of this reminds me of Uzbekistan back in the Karimov era.

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

13 minutes ago, 'stache said:

I'm usually on the same page with your posts, but come on, it's about the fucking oil, full stop. Feeling like a military badass is the side benefit.

I think Trump thinks the oil was a reason to do it, and I doubt any O&G execs told him they wouldn't be interested, but it's not very economical for them (absent tons of taxpayer subsidies). His primary motivation was he thinks it makes him look like a badass.

35 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

I think Trump thinks the oil was a reason to do it, and I doubt any O&G execs told him they wouldn't be interested, but it's not very economical for them (absent tons of taxpayer subsidies). His primary motivation was he thinks it makes him look like a badass.

This. Full stop. It's this.

Trump didn't do this because O&G execs were in his office begging him to do so, concocting sinister plans hand-in-hand with the admin. He THINKS that oil is a good reason, because oil=money and money=God status in Trumpworld, and he wanted to look like a badass. That's it. That's where it ends. Listen to his Salacious Crumb Stephen Miller and his spittle-flinging tirades about how the galaxy will now "WITNESS THE FIREPOWER OF THIS FULLY ARMED AND OPERATIONAL BATTLE STATION!"

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18 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

I have my doubts about that. It’s going to take years of investments to really increase output, and won’t pay off until after Trump is out of office, and there’s always a populist leader who will happily run on a premise of “they’re stealin’ our oil!” and then things are nationalized again.

And how many years of American troops guarding pipelines and facilities will we tolerate? I’m guessing up until the next administration takes office, or January 2027.

There is a reason Trump and Rubio were vague about plans after Maduro, and most likely because they thought they had deals cut with various people that maybe aren’t deals anymore.

Trump went t from praising Rodriguez to threatening her life in less than 24 hours.

The two most important phrases I learned in my career:

"I don't know, but I'll find out."

"I understand what you said, without agreeing with what you said."

This is going to turn into a shit storm.

R.I.P.,Jim Nabors. Best known as "Gomer Pyle" in the classic sitcom "The  Andy Griffith Show" and in the spinoff sitcom "Gomer Pyle,U.S.M.C". "Gomer  Pyle" had quite a few lines that have become

13 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

@InkaUtexas since you’ve been mentioning food. Thread of former Cargill exec experiences. Some of this reminds me of Uzbekistan back in the Karimov era.

Venezuela was in a state of unbridled chaos all on their own. The dilapidated state of the oil industry is well known, but that pales in comparison to not being able to feed the people, per this post and as Peter Zeihan alluded too.

The Donald just gave the Venezuela government an out, a Magic Johnson touch pass to shift the blame for the chaos, to the US. This has the potential to turn into a Katrina-like cluster fuck.

"... We're (the US) in charge."

"Can you get us something to eat?"

"Wait, what?

3 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Worth reading- “Transitions are not moral moments but exercises in power management. ”

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.

1 minute ago, PTINS said:

The Donald just gave the Venezuela government an out, a Magic Johnson touch pass to shift the blame for the chaos, to the US. This has the potential to turn into a Katrina-like cluster fuck.

"... We're (the US) in charge."

"Can you get us something to eat?"

"Wait, what?

This. As Colin Powell warned before the Iraq war, "you break it, you buy it."

And it really doesn't matter that Venezuela was already broken before we decided that "we run it" (POTUS's exact, unambiguous words). It's like acquiring a corporation via buying all of its stock -- you take on both all assets and liabilities. One of the key liabilities for Venezuela is "we can't feed our people." Cool. We own that now, because again, "we run it." Want to know where the Venezuelan people and the world will point their finger when their bellies are empty? Right at that big old American flag. And they will be correct in doing so.

If you take over a country, then you take over its core obligations. The chances of Dipshit DOTARD getting that are 0%.

  • Popular Post

Trump teases meeting with oil executives following Maduro arrest

Speaking to House Republicans today, Trump teased his upcoming meeting with US oil manufacturing executives this week. “You know what that’s about. We got a lot of oil to drill, which is going to bring down oil prices even further,” the president said, telegraphing his plans to regain control of production in Venezuela.

Nothing incentivizes a bunch of oily's to spend billions of $$$ they don't have in a quagmire to increase oil production, so we can "bring oil prices down even further."

The Guardian - Trump calls Caracas strikes 'amazing' and 'brilliant'

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"

5 minutes ago, PTINS said:

Nothing incentivizes a bunch of oily's to spend billions of $$$ they don't have in a quagmire to increase oil production, so we can "bring oil prices down even further."

This perspective tells you something very important about DOTUS and how he views business, the world, etc.

Those words are NOT the words of someone who views business and investment as a process that invests capital to produce a ROI based on sound modeling and principles of revenues and expenses, based on actual market forces.

INSTEAD, they are the words of someone who believes that any profit/earning is something to be skimmed off the top, at the inception of the deal, via grift and rent-seeking mechanisms. It's like an investment banker earning a 10% fee on a deal that will issue $10 billion in bonds to acquire an asset that will never, ever be profitable, and will actually end up in bankruptcy in 3-5 years. NONE OF THAT MATTERS, except the "I got my 10% up-front" part. All you need to know about that deal is that the banker pocketed $1 billion so from his perspective, it's a brilliant deal. Meanwhile, every businessman and actuary looks at the numbers and asks "why did you do a deal for $10 billion for an asset that's worth $3 billion at best based on cash-flow?" And the "why" always comes back to "so daddy could skim $1 billion in cash. That's the entire reason."

Note: I raise that scenario because I once successfully killed a deal with those sort of parameters. Pissed of a LOT of investment bankers who were out hundreds of millions. But saved taxpayers billions.

Trump expects to take his cut off the top. He has given zero thought, and gives zero shits, about the long-term profitability of American O&G investment in Venezuela. Because he doesn't give a shit about those things in ANY context.

@wildcat09

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

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.

16 minutes ago, PTINS said:

Trump teases meeting with oil executives following Maduro arrest

Speaking to House Republicans today, Trump teased his upcoming meeting with US oil manufacturing executives this week. “You know what that’s about. We got a lot of oil to drill, which is going to bring down oil prices even further,” the president said, telegraphing his plans to regain control of production in Venezuela.

Nothing incentivizes a bunch of oily's to spend billions of $$$ they don't have in a quagmire to increase oil production, so we can "bring oil prices down even further."

The Guardian - Trump calls Caracas strikes 'amazing' and 'brilliant'

He definitely doesn’t understand that getting Venezuela oil production going full speed gets rid of a lot of jobs in his own country. He really seems to be that dumb on how such a simple concept works.

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.

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.

It’s pretty damning of VZ and paints a very bleak situation, at best, in doing business there over the past few decades.

1 hour ago, wildcat09 said:

I think Trump thinks the oil was a reason to do it, and I doubt any O&G execs told him they wouldn't be interested, but it's not very economical for them (absent tons of taxpayer subsidies). His primary motivation was he thinks it makes him look like a badass.

It will take service/rig company subsidies and guarantees, and oil production company subsidies and guarantees to get them interested, and even then it’s a massive gamble. Trump’s 18-month estimate is ludicrous in my mind. Probably 3 years for meaningful production increases - at the end of his term. And would necessitate significant US boots on ground as security (at the least). I tend to agree with you, but Trump likes the threat of increasing supply to lower price. So I think this was in part due to oil and other mineral resources.

50 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

If we emerge from this current authoritarian shitfest, the transition cannot look like "well, that was nasty. Anyway, back to normal."

Yep, and that was the core strategic mistake of the Biden administration. Ironic enough since he of all people understood this stuff as well as anybody.

Maybe it’s because he was isolated by his inner circle or maybe it was a failure of imagination because this is America. Either way, it’s another feature of his decline. He was destined to be our Claudius. He was ushered in by calamity and out by catastrophe, and did some good things in between.

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