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[00:00:00] [music] [00:00:08] [music] [00:00:18] [music] [00:00:25] Hello and welcome to State of Play on [00:00:28] Mint Press News in collaboration ation [00:00:29] with Behind the Headlines where um you [00:00:33] know we round up the insanity of the [00:00:36] weekend [00:00:38] and analyze what it means and why it's [00:00:40] happening. I'm your host Greg Stoker for [00:00:42] former US Army Ranger turned activist [00:00:44] journalist and I'm happy to announce [00:00:46] that we are back to a once a week Monday [00:00:49] show until January where we will pick up [00:00:52] at the Monday Thursday uh schedule [00:00:55] again. It has to do with funding issues. [00:00:57] So, if you are inclined to help out a [00:01:00] non-corporate independent newsroom, [00:01:01] check out the Mint Press News Patreon. [00:01:04] And if you're getting nickeled and dimed [00:01:05] in the hellscape of latestage finance [00:01:09] capitalism, well, we're just glad you're [00:01:12] here. And if you could like, share, and [00:01:13] subscribe, we'd really appreciate it. [00:01:15] So, everybody, it is November 17th, [00:01:19] Monday. Welcome back to the Salt Mines. [00:01:22] And this weekend has been insane. The [00:01:25] whole Trump Epstein association in the [00:01:28] context of the White House not wanting [00:01:29] to release uh the files is now a [00:01:32] full-blown maybe maybe the wrong word [00:01:35] here scandal. Uh Megan Kelly said that [00:01:38] 15year-old girls uh children are women [00:01:42] now and at least Epstein didn't prey [00:01:44] upon eight-year-olds. Fox News has [00:01:46] instantly begun normalizing that idea [00:01:48] because you know that's what their [00:01:50] editorial board believes in the first [00:01:52] place uh from earlier this weekend. [00:01:56] Um yeah, who really wants to leave the [00:01:58] country? Women 15 to 44, men 15 to 44. [00:02:03] And they're uh citing the Gallup poll [00:02:05] and I actually did look at the Gallup [00:02:07] poll. Um, [00:02:10] and yeah, it's really bizarre that they [00:02:15] have an age group of 15 to 44. I don't [00:02:19] think I've seen that before. But [00:02:21] anyways, [00:02:23] [sighs] [00:02:24] um, yeah. Uh, we're just going to move [00:02:27] right on because that is not I mean it [00:02:30] is there's just too much to cover. Like [00:02:31] this weekend has been freaking crazy. [00:02:33] Um, but everyone is talking about the [00:02:36] Epstein drama and how and how now that [00:02:39] Trump and his team have spent the [00:02:40] weekend hunkered down in the White House [00:02:41] trying to swing votes against releasing [00:02:44] the files and flip their position, [00:02:46] calling for them to now actually be [00:02:48] released. Uh, having realized that they [00:02:51] can't get the GD GOP to tow the line on [00:02:54] this issue, we are still sleepwalking [00:02:57] our way into interventions in Mexico and [00:03:00] most urgently in Venezuela. So, let's [00:03:03] check in with CBS and the neoliberal [00:03:05] media to see how they aren't really [00:03:08] against it and are remaining objective, [00:03:11] giving both sides remaining objective [00:03:14] just like they did during the Iraq war. [00:03:17] Um, okay. Largest aircraft carrier, the [00:03:21] nuclear power Gerald R. Ford is now in [00:03:23] the Caribbean within striking distance [00:03:25] of Venezuela. CBS News's Charlie Dagada [00:03:27] is in Puerto Rico watching the US [00:03:29] military buildup and has new comments [00:03:30] from President Trump on the US and [00:03:32] Venezuela. Charlie, good morning. [00:03:35] Good morning, Vlad. We're at the [00:03:36] Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. You [00:03:38] probably haven't heard of it because [00:03:39] it's been shut down since 2004, but not [00:03:42] anymore. In that direction, F-35 fighter [00:03:45] jets. They don't want us showing them [00:03:47] for obvious security reasons, but all [00:03:48] part of this massive military buildup [00:03:50] here. [00:03:52] President Trump weighed in last night on [00:03:54] possible next steps in Venezuela. [00:03:57] >> We may be having some discussions with [00:04:00] Maduro and we'll see how that turns out. [00:04:04] >> They would like they would like to talk. [00:04:06] >> It's unclear what those discussions [00:04:08] could include as the Trump [00:04:09] administration plans to designate [00:04:11] Venezuela's cartel de Solis as a foreign [00:04:14] terrorist organization and associate it [00:04:16] with Venezuelan President Nicholas [00:04:18] Maduro. This comes as the Pentagon [00:04:20] announces yet another boat strike [00:04:22] Saturday, killing three people. And the [00:04:25] weekend arrival of the USS Gerald R. [00:04:27] Ford, the world's most advanced warship, [00:04:30] marks a sharp escalation. [00:04:32] >> So, we just landed in [00:04:34] >> Yeah. So, the Gerald R. Ford can carry [00:04:37] about 90 fighter craft, which is Yeah. [00:04:41] Um almost twice. Wait, Venezuela has 30 [00:04:45] active fightercraft. Uh, and the US has [00:04:48] the Gerald Ford has four F-18 squadrons [00:04:52] of Super Hornets. So, yeah. Um, just [00:04:54] that one aircraft carrier is going to be [00:04:56] bigger than Venezuela's whole air force. [00:04:58] And we'll get into what that means here [00:04:59] in a bit. [00:05:00] >> Croy and we found something unexpected [00:05:03] on the runway here. Two US military [00:05:06] transport waves. a powerful addition to [00:05:09] the heavy firepower in this region we've [00:05:11] witnessed ourselves. [00:05:12] >> It's completely surreal. [00:05:14] >> Those planes have caught the attention [00:05:15] of resident Tony Lance, too. [00:05:17] >> These huge planes. [00:05:19] >> You know, I I think it's funny how the [00:05:21] neoliberal media will, you know, talk to [00:05:24] an expat. Well, Puerto Rico is part of [00:05:26] the United States, but essentially an [00:05:27] expat business owner in Puerto Rico [00:05:30] about how she feels uncomfortable, but [00:05:32] never will they ever dane to speak to [00:05:34] one of the people actually born there. I [00:05:36] just thought that was an interesting [00:05:37] thing to point out. [00:05:38] >> We're coming in and going and coming and [00:05:40] going. [00:05:40] >> Military plans. [00:05:41] >> Yes. What's that all about? [00:05:43] >> Adding to the uncertainty. [00:05:44] >> That is the USS Lake Erie. It's a guided [00:05:47] missile cruiser. It arrived here a few [00:05:50] days ago. Monitoring the buildup here [00:05:52] closely is Samuel Sainz, a Navy veteran [00:05:55] and a government administrator in St. [00:05:56] Croy. Does it change the temperature [00:05:58] here if there are air strikes in [00:06:00] Venezuela? [00:06:01] >> Ye. Yes. Uh we [00:06:04] we are a little bit nervous for the most [00:06:06] part. Uh we are watching the news on a [00:06:08] daily basis. [00:06:10] >> So as far as the Trump administration is [00:06:12] concerned, this is still a drug [00:06:13] interdiction mission called Operation [00:06:15] Southern Spear. But with all this [00:06:17] military hardware in the neighborhood, [00:06:18] there are plenty of options to expand [00:06:20] that operation. [00:06:22] >> Thanks guys. Thanks for that completely [00:06:24] milktoast objective whatever the hell I [00:06:27] just witnessed. Um, yeah. I like how [00:06:30] they don't talk to any like activists or [00:06:32] organizers or journalists. They just [00:06:35] talk to a business owner and a Navy vet. [00:06:38] That's it. Uh, about what the sentiment [00:06:40] is. Just getting real objective. Don't [00:06:43] really want any opinions about this, you [00:06:46] know, uh because, you know, our [00:06:47] editorial board doesn't necessarily [00:06:49] oppose an interventionist war in [00:06:52] Venezuela. But [00:06:54] um yeah, it's called Operation Southern [00:06:58] Spear. Other other operations that Pete [00:07:00] Hexath has named have been Operation [00:07:02] Midnight Hammer um against against [00:07:06] Iranian hard sites earlier this year and [00:07:08] Operation Ruff Rider. And I'm like, are [00:07:10] you trying to complete Judas Priest's [00:07:13] final studio album with, you know, [00:07:16] Southern Spear, Midnight Hammer, and [00:07:17] Ruff Rider? I don't know what's going on [00:07:20] in the Pentagon, but I will say that [00:07:23] what the global north has allowed Israel [00:07:25] to do in Gaza has normalized impunity in [00:07:28] modern warfare forever. So, let's talk [00:07:31] about the Department of Wars [00:07:33] announcement of Operation Southern [00:07:35] Sphere. So, every Sorry guys, every time [00:07:38] I say the Department of War, it's going [00:07:39] to be like that because I've just [00:07:42] decided that's how we're going to do it. [00:07:44] Last week, Secretary of War with no [00:07:46] Ranger tab Pete Hegsth posted, "Led by [00:07:50] Joint Task Force Southern Spear and [00:07:52] Southcom Southern Command, this mission [00:07:55] defends our homeland, removes narco [00:07:57] terrorists from our hemisphere, and [00:07:59] secures our homeland from the drugs that [00:08:01] are killing our people. The Western [00:08:03] Hemisphere is America's neighborhood, [00:08:05] and we will protect it." So, this is the [00:08:08] Imperial Monroe Doctrine 2.0. The [00:08:11] American continent is our playground. Uh [00:08:14] foreign actors beware and state [00:08:16] governments better get in line. And when [00:08:18] the US publicly names an operation like [00:08:21] operation southern spear um you know [00:08:24] it's either like a highintensity short [00:08:27] um operation or it generally generally [00:08:31] means that uh that operation is going to [00:08:34] last for years. The last named operation [00:08:36] that was launched was operation [00:08:38] prosperity guardian. That name is [00:08:40] obviously too on the nose in December of [00:08:43] 2023 against the Houthies defending [00:08:45] commerce and freedom of navigation and [00:08:48] ensuring trade lanes are open and had [00:08:50] nothing of course nothing sarcasm here [00:08:53] uh to deal with Israel uh [00:08:56] uh Israel's uh Israel sorry uh it's [00:08:59] November 2025 and Operation Prosperity [00:09:02] Guardian is still ongoing. So sorry it's [00:09:06] an evolving operation. Uh it looks like [00:09:08] we're really actually going to go for [00:09:10] this Venezuela war like for real. Though [00:09:12] the scope of it remains to be seen. I [00:09:15] still think it will only be like a [00:09:17] distance conflict at most um with regime [00:09:22] change operations and maybe decapitation [00:09:24] strikes with special operations teams. [00:09:27] But um yeah, I I it's just the the the [00:09:32] amassing of assets close to what has [00:09:35] never been amassed before since like the [00:09:37] Iraq invasion. Of course, it's nowhere [00:09:40] near the amount of asset allocation that [00:09:43] the Iraq invasion entailed. There's like [00:09:44] very few ground troops at all. There's [00:09:47] like 4,000 Marines so far. Um but yeah, [00:09:50] it could be a distance conflict like [00:09:52] what we saw between Iran and Israel uh [00:09:56] earlier this year. Was it last year? It [00:09:59] was last year. Geez. One catastrophe [00:10:01] after another, you know. Um [00:10:04] but the in terms of legality and this is [00:10:06] the main question. The Justice [00:10:08] Department basically argues that the [00:10:10] United States is a quote non- [00:10:12] international armed conflict or we're in [00:10:15] one waged under the artic president's [00:10:17] article 2 authorities. A core element in [00:10:19] the analysis is that the strikes are [00:10:21] permissible under domestic law. So the [00:10:25] opinion states that cartels are selling [00:10:27] drugs to finance a campaign of violence [00:10:30] and extortion thereby to create an [00:10:33] internalized [00:10:34] armed conflict within the United States. [00:10:36] And Maduro is the head of the cartel. [00:10:38] Like Kmeni and Iran, he is at the center [00:10:41] of another octopus of terror. But the [00:10:43] legality of these strikes is patently [00:10:48] absurd, right? Like [00:10:51] um if we just think about it, like [00:10:53] they're [00:10:55] these groups are businesses, right? And [00:10:57] if they are carrying out violence in the [00:10:59] United States, they're doing it for [00:11:00] profit, not for the purpose of sewing [00:11:02] terror, which is actually bad for [00:11:04] business, and we know the strikes are [00:11:05] illegal and we know they've killed [00:11:07] civilians in international waters. Uh [00:11:10] otherwise, why would the DOJ publish a [00:11:12] memo this summer asserting that service [00:11:14] members who participate in boat strikes [00:11:17] in the Caribbean cannot be prosecuted? [00:11:19] Like what the thrust of that gem is that [00:11:23] all strikes in of the coast of [00:11:25] Venezuelan territorial waters are [00:11:28] consistent with the laws of armed [00:11:29] conflict, which we totally care about, [00:11:32] and as such are lawful orders. Keep keep [00:11:36] following me. Military personnel are [00:11:38] legally obligated to follow lawful [00:11:41] orders and as such are not subsecution [00:11:46] for following lawful orders. So all [00:11:50] strikes are lawful. Soldiers can't [00:11:52] follow orders unless they're lawful. [00:11:54] Therefore, everything they're doing is [00:11:57] lawful. So basically nothing to see [00:11:59] here, folks. We're just fabricating a [00:12:01] war so that we can get around the [00:12:03] restrictions of unlethal force during [00:12:05] peace time like murder statutes. Those [00:12:08] are so annoying and counter to profit [00:12:10] maximization. But [snorts] this [00:12:12] consensus is not universal at all. The [00:12:16] New York uh the UN special raper [00:12:18] disagrees with it. Last week CNN broke [00:12:20] the story quote UK suspend some [00:12:23] intelligence sharing with the US over [00:12:25] boat strike concerns in a major break. [00:12:29] So yeah, that that's like the first time [00:12:32] this has ever happened and it's over [00:12:33] these Venezuelan boat strikes. I'm just [00:12:35] actually going to pull up the article [00:12:37] real quick because it's [00:12:40] it's kind of enlightening. So like yeah, [00:12:41] the United Kingdom is no longer sharing [00:12:43] intelligence with the US about suspected [00:12:45] drug trafficking vessels in the [00:12:46] Caribbean because it does not want to be [00:12:48] complicit in the US military strikes and [00:12:50] believes the attacks are illegal, [00:12:52] sources familiar with the matter told [00:12:53] CNN. for years the UK which controls a [00:12:56] number of territories in the Caribbean. [00:12:59] So oh I was supposed to add this to [00:13:01] stage uh where it bases intelligence [00:13:04] assets. So yeah the UK you know has a [00:13:07] lot of territories still in the [00:13:08] Caribbeans like the US Virgin uh like in [00:13:11] Virgin Islands and stuff like that has [00:13:12] helped the US locate vessels suspected [00:13:15] of carrying drugs in the past so that [00:13:17] the US Coast Guard could interdict them. [00:13:20] Uh that meant the ships would be stopped [00:13:22] boarded as crew detained and drugs [00:13:24] seized. [00:13:25] Uh it was basically sent to a joint [00:13:27] intel agency, but after you know these [00:13:29] strikes, all of that regional [00:13:32] intelligence sharing has stopped because [00:13:35] you know they're fine. Britain's fine [00:13:37] like supporting Israel unconditionally [00:13:39] in their war crimes, but this is [00:13:41] actually like too close to home for a [00:13:42] lot of complicated reasons. [snorts] [00:13:45] Um, okay. So, and again, this is why [00:13:49] it's suspected that Admiral Holsey, the [00:13:51] commander of Southcom, and just so you [00:13:54] guys know, here's a map right here. Uh, [00:13:56] the world is kind of far away, but um, [00:13:58] when I say Southcom, the entire world is [00:14:02] here, let me see if I can zoom in at [00:14:04] all. Maybe not. Is put into combatant [00:14:08] commands. So, you have North America and [00:14:11] Canada, that's Northcom. You have Mexico [00:14:15] or sorry I think Mexico is a Northcom [00:14:17] but you have Southcom uh all the South [00:14:20] American continent right here that is [00:14:23] Southcom then you have sentcom from [00:14:26] Egypt all the way to India and then [00:14:28] Ariccom and then um Eurocom and then [00:14:33] Indopatcom. So, right now, Southcom is [00:14:36] getting a lot of different assets. Um, [00:14:43] sorry, I just saw someone in the [00:14:45] comments said, "Let's not be rushing to [00:14:46] collusion uh to conclusions again." So, [00:14:49] yeah, Southcom is getting a bunch of [00:14:50] different assets right now. So, I I [00:14:52] think it's going far beyond [00:14:56] um the premise of Saber Rattling. Like [00:14:59] the USS Gerald Gerald R. Ford was due [00:15:03] for refit [00:15:04] in the United States on the east on the [00:15:07] east coast. It got extended for this [00:15:09] operation, which is insanely expensive [00:15:13] because that means they have to go [00:15:14] through port and instead of docking, [00:15:16] they have to bring on a bunch of [00:15:17] contractors to fix everything to run [00:15:20] engine maintenance and they have to [00:15:21] store them, bring them with them, pay [00:15:22] them overtime hours. It's just freaking [00:15:24] crazy. Um, so yeah, their deployment has [00:15:27] been extended for this and maybe [00:15:28] extended for some time. Um but anyways, [00:15:32] yeah, so the the commander of Southcom, [00:15:35] Admiral Holsey, just gotten stated [00:15:38] earlier this year, but over the strikes, [00:15:40] it's rumored that he is resigning [00:15:43] about a year into a three-year command. [00:15:46] All right. So, um I don't want to I [00:15:50] mean, I personally wouldn't want to [00:15:51] touch this Iraq 2.0 catastrophe either. [00:15:54] And the consent isn't there, but MCM [00:15:58] Marina Karina Machado got her little [00:16:01] Nobel Peace Prize in a stunning display [00:16:03] of moral laundering. And Miss CIA is [00:16:06] ready to open Venezuela to complete [00:16:08] privatization by Western capitalists and [00:16:10] crush any leftwing sentiment with an [00:16:12] iron fist, a Department of War fist. So, [00:16:16] let's talk about it. All right. So, [00:16:19] let's just talk about her whole like [00:16:21] Nobel Peace Prize thing real quick [00:16:22] because it's actually kind of [00:16:23] enlightening about like the ideology [00:16:25] that's driving this just like the ide [00:16:27] neocon ideology that drives a senseless [00:16:31] ultimately self-defeating and [00:16:32] self-destructive attack against Iran. [00:16:35] Okay. Because All right. So, the Inspira [00:16:37] America Foundation headed by uh Marcel [00:16:40] Phipe, a CubanAmerican lawyer, joined [00:16:43] with the directors of four US [00:16:45] universities on 16th August 2024 to [00:16:48] promote the nomination of Machado for [00:16:50] the Nobel Peace Prize, highlighting her [00:16:52] quote tireless fight for peace in [00:16:55] Venezuela and the world unquote as a [00:16:57] fair recognition of a person who has [00:16:59] dedicated almost her entire life to [00:17:01] fight for peace and liberation of [00:17:03] Venezuela. So, in August, US Secretary [00:17:06] of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American [00:17:08] anti-communist ideologue, Senator Rick [00:17:12] Scott, uh, Fidian Evangelical Zionist, [00:17:15] and members of Congress, Mario, um, [00:17:18] Balart, anti-Castro CubanAmerican, and [00:17:21] Maria Alva Salazar, daughter of more [00:17:23] Cuban exiles, supported her nomination. [00:17:27] Okay. So on 10th October, Machado was [00:17:30] awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for [00:17:34] her again quote tireless work promoting [00:17:36] democratic rights for the people of [00:17:37] Venezuela and for her struggle to [00:17:39] achieve a just and peaceful transition [00:17:41] from the de from dictatorship to [00:17:43] democracy. [00:17:45] And you know she dedicated the prize as [00:17:47] you guys may remember uh to the [00:17:49] suffering of the people of Venezuela and [00:17:51] President Trump for his decisive support [00:17:54] of our cause. She's also called for [00:17:57] regime change operations from Netanyahu. [00:18:00] Uh okay. So what we have to understand [00:18:02] is that this operation is entirely [00:18:05] ideological and at whose core is [00:18:07] enshrined the mandates of capitalism, [00:18:10] free markets, privatization, stolen [00:18:12] labor and stolen resources and the US [00:18:14] assertion of regional domination and [00:18:16] hegemony. Uh the Trump administration is [00:18:18] a wash with Iran hawks and their myopic [00:18:22] obsession with regime change there. And [00:18:23] a lot of those same hawks are on the [00:18:26] Venezuelan ticket, too. You have all [00:18:28] these like exiles from Venezuela and [00:18:31] Cuba, all hanging out in Miami, all [00:18:34] surrounding Trump, [00:18:36] going to Mara Lago all the time, and [00:18:38] they're honestly determining a lot of [00:18:40] this policy. [00:18:41] um you know [00:18:44] uh [00:18:45] yeah and so I guess what we have to [00:18:49] understand is [00:18:51] again complete ideology here rooted in [00:18:54] obviously capitalism but here MCM is [00:18:56] speaking to business leaders and so [00:18:58] that's what she says for the Nobel Peace [00:19:00] uh committee but you know who's really [00:19:02] running this all wars in America are [00:19:04] bankers wars so when she's actually [00:19:06] speaking um to business leaders and [00:19:10] global thinkers at the America Business [00:19:12] Forum in Miami, Florida earlier this [00:19:15] month. In her keynote, Machado reflected [00:19:17] on Venezuela's democratic struggle, [00:19:19] women's leadership and global change. [00:19:22] You know, the neoliberal hire more [00:19:24] female prison guards shtick, and the [00:19:26] importance of rebuilding trust between [00:19:28] citizens and institutions. And what she [00:19:31] means by institutions is clearly [00:19:34] corporations. [00:19:35] >> And this is amazing, super exciting for [00:19:38] me. We will open Venezuela for foreign [00:19:42] investment. I am talking about a $1.7 [00:19:45] trillion [music] opportunity not only in [00:19:49] oil and gas which is huge and you know [00:19:52] that the opportunities because we will [00:19:54] open all [music] upstream, middle, [00:19:57] downstream to all companies but also in [00:20:01] mining [music] [00:20:02] in gold in infrastructure [00:20:06] power. We have a our grid right now [00:20:09] [music] has a 17 gawatt opportunity of [00:20:13] of of of energy potential [music] that [00:20:17] needs to be rehabbed certainly for [00:20:19] technology and I AI and and and tourism. [00:20:23] You know, Venezuela has 2,800 [00:20:26] [music] kil kilometers of pristine [00:20:30] Caribbean coastline ready to be [00:20:32] developed. [music] So, this is going to [00:20:34] be huge. We will bring rule of law. We [00:20:36] will open markets. We will have security [00:20:39] for foreign investment and a transparent [00:20:42] [music] massive privatization [00:20:45] uh program that is waiting for you. [00:20:48] >> That is way a massive foreign investment [00:20:51] privatization program that is waiting [00:20:53] for you. Pick me. Pick me please. I look [00:20:57] like something out of the nightmare that [00:20:59] I had when I still had lucid lucid [00:21:01] dreams as a as a teenager. So yeah, the [00:21:08] the USS Gerald R. Ford, the United [00:21:10] States most advanced aircraft carrier, [00:21:12] arrived in the Caribbean Sea on Sunday, [00:21:15] yesterday. Uh the US Navy has confirmed [00:21:18] this amid rising tensions between the US [00:21:20] and nearby nations. It's not just [00:21:21] Venezuela, it's Colombia, Nicaragua. You [00:21:25] know, uh if you remember the uh the [00:21:26] Panama Canal uh incident at the [00:21:30] beginning of Trump administration, you [00:21:31] know, where they pressured, uh Panama to [00:21:33] kick out Chinese or not reup Chinese [00:21:36] contracts in an uh in a in an attempt to [00:21:38] force stall Chinese influence through [00:21:40] the belt and road initiative in our [00:21:43] Monroe Doctrine America Sphere 2.0. Uh [00:21:47] yeah, so it's not just Venezuela. Also, [00:21:49] we're engaged with farright actors in [00:21:51] the region. We just gave 40 billion to [00:21:54] freaking Javier Malay, the insane anarco [00:21:57] capitalist who likes to put on freaking [00:22:00] crappy rock concerts where he growls for [00:22:02] 30 minute sets at a time. U so yeah [00:22:07] again yeah uh nearby nations and also we [00:22:10] have allied farright governments but [00:22:11] like days earlier the Venezuelan [00:22:13] President Nik Nicholas Maduro whom [00:22:16] Washington does not recognize as the [00:22:18] country's legitimate leader uh called [00:22:20] for peace between the two nations. And [00:22:22] this weekend, I think he sung a John [00:22:24] Lennon song at a rally uh and has stayed [00:22:27] on message about being for peace. I [00:22:29] mean, he's very interested in his [00:22:30] political survival, stuff like that. Um [00:22:34] but yeah, he's basically said, "Yeah, [00:22:36] come on. Come on. Come and take it." You [00:22:38] know, uh but it doesn't matter. The US [00:22:41] is not interested in peace and the [00:22:43] wheels are already in motion and MCM [00:22:45] will be way more pliant than he ever [00:22:48] would be. So, it looks like this is [00:22:51] happening. Um, if you're at all confused [00:22:54] here, just remember that the people of [00:22:56] Venezuela yearn for a Libya regime [00:22:59] change operation. Uh, and that the [00:23:01] Epstein files are a democratic hoax and [00:23:03] that make sure you sign that 50-year [00:23:06] mortgage. You know, because let's remind [00:23:07] everyone why this is all happening. And [00:23:09] look at a clip from an interview from [00:23:11] former Southcom commander General Laura [00:23:14] J. Richardson, the predecessor of [00:23:17] resigning Admiral Holsey, speak to our [00:23:19] favorite neocon think tank, the Atlantic [00:23:22] Council last year. The same thing she [00:23:25] says is echoed by MCM. [00:23:27] >> The countries uh Cuba, Venezuela, [00:23:30] Nicaragua with uh Russia relationships. [00:23:33] Why this region matters with all [music] [00:23:35] of its rich resources and rare earth [00:23:38] elements. You've got the lithium [00:23:40] triangle which is needed for [music] [00:23:42] technology today. 60% of the world's [00:23:45] lithium uh is [music] in the lithium [00:23:47] triangle. Argentina, Bolivia, Chile. You [00:23:50] just have the largest oil reserves. [00:23:52] Light sweet crude. Dis [00:23:54] >> light sweet crude baby. Drill baby drill [00:23:58] for that light sweet crude. What the [00:24:00] hell am I hearing? [00:24:01] >> Covered off of Guyana over a year ago. [00:24:04] Um you have uh Venezuela's resources as [00:24:07] well with uh with oil, uh copper, gold. [00:24:12] We have the Amazon [music] uh lungs of [00:24:14] the world. We have the 31% of the [00:24:16] world's fresh water in this region, too. [00:24:19] >> So, when she's saying we have, she means [00:24:22] United States military Southern Command. [00:24:26] That's crazy. She's using that verbiage. [00:24:29] Wow. I, you know, I watched this one [00:24:30] time, but I don't think I caught the uh [00:24:34] the we in there. [00:24:38] Holy [ __ ] Okay, that's crazy. But I [00:24:40] guess that's how you would speak if [00:24:42] you're on an interview with the Atlantic [00:24:44] Council. [00:24:45] >> Um, I mean, it's just off the [music] [00:24:46] charts. We have a lot to do. This region [00:24:48] matters. It has a lot to do with [00:24:51] national security [music] [00:24:53] and we need to step up our game. [00:24:57] [snorts] [00:24:57] >> It has a lot to do with national [00:25:00] security. [00:25:02] You know, I was going to talk about this [00:25:04] later, but um [00:25:08] let's just say [00:25:10] I just this quote that I always hear is [00:25:12] like like a a gotcha zinger like [00:25:16] socialism is great until you run out of [00:25:19] other people's money, says the corporate [00:25:21] elite talking head at CNN who lines up [00:25:23] every eight years for his government [00:25:25] bailout when his completely [00:25:26] financialized institution goes into [00:25:28] freefall. But we can't call that [00:25:31] corporate socialism because that's not [00:25:33] what it is. It's actually called [00:25:36] national security. You know, every time [00:25:39] like [00:25:41] I'll get into I don't want to preempt [00:25:43] this episode a little bit, but you know [00:25:44] the massively overvalued open AI which [00:25:47] we're going to talk about here in a [00:25:48] second with active defense contracts [00:25:50] just like every other cloud and AI tech [00:25:52] venture which has made substantial [00:25:54] spending commitments totaling over like [00:25:56] $1.4 4 trillion [00:25:59] like a year to compute resources and [00:26:01] infrastructure through the early 2030s, [00:26:04] but it's only bringing in like $13 [00:26:06] billion in annual revenue. Yeah, that's [00:26:09] a bubble. Yikes. Well, these commitments [00:26:12] are primarily for cloud services and [00:26:14] hardware for major tech companies like [00:26:16] Oracle, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, uh, [00:26:20] Coree, and are part of a massive push to [00:26:22] develop AI and build data centers, [00:26:25] including the Stargate project. Bro, [00:26:27] we've got to beat China and get more [00:26:30] access to rare earths and also continue [00:26:32] to dominate the petrol market. So, we'll [00:26:34] we'll take the oil, too. But like, this [00:26:36] is the next thing, these these rare [00:26:38] earths, right? One of the main choke [00:26:40] holds is material constraints. And I may [00:26:43] be getting a little bit ahead of myself [00:26:44] here. And since getting them from the [00:26:46] dawn boss in Ukraine, remember that [00:26:48] Lindsey Graham was going on. It's like [00:26:50] we don't want Russia and we don't want [00:26:52] China getting hurt. Like that's not [00:26:55] going to happen, right? Because you the [00:26:58] Ukrainians aren't going to retake the [00:26:59] Donbos. It's just it's just not in the [00:27:01] cards. Uh well, Venezuela is certainly [00:27:04] closer and not a military nearper like [00:27:08] Russia. This is also driven heavily by [00:27:10] anti-communist [00:27:12] CubanAmerican neocon ideologues like [00:27:14] Marco Rubio and Salazar who co-signed [00:27:16] the uh the nomination for MCM uh last [00:27:20] year. But in the end, it's all about [00:27:21] capital babying full spectrum dominance. [00:27:25] Um [00:27:26] yeah, [00:27:28] so [00:27:30] just like when we bombed Iran, this plan [00:27:33] has been in place for some time. It was [00:27:36] just a matter of finding a president who [00:27:38] would be willing to go along with it. [00:27:40] The Iranian strike packages were planned [00:27:41] and rehearsed under Biden, but he didn't [00:27:43] greenlight it. He's also a Zionist and a [00:27:46] Russia/China hawk. But this is really [00:27:49] stupid because there is no pretext for [00:27:52] war. And we have actually lost [00:27:54] intelligence support in this region from [00:27:56] our actual greatest ally, Britain, over [00:27:59] this. And again, the British government [00:28:01] supports the genocide in Palestine. And [00:28:03] there are a lot of reasons why the US [00:28:06] government and the capitalists that [00:28:08] control it need this to happen. You [00:28:10] know, we could talk about oil, we could [00:28:11] talk about regional domination, getting [00:28:13] China out of our sphere of influence, [00:28:15] but I just wanted to take AI in this [00:28:18] episode because there's too many facets [00:28:20] to this uh to really like drill down on [00:28:25] what we really need Venezuela for. So we [00:28:28] need rare earth minerals because they [00:28:30] are essential components for a wide [00:28:32] range of modern technologies, right? [00:28:34] From consumer electronics and renewable [00:28:36] energy to advanced military equipment. [00:28:38] These minerals are like critical for [00:28:40] manufacturing magnets and electric [00:28:43] vehicles, wind turbines. [00:28:46] Doesn't Trump not know how magnets work? [00:28:48] And he always brings out wind turbines. [00:28:52] Yeah. Anyways, you know, they're in [00:28:54] computers, they're in smartphones and [00:28:56] key parts in military systems like jets, [00:28:58] submarines and missiles, etc. on and on [00:29:00] and on and on. The US relies on imports [00:29:03] for many of these materials, making [00:29:05] domestic access to a secure and reliable [00:29:09] supply a national security and economic [00:29:12] concern. This is how they think in like [00:29:15] upper echelon defense circles. It's not [00:29:17] just like people like Rathon and Tesla [00:29:19] being like, "We need the cool tan, man. [00:29:22] No, like all of these generals who grew [00:29:25] up within the institution of the US [00:29:28] military which supports Wall Street [00:29:32] sees ties national security into [00:29:35] resource domination. [00:29:40] That's how they see it for I mean it's [00:29:42] it's a complete byproduct. I mean [00:29:44] there's something strategic to it but [00:29:47] ultimately it serves capital, right? So [00:29:49] they absolutely see this as [00:29:52] their [00:29:54] oath to the constitution. Um you know [00:29:57] their their responsibility to protect [00:30:00] American interests [00:30:02] as securing these rare earths and the [00:30:05] oil and promoting American [00:30:07] exceptionalism and protecting their [00:30:09] country. Like literally I grew up in [00:30:11] these circles. My father my grandfather [00:30:13] was a colonel. He almost made general, [00:30:15] but he got out in protest of the Vietnam [00:30:17] War. You know, my father was in the [00:30:20] military. I grew up in the military. [00:30:21] Like, this is literally how people [00:30:23] think. Um, they don't see the problem [00:30:25] with it. It's just national security. [00:30:28] The the kind of like mythic obsession [00:30:31] within the American mind of national [00:30:33] security. This is this is part of it. [00:30:34] Um, this is how they think, right? The [00:30:38] United States gets most of its rare [00:30:39] earths from China. A lot of people don't [00:30:41] know this. And we want for for decad [00:30:43] even when I was in I got out 10 years [00:30:45] ago of uh special operations community [00:30:48] even then they were like we need to not [00:30:51] rely on China for anything right now. Uh [00:30:54] though you know the US has its own [00:30:56] domestic minds and is trying to reduce [00:30:58] this dependence but it's completely [00:31:00] negligible. In recent years, China has [00:31:03] actually supplied about 80 to 96% of US [00:31:07] rare earth imports, making the US [00:31:10] heavily reliant on China for processing [00:31:12] capabilities. The US is also a [00:31:14] significant producer itself, but most of [00:31:16] its raw rare earth elements must be sent [00:31:20] to China for the crucial separation and [00:31:22] processing steps. So even if we do some [00:31:25] sketchy stuff, you know, use through [00:31:28] like really [00:31:31] really sketchy supply chains out of the [00:31:32] Congo to get those rare earths here. We [00:31:36] still have to send them to China to get [00:31:38] processed and then they come back [00:31:40] because we're completely [00:31:41] de-industrialized right now. So China [00:31:44] dominates the global processing of rare [00:31:46] earths as I've said a zillion times [00:31:48] right now. Sorry to be repetitive. [00:31:50] Meaning that even raw materials mined in [00:31:52] the US [00:31:53] I don't know this devel this dependence [00:31:55] developed after the US industry shifted [00:31:58] to China in the mid 1980s due to high [00:32:02] environmental costs associated with [00:32:04] domestic mining and lower production [00:32:06] costs in China. You know the tendency [00:32:08] for the rate of profit to fall and all [00:32:10] that jazz. Um and our inevitable fall [00:32:13] into full-blown de-industrialization and [00:32:15] finance capital since it's too expensive [00:32:18] and takes too long to reindustrialize. [00:32:21] We got to do regime change and install a [00:32:23] right-wing comprador government who will [00:32:25] allow us to pillage their country and [00:32:27] exploit their people. And when finance [00:32:29] capitalism shits the bed, which it [00:32:31] always does, we generally have to bail [00:32:32] it out and go to war anyway. So this [00:32:34] whole AI thing tanks, it's not just the [00:32:36] Epstein files, baby. So let's talk about [00:32:39] open AI. All right, we spent a long time [00:32:44] talking about like Alex Karp and Peter [00:32:46] Teal on this series over at Palanteer, [00:32:49] but let's do Sam Alman and Open AAI aka [00:32:53] Chat GPT. Essentially, according to [00:32:56] their mission statement, quote, "Open AI [00:32:58] is a AI research and deploy deployment [00:33:02] company that develops advanced AI [00:33:04] systems like Jet Chat GPT with a mission [00:33:07] to ensure that artificial general [00:33:09] intelligence AGI benefits benefits all [00:33:13] of humanity. [00:33:14] But OpenAI has a $200 million contract [00:33:18] with the US Department of Defense to [00:33:19] develop a sorry, DEPARTMENT OF WAR UH TO [00:33:23] DEVELOP prototype AI for national [00:33:25] security challenges, including [00:33:28] administrative functions like healthcare [00:33:29] and cyber defense and frontline [00:33:32] warfighting support. What they mean by [00:33:34] warfighting support probably means like [00:33:36] the same kind of AI targeting packages [00:33:38] that Palunteer is using in Gaza. This [00:33:41] marks its first government partnership [00:33:43] and it was awarded through a $200 [00:33:44] million contract that includes non um [00:33:47] other AI companies like Google and [00:33:49] Anthropic. Open AAI will also partner [00:33:52] with defense tech company Anderil to [00:33:55] help defend against drone attacks. So [00:33:57] basically killing people and expanding [00:33:59] the national security state and that [00:34:02] benefits all of humanity. And so it's [00:34:05] still a private company, not even [00:34:06] publicly traded. [00:34:08] And that's why deepseek was such a huge [00:34:12] blow to open AI and confidence in open [00:34:15] AI. Uh because you know it was basically [00:34:17] free. It was made to be free and in some [00:34:20] ways it's a lot better. So yeah, it's [00:34:23] not just this this rare earth's pipeline [00:34:25] that they need to the rare earths to [00:34:27] build like the data centers and stuff to [00:34:29] support this massive cloud [00:34:31] infrastructure, but it's also that [00:34:33] there's a there's a rival now and [00:34:35] [snorts] it's free because apparently um [00:34:38] the open AI business model was to get [00:34:40] everybody like hooked onto chat GPT [00:34:44] and then make it like subscriber [00:34:47] subscription based and payw wall. Well, [00:34:49] why would I do that when I could just go [00:34:50] over to DeepSeek? Anyways, there's a lot [00:34:52] of problems going on with Open AI right [00:34:54] now. Um, but and again, it's because [00:34:57] these roots are poisoned. All these [00:34:59] cloud-based AI companies are all part of [00:35:01] the US AI boom or bubble uh seen as our [00:35:05] silver bullet against China. You know, [00:35:08] it has a poison foundation. So, the US [00:35:10] economy is heavily invested in [00:35:14] artificial intelligence driven by [00:35:15] massive private sector spending. um that [00:35:19] has made AI a significant driver of [00:35:21] current GDP growth. Like most of our GDP [00:35:24] growth is just that, this AI bubble [00:35:27] thing. Like the US leads the world in [00:35:29] private AI investment. Companies are [00:35:30] pouring hundreds of billions of dollars [00:35:32] into building colossal data centers and [00:35:35] acquiring the necessary chips and [00:35:37] equipment. Capital expenditures by these [00:35:39] firms are expected to surpass 400 [00:35:42] billion this year. So while private [00:35:44] sector leads, the US government also [00:35:47] invests significantly in AI research and [00:35:50] development technologies uh focusing on [00:35:52] areas like national security, healthcare [00:35:54] and education. And the risks here are [00:35:56] the heavy concentration of investments [00:35:58] has led to concerns about a potential AI [00:36:01] bubble and the economy's reliance on the [00:36:04] technologies success. So questions [00:36:06] remain about whether current investments [00:36:07] will yield the expected long-term [00:36:09] productivity gains in the broader [00:36:10] economy. But OpenAI may be considered [00:36:14] overvalued [00:36:16] um due to its massive operational costs [00:36:19] which are growing faster than its [00:36:20] revenue. Uh and a valuation that is [00:36:23] being compared to a tech bubble as I [00:36:25] keep freaking repeating. Uh the [00:36:27] company's $500 billion valuation is [00:36:29] based on future potential but its [00:36:31] current profitability is hindered by the [00:36:34] immense and growing cost of computing [00:36:36] power and infrastructure needed for AI [00:36:38] development. Open AI compute, you're [00:36:41] we're gonna hear Sam Alman say this in a [00:36:43] second, refers to the company's massive [00:36:45] infrastructure and massive amounts of [00:36:47] computing power needed to develop and [00:36:49] run advanced AI models, which involves a [00:36:52] combination of in-house hardware, rare [00:36:55] Earth's cloud services from partners [00:36:57] like Microsoft and Amazon, and a [00:36:59] strategic buildout of new data centers. [00:37:02] It [snorts] is essential for the [00:37:03] company's mission and is subject of a [00:37:05] major long-term investment strategy as [00:37:08] demand for AI computing power is [00:37:10] described as voracious. Here is Sam [00:37:13] Alman admitting that if they don't have [00:37:15] the materials or infrastructure to build [00:37:17] the compute uh they won't be able to [00:37:20] meet uh their 1.4 trillion uh dollar [00:37:24] spend commitments in AI infrastructure. [00:37:28] company with 13 billion in revenues make [00:37:31] 1.4 trillion of spend commitments, you [00:37:35] know, and and and you've heard the [00:37:37] criticism. [00:37:37] >> First of all, we're doing well more [00:37:39] revenue than that. Second of all, Brad, [00:37:41] if you want to sell your shares, I'll [00:37:42] find you a buyer. [laughter] [00:37:44] I I just enough like, you know, people [00:37:47] are I I think there's a lot of people [00:37:49] who would love to buy OpenAI shares. I [00:37:51] don't I don't think you want, [00:37:52] >> including myself. including myself [00:37:55] >> who talk with a lot of like breathless [00:37:58] concern about our comput stuff or [00:37:59] whatever that would be thrilled to buy [00:38:01] shares. So I think we we could sell you [00:38:03] know your shares or anybody else's to [00:38:04] some of the people who are making the [00:38:05] most noise on Twitter whatever about [00:38:07] this very quickly. We do plan for [00:38:09] revenue to grow steeply. Revenue is [00:38:11] growing steeply. We are taking a forward [00:38:13] bet that it's going to continue to grow [00:38:14] grow and that not only will Chhatabt [00:38:18] keep growing, but we will be able to [00:38:20] become one of the important AI clouds [00:38:22] that our consumer device business will [00:38:24] be a significant and important thing [00:38:27] that AI that can auto one second sorry [00:38:30] guys the uh the spooky mouse just asked [00:38:33] a really crazy question. Can't we just [00:38:36] effing feed people with that money? God. [00:38:38] Uh excuse me. Apparently, someone hasn't [00:38:41] heard of the senseless religion known as [00:38:44] maximizing shareholder value. Don't see [00:38:47] how how that fits into that, but I'm [00:38:50] sure Jesus would agree with you, but [00:38:52] we're not here for that. Made science [00:38:55] will create huge value. So, you know, [00:38:58] there are not many times that I want to [00:39:01] be a public company, but one of the rare [00:39:02] times it's appealing is when those [00:39:04] people are writing these ridiculous open [00:39:06] AI is about to go out of business and, [00:39:07] you know, whatever. I would love to tell [00:39:09] them they could just short the stock and [00:39:10] I would love to see them get burned on [00:39:12] that. Um but [00:39:15] you know I we carefully plan we [00:39:18] understand where the technology where [00:39:19] the capability is going to grow. Here it [00:39:23] comes here comes the big bomb [00:39:25] >> go and and how the products we can build [00:39:27] around that and the revenue we can [00:39:28] generate. We might screw it up. Um I I [00:39:33] think it's gone from might to [00:39:36] overwhelmingly likely at this point. And [00:39:38] here's why. [00:39:39] >> Like this is the bet that we're making [00:39:41] and we're taking a risk along with that. [00:39:43] A certain risk is if we don't have the [00:39:45] compute, we will not be able to generate [00:39:46] the revenue or make the models at these [00:39:48] at this kind of scale. [00:39:50] >> If we don't have the compute, we will [00:39:52] not be able to generate [00:39:55] the revenue for our spending [00:39:57] commitments. And this whole thing's [00:39:58] going to go belly [00:40:01] up. And just look at that guy's face. [00:40:03] He's just like, mhm. How are you going [00:40:04] to get the compute? Again, the compute [00:40:07] is open AI's term for getting all of the [00:40:10] infrastructure built and a lot of that [00:40:13] is this rare earths like the lithium and [00:40:16] the cold tan and you know the tin and [00:40:18] all this stuff that goes into these pro [00:40:20] these chips which we have to send to [00:40:22] China to get processed anyways and then [00:40:24] they send back because we don't have any [00:40:26] industrial infrastructure to do it [00:40:28] ourselves. You know, we [00:40:29] de-industrialized in the 80s to increase [00:40:32] profit margins just like we always do [00:40:35] and now we have nothing. U and now we [00:40:38] have to what? Start a war [00:40:42] and I don't think there'll be boots on [00:40:44] the ground, you know. Uh there's only [00:40:46] 4,000 Marines. That's enough to [00:40:47] establish a beach head maybe. Um but no, [00:40:53] this is this is this is Pat regime [00:40:55] change operation. like we have decided [00:40:58] MCM is going to go in there and she's [00:41:00] going to open up all of their stuff and [00:41:03] we're going to take it all. And you know [00:41:05] there there is a black market for rare [00:41:08] earths coming out of Venezuela. It's run [00:41:10] by gangs, you know, uh just like it is [00:41:13] in certain parts of Africa through [00:41:15] artisal mining and stuff like that. But [00:41:18] then we would take that over, [00:41:21] you know, uh, just like we taken over [00:41:23] like just like Glen Core does in the [00:41:25] Congo with, you know, these really [00:41:28] supply chains that aren't really fully [00:41:29] disclosed to the SEC. So they file [00:41:31] specialized disclosure reports which [00:41:33] basically say like, you know, our [00:41:36] downstream supply chain or like our [00:41:38] upstream supply chain is like so [00:41:40] convoluted, you know, we do our best, [00:41:42] but like it's Africa, what are you going [00:41:43] to do? It's going to be the same thing [00:41:45] here in Venezuela. So, [00:41:48] um, yeah, someone's just said, "Please [00:41:50] stop saying the system is broken." Uh, [00:41:53] that is false and keeps people [00:41:54] brainwashed. The system is malicious and [00:41:56] parasitic. I would say the system is [00:41:59] working exactly as not as it was [00:42:03] designed to because it's designed to [00:42:06] just increase profits, increase profits, [00:42:08] blah blah blah blah blah blah and then [00:42:10] not have any sort of like popular [00:42:11] revolution against it or like, you know, [00:42:14] not degrade the material conditions of [00:42:16] the working people to the place where [00:42:17] they have to have like some sort of [00:42:19] popular revolution. But it always does [00:42:22] because that's the inherent [00:42:24] contradiction of capitalism, which we're [00:42:26] not going to get into. We're here [00:42:27] talking about open AI. [snorts] So it's [00:42:30] not just about, you know, establishing [00:42:32] and uh maintaining [00:42:35] the US's oil hegemony. It's also has to [00:42:38] do with this idea that we have put so [00:42:41] much and leverage so much of our economy [00:42:44] into AI and speculative like finance [00:42:48] capital that like if this thing goes [00:42:50] belly up, what is really going to [00:42:54] happen? Because when you know when [00:42:58] a AI bubble bursts you know it refers to [00:43:01] the theory that the current surge in AI [00:43:03] related stock values is an unsustainable [00:43:07] market bubble driven by hype and [00:43:10] speculative investment rather than [00:43:12] company fundamentals. similar to the dot [00:43:14] bubble. This looks a lot like the.com [00:43:16] bubble and concerns are fueled by [00:43:18] sky-high valuations for AI companies. [00:43:21] Like open AAI valued at 500 billion. Uh [00:43:26] I'm not even sure if that's still the [00:43:28] same valuation that may have been from [00:43:29] earlier. Um but like 13 billion annual [00:43:32] revenue. Whoa. Um that's Yeah. Uh I [00:43:39] forget what like the the venture capital [00:43:41] like thing is 5 by5 but that's [00:43:43] definitely not 5 by5 but oh my god it's [00:43:46] been so long since I've been in that [00:43:47] world but um you know massive uh [00:43:51] investments in the sector and a circular [00:43:53] flow of money between major AI players [00:43:56] um may or uh which may artificially [00:44:00] which is artificially inflating stock [00:44:02] prices. While the long-term potential of [00:44:03] AI is considered significant, obviously [00:44:06] I mean a lot of experts believe that if [00:44:08] growth or profits don't meet inflated [00:44:10] expectations, the bubble could burst [00:44:12] could burst leading to a painful [00:44:14] correction. So what does that mean when [00:44:16] a financial bubble bursts? Well, asset [00:44:19] prices crash leading to significant [00:44:21] financial losses. This is the important [00:44:23] part for investors and often triggering [00:44:27] a recession with increased unemployment. [00:44:29] They don't care so much about that. and [00:44:31] decreased economic activity. They do [00:44:33] care a little bit about that. The [00:44:34] collapse can cause a cascade of debt [00:44:37] deflation and financial panic uh as [00:44:40] confidence erodess and people sell [00:44:42] assets, you know, which can have a wider [00:44:44] and more severe impact depending on the [00:44:47] size of the bubble and how much the debt [00:44:48] was involved. And there's a there's a [00:44:50] lot there's a lot in this one, right, [00:44:52] guys? So, asset price collapse. The [00:44:55] defining feature is a sudden and sharp [00:44:56] drop in the price of the asset that was [00:44:58] being overhauled. And again, here's a [00:45:00] big one. Investor losses. Investors who [00:45:03] bought at the inflated peak can suffer [00:45:06] large and sometimes permanent financial [00:45:08] losses. So the capitalists were hoping [00:45:10] to get access, you know, to the dawn [00:45:12] boss in Ukraine, but that isn't going to [00:45:15] happen. So Venezuela is a solid bet. Our [00:45:18] economy is so leveraged in AI that we [00:45:20] really don't have a choice from the [00:45:22] imperial perspective. So, we are going [00:45:24] to jin up a regime change war and it [00:45:27] doesn't matter how compliant Maduro [00:45:29] becomes. He'll never be as malleable as [00:45:31] MCM as I've mentioned before. [00:45:34] And that's one of the reasons um I I [00:45:37] just kind of wanted to use there's [00:45:38] there's a lot of different reasons why [00:45:40] this Venezuela war is happening. It's [00:45:43] not just necessarily for resources. It's [00:45:46] not just for, you know, ideology of the [00:45:50] freaking Gwanos out of Miami who are [00:45:53] constantly flocking to Mara Lago [00:45:56] infiltrating like Trump's administration [00:45:59] because they're browns. It's also about [00:46:02] regional domination, you know, uh [00:46:04] kicking China out like we implicit [00:46:07] behind all of this is that the US [00:46:09] doesn't have the same power projection [00:46:11] as we as we used to. you know, we're [00:46:14] having to basically become more and more [00:46:17] insular. Iran didn't work. We can no [00:46:19] longer get away with doing that. Ukraine [00:46:21] didn't work. So now we're basically [00:46:24] siege mentalitying ourselves into a [00:46:27] Monroe doctrine 2.0. And yes, we'll [00:46:30] still, you know, do our dirty work all [00:46:33] over the world, but I think the Trump [00:46:35] administration absolutely intends to [00:46:39] um kind of make this our our fortress. [00:46:43] So, um, [00:46:47] have you ever had a conversation with a [00:46:49] Venezuelan? [00:46:50] Yes. Um, many and we're actually in fact [00:46:54] going to have some Venezuelan [00:46:55] journalists on here very soon. Uh, we we [00:46:59] have to ask which Venezuelans are you [00:47:03] referring to? Um, because [00:47:08] no one's a monolith, man. So all I am [00:47:11] talking about this issue is the [00:47:14] intention from the US imperial [00:47:16] perspective driven by capital using what [00:47:19] we would call like [00:47:22] I guess what we would call a color [00:47:24] revolution you know to try to install a [00:47:26] democracy but it's basically just to [00:47:28] open up the country to exploitation from [00:47:31] the only superpower that exists on this [00:47:34] planet. So even if you don't like [00:47:37] Maduro, [00:47:39] if you don't recognize what the United [00:47:42] States plan is for Venezuela, I don't [00:47:46] know what to tell you, man. It's it's [00:47:48] they're saying it out loud. Like the [00:47:51] former commander of Sentcom was [00:47:53] basically just in the Atlantic Council [00:47:54] salivating over what we're going to what [00:47:57] we can get from Venezuela and the [00:47:59] surrounding countries in the quote [00:48:00] unquote lithium triangle. It's about [00:48:03] national security. You think the United [00:48:05] States gives a f about you? They don't [00:48:07] give an f about you. They talk about [00:48:09] like women life freedom in Iran, they [00:48:11] don't give a [ __ ] They just want um the [00:48:14] one challenge to Israel gone and they [00:48:16] want to bulcanize it so they can, you [00:48:18] know, exploit its mineral and oil [00:48:20] wealth. Like that's it. So if you're [00:48:22] like, "Oh, have you talked to [00:48:23] Venezuelans?" Yeah, man. I'm not here [00:48:25] talking about the experience of [00:48:26] Venezuelans. I am here as someone who [00:48:29] used to be [00:48:31] at the spear tip of imperialism telling [00:48:34] you how this is going to go down. [00:48:37] And and if you can't handle that, I [00:48:39] don't know what to tell you because this [00:48:40] is the plan. They're literally saying it [00:48:42] out loud. Dude, you literally have one [00:48:45] of the most evil, crazy people trying to [00:48:48] install herself into power, calling on [00:48:50] Netanyahu, who is charged with war [00:48:53] crimes and genocide in Gaza to come in [00:48:55] and install her into power. But yeah, [00:48:58] what do Venezuela I'm not here to speak [00:49:00] for Venezuelans. I'm a freaking white [00:49:01] dude from Texas. I'm here for to [00:49:04] describe the imperial perspective. So, [00:49:07] it [00:49:10] it is um [00:49:14] yeah, it it's a challenging thing to [00:49:16] talk about. No one likes covering Syria. [00:49:18] This is less controversial than Syria, [00:49:20] honestly. It it's actually really [00:49:21] simple. [sighs] [00:49:23] Um, I don't like states or governments [00:49:25] or and I certainly don't send for [00:49:27] politicians, but if you think this will [00:49:29] work out for the Venezuelan people and [00:49:31] they will end up better off before or [00:49:35] after [00:49:36] or or after a US regime change [00:49:38] operation, I don't think you've ever [00:49:40] paid attention to US history, especially [00:49:44] in the postw World War II moment at all. [00:49:48] Like, I can't I can't I can't help you [00:49:50] then, you know. Um, and then also, [00:49:53] sorry, [laughter] I didn't mean to go on [00:49:54] a rant. [00:49:58] So, um, sorry, I'm trying to look at [00:50:01] this question. If you guys have [00:50:02] questions, you can you can ask them. Um, [00:50:04] we might go a little over today just [00:50:06] because I want to talk about Mexico and [00:50:08] I didn't have a time to like put [00:50:10] together any footage. [snorts] Um, but I [00:50:13] would just like to say and I wrote, hang [00:50:15] on, I wrote down some notes on my phone. [00:50:18] Um, [00:50:20] I would just like to define terms [00:50:22] because I I do have a problem with some [00:50:24] of these channels. They they just take [00:50:26] for granted that some people are getting [00:50:27] into this. Um, and I think I've already [00:50:31] kind of defined it. Uh, but like some [00:50:34] people don't know what color revolutions [00:50:35] are. So, color revolutions are a series [00:50:37] of protests often nonviolent that [00:50:39] occurred in postsviet states, not that [00:50:41] I'm a huge fan of those either, in other [00:50:43] parts of the world in the early 21st [00:50:45] century aiming to overthrow autocratic [00:50:47] regimes. This is just the the [00:50:50] definition, right, that I'm pulling up [00:50:52] on the internet. Uh, and establish more [00:50:54] democratic governments. These movements [00:50:56] are frequently named after a specific [00:50:58] color, such as the rose revolution in [00:50:59] Georgia and orange revolution in [00:51:01] Ukraine. Uh, while often initially [00:51:03] successful, some have resulted in [00:51:06] political instability and were seen by [00:51:08] some countries as foreign backed [00:51:09] attempts to undermine their security. [00:51:12] Yeah. [00:51:13] And [clears throat] um basically [00:51:15] democracy here is interchangeable for [00:51:18] cap uh western capital exploitation. [00:51:21] This is how it is. So, um, [00:51:25] you know, I I I think that a lot of more [00:51:28] disciplined like Marxist Leninists might [00:51:31] not necessarily like agree with my view [00:51:34] of some color revolutions obviously, but [00:51:36] like what's happening in Mexico with [00:51:38] these protests, these Gen Z protests [00:51:41] definitely are because um I think I do [00:51:44] have some videos like it was labeled [00:51:46] kind of like Nepal as this kind of like [00:51:48] grassroots Gen Z. the kids will not [00:51:50] tolerate this anymore. But at the same [00:51:53] time these protests were happening in [00:51:54] Mexico, Claudia Shinbomb has probably [00:51:56] the highest appro approval rating in the [00:51:59] world, one of the top three. It's like [00:52:00] almost 80%. You know, and of course [00:52:02] crime and corruption exists in Mexico. [00:52:05] They have had entrenched cartel narotism [00:52:08] violence for decades. But she herself [00:52:11] and her administration is not corrupt [00:52:13] and material conditions are improving. [00:52:15] She's immensely popular. But apparently [00:52:18] some for some reason we're hearing all [00:52:20] over the news that you know there's [00:52:22] massive protests [00:52:24] um I think I have the video here [00:52:27] somewhere. Sorry guys, I came [00:52:28] unprepared. This is my it's my first day [00:52:30] back in a long time. Um after the [00:52:33] flotilla. [00:52:35] Yeah, apparently it's all this youthled [00:52:38] movement which may have been true to [00:52:40] some extent in Nepal, but here [00:52:43] um it's not so much. So, I'm going to [00:52:45] try to see if we have enough time to [00:52:47] upload this one video. Uh, it was [00:52:49] actually really instructive because [00:52:51] there weren't really many Gen Z people [00:52:53] there. There were old right-wing, a lot [00:52:57] of them evangelical [00:52:59] Mexican citizens coming who sympathize [00:53:02] with Trump and we didn't see any young [00:53:04] people. In fact, as I talked to some [00:53:07] people in Mexico City and their [00:53:08] assertion to me was like one of the [00:53:10] things is like at this protest, no [00:53:13] Palestine flags. I was like, huh, that's [00:53:16] always in activism circles seeing that [00:53:18] like Palestine is the lynch pin of [00:53:20] everything. Um, [00:53:24] it's a huge red flag. Let me see. Let me [00:53:26] see just before we end here if uh if we [00:53:31] got some of the footage from this [00:53:32] because you know uh I might do a deep [00:53:35] dive on this tomorrow on my own platform [00:53:37] but this is exactly who was at this [00:53:42] protest. [00:53:45] Damn it. I'm so out of touch with this [00:53:47] interface video file screen recording. [00:53:56] Donald Trump. [00:54:02] >> Would you rather have Donald Trump as [00:54:04] president of Mexico or Claudia Shine [00:54:06] Bomb? Uh, she says Trump. [00:54:09] Donald Trump. [00:54:21] Well, the he has um [00:54:25] good things and other things that we are [00:54:28] not. Uh [00:54:29] >> what would you say some of the good [00:54:30] things are? [00:54:31] >> Well, he uh protects the life. I mean [00:54:35] the newborn that Okay. [00:54:37] >> Abortion. [00:54:38] >> Abortion. He's against abortion. Okay. [00:54:42] Donald Trump. [00:54:50] However, if it were, [00:54:56] I think the situation would be worse [00:54:58] because [00:55:13] many immigrants were allowed under Biden [00:55:16] into America. That's a crazy idea to [00:55:19] have. So, um yeah, and this is not the [00:55:22] only video of journalists on the ground [00:55:23] in Mexico City interviewing people from [00:55:25] those protests. [00:55:27] Um um [00:55:31] yeah, so I think that's where we're at [00:55:33] right now. I think, you know, over the [00:55:35] past two years due to the genocide and [00:55:37] Gaza and stuff like that, I think we're [00:55:39] kind kind of starting to see the [00:55:41] patterns. Um [00:55:44] yeah, and you know there there comes a [00:55:47] point in time where you just can't like [00:55:50] disregard what's what's happening. It's [00:55:52] like you know um [00:55:56] you know freaking uh Valentina Adolf [00:55:59] Ikeman from Venezuela who lives in like [00:56:02] South Beach is saying my country yearns [00:56:04] for freedom. But then again, over 9 [00:56:07] million V Venezuelans have volunteered [00:56:09] to defend their country under Maduro as [00:56:11] part of the People's Militia. You know, [00:56:13] how many Americans would volunteer to go [00:56:16] to war in Venezuela? It's not 9 million. [00:56:20] you know, the US, if we did go to war [00:56:21] with Venezuela, which looks possible, [00:56:25] um, more and more probable every day [00:56:27] because like the capitalists can't [00:56:29] afford not to at this point, you know, [00:56:31] uh, oil domination and, you know, uh, [00:56:35] our freaking overcommitment to AI, [00:56:38] amongst a zillion other things, the need [00:56:41] to to get keep China and Russia out of [00:56:43] our sphere of influence now that we [00:56:45] don't have the same power projection [00:56:46] that we used to have. The most we could [00:56:49] do is destroy their air force. [00:56:52] The Gerald L. R. Ford could destroy the [00:56:54] Venezuelan Air Force overnight. Like [00:56:58] 90 F-18 Super Hornets. Not Not one has [00:57:01] ever in history lost a dog fight. Uh we [00:57:05] could use naval guns to level most [00:57:07] military installations. [00:57:09] There's nothing they could do to stop it [00:57:12] because the US is really good at [00:57:15] defeating [00:57:16] non nearpeer conventional militaries [00:57:20] like that. I don't know if that's a flex [00:57:22] because that doesn't mean you win the [00:57:24] war. That means you just kill a bunch of [00:57:25] people and break a bunch of [ __ ] So [00:57:27] what are you going to do about an [00:57:29] insurgency like not even with 9 million [00:57:32] but even with like 200,000? That's a [00:57:34] freaking nightmare and it's not going to [00:57:37] work. Like all these plans are going to [00:57:38] fail. The Trump administration is [00:57:41] actively failing right now. They're [00:57:43] mired in so much like who blew who [00:57:46] conspiracy like they're not it's not an [00:57:49] effective government. But you know, [00:57:52] we're going to keep on giving dying [00:57:53] Roman Empire vibes and doing a bunch of [00:57:55] crazy wacky [ __ ] just like the Third [00:57:57] Reich did before it fell. And do I think [00:58:00] the US is going to collapse as rapidly [00:58:03] as the Reich or take as long as the [00:58:05] Roman Empire? No. But we're all on this [00:58:07] ride together and we [00:58:09] we have no mechanism or apparatus to [00:58:13] stop what's happening right now aside [00:58:15] from mass mobilization which won't h [00:58:17] happen. So if the president says at this [00:58:20] point that we're going to go into a [00:58:22] distance conflict with Venezuela, we are [00:58:24] going to go into a distance conflict [00:58:26] with Venezuela. So [00:58:28] [snorts] [00:58:31] um women may be more free in Iran than [00:58:34] the US. I wouldn't feel comfortable [00:58:36] sending my kids to school in America for [00:58:38] fear of school shootings. Not heard of [00:58:40] any shooting school shootings in Iran. [00:58:44] I think I I often marvel at the uh at [00:58:48] the power of [00:58:52] the cold war propaganda. We're the only [00:58:55] people that are free. [00:58:57] You know, we're only the only ones who [00:58:59] respect women's rights. What? You know, [00:59:02] look at these look at these Muslims [00:59:04] doing child marriage. Dude, you can [00:59:06] marry a freaking 13-year-old. Someone [00:59:08] fact check me on this. It might be 12 in [00:59:10] California with parental consent. So, [00:59:14] like what? But yeah, um I think our [00:59:17] final question is why doesn't America [00:59:20] just stay home and leave other people [00:59:23] alone? Why don't we actually act like a [00:59:26] normal country? [00:59:28] Well, [00:59:31] I fail to see how that would enrich the [00:59:35] 1% here in the United States. [00:59:38] I don't know. Why didn't the British [00:59:40] just stay home after they came out of [00:59:43] feudalism? Or sorry, why didn't the [00:59:45] Portuguese just stay home and not go to [00:59:47] India and start, you know, pillaging [00:59:51] Goa? [00:59:52] Start the transatlantic slave trade. You [00:59:56] know, it's it's profitable. And this is [00:59:58] what this is this is what it's about. [01:00:00] It's always about stolen land, stolen [01:00:02] labor, and stolen resources. You know, [01:00:04] there are problems with other economic [01:00:05] systems, a lot of problems with [01:00:07] feudalism. Um but this this is just how [01:00:12] our economic system which dominates our [01:00:15] politics functions. And that's why it's [01:00:20] been kind of easy once you understand [01:00:22] that you don't have to be a freaking [01:00:25] smart person or even a gen I should say [01:00:28] you don't even have to be a genius or [01:00:29] even a particularly smart person to [01:00:31] understand what decisions this [01:00:33] government is going to make [01:00:36] especially when it comes to foreign [01:00:38] policy domestic policy we got some other [01:00:40] issues that don't exist in a foreign [01:00:42] policy context like uh LGBTQ rights you [01:00:46] know uh basically stuff that doesn't [01:00:50] really move the needle on in terms of [01:00:52] foreign policy [01:00:54] because you know we we both seen like [01:00:57] with the election of Zoran Mamani in New [01:00:59] York that both Republicans and the [01:01:01] establishment Democrats even like some [01:01:03] progressive quote unquote progressive [01:01:06] democratic socialists wouldn't even want [01:01:08] to support him. [snorts] [01:01:10] Uh, [01:01:12] and they all came together then and they [01:01:14] all come together for these foreign [01:01:16] wars. We're going into Iraq 2.0 with [01:01:18] Venezuela. Where's a democratic [01:01:20] opposition? Why? One of the reasons [01:01:24] Trump won was because he was anti-war [01:01:28] and anti-interventionist. Everybody who [01:01:30] knew Trump knew that was BS, but his [01:01:32] supporters believed it. [01:01:35] Why isn't the Democratic party being [01:01:37] like, "If we actually want to win and [01:01:39] get those independent voters who didn't [01:01:41] like the genocide in Gaza, who didn't [01:01:42] like Biden's, you know, engagement or [01:01:45] handling of Ukraine, [01:01:47] why don't we get them over to us as the [01:01:49] now new founded anti-war party?" But [01:01:53] they won't do it because the Democratic [01:01:55] Party is so heavily invested in Silicon [01:01:57] Valley and Silicon Valley needs hard raw [01:02:00] materials in order to survive and win [01:02:02] out against China. not gonna happen, but [01:02:04] they're gonna try that. We got to go to [01:02:07] war. It was about oil. This one's also [01:02:10] about oil, but now it's about AI. So, [01:02:12] and it's about regional domination, a [01:02:14] bunch of whole other stuff. So, that's [01:02:16] just how it works. And that is why old [01:02:20] owed to John Turdell [01:02:22] that we can't be a normal country. [01:02:26] We have to be an empire until it [01:02:28] destroys us all. So, anyways y'all, here [01:02:31] we go. We are back. Gonna be doing once [01:02:34] a week shows for the rest of the month. [01:02:37] Um, yeah. Uh, we'll be doing like a more [01:02:41] heavily intensive Q&A. Uh, sorry I'm a [01:02:44] bit rusty. Uh, I have been off for like [01:02:47] three months, you know, with a flotilla [01:02:49] and then I took a hiatus just for like [01:02:52] mental health reasons. But, uh, we're [01:02:54] good to go now. And once we get back [01:02:56] into it, we're gonna be doing [01:02:58] interviews. We're gonna be getting [01:02:59] awesome guests on. Um, and just going to [01:03:03] take this insane uh timeline one step at [01:03:07] a time. So, hope you enjoyed and we will [01:03:10] see you next Monday. Cheers, y'all. [01:03:16] >> [snorts]