Everything posted by bolverk
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Greenland - Tassa Eller Asu !!!!
I mean, one could also argue that each US state is also "semi-autonomous." And yet Greenlanders do get representation in the Danish Parliament, just as states also have representatives in our Congress, which is more than residents of DC and Puerto Rico can say. And sure, polls from a year ago show a slim majority (56%) wanted independence last January, but I'd be really curious to see what the results would be today, with a looming threat of annexation by the US. But even if they still want independence, you're right to point out that an overwhelming majority DO NOT WANT us to take over. Other than hashing out the details, there was no reason to oppose a stronger US presence on the island before these threats, but now I kinda doubt we'd be welcome to add new American bases when NATO's Scandinavian members would likely be very willing to do so if it meant preventing Trump from "running" the place.
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Epstein and Maxwell
- Things Not Going Well in Venezuela, 2.0
Meet the billionaire Trump megadonor set to make a killing from Venezuela attack One of President Donald Trump’s top billionaire donors, who has spent the past several months backing a push for regime change in Venezuela, is about to cash in after the president’s kidnapping of the nation’s president, Nicolas Maduro, this weekend. While he declined to tell members of Congress, Trump has said he tipped off oil executives before the illegal attack. At a press conference following the attack, he said the US would have “our very large United States oil companies” go into Venezuela, which he said the US will “run” indefinitely, and “start making money” for the United States. As Judd Legum reported on Monday for Popular Information, among the biggest beneficiaries will be the billionaire investor Paul Singer: In 2024, Singer, an 81-year-old with a net worth of $6.7 billion, donated $5 million to Make America Great Again Inc., Trump’s Super PAC. Singer donated tens of millions more in the 2024 cycle to support Trump’s allies, including $37 million to support the election of Republicans to Congress. He also donated an undisclosed amount to fund Trump’s second transition. Singer is also a major pro-Israel donor, with his foundation having donated more than $3.3 million to groups like the Birthright Israel Foundation, the Israel America Academic Exchange, Boundless Israel, and others in 2021, according to tax filings. In November 2025, less than two months before Trump’s operation to take over Venezuela, Singer’s investment firm, Elliott Investment Management, inked a highly fortuitous deal. It purchased Citgo, the US-based subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, for $5.9 billion—a sale that was forced by a Delaware court after Venezuela defaulted on its bond payments. The court-appointed special master who forced the sale, Robert Pincus, is a member of the board of directors for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Elliott Management hailed the court order requiring the sale in a press release, saying it was “backed by a group of strategic US energy investors.” Singer acquired Citgo’s three massive coastal refineries, 43 oil terminals, and more than 4,000 gas stations at a “major discount” because of its distressed status. Advisers to the court overseeing the sale estimated its value at $11-13 billion, while the Venezuelan government estimated it at $18 billion. As Legum explained, the Trump administration’s embargo on Venezuelan oil imports to the United States bore the primary responsibility for the company’s plummeting value: Citgo’s refiners are purpose-built to process heavy-grade Venezuelan “sour” crude. As a result, Citgo was forced to source oil from more expensive sources in Canada and Colombia. (Oil produced in the United States is generally light-grade.) This made Citgo’s operations far less profitable. It is the preferred modus operandi for Singer, whose hedge fund is often described as a “vulture” capital group. As Francesca Fiorentini, a commentator at Zeteo, explained, Singer “is famous for doing things like buying the debt of struggling countries like Argentina for pennies on the dollar and then forcing that country to repay him with interest plus legal fees.” Venezuelan Vice President and Minister of Petroleum Delcy Rodríguez called the sale of Citgo to Singer “fraudulent” and “forced” in December. After the US abducted Maduro this week, Trump named Rodriguez as Venezuela’s interim president—and she was formally sworn in Monday—but he warned that she’ll pay a “very big price” if she refuses to do “what we want.” That is good news for Singer, who is expected to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of an oil industry controlled by US corporations, which will likely not be subject to crippling sanctions. Singer has reportedly met with Trump directly at least four times since he was first elected in 2016, most recently in 2024. While it is unknown whether the two discussed Venezuela during those meetings, groups funded by Singer have pushed aggressively for Trump to take maximal action to decapitate the country’s leadership. Since 2011, Singer has donated over $10 million and continues to sit on the board of directors for the right-wing Manhattan Institute think tank, which in recent months has consistently advocated for Maduro to be removed from power. In October, it published an article praising Trump for his “consistent policies against Venezuela’s Maduro.” He has also been a major donor to the neoconservative think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), serving as its second-largest contributor from 2008-2011, with more than $3.6 million. In late November, shortly before Trump announced that the US had closed Venezuelan airspace and began to impound Venezuelan oil tankers, FDD published a policy brief stating that the US has “capabilities to launch an overwhelming air and missile campaign against the Maduro regime” that it could use to remove him from power. Singer himself has acted as a financial attack dog for Trump during his first year back in office. In June, he contributed $1 million to fund a super PAC aiming to oust Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who’d become Trump’s leading Republican critic over his Department of Justice’s refusal to release its files pertaining to the billionaire sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. A super PAC tied to Miriam Adelson, another top pro-Israel donor who recently said she’d give Trump $250 million if he ran for a third term, also reportedly helped to fund the campaign against Massie. Massie has since gone on to be one of the most vocal opponents in Congress to Trump’s regime change push in Venezuela, joining Democrats to co-sponsor multiple failed war powers resolutions that would have reined in the president’s ability to launch military strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and launch an attack on mainland Venezuela. As the Trump administration has asserted that American corporations are entitled to the oil controlled by Venezuela’s state firm, Massie rebutted this weekend that: “It’s not American oil. It’s Venezuelan oil.” “Oil companies entered into risky deals to develop oil, and the deals were canceled by a prior Venezuelan government,” he said. “What’s happening: Lives of US soldiers are being risked to make those oil companies (not Americans) more profitable.” Massie said that Singer, “who’s already spent $1,000,000 to defeat me in the next election, stands to make billions of dollars on his distressed Citgo investment, now that this administration has taken over Venezuela.” Fiorentini added that “Paul Singer’s shady purchase of Citgo has everything to do with this coup.”- Greenland - Tassa Eller Asu !!!!
- January 6 revisited five years later
For Many Jan. 6 Rioters, a Pardon From Trump Wasn’t Enough Some pardoned rioters have been rearrested. Others returned to poverty and mental health challenges. And many became consumed by resentment and demands for payback. In the first hours of his second administration, President Trump sought to wipe away all trace of the attack on the Capitol by granting amnesty to nearly 1,600 people implicated in the riot stoked by his lies about a stolen election. They answered with a collective cry of gratitude. And why not? The pardon proclamation saved them, opening prison doors and ending all of the criminal prosecutions related to the Capitol attack. Even more, it gave a presidential stamp of approval to their inverted vision of Jan. 6, 2021: that those who assaulted the police and vandalized the historic building that day were victims, and those who spent the next four years using the criminal justice system to hold them accountable were villains. But nearly a year after Mr. Trump’s sweeping proclamation asserted that he had cleared the way for “a process of national reconciliation,” many recipients of his clemency remain consumed by conspiracy theories, angry at the Trump administration for not validating their insistence that the Capitol attack was a deep-state setup and haunted by problems from both before and after the riot. “Being pardoned doesn’t make these families whole,” Cynthia Hughes, a prominent advocate for the Jan. 6 defendants, wrote on social media recently. “Many are barely holding on mentally, emotionally, and financially. To pretend otherwise is a lie.” In the five years since the Capitol was stormed, no new facts have emerged to undermine the basic findings of congressional and Justice Department investigators that many of the rioters acted in the misguided belief, pushed relentlessly by Mr. Trump, that he had been robbed of victory in 2020 — and that in attacking the Capitol they not only injured about 140 police officers but also struck at a cornerstone of American democracy: the peaceful transfer of presidential power. Even so, Mr. Trump has long maintained that the rioters endured horrible, even illegal, mistreatment during their prosecutions. And yet if that is true, some pardoned rioters are now asking, then why haven’t their persecutors been thrown in jail? And if the rioters are martyrs to a righteous cause, as the president and his allies have often said, then why haven’t they been made whole through financial reparations? While this disillusionment is not universal, some so-called J6ers have even begun to ask why, after nearly a year in power, Mr. Trump’s law enforcement agencies have yet to provide any proof of the conspiracy theory they promoted to help him reclaim the presidency: that deep-state agents lured Trump supporters into storming the Capitol to derail the MAGA movement and justify political reprisals. What J6ers rarely seem to acknowledge is the possibility that Mr. Trump’s government has failed to reveal the hidden truth about Jan. 6 because there is no hidden truth, no deep-state conspiracy, and therefore no legal reason to bring further charges related to the riot. Still, their questions have nurtured new conspiracy theories from the old, focused not on the Biden administration, but on those in power now, Trump loyalists like the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, and Attorney General Pam Bondi. The theories have intensified as the fifth anniversary of Jan. 6 has arrived — a milestone that many rioters believe marks the final chance to punish the shadowy government agents who supposedly entrapped them in what they have come to call the “fedsurrection.” “If the true perpetrators of Jan. 6 aren’t held accountable before the statute of limitations expires on Jan. 6, 2026, count me OUT of the midterms,” Shane Jenkins, whose several felony convictions for Jan. 6 included assaulting law enforcement, wrote last month. “I’ll be running AGAINST the GOP.” By feeding a steady diet of unfounded conspiracy theories not only to the J6ers but also to others in their base, Mr. Trump and his allies have spawned what some experts have likened to a zombie army of followers. And now, by failing to follow these theories to their logical conclusions, they are seeing that army begin to turn on them. “When you’re told day after day that you’re a victim — when you’re told that for four years straight — it sinks in,” said Jon Lewis, a research fellow with the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. “They’ve become conspiratorial-minded people looking for the next thing to mobilize for.” “There’s this zombie specter of Jan. 6 defendants who are just looking for that red meat,” Mr. Lewis added.- Greenland
Danish prime minister says a US takeover of Greenland would mark the end of NATO COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Monday an American takeover of Greenland would amount to the end of the NATO military alliance. Her comments came in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed call for the strategic, mineral-rich Arctic island to come under U.S. control in the aftermath of the weekend military operation in Venezuela. The dead-of-night operation by U.S. forces in Caracas to capture leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife early Saturday left the world stunned, and heightened concerns in Denmark and Greenland, which is a semiautonomous territory of the Danish kingdom and thus part of NATO. Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart, Jens Frederik Nielsen, blasted the president’s comments and warned of catastrophic consequences. Numerous European leaders expressed solidarity with them. “If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops,” Frederiksen told Danish broadcaster TV2 on Monday. “That is, including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War.”- 2026 Midterms ...
He should consult with Abbott.- Plaque honoring police who defended the Capitol five years ago today is missing.
This Jan. 6 plaque was made to honor law enforcement. It’s nowhere to be found at the Capitol WASHINGTON (AP) — Approaching the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, the official plaque honoring the police who defended democracy that day is nowhere to be found. It’s not on display at the Capitol, as is required by law. Its whereabouts aren’t publicly known, though it’s believed to be in storage. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has yet to formally unveil the plaque. And the Trump administration’s Department of Justice is seeking to dismiss a police officers’ lawsuit asking that it be displayed as intended. The Architect of the Capitol, which was responsible for obtaining and displaying the plaque, said in light of the federal litigation, it cannot comment. Determined to preserve the nation’s history, some 100 members of Congress, mostly Democrats, have taken it upon themselves to memorialize the moment. For months, they’ve mounted poster board-style replicas of the Jan. 6 plaque outside their office doors, resulting in a Capitol complex awash with makeshift remembrances. “On behalf of a grateful Congress, this plaque honors the extraordinary individuals who bravely protected and defended this symbol of democracy on Jan. 6, 2021,” reads the faux bronze stand-in for the real thing. “Their heroism will never be forgotten.” Jan. 6 void in the Capitol In Washington, a capital city lined with monuments to the nation’s history, the plaque was intended to become a simple but permanent marker, situated near the Capitol’s west front, where some of the most violent fighting took place as rioters breached the building. But in its absence, the missing plaque makes way for something else entirely — a culture of forgetting. Visitors can pass through the Capitol without any formal reminder of what happened that day, when a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the building trying to overturn the Republican’s 2020 reelection defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. With memory left unchecked, it allows new narratives to swirl and revised histories to take hold. Five years ago, the jarring scene watched the world over was declared an “insurrection” by the then-GOP leader of the Senate, while the House GOP leader at the time called it his “saddest day” in Congress. But those condemnations have faded. Trump calls it a “day of love.” And Johnson, who was among those lawmakers challenging the 2020 election results, is now the House speaker. “The question of January 6 remains – democracy was on the guillotine — how important is that event in the overall sweep of 21st century U.S. history,” said Douglas Brinkley, a professor of history at Rice University and noted scholar. “Will January 6 be seen as the seminal moment when democracy was in peril?” he asked. Or will it be remembered as “kind of a weird one-off?” “There’s not as much consensus on that as one would have thought on the fifth anniversary,” he said. Memories shift, but violent legacy lingers At least five people died in the riot and its aftermath, including Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot by police while trying to climb through a window toward the House chamber. More than 140 law enforcement officers were wounded, some gravely, and several died later, some by suicide. All told, some 1,500 people were charged in the Capitol attack, among the largest federal prosecutions in the nation’s history. When Trump returned to power in January 2025, he pardoned all of them within hours of taking office. Unlike the twin light beams that commemorated the Sept. 11, 2001, attack or the stand-alone chairs at the Oklahoma City bombing site memorial, the failure to recognize Jan. 6 has left a gap not only in memory but in helping to stitch the country back together. “That’s why you put up a plaque,” said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa. “You respect the memory and the service of the people involved.” Police sue over Jan. 6 plaque, DOJ seeks to dismiss The speaker’s office said in a statement late Monday the statute authorizing the plaque is “not implementable” and proposed alternatives also “do not comply.” Johnson’s spokesman said if Democrats are serious about commemorating the police, they’re free to work with the appropriate committees to develop a framework for proper vetting and consideration. Lawmakers approved the plaque in March 2022 as part of a broader government funding package. The resolution said the U.S. “owes its deepest gratitude to those officers,” and it set out instructions for an honorific plaque listing the names of officers “who responded to the violence that occurred.” It gave a one-year deadline for installation at the Capitol. This summer, two officers who fought the mob that day sued over the delay. “By refusing to follow the law and honor officers as it is required to do, Congress encourages this rewriting of history,” said the claim by officers Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges. “It suggests that the officers are not worthy of being recognized, because Congress refuses to recognize them.” The Justice Department is seeking to have the case dismissed. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and others argued Congress “already has publicly recognized the service of law enforcement personnel” by approving the plaque and displaying it wouldn’t alleviate the problems they claim to face from their work. “It is implausible,” the Justice Department attorneys wrote, to suggest installation of the plaque “would stop the alleged death threats they claim to have been receiving.” The department also said the plaque is required to include the names of “all law enforcement officers” involved in the response that day — some 3,600 people. Makeshift memorials emerge Lawmakers who’ve installed replicas of the plaque outside their offices said it’s important for the public to know what happened. “There are new generations of people who are just growing up now who don’t understand how close we came to losing our democracy on Jan 6, 2021,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a member of the Jan. 6 committee, which was opposed by GOP leadership but nevertheless issued a nearly 1,000-page report investigating the run-up to the attack and the attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Raskin envisions the Capitol one day holding tours around what happened. “People need to study that as an essential part of American history,” he said. “Think about the dates in American history that we know only by the dates: There’s the 4th of July. There’s December 7th. There’s 9/11. And there’s January 6th,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-calif., who also served on the committee and has a plaque outside her office. “They really saved my life, and they saved the democracy and they deserve to be thanked for it,” she said. But as time passes, there are no longer bipartisan memorial services for Jan. 6. On Tuesday, the Democrats will reconvene members from the Jan. 6 committee for a hearing to “examine ongoing threats to free and fair elections,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York announced. It’s unlikely Republicans will participate. The Republicans under Johnson have tapped Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia to stand up their own special committee to uncover what the speaker calls the “full truth” of what happened. They’re planning a hearing this month. “We should stop this silliness of trying to whitewash history -- it’s not going to happen,” said Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., who helped lead the effort to display the replica plaques. “I was here that day so I’ll never forget,” he said. “I think that Americans will not forget what happened.” The number of makeshift plaques that fill the halls is a testimony to that remembrance, he said. Instead of one plaque, he said, they’ve “now got 100.”- RFK Jr. off the chain and off his rocker
Yikes!- January 6 revisited five years later
This Jan. 6 plaque was made to honor law enforcement. It’s nowhere to be found at the Capitol House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has yet to formally unveil the plaque. And the Trump administration’s Department of Justice is seeking to dismiss a police officers’ lawsuit asking that it be displayed as intended. The Architect of the Capitol, which was responsible for obtaining and displaying the plaque, said in light of the federal litigation, it cannot comment. Determined to preserve the nation’s history, some 100 members of Congress, mostly Democrats, have taken it upon themselves to memorialize the moment. For months, they’ve mounted poster board-style replicas of the Jan. 6 plaque outside their office doors, resulting in a Capitol complex awash with makeshift remembrances. “On behalf of a grateful Congress, this plaque honors the extraordinary individuals who bravely protected and defended this symbol of democracy on Jan. 6, 2021,” reads the faux bronze stand-in for the real thing. “Their heroism will never be forgotten.” Jan. 6 void in the Capitol In Washington, a capital city lined with monuments to the nation’s history, the plaque was intended to become a simple but permanent marker, situated near the Capitol’s west front, where some of the most violent fighting took place as rioters breached the building. But in its absence, the missing plaque makes way for something else entirely — a culture of forgetting. Visitors can pass through the Capitol without any formal reminder of what happened that day, when a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the building trying to overturn the Republican’s 2020 reelection defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. With memory left unchecked, it allows new narratives to swirl and revised histories to take hold. Five years ago, the jarring scene watched the world over was declared an “insurrection” by the then-GOP leader of the Senate, while the House GOP leader at the time called it his “saddest day” in Congress. But those condemnations have faded. Trump calls it a “day of love.” And Johnson, who was among those lawmakers challenging the 2020 election results, is now the House speaker. “The question of January 6 remains – democracy was on the guillotine — how important is that event in the overall sweep of 21st century U.S. history,” said Douglas Brinkley, a professor of history at Rice University and noted scholar. “Will January 6 be seen as the seminal moment when democracy was in peril?” he asked. Or will it be remembered as “kind of a weird one-off?” “There’s not as much consensus on that as one would have thought on the fifth anniversary,” he said. Memories shift, but violent legacy lingers At least five people died in the riot and its aftermath, including Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot by police while trying to climb through a window toward the House chamber. More than 140 law enforcement officers were wounded, some gravely, and several died later, some by suicide. All told, some 1,500 people were charged in the Capitol attack, among the largest federal prosecutions in the nation’s history. When Trump returned to power in January 2025, he pardoned all of them within hours of taking office. Unlike the twin light beams that commemorated the Sept. 11, 2001, attack or the stand-alone chairs at the Oklahoma City bombing site memorial, the failure to recognize Jan. 6 has left a gap not only in memory but in helping to stitch the country back together. “That’s why you put up a plaque,” said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa. “You respect the memory and the service of the people involved.” Police sue over Jan. 6 plaque, DOJ seeks to dismiss The speaker’s office said in a statement late Monday the statute authorizing the plaque is “not implementable” and proposed alternatives also “do not comply.” Johnson’s spokesman said if Democrats are serious about commemorating the police, they’re free to work with the appropriate committees to develop a framework for proper vetting and consideration. Lawmakers approved the plaque in March 2022 as part of a broader government funding package. The resolution said the U.S. “owes its deepest gratitude to those officers,” and it set out instructions for an honorific plaque listing the names of officers “who responded to the violence that occurred.” It gave a one-year deadline for installation at the Capitol. This summer, two officers who fought the mob that day sued over the delay. “By refusing to follow the law and honor officers as it is required to do, Congress encourages this rewriting of history,” said the claim by officers Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges. “It suggests that the officers are not worthy of being recognized, because Congress refuses to recognize them.” The Justice Department is seeking to have the case dismissed. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and others argued Congress “already has publicly recognized the service of law enforcement personnel” by approving the plaque and displaying it wouldn’t alleviate the problems they claim to face from their work. “It is implausible,” the Justice Department attorneys wrote, to suggest installation of the plaque “would stop the alleged death threats they claim to have been receiving.” The department also said the plaque is required to include the names of “all law enforcement officers” involved in the response that day — some 3,600 people. Makeshift memorials emerge Lawmakers who’ve installed replicas of the plaque outside their offices said it’s important for the public to know what happened. “There are new generations of people who are just growing up now who don’t understand how close we came to losing our democracy on Jan 6, 2021,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a member of the Jan. 6 committee, which was opposed by GOP leadership but nevertheless issued a nearly 1,000-page report investigating the run-up to the attack and the attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Raskin envisions the Capitol one day holding tours around what happened. “People need to study that as an essential part of American history,” he said. “Think about the dates in American history that we know only by the dates: There’s the 4th of July. There’s December 7th. There’s 9/11. And there’s January 6th,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-calif., who also served on the committee and has a plaque outside her office. “They really saved my life, and they saved the democracy and they deserve to be thanked for it,” she said. But as time passes, there are no longer bipartisan memorial services for Jan. 6. On Tuesday, the Democrats will reconvene members from the Jan. 6 committee for a hearing to “examine ongoing threats to free and fair elections,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York announced. It’s unlikely Republicans will participate. The Republicans under Johnson have tapped Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia to stand up their own special committee to uncover what the speaker calls the “full truth” of what happened. They’re planning a hearing this month. “We should stop this silliness of trying to whitewash history -- it’s not going to happen,” said Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., who helped lead the effort to display the replica plaques. “I was here that day so I’ll never forget,” he said. “I think that Americans will not forget what happened.” The number of makeshift plaques that fill the halls is a testimony to that remembrance, he said. Instead of one plaque, he said, they’ve “now got 100.”- What the fuck is wrong with you, Austin?
What are your thoughts on pardons for rioters who attacked and killed police officers at the Capitol five years ago today, because I believe they also deserved a short drop or firing squad? One would think that the man who pardoned 1,600 people who attacked and killed officers has an anti-police agenda.- January 6 revisited five years later
It really was our Beer Hall Putsch. 5 Years After Jan. 6, Lawlessness Has Triumphed- Greenland
More from that Miller interview. Stephen Miller Asserts U.S. Has Right to Take Greenland In a CNN interview, the Trump aide also echoed the president’s intent to run Venezuela as he laid out a case for the United States to control weaker states by flexing its military might. Stephen Miller, a top aide to President Trump, asserted on Monday that Greenland rightfully belonged to the United States and that the Trump administration could seize the semiautonomous Danish territory if it wanted. “Nobody’s going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland,” Mr. Miller told Jake Tapper, the CNN host, after being asked repeatedly whether he would rule out using military force. The remarks were part of a vocal push by Mr. Miller, long a powerful behind-the-scenes player in Trump administration policy, to justify American imperialism and a vision for a new world order in which the United States could freely overthrow national governments and take foreign territory and resources so long as it was in the national interest. “We live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power,” he said. “These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.” Mr. Miller made his comments after his wife posted an image on social media over the weekend suggesting that the United States would soon take control of Greenland, and as Mr. Trump has renewed his own push for the island. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark urged Mr. Trump on Sunday to “stop the threats” to annex Greenland, in effect attacking a NATO ally. The United States’ taking Greenland by force would rip apart the central agreement that underpins the NATO military alliance, of which Denmark and the United States are both founding members. Under that treaty, an attack on any member is treated as an attack on all members. Mr. Trump has previously said he would not rule out using the military to take Greenland. Mr. Miller also echoed Mr. Trump’s intent to rule Venezuela and exploit its vast oil reserves after a U.S. raid seized President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from Caracas. Even some of America’s staunchest allies have criticized the raid, and the U.N. secretary general, António Guterres, said the raid had violated the U.N. charter. “The United States of America is running Venezuela,” Mr. Miller said, dismissing international treaties enshrining a nation’s right to independence and sovereignty as “international niceties.” (What exactly is meant by “running” Venezuela is a matter of some dispute; Secretary of State Marco Rubio has shied away from the descriptor — even as Trump insists that the United States is very much “in charge” of Venezuela — and Speaker Mike Johnson, who has vigorously defended the military operation, has maintained that the United States is not engaged in military hostilities or an occupation.) Mr. Miller’s language echoed a dark history of the United States’ governing weaker, smaller states in Latin America by flexing its military might. Mr. Miller asserted that a U.S. military blockade of the South American country of 28 million people would give the United States control of Venezuela. “We set the terms and conditions,” Mr. Miller said. “We have a complete embargo on all of their oil and their ability to do commerce. So for them to do commerce, they need our permission. For them to be able to run an economy, they need our permission. So the United States is in charge. The United States is running the country.” Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, denounced Mr. Miller’s remarks soon afterward, saying on CNN that “Mr. Miller gave a very good definition of imperialism.” “Trump has made it clear he wants to take Venezuela’s oil,” he added. “Last I heard, this is what imperialism is all about. And I suspect that people all over the world are saying, ‘Wow, we’re going back to where we were 100 years ago, or 50 years ago, where the big, powerful countries were exploiting poorer countries for their natural resources.’”- Things not going well in Venezuela
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.- Things not going well in Venezuela
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.- What's happening in Iran?
According to the June 2024 survey, about 21% of Iranians would prefer a monarchy (16% for a unitary government under a monarch; 5% for a federal government under a monarch). Keep in mind you guys are communicating with Icono, who: a) has a weird fetish for monarchies (see his earlier laments about the US not being a monarchy, as well as his strong support for the British Crown, and b) is a bald-faced liar who insisted for over a year that he's not Icono despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. https://gamaan.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Iranians-Political-Preferences-in-2024-GAMAAN-Report-English.pdf- Greenland
Welcome to the new era of Bellum Americanum.- Greenland
19th-century-style imperialism is en vogue again. Great powers, might makes right, spheres of influence, extracting resources from colonies, all that jazz.- Things not going well in Venezuela
El trabajo libera.- Greenland
I'm sure Putin is loving this shit. Europe must unite or it’s ‘finished,’ Poland’s Tusk warns as Trump salivates over Greenland “One for all, and all for one,” Polish prime minister urges as U.S. strikes Venezuela and threatens Greenland. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk issued a dire warning about the future of Europe, saying the continent is “finished” without unity, following a week that saw fractures in the stances of EU countries on foreign policy. Tusk, a pro-European centrist, wrote on social media Monday that Europe won’t be taken “seriously” if it is “weak and divided: neither enemy nor ally.” “It is already clear now. We must finally believe in our own strength, we must continue to arm ourselves, we must stay united like never before,” he said. “One for all, and all for one. Otherwise, we are finished.” Tusk’s warning came after U.S. President Donald Trump revived his threats to take control of Greenland, the self-ruling Danish territory that he has long coveted. “We need Greenland from a national security situation,” the American leader told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday. “We will deal with Greenland in about two months. Let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days,” he added, without giving more information about what he meant. Those remarks came after the U.S. launched strikes on Venezuela and arrested its leader, Nicolás Maduro, in an audacious nighttime raid. The dramatic operation raised fears in Europe that Washington could attempt a takeover of Greenland, prompting Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to issue a stern rebuke. Annexing the Arctic island would make “absolutely no sense,” she said Sunday, with fellow Nordic nations Norway, Finland and Sweden expressing their support. The EU’s response to the U.S. intervention in Venezuela has been somewhat varied. High Representative Kaja Kallas called for “restraint” in a statement that garnered the support of 26 member countries, minus Hungary. Spain, meanwhile, split from the EU and joined five Latin American countries in a far more forceful statement slamming Washington’s attack on Venezuela’s sovereignty and calling for the nation’s natural resources not to be exploited, amid Trump’s pledge to take over its oil fields. While most EU member countries have issued their own cautiously worded statements urging respect for international law, Italy struck a more approving note, calling military action “legitimate against hybrid security attacks.” But Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was scathing, saying the U.S. incursion in Venezuela was “further evidence of the breakdown of the world order,” and in a Facebook post on Monday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said the “liberal world order is in disintegration.”- Things not going well in Venezuela
I guess I'll wait to see if the corner store puts up a new sign that says, "TRUMP OIL" in big, gaudy, gold letters in the next year or so.- Things not going well in Venezuela
Take out the flu, and I'm kind of in the same spot since I've had the channel only on ESPN and old war movies on Tubi all day without having even clicked on a single link or site dealing with news today, but based on skimming this thread to get caught up on WTF is going on, I read several comments earlier that seem to have quoted His Orange Juliusness say something along the lines of "we're going to run Venezuela" and other shit about "our oil."- Things not going well in Venezuela
Since it's been made clear that the law doesn't matter anymore under this regime and everything is transactional nowadays, I'd like to ask a basic, pragmatic question after my royalty checks have already declined by about 30% over the past year, mainly due to the whole tariff bullshit. How much farther can I expect these checks and my oil patch town’s economy to decline now that Venezuelan oil is about to flood the market?- Tell me about Texas Tech
Well I screwed that up, didn't I.- 2026 Duke's Mayo Bowl - Wake Forest vs. Mississippi St.
- Things Not Going Well in Venezuela, 2.0
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