In a country whose broken democratic system of government has been remade of the billionaires, by the billionaires and for the billionaires, the absurd and reckless decisions consistently made by this corrupt and godless Administration make perfect sense. Every Single. Time. Follow the money.
Nicely summarized, Christy. I try to nudge people off of Trump to Billionaire and Corporate Corruption of parties, candidates, elections, legislation processes, and actions.
Yes....blaming the leader is as dumb as imagining a leader can do the heavy lifting for us. Do the Staycation dance and use that money to put Solar on your roof.
This is the November 2025 National Security Strategy being executed verbatim. The NSS’s “Trump Corollary” explicitly authorizes military force to deny China/Russia access to “strategically vital assets” in our hemisphere. Venezuela’s oil deals with Beijing made this doctrinally mandated.
The congressional bypass isn’t a bug, it’s the feature. The NSS elevates narcoterrorism to existential threat specifically to reframe military operations as “law enforcement.” No war declaration needed if you’re just “arresting an indicted criminal.” Article II authority claimed, war powers circumvented.
Three points from a foreign service perspective:
—Noriega precedent is damning: Operation Just Cause killed 300+ Panamanians, was condemned by the UN General Assembly. Citing it reveals they’re embracing extraterritorial regime change regardless of legality.
—Rubio lied strategically: Senator Kim’s right. But it’s worse—each escalation (boats→blockade→strikes→extraction) normalized the next while bypassing oversight incrementally. Commitment escalation as doctrine.
—International law collapse: Arguing Maduro’s illegitimate so extraction is justified? We just validated Russia’s Ukraine claims and China’s Taiwan arguments. Sovereignty just became conditional on U.S. approval.
The oil is real, Trump said “we want it back.” But the NSS proves premeditation. They built an entire framework around resource seizure masked as counter-narcotics, complete with constitutional workarounds.
If Congress accepts the “just an arrest” framing, they’ve conceded war powers permanently. Not just for Venezuela, for the entire hemisphere under the NSS template.
Oil is one thing…but it is a lot more than that, way more
Every gallon matters, no effort is too small as it all adds up when millions of us do this.
No effort is too small. All efforts matter and we need to encourage everyone and lift them up, not tear them down for making an effort and celebrate them for being on our team. So, people need to stop the over use of words like "virtue signaling" and lift people up for making an effort.
Every effort matters, and it matters a lot.
Just look at what happened during covid with the declined use by millions here and globally.
The price of oil on global markets fell so low that many wells were capped and even some smaller oil companies went bankrupt and yearly emissions fell. So, think about this whenever you need to go somewhere in a gas powered car. Think whether the trip can wait and be combined with another. Added up everyone cutting back 5-10-20-30% or more matters a lot even if you can't afford an EV. Same goes for finding ways to ditch the natural gas.
Just like in covid, the price of oil on global markets has fallen too low to make drilling for more oil profitable for his enablers as many other places are shifting away from fossil fuels on a large scale and moving towards EVs and solar and wind and also because production is high, so it 'seems' they want to take over existing producers to be the "last man standing" and to control how much goes out to keep prices profitable (just my assumption).
Who would better to know that Maduro is staying in power from fossil fuel profits than perhaps a man who has his own supporters due to his own support of the fossil fuel industry, Trump.
Ditch the things that profit those who keep him in power, oil, natural gas, and crypto. Even if you do not do it for political reasons, do it for the planet and our children's future.
So what were these targets in Caracas? Why bomb civilians? It feels like we are Russia with a Putin in charge. I'm west coast to I'm just learning about all of this.
Thanks for such an important post. I agree that learning to live without FF is desirable and urgent. The main problem is that everything depends on FF and the task is actually not possible. The amount of FF in REs is mind boggling. Now this does not mean we give up. We know that isolated solar powered electrical circuits are very affordable. How many African villages have solar powered electrical circuits for water lift and distribution pumps (many, and some triple decades old). This must be continued and accelerated.
Now, to address Trump’s plan to secure oil supply for the next 100 yrs. He has his eyes on Venezuela and Alberta; both produce the grade of crude that specific US refineries are tooled for (mainly thru’ coker technology). The issue is diesel, and diesel supplies are constrained and prices higher than a president in tune with costs would like. Expect to see significant effort to secure both these supplies (there’s also an LNG factor looking further into the future). Meanwhile let’s cease and desist from all things FF (good luck).
Oil is a global commodity and all we have to do is change the dynamics of supply and demand and the price plummets and oil companies take a big hit.
You do not have to get rid of "all of it" to have some power over the behavior of this industry, so one's consumption behavior does matter - especially now.
Due to the massive expansion of solar and green energy globally especially in places like China and Australia, oil prices have not been able to get much traction on global markets and have stayed under 60 dollars a barrel for many months now. This is below the break even price needed to inspire new drilling here in the USA and we have not seen prices this low since covid.
During covid, prices fell so low from a decrease in global demand that oil companies lost money, capped some wells, and some smaller oil companies even went bankrupt. With demand starting to level and supply being high global commodity prices are too low for oil company interests right now and too low for Trump's "drill baby drill"
Thus, seizing Venezuela sanctioned oil was likely meant to try to boost oil commodity prices, but it did not work, not at all, so now we have attacked Venezuela. The price per barrel may be too low to inspire companies to expand and drill, so I think the intent is to take over more of the existing global supply instead, and maybe even to curtail supply getting to market, whenever they needed to boost prices and profits (sort of like what OPEC does when they cut supply to boost the price).
Anyway, the covid example and current market conditions (low oil commodity prices due to perceived lower demand compared to large supply) means that the consumer ALL OF US are very well positioned to have a lot of impact on the oil industry if we reduce demand.
It is the perfect time to boycott - they will feel it - bigtime.
Hit them where it hurts, in their pocketbook.
Make them ditch their support for Trump if he is linked to the reason for a boycott.
I'm not in position to afford a new car so I try to conserve and drive as little as possible and combine trips. Fortunately Home Depot and grocery are on the same loop of less than 5 miles round trip. So, I drive less than 10 miles a week on average. I would prefer an EV and have an E-bike, but the roads to main shopping are not safe. I wish Newsom had allowed for the bill to allow for riding bikes on sidewalks, at least were the road mph is 35 or over. In those areas, outside of slower mph neighborhoods, there are miles and miles of sidewalks unused as no one walks along these longer stretches of road. In addition they could make it so bikes can only go up to 15 mph on sidewalks along these stretches as well, and ban bikes from sidewalks in more foot friendly areas like neighborhoods or where small shops are located, but road speed limits are often 25 in those areas, meaning bikes would be limited to roads. There is the excuse about driveway hazards, but if the speed limit for bikes on sidewalks was low, this would not be above a jogger on a sidewalk might be doing and no more dangerous. In addition if driveways are such a hazard and an excuse to limite bike traffic on sidewalks, then why are kids allowed to ride on sidewalks? It makes no sense unless the excuse is that kids might be going slower - so enact a sidewalk speed limit and restrict sidewalk use to longer stretches where the speed limit for cars is 35 mpg or more. Like I said no one is walking on them anyway.
There, sorry for venting, but if the law was changed I would feel safe enough to ride to some of the larger stores. My old hips can't walk that distance and the bus does not run that way.
I bet a lot more people would use their E-bikes more often if they could stay away from traffic on a rarely used sidewalk.
This said, I need to order more since my stores all have electric delivery vans. If I only need to go to get hardware, I might be able to cut my use even more.
So, I need to devise a plan for that. I hate spending any money on gas even if I only do it so rarely.
Despite the limits on many oil production projects the oil price remains low. This is a reflection of the persuasive skills of Trump. Venezuela, Russia, Iran and Iran all have multimillion barrels per day potential upside but sanctions and poor management keep production depressed. From Saudi to US producers are looking for Brent at $85/bbl to enable continued investment against natural decline; the fact that the required investment levels are so depressed presages a massive supply shortage (probably before the end of 26). This will cause an upward swing in prices well beyond the target price noted. This will drive FF up and result in the reduction in usage that you support (gasoline/diesel prices will be high, inflation will be increasing, business activity will move lower etc. you will be happy except your after tax free cash flow will be squeezed). High pricing could be sticky as investment and oil production in oilfields is a long winded process.
Omg, thanks Ingamarie but this is full female kumbaya nonsense. Why cant we all just get along? Why must those poor immigrants sexually assault us when we are so nice? Why must we burn FF when the sun comes up every morning? Just nonsense, no wonder Europe is a mess and about to become irrelevant.
I still love you though (your heart is pure while mine is cynical)
ANd the hard truth is this: NOTHING PUSHES UP THE PRICE OF OIL MORE THAN WAR GAMES.........the military is the heaviest user of Fossil Fuels........and Bill is right.
A solar economy could run the entire planet.........but sadly...........its not well suited to running those F-35's and other monstrous WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
So do the STAYCATION my friends...........and put up solar, buy an EV (China makes a great one I hear) and live for Peace and Prosperity for all earths children.
Ingamarie, yes, the military uses a boatload of FF, but not enough to influence the oil price (today at least).
A solar electric system cannot power our existence. Of primary energy only 14% is electric. If all electric is solar what do we do about the remaining 86%?
Yes, stay at home, turn the power off, commit to cotton fibers and denounce the polymers, and meat and imported vegetables etc. i do not advocate an EV until such time that all electric generation is RE.
We're only getting started Chris......solar being where the internal combustion engine was in 1910 or so.
But whatever. We get off fossil fuels.......seriously reduce our use of anything that burns........or we're finished.
So whining about how life might be slower, less consumptive........more like what I remember as a girl........is petty stuff.
From where I sit, slowing down might make us happier. Having less might leave us with more time for conversations, games, explorations.........response ability, as Donna Haraway puts it in her book STAYING WITH THE TROUBLE.
If we related more.........argued less....
If we thought more......reacted less
If we produced more...consumed less
We might not be so sure fossil fuels were essential to our futures.
Ingamarie, i thought i would address some of the unaddressed points in your post.
As i mentioned, we cannot get off FF. The REs can help reduce fossil fuel use (maybe 30%), which is not nothing. Targets above that 30% greatly affect affordability. Nothing like the combustion engine in early 20C which beat out steam and battery electric.
The reality is that fossil fuels are finite and that pressure from you and similar thinkers are causing the science community to examine what is possible. This helps shape technology development (never too early).
I expect that we will use Nat Gas as a transition to Nuclear over the next 20yrs. I assume that Nat Gas will be allowed to be burned thru’ next 20yrs after which all things electric will nuclear. We will be making in roads in transport by deployment of SMRs for trains, ships, 18 wheelers (anything big).
This will help oil and gas to be available thru’ 2070 at which time it will peak and begin its gradual reduction in supply and increase in price. I guess that price becomes unaffordable for most around 2120. By this time the reduction in global population is also trending down such that the supply/demand remains in balance. So i am optimistic in the long run. Obviously complex situation and i could be years off.
Finally, i see a future around 2120 that we have developed new technologies (new physics) that scale, are affordable, and can be used broadly for transport and electricity generation. This new tech gets to displace nukes as they age out.
At this time our progeny all get to sing kumbaya.
So we share optimism for the future, it would be nice if we could slow the rate of consumption, nice if we could not fill our storage spaces with stuff we only use on odd yrs, etc. but…one thing i am sure of, we do not have an alternative to FF today, just impossible (I’m an engineer in case that helps your calculus).
Again, you are a sweet person and i wish i had better news.
It doesn't sound to me like you understand climate science Chris...and that might be understandable since it's based on Chaos Theory which is also a science that most of us in the west have not been taught.
The sad reality as I understand it is that your scenario is based on somehow avoiding the climate catastrophes that are being baked in now. At some point, and worst case scenario, not too far in the future......warming starts to run away in spite of anything we can do. At that point, it becomes irreversible in the short term............and maybe forever. Certainly the life systems of the earth, if any survive, might do what they've done once already.........and sequester all that atmospheric carbon over millennia.
But it took the Great Mother (a term I use for the entire life system) a long time to cool the earth sufficiently to allow multiple species to emerge.......a diversity that we would do well to get into harmony with, instead of pretending we're anything but the most dependent species that has evolved on a life rich world.
In short, we don't have a century to gradually transition off fossil fuels and fools.........we have to be doing it ASAP. Right now, we are choosing War instead......playing God games and imagining perhaps that our Jehovah will save us.
Not very smart. We're also over estimating the power of nuclear by a few magnitudes. I met my husband fighting Nuclear power in our Peace Region....THE CHIEF BENEFIT OF ACTIVISM IS WHAT YOU LEARN.
The SNR Carney is trying to get built in Darlington is the first one to perhaps be completed. It needs enriched uranium, which Canada doesn't produce....so another supply chain (don't Capitalist borons love em) will have to transport Canadian uranium to Amerika....then cart it back for use at Darlington. Though it might get worse. My partner read recently Amerika doesn't even make much of the enriched crap......so maybe we haul it in those ships that run on bunker fuel???
Solar is cheap by comparison.......it can be distributed everywhere. The future doesn't have to look like the past, or the present. It will likely be much more local, resilient, less consumptive, less wasteful..........and with much more time to socialize and work communally.
I try hard not to hate, or be mean..........but I'm far from sweet Chris. I'd kill you in a heart beat if you threatened my grand babies. Big Fossil Fools who want to GROW....get even bigger, burn even more.........are threatening my grand babies.
Ok, thanks for this. There’s too much nonsense for me to comment on. You do realize that tipping points and flora/fauna extinctions are not real, right? You will find you cannot provide me an example of any life form becoming extinct in the last 50 yrs (highest rise in temps). You will find insects being affected by chemicals, you will find an animal under threat due to habitat encroachment, but i doubt you will find an extinction.
I think i have an understanding of chaotic systems (im a 65yo chemical engineer after all…with my own g’kids! Why do you assume the worst?).
I thought you were a European (sic! That’s me assuming now) but you are in the next best place, so don’t despair.
Id like to tell you about fast reactors and enrichment but your eyes and ears are not open.
Got it, good list. I did not have the word crime associated with these in my head. I think we feel that unflagged drug boats in international waters are just a cost of doing business. The drug gangs here kill hundreds of folk (mostly each other) annually. Maduro was indicted in a US court of law 5 yrs ago and was globally condemned for stealing the election and was declared illegitimate; he had a $25M bounty, recently increased to $50M. The operation was done in collaboration with the legitimate gov and global world powers.
Nobody i know supports Hamas,least of all the gov here.
US involvement in Libya was in comms support of EU bombers.
Yes, we take FF energy security as being directly intertwined with national security and act accordingly.
Meanwhile the EU becomes meaningless without principles for what is right, no lines in the sand just pure relativistism and kumbaya
Yes if there is an effort. It still remains the case that many who lament America's crimes still haven't solarized, but do live a lifestyle that's the envy of the planet.
It is past time more people put their money to better uses than currently, they do.
Ingamarie, you write “It still remains the case that many who lament America's crimes still haven't solarized, but do live a lifestyle that's the envy of the planet.”
Can you be clearer wrt “America’s crimes”? Not sure what crimes we’ve committed.
I agree that investing in policy solutions (REs) that are both not able reduce co2 and are not affordable is senseless.
Just reviewing 2025 Chris.....all those boats shot out of the water??? State acts of Murder. The bombing in Nigeria??? State terrorism. The bombing of Iran??? Ditto.
Today's invasion and kidnapping of the Venezuelan president?? State Kidnapping.
I'd ask that you do a bit of your own research and recall the two wars against Iraq, the NATO bombings of Libya, your support with money and weapons for the genocide in Gaza.....
You have lots of war crimes on your plate.........and those are oil funded acts of international violence.....and your belief that you own all the planets oil...and that with it you'll achieve world dominance......is not a pattern that suggests a clean green life for the future is high on your to do list.
Despite the limits on many oil production projects the oil price remains low. This is a reflection of the persuasive skills of Trump. Venezuela, Russia, Iran and others all have multimillion barrels per day potential upside but sanctions and poor management keep production depressed. From Saudi to US producers are looking for Brent at $85/bbl to enable continued investment against natural decline; the fact that the required investment levels are so depressed presages a massive supply shortage (probably before the end of 26). This will cause an upward swing in prices well beyond the target price noted. This will drive FF up and result in the reduction in usage that you support (gasoline/diesel prices will be high, inflation will be increasing, business activity will move lower etc. you will be happy except your after tax free cash flow will be squeezed). High pricing could be sticky as investment and oil production in oilfields is a long winded process.
My point was that they seem to have had little impact on being able rase the price. It is not working.
To me this means their efforts will be to consolidate in order to remain the last man or companies standing as demand levels off and declines as cheaper green energy takes over.
In consolidating control they will better be able to manipulate price (reduced competition and better control over supply) as well as cost savings through increased economy of scale.
However, at this point supply is large and this is even with tons of idle capacity from OPEC. Massive reserves also exist in many places, as well.
I do not see the industry recovering its scale or this being a ploy.
I see a game of survival of the fittest and biggest taking place as others are gobbled up.
So that in the end bigger and fewer players remain as green energy which is cheaper continues to dominate. I think the same will have to happen with AI at some point, with some leaders gobbling up other, as well, as there are too many players to meet market needs.
I always say, who uses gas? We've had rooftop solar for 10 years, my son hasn't paid for gas in more than 10 years, and even my husband hasn't paid for gas in a year and a half. Last spring we put in a storage battery too. And in my life (75 years), the US has not won a war--Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq. We don't have a good record of winning these kind of wars, do we? Finally, no Nobel Peace Prize for t. He's out of the running for good.
As should have been that Venezuelan woman the Norwegians gave it to.....Trump essentially admitted last night she hasn't the support in Venezuela to become the countries leader. As with that pathetic Juan Guido.......he didn't run in the election before Maduro's last one....because he knew he wouldn't win.
Truth is the opposition in Venezuela is mostly a right wing, American backed rump....even after years of sanctions...........The Bolivarian Revolution made real change in Venezuela.
Read CHANGING VENEZUELA BY TAKING POWER...to learn some of the democratizing reforms they made in the new constitution they put together collectively, after Chavez survived the coup America tried to engineer against him.
Heather Cox Richardson lays out a scheme even bigger that the oil in Venezuela. Please listen to what she says about Trump going along with Putin to change the world order based on law.
While I do suspect Trump likes Putin for a variety of reasons.....I'm also pretty sure Trump wants out of the proxy war in Ukraine because it hasn't turned out to be the easy win for NATO, that America originally thought it would be.
Turns out......the war is likely unwinnable.........and given the corruption and the destruction Ukraine is experiencing.......Trump wants to end it. Trouble is, Europe wants to end it with Ukraine winning............rhetorically........even though on the hard fields of battle, Ukraine doesn't have the manpower.
Sad for Ukraine. But likely existential for Russia.
Let's not pretend we don't know the American 'demonize Russia" game. Bob Dylan outlined that for us years ago.....in a song that began.....
"My name it means nothing, my age it means less,
and the country I come from, is called the mid-west..."
But those on this comment chain likely won't listen. They're so convinced that NATO is good, the US is good…except for Trump and Republicans, that they are willfully ignorant to the bigger context. And they believe as an article of faith that Putin is an absolute evil king.
I have no illusions about Putin, I literally don't have any illusions positively or negatively. I appreciate that he is likely no teddy bear, certainly has done horrible things like most world leaders especially American ones, but I'm pretty sure that he is the last even slightly patient or theoretically friendly Russian leader Europe will see in generations. He sought to get closer with the EU and the US, there are were Capitalists around him like Kirill Dmitriev that wanted to do business with the West. And for that reason, Putin has been soft and projecting weakness from the perspective of a lot of Russians. What follows after Putin will be far worse, IMHO.
NATO pushed, underestimated, and has ultimately lost to destroyed itself in the proxy war with Russia. American Democrats, and originally Republicans, supported this provocation and sold the American people this story of evil Russian expansion, absent the context of NATO buildup and provocation, or Ukrainian internal oppression of Russian speakers since 2014 as well as the color revolution likely executed by CIA and MI6 to install an anti- Russian president.
Americans are stupid. We listen to the media, while simultaneously swearing its biased for the political party we oppose, while simultaneously gulping down propaganda designed to bolster transitional capital interests and protect empire and hegemony. Fun times.
I write on these forums from time to time in hopes of talking with folks like yourself. You have encapsulated the situation in a nut shell..........albeit, a very large nutshell is needed. Something larger than a coconut unfortunately.
Yes. Many Canadians are stupid as well.........but its not our stupidity that defeats us, is going to defeat us. It's our stupid need to be RIGHT without having to do any homework. I'm a reader, and can smell weak analysis a mile away. I worked as a teacher for a quarter century..........most stupidity is ideology based and lazy maintained. If the popular kids say something, it must be so, so???
I know few details of Putin.......but he did succeed in cashing in when the Washington Consensus helped the Russians to give their state assets to what became the Russian oligarchs....and being KGB he likely has been smart enough to see America coming........in her NATO donned robes....
But what most depresses me, is how many of us don't believe there are two sides to anything...never mind several. What NATO succeeded in starting in Ukraine is weakening Europe.......continuing the war means more dead, more good land trashed, more human misery and of course..........the real good news of it all for the west: MORE LONG LIVED HATRED OF ETHNIC OTHERS, bolstered by an ever increasing body of long lived LIES. Both sides propaganda machines will make a living churning them out.
That we can't even begin to imagine that the other side has a perspective....hopes and fears included, says something very terminal about our imaginations. They've been poisoned and perhaps exist on life support now....unable to feel very much, but the reptilian emotions.
Dumb? Yes. But Vicious also. An extinction machine of sorts.
I started listening....as a friend often recommends her. But when in the first few minutes she has to repeat American talking points that 'Maduro is a really bad guy. We all know that. Etc. Etc.", she loses me.
And here's why. Every country America has interfered in during my lifetime coincidentally or now.......has 'really bad guy leaders'...and for me there's two things about that:
1. IT SOUNDS LIKE AMERICAN PROPAGANDA....part of Bob Dylan's "I learned to hate Russians/all through my whole life" analysis in song.
2. Anything stated over and over as a certainty, with little proof provided, is useless as evidence, and likely BS.
I've done some reading on the Bolivarian Revolution. Likely because I know what my in-laws in Cuba have suffered at the hand of American certainties.........and Hugo Chavez was a good, and perhaps a great man.
The election of Maduro before this last one was monitored by many Canadian civil organizations and declared fair and sound. Didn't prevent the Juan Guido farce though did it??
So from up here in Literate Canada.........I don't waste my time listening to people who think they know it all.........so don't have to provide any proof. But here's one tidbit for thought:
WHAT IF TRUMP'S CLAIM THAT THE OPPOSITION LEADER WHO SOMEHOW WON A NOBEL PEACE PRIZE IS ACCURATE??? What if she has the support of the CIA, but not the majority of the people???
What if that stupid man your empire elected TWICE...actually has better information on the ground than will ever be shared with the American people?? Because that was certainly true for Juan Guido.
Here's another dream possibility. What if the world got bold enough to refuse America's unilateral sanctions of other people's countries??? Venezuela could sell her oil to whom she pleased then, in the currency she chose.......and more Americans would have to learn to work for a living.
Maybe get into Renewable Energy implementation...lol.
Lying to Congress is a Federal offense. Rubio needs to be brought before Congress again to explain what took place in Venezuela and counter witnesses need to be called to report the truth. These lies and cover-ups with lies must stop and those perpetrating the crime of lies to Congress must be indicated and arrested and held without bail. This may allow truth to be told about many things but war and killing innocent people should never be one of those things. If National Security is at stake, let the Senate Intellegence Committee hear the testimony of Military Commanders. Was the order to intervene in Venezuela legal and who issued it, when and have other orders been issues that are also ,illegal? Is the direct threat to USA citizens and the world at large, garage enough to plan a military takeover of the USA government to replace this dangerous and incompetent Administration, and the President and VP?
<<Is the direct threat to USA citizens and the world at large, garage enough to plan a military takeover of the USA government to replace this dangerous and incompetent Administration, and the President and VP?>>
My first reaction is, even if US is ultimately damaged by another nation’s overt attacks or covert endorsement and facilitation of harmful activities (e.g., terrorism, drugs, cyber, energy, economic, media, damaging infrastructure, influencing opinion, undermining market stability & human welfare) collaboration and rules must be followed, not unilateral decision by a single man or woman 🎱🎲🍄😎🥸🤠🤡👿💩
Just a first off-the-top thought 🤔🫣😉
How to accomplish such 🌈 🦄 when our government is broken, co-opted, split, uncooperative, usurped, perverted?
[UPDATE] 10 hours hence, in a video by Bill’s and my Junior Senator, Peter Welch, validates my statement ⬆️
Belles résolutions pour se débarasser du pétrole. Mais il faut d'abord éléminer la menace trump et son entourage de maga mégas milliardaires fascistes égoïstes avides de pouvoirs qui refusent et nient la réalité pourtant évidente. Nous devons changer et vite, ça ne peut pas continuer sinon la planète deviendra invivable. La vraie richesse n'est pas dans les poches de quelques uns, mais dans le coeur de tous. Le pétrole est le sang du diable.
These are good resolutions for getting rid of oil. But first, we must eliminate the threat of Trump and his entourage of MAGA mega-billionaire fascists, selfish and power-hungry, who refuse to acknowledge and deny the obvious reality. We must change, and quickly, because things cannot continue like this, otherwise the planet will become uninhabitable. True wealth is not in the pockets of a few, but in the hearts of all. Oil is the blood of the devil.
Eventually the compelling economic argument for renewables will be overwhelming. The economic harm from burning fossil fuels will eventually clog the courts. Even the hard-core petro-brains will have to concede they are the wrong side of human progress. The major question is the timeline. Once, everyone heated homes and offices with coal, then happily converted to oil. The switch to natural gas from fuel oil was and is a rebound marriage, a short-term high, and ultimately a bad investment. The idiocy of the Trump administration's energy policy will become clear to even his most lickspittle loyalists. Is all this generational? Do the boomer oil-and-gas addicts need to be gone? Will the climate still be livable?
Tom I agree with you we are in a race against time. The Trump Administration’s self serving, short sighted policies are a set back we can’t afford.
I have seen many outcries today for justice against the international crimes committed by Trump. But the biggest crime against humanity, by far, is his selfish promotion of fossil fuels.
It seems bizarre, but Trump's takeover of Venezuelan oil assets may advance Canada's battles against climate change. Canada's oil companies want to build pipelines and expand production. They won't be able to compete with increased Venezuelan production and immediate low-cost shipping. With luck our oil patch will have no choice but to shrivel as renewables expand.
Oil, Epstein and Jack Smith's testimony, the Supreme Court telling him to withdraw his troops from American cities but remember, Trump said he would be back. What is better than ruining the rules based international of law. Trump is claiming the right without Congress. He is the leader of a one party dictatorial state. And how much money will he make "freeing" Maduro? We have to take our country back.
Bill, you cover so much in this important post! I'm going to circulate it widely. I helped Murray Bookchin do an Earth Day ecology workshop in Ann Arbor April 22, 1970, but somehow moved away from environmenalism in into social work and sociology, where my main contibutions have been related to human needs. To optimally meet them requires what sociologist Matthew Lee calls global ecoystem flourishing. In other words, more-than-human needs. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend Ian Gough's book: Heat, Need and Human Greed and his website www.iangough.com. I have links to my work on this on my substack: https://michaelalandover.substack.com/ and earlier in my "beat" on Venezuela, I raised the same concern you do about spheres of influence, and quote what you said about Taiwan.
In a country whose broken democratic system of government has been remade of the billionaires, by the billionaires and for the billionaires, the absurd and reckless decisions consistently made by this corrupt and godless Administration make perfect sense. Every Single. Time. Follow the money.
Nicely summarized, Christy. I try to nudge people off of Trump to Billionaire and Corporate Corruption of parties, candidates, elections, legislation processes, and actions.
Yes....blaming the leader is as dumb as imagining a leader can do the heavy lifting for us. Do the Staycation dance and use that money to put Solar on your roof.
This is the November 2025 National Security Strategy being executed verbatim. The NSS’s “Trump Corollary” explicitly authorizes military force to deny China/Russia access to “strategically vital assets” in our hemisphere. Venezuela’s oil deals with Beijing made this doctrinally mandated.
The congressional bypass isn’t a bug, it’s the feature. The NSS elevates narcoterrorism to existential threat specifically to reframe military operations as “law enforcement.” No war declaration needed if you’re just “arresting an indicted criminal.” Article II authority claimed, war powers circumvented.
Three points from a foreign service perspective:
—Noriega precedent is damning: Operation Just Cause killed 300+ Panamanians, was condemned by the UN General Assembly. Citing it reveals they’re embracing extraterritorial regime change regardless of legality.
—Rubio lied strategically: Senator Kim’s right. But it’s worse—each escalation (boats→blockade→strikes→extraction) normalized the next while bypassing oversight incrementally. Commitment escalation as doctrine.
—International law collapse: Arguing Maduro’s illegitimate so extraction is justified? We just validated Russia’s Ukraine claims and China’s Taiwan arguments. Sovereignty just became conditional on U.S. approval.
The oil is real, Trump said “we want it back.” But the NSS proves premeditation. They built an entire framework around resource seizure masked as counter-narcotics, complete with constitutional workarounds.
If Congress accepts the “just an arrest” framing, they’ve conceded war powers permanently. Not just for Venezuela, for the entire hemisphere under the NSS template.
Oil is one thing…but it is a lot more than that, way more
—Johan
yes......but also....America has been adept at making one excuse after another for seizing other people's land and killing those who object.
America is the Evil Empire.....the Axis of Evil who's big fingers succeeded in diverting the charge onto poor Saddam Husein.
Bull's eye.
Thanks, Bill. You're making it easy for me to inform friends. Best Wishes to You!
Yes, we need leaders like Bill who we can trust with telling the truth and who are knowledgeable.
Yes, he is doing such a great service to all of us. I learn so much.
Yes, boycott Trump's fossil fuel enablers.
Every gallon matters, no effort is too small as it all adds up when millions of us do this.
No effort is too small. All efforts matter and we need to encourage everyone and lift them up, not tear them down for making an effort and celebrate them for being on our team. So, people need to stop the over use of words like "virtue signaling" and lift people up for making an effort.
Every effort matters, and it matters a lot.
Just look at what happened during covid with the declined use by millions here and globally.
The price of oil on global markets fell so low that many wells were capped and even some smaller oil companies went bankrupt and yearly emissions fell. So, think about this whenever you need to go somewhere in a gas powered car. Think whether the trip can wait and be combined with another. Added up everyone cutting back 5-10-20-30% or more matters a lot even if you can't afford an EV. Same goes for finding ways to ditch the natural gas.
Just like in covid, the price of oil on global markets has fallen too low to make drilling for more oil profitable for his enablers as many other places are shifting away from fossil fuels on a large scale and moving towards EVs and solar and wind and also because production is high, so it 'seems' they want to take over existing producers to be the "last man standing" and to control how much goes out to keep prices profitable (just my assumption).
Who would better to know that Maduro is staying in power from fossil fuel profits than perhaps a man who has his own supporters due to his own support of the fossil fuel industry, Trump.
Ditch the things that profit those who keep him in power, oil, natural gas, and crypto. Even if you do not do it for political reasons, do it for the planet and our children's future.
So what were these targets in Caracas? Why bomb civilians? It feels like we are Russia with a Putin in charge. I'm west coast to I'm just learning about all of this.
Boycott oil!!!
Thanks for such an important post. I agree that learning to live without FF is desirable and urgent. The main problem is that everything depends on FF and the task is actually not possible. The amount of FF in REs is mind boggling. Now this does not mean we give up. We know that isolated solar powered electrical circuits are very affordable. How many African villages have solar powered electrical circuits for water lift and distribution pumps (many, and some triple decades old). This must be continued and accelerated.
Now, to address Trump’s plan to secure oil supply for the next 100 yrs. He has his eyes on Venezuela and Alberta; both produce the grade of crude that specific US refineries are tooled for (mainly thru’ coker technology). The issue is diesel, and diesel supplies are constrained and prices higher than a president in tune with costs would like. Expect to see significant effort to secure both these supplies (there’s also an LNG factor looking further into the future). Meanwhile let’s cease and desist from all things FF (good luck).
Oil is a global commodity and all we have to do is change the dynamics of supply and demand and the price plummets and oil companies take a big hit.
You do not have to get rid of "all of it" to have some power over the behavior of this industry, so one's consumption behavior does matter - especially now.
Due to the massive expansion of solar and green energy globally especially in places like China and Australia, oil prices have not been able to get much traction on global markets and have stayed under 60 dollars a barrel for many months now. This is below the break even price needed to inspire new drilling here in the USA and we have not seen prices this low since covid.
During covid, prices fell so low from a decrease in global demand that oil companies lost money, capped some wells, and some smaller oil companies even went bankrupt. With demand starting to level and supply being high global commodity prices are too low for oil company interests right now and too low for Trump's "drill baby drill"
Thus, seizing Venezuela sanctioned oil was likely meant to try to boost oil commodity prices, but it did not work, not at all, so now we have attacked Venezuela. The price per barrel may be too low to inspire companies to expand and drill, so I think the intent is to take over more of the existing global supply instead, and maybe even to curtail supply getting to market, whenever they needed to boost prices and profits (sort of like what OPEC does when they cut supply to boost the price).
Anyway, the covid example and current market conditions (low oil commodity prices due to perceived lower demand compared to large supply) means that the consumer ALL OF US are very well positioned to have a lot of impact on the oil industry if we reduce demand.
It is the perfect time to boycott - they will feel it - bigtime.
Hit them where it hurts, in their pocketbook.
Make them ditch their support for Trump if he is linked to the reason for a boycott.
I did this in March 2024 when I bought an electric car.
I applaud you!
I'm not in position to afford a new car so I try to conserve and drive as little as possible and combine trips. Fortunately Home Depot and grocery are on the same loop of less than 5 miles round trip. So, I drive less than 10 miles a week on average. I would prefer an EV and have an E-bike, but the roads to main shopping are not safe. I wish Newsom had allowed for the bill to allow for riding bikes on sidewalks, at least were the road mph is 35 or over. In those areas, outside of slower mph neighborhoods, there are miles and miles of sidewalks unused as no one walks along these longer stretches of road. In addition they could make it so bikes can only go up to 15 mph on sidewalks along these stretches as well, and ban bikes from sidewalks in more foot friendly areas like neighborhoods or where small shops are located, but road speed limits are often 25 in those areas, meaning bikes would be limited to roads. There is the excuse about driveway hazards, but if the speed limit for bikes on sidewalks was low, this would not be above a jogger on a sidewalk might be doing and no more dangerous. In addition if driveways are such a hazard and an excuse to limite bike traffic on sidewalks, then why are kids allowed to ride on sidewalks? It makes no sense unless the excuse is that kids might be going slower - so enact a sidewalk speed limit and restrict sidewalk use to longer stretches where the speed limit for cars is 35 mpg or more. Like I said no one is walking on them anyway.
There, sorry for venting, but if the law was changed I would feel safe enough to ride to some of the larger stores. My old hips can't walk that distance and the bus does not run that way.
I bet a lot more people would use their E-bikes more often if they could stay away from traffic on a rarely used sidewalk.
This said, I need to order more since my stores all have electric delivery vans. If I only need to go to get hardware, I might be able to cut my use even more.
So, I need to devise a plan for that. I hate spending any money on gas even if I only do it so rarely.
It's working for us.
Despite the limits on many oil production projects the oil price remains low. This is a reflection of the persuasive skills of Trump. Venezuela, Russia, Iran and Iran all have multimillion barrels per day potential upside but sanctions and poor management keep production depressed. From Saudi to US producers are looking for Brent at $85/bbl to enable continued investment against natural decline; the fact that the required investment levels are so depressed presages a massive supply shortage (probably before the end of 26). This will cause an upward swing in prices well beyond the target price noted. This will drive FF up and result in the reduction in usage that you support (gasoline/diesel prices will be high, inflation will be increasing, business activity will move lower etc. you will be happy except your after tax free cash flow will be squeezed). High pricing could be sticky as investment and oil production in oilfields is a long winded process.
No problem, thanks for the reply
Omg, thanks Ingamarie but this is full female kumbaya nonsense. Why cant we all just get along? Why must those poor immigrants sexually assault us when we are so nice? Why must we burn FF when the sun comes up every morning? Just nonsense, no wonder Europe is a mess and about to become irrelevant.
I still love you though (your heart is pure while mine is cynical)
ANd the hard truth is this: NOTHING PUSHES UP THE PRICE OF OIL MORE THAN WAR GAMES.........the military is the heaviest user of Fossil Fuels........and Bill is right.
A solar economy could run the entire planet.........but sadly...........its not well suited to running those F-35's and other monstrous WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
So do the STAYCATION my friends...........and put up solar, buy an EV (China makes a great one I hear) and live for Peace and Prosperity for all earths children.
Ingamarie, yes, the military uses a boatload of FF, but not enough to influence the oil price (today at least).
A solar electric system cannot power our existence. Of primary energy only 14% is electric. If all electric is solar what do we do about the remaining 86%?
Yes, stay at home, turn the power off, commit to cotton fibers and denounce the polymers, and meat and imported vegetables etc. i do not advocate an EV until such time that all electric generation is RE.
Peace and prosperity to you too.
We're only getting started Chris......solar being where the internal combustion engine was in 1910 or so.
But whatever. We get off fossil fuels.......seriously reduce our use of anything that burns........or we're finished.
So whining about how life might be slower, less consumptive........more like what I remember as a girl........is petty stuff.
From where I sit, slowing down might make us happier. Having less might leave us with more time for conversations, games, explorations.........response ability, as Donna Haraway puts it in her book STAYING WITH THE TROUBLE.
If we related more.........argued less....
If we thought more......reacted less
If we produced more...consumed less
We might not be so sure fossil fuels were essential to our futures.
Ingamarie, i thought i would address some of the unaddressed points in your post.
As i mentioned, we cannot get off FF. The REs can help reduce fossil fuel use (maybe 30%), which is not nothing. Targets above that 30% greatly affect affordability. Nothing like the combustion engine in early 20C which beat out steam and battery electric.
The reality is that fossil fuels are finite and that pressure from you and similar thinkers are causing the science community to examine what is possible. This helps shape technology development (never too early).
I expect that we will use Nat Gas as a transition to Nuclear over the next 20yrs. I assume that Nat Gas will be allowed to be burned thru’ next 20yrs after which all things electric will nuclear. We will be making in roads in transport by deployment of SMRs for trains, ships, 18 wheelers (anything big).
This will help oil and gas to be available thru’ 2070 at which time it will peak and begin its gradual reduction in supply and increase in price. I guess that price becomes unaffordable for most around 2120. By this time the reduction in global population is also trending down such that the supply/demand remains in balance. So i am optimistic in the long run. Obviously complex situation and i could be years off.
Finally, i see a future around 2120 that we have developed new technologies (new physics) that scale, are affordable, and can be used broadly for transport and electricity generation. This new tech gets to displace nukes as they age out.
At this time our progeny all get to sing kumbaya.
So we share optimism for the future, it would be nice if we could slow the rate of consumption, nice if we could not fill our storage spaces with stuff we only use on odd yrs, etc. but…one thing i am sure of, we do not have an alternative to FF today, just impossible (I’m an engineer in case that helps your calculus).
Again, you are a sweet person and i wish i had better news.
It doesn't sound to me like you understand climate science Chris...and that might be understandable since it's based on Chaos Theory which is also a science that most of us in the west have not been taught.
The sad reality as I understand it is that your scenario is based on somehow avoiding the climate catastrophes that are being baked in now. At some point, and worst case scenario, not too far in the future......warming starts to run away in spite of anything we can do. At that point, it becomes irreversible in the short term............and maybe forever. Certainly the life systems of the earth, if any survive, might do what they've done once already.........and sequester all that atmospheric carbon over millennia.
But it took the Great Mother (a term I use for the entire life system) a long time to cool the earth sufficiently to allow multiple species to emerge.......a diversity that we would do well to get into harmony with, instead of pretending we're anything but the most dependent species that has evolved on a life rich world.
In short, we don't have a century to gradually transition off fossil fuels and fools.........we have to be doing it ASAP. Right now, we are choosing War instead......playing God games and imagining perhaps that our Jehovah will save us.
Not very smart. We're also over estimating the power of nuclear by a few magnitudes. I met my husband fighting Nuclear power in our Peace Region....THE CHIEF BENEFIT OF ACTIVISM IS WHAT YOU LEARN.
The SNR Carney is trying to get built in Darlington is the first one to perhaps be completed. It needs enriched uranium, which Canada doesn't produce....so another supply chain (don't Capitalist borons love em) will have to transport Canadian uranium to Amerika....then cart it back for use at Darlington. Though it might get worse. My partner read recently Amerika doesn't even make much of the enriched crap......so maybe we haul it in those ships that run on bunker fuel???
Solar is cheap by comparison.......it can be distributed everywhere. The future doesn't have to look like the past, or the present. It will likely be much more local, resilient, less consumptive, less wasteful..........and with much more time to socialize and work communally.
I try hard not to hate, or be mean..........but I'm far from sweet Chris. I'd kill you in a heart beat if you threatened my grand babies. Big Fossil Fools who want to GROW....get even bigger, burn even more.........are threatening my grand babies.
Ok, thanks for this. There’s too much nonsense for me to comment on. You do realize that tipping points and flora/fauna extinctions are not real, right? You will find you cannot provide me an example of any life form becoming extinct in the last 50 yrs (highest rise in temps). You will find insects being affected by chemicals, you will find an animal under threat due to habitat encroachment, but i doubt you will find an extinction.
I think i have an understanding of chaotic systems (im a 65yo chemical engineer after all…with my own g’kids! Why do you assume the worst?).
I thought you were a European (sic! That’s me assuming now) but you are in the next best place, so don’t despair.
Id like to tell you about fast reactors and enrichment but your eyes and ears are not open.
Got it, good list. I did not have the word crime associated with these in my head. I think we feel that unflagged drug boats in international waters are just a cost of doing business. The drug gangs here kill hundreds of folk (mostly each other) annually. Maduro was indicted in a US court of law 5 yrs ago and was globally condemned for stealing the election and was declared illegitimate; he had a $25M bounty, recently increased to $50M. The operation was done in collaboration with the legitimate gov and global world powers.
Nobody i know supports Hamas,least of all the gov here.
US involvement in Libya was in comms support of EU bombers.
Yes, we take FF energy security as being directly intertwined with national security and act accordingly.
Meanwhile the EU becomes meaningless without principles for what is right, no lines in the sand just pure relativistism and kumbaya
Yes if there is an effort. It still remains the case that many who lament America's crimes still haven't solarized, but do live a lifestyle that's the envy of the planet.
It is past time more people put their money to better uses than currently, they do.
Ingamarie, you write “It still remains the case that many who lament America's crimes still haven't solarized, but do live a lifestyle that's the envy of the planet.”
Can you be clearer wrt “America’s crimes”? Not sure what crimes we’ve committed.
I agree that investing in policy solutions (REs) that are both not able reduce co2 and are not affordable is senseless.
Just reviewing 2025 Chris.....all those boats shot out of the water??? State acts of Murder. The bombing in Nigeria??? State terrorism. The bombing of Iran??? Ditto.
Today's invasion and kidnapping of the Venezuelan president?? State Kidnapping.
I'd ask that you do a bit of your own research and recall the two wars against Iraq, the NATO bombings of Libya, your support with money and weapons for the genocide in Gaza.....
You have lots of war crimes on your plate.........and those are oil funded acts of international violence.....and your belief that you own all the planets oil...and that with it you'll achieve world dominance......is not a pattern that suggests a clean green life for the future is high on your to do list.
Despite the limits on many oil production projects the oil price remains low. This is a reflection of the persuasive skills of Trump. Venezuela, Russia, Iran and others all have multimillion barrels per day potential upside but sanctions and poor management keep production depressed. From Saudi to US producers are looking for Brent at $85/bbl to enable continued investment against natural decline; the fact that the required investment levels are so depressed presages a massive supply shortage (probably before the end of 26). This will cause an upward swing in prices well beyond the target price noted. This will drive FF up and result in the reduction in usage that you support (gasoline/diesel prices will be high, inflation will be increasing, business activity will move lower etc. you will be happy except your after tax free cash flow will be squeezed). High pricing could be sticky as investment and oil production in oilfields is a long winded process.
My point was that they seem to have had little impact on being able rase the price. It is not working.
To me this means their efforts will be to consolidate in order to remain the last man or companies standing as demand levels off and declines as cheaper green energy takes over.
In consolidating control they will better be able to manipulate price (reduced competition and better control over supply) as well as cost savings through increased economy of scale.
However, at this point supply is large and this is even with tons of idle capacity from OPEC. Massive reserves also exist in many places, as well.
I do not see the industry recovering its scale or this being a ploy.
I see a game of survival of the fittest and biggest taking place as others are gobbled up.
So that in the end bigger and fewer players remain as green energy which is cheaper continues to dominate. I think the same will have to happen with AI at some point, with some leaders gobbling up other, as well, as there are too many players to meet market needs.
Perhaps I misunderstand your point.
I always say, who uses gas? We've had rooftop solar for 10 years, my son hasn't paid for gas in more than 10 years, and even my husband hasn't paid for gas in a year and a half. Last spring we put in a storage battery too. And in my life (75 years), the US has not won a war--Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq. We don't have a good record of winning these kind of wars, do we? Finally, no Nobel Peace Prize for t. He's out of the running for good.
As should have been that Venezuelan woman the Norwegians gave it to.....Trump essentially admitted last night she hasn't the support in Venezuela to become the countries leader. As with that pathetic Juan Guido.......he didn't run in the election before Maduro's last one....because he knew he wouldn't win.
Truth is the opposition in Venezuela is mostly a right wing, American backed rump....even after years of sanctions...........The Bolivarian Revolution made real change in Venezuela.
Read CHANGING VENEZUELA BY TAKING POWER...to learn some of the democratizing reforms they made in the new constitution they put together collectively, after Chavez survived the coup America tried to engineer against him.
Heather Cox Richardson lays out a scheme even bigger that the oil in Venezuela. Please listen to what she says about Trump going along with Putin to change the world order based on law.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JXQhff9aGc
This is even a bigger deal than oil, though that's big too, Bill.
While I do suspect Trump likes Putin for a variety of reasons.....I'm also pretty sure Trump wants out of the proxy war in Ukraine because it hasn't turned out to be the easy win for NATO, that America originally thought it would be.
Turns out......the war is likely unwinnable.........and given the corruption and the destruction Ukraine is experiencing.......Trump wants to end it. Trouble is, Europe wants to end it with Ukraine winning............rhetorically........even though on the hard fields of battle, Ukraine doesn't have the manpower.
Sad for Ukraine. But likely existential for Russia.
Let's not pretend we don't know the American 'demonize Russia" game. Bob Dylan outlined that for us years ago.....in a song that began.....
"My name it means nothing, my age it means less,
and the country I come from, is called the mid-west..."
Look it up.
Agree wholeheartedly.
But those on this comment chain likely won't listen. They're so convinced that NATO is good, the US is good…except for Trump and Republicans, that they are willfully ignorant to the bigger context. And they believe as an article of faith that Putin is an absolute evil king.
I have no illusions about Putin, I literally don't have any illusions positively or negatively. I appreciate that he is likely no teddy bear, certainly has done horrible things like most world leaders especially American ones, but I'm pretty sure that he is the last even slightly patient or theoretically friendly Russian leader Europe will see in generations. He sought to get closer with the EU and the US, there are were Capitalists around him like Kirill Dmitriev that wanted to do business with the West. And for that reason, Putin has been soft and projecting weakness from the perspective of a lot of Russians. What follows after Putin will be far worse, IMHO.
NATO pushed, underestimated, and has ultimately lost to destroyed itself in the proxy war with Russia. American Democrats, and originally Republicans, supported this provocation and sold the American people this story of evil Russian expansion, absent the context of NATO buildup and provocation, or Ukrainian internal oppression of Russian speakers since 2014 as well as the color revolution likely executed by CIA and MI6 to install an anti- Russian president.
Americans are stupid. We listen to the media, while simultaneously swearing its biased for the political party we oppose, while simultaneously gulping down propaganda designed to bolster transitional capital interests and protect empire and hegemony. Fun times.
I write on these forums from time to time in hopes of talking with folks like yourself. You have encapsulated the situation in a nut shell..........albeit, a very large nutshell is needed. Something larger than a coconut unfortunately.
Yes. Many Canadians are stupid as well.........but its not our stupidity that defeats us, is going to defeat us. It's our stupid need to be RIGHT without having to do any homework. I'm a reader, and can smell weak analysis a mile away. I worked as a teacher for a quarter century..........most stupidity is ideology based and lazy maintained. If the popular kids say something, it must be so, so???
I know few details of Putin.......but he did succeed in cashing in when the Washington Consensus helped the Russians to give their state assets to what became the Russian oligarchs....and being KGB he likely has been smart enough to see America coming........in her NATO donned robes....
But what most depresses me, is how many of us don't believe there are two sides to anything...never mind several. What NATO succeeded in starting in Ukraine is weakening Europe.......continuing the war means more dead, more good land trashed, more human misery and of course..........the real good news of it all for the west: MORE LONG LIVED HATRED OF ETHNIC OTHERS, bolstered by an ever increasing body of long lived LIES. Both sides propaganda machines will make a living churning them out.
That we can't even begin to imagine that the other side has a perspective....hopes and fears included, says something very terminal about our imaginations. They've been poisoned and perhaps exist on life support now....unable to feel very much, but the reptilian emotions.
Dumb? Yes. But Vicious also. An extinction machine of sorts.
I started listening....as a friend often recommends her. But when in the first few minutes she has to repeat American talking points that 'Maduro is a really bad guy. We all know that. Etc. Etc.", she loses me.
And here's why. Every country America has interfered in during my lifetime coincidentally or now.......has 'really bad guy leaders'...and for me there's two things about that:
1. IT SOUNDS LIKE AMERICAN PROPAGANDA....part of Bob Dylan's "I learned to hate Russians/all through my whole life" analysis in song.
2. Anything stated over and over as a certainty, with little proof provided, is useless as evidence, and likely BS.
I've done some reading on the Bolivarian Revolution. Likely because I know what my in-laws in Cuba have suffered at the hand of American certainties.........and Hugo Chavez was a good, and perhaps a great man.
The election of Maduro before this last one was monitored by many Canadian civil organizations and declared fair and sound. Didn't prevent the Juan Guido farce though did it??
So from up here in Literate Canada.........I don't waste my time listening to people who think they know it all.........so don't have to provide any proof. But here's one tidbit for thought:
WHAT IF TRUMP'S CLAIM THAT THE OPPOSITION LEADER WHO SOMEHOW WON A NOBEL PEACE PRIZE IS ACCURATE??? What if she has the support of the CIA, but not the majority of the people???
What if that stupid man your empire elected TWICE...actually has better information on the ground than will ever be shared with the American people?? Because that was certainly true for Juan Guido.
Here's another dream possibility. What if the world got bold enough to refuse America's unilateral sanctions of other people's countries??? Venezuela could sell her oil to whom she pleased then, in the currency she chose.......and more Americans would have to learn to work for a living.
Maybe get into Renewable Energy implementation...lol.
Sally, thx for posting. I watched the HCR video & it seems to explain a lot. Do you have data showing how fair / balanced is HCR, please?
Lying to Congress is a Federal offense. Rubio needs to be brought before Congress again to explain what took place in Venezuela and counter witnesses need to be called to report the truth. These lies and cover-ups with lies must stop and those perpetrating the crime of lies to Congress must be indicated and arrested and held without bail. This may allow truth to be told about many things but war and killing innocent people should never be one of those things. If National Security is at stake, let the Senate Intellegence Committee hear the testimony of Military Commanders. Was the order to intervene in Venezuela legal and who issued it, when and have other orders been issues that are also ,illegal? Is the direct threat to USA citizens and the world at large, garage enough to plan a military takeover of the USA government to replace this dangerous and incompetent Administration, and the President and VP?
🙏 My thought too, precisely!! 👍
<<Is the direct threat to USA citizens and the world at large, garage enough to plan a military takeover of the USA government to replace this dangerous and incompetent Administration, and the President and VP?>>
My first reaction is, even if US is ultimately damaged by another nation’s overt attacks or covert endorsement and facilitation of harmful activities (e.g., terrorism, drugs, cyber, energy, economic, media, damaging infrastructure, influencing opinion, undermining market stability & human welfare) collaboration and rules must be followed, not unilateral decision by a single man or woman 🎱🎲🍄😎🥸🤠🤡👿💩
Just a first off-the-top thought 🤔🫣😉
How to accomplish such 🌈 🦄 when our government is broken, co-opted, split, uncooperative, usurped, perverted?
[UPDATE] 10 hours hence, in a video by Bill’s and my Junior Senator, Peter Welch, validates my statement ⬆️
Listen to this: 👉 https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTD9zlcjnM5/?igsh=cGhxZjNmNDc2d3Jz 🙏
How do we citizens, at the state level, push to get "balcony" solar approved? Where do begin with such a process?
join the Simplify Solar campaign at Third Act https://thirdact.org/our-work/simplify-solar/
Belles résolutions pour se débarasser du pétrole. Mais il faut d'abord éléminer la menace trump et son entourage de maga mégas milliardaires fascistes égoïstes avides de pouvoirs qui refusent et nient la réalité pourtant évidente. Nous devons changer et vite, ça ne peut pas continuer sinon la planète deviendra invivable. La vraie richesse n'est pas dans les poches de quelques uns, mais dans le coeur de tous. Le pétrole est le sang du diable.
Merci, Maurice 🙏 Google translated:
These are good resolutions for getting rid of oil. But first, we must eliminate the threat of Trump and his entourage of MAGA mega-billionaire fascists, selfish and power-hungry, who refuse to acknowledge and deny the obvious reality. We must change, and quickly, because things cannot continue like this, otherwise the planet will become uninhabitable. True wealth is not in the pockets of a few, but in the hearts of all. Oil is the blood of the devil.
Eventually the compelling economic argument for renewables will be overwhelming. The economic harm from burning fossil fuels will eventually clog the courts. Even the hard-core petro-brains will have to concede they are the wrong side of human progress. The major question is the timeline. Once, everyone heated homes and offices with coal, then happily converted to oil. The switch to natural gas from fuel oil was and is a rebound marriage, a short-term high, and ultimately a bad investment. The idiocy of the Trump administration's energy policy will become clear to even his most lickspittle loyalists. Is all this generational? Do the boomer oil-and-gas addicts need to be gone? Will the climate still be livable?
Tom I agree with you we are in a race against time. The Trump Administration’s self serving, short sighted policies are a set back we can’t afford.
I have seen many outcries today for justice against the international crimes committed by Trump. But the biggest crime against humanity, by far, is his selfish promotion of fossil fuels.
I hope our men and women in uniform realize they are being prostituted as mercenaries for private oil companies.
It seems bizarre, but Trump's takeover of Venezuelan oil assets may advance Canada's battles against climate change. Canada's oil companies want to build pipelines and expand production. They won't be able to compete with increased Venezuelan production and immediate low-cost shipping. With luck our oil patch will have no choice but to shrivel as renewables expand.
Bill, thank you for connecting solar to today's act of imperialism. Solar panels against the empire!
Oil, Epstein and Jack Smith's testimony, the Supreme Court telling him to withdraw his troops from American cities but remember, Trump said he would be back. What is better than ruining the rules based international of law. Trump is claiming the right without Congress. He is the leader of a one party dictatorial state. And how much money will he make "freeing" Maduro? We have to take our country back.
Bill, you cover so much in this important post! I'm going to circulate it widely. I helped Murray Bookchin do an Earth Day ecology workshop in Ann Arbor April 22, 1970, but somehow moved away from environmenalism in into social work and sociology, where my main contibutions have been related to human needs. To optimally meet them requires what sociologist Matthew Lee calls global ecoystem flourishing. In other words, more-than-human needs. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend Ian Gough's book: Heat, Need and Human Greed and his website www.iangough.com. I have links to my work on this on my substack: https://michaelalandover.substack.com/ and earlier in my "beat" on Venezuela, I raised the same concern you do about spheres of influence, and quote what you said about Taiwan.