The Invasion of Venezuela

[Casey Pelous]

You mean something like the US air strikes on Iran's nuclear sites? Yeah, that's the thing: Trump's administration can do organize things, if they put their act together.

I'd guess that was a plan that had been sitting on the shelf for a long time.

Hegseth and Grandpa Puddin' Brains (MSNBC's latest nickname for Dear Leader) are, of course, rapidly dismantling that competency, but that will take time.

 

[Free]

Hegseth and Grandpa Puddin' Brains (MSNBC's latest nickname for Dear Leader)

1. I'd like a reference to the source of that nickname. So I can add it to my spreadsheet.

2. No longer.

 

[Casey Pelous]

1. I'd like a reference to the source of that nickname. So I can add it to my spreadsheet.

2. No longer.

My bad. 'twas Boing Boing on MSN.

Grandpa Puddin' Brains barrels past the last guardrail of reality

 

[Casey Pelous]

Operation Bay of McRib.

But, but ..... we'd miss the opportunity for Operation Bay of Quiet Pigs ......

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Two US fighter jets circle Gulf of Venezuela in escalation of hostilities

Two US fighter jets circled the Gulf of Venezuela on Tuesday, in what appeared to be an escalation of the Trump administration’s ongoing hostilities toward the South American country and its leftist leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Venezuelans and South American media followed the flights in real time using websites like FlightRadar24, which showed a pair of F/A-18 Super Hornets flying together into the narrow Gulf of Venezuela for about 40 minutes. The jets flew just north of Maracaibo, Venezuela’s most populous city.


FlightRadar24 described the flights as the site’s most watched in a tweet.

A pair of Navy EA-18G Growler electronic warfare jets also flew just north of the Gulf of Venezuela on Tuesday, according to the War Zone.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Trump says U.S. seized oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela

We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela,” Trump said during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. He provided no detail on who owned the tanker or its destination.




U.S. crude oil was up 70 cents, or 1.2%, to $58.95 per barrel at 3:12 p.m. ET. Global benchmark Brent rose 71 cents, or 1.15%, to $62.65 a barrel.

Trump has escalated pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in recent weeks. The president said Maduro’s “days are numbered” in an interview with Politico published Tuesday. He would not rule out a ground invasion of the South American nation.

“I don’t want to rule in or out. I don’t talk about it,” Trump told Politico.

The White House has undertaken a large military buildup in the Caribbean and launched controversial, deadly strikes against boats that it claims were trafficking drugs to the U.S.

Venezuela is a founding member of OPEC and has the largest proven oil reserves in the world. It is exporting about 749,000 barrels per day this year with at least half that oil going to China, according to data from energy consulting firm Kpler.

Venezuela exports about 132,000 bpd to the U.S., according to Kpler.

“Shippers will likely be much more cautious and hesitant about loading Venezuelan crude going forward,” said Matt Smith, an oil analyst at Kpler.

 

[Free]

I'm sorry, are they using oil tankers to ship drugs to the U.S. now?

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

It's never been about the drugs. Just the oil. And now we're a nation of pirates.

 

[Free]

And now we're a nation of pirates.

And not the fun kind of pirates.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

And not the fun kind of pirates.

Arrrrrrrr!

 

[Free]

Arrrrrrrr!

 

[Free]

Trump says U.S. seized oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela

“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela — a large tanker, very large, the largest one ever seized actually,” Trump said during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room at the White House.

The bastard is obsessed with the size of every God damn thing. Maybe he'll appreciate how a lot of people worldwide now see him as the biggest criminal the U.S. has ever elected to the presidency. Or for those who want to question the veracity of those charges, the most obvious one.

You have greatly exceeded the likes of a Richard Nixon. You have outplayed Tricky Dick. Brav-fucking-o.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Reuters: Exclusive: US threatens new ICC sanctions unless court pledges not to prosecute Trump

"There is growing concern ... that in 2029 the ICC will turn its attention to the president, to the vice president, to the secretary of war and others, and pursue prosecutions against them," the Trump administration official said.

"That is unacceptable, and we will not allow it to happen."
The White House had no immediate comment on the matter.

The Trump official did not say what issues the administration worries could become the subject of an ICC investigation. But the official cited "open chatter" in the international legal community that the court could target Trump and his top officials in 2029, when the Republican president's term ends.
"The solution is that they need to change the Rome Statute to make very clear that they don't have jurisdiction," the official said.

This is a pretty bonkers idea, since the ICC's authority derives from an international treaty signed by 125 member states, and, as the article explains,

While most amendments require the support of two-thirds of members to pass, fundamental changes to the court's jurisdiction would require an even larger majority to be implemented, according to the court's statute.

In other words, the ICC can't simply act unilaterally and say, "Oh dear, we don't want to be sanctioned so we'll change the rules to suit Donald Trump." That may work for the US Supreme Court, but changing the ICC's statutes would be considerably more difficult than passing a US constitutional amendment.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

All of these actions will as a result just speed up the deterioration of Americas's global power and at the same time increase the power and influence of BRICS, especially China.

And while many are aware about that China is not without its own issues, they will be driven towards it for one simple reason: China is way more predictable than America. And for many that's enough in these times. Africa is already pretty much won by China for various reasons: having no colonial history baggage, going in where Western countries foreign aids pulled out, building infrastructure for free in the beginning and playing the long term game.

For example states like Ethiopia, but also South Africa, Nigeria, Angola and Congo, Kenya, Zambia, Algeria&Morocco, Egypt, Ghana&Zimbabwe, Namibia.

 

[Free]

Reuters: Exclusive: US threatens new ICC sanctions unless court pledges not to prosecute Trump

But, why in the world would dearest leader Donald and his minions be concerned about being prosecuted by the INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT?

 

[Free]

It's hardly the important bit to all this right now, but let's start asking the question anyway.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

But, why in the world would dearest leader Donald and his minions be concerned about being prosecuted by the INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT?

IKR. He's worked night and day to stop more wars in more countries than he can remember, and "created an 'aura' around the United States of America that has led every Country in the World to respect us more than ever before".

They're probably just upset because he got a prestigious FIFA participation award and they didn't.

 

[Beebo Brink]

Africa is already pretty much won by China for various reasons: having no colonial history baggage, going in where Western countries foreign aids pulled out, building infrastructure for free in the beginning and playing the long term game.

From what I've read about world demographics, Africa is one of the few areas left where the ratio of young to old is still high, which means it will have a labor edge over many other countries -- especially China -- in the coming decades. I'm sure that is a decisive factor in why China is cultivating relationships with countries on that continent.

Meanwhile, because of White racist panic, the U.S. is actively deporting immigrant communities that provide our only hope for vigorous labor growth. Whites skew older and with dropping reproduction rates.

 

[Casey Pelous]

It's hardly the important bit to all this right now, but let's start asking the question anyway.

You have to admit that it was a pretty darned impressive display of military might to seize a ship that was armed with .... *consults list* ... um .... a full complement of cutlery ... and .... ballpoint pens. #hugepeen

 

[Free]

Cutlery and ballpoint pens?

Are we sure these were drug runners in the boat, or was it just an Amazon shipment gotten horribly lost?