Shipwreckedcrew asks a simple question about those who would rid the world of Trump (but failing that, hogtie him once and for all…with their never-ending Epstein BS)…
Yesterday I published an analysis on the tanker MARINERA arguing that this was not a routine sanctions evasion case and not a simple oil shipment problem because the behavior around this vessel did not fit commercial logic and instead tracked with mission logic. Three hours later, the Wall Street Journal confirmed that Russia has deployed naval units, including a submarine, to escort MARINERA through the North Atlantic and deter any U.S. attempt to board or seize her, which materially changes how this transit should be understood.…
[Emphasis mine; Barry M.]
Re: Venezuela;
There are thousands of pro-Maduro thugs in all levels of govt in Venezuela who will seek out and kill anybody cooperating with the USA. They are essentially a Venezuelan version of Hamas and will do anything to remain in power and maintain access to any $$$ brought into the economy.
Just as Hamas does not give a flying F about the welfare of Gaza residents, neither will these Venezuelan thugs.
It will be a real challenge for the US to get rid of these Fifth Columnists.
Check this out;
interesting comments about doing business in Venezuela as described by a former head of trading for Cargill.
@JohnTyler: There are thousands of pro-Maduro thugs in all levels of govt in Venezuela who will seek out and kill anybody cooperating with the USA.
At the end of WW II there was much concern about fanatical Nazi youths and SS holdouts.
Not much came of that concern.
Venezuela faces genuine problems. There will have to be a “Scouring of the Shire” but with the head of the snake cut off and the Venezuelan people filled with hope and righteous anger, not to mention some US support, I’m betting on the people.
First you find out your working dogs can understand words. Then you discover they can learn to understand complete sentences. So, you talk in code — and they break the code. Further, you discover that they are masters of inferential reasoning with complex problem-solving capabilities. Thank God they don’t have opposable thumbs or the ability to speak, because if they did you’d never have a moment of quiet with them and they would probably rule the world.
The tricky part re: Venezuela is the fine line the US must walk not dominate or micromanage and thereby alienate the people. I’m a bit nervous on that score.
Youtuber Nick Shirley, the guy who discovered and publicized what appears to be massive fraud in daycare centers in Minnesota, has now turned his attention to what appears to be the unusually large number–1,200–of medical transport companies in that same state, saying that it seems unlikely that this extraordinary number of companies are actually needed and transporting people to adult care facilities or medical appointments, and in at least one such medical transportation company he has been observing and filming for over a year, vehicles he has observed on the company lot have stayed parked in the same spot, and never moved over the year he has observed and recorded them. *
So has the entire social welfare/medical care system in Minnesota been gamed, and is permeated by various scams?
What percentage, do you think, of these various services and facilities are actually performing the services they are supposed to be doing, and are legit?
@Snow on Pine:What percentage, do you think, of these various services and facilities are actually performing the services they are supposed to be doing, and are legit?
This is a good question and it fundamentally has to be answered by people on the ground actually going out and looking at things, which doesn’t usually happen unless there’s been some kind of clue left by carelessness or greed.
Give you an example from my work experience: if you can see in your medical claims that a provider billed for more patient visits than are actually possible in a 24 hour day you can tell something fishy is going on. But what if they bill for ten people a day who never actually went there that day, but they are otherwise real people who have really been there on some occasions? That’s much harder to detect from being in an office downtown looking at a report. What if they billed for a reasonable number of real vaccinations, but didn’t actually do them? How do you find that out without talking to the individuals who supposedly got them, and how do you know who those people are out of the people who really did get them?
Crooks are prone to carelessness and greed, so some of them get caught, but somebody crooked who has anything on the ball and keeps greed in bounds can get away with it for a long time before anyone in a position to do anything about it has any suspicion, especially since there’s the inept and greedy ones to catch first.
All to say that there’s a certain amount of work that goes in to detecting and punishing fraud and that work costs money. It follows that that there are types and levels of fraud that it doesn’t pay to try to prevent or punish. However, once word gets out, these kinds of frauds may eventually rise to levels where it is worth detecting and punishing. Invariably it ends up being a reactive exercise. I don’t know that there is or isn’t a better way.
IrishOtter,
There’s been numerous good studies showing the average dog understands about 100 words, and the more intelligent ones have a vocabulary equivalent to human toddlers and older. Doesn’t surprise me at all with our experience with our dogs.
There’s also that famous border collie who knew over 1000 words. He figures prominently in a Nat Geo special on dogs.
Another good interview on JNS with a Kurd/Iranian exiled to Canada, now in the Middle East near or in Iran.
Some of the complexities with the revolution brewing in Iran is the complex mix of ethnicities that will make creating a unified Iran challenging.
Persians (Fars): ~61%
The largest group, primarily concentrated in central and southern regions, and the dominant cultural and linguistic group. Azerbaijanis (Azeris): ~16%
The second-largest group, mainly in the northwest (near Azerbaijan), speaking a Turkic language. Kurds: ~10%
Primarily in the western provinces, speaking Kurdish (an Indo-European language). Lurs (including Bakhtiari): ~6%
In the southwest, closely related linguistically and culturally to Persians. Other groups: ~7–10% combined Baloch (~2%): In the southeast.
Arabs (~2%): Mostly in the southwest (Khuzestan).
Gilaki and Mazandarani (~3–8% combined): In the north near the Caspian Sea.
Turkmen and other Turkic tribes (~1–2%): In the northeast.
While around 90% of Iranians are Shia Muslim, only 10-20% support the Islamic Republic.
Hejar Berenji points to a fracturing between the political regime and the IRGC which may indicate a phase where different groups inside the regime are trying to cast blame to other groups.
The GSD head tilt! Love it.
My dog knows the way to my son’s house – if we go left toward Trader Joe’s instead of right to ‘Wally’s’ house she barks to let us know we’ve taken the wrong turn.
My husband and I have to spell my son’s dog’s name in front of ours because she goes crazy at the sound of her ‘boyfriend’s’ name.
But I think she’s catching on…
EAT REAL FOOD! New Dietary Guidance released by HHS – Video
Shipwreckedcrew asks a simple question about those who would rid the world of Trump (but failing that, hogtie him once and for all…with their never-ending Epstein BS)…
https://instapundit.com/767650/
+ Bonus (on the oceans deep…)
…but of course…
https://instapundit.com/767652/
Re: Venezuela;
There are thousands of pro-Maduro thugs in all levels of govt in Venezuela who will seek out and kill anybody cooperating with the USA. They are essentially a Venezuelan version of Hamas and will do anything to remain in power and maintain access to any $$$ brought into the economy.
Just as Hamas does not give a flying F about the welfare of Gaza residents, neither will these Venezuelan thugs.
It will be a real challenge for the US to get rid of these Fifth Columnists.
Check this out;
interesting comments about doing business in Venezuela as described by a former head of trading for Cargill.
https://x.com/AgrisAcademy/status/2008280244105380254?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2008280244105380254%7Ctwgr%5E14c92e62dc2b9478a6b11d8be0d0a6fa4301e02d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.agweb.com%2Fnews%2Fbusiness%2Fwhat-it-was-running-agribusiness-venezuela
@JohnTyler: There are thousands of pro-Maduro thugs in all levels of govt in Venezuela who will seek out and kill anybody cooperating with the USA.
At the end of WW II there was much concern about fanatical Nazi youths and SS holdouts.
Not much came of that concern.
Venezuela faces genuine problems. There will have to be a “Scouring of the Shire” but with the head of the snake cut off and the Venezuelan people filled with hope and righteous anger, not to mention some US support, I’m betting on the people.
First you find out your working dogs can understand words. Then you discover they can learn to understand complete sentences. So, you talk in code — and they break the code. Further, you discover that they are masters of inferential reasoning with complex problem-solving capabilities. Thank God they don’t have opposable thumbs or the ability to speak, because if they did you’d never have a moment of quiet with them and they would probably rule the world.
The tricky part re: Venezuela is the fine line the US must walk not dominate or micromanage and thereby alienate the people. I’m a bit nervous on that score.
The man is on a roll.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/iranian-protesters-rename-tehran-street-after-trump-plead-dont-let-them-kill-us-amid-crackdown
Youtuber Nick Shirley, the guy who discovered and publicized what appears to be massive fraud in daycare centers in Minnesota, has now turned his attention to what appears to be the unusually large number–1,200–of medical transport companies in that same state, saying that it seems unlikely that this extraordinary number of companies are actually needed and transporting people to adult care facilities or medical appointments, and in at least one such medical transportation company he has been observing and filming for over a year, vehicles he has observed on the company lot have stayed parked in the same spot, and never moved over the year he has observed and recorded them. *
So has the entire social welfare/medical care system in Minnesota been gamed, and is permeated by various scams?
What percentage, do you think, of these various services and facilities are actually performing the services they are supposed to be doing, and are legit?
* See https://dailycaller.com/2026/01/06/nick-shirley-mn-1000-fraudulent-medical-transport/
@Snow on Pine:What percentage, do you think, of these various services and facilities are actually performing the services they are supposed to be doing, and are legit?
This is a good question and it fundamentally has to be answered by people on the ground actually going out and looking at things, which doesn’t usually happen unless there’s been some kind of clue left by carelessness or greed.
Give you an example from my work experience: if you can see in your medical claims that a provider billed for more patient visits than are actually possible in a 24 hour day you can tell something fishy is going on. But what if they bill for ten people a day who never actually went there that day, but they are otherwise real people who have really been there on some occasions? That’s much harder to detect from being in an office downtown looking at a report. What if they billed for a reasonable number of real vaccinations, but didn’t actually do them? How do you find that out without talking to the individuals who supposedly got them, and how do you know who those people are out of the people who really did get them?
Crooks are prone to carelessness and greed, so some of them get caught, but somebody crooked who has anything on the ball and keeps greed in bounds can get away with it for a long time before anyone in a position to do anything about it has any suspicion, especially since there’s the inept and greedy ones to catch first.
All to say that there’s a certain amount of work that goes in to detecting and punishing fraud and that work costs money. It follows that that there are types and levels of fraud that it doesn’t pay to try to prevent or punish. However, once word gets out, these kinds of frauds may eventually rise to levels where it is worth detecting and punishing. Invariably it ends up being a reactive exercise. I don’t know that there is or isn’t a better way.
IrishOtter,
There’s been numerous good studies showing the average dog understands about 100 words, and the more intelligent ones have a vocabulary equivalent to human toddlers and older. Doesn’t surprise me at all with our experience with our dogs.
There’s also that famous border collie who knew over 1000 words. He figures prominently in a Nat Geo special on dogs.
Another good interview on JNS with a Kurd/Iranian exiled to Canada, now in the Middle East near or in Iran.
Some of the complexities with the revolution brewing in Iran is the complex mix of ethnicities that will make creating a unified Iran challenging.
Persians (Fars): ~61%
The largest group, primarily concentrated in central and southern regions, and the dominant cultural and linguistic group.
Azerbaijanis (Azeris): ~16%
The second-largest group, mainly in the northwest (near Azerbaijan), speaking a Turkic language.
Kurds: ~10%
Primarily in the western provinces, speaking Kurdish (an Indo-European language).
Lurs (including Bakhtiari): ~6%
In the southwest, closely related linguistically and culturally to Persians.
Other groups: ~7–10% combined Baloch (~2%): In the southeast.
Arabs (~2%): Mostly in the southwest (Khuzestan).
Gilaki and Mazandarani (~3–8% combined): In the north near the Caspian Sea.
Turkmen and other Turkic tribes (~1–2%): In the northeast.
While around 90% of Iranians are Shia Muslim, only 10-20% support the Islamic Republic.
Hejar Berenji points to a fracturing between the political regime and the IRGC which may indicate a phase where different groups inside the regime are trying to cast blame to other groups.
Who Breaks First: The People of Iran or the Islamic Regime?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMqU6yPcbZI
The GSD head tilt! Love it.
My dog knows the way to my son’s house – if we go left toward Trader Joe’s instead of right to ‘Wally’s’ house she barks to let us know we’ve taken the wrong turn.
My husband and I have to spell my son’s dog’s name in front of ours because she goes crazy at the sound of her ‘boyfriend’s’ name.
But I think she’s catching on…
EAT REAL FOOD! New Dietary Guidance released by HHS – Video
https://commoncts.blogspot.com/2026/01/eat-real-food-new-dietary-guidance.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EttmT1vHuMk
==
Wayne Newton likes real food.