Bullet Points:
** Do you have a life coach? What’s wrong with vomiting in a toilet in a Greyhound bus station in Reno? Hasn’t everybody done that in Reno at one time or another? BRM – you’ve done everything, Peter.
** Should we have games of chance on Virtual Mirage? (No, there’s no chance, but we call it that)
** When you’ve fallen and can’t get up.
** Trump didn’t found the MAGA agenda. What some call MAGA was developed from listening to what middle-class Americans have complained about since the 1980s. He did NOT create a populist movement — he RODE it. Do you recall the original Tea Party? Middle America shaped the MAGA agenda. The people created that agenda. Trump was duly elected because of that agenda.
** Photographing zebras for fun and profit. Did the tourist just cheat the cheetah?
** A special kind of SNAP recipient.
** O’Reilly on Greenland.
** US October trade deficit lowest since 2009 as imports decline.
** More bull riding in Mexico. It’s just meat.
** The Danish military – roasted.
** SpaceX laser-based tracking of satellites – optical communication links.
** Shoes, nails, and a curry comb…
** The US has been constantly at war for the past 100+ years, at sea, on land, and in the air. It has not always been prepared for the war that it fought, but it evolved very quickly to meet threats. US Special Operations Forces have been intensely evolving since the mid-1960s, and the real-world training has led to continually evolving weapons and tactics. The selection processes and operational tempo resulted in an incredibly lethal, flexible, and capable group of people in 2026. While they are human and make human mistakes, the training efforts put into the machine are impressive, and at the point of the spear, they are exceptionally good at what they do.
In Venezuela
(Brief) Venezuela has begun releasing political prisoners, a move that could signal the country’s new leadership is responding to pressure from the United States amid broader negotiations over sanctions, oil sales, and detained foreign nationals. The announcement was made on Thursday by Jorge Rodríguez, the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, who said the government was freeing an “important number” of prisoners as part of what he described as a unilateral effort to “maintain the peace,” NBC News reported.
Rodríguez did not specify how many prisoners would be released, nor did he provide a timeline or list of names. Human rights groups estimate that Venezuela is holding between 800 and 900 political prisoners, most of whom were detained under former President Nicolás Maduro, who was captured by U.S. forces on Saturday.
In New York
NEW YORK CITY — In a harrowing tale of journalistic terrorism, NYC Housing Czar Cea Weaver recounted her traumatic encounter with a relentless reporter who dared to probe the dark secrets of her family’s real estate empire. “It was horrible! They just kept asking me questions! They said my mom may be a white supremacist because she owns a home,” Weaver sobbed to TDS News reporter Gabe Owners, clutching a tissue emblazoned with “Seize Private Property” slogans.
Weaver, the freshly appointed tenant tsar under Mayor Zohran Mamdani, has long championed the noble cause of dismantling homeownership as a “weapon of white supremacy masquerading as wealth-building public policy.” But when confronted about her own mother’s $1.4 million Craftsman palace in Nashville—complete with appreciating value in a gentrifying neighborhood—the hypocrisy hit harder than a rent hike. Sources say Weaver burst into tears, fled the scene like a landlord dodging code violations, and barricaded herself in her Crown Heights pad, peeking out from behind a “Free Palestine” poster.
“I mean, sure, my mom’s a Vanderbilt professor sitting on a property that skyrocketed from $814,000 to over a mil, but that’s totally different! It’s… uh… collective equity or something,” Weaver reportedly whimpered before deleting her X account faster than you can say “impoverish the white middle class.” Mayor Mamdani stood by his pick, insisting her tears prove she’s committed to “equitable sobbing for all.”
TDS News will continue monitoring this developing story of elite socialist fragility. Stay tuned for more on how Weaver plans to seize her mom’s guest room for the proletariat.
Leaning on Big Oil
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy (Bloomberg) — Major US oil executives expressed caution to Donald Trump about reentering Venezuela, even as the president pressured their companies to spend at least $100 billion to revive the country’s crude oil production.
Trump convened nearly 20 industry representatives in the East Room of the White House on Friday and predicted they could come to an agreement “today or very shortly thereafter” to restart operations in the oil-rich Latin American country, following the brazen capture of leader Nicolás Maduro.
“If you don’t want to go in, just let me know, because I’ve got 25 people that aren’t here today that are willing to take your place,” Trump told the oil representatives.
Comments from some executives indicated that the president may need to do more convincing. While many praised Trump and said they relished the opportunity resulting from last weekend’s military action, they stressed that hard work remained before they could make substantive investments.
Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods said that Venezuela is currently “uninvestable.”
“There are a number of legal and commercial frameworks that would have to be established to even understand what kind of returns we get on the investments,” Woods said, adding his company’s assets had been seized by the government in Caracas twice before. “How durable are the protections from a financial standpoint? What will the returns look like? What are the commercial arrangements, the legal frameworks?” Woods asked. “All those things have to be put in place in order to make a decision to understand what your return would be over the next several decades.”
Even Continental Resources Inc.’s Harold Hamm, a longtime Trump donor, sidestepped a question on his personal plans to invest in Venezuelan operations, though he said the prospect “excites me as an explorationist.” “There’s a huge investment that needs to be done — we’ve all agreed on that, and certainly we need time to see that through,” Hamm said.
Trump, looking to rally support, said the US would provide security guarantees to companies that went into Venezuela, without detailing how that would work. He also predicted that companies would quickly make back investments in new or updated equipment.
“We’re dealing with the country, so we’re empowered to make that deal. And you have total safety, total security,” Trump said. “You’re dealing with us directly, you’re not dealing with Venezuela, or we don’t want you to deal with Venezuela.” But at the same time, Trump said the US would not consider prior losses suffered by companies that had to abandon their Venezuelan operations.
At one point, Trump asked Ryan Lance how much the company had forfeited in Venezuela, prompting the ConocoPhillips CEO to say it had taken a $12 billion loss.
“Good write-off,” Trump joked.
“It’s already been written off,” Lance responded.
Other companies expressed optimism about the opportunities available, with Repsol SA CEO Josu Jon Imaz San Miguel telling Trump his company was “ready to invest more in Venezuela today” following a “commercial and legal framework that could allow this.”
“We are ready to go to Venezuela,” said Bill Armstrong, CEO of Armstrong Oil & Gas. “In real estate terms, it is prime real estate. And it’s kind of like West Palm about 50 years ago: very ripe.”
Still, the overall tenor underscored the difficult road ahead that the Trump administration faces in enticing major oil producers back to Venezuela. The US’s military intervention there stunned many Americans, including some of Trump’s own supporters, who called it a naked attempt to seize another country’s natural resources.
The president has framed it as a chance to oust a leader in Maduro who posed a national security threat and tap Venezuela’s massive oil reserves as a source of hemispheric power and revenue. “If we didn’t do this, China or Russia would have done it,” Trump said.
Trump is looking to Western oil companies, including firms that joined him Friday, to revitalize Venezuela’s dilapidated oil infrastructure. He said negotiations on the “confines of a deal” would continue in private. “We have to get them to invest, and then we have to get their money back as quickly as we can,” Trump said.
Trump’s exhortations to the oil industry dovetail with a broader push to address cost-of-living concerns weighing heavily on Republicans’ bid to maintain control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.
The president frequently touts declining oil and gasoline prices, which on Friday averaged $2.81 per unleaded gallon, according to the American Automobile Association, as a salve for American consumers. That’s a double-edged sword. Low prices are viewed warily within the oil industry, which Trump is counting on to keep pumping crude. Some US oil operators, particularly independent producers, are concerned about current prices that have strained the economics of some domestic drilling. And they’re worried about the prospect of an influx of Venezuelan crude suppressing prices further, making more wells too expensive to produce.
This week, executives have stressed to administration officials that any Venezuelan oil rebuild requires guarantees of physical security and contract certainty, given concerns about Venezuela’s stability under acting leader Delcy Rodriguez. While Chevron still operates in Venezuela under a special US license, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips left after Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, nationalized their assets.
Venezuela sits atop the world’s largest proved crude reserves, but its output has dwindled to less than 1 million barrels per day amid decades of disrepair and the exodus of foreign firms. Cleaning up environmental damage and rebuilding the country’s abandoned rigs, leaky pipelines, and fire-ravaged equipment could take years — and tens of billions of dollars — simply to modestly boost production, much less approach the country’s 1970s peak of almost 4 million barrels per day.
Identify the UAV
1
Identify the Aircraft
2
354 built
3
4
2 built
Parting Shot
End
4 is Lockheed Model 75 Saturn. Passanger plane concept done in by cheap WW2 surplus DC3 etc.
1 is Lockheed Martin VXE30 Stalker
2 is Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra
3 is Lockheed P-58
1 – Lockheed Martin Stalker VXE30
2 – Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra in KLM Livery
3 – Lockheed XP-58 Chain Lightning
4 – Lockheed Model 75 Saturn
Excellent
Identify the UAV:
1. Lockheed Martin Stalker VXE
Identify the Aircraft:
2. Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra
3. Lockheed XP-58 Chain Lightning
4. Lockheed Saturn
Exactly!
IDA-
1. Lockheed Martin Stalker VXE30, a next-generation vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial system (UAS).
2. KLM Lockheed Model 14 “Super Electra”
3. Lockheed XP-58 “Chain Lightning”
4. Lockheed Model 75 “Saturn”, a small, short-haul commercial aircraft prototype. Likely the second prototype given its engine design.
U.S. Oil companies and Venezuela-
Economic Viability of the Oil Itself: Venezuela’s crude is predominantly extra-heavy and sour (high sulfur and metals content), making it viscous, expensive to extract, refine, and transport. It requires blending with lighter oils and specialized refineries—capabilities that U.S. firms have, but at a premium cost. As noted in recent analyses, this “dirtiest” oil trades at heavy discounts in global markets, especially with current low prices (around $70-80/barrel) deterring big bets. Rebuilding decayed infrastructure could take 7-10 years and hundreds of billions, per industry estimates, with no quick ROI in a world shifting toward cleaner energy. Unresolved Debts and Legal Risks: U.S. companies are still owed billions from Chávez-era expropriations (e.g., ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips won arbitration awards but saw minimal payouts). While Trump talks “reimbursement through revenue,” executives fear political instability could lead to another round of seizures or reneged deals under a fragile interim government. Sanctions remain in place, exposing firms to penalties, and there’s no clear fiscal framework yet for royalties, taxes, or profit-sharing. Operational and Above-Ground Hurdles: Decades of PDVSA mismanagement, corruption, and underinvestment have left fields, pipelines, and refineries in ruins. Skilled labor has fled, and security risks persist (e.g., no guarantees against sabotage or unrest). Big oil moves slowly with boards prioritizing shareholder returns over high-risk ventures—Chevron’s the only major still operating there under special licenses, and even they’re cautious. As Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent admitted recently, “the big oil companies who move slowly… are not interested.” This reluctance isn’t just corporate caution; it highlights a mismatch between political hype and business reality. If majors stay sidelined, smaller players or foreign rivals (e.g., from China or Russia, who’ve already inked deals) might fill the void, or U.S. taxpayers could indirectly bear costs through aid or subsidies to kickstart production. The administration’s pre-intervention outreach to firms reportedly got a “hard no,” raising doubts about whether this is truly a slam-dunk for American energy dominance or more of a high-stakes gamble.
-STA Lethal
In my mind, events in Iran might coincide with those in Venezuela. I’m not talking about US intervention in Iran. Not exactly. But if Shah jr. takes over, the US will be there holding his hand, and it will change the OPEC landscape. Combine that with Venezuela and possibly Cuba thrown in for good measure and the slave states will have taken quite a blow.
Is that a prayer for the Sermonette?
Oil companies and Venezuela… throw a few billion each into a hat, go find some quick easy wins. Then do it again. I mean the auto industry burned $100 billion on loses on EV batteries and cars for no reason. At least Venezuela has real oil that can be sold today.
*
Lockheed XP-58 was an interesting idea but not thought out. Between never agreeing on a design due to never deciding on a purpose for the aircraft, then under powering the engines it was doomed to extinction. Plus of course the new jet engine aircraft left it in the past. But one wonders if the future modern Navy ship designers took the lessons of this aircraft design failure as their source of project management inspiration.
*
Have to admire the skill of those guys roping the out of control Mexican bull and rescuing the ill fated rider. They just trot out, nonchalantly, rope it, get it under control and drag off the guy. Next rider up!
The P-61 was a better development than the P-58.
.
Yeah, three shots of tequila (off brand), US$20 and it’s your turn to ride the bull. It takes stones to do that when you know what’s coming. There is no medical aid. A couple vaqueros drag your meat to a pick up, toss you in the bed and off you go to wherever.
From what I’ve read, our best long range piston fighter was the F-82 Twin Mustang. An F-82 scored the first U.S. aerial victory in the Korean War.
F-82; According to the military model museum curator here ( Abilene TX); The second fuselage was equipped with alpha phase radar equipment during Korean operations on some of the crafts.
we don’t know sign language, but the wife and i don’t think that lady? is signing what timmy is saying.
Are you sure that it’s a lady? How do you know what a woman is when a justice of the US Supreme Court (a birthing person as it so happens) doesn’t know what a woman is?
**Weaver sobbed to TDS News reporter **
She realized that when they take over she’ll have to stand her mom against the wall ….
You’re a better man than me to think that.
If I were guessing Weaver’s motivations, she was embarrassed to have her bourgeois (but top 5%) origins revealed is the more likely, and only because it would hurt Weaver’s “womyn of the People” cred. As to standing her mother against the wall, it’s probably a mix of “oh well, sacrifices must be made” and “the bitch has it coming”. These are sick, and venomous, people. Self pity, spite, and desire for “revenge” all concealed as “improving the world” and “helping the downtrodden”. And concealed ESPECIALLY to themselves. But hey, that matches probably 50% of New York’s current elite, so at least they have SOME common ground.
Re: O’reilly. Leftists will never understand the concept of “ball busting”.
Larry, I’m not sure people like you and I are suitable candidates to work as life coaches. Military coaches, certainly. Law enforcement coaches, maybe. Other types of coaching… well, we all make bad decisions sometimes.
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As for vomiting in a bus stop restroom? No, I’ve never done that, and I’m not tempted to try it now, thank you very much. Ballistically or explosively removing the bus stop altogether? Yes, I can recall one time when I saw that happen, in the former Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). A bunch of terrorists had taken refuge there, expecting to look like innocent civilians waiting for the next bus when the security forces caught up with them. It didn’t work. Didn’t do the restrooms much good, either… when the dust settled, they looked like a new, Bauhaus version of the Zimbabwe Ruins.
Ok, you’re right. I’ve officially given up my aspiration to be a life coach. I’ll stick to stuffing blasting caps into C-4.
A man’s gotta know his limitations….
Life coaching. So one day I looked up a good friend from residency, who I’d lost touch with. She (a neurologist, and at the time Harvard Medical School faculty) had a website advertising her services as a Life Coach. I called her. “Life coach! What the hell?” Eh, she replied. I feel like I’m not getting anywhere personally. Then I thought: Hmmm, maybe I could try running someone else’s life.
—
Never vomited in a bus station in Reno, but I did wreck the men’s room (a 1-holer) in the Penthouse level “ballroom” of a fancy River North Chicago highrise condo building one memorable evening. It was the social event for a scientific conference. Out both ends, explosively. Turns out I shouldn’t have had lunch at that quaint diner in Aurora. (Not proud.)
It seems to me building new refineries in Texas would offer a better ROI than Venezuela. Someone will make money replacing California shut downs. You could charge the double for their fancy gas.
I am concerned about California and New York’s self destruction dragging the country down, but bringing their industry and banks Texas will win. Time to strip them like an old car and sell the leftovers for scrap metal. I would only buy the metal and leave the site clean up to the state. Tom
I’ve wondered what condition the refineries are in Venezuela. Some patented equipment wasn’t repaired with parts from manufacturers that basically had their equipment, and designs, stolen. I can see where reverse engineering was by other countries, or manufacturers sold their equipment through back-alley transactions. Whether the refineries have strict quality control is another thing I’ve wondered about.
All of it needs to be surveyed and repaired. Did somebody put a screwdriver into a fuse holder absent a proper fuse? Likely, the entire fuse block would be rigged that way.
Re Weaver, it’s ‘rules for thee, not for me’… And ‘how dare you question me?”
Czar Weaver and the communist that appointed her are certainly going to keep the popcorn futures up for the near term.
PDJT has a good, but not stellar, record as a businessman. Anyone remember Trump Airline? What he is proposing in Venezuela will give hope back to many people but hope won’t be enough, IMO, for hard headed oil executives. They are walking away from California and Oregon. California is arguably the fifth largest economy in the world.
Once the people’s republic’s junta is replaced, they’ll return.
Will getting Venezuela online kill the frackers in this country?
“the hypocrisy hit harder than a rent hike”
The writing on this mind blog only gets better. Good work.
Weaver: Yet another grifter who is trying to keep her silver spoon out of public knowledge (like her boss). However, in typical Lefty fashion (self proclaimed immunity from any and all scrutiny) once caught red-handed (intentional double entendre) she goes off into a weepy accusatory fit to deflect her obvious hypocrisy that no one was supposed to find out about. Tough darts,Toots, suck it up buttercup. Next we’ll find out she was married, had kids, then like a growing segment of suburban white woman (eg. Ms. Good being the latest example) tosses her decades of heterosexuality, marriage, and motherhood responsibilities for the lesbian lifestyle, including a ‘wifely’ unit, clipped purple hair, and raging angst with newfound activism.
***
Parting Shot: That can go one of two ways: a) Tim Walzing Matilda has found someone more demented than himself as a running mate…or…she is a direct reflection of what constitutes the general mentality of that once good city’s resident. Okay, maybe it’s both.
👍
On a different note – Vivaldi being played on an accordion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SE222v1eyM
Do you know, I once rode a Greyhound from Detroit to Dallas. I cost $70. I’m not inclined to do that again.