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A very close friend of mine in southern California used to listen to Fox News pretty much non-stop. The Venezuelan Communists, according to Fox, were planning to invade the USA, he warned me. Hordes of savage Venezuelans were about to ravage the lovely coast of Southern California.

Was this before Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, Taliban, and the wicked Iranians sacked California, I asked him? America’s enemies are everywhere, according to the alarmist far right. Today’s rightwing worrywarts are the children of the ‘reds under our beds’ crowd of the 1950’s.

But Venezuela? It’s a military pipsqueak and has barely enough money to feed itself. This nation is rich by nature but poor by government.

Venezuela does have one of the world’s largest reserves of heavy oil which needs specialized refineries to process. In happier days, Venezuela served as a basic oil supplier for US industry. But then the Venezuelans, led by their colorful Castro-inspired strongman, Hugo Chavez, came up with the heretical idea that the massive oil profits should be equally shared between Americans and Venezuelans.

Lately I’ve been on shows with other guests who’ve expressed outrage and amazement that the U.S. government would blow up people on boats, exclaiming that they never could have imagined such a thing until this moment. A U.S. senator has said he finds video of one particular missile-murder the most disturbing thing he’s ever seen.

A couple of months into these boat killings, could anyone have imagined that corporate media outlets and Congress Members and boatloads of lawyers would be discovering the double-tap as something novel, and declaring their outrage? I think part of the provenance of this phenomenon lies in the conversation in the corporate agora about illegal orders, which was clearly created to object to the use of the so-called National Guard in U.S. cities but ended up being understood as relevant to murdering boaters. And part of it has to do with the personalities, statements, and general obnoxiousness of Trump, Hegseth, et alia.

Spanish actress Adriana Ugarte, 40, star of the hit Spanish TV drama “The Time in Between,” has, upon recently receiving her award at the Almería Film Festival, stated that what is happening in Palestine cannot be considered the end of Israeli crimes.

Ugarte emphasized that what is being marketed to the world as a "ceasefire" does not reflect the true reality on the ground, stressing that the tragedy is far from over and that the occupation continues to escalate its crimes against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

She explained that since the ceasefire was announced, Israel has killed 342 Palestinians and committed 497 violations of the agreement, which she considers evidence of the ongoing genocide against civilians.

So far Israel has murdered 18,000 children and 1,034 medical doctors in Gaza, not to mention that the terrorist Israeli Death Forces (IDF) and lawless illegal settlers have killed over 1,000 Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since October 7, 2023. The world should never forget that Israel still holds over 10,000 Palestinian hostages, most of whom are held without trial or charges for years.

First, let’s dissect this puzzle.

 On February 29, 2024, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent shockwaves when he informed lawmakers in the House Armed Services Committee that over 25,000 Palestinian women and children had been killed by Israel in Gaza up to that date. Austin, the military chief of the Biden Administration, delivered a fact that immediately subverted his own government’s rhetoric.

I’ve been struggling to imagine Elon Musk might do if he gets his trillion-dollar payday. He could spend a million dollars a day for 3,000 years.  Or, more realistically, $100 million a day for 30 years. He could spend the $290 million he invested in Trump’s election and do it 3,400 times, wherever and whenever he pleases. Or buy more media properties, spending up to twenty times the $44 billion it took for him to buy Twitter and make it into a misinformation swamp key to Trump’s reelection.

But the money the Tesla board just handed Musk isn’t guaranteed. He has to meet goals like delivering 20 million Tesla vehicles and dramatically increasing Tesla’s stock price. Ordinary citizens can prevent that, but we need to take our efforts to another level.

Last month, some House members publicly acknowledged that Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza.

Hosted by Harvey Wasserman

Hedy Tripp shared insights on the historic election of a Hmong American woman as mayor in St. Paul, Minnesota, and highlighted the Somali community's resistance against hate mail and threats in St. Cloud. 

Ray McClendon provided a detailed update on the dismissed Georgia racketeering case against Donald Trump, emphasizing the role of Pete Scandalakis and the lack of legal recourse due to state charges. The group discussed the importance of grassroots organizing and voter turnout, with Ray highlighting the success of relational organizing in increasing Black voter turnout in Georgia and Virginia. The conversation ended with a brief mention of the impact of Marjorie Taylor Greene's resignation and the need for continued focus on grassroots activities ahead of the 2026 elections.