From: atropos@mac.com   
      
   On Jan 3, 2026 at 11:01:41 PM PST, "Your Name"  wrote:   
      
   > On 2026-01-03 17:52:29 +0000, shawn said:   
   >   
   >>  On Sat, 3 Jan 2026 17:48:35 -0000 (UTC), BTR1701    
   >>  wrote:   
   >>   
   >>>  On Jan 3, 2026 at 2:53:42 AM PST, "shawn"    
   >>>  wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>>  Looks like we went to war last night with Venezuela.   
   >>>>  Multiple bombs were dropped in Caracas centered on the military   
   >>>>  installations. Then there were multiple helicopters sent in,   
   >>>>  apparently to drop off troops to capture Maduro. It's unknown   
   >>>>  if that was the sole purpose of this attack or if there is more to   
   >>>>  come.   
   >>>>   
   >>>>  At least it looks like the bombing has stopped. Trump is supposed to   
   >>>>  hold a press conference at 11AM. That's when we should find out just   
   >>>>  what was the intent of this attack and if removing Maduro is the end   
   >>>>  of it.   
   >>>   
   >>>  I’m ambivalent about all this. Maduro is a monster who was legitimately   
   >>>  indicted for actual crimes and he deserved to go down. His flirting with   
   >>> Iran   
   >>>  and China just sealed that deal. But I really wish Trump didn’t spend   
   his   
   >>>  entire press conference basically saying, “Now we’ve got all that oil   
   and   
   >>> now   
   >>>  we’re going to make so much money.” I mean, even if that’s why you   
   did all   
   >>>  this, show a little PR sense and focus on stuff like “Now the people of   
   the   
   >>>  Venezuela are free and we’ll be working on rebuilding the democracy that   
   >>>  existed before Maduro and Chavez and making sure those who are starving   
   get   
   >>>  fed”, etc. etc. ‘Cause right now it just looks like you took over a   
   >>> sovereign   
   >>>  nation to steal their resources.   
   >>   
   >>  Which is what we did, take over the country for the oil. If there was   
   >>  no oil there Trump would not care enough to send in the troops. Trump   
   >>  is just making it clear why we did it.   
   >   
   > If his plan was to go after oil, then Trump the Chump is an even bigger   
   > idiot than everyone already knows him to be. Venezuela produces less   
   > than 1% of the world's oil supply, while the USA is already the top   
   > producer at around 22%.   
      
   And we'd be a lot more than that if dipshits like Gavin Newsom would allow us   
   to use what we have. The Monterey oil field beneath Kern County in California   
   is the world's third largest but we're not allowed to touch it because Gavvy   
   wants to preen on the world stage as a "green leader in the climate change   
   war".   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)