Podcast appearances and mentions of michael maloof

On this Moats, George Galloway broadcasts from Kazan, Russia on the eve of the BRICS summit 2024. George talks his experiences returning to Russia for the first time since before the conflict with Ukraine. Has Israel destroyed Hamas, after the death of its leader at the hands of another devastating operation.Michael Maloof joins George to discuss what to expect from this years BRICS summit and why more countries are queueing up to join up next. They talk the current state of American politics, military politics moves across the board by Israel and the state of US politics.Rachel Blevins is back on the show after being allowed back on YouTube after being banned from the platform over her content discussing Ukraine and Russia. After having her channel reinstated, they discuss the new age of censorship from big tech and how they are hitting independent journalists all over the world who are covering the Ukraine conflict. Michael Maloof: Former Pentagon security analyst reporter and authorRachel Blevins: Journalist and Political Commentator.- Twitter: https://x.com/rachblevins-Instagram: https://instagram.com/rachblevins-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/racheleliseblevins-YouTube: https://youtube.com/@RachelBlevins-Rumble: https://rumble.com/v3q0fgy-gaza-facing-humanitarian-catastrophe-israeli-bombs-kill-1000-children.html-Telegram: https://t.me/rachblevins Become a MOATS Graduate at https://plus.acast.com/s/moatswithgorgegalloway. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

EP318 - Temu Deep Dive with Earnest Analytics  Episode Summary: In this episode, Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg and Scot Wingo dive deep Temu, the online marketplace operated by the Chinese e-commerce company PDD Holdings, that has become the fastest growing retailer in history. Joining us on the episode is Michael Maloof is the Head of Marketing for Earnest Analytics. Earnest works with world-class data partners to acquires, anonymize, and productize insight about the entire U.S. Economy. They have posted numerous insights about Temu in the US this year: Feb 28: Temu's 2024 Super Bowl ad blitz failed to accelerate growth March 5: Temu is growing fastest among high income earners March 12: Almost half of Wish, AliExpress customers shop at Temu In this episode we cover who Temu is, how big they have become, who their customers are and what retailers they are likely impacting, their go to market strategy (and especially their marketing spend), the controversy around their use of the Global Postal Treaty, and some of their potential risks. We also explore where they could go next. If you're in the commerce space, you'll want to make sure you are up to speed on Temu. Don't forget to like our facebook page, and if you enjoyed this episode please write us a review on itunes. Episode 318 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Wednesday, March 13th, 2024. http://jasonandscot.com Join your hosts Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis, and Scot Wingo, CEO of GetSpiffy and Co-Founder of ChannelAdvisor as they discuss the latest news and trends in the world of e-commerce and digital shopper marketing. Transcript Jason: [0:23] Welcome to the Jason and Scott show. This is episode 318 being recorded on Wednesday, March 13th, 2024. I'm your host, Jason “Retailgeek” Goldberg. And as usual, I'm here with your co-host, Scott Wingo. Scot: [0:39] Hey, Jason, and welcome back, Jason and Scott show listeners. Jason, one of the topics that is coming up a lot this year, we talked a lot at a lot in our recap and our preview is Temu. By many measures, people think they're one of the fastest growing e-commerce companies in history. If you watch the Super Bowl, I think they spent $8 trillion on ads there. So we want to do a deep dive into this and cover a number of topics. We want to talk about a little background around Temu. What's it mean for U.S. retailers? And, you know, it's a Chinese company. Does it even matter? If yes, why? Because Temu isn't public and they are a Chinese company, they don't really disclose any information. So we wanted to bring on a guest that is basically a Temu expert. So we looked around and we found Michael Maloof. He is the head of marketing at Ernest Analytics. Ernest works with world-class data partners to acquire, anonymize, and productize insights about the U.S. economy. They have posted lots of articles. This is how we found Michael. I think you know him as well from the trade show circuit. So he's going to help us do this deep dive into what's going on at Temu. Welcome to the show, Michael. Michael? Michael: [1:59] Yeah, thanks so much for having me on the show. Big fan of your annual predictions and the work you guys do. So I'm head of marketing at Earnest Analytics. We're the leading credit card retail pricing and healthcare claims data provider for investors and retailers. Before Earnest, I was actually a tech and telco analyst over at Goldman. The two credit card data sets we work with now, Orion and Vela, are probably the most pertinent to my conversations about the consumer economy and certainly this conversation today about TMU. They sourced respectively from a large account aggregator, like a budgeting app, and part of a POS system in the US. And Ernest essentially takes these massive and messy data sets, normalizes structures, and then puts them onto our platform so everyone from portfolio managers to marketers can see this third-party data. For example, you'd see market share, competitive benchmarking, customer behavior, revenue predictions, and macro trends for thousands of companies, including TMU. Scot: [3:03] Awesome. Thanks, Michael. And then, so which sector did you cover when you were an analyst at Goldman Sachs? Michael: [3:08] Tech and telco. So anything in the tech space, we had a few marketplaces in there, telecom companies. It's been a while though. Ernest has been my home now for seven years. Scot: [3:20] Okay. Was this in the Anthony Noto era you were there? Michael: [3:23] This was in the vera rossi era she was my my lead where we recovered uh latin american tech and telco. Scot: [3:30] Very cool awesome yeah they did goldman did the channelizer ipo so i get to know the team there pretty well awesome well before we jump into the data which we're excited to kind of hear what you have to share here jason i know this has become a very hot topic in your world you you You spoke on it at NRF. In your day job, you're getting tons of questions about this. I think you're booked out solid with Tmoo briefings. So those people pay big money for it, and our listeners don't pay. Give us the free version of your backgrounder on Tmoo. Jason: [4:05] Yeah, thanks, Scott. And I'm sure we'll spice in some other tidbits as we go, but I'll try to give a concise bullet. it. Temu is a subsidiary of a company that used to be called Pinduoduo in China. It's now called PDD Holdings, which is infinitely easier to spell, by the way. And PDD Holdings is one of the largest e-commerce companies in China. On a market cap basis, they keep flip-flopping with Alibaba. So they're super competitive. They're way north of like $400 billion in GMV in China and had a really interesting trajectory, but a couple of years ago, they launched Tmoo into first UK and then US, now 49 other markets as a new retail concept. And so a couple of things I'd want folks to know before we dive in with Michael, first of all, the name is a loose English acronym for team up price down. So I always pronounce Tmoo as in team. [5:08] There are multiple pronunciations out there, even from Tmoo employees. So I'm not sure there's an official pronunciation. In the United States, they launched in September of 2022. So they're about 18 months old now. And most folks were not familiar with them until, a surprise, three months after launching, they bought a Super Bowl ad. So they became familiar to millions of Americans with the Shop Like a Billionaire ad that ran in the Super Bowl in 2023. And then as Scott alluded to, they bought five ads in the Super Bowl this year. So they haven't disclosed what they paid. A normal 30-second spot in the Super Bowl costs about $7 million. They ran four ads during the Super Bowl and one during the postgame. So estimates are in the kind of $20 to $30 million that they spent just on that ad. There's a bunch of estimates for how big they are in the U.S. I'm eager to hear what Michael thinks, but his old rivals at Morgan Stanley have them at about $16 billion in GMV in the U.S. But more interesting, Morgan Stanley estimates they're going to be $32 billion by 2030. So you think about a retail company that launched in September of 2022, and then in the first year, business sold $16 billion worth of stuff. That's the fastest growing retailer of all times. We do know from other sources that they get more traffic every year than Target. [6:36] They've been the most downloaded shopping apps on the Android and Apple app stores since they were born. So they've kind of owned the top of that list. And a couple other little interesting things. They are a marketplace. They have invented a model they call next generation manufacturing. So they're a marketplace. It's all three-piece sellers that are selling goods on Temu. But unlike traditional Western-based marketplaces, Temu does a lot more of the work, of listing the products and fulfilling the products for the factory. So they may, if you're a factory, they say the only thing you need is a cellular internet connection, and they provide you all the infrastructure to become a successful seller on Temu. There's somewhere between 80 and 100,000 Chinese factories that are currently sellers on the marketplace. And then one big innovation is this week, they're turning on the ability for U.S. Marketplace sellers to sell and fulfill their goods from the U.S. as well. So one interesting question about a marketplace is, are they competing for sellers with Amazon and Walmart? And now they're bringing that fight to American soil. So that, I feel like, is enough to get us started. There's certainly an interesting company that's worth following. [7:52] The way I originally discovered Earnest is through this show. One of our most popular guests, Dan McCarthy, has been on a few times talking about his his CLV methodologies. And our listeners have really enjoyed his his commentary. He has partnered with Earnest Data several times to do some really interesting analytics. And you guys at Earnest have published a couple of those as thought leadership. And so that's how I first met you. And then, Michael, I noticed you published like three articles on Temu this year. Michael: [8:22] That's right. Right. Teamio has been one of the top client asked for themes. It's definitely something we're seeing a lot in the press. We work a lot with those thought leaders as well. And that's something that we're getting a lot of questions on from everyone from business to fashion to Dan McCarthy. So glad to answer any questions there. We are kind of in a unique spot, kind of have the dashboard on the consumer economy, if you will. Basically what's going on within the last few days we can see everything from customer acquisition they have to their gross market merchandise value. Scot: [8:56] Got it let's let's start at the basics and let's pretend you know so i see Temu and you know it looks like they've got and you know one of my theories is it feels a lot like wish.com so it's really kind of cheap stuff slower ship going to what i would call value-oriented and consumers, you know, in your data, what, what kind of customer are, is buying this and then how fast do you think they are really growing? Michael: [9:22] Yeah, let me answer the second one first. Timmy's growing very quickly. Like you said, from late 2022 onwards, our data is showing double digit month to month growth, which is just explosive, right as it became a household name. In the first three months, for context, it had roughly as many weekly active users in the US as the largest fast fashion brand, Shein, and within 10 months had surpassed Shein in sales. And it had taken Shein years to get to that point. So really, a much shorter timeline. For an idea of size, about 18% of US households have shopped at TeamView since its launch. And in terms of GMV, in February, we saw about 1% of Amazon's US GMV. If you look at that, if you just break that out over the whole year, I believe in 2023, their net sales were something like over $500 billion. You're looking at around $50 billion in gross merchandise value moving through the service. But nevertheless, it's kind of not made really meaningful inroads with the largest online brands. I mean, it's still 1% in a good month. And that's actually decelerated since 2023. In fact, February of 2023 had fewer sales than January, despite the really heavy advertising spend you mentioned. [10:47] So yeah, there's some signs that the growth is kind of changing there. Mainly that retention is increasing even while this like... [11:01] New customer acquisition-based sales growth model is slowing down. TeamU's average customer lifetime value tracks higher than Walmart. And we're seeing customers becoming much more loyal. So that's an interesting kind of plus for them while sales in total are kind of hitting a lull. But yeah, let's talk about who those customers are too. It's definitely been one of the more interesting finds from our data. Despite the really low price points and that kind of gamified discount system, TeamView's US customer base skews middle to high income, actually. Sales among customers earning that over $190K, which is obviously very high up there, they're the fastest growing income bracket. And that's from May to January, May of 23 to January 24. So those sales to customers earning under $55K, like less than the median U.S. household income, that's actually the slowest growing. So today, about 44% of TeamU sales come from earners making over $130K. Not only do high-income earners account for the largest share, they're outgrowing. We just think that TeamU resonates mostly with customers with more disposable income. income, people who can afford to take a gamble on an item that might not work out. [12:27] You buy a floor mat for $5, it doesn't work. A middle high income person might just say, hey, it was $5 wasted, but the poor people don't always look at that. They're looking for a little bit more bang for their buck, can't afford that type of gamble. Yeah, it's interesting. Scot: [12:46] Cool and then you've you know you mentioned that they're you know basically their ltv is going up do you have any insight into why are they getting better at like maybe predictive analytics or recommendation engine or you know they see jason bought some gadget and then they they know he's now a gadget geek and they kind of start targeting do you have any insight into what's driving that that bump in LTV? Michael: [13:09] That's a good question. So I don't really have much insight into that. I try not to get out over my skis in terms of the data that I have available to me. We're looking at retention. We're looking for what's called a smile. Dan McCarthy talks about it all the time, which is over time as a company starts to bring back more customers that stopped stopped spending with them. And that's been pretty rare to see in e-commerce history. That's something they've managed to do. How they're doing that, I'm not totally sure. So it's definitely going to be the key for them to continue growing as new customer growth slows down, though. Scot: [13:52] Yeah. Jason, do you know? Jason: [13:54] Yeah. Well, so I don't know. I just want to point out that while Michael is wisely trying to not get over his skis, I live over my skis. So I'll tumble down the ski slope once again. One of the things I maybe should have said up front or maybe apparent to a lot of people is T-Moves marketing spend isn't just that Super Bowl ad. They're spending a fortune on digital ads and almost certainly losing a lot of money on every sale. So there's a Wall Street Journal article that came out this week that said that Temu or PDD overall spent over $2 billion with Facebook and was Facebook's largest advertiser. They're also Google's largest advertiser in the U.S. And so they're buying a lot of customers. And the the Wall Street Journal estimates that they're losing $6 on every sale. They're spending so much on customer acquisition. And so in that first year, they're doing a ton of marketing. There's a ton of people that never heard of Temu. They're acquiring those customers. They're getting that first order. [14:54] And, you know, a mini version of this is what Wish did until they ran out of money. But though it doesn't seem like there was a lot of evidence that Wish ever got traction, right? Like they didn't get those repeat orders. And what I think we're seeing And what I've seen in some of the data that Michael shared with us is that Temu very much is growing that LTV, getting repeat orders, even as the flood of digital marketing they're spending is sort of losing some efficacy as the law of large numbers kick in. And then I would also say Pinduoduo in China and now Temu in the U.S. Is very well known for their gamification. So they have lots of clever gamification mechanics on their websites, group buying, contests, gifts, one-time deals that are all like very carefully crafted to entice you to make an incremental purchase and to make an unplanned purchase. So I think all of those things appear to be working and then they hit you on social media with, you know, a huge spend, you know, right when you're, you're doom scrolling and expressing some, some purchase intent through your clicks. Scot: [16:08] Very cool. How about you, Michael, you mentioned this, this, this slowdown, which is exactly opposite of what I would have thought given the Superbowl ads. What do you, does the data show you anything there? Is it? Normal or like what what's going on. Michael: [16:23] Yeah i mean i don't know i don't know what would be normal for this company that's still up hundreds of percent a year but when i'm looking at at month over month growth which is the kind of the best way i can think to to look at it it is pretty remarkable there was some sort of a step change in august of last year where it went from growing double double digits each month to growing just single digits or down. The holidays, December actually was smaller than November in terms of their sales. And January was smaller still, makes sense. But February, also very challenged in terms of sales. I'm wondering if they're in a sort of spiral in terms of the new customer's first time kind of buying frenzy is over, or if this is a shift towards very purposely trying to get people in the door and they're just actually tapping brakes a bit on advertising spending. I'm not totally sure what this signals just yet. Scot: [17:35] Got it. Okay. Jason: [17:36] Is it safe to say that there's no clear evidence that spending $30 million million dollars on the Super Bowl had a super observable impact on their sales. Michael: [17:46] Okay. Yeah. So the Super Bowl. Let's talk about that. The million dollar question or $30 million question, I guess. The answer is probably not. There are a lot of ways to measure advertising effectiveness, as you guys know better than most. Brand awareness and net promoter score. But yeah, for a young company like this facing slowing new customer growth, I'd imagine they're looking to move the needle with each of these like big marketing events and the data just suggests that their multiple ads on February 11th had no meaningful boost in sales actually TeamU saw a noticeable deceleration in sales growth following the event actually kind of, like sales were significantly slower in the next few days. So unless they're measuring this on a much longer timeline, I don't think this investment was worth it. I think they would be better just plowing dollars into digital, wherever that is. Jason: [18:42] Yeah, it's super interesting. You know, obviously for listeners that don't know, my salary gets paid by those Super Bowl ads. I work for a big ad agency for which I'm very grateful. But the lot of controversy around our water cooler the day after the show. That was a spin that you rarely see. And in one metric, it clearly had an impact. There was a lot more discussion about Temu than any other company on social media the day after the Super Bowl. So the Super Bowl ads triggered awareness and conversation. I think they were the second behind Verizon, which had Beyonce, right? And so there was a lot of talk on social media. It was not all positive. There was a lot of discussion on social media, but people that hated the team who had the first time they saw it because it was sort of by Super Bowl standards, not a very high production animated ad. I think they made it in-house and they, you know, ran it with much greater repetition than audiences are used to. So it generated a lot of conversation that didn't necessarily translate to sales, at least that we can measure in the short term. And so that that's going to be interesting long term case study about what what these kind of, you know, splashy big reach audiences can and can't can't do. Right. Michael: [20:00] You know, I don't, again, skis and getting over them. It just seems like the outcome for them at this point should be a little further down the funnel. And I don't see how advertising spend like that will marginally get someone, persuade someone to buy a team you that wasn't already going to. It seems, yeah, it was a lot and there was no really movement in our data, either in new signups or in sales. I think there's some other research out that downloads are trending downwards or slowing down as well. We don't have that data, but I was reading elsewhere. So I think, Scott, this is maybe more to your 2024 prediction that people are realizing this is wish and slowing. and becoming less enamored or falling out of it. Jason: [20:52] No, no, no, no. Scott's predictions cannot be right. Scot: [20:55] Wait, if I hear that, you're pre-anointing that I'm right. Is that you're here in March, you're saying I was right with my prediction. Man, I'm good. Michael: [21:04] I didn't want to pick a side here, but I think people might be falling out of love with it, although it's not because it's not wish, it's because they're out wishing wish. We can talk to it a little bit. But I think people just realize Teamio is managing to disrupt Wish. And we can talk to the brands that it's disrupting. That's just one of many. It's got higher retention, bigger scale than Wish. But it does have the same limits as Wish and that this deep discount model doesn't have the big household brands that people want when they're making those everyday purchases that are slightly bigger, like the Tides and Cloroxes or the recognizable alternatives. There are just some things you don't want to replace and you don't want to gamble on. I don't think anyone wants to spend a dollar on detergent and see what happens. It's just going to be tough for them to scale at some point. I think the question we should be asking is if they've reached that point yet. I'm not sure. The sales growth slowing suggests they could have. But in the meantime, they are actually taking a wrecking ball to several other brands. So just because total sales is slowing doesn't mean the disruptive effect is slowing. Scot: [22:22] Yeah, let's go, Jason. Jason: [22:51] Because Temu is buying so many ads and driving the price on all those auctions up. So don't know if it's moving the needle on consumer impact or not, but it for sure is having an impact on their competitors, at least in that regard. Michael: [23:04] So you're saying maybe their goal is to just suck all the oxygen out of the room? Jason: [23:08] I'm saying that's potentially an unintended positive benefit. Mm-hmm. Scot: [23:15] Yeah, and you've teed us up there. Who is, is it retailers or is it more brands? Who's getting impacted by this? And kind of embedded in this question is, do you have an idea of the categories? Like if we looked at that pie of the 50 billion GMV, is it largely electronics? Is it apparel? Like what are the big wedges inside of there? Michael: [23:35] Yeah, well, so the great part about transaction data, it's really good at looking at brand disruption, or I should say retail disruption by brand. Not great at looking at the categories. You know, I don't see what an individual breakout of a credit card receipt is. I'm just seeing where people are spending. So I think that's the question I'm more equipped to answer. In terms of impact, some of the folks you think of when you think of mass market and discount retailers like Five Below and Walmart, the ones that you immediately want to ask if they're being disrupted, they seem like they'd have the most overlap. They've been pretty untouched, actually. Part of its overlap, only 19% of Walmart and Amazon's customers have even tried TeamU. And that's about the same as the total percent of US households that have tried it. substantially the whole country has made a purchase at Walmart and Amazon. So they're just not as at risk, maybe on the margins. But what we're seeing, I guess, next step up with some risk is the dollar stores. Dollar General, they share about a quarter of their customers with TeamU. And if you look at Dollar General's customers spending at TeamU, it's up over 800% year to year from January 23 to 24. Obviously, a super small base and flat. at Dollar General itself. [24:54] And then those TeamU customers who aren't, or those Dollar General customers who aren't TeamU customers, they're spending slightly up at Dollar General. It suggests that there's some impact. Again, not the biggest that we've seen. So I'd say like dollar stores kind of marginally. [25:10] This is not as supported by data, but just putting the data point together that the TeamU customers are spending less and TeamU customers are richer, you could come to the conclusion that Dollar General role is losing out on richer customers looking for deals a little bit. Maybe they're popping in for something they really don't want to spend a lot of money on, like a party, something like that. That's where the sales that they're losing is. Which actually kind of takes us to the last and biggest impact. Wish and AliExpress, as well as all those hobby lobby party supplies, like Oriental Trading. So I'll start with Wish. Their customers are just fleeing. I think there's no better way to say it. 50% less spend on Wish in January 2024 than January 2023, and over 680% increase at TeamU. That's just astounding. The Wish customer, once they try I, TeamU, they're done. It's game over. It's similar for AliExpress. And I think that what TeamU has really done early on, we need to think of them less as like an Amazon killer, and more as a brand that just came in to consolidate the existing demand for this deep discount online spending that these two, AliExpress and Wish kind of got off the ground in the US. [26:35] In terms of the hobby space, Oriental Trading, Hobby Lobby, Party City, they all experienced double-digit declines year-on-year in February among the customers who also shopped at TMU. And these brands, they're catering to occasional and discount merchandise. I think they're really going to struggle adapting to TMU. It's like I said, the person who doesn't mind throwing away $5, $10, $15 on party supplies if they don't work out. But it's a one-time thing anyway. way you know it's it's things that they're somewhat disposable items to these customers and very interchangeable got. Scot: [27:12] It i noticed you didn't mention amazon on that list is there is it there been an amazon impact or has it been. Michael: [27:18] That's great good catch pretty negligible just just like walmart they're just brands on those platforms at this point that you can't find at at these places i think when i say on the margins that's what i mean there could be hey, I need this small thing for my kitchen that I could get for $1 or get for $3. And that might be the sale they lose out on, but they're doing a better job of being one-stop shops. And I think with what we've seen, it doesn't seem like the business model is set to take on Amazon yet. Scot: [27:57] Got it. Yeah. Jason: [28:00] You know, a couple of things that come to mind. A, I think the dollar store thing is super interesting because historically dollar stores haven't sold very much online. Like, and, and, you know, usually their excuse is that, that super low price point discounted items don't work online. Right. And I, I think like in some ways I look at Temu and I say, they're actually the digital dollar store that did figure it out. Now. [28:25] It remains to be seen whether they can make money doing it in the long run. But it doesn't surprise me that those are some of the categories that are being disproportionately impacted. And I think you really hit something interesting on some of these everyday essential retailers that sell the brands that consumers are looking for and trust. [28:46] That, to me, feels like a different shopping occasion than the shopping occasion I think Timo is winning. Branding there's this whole new trend on all the social media platforms called dupes and you know people think of like knockoffs and forgeries where you you try to pretend you're a brand that you're not but dupes is a something different dupes is this is a very similar product to a name brand product but it it overtly is not the name brand product and it's a way better value and they're now these big cohorts of consumers that talk about their dupes and brag about their dupe finds and, you know, proudly make these, these dupe decisions. And it feels like those are the kind of things where, where Teemu's playing really well, where, you know, you're into, you know, crafting and you've, you know, there's some expensive machine, a cricket machine for cutting vinyl. And you say, oh man, I found a dupe on Teemu for 20 bucks, right? Like those Those feel like the kinds of occasions they're winning when you're willing to trade down for that no-name product and take a gamble versus when you know you want the Tide dishwasher soap. Michael: [29:58] I think that's a great point. They're taking advantage of the trading down phenomenon in general right now that a lot of brands are seeing, a lot of retailers are seeing. This is the perfect spot. I'll just go ahead and see if Temu has it. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. Scot: [30:15] Cool. One topic, and this is kind of a jump ball for you guys, is the, you know, I read a lot about this shipping model, and this was always Wish's kind of secret sauce is there's this, there's this like loophole in the postal code where if you send this something small, you know, it doesn't have any tariffs, number one. And then number two, there's like this really cheap postal rate, or I can't remember if China subsidizes it or it's free or we subsidize it, but there's some, there's kind of like double loopholes. There's a tariff one and a shipping one. And I've seen some noise lately about people wanting to kind of shut this down. Do you guys, either of you more expert on that than I am and have an opinion on if it's going to be sustainable or not? Jason: [30:57] I could certainly jump in there. So what you're talking about is there's this thing called the Global Postal Treaty. And it's a prearranged agreement between like 95 countries, 94 countries for how they'll deliver each other's mail. When you try to ship a letter from the U.S. to Germany, the U.S. Post Office is going to hand it to the German Post, and they need to know in advance how much the German Post is going to charge the U.S. Post Office to deliver that so that the U.S. Post Office can charge a rate in advance to you to deliver those things. So this global postal treaty is super valuable, and it makes it possible to cost effectively and, you know, with predictable rates, mail stuff all across the world. [31:41] Unfortunately, there's a couple of problems with it. There was the developed nations agreed that for less economically developed nations, they would have a preferred rate. So they would charge even less to deliver. The U.S. post office would charge less to deliver mail from a developing economy than they would from an established economy. And until recently, China was characterized as a developing economy, which is probably not accurate. And then the Postal Treaty specifies a dollar limit that it only is in effect for packages under a certain value. And so this is called the de minimis clause of the Postal Treaty. In the United States, the threshold is $800. So when Temu ships something to a consumer in the U.S. that costs under $800, they get a predetermined rate from the U.S. Post office, which is often cheaper than the rate to mail something from one part of the U.S. to the other. And Scott, per your point, there is no tariffs charged on that item and there is no import inspection on that item. So, you know, normally when we, you know, if a U.S. Retailer imports a container of goods from China, there's all kinds of inspections to make sure that the factory in China met labor standards and, you know, met environmental standards, and then they pay tariffs on all that. [33:08] The team who hands one package to the U.S. post office, they they get to bypass all that, which, you know, is, of course, controversial. No one wants to get rid of the Global Postal Treaty or even de minimis. But what they're saying is that the U.S.'s 800 hour threshold is probably way too high. Like China's threshold for reciprocation is something like forty dollars or something. So you could you could put a big dent in Temu if you just lowered the the threshold. And so there's There's, you know, noise in Congress about trying to change that limit. I would say that, you know, it is an unfair advantage in many ways, and U.S. Companies are certainly right to complain about that. [33:51] I would say that Temu is different than Wish. Wish took advantage of this cause. Temu takes advantage of it way more effectively, right? So Wish sold, you know, was a marketplace, and they had a factory sell something to an American consumer. And then it was up to the factory to get it to the American consumer. So the factory had to have their own postal account. And then they, you know, had to trigger this postal treaty. And there was no shipping confirmation. And often Wish products took a very long time to ship and a very long time to arrive. As part of this next-gen manufacturing model that Temu has, they do all that for the seller. And it uses Temu's postal account. And they expedite all of these things. Most of these goods get air freighted to the U.S. and put into the U.S. postal system. So while Wish items would have averaged three or four weeks delivery time. [34:46] Temu normally averages like five to seven days, and they almost always outperform their shipping promises. And in fact, they even have a guarantee. They give you $5 back if the package arrives late. So, you know, part of the reason that I don't think they're just purely Wish 2.0 is they actually do have a better, more reliable shipping experience than Wish. And they actually more effectively take advantage of this postal loophole than Wish ever did. Scot: [35:18] Yeah. And Wish took the proceeds of their IPO and built out some fulfillment centers. And they almost did their own version of that Amazon dragon boat or whatever that was called. Has T-Mood signaled they're going to do something like that where they have, you know, even more? Jason: [35:32] Yeah, they already have in some. So they're in 49 countries now. So they do have D.C. fulfillment centers in some of those countries. They've actually talked about opening a fulfillment center in Mexico for delivering goods in the western U.S. And so so they are talking about that. But then this other big thing is starting this week that a U.S. Seller could list their goods that, you know, the goods are already in a warehouse in the U.S. that US seller could list their goods on Temu and then deliver those goods from a US fulfillment center. So that's a potential way to get much faster delivery times for Temu. And we've already seen some badging. Temu has items with a rapid ship badge that are guaranteed for two-day delivery. So it does seem like Temu recognizes that over time, their fulfillment model is going to have to be more nuanced than just the the individual parcels uh coming one at a time but but you know that still seems like the the sort of biggest foundation of how they're delivering all these goods got. Michael: [36:36] It um the minimus though i can't imagine that much they would change would really have an impact we're seeing average ticket prices at 38 last month for for timmy like are they thinking thinking of reducing it by that much or. Jason: [36:52] So, I mean, a just talking about way over our skis, like my, my political acumen is very poor, but yeah, I don't think Congress is gonna do anything. I think like at most they'll have a, a hearing and try to look like tough guys talking about how unfair it is and how they're gonna try to protect the American businessman and the American consumer. And then when push comes to shove, they won't, they won't do anything, which is my, my cynical nature. But you're right. Right. Nobody's talking about dropping the de minimis low enough to to, you know, really trigger the bulk of these these Temu shipments. So it's it's more likely if they made a change, it would be a gesture, not like, you know, some some game changing thing. Now, you know, there's another big Chinese company out there, ByteDance, which is TikTok. And like there there is a bill going through Congress right now to ban TikTok. And so, you know, if something like that were to happen with, with a PDD or Temu, you know, that, that would of course, you know, be a, a big threat of a disruption. Scot: [37:54] Yep. And then on that example you gave, Jason, of a U.S. seller in a fulfillment center, is that Temu's fulfillment center or the seller's fulfillment center? Jason: [38:04] The seller's fulfillment center. So potentially what would be one of the ironies of this is, of course, as Amazon has expanded their fulfillment services, you could be an Amazon seller, be using FBA, and sell something on Temu and have Amazon fulfill it for you. Scot: [38:20] Yeah, Wish did something like this. What we found was the U.S. Seller struggled to get things in the price point that consumer wanted, right? It's like it's such this low quality stuff that almost has to be offshore for even to the manufacturer. Jason: [38:36] Yeah, I think you are 100 percent right there. I don't think they're going to like we don't know what the uptake is going to be on these U.S. Sellers. It's an interesting talking point, but it doesn't seem like there's going to be a bunch of U.S. Sellers that are going to likely participate in this like low price dupes demand that they have today. Now, what would be interesting, Pinduoduo, I mentioned, which is a huge, huge entity in China. Pinduoduo started with this same stuff. They started with really inexpensive marketplace goods. And as Pinduoduo got bigger and more established and won the hearts and minds of Chinese consumers, they moved up market. They started selling brand name stuff. They started selling higher quality stuff. And today they're a hybrid seller. PennDuoDuo in China sells their own goods in addition to marketplace items, which I've never seen before. Usually it always goes the other way. And so there's at least a premise that like maybe the U.S. sellers don't like add to the current assortment, but maybe the U.S. Sellers help Temu round out their assortment with some higher price point, you know, more recognizable goods for the U.S. consumer that helps them win more wallet share. Scot: [39:49] Interesting. Cool. We're running up against time. Do you guys have any other topics you want to hit before we call it a show? Michael: [39:58] No, I think it's fair. You know, I already mentioned one of your predictions. I should talk about the other one. Just to pick on Jason for a second. I don't think we'll make it to the 75% of target USC comm this year for Temu, Jason. Sorry. It's like a stretch. Scot: [40:17] Man. How do we get Michael on the show more? Like, I'm really enjoying this. This was a really good guess. Jason: [40:24] I feel like you're calling the winner of the Super Bowl in the first quarter, man. Come on. Michael: [40:27] Okay, well, I'll just put it this way. At 18% of the US households, three months into the year, it seems unlikely at their current growth that they get there. My view basically though, writing this, is that they've done a great job in the first year of attracting folks with a lot of disposable income to buy things that they likely wouldn't have bought anywhere else, like party supplies, household goods. It's maybe a different model than they they have in China. The challenge for them now, you guys both definitely identified this, that it's basically to convince people to switch everyday spending from Amazon and Walmart on those bigger items. And they don't have the assortment right now for that. And that's what you're mentioning. They need to either move up market or figure out what that assortment looks like. But that's going to be a bigger hurdle. They're reaching critical mass. They just have some decisions to make internally at this point. Jason: [41:17] Yeah. Well, in general, I feel like that is going to be a great place to leave it for this show because we have run out of our allotted time. But Michael, we really appreciated your insight. We'll certainly have you back. I know your view of the U.S. economy is useful for a whole bunch of topics that come up frequently on the show. But as always, if listeners enjoyed this episode, I hope you will jump on iTunes and leave us that five-star review. Scot: [41:46] Thanks, Michael. And this has been really good for Jason's ego. So I feel like you've knocked him down a couple of pegs. I appreciate that. And then if folks want to read more about your writing or connect with you, is LinkedIn the best place or are you more active on TikTok? Where can people find you? Yeah. Michael: [42:04] Michael Maloof on LinkedIn. I'm always posting a lot of Ernest data on there. And then also on our company blog, ErnestAnalytics.com. Go to the Insights blog and subscribe. Jason: [42:17] Yep. And I will put links to both the team new articles you guys published and your LinkedIn in the show notes. Michael: [42:23] Thank you. Jason: [42:24] Until next time, happy commercing!

The National Security Hour with Gen Paul E. Vallely - Long wars, lost lives, and lost limbs have demoralized Americans as they march toward the abyss and America's final destruction. General Vallely leads the discussion that runs the gamut, from politics to policies. The complicit legacy media have gone from being journalists to being the propaganda arm of...

The National Security Hour with MG Paul E Vallely and LTG Thomas McInerney – Patriotism is under attack by the Global Shadow Government who seek a borderless global community. Join Major General Paul E. Vallely, Lt. General Thomas McInerney, Michael Maloof, and Ray DiLorenzo as they discuss the state of the nation...

We are back to discuss our recent debate on Radio Sputnik's Fault Lines program. We talk about how it came about and what happened during the debate. We also talk about two problematic Sputnik geopolitical "experts," Michael Maloof and Scott Ritter. support The Antedote: www.patreon.com/theantedote https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J3ZRN0NmG4 https://freepress.org/article/convicted-trumputin-consigliere-paul-manafort-linked-ohios-stolen-2004-election https://www.bradblog.com/?p=7021 http://cavdef.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Connell https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/election-watchdog-group-supports-call-for-independent-investigation-into-ukraine-election-results-yanukovich-campaign-team-tied-to-election-rigging-allegations-in-united-states-84466277.html https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/930226601886859264.html https://eurasianet.org/a-brief-history-of-corruption-in-ukraine-the-yanukovych-era https://eurasianet.org/a-brief-history-of-corruption-in-ukraine-the-yushchenko-era https://www.timesofisrael.com/businessman-paid-for-nazi-graffiti-in-ukraine-ahead-of-russian-invasion-report/ https://www.ft.com/content/18184ed1-d96f-4c4b-a5e9-8e22e10a2890 https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2004/01/lie-factory/ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jul/17/iraq.usa 'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Special_Plans https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/12/leadup-iraq-war-timeline/ https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/06/politics/spy-case-renews-debate-over-proisrael-lobbys-ties-to-pentagon.html https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/media/features/9226/ https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/03/whitehouse200703 https://www.juancole.com/2005/01/feith-resigns-under-pressure-of.html https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/men-jinsa-and-csp/ https://larouchepub.com/other/2004/3114chalabi.html https://militarist-monitor.org/profile/douglas-feith/ http://archive.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/08/31/2d_probe_at_the_pentagon_examines_actions_on_iraq?pg=full https://twitter.com/GregoryMcCarron/status/1335083051542568960 https://twitter.com/theProgSoapbox/status/1335213755110723586 https://twitter.com/GregoryMcCarron/status/1549519603298144257?s=20&t=LE4UsqWifPS4-KSn6GW6nA https://twitter.com/theProgSoapbox/status/1549743552883838977?s=20&t=LE4UsqWifPS4-KSn6GW6nA https://www.rt.com/shows/big-picture/458345-venezuela-cia-suicide-peak/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6o0-wELsIM https://twitter.com/ManilaChan/status/1558218412773482501?s=20&t=EgOjJBc7DFIpmN5o5D0e4w https://twitter.com/GregoryMcCarron/status/1559278463470764032?s=20&t=EgOjJBc7DFIpmN5o5D0e4w https://www.spacedaily.com/news/milspace-03zn.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/iraq/stories/unscom101298.htm https://www.newsweek.com/scott-ritters-twitter-reinstated-after-suspension-over-ukraine-remarks-1695834 https://www.newsweek.com/2022/08/26/how-putin-botched-ukraine-war-put-russias-military-might-risk-1736311.html https://www.newsweek.com/authors/william-m-arkin-1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Arkin https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1998/11/09/scott-ritters-private-war https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-sep-16-fg-ritter16-story.html https://www.troyrecord.com/2011/04/13/ex-un-weapons-inspector-scott-ritter-takes-stand-in-sex-case/ https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/magazine/scott-ritter.html --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-antedote/support

On this episode of Fault Lines, hosts Jamarl Thomas and Austin Pelli talk about Biden's possibility of hitting a roadblock while the Senate votes for the next Supreme Court justice, the U.S. sending words of war to Russia at the U.N., and NYC sending mixed signals on what it means to be tough on crime.Guests:Ted Rall - Political Cartoonist | Biden's SCOTUS Nomination Balances on Knife's EdgeMichael Maloof - Former Security Analyst | U.S. and Russia Clash at U.N. with Cold War Era RemarksMichael Goodwin - Columnist, NYPost | NYC Sending Mixed Signals on What 'Tough on Crime' Really MeansIn the first hour Ted Rall joined the show to talk about Donald Trump's odds of getting another GOP nomination, Democrats prospects of getting a SCOTUS nominee confirmed, and Atlanta-area prosecutor Fani Willis seeking FBI protection after 'alarming' remarks by Trump at a rally in Texas.In the second hour Fault Lines was joined by Michael Maloof for a discussion on the aggressive rhetoric from the U.S. to Russia at the U.N. after Ukraine implored Washington to tone down the hysterics surrounding a so-called imminent attack from Moscow. In the third hour Michael Goodwin joined the conversation to talk about how public policy will evolve as COVID-19 turns into an endemic disease. We also talked about NYC's newly elected District Attorney and Mayor taking opposing stances for what being 'tough on crime' means.

On this edition of the program, we discuss the ongoing NATO-Russia tensions. We ask ‘What is NATO's strategy?' ‘What is Russia's strategy in dealing with NATO's eastward expansion?' and ‘What are the likely outcomes for both?' CrossTalking with Charles Shoebridge, Michael Maloof, and Alexey Naumov.

On this episode of Fault Lines, host Jamarl Thomas talked about what went wrong with Biden's agenda as he failed to get anything of significance passed, Jen Psaki going on the defense again after Kamala compared Jan. 6th to 9/11, and what the geopolitical consequences of Kazakhstani riots will be.Guests:Joel Segal - Former Congressional Staffer | What's Left For Biden's Agenda After Broken Promises and BBB Failure?Faran Fronczak - Anchor for RT America | Trump Era Proved Mainstream Media as LiarsMichael Maloof - Former Security Policy Analyst | Geopolitical Consequences of Kazakhstan RiotsIn the first hour Joel Segal joined the show to talk about Biden's comments proclaiming a ‘pandemic of the unvaccinated' as many jabbed people are catching and spreading COVID-19. We also talked about what went wrong with Biden's agenda as both Build Back Better and filibuster rule changes both appear dead in the water.In the second hour Fault Lines was joined by Faran Fronczak for a general discussion on what's really going on inside Kazakhstan, Jen Psaki attempting to defend Kamala's shortsighted Jan. 6th comments, and the veil being pulled back on mainstream media misinformation after they took so many weak shots at Trump and refuse to do the same for Biden despite his floundering presidency.In the third hour Michael Maloof joined the conversation for a deep dive into the chaos that broke out in Kazakhstan and the perfect storm that occurred for violent insurgents to co-opt initially peaceful protests over fuel pricing skyrocketing, and what the geopolitical consequences of this will look like.

The EU is in the process of finalizing what is being called the ‘Strategic Compass for Security and Defense'. This is shorthand for what may become the ‘EU Army'. This is not a new idea and there is no guarantee it will even come about. Is Europe capable of defending itself in this competitive world? CrossTalking with Michael Maloof, André Walker, and John Wight.

If you think Afghanistan is in the rearview mirror – think again. Meanwhile, Iran, China and North Korea fight for center stage in decision rooms around the world. Geopolitical adviser John Sitilides and former Pentagon official Michael Maloof light up imminent hotspots where territorial disputes and military mobilizations are demanding attention from our Defense Department. The pandemic birthed a global garbage crisis as recyclables have been replaced by disposables for the sake of public health. Boom Bust co-host Ben Swann explains how plastics and discarded PPE have piled up worldwide. The Ocean Agency's Richard Vevers discusses how the world's oceans are becoming a collateral casualty of Covid-era pollution.

The Delta variant keeps much of the US stuck in the mud over mask requirements and vaccine mandates. Former Pentagon official Michael Maloof shines a spotlight on China, where there's been minimal pushback against pandemic protocols. Amid today's labor shortage, Strelmark president Hilary Fordwich discusses how workers can leverage their way into asking the boss for a raise. While nature has always produced more women than men, national policies and cultural preferences have seriously tipped the scales around the world. Michael Maloof and Hilary Fordwich discuss the global ramifications of increasingly lopsided populations, including how the militaries could capitalize on the surplus of unmarried men in China and India.

With a Covid resurgence and Washington's non-stop noise, domestic issues tend to dominate news coverage. But there's a world of trouble brewin' elsewhere. Cuba recently erupted in protests over the government's virus response and an economy many there find untenable. Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon – lots of moving pieces in a rough neighborhood. Longtime Pentagon official Michael Maloof is here to discuss unstable governments and nixing nukes. Plus, billionaire space cowboys! Are they advancing technology to get us back to the Moon, and on to Mars? Or are these joyrides just a galactic traffic jam? We are joined by author and veteran space journalist, John Bisney, to discuss.

On this episode of Fault Lines, hosts Jamarl Thomas and Shane Stranahan covered Putin's State of the Nation address, talking about Russia's policies foreign and domestic, looking at Ukraine, Belarus, and Putin's recommendations on the economy, healthcare, infrastructure, and other domestic topics.Guests:Michael Maloof – | Russia's Foreign Policy: Brewing War in Ukraine, Attempted Assassination and Coup in BelarusLee Stranahan – | Russia's Foreign Policy: Brewing War in Ukraine, Attempted Assassination and Coup in BelarusMark Sleboda – International Relations and Security Analyst | The Domestic Side of Putin's AddressAfter playing Putin's State of the Nation address in full in our first hour, we were joined in our second hour by Michael Maloof and Lee Stranahan to discuss Putin's statements on foreign policy, looking at the prospect of war in Ukraine and the origins and acceleration of that conflict, as well as the attempted assassination and coup plot against Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus.In our last hour we were joined by Mark Sleboda to talk about Putin's statements on healthcare, the economy, infrastructure, education, and the other domestic topics that the Russian president focused on for the majority of his speech. We went over Russia's COVID response and the state of the country's economy, and looked at how this address will affect the upcoming elections later this year for seats in the State Duma, Russia's federal legislative body.

2020 quickly upturned daily lives across the world, making all of us wonder “What IF?” Founder & CEO of ThePrepared.com John Ramey discusses how mental and financial preparedness can be just as critical as survival skills during times of frightening uncertainty. How prepared are YOU for what could come next? We’ve been warned time and again about natural disasters and climate change. But while many families have taken steps to weather-proof their homes… what would YOU do if the electrical grid went kaput? Former Pentagon official Michael Maloof explains the dangers of an EMP attack that could send us all back to analog.

It’s been a month since the changing of the guard in Washington, including members of the top brass in the military. Former Pentagon official Michael Maloof analyzes the role of Army General turned-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. In the aftermath of US airstrikes on Syria, what other strategic hotspots are the armed forces keeping an eye on? Moviegoers rejoice! Theaters prepare to re-open for the debut of 2020’s delayed blockbusters, including the new ‘Top Gun’ and ‘Ghostbusters’. 2021 has already proven to be a rollercoaster ride for bitcoin investors. Boom Bust co-host Christy Ai explains the ins and outs of cryptocurrency, as digital wallets have enjoyed returns as high as 900% this year alone. Will bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies become the non-gold standard for investments? Plus, NASA releases audio captured by its Mars Perseverance rover, treating us earthlings to the eerie sounds of the Red Planet.

To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/340/29Question: Who are our enemies, really? Democrats, Republicans, Socialists? The Biden Administration? Donald Trump? Illegal immigrants? Dr. Fauci, The CDC, WHO?Russia, China, Iran? You may or may not be surprised to learn that the rhetoric being used by the Left against our country, and conservatives in particular, is used by our foreign adversaries.We detail the above and alot more on today's show. Plus, two Guests with vital messages on the current dangers facing our nation: Michael Maloof, former senior security policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, has almost 30 years of federal service in the U.S. Defense Department and as a specialized trainer for border guards and Special Forces, and John Whitehead, President of The Rutherford Institute and a prominent leader in the national dialogue on civil liberties and human rights.

The ruling classes rarely agree on much, but not when it comes to China. It is agreed the US needs to “get tough” with Beijing. What does that really mean? Engaging China while trying to contain it? Is that even possible? The Biden administration will eventually have to answer this question. CrossTalking with Michael Maloof, James H. Nolt, and Wang Guan.

On this episode of Fault Lines, hosts Jamarl Thomas and Shane Stranahan discuss recent international events. Guests:Adejayan Oluwagbenga - Award Winning Journalist in Nigeria | UN: Boko Haram Kills Rice Farmers in NigeriaBradley Blankenship - Prague-based American Journalist | Why Socialist China Has Thrived Post USSR Collapse Michael Maloof - Former Senior Security Policy Analyst | Iran: Fakhrizadeh Murder Weapon Made in IsraelBoko Haram is a violent West African Islamic extremist group. Nigeria claimed to have defeated the group yet the most recent massacre suggests otherwise. Award winning journalist in Nigeria Adejayan Oluwagbenga comes on briefly to explain the conflict.China has eradicated poverty one month early and opened up trade to countless countries. Prague-based American journalist Bradley Blankenship explains how China has built itself up.Fakhrizadeh was the nuclear scientist assassinated in Tehran. Israel is being blamed for the murder weapon. Michael Maloof is a former Senior Security Policy Analyst. He outlines Israel's role in the killing.

On today's episode of Fault Lines, hosts Jamarl Thomas and Shane Stranahan discussed America's misunderstanding of China, recent events in Belarus, Pentagon civil war games, and the deep philosophical issues at the core of modern political thought.GUESTSPeter Lavelle - Host of CrossTalk on RT, American journalist | How Misunderstanding China Is Affecting The US ElectionsMichael Malouf - F. Michael Maloof is a former Senior Security Policy Analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, author and a regular Contributing Analyst on RT and other media outlets | Pentagon War Games Prep for ZbellionTom Luongo - Geopolitical Analyst & Publisher of the Gold Goats 'n Guns Newsletter | Boris Johnson Calls Out Brussels' On Dirty TacticsIn his monologue, Jamarl talked about the problems he'd been dealing with in the hospital for the last week, as well as whether Bernie Sanders should be seen as culpable for playing along with standard DNC party politics when he could have known better or fought harder.In the first hour, hosts Jamarl and Shane spoke with Peter Lavelle about what's gone wrong in American foreign policy that has blinded the US government and American culture at large to the real interests and intents of the Chinese state. They moved into discussing the wildfires, the political system's inability to respond to the many and growing crises facing America today, and whether that inability has a deeper history in our inability to support and elect leaders with a genuine ethical backbone.In the second hour, the hosts spoke with Michael Malouf about 'Zbellion,' the GenZ rebellion planned for by the Pentagon in a war game that took place in 2018, according to DoJ documents released by The Intercept in June. We moved into talking about the conflict between Greece and Turkey and what NATO would do if a hot war broke out in its ranks. At the end we briefly discussed Belarus, where the winds will blow Lukashenko's political fates, and what we should expect to see next from the former Soviet Bloc country now denounced by the west as 'the last dictatorship in Europe.'In the third hour, the hosts spoke with Tom Luongo on a wide range of issues that serve to beat the heart of modern political thought: how we should think about culture, whether 'fascism' is the right term for most global governments, and whether philosophy matters more or less in an era of unprecedented political crisis.

The NBA and NHL have confined their leagues to COVID-free "bubble" facilities, and MLB games are played in empty stadiums. As ticket revenues vanish and the NFL season inches closer, RT sports correspondent Steve Christakos explores the many ways sports networks, players, and fans have all adapted to this world of sports interrupted by a global pandemic. As the US continues to struggle to control the spread of Coronavirus, former Pentagon official Michael Maloof updates us on what's been going on in the Middle East. A chemical explosion in Beirut has catapulted the country into political turmoil, Iran is poised to hash out another nuclear agreement, and NATO allies are at odds over drilling rights in the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, China's remedied economy is again surging ahead via its Belt and Road Initiative.

On today's episode of Fault Lines with hosts Jamarl Thomas and Shane Stranahan, they discussed the news of the day and topics ranging from the Democrats virtual convention to the prospects of Middle East peace to the situation in Belarus. GUESTSScott Ritter - Former U.N. Weapons Inspector & WMD Whistleblower | Deal of the Century?Marshall Auerback - Market Analyst, writer for the Independent Media Institute | The UAE / Israel Deal and the US EconomyMichael Maloof - RT National Security Analyst, former senior security policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense | Belarus and BeyondIn his first hour monologue, Jamarl discussed last night's speeches at the Democratic National Convention promoting Biden which he found underwhelming.Then the hosts were joined by Scott Ritter, and they discussed the recent peace deal brokered by Jared Kushner between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, which the Trump administration refers to as the Deal of the Century. Ritter said that each result in lasting peace would require the Palestinians to be part of the peace process of Israel to embrace a two state solution, but he believes this is highly unlikely because Israel has accepted conflict in the region as a reality. He also said that Turkey and Iran would be ready to fill the gap in if states like UAE are not involved, and then in that sense the deal is significant. He also sees a deemphasizing of the importance of the role of Saudi Arabia as smaller Gulf states like UAE become more significant.In the second hour they talked to Marshall Auerback, who agreed with Scott Ritter's view that the UAE-Israel peace deal is very significant for the region, although it has left the Palestinians out. He pointed out that it is more than political cosmetics and that the UAE stands to benefit from its new relationship with Israel, with things like access to tech investment defense against Iran. Marshall also noted the political benefits for Donald Trump and Jared Kushner. Then they discussed terms of the economy, and Marshall said that the pandemic and related economic problems have clearly exposed structural problems in the economy, including the healthcare system in the United States. He said he didn't believe politicians were handling it properly and is concerned that it's one factor that could lead to a real revolution in the United States.In the third hour, the hosts were joined by defense expert Michael Maloof and began by discussing the situation in Belarus, which Maloof said seems like is developing in a very similar way to the Ukrainian situation a few years ago that led to the ouster of that country's leader. Lukashenko's increasing pressure from the United States is possibly playing out the same way, although Maloof said there is some possibility in Belarus it might not end the same, and he said he has also seen no solid evidence that the election was rigged. Looking at other areas of world politics, Maloof said the United States is worried about the involvement of countries like China in the Caribbean and South America. He also said he believes that if Donald Trump is elected, he will work towards better relations with Russia while he sees no possibility that Biden will be open to that.

On this episode of Fault Lines, hosts Garland Nixon & Lee Stranahan talked with guests about the understudied upsides of taking psychedelics, the truth about this week's job numbers and what we should expect next from the markets, and to scrutinize America's questionable foreign policy stratagems.Guests:Adam Eidinger - Activist and organizer in the fight to legalize cannabis | Decriminalization vs Legalization & Mushroom AdvocacyMarshall Auerback - Market analyst and writer for the Independent Media Institute | A Closer Look At The Jobs Numbers & The MarketMichael Maloof - RT national security analyst and former senior security policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense | US Foreign Policy, Sanctions Under COVID, & Iran/VenezuelaIn our first hour we were joined by Adam Eidinger to talk about the fight for marijuana decriminalization and legalization, why some activists are satisfied with just decriminalization, and to give us his knowledge and personal experience of the restorative powers of some natural psychotropics.In our second hour we spoke with Marshall Auerback about what the recent optimistic job numbers report got wrong, why he's more pessimistic about the course of the American economy, and what we can expect to see as the coronavirus crisis slowly grows.In our third hour we were joined by Michael Maloof to look at American foreign policy, the global signals of a shift out of an era marked by American preeminence and into a new more distributed world order, and to talk about Iran and Venezuela's budding relationship as key opponents of America's economic and military hegemony.

For the first time in history, NASA has partnered with private enterprise in its recent manned launch of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, delivering two brave Americans to the cosmos. Author and space journalist John Bisney discusses how the US is re-igniting its foray into the final frontier. Meanwhile back on Earth, our economy continues to reel from pandemic shockwaves. Professor Richard Wolff breaks down the ripple effects impacting our food supply, stock valuation, plus colleges and universities. The US has been reeling for MONTHS now, as the coronavirus brought our economy to a grinding halt before protests erupted nationwide, with President Trump threatening military force to quell riots across the country. As the national news cycle is inundated by civil unrest, former Pentagon official Michael Maloof brings us up to speed on backroom damage control and shifting tides abroad.

Former Pentagon official Michael Maloof walks us through how the global coronavirus pandemic has shaken up international diplomacy worldwide, as plunging markets, a massive oil glut, and the re-positioning of naval vessels have policy experts worried about the potential for escalated posturing in Iran and China. Strelmark President Hilary Fordwich gives us a comprehensive audit of how industries worldwide have been ravaged by the pandemic. Are we on the path toward another Great Depression? Can businesses ever return back to normal operations? And what will the lingering impacts of Covid-19 be on the future of how companies operate?

EPISODE #331 EMP EVENT Richard welcomes a senior policy analyst in the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defence Department to discuss the likelihood of a catastrophic electromagnetic pulse (EMP) event taking down the electrical grid of the United States. Guest:  F. Michael Maloof, a former senior security policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defence, has almost 30 years of federal service in the U.S. Defence Department and as a specialized trainer for border guards and Special Forces in select countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia. While with the Department of Defence, Maloof was Director of Technology Security Operations as head of a 10-person team involved in halting the diversion of militarily-critical technologies to countries of national security and proliferation concern and those involved in sponsoring terrorism. Maloof has also been a special Washington correspondent for The Detroit News, a reporter for a specialized newsletter at U.S. News & World Report and Washington correspondent for The Union Leader in Manchester, NH. Currently, he is the senior reporter in WND's Washington bureau.  He is the author of A Nation Forsaken: EMP: The Escalating Threat of an American Catastrophe. PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS!!   Life Change and Formula 13 Teas  All Organic, No Caffeine, Non GMO!  More Energy!  Order now, use the code 'unlimited' and your first purchase ships for free. C60EVO.COM The Secret is out about this powerful anti-oxidant. The Purest C60 available is ESS60.  Buy Direct from the SourceUse the Code RS1SPEC for special discount. Ancient Life Oil Organic, Non GMO CBD Oil.  Big Relief in a Little Bottle! The Ferrari of CBD products. Strange Planet's Fullscript Dispensary - an online service offering hundreds of professional supplement brands, personal care items, essential oils, pet care products and much more. Nature Grade, Science Made!  

So many of us have amazing ideas that we want to turn into lucrative careers. But starting your own business takes a lot of work! What should you know before becoming an entrepreneur? Our first tip in learning about this career path is to listen to our new podcast interview with two guests who know a thing or two about starting a successful business: Michael Maloof and Michelle Dickman. Michael and Michelle are a powerhouse team of serial entrepreneurs and startup investors, and as they describe it, Michael builds the products and Michelle builds the companies. Read More

So many of us have amazing ideas that we want to turn into lucrative careers. But starting your own business takes a lot of work! What should you know before becoming an entrepreneur? Our first tip in learning about this career path is to listen to our new podcast interview with two guests who know a thing or two about starting a successful business: Michael Maloof and Michelle Dickman. Michael and Michelle are a powerhouse team of serial entrepreneurs and startup investors, and as they describe it, Michael builds the products and Michelle builds the companies.Read MoreSupport the show (https://p2q.link/donate)

Today's Flash Back Friday comes from Episode 132, originally published in March 2013. Jason Hartman is joined by long-time national security expert and author, F. Michael Maloof, to talk about how “the United States is more vulnerable than ever to an EMP attack that could shut down the country overnight, resulting in tens of millions of deaths and a 19th-century lifestyle for Americans for the foreseeable future.” Michael is the author of “A Nation Forsaken,” in which he discusses the likelihood of an EMP attack, whether from terrorists or solar activity, and exposes the government's lack of preparation to protect the country. He also proposes practical steps that people can take to prepare against such a cataclysmic event. F. Michael Maloof, a former senior security policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, has almost 30 years of federal service in the U.S. Defense Department and as a specialized trainer for border guards and Special Forces in select countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia.  While with the Department of Defense, Maloof was director of technology security operations as head of a 10-person team involved in halting the diversion of militarily critical technologies to countries of national security and proliferation concern and those involved in sponsoring terrorism.  His office was the liaison to the intelligence and enforcement community within the Office of the Secretary of Defense in halting transfers and using cases that developed from them as early warnings to decision-makers of potential policy issues. Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the United States, Maloof was detailed back to report directly to the undersecretary of defense for policy to prepare analysis of worldwide terrorist networks, determine their linkages worldwide and their relationship to state sponsors.

Gunshots were fired at the US embassy in Ankara early Monday morning. It’s the latest sign of heightening tensions between the NATO allies. RT correspondent Dan Cohen has the report. For analysis, Natasha Sweatte is joined by former Pentagon official, Michael Maloof. Find RT America in your area: http://rt.com/where-to-watch/ Or watch us online: http://rt.com/on-air/rt-america-air/ Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/RTAmerica Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/RT_America

Pandora TVIran e Ue uniti nel contrastare le sanzioni Usa Iran e Unione Europea studieranno delle contro-misure per contrastare le nuove sanzioni americane contro Teheran entro l'8 agosto, data in cui entreranno ufficialmente in vigore. Lo ha annunciato l'Organizzazione per l'Energia Atomica iraniana sabato 19 maggio, subito dopo l'incontro con il Commissario europeo per l'energia ed il clima, Miguel Arias Canete. Secondo i funzionari iraniani, gli stati europei firmatari dell'accordo del 2015 stanno cercando di allestire un canale bancario per le transazioni finanziarie fra Europa ed Iran, mentre gli scambi commerciali saranno in euro, ha affermato il capo dell'Organizzazione per l'energia Atomica, Ali Akbar Salehi. Insomma, dalle parole ai fatti. "Il supporto politico dell'UE all'accordo non e' abbastanza", ha ribadito infatti il giorno dopo il capo della diplomazia iraniana, Javad Zarif, "bisogna passare all'azione. L'annuncio di un probabile ritiro dall'Iran da parte di alcune compagnie europee contrasta con le promesse". Il riferimento e' in particolare ai colossi dell'energia francese Total ed Engie. A tale proposito, la compagnia petrolifera cinese CNPC si e' gia' detta pronta a rimpiazzare Total in caso di un suo ritiro dal progetto South Pars.Per Donald Trump c'è posta dall'Iran Un articolo su Asia Times, a firma di Pepe Escobar, rivela l'esistenza di una lettera con cui ex alti funzionari americani chiedono delucidazioni a Donald Trump sull'operato di Israele nella Striscia di Gaza. Tra questi, gli ex funzionari della CIA, Phil Giraldi, del Pentagono, Michael Maloof e del Dipartimento di Stato, Scott Bennett, nonche' l'ex diplomatico e autore del libro "Visti per al-Qaeda", Michael Springmann, tutti ospiti della sesta conferenza internazionale "New Horizon" a Mashhad, in Iran. L'instabilita' della situazione attuale, avvertono, potrebbe creare i presupposti per una nuova campagna di operazioni psicologiche degli Stati Uniti. Copie della lettera sono state inviate anche alla Corte penale internazionale, al Consiglio di sicurezza dell'ONU, e ai presidenti di Russia, Turchia e del Parlamento europeo. Potra' essere usata come prova in tutte le indagini relative al trasferimento dell'ambasciata americana a Gerusalemme e all'uscita degli Usa dall'accordo sul nucleare iraniano. La Casa Bianca, per ora, tace.Massacro di Gaza, la Turchia in prima linea contro Israele La reazione della comunità internazionale di fronte all'operato di Israele nella Striscia di Gaza dovrebbe essere più dura. Ad affermarlo sono il presidente turco, Recep Erdogan, e il Segretario generale delle Nazioni Unite, Antonio Guterres, che nella conversazione telefonica di sabato scorso, hanno valutato positivamente la decisione del Consiglio per i diritti umani dell'ONU di condannare Israele e di istituire una commissione indipendente che indaghi sugli eventi nella Striscia di Gaza. "Purtroppo, ogni passo compiuto per garantire la giustizia è bloccato dagli Stati Uniti nel Consiglio di sicurezza. Intendiamo sottoporre nuovamente la questione all'Assemblea generale, auspicando nel sostegno di tutti i paesi islamici, e di tutti coloro che sostengono i principi di giustizia", ha dichiarato Erdogan alla riunione straordinaria dell'Organizzazione della cooperazione islamica, svoltasi domenica a Istanbul. Il presidente iraniano, Hassan Rouhani, ha proposto, da parte sua, di interrompere completamente ogni commercio con Israele e di rivedere le relazioni economiche e commerciali con gli Stati Uniti. Dopo gli Usa, anche la Francia si installa nell'Est della Siria L'ennesima base francese in Siria - la sesta, ormai - e' in via di costruzione in provincia di Raqqa. Secondo il sito Smart news, servira' ad addestrare 140 guerriglieri della cosiddetta opposizione moderata per operazioni di intelligence e di sicurezza. Come riporta la stampa turca, i francesi starebbero valutando, inoltre, di dispiegare sei batterie di artiglieria pesante al confine tra la Siria e l'Iraq, destinate al sostegno dei curdi. E mentre Parigi si addentra nel conflitto, gli Stati Uniti sospendono i finanziamenti ai tagliagole nel Nord-Ovest della Siria, tra cui Idlib, ormai sotto il controllo di Ankara. Una parte del denaro, che ammonta complessivamente a decine di milioni di dollari, sara' quindi riassegnata ad altri progetti, forse nel Nord-Est del Paese, dove gli americani, per usare le parole del capo della diplomazia russa, Sergej Lavrov, si sono solidamente installati sulla riva orientale dell'Eufrate e puntano sul collasso della Siria. CBS News, che cita fonti anonime nel Dipartimento di Stato, fa sapere che altri 200 milioni di dollari di finanziamenti sono attualmente in fase di revisione su richiesta di Donald Trump. L'esercito siriano, intanto, ha liquidato l'ultima sacca di tagliagole nel campo profughi di Yarmuk, ristabilendo cosi' il pieno controllo sull'area di Damasco, per la prima volta in sette anni. I territori tuttora sotto il controllo dei tagliagole si estendono ora lungo i confini con Turchia, Israele, Giordania e Iraq. Intanto, e' di queste ore la notizia di alcune esplosioni che avrebbero interessato la base iraniana a Sud di Damasco nella notte di lunedi'. Venezuela: Maduro, di nuovo presidente, si appella al dialogo Al 92.6% dei voti scrutinati, con circa il 68% e 5,8 milioni di voti, Nicolas Maduro ottiene per la seconda volta il mandato di presidente del Venezuela, incarico che ricoprira' fino al 2025. Secondo, col 21% e 1,8 milioni di voti il candidato dell'opposizione, Henri Falcon. L'affluenza alle urne e' stata del 48%, complice la chiamata all'astensione del MUD, la piattaforma che riunisce la maggior parte delle opposizioni. Numerosi, nel discorso di Maduro di ieri notte, i riferimenti all'imperialismo a guida statunitense e agli annunci di cambio di regime minacciati da piu' parti: "All'Impero io dico: dovete capire che il Venezuela e' il garante della stabilita' sociale e politica del Paese e dell'intera regione. Tentare di destabilizzare il Venezuela e' un peccato grave". Ma al contempo ribadisce l'appello al dialogo con tutti i partiti: "Sono il presidente di tutti, non solo di chi mi ha eletto. Quello di cui ha bisogno il Venezuela e' il dialogo permanente, non il conflitto". Maduro ha inoltre ringraziato i 150 osservatori internazionali provenienti da 30 paesi e che hanno garantito un voto libero. Ne' Falcon, ne' Jorge Bertucci, arrivato terzo con circa il 10% dei voti, accettano il risultato delle elezioni come legittime. Elezioni illegittime anche per Washington, mentre Mosca le da' per buone, nonostante “le ingerenze di Paesi terzi”. Sospesa la guerra commerciale tra Usa e Cina. A scapito dell'Europa? Stati Uniti e Cina hanno deciso di sospendere la guerra commerciale. Lo ha dichiarato il vice premier cinese, Liu He, a margine dei colloqui di sabato 19 maggio a Washington, dove le parti hanno concordato di rafforzare la cooperazione commerciale nei settori energetico, agricolo, sanitario, finanziario e dell'high-tech, oltre che nella sfera degli investimenti reciproci e della difesa della proprieta' intellettuale. Gli accordi raggiunti soddisfano le esigenze dei due popoli e del mondo intero, spiega il funzionario cinese, precisando, tuttavia, che la risoluzione dei problemi strutturali nei rapporti commerciali ed economici tra le parti necessita di un lavoro prolungato, pertanto nuove difficolta' dovranno essere affrontate in futuro. Da parte sua, il segretario americano al Tesoro, Steven Mnuchin, ha confermato la volonta' degli Stati Uniti di "mettere in pausa" la guerra commerciale e di sospendere l'introduzione di dazi. Durante il primo round di colloqui, svoltosi all'inizio di maggio a Pechino, Washington aveva chiesto alla Cina di ridurre di 200 miliardi di dollari lo squilibrio commerciale tra i due Paesi. Nella dichiarazione congiunta di sabato scorso, invece, non si accenna ad alcuna cifra. Ma c'e' chi fa notare che una parziale riduzione dello squilibrio potrebbe essere raggiunta a discapito delle merci europee. Parigi e' gia' in allarme: per il ministro dell'Economia francese, Bruno Le Maire, "gli Stati Uniti vogliono far pagare l'Europa per il cattivo comportamento della Cina". Un comportamento che definisce "totalmente assurdo e incomprensibile per degli alleati".

Pandora TVIran e Ue uniti nel contrastare le sanzioni Usa Iran e Unione Europea studieranno delle contro-misure per contrastare le nuove sanzioni americane contro Teheran entro l'8 agosto, data in cui entreranno ufficialmente in vigore. Lo ha annunciato l'Organizzazione per l'Energia Atomica iraniana sabato 19 maggio, subito dopo l'incontro con il Commissario europeo per l'energia ed il clima, Miguel Arias Canete. Secondo i funzionari iraniani, gli stati europei firmatari dell'accordo del 2015 stanno cercando di allestire un canale bancario per le transazioni finanziarie fra Europa ed Iran, mentre gli scambi commerciali saranno in euro, ha affermato il capo dell'Organizzazione per l'energia Atomica, Ali Akbar Salehi. Insomma, dalle parole ai fatti. "Il supporto politico dell'UE all'accordo non e' abbastanza", ha ribadito infatti il giorno dopo il capo della diplomazia iraniana, Javad Zarif, "bisogna passare all'azione. L'annuncio di un probabile ritiro dall'Iran da parte di alcune compagnie europee contrasta con le promesse". Il riferimento e' in particolare ai colossi dell'energia francese Total ed Engie. A tale proposito, la compagnia petrolifera cinese CNPC si e' gia' detta pronta a rimpiazzare Total in caso di un suo ritiro dal progetto South Pars.Per Donald Trump c'è posta dall'Iran Un articolo su Asia Times, a firma di Pepe Escobar, rivela l'esistenza di una lettera con cui ex alti funzionari americani chiedono delucidazioni a Donald Trump sull'operato di Israele nella Striscia di Gaza. Tra questi, gli ex funzionari della CIA, Phil Giraldi, del Pentagono, Michael Maloof e del Dipartimento di Stato, Scott Bennett, nonche' l'ex diplomatico e autore del libro "Visti per al-Qaeda", Michael Springmann, tutti ospiti della sesta conferenza internazionale "New Horizon" a Mashhad, in Iran. L'instabilita' della situazione attuale, avvertono, potrebbe creare i presupposti per una nuova campagna di operazioni psicologiche degli Stati Uniti. Copie della lettera sono state inviate anche alla Corte penale internazionale, al Consiglio di sicurezza dell'ONU, e ai presidenti di Russia, Turchia e del Parlamento europeo. Potra' essere usata come prova in tutte le indagini relative al trasferimento dell'ambasciata americana a Gerusalemme e all'uscita degli Usa dall'accordo sul nucleare iraniano. La Casa Bianca, per ora, tace.Massacro di Gaza, la Turchia in prima linea contro Israele La reazione della comunità internazionale di fronte all'operato di Israele nella Striscia di Gaza dovrebbe essere più dura. Ad affermarlo sono il presidente turco, Recep Erdogan, e il Segretario generale delle Nazioni Unite, Antonio Guterres, che nella conversazione telefonica di sabato scorso, hanno valutato positivamente la decisione del Consiglio per i diritti umani dell'ONU di condannare Israele e di istituire una commissione indipendente che indaghi sugli eventi nella Striscia di Gaza. "Purtroppo, ogni passo compiuto per garantire la giustizia è bloccato dagli Stati Uniti nel Consiglio di sicurezza. Intendiamo sottoporre nuovamente la questione all'Assemblea generale, auspicando nel sostegno di tutti i paesi islamici, e di tutti coloro che sostengono i principi di giustizia", ha dichiarato Erdogan alla riunione straordinaria dell'Organizzazione della cooperazione islamica, svoltasi domenica a Istanbul. Il presidente iraniano, Hassan Rouhani, ha proposto, da parte sua, di interrompere completamente ogni commercio con Israele e di rivedere le relazioni economiche e commerciali con gli Stati Uniti. Dopo gli Usa, anche la Francia si installa nell'Est della Siria L'ennesima base francese in Siria - la sesta, ormai - e' in via di costruzione in provincia di Raqqa. Secondo il sito Smart news, servira' ad addestrare 140 guerriglieri della cosiddetta opposizione moderata per operazioni di intelligence e di sicurezza. Come riporta la stampa turca, i francesi starebbero valutando, inoltre, di dispiegare sei batterie di artiglieria pesante al confine tra la Siria e l'Iraq, destinate al sostegno dei curdi. E mentre Parigi si addentra nel conflitto, gli Stati Uniti sospendono i finanziamenti ai tagliagole nel Nord-Ovest della Siria, tra cui Idlib, ormai sotto il controllo di Ankara. Una parte del denaro, che ammonta complessivamente a decine di milioni di dollari, sara' quindi riassegnata ad altri progetti, forse nel Nord-Est del Paese, dove gli americani, per usare le parole del capo della diplomazia russa, Sergej Lavrov, si sono solidamente installati sulla riva orientale dell'Eufrate e puntano sul collasso della Siria. CBS News, che cita fonti anonime nel Dipartimento di Stato, fa sapere che altri 200 milioni di dollari di finanziamenti sono attualmente in fase di revisione su richiesta di Donald Trump. L'esercito siriano, intanto, ha liquidato l'ultima sacca di tagliagole nel campo profughi di Yarmuk, ristabilendo cosi' il pieno controllo sull'area di Damasco, per la prima volta in sette anni. I territori tuttora sotto il controllo dei tagliagole si estendono ora lungo i confini con Turchia, Israele, Giordania e Iraq. Intanto, e' di queste ore la notizia di alcune esplosioni che avrebbero interessato la base iraniana a Sud di Damasco nella notte di lunedi'. Venezuela: Maduro, di nuovo presidente, si appella al dialogo Al 92.6% dei voti scrutinati, con circa il 68% e 5,8 milioni di voti, Nicolas Maduro ottiene per la seconda volta il mandato di presidente del Venezuela, incarico che ricoprira' fino al 2025. Secondo, col 21% e 1,8 milioni di voti il candidato dell'opposizione, Henri Falcon. L'affluenza alle urne e' stata del 48%, complice la chiamata all'astensione del MUD, la piattaforma che riunisce la maggior parte delle opposizioni. Numerosi, nel discorso di Maduro di ieri notte, i riferimenti all'imperialismo a guida statunitense e agli annunci di cambio di regime minacciati da piu' parti: "All'Impero io dico: dovete capire che il Venezuela e' il garante della stabilita' sociale e politica del Paese e dell'intera regione. Tentare di destabilizzare il Venezuela e' un peccato grave". Ma al contempo ribadisce l'appello al dialogo con tutti i partiti: "Sono il presidente di tutti, non solo di chi mi ha eletto. Quello di cui ha bisogno il Venezuela e' il dialogo permanente, non il conflitto". Maduro ha inoltre ringraziato i 150 osservatori internazionali provenienti da 30 paesi e che hanno garantito un voto libero. Ne' Falcon, ne' Jorge Bertucci, arrivato terzo con circa il 10% dei voti, accettano il risultato delle elezioni come legittime. Elezioni illegittime anche per Washington, mentre Mosca le da' per buone, nonostante “le ingerenze di Paesi terzi”. Sospesa la guerra commerciale tra Usa e Cina. A scapito dell'Europa? Stati Uniti e Cina hanno deciso di sospendere la guerra commerciale. Lo ha dichiarato il vice premier cinese, Liu He, a margine dei colloqui di sabato 19 maggio a Washington, dove le parti hanno concordato di rafforzare la cooperazione commerciale nei settori energetico, agricolo, sanitario, finanziario e dell'high-tech, oltre che nella sfera degli investimenti reciproci e della difesa della proprieta' intellettuale. Gli accordi raggiunti soddisfano le esigenze dei due popoli e del mondo intero, spiega il funzionario cinese, precisando, tuttavia, che la risoluzione dei problemi strutturali nei rapporti commerciali ed economici tra le parti necessita di un lavoro prolungato, pertanto nuove difficolta' dovranno essere affrontate in futuro. Da parte sua, il segretario americano al Tesoro, Steven Mnuchin, ha confermato la volonta' degli Stati Uniti di "mettere in pausa" la guerra commerciale e di sospendere l'introduzione di dazi. Durante il primo round di colloqui, svoltosi all'inizio di maggio a Pechino, Washington aveva chiesto alla Cina di ridurre di 200 miliardi di dollari lo squilibrio commerciale tra i due Paesi. Nella dichiarazione congiunta di sabato scorso, invece, non si accenna ad alcuna cifra. Ma c'e' chi fa notare che una parziale riduzione dello squilibrio potrebbe essere raggiunta a discapito delle merci europee. Parigi e' gia' in allarme: per il ministro dell'Economia francese, Bruno Le Maire, "gli Stati Uniti vogliono far pagare l'Europa per il cattivo comportamento della Cina". Un comportamento che definisce "totalmente assurdo e incomprensibile per degli alleati".

EMP THREATRichard speaks with security analyst F. Michael Maloof to discuss the threat of an electromagnetic pulse event capable of knocking the North American electrical grid offline. Then, a preparedness expert will discuss how to prepare for both natural and manmade catastrophes.PART TWO - HOW TO PREPARE FOR DISASTERRichard welcomes  preparedness expert Stan Deyo  to discuss how to prepare for both natural and manmade catastrophes, such as earthquakes, nuclear war, EMP events, and a longterm disruption in the delivery of essential services.  What type of catastrophe is most likely to affect your area? How can you shield important electronics from an EMP event?  What items should you stockpile in order to keep you and your family safe?

Please join your host SUSAN KNOWLES as she welcomes to Stand For Truth Radio her guest F. MICHAEL MALOOF . We'll be talking to him about his book "A NATION FORSAKEN - EMP: THE ESCALATING THREAT OF AN AMERICAN CATASTROPHE." Maloof also has an e-book “ISIS Rising: Prelude to a neo-Ottoman Caliphate.” We'll be talking to him about his books, the Middle East and so much more. Join us!A former senior security policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Maloof has almost 30 years of federal service, 23 years of which were with the U.S. Defense Department.While with the Department of Defense, Maloof was Director of Technology Security Operations as head of a 10-person team involved in halting the diversion of militarily-critical technologies to countries of national security and proliferation concern and those involved in sponsoring terrorism. His office was the liaison to the intelligence and enforcement communities within the Office of the Secretary of Defense to halt diversions. In turn, those cases then served as early warnings to decision-makers of potential policy issues. 

Have you ever thought what would happen if our grid system went down? Retired policy analyst for the Department of Defense for 23 years, Michael Maloof, warned of the dangers of an EMP attack. Aligning with George Noory’s campaign to protect the grid, Michael outlined how either a nuclear attack in the atmosphere or intense solar flares could cripple everything from daily routines to national defense. Michael breaks down this threat in his book “A Nation Forsaken.” He even outlines how our own military is similarly vulnerable to an EMP event due to its 99% dependency on the nation’s electrical grid system for electricity and communications, raising the high prospect that it may not be able to function to defend the nation in its time of greatest need. In 2008 a congressional commission studied the consequences of an EMP attack not only on the power grid itself, but also the consequences to every sector of our economy; telecommunications, banking, transportation, food, manufacturing, construction, and energy. So why isn’t congress doing anything about it? While these critical infrastructures continue to face such an impending crisis, Congress has basically ignored its own commission report and instead has treated the threat of an EMP event as a political football to be punted whenever expedient for their own gain. To date, still nothing has been done to protect the nation.

Have you ever thought what would happen if our grid system went down? Retired policy analyst for the Department of Defense for 23 years, Michael Maloof, warned of the dangers of an EMP attack. Aligning with George Noory’s campaign to protect the grid, Michael outlined how either a nuclear attack in the atmosphere or intense solar flares could cripple everything from daily routines to national defense. Michael breaks down this threat in his book “A Nation Forsaken.” He even outlines how our own military is similarly vulnerable to an EMP event due to its 99% dependency on the nation’s electrical grid system for electricity and communications, raising the high prospect that it may not be able to function to defend the nation in its time of greatest need. In 2008 a congressional commission studied the consequences of an EMP attack not only on the power grid itself, but also the consequences to every sector of our economy; telecommunications, banking, transportation, food, manufacturing, construction, and energy. So why isn’t congress doing anything about it? While these critical infrastructures continue to face such an impending crisis, Congress has basically ignored its own commission report and instead has treated the threat of an EMP event as a political football to be punted whenever expedient for their own gain. To date, still nothing has been done to protect the nation.

Jason Hartman is joined by long-time national security expert and author, F. Michael Maloof, to talk about how “the United States is more vulnerable than ever to an EMP attack that could shut down the country overnight, resulting in tens of millions of deaths and a 19th-century lifestyle for Americans for the foreseeable future.” Michael is the author of “A Nation Forsaken,” in which he discusses the likelihood of an EMP attack, whether from terrorists or solar activity, and exposes the government's lack of preparation to protect the country. He also proposes practical steps that people can take to prepare against such a cataclysmic event.  More details can be heard at:  www.HolisticSurvival.com. F. Michael Maloof, a former senior security policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, has almost 30 years of federal service in the U.S. Defense Department and as a specialized trainer for border guards and Special Forces in select countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia.  While with the Department of Defense, Maloof was director of technology security operations as head of a 10-person team involved in halting the diversion of militarily critical technologies to countries of national security and proliferation concern and those involved in sponsoring terrorism.  His office was the liaison to the intelligence and enforcement community within the Office of the Secretary of Defense in halting transfers and using cases that developed from them as early warnings to decision-makers of potential policy issues. Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the United States, Maloof was detailed back to report directly to the undersecretary of defense for policy to prepare analysis of worldwide terrorist networks, determine their linkages worldwide and their relationship to state sponsors.