Podcasts about Western Hemisphere

Today's guest is Dr. John Sullivan. He is a retired Los Angeles Sheriff's Department lieutenant. He is currently an Instructor in the Safe Communities Institute (SCI) at the Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California. Dr. Sullivan is a researcher, author, and one of the country's leading scholars on transnational organized crime. Borderland: Narcosis is an IRONCLAD Original Sponsors: 1st Phorm: Go to⁠ ⁠https://www.1stphorm.com/borderland⁠⁠ and get free shipping on any orders over $75, free 30 days in the app for new customers, and 110% money back guarantee on all of our products. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/borderland-narcosis-with-vincent-rocco-vargas/id1730589324 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6w9YAIljxWKXsetl10w9Qp?si=8a5eb53e12b74e3a Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Allen covers Energy Capital Partners buying TPI’s blade factories, GE Vernova’s $1.7 billion rescue of LM Wind Power, offshore wind cutting oil burn during a heat wave, Scotland’s Caledonia approval, and 19 states suing the Pentagon over stalled wind reviews. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Good Monday everyone. A few months ago, we told you about a Houston bankruptcy court carving up TPI Composites. Well, that story just got a whole lot bigger. On July sixth, TPI walked out of Chapter Eleven. Zero debt. New owners. A private equity firm called Energy Capital Partners picked up TPI’s blade factories in Iowa and Juarez, Mexico for about twenty million dollars. Twenty million, against more than a billion dollars in liabilities. ECP did not stumble into wind blades. They bought Calpine back in twenty eighteen, inherited seventy-seven power plants, and became GE’s biggest private gas turbine customer in the Western Hemisphere. That relationship, forged in gas turbine halls, is what brought them to composite factories. GE Vernova signed a five-year supply deal requiring it to send blade orders to ECP’s factories. GE is ECP’s partner, its customer, and was even the backup buyer if the deal fell through. So TPI lives on, leaner, debt-free, with locked-in demand from one of the biggest turbine makers on earth. But now, the other side of that coin. While ECP picked up two blade factories for twenty million dollars, GE Vernova recently pumped one-point-seven billion dollars into its own blade company, LM Wind Power. LM’s equity had fallen to negative 575 million euros. Revenue dropped ninety-six percent in one year, from 2.1 billion Danish kroner down to just ninety-three million. The Danish workforce, cut to about twenty-five people. LM Wind Power has lost money every single year since GE bought it in twenty seventeen. Nine straight years of red ink. So think about that. Two American blade factories now serve GE Vernova’s onshore business. One in Grand Forks, North Dakota, owned by GE, inside a division losing four hundred million dollars a year. The other in Newton, Iowa, owned by ECP, zero debt, five-year supply deal. The independent contract blade business that TPI Composites built is gone. Vestas took the India and Mexico plants in-house. GE’s supply is locked to ECP. The OEMs and their financial partners now own the factories directly. And that is a new era for wind manufacturing. Now, let us talk about what those blades are doing once they are spinning. Earlier this month, a brutal heat wave hit the eastern United States. Air conditioners running full blast. Grid operators scrambling to keep up. And off the coast of New England, two offshore wind farms stepped up. Vineyard Wind, eight hundred and six megawatts off Massachusetts. Revolution Wind, seven hundred and four megawatts near Rhode Island. Together they pushed hundreds of megawatts into the grid right when people needed it most. And here is the number that matters. Oil-fired power plants met about ten percent of peak demand on July second this year. Last summer, at the height of a similar heat wave, oil plants covered nearly fifteen percent. That is more than a gigawatt less oil burned. The projects that survived lawsuits, survived construction shutdowns, survived lease freezes, are now keeping the lights on in New England. Across the Atlantic, Scotland just approved two massive offshore wind farms. The Caledonia North and South projects in the Moray Firth, up to one hundred and forty turbines spread across one hundred and sixty-five square miles. Enough power for two million homes. Ocean Wind is leading the development with a commitment of about 1.7 billion pounds. And here is what makes this project different. Caledonia South will mix fixed-bottom and floating turbines, up to thirty-nine floaters. That blend of proven and next-generation technology on a single project is something to watch. Back in the United States, nineteen state attorneys general are suing the Department of Defense. The reason, wind project reviews. Federal law says any wind turbine taller than two hundred feet must go through a Defense Department check, to make sure it does not interfere with military radar or flight paths. Last August, the Pentagon stopped reviewing those projects. No explanation. No timeline for starting again. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown is leading the coalition, joined by attorneys general from eighteen other states including California, New York, and New Jersey. They want a court to force the Defense Department to start doing its job again. And finally, a story from the sea floor. Down in southern New England, lobster populations have been falling for decades. Back in nineteen ninety-eight, there were about fifty million lobsters in those waters. By twenty twenty-two, fewer than ten million. But something else is moving in. Jonah crabs. Fishermen used to throw them back. Now they are hauling them in by the thousands, selling them as a cheaper option to lobster. And researchers at the University of Rhode Island are finding that offshore wind foundations are acting like artificial reefs. Algae grows first, then barnacles and mussels, then fish and crabs follow. The question scientists are working to answer is whether these structures create new marine life, or just pull it in from the surrounding ocean. Either way, the turbines are not just making electricity. They are making habitat. Now, here is what to watch. This Wednesday, July twenty-second, GE Vernova reports second quarter earnings. And the numbers we just talked about will be in the room. One-point-seven billion dollars pumped into LM Wind Power, a blade company that has lost money nine years straight. Twenty million dollars to let ECP walk away with two factories and a five-year supply deal. GE Vernova is guiding for four hundred million dollars in wind segment losses this year. Meanwhile, its Power and Electrification divisions are printing money, nearly five billion dollars in free cash flow last quarter alone. So the question on that earnings call is simple. If you are spending eighty times more to keep your in-house blade maker alive than a private equity firm paid to buy your contract supplier, how long do you keep doing both? Watch for what GE Vernova says about LM Wind Power’s future, about North American onshore blade strategy, and about whether that 1.7 billion dollar injection was a rescue, or a goodbye. The answer could reshape who makes blades in this industry for the next decade. And that is the state of the wind industry for the 19th of July, twenty twenty-six. Join us for the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast tomorrow.

Chad Caton joins me for a wide-ranging conversation about the political tribalism turning Americans into rival fan clubs, the online Civil War fantasies flourishing while the hot yoga class remains fully booked, and what it will actually take to move this country forward. We get into Lindsey Graham, MAGA's team-sports problem, Antifa, the cartels and human trafficking networks Chad encountered in Belize, China's growing foothold in the Western Hemisphere, and why courage requires more than posting about the collapse from a comfortable chair. America does not need more spectators wearing the correct jersey. It needs citizens willing to think clearly, stand together, and do the work.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-jeff-dornik-show--4788100/support.Follow The Jeff Dornik Show on Apple Podcasts and leave a 5-star review. That's how we reach more people and bypass Big Tech suppression.Watch LIVE daily at 7pm ET on Rumble and subscribe so you never miss a show:https://rumble.com/c/jeffdornikBig Tech is silencing truth while harvesting your data to feed the machine. That's why I built Pickax, a free speech platform where creators own their content and your voice isn't controlled. Join now:https://pickax.com/?referralCode=y7wxvwq&refSource=copy

00:00 Intro01:02 U.S. Coast Guard Deployed Near China02:34 U.S. Targets China–Iran Oil Network03:04 Hormuz Toll Could Set China Precedent04:56 Trump Squeezes Iran's Oil Revenue07:23 Sen. Jim Banks: CCP Targets U.S. Research08:55 China “Marking Its Territory” in the Pacific: Expert10:51 Can Australia's Pacific Deals Challenge China?12:41 China Mega Embassy Plan Faces U.K. Court Challenge14:21 China's Q2 Economic Growth Misses Forecasts15:39 China's Consumption Challenge Continues16:00 U.S. Countering China in the Western Hemisphere

Retired DEA special agent Leo Silva discusses his book Narco Tales and his career fighting drug trafficking and organized crime. Silva provides a historical perspective on how Mexican cartels transitioned from business-oriented organizations with strict codes to the modern, ultra-violent groups that rely on extortion and kidnapping. The conversation covers the evolution of the narcotics trade, specifically the shift from marijuana and cocaine to the current fentanyl crisis and synthetic drugs. Silva highlights the challenges of undercover work in the age of social media and reflects on the varying levels of government cooperation between the United States and Mexico across different administrations. The dialogue concludes with a somber look at the deteriorating security situation in Mexico and the potential for increased U.S. intervention to combat the instability. Through his books, Silva aims to humanize the individuals on both sides of the law while documenting the violent realities of the narco world. Escape the Technocracy Live Workshop (w/ Geopolitics & Empire)! https://escapethetechnocracy.com/product-escape-the-technocracy-live-workshop-season-2 Watch on BitChute / Brighteon / Rumble / Substack / YouTube *Support Geopolitics & Empire! Become a Member https://geopoliticsandempire.substack.com Donate https://geopoliticsandempire.com/donations Consult https://geopoliticsandempire.com/consultation **Listen Ad-Free for $4.99 a Month or $49.99 a Year! Apple Subscriptions https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/geopolitics-empire/id1003465597 Supercast https://geopoliticsandempire.supercast.com ***Visit Our Affiliates & Sponsors! Above Phone https://abovephone.com/?above=geopolitics American Gold Exchange https://www.amergold.com/geopolitics Escape The Technocracy (15% off w/ GEOPOLITICS!) https://escapethetechnocracy.com/geopolitics Expat Money (FREE “WW3 Plan-B” Report!) https://expatmoney.com/geopolitics PassVult https://passvult.com Sociatates Civis https://societates-civis.com StartMail https://www.startmail.com/partner/?ref=ngu4nzr Wise Wolf Gold https://www.wolfpack.gold/?ref=geopolitics Websites Leo Silva https://leosilvaauthor.com X https://x.com/LXSilva1 About Leo Silva Before there were headlines, there was Leo Silva — working the shadows of Monterrey, running operations against the most dangerous cartel organizations in the Western Hemisphere. As Resident Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Monterrey Office, Silva spent decades at the sharp edge of America’s war on transnational crime, building cases against high-value targets that most people only read about in the news. Now he’s telling the full story. Silva is the author of Reign of Terror and its Spanish-language edition El Reinado de Terror — a memoir that pulls no punches about what frontline law enforcement really looks like: the operations, the sacrifices, the bureaucracy, and the human cost on every side of the fight. His writing draws on something no researcher or journalist can replicate — a career spent inside the story, where the stakes were measured in lives, not column inches. *Podcast intro music used with permission is from the song “The Queens Jig” by the fantastic “Musicke & Mirth” from their album “Music for Two Lyra Viols”: http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

Like the rest of us, China's leaders are confronting a world in turmoil. They see uncertain American commitments to allies, even as many of those allies ramp up their own defense efforts. They see changing relationships, whether deepening ties between Russia and North Korea or new connections among anxious middle powers. They see American military action in the Middle East and Western Hemisphere, with effects on American power in China's own region. And yet, as Oriana Skylar Mastro sees it, far from surprising Beijing, such disruptions are being taken as confirmation of what Chinese leader Xi Jinping often refers to as “great change unseen in a century.” Mastro has written a series of essays for Foreign Affairs on how Beijing aims to shape and exploit that change. She joined Dan Kurtz-Phelan to discuss China's strategy for navigating this turmoil—and what the United States should, and should not, do in response. You can find sources, transcripts, and more episodes of The Foreign Affairs Interview at https://www.foreignaffairs.com/podcasts/foreign-affairs-interview.

Disease pressure is back in the dairy market conversation. New World screwworm has moved into the U.S. Avian flu is still lingering in dairy herds. Foot-and-mouth disease is also back in the conversation after a recent Dutton Ranch storyline raised questions about what an outbreak would mean for U.S. cattle and dairy. So, we got together the experts and asked: is U.S. dairy ready? Listen to the episode. Listen here. Also available on: Amazon Music Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube In this episode: In The Milk Check episode 101, host Ted Jacoby III is joined by Jamie Jonker, chief science officer and vice president of sustainability and scientific affairs for the National Milk Producers Federation, and Sarina Sharp, market analyst for the Daily Dairy Report and Risk Manager at Ag Business Solutions. We break down what these disease risks mean for dairy cattle, milk production, farm-level disruption and market economics. We cover: How screwworm could disrupt individual dairy farms Why the closed border with Mexico is changing feeder cattle flows, beef prices and dairy farm economics Where avian flu stands today, and why current cases are not affecting dairy like they did in 2024 Why foot-and-mouth disease remains a low-risk, high-consequence threat for U.S. livestock Get up to speed on what animal health risks mean for milk production, dairy markets and farm-level decision-making Listen to The Milk Check episode 101: Screwworm, Bird Flu and Foot-and-Mouth Disease: Is U.S. Dairy Ready? Got questions: We'd love to hear them. Submit below, and we might answer it on the show. Ask The Milk Check TMC-Intro-final Ted Jacoby III: Coming up on the Milk Check. Sarina Sharp: The border is shut, and it doesn’t look like it will open anytime soon, so we just have this vacuum of Mexican beef cattle. Ted Jacoby III: Welcome to the Milk Check from T.C. Jacoby & Co., your complete guide to dairy markets, from the milking parlor to the supermarket shelf. I’m Ted Jacoby. Let’s dive in. Ted Jacoby III: Today we are excited to have two special guests. First, we have Jamie Jonker, chief science officer and vice president of sustainability and scientific affairs for the National Milk Producers Association, And second, we have Serena Sharp, the excellent market analyst who does our weekly market report. Serena, Jamie, thanks for joining us today. We’re excited to have you. Jamie Jonker: Thank you for having me here. I think we’re gonna have a number of things that are quite timely to talk about today. Sarina Sharp: Thanks for having me again. Ted Jacoby III: In addition to those two, we have some of our usual suspects. We have Mike Brown, our VP of dairy market intelligence. We have Jacob Menge, our VP of trading strategy and risk management. We have my brother Gus, president of the dairy fluid group. We have Josh White, our VP of dairy ingredients. And we have Tristan Suellentrop on our sales and marketing team, and Manuel Polzer, who is part of Jake’s risk management team. Guys, thanks for joining us today. So the topic we’re gonna be discussing today, there are three different diseases that have been gaining news in terms of how it might be affecting milk production and dairy cows. The first would be screwworm which has come across the border from Mexico, the second is avian flu is back. And of course, the third is Dutton Ranch recently had an episode that talked about foot-and-mouth disease on their cattle farm in Texas. And so of course, we’re getting questions about that. But we’ll start with the one that’s probably getting the most attention, and that is screwworm coming across the border from Mexico. It is now in Texas, and it is in New Mexico. Jamie, why don’t you just give us a brief background on what is screwworm, and how does it affect dairy cattle versus beef cattle? Jamie Jonker: Yeah. Great question, Ted. New World screwworm is a fly that, lays its eggs in mammals. It was eradicated from the U.S. in the mid-1960s, and by 2002, it was eradicated all the way down to what’s called the Darien Gap in Panama. That is a forested area about 50 miles wide, where there are no official roads going through it. And so that was really great news about the many decades process to get it down there. What’s happened is starting in ’23, it started creeping back up through Central America through the movement of people and people moving with their animals. Got into Mexico in ’24. Started really taking off in Mexico in ’25, and then just this past June 3rd, we had our first official case in Texas. Today there are 27 confirmed cases in the U.S. 25 in Texas. Out of those about 16 are cattle, most of those are calves castrated males. There is at least one adult cattle in that. So far, all of those are beef cattle. What happens is the New World screwworm fly lays its eggs in any open wound. And when we think about a wound, I want people to understand that can be as small as a tick bite, so it doesn’t have to be a large gash on an animal. It’s very tiny. And what is very unique about the New World screwworm larvae, and also quite devastating, is that the larvae eat live tissue of the So when the eggs start hatching, and the female lays 200 to 300, it very quickly becomes an animal health and welfare issue for that individual animal. Unlike viral and bacterial diseases though, this is not directly transmissible from one animal to another. Obviously, as the larvae mature and become flies of their own, then they can continue to spread it in that area. But unlike what we’ll talk about in a little bit, the H5N1, which was highly transmissible between cows in an individual herd, this does not necessarily transmit from animal to animal. It’s when the larvae become flies, mate, and then the next generation can lay eggs in new animals So, what happens when it gets into these animals, in particular, newborn calves are highly susceptible because of the open umbilical area, they get in there, and, if left untreated, the mortality in newborn calves can approach fifty percent. However, highly recoverable if caught early and treated. Out of those twenty-seven animals, so far that have been identified at least one actually has been euthanized because that was the right decision for that animal. Where we are today, no dairy cattle so far as of June twenty-ninth when this is being recorded. But it is growing in terms of the geography where they’re finding domestic animals in Texas that have it. It’s a growing potential risk for dairy farmers that are in the Southwest. Ted Jacoby III: Jamie, sticking with beef cattle, does the beef industry handle infected cattle with screwworm right now? Jamie Jonker: Animals that have an infestation, essentially you have to clean out the larvae, then you treat the wounds. The other thing that you do is you wanna make sure that you do prevention treatment to prevent infestation from happening in other animals. Because once you have one animal infested, there’s likely a reproducing fly population there, and so there’s a higher risk for other animals in that location. There’s a number of products that are approved for prevention purposes. And they have withdrawal times, ranging, on the beef side, withdrawal times, thirty-plus days in some cases. Some of those products are also approved for use in dairy cattle. There’s a distinction that FDA does through its emergency use authorization and conditional approval processes that typically breaks between growing cattle and lactating cattle. For FDA purposes, lactating dairy cattle are twenty months of age or older, even if they’re not lactating. There’s only one product that’s approved for prevention in lactating dairy cattle at this point in time. That’s DECTOMAX. It’s an injectable product that has a nineteen and a half day milk withdrawal period and a thirty-plus day meat withdrawal period. Ted Jacoby III: Once these cows are infected and then treated, if it’s beef cattle, for at least 30 days they couldn’t be sold to a slaughterhouse, correct? Jamie Jonker: That’s correct. And we want to encourage folks to work with their veterinarian and only use those products that have been approved through the FDA processes. Because if you’re using other products, the withdrawal period is unknown; you’re setting yourself up to potentially have a residue issue. Ted Jacoby III: And how is National Milk right now working with dairy farmers in the United States to prepare for the possibility that we will have a infected dairy cow in the U.S.? Jamie Jonker: We are pulling together resources. We actually have a resource page on our nmpf.org website. And there’s a big pop-up right, right on top for New World screwworm resources for dairy farmers. We have some of our own resources. Obviously, there are lots of people putting together really great resources. We don’t need to recreate things that are done well, so we have links to other resources. We’re also keeping a keen eye on what’s happening as we get new detections in Texas, and potentially as the summer goes on, potentially in other states as well, and working with USDA, Texas Animal Health Commission, and others on keeping preparedness top of mind. Ted Jacoby III: It sounds like if you have a cow infected with screwworm, it’s reportable, and so the U.S.DA is keeping a register of where all the cows are that have been infected. Is that true for dairy as well? Jamie Jonker: Yes. If A dairy animal is found to have an infestation , the first thing we recommend, if you see something that you think might be New World screwworm in any of your dairy animals, contact your veterinarian. Because what we wanna have is an official sample taken so that they can determine whether or not it truly is New World screwworm, because some of these larvae and some of these flies, they look pretty similar, and you just can’t tell by a quick glance at them. But we get that official determination from USDA. What that does is that triggers a response, and that response is important because it’s the response to that individual animal, it’s a response to help mitigate the risk of spread on that farm and spread in that area. And when you have one or more animals that are found to have an infestation, a 20-kilometer zone is set up around them. That’s called the infested zone. There’s strict requirements on the ability for moving animals out of that zone. Then beyond that is another 20-kilometer surveillance zone. And the Texas Animal Health Commission has a great map that shows the zones in Texas, and as they’ve had an increasing number of domestic animals found to have infestations, some of those areas are starting to merge into a pretty large geography there close to the border. Ted Jacoby III: Is my understanding correct that if a beef cattle were to get infected within a 20-mile radius of a dairy farm, you couldn’t move the cattle out of that dairy farm either? Jamie Jonker: You would be able to move the animals, but you have to move them under permit. There’s inspection of the animals to ensure that they don’t have any infestations. Depending upon where they’re moving, there could be requirements for prevention treatment. That’s not necessarily that it happens 100% of the time. If they’re moving within the state of Texas, there might be requirements that are different than if the animals are moving, say, from Texas to elsewhere. And we certainly know that a lot of dairy animals spend part of their life in Texas and move elsewhere. We saw that starting in March of 2024 with the H5N1. Ted Jacoby III: So Jamie, is there a protocol set up for exactly how the milk from a dairy cow that would be infected with screwworm is handled, and how that herd would be managed if that were to happen, and what is that protocol? Jamie Jonker: Yeah, so if you have a dairy animal that is infested, you wanna get that animal isolated. You wanna have that wound where the larvae are cleaned out and then treated. There are a couple of additional products that are approved for lactating dairy cattle for treatment of the infestation itself, so Dectomax is the only one approved for prevention purposes. There’s a topical spray and a topical gel that are approved for an animal that has an infestation. You clean it out, you treat it with that, you isolate them and then, if you’re not doing additional treatments of animals in the herd, if the determination is you’ve got an isolated case and you don’t need to do a broader prevention process, that milk from all those other animals continues to flow. You wanna make sure that you’re not incidentally transferring flies in the cab of the milk truck because that is one way that you can move these flies quite a long distance by just accidentally trapping them in your vehicle. But unless the requirement is to do a broader prevention treatment in the herd, any animal that is not treated with an animal health product, its milk is perfectly sellable, so long as they’re continuing to meet the having no residues from other antibiotics. Ted Jacoby III: So, to be clear, milk from a cow that might be infected with screwworm, the milk itself is still absolutely fine and healthy unless You’re treating the cow with a medicine to get rid of the screwworm. Jamie Jonker: An infestation is an animal health and welfare issue. It’s not a food safety issue for meat or milk. Ted Jacoby III: Do you anticipate that we are going to have issues with screwworm in dairy cattle soon? Jamie Jonker: Soon is difficult to define. I would say that we have an elevated risk that it will occur at some point in time on a facility with dairy animals, a commercial dairy facility. And I say that because New World screwworm grows well in temperatures like we’re experiencing throughout a lot of parts of the U.S. right now. It’s very cold intolerant, and if you get three or four days at twenty degrees Fahrenheit, that kills most of the flies, so that’s great. But we are just at the end of June, so we have many months yet with temperatures that are very conducive for the flies to be active. And I think the other thing is that as we look at a growing geography in Texas of where we are finding screwworm infestations in domesticated livestock we probably don’t have enough New World screwworm sterile flies being produced today to respond to that. That is why USDA has worked with Mexico in renovating a fruit fly production facility there to produce New World screwworm sterile flies. I believe it was just announced late last week. That facility is up and running and at full production capacity probably towards the end of the year. That’s another hundred million flies to complement the hundred million that are being produced at the facility in Panama. And then there was, in April of this year, the announcement of a domestic plant being built on a military base in Edinburg, Texas. The target date for that is to be November of next year to produce three hundred million flies once it’s fully operational . You’ve heard Secretary Rollins discuss they are looking at ways to move that timeline faster. But I think when you consider we started off with a hundred million in Panama, we’re gonna be another hundred million sterile flies in Mexico by the end of the year, and then another three hundred million in Texas when that is up and running. That’s a realization that this is gonna be a multi-year process, and that it’s unlikely that it’s just gonna stay in a geography near the border. So, long way of saying, yes, I think it’s probably a matter of when it gets to a dairy facility and not if. Ted Jacoby III: Serena, do you think screwworm, if and when it starts to affect dairy cows, is going to materially affect milk production in the U.S.? Sarina Sharp: I guess it depends how widespread it is, but I generally don’t think so. I think that it’s gonna be a huge headache at the very least for an individual dairy producer who has to deal with it and for his livestock. But it’s not gonna be material in terms of how many dairies in the U.S. it’s likely to impact. And especially, if you look at where the beef cattle are and the typical temperatures in those areas versus where dairy cattle are in the United States, three days of cold is very common in a lot of dairy areas. And then thirdly, a lot of the beef cattle that have it now are in ranch country. They’re not in an operation where the cattle grower is hands-on, up close with these animals every single day. And on a dairy, that’s not the case. When you are milking cows every day, and bottle-feeding calves, and checking on your heifers, that’s a very hour-to-hour interaction with your livestock, and so it’s a lot easier to contain an infestation in that environment than it is on this vast ranch country with scrub brush in the southern plains. Ted Jacoby III: That makes a lot of sense ’cause you can go days without inspecting beef cattle, but you rarely go hours without inspecting a dairy cow. Sarina Sharp: Yeah. So, when I look at the market impact of screwworm on the dairy industry, I’m not focused on milk production at this point at all. I’m looking at its impact on beef prices and how that changes economics on the dairy farm Ted Jacoby III: How do you think it’s gonna change beef prices? Sarina Sharp: It has already changed beef prices because the United States closed the border with Mexico to live mammal imports. And so, the primary way that’s impacted us is we typically take hundreds of thousands and slightly over a million Mexican feeder cattle. So, that’s young beef livestock from Mexico into the United States, feed and finish them in the United States, and then they help increase our beef cattle supplies. That border has been shut for quite a while now, and for the first months of this screwworm infestation in Mexico, when it was not in the United States and not in northern Mexico, then there was a constant hope, “All right, they’ll get this under control, and we’ll reopen the border, and those feeder cattle imports, we’ll be able to bring them in again.” The border is shut, and it doesn’t look like it will open anytime soon, so we just have this vacuum of Mexican beef cattle. That means that the U.S. dairy industry is positioned to continue to supply beef crossbred calves to the beef cattle industry. That’s beef on dairy calves. At times when we have extra heifers, which is not right now, we’ll just place true dairy animals in feedlots. The price might incentivize us to consider that, although right now they’re so valuable as dairy animals, that’s not happening, at least not at scale. And then, it impacts the dairy cull cow price as well. So, I was talking to a producer last week who sold one full truckload of dairy cull cows at an average price of $3,500 per animal. That’s just an unheard-of price in the past, and it is really adding up to a lot for dairy producers’ bottom lines. For several days here, we were looking at $15, $16 milk and $4.30 corn, and the math wasn’t working out, but when you add a beef crossbred calf check and a dairy cull cow check into that mix, things are looking a lot better when you talk to your banker. Ted Jacoby III: So, it sounds like to me that even though from a public relations standpoint this is going to be a bit of a headache and we have to make sure we get the word out of exactly how screwworm is affecting the dairy industry and how we have protocols in place and plans to make sure that it doesn’t affect the milk supply, for the dairy farmer from a cashflow perspective, at the end of the day it’s probably a positive. Sarina Sharp: It is a positive. I do want to stress that there’s no less beef in the world because of screwworm. What we’ve changed is where those animals are, and the longer that the border stays closed, the more resources that the Mexican cattle industry is gonna pour into facilities to finish the cattle that are staying there, and then also beef packing facilities so they can just process them right there. So we are not importing Mexican feeder cattle. We are importing Mexican beef. So, that’s a positive for dairy producers who are supplying young livestock. In the long run, it’s a negative for the U.S. beef industry who would love to raise those cattle here and process them here. And every day that we don’t is a day that Mexico is investing in not sending them here and sending us the finished beef. Ted Jacoby III: That makes a lot of sense. Jamie Jonker: I think the one thing I would add is I don’t think there’s gonna be a milk disruption issue. But at an individual farm level, it could be very disruptive. So nationally, you probably won’t really notice much, but at an individual farm level, depending on what happens, it could be very disruptive. In contrast to H5N1, which was really a big issue in so many different places. This is something that is gonna be at the individual farm level. Ted Jacoby III: Do dairy farmers have insurance for events like this? Sarina Sharp: So I know that with H5N1, you were able to file for some insurance protection related to your lost milk revenue, and you also registered that as an event for your dairy RP. I imagine that if you’re not gonna lose milk production at scale, that it’s not insurable Ted Jacoby III: That makes sense. ​ Ted Jacoby III: Everybody, we will be right back after these messages. Diego Carvallo: I’m Diego Carballo with T.C. Jacoby & Co.. T.C. Jacoby & Co. specializes in international dairy markets. For new customers that haven’t done business with Jacoby, I would tell them that we can provide them with many of the powders, dairy products that they consume, not only with the physical product, but we can also help them mitigate their risk. We know dairy. We know the main players. We know the main providers for the whole value chain. We are one of the strongest players in the U.S. market because we have contact all the way from the farmer moving the liquid milk all the way to the end users that buy the end products. I am Diego Carballo with T.C. Jacoby & Co., and we bring dairy to the world. Ted Jacoby III: Jamie, where are we at with avian flu? Is it affecting the dairy industry as badly this year as two years ago, and how do you expect it to play out this year? Jamie Jonker: It is not affecting the dairy sector like it was in 2024. In 2024, there were 917 dairy farms officially identified as having H5N1 on their farms, probably some more that were not officially listed. Last year, in ’25 was only 171, and so far this year, halfway through the year, only 64. So, we’re seeing a downward trend but what we are seeing here is some lingering issues with H5N1 on dairy farms this year. There have been two dairy farms in Texas, three in Utah, and the remaining fifty-nine are all in Idaho. And based upon my conversations with USDA for the farms where they have the genotyping done, these are all B3.13 strains (HPAI H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b, genotype B3.13) so far, so no new spillover events. It’s a circulating one. And they are all related to a lineage of B3.13 that are circulating in Idaho. And so, it’s still kinda hanging out there. When I look at it, it’s not gonna have the big impact on overall milk production. When I say big, I think when we looked at 2024, it’s probably about a 1% reduction in production. That’s not huge but not inconsequential. Unless there was movement of this to places where there hasn’t been virus before. And you can think about large production areas around the Midwest into the Northeast where there hasn’t been this virus before. And so, that’s the risk, is that this virus moves to places where we haven’t had it before. And that’s why I think it’s important that we do our best to see if we can eliminate this B3.13 strain entirely from the U.S. dairy cattle population because the only reason we picked up the three spillover events with the D1.1 strain is because we had the mandatory surveillance. Based upon my discussions with folks that some of those herds and veterinarians that are dealing with those herds, if you weren’t testing for it, you probably wouldn’t have known that you had an outbreak of bird flu in your cattle. Unlike this B3.13, which was just so devastating, most herds that got it, ten to twenty percent of their herd had very severe clinical symptoms . And, you could see starting in September of ’24 into January, February of ’25, what it did on milk production in California. California had over seven hundred dairy farms in those months that, that were impacted by it. Ted Jacoby III: So if I’m hearing you correctly, this strain is far milder than the strain that affected us in 2024, and as a result it’s unlikely to have a major effect on milk production. Jamie Jonker: This is the same strain as 2024 that has affected the vast majority of those dairy farms. But right now, it’s occurring In places where that strain has already probably impacted most of these dairy farms in some capacity. And so, when they’re getting it in their farms, they’re being picked up as part of the mandatory surveillance process. And they’re not getting that big outbreak in a two-week period where ten to twenty percent of the herd needs to be in a hospital. Ted Jacoby III: Is some of the reason why it’s having less of an effect because, like with human viruses over time, cows build up immunity to it and just don’t get as sick the second, third time they might get sick with the same virus? Jamie Jonker: That appears to be part of that process. In most of our farms, we’re turning over, a quarter to a third of our animals every year, so you have a new naive population coming in. And some of these farms, what they’re really experiencing are they’re just constantly bringing in new naive animals, and they get like a rolling infection. But you’re not having 10% to 20% of the herd all at once. Ted Jacoby III: Thanks, Jamie. Now let’s move on to the last subject we had: foot-and-mouth disease. Jamie, what is the status of foot-and-mouth disease in the United States today? Jamie Jonker: Hollywood likes to glamorize things and I’m happy to say it’s been nearly 100 years since we’ve had a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in the U.S., and I sure hope that we don’t have one in my lifetime, it can be quite devastating. But no FMD in the U.S. since an outbreak in California in the late 1920s. And importantly, there’s a lot of work that’s being done on preparation in case of an outbreak . Back in the 2018 Farm Bill, dairy, beef and swine lobbied really hard to modernize our U.S. FMD vaccine bank. And there was a significant amount of new monies that were put into that, and that has been modernized. We have the secure food supply plans, including the secure milk supply and secure beef supply plans, and secure swine supply plans that are in place to help us deal with how we continue continuity of business if an outbreak occurs in the U.S. And ,so we’re much better planned today than we were even ten years ago. That being said, FMD is a risk. We see that it moves around a lot more than we would like it to in other areas of the world. And the example that I’m gonna give, there’s seven different serotypes of FMD, and a whole bunch of subtypes. There’s one called South African type. That is typically a Sub-Saharan African type and has been quite devastating in South Africa over these past two years. In 2023, they had an outbreak of SAT 1 Type 1 in the African horn that moved into Middle East in 2025 and through the end of 2025 into 2026, an SAT Type III actually broke out starting in Asia, moving into India and China. And although not officially listed, probably also into Russia. And so it’s moved into places where they routinely vaccinate for FMD but they don’t vaccinate for this serotype. And unfortunately, the vaccines that they use do not have cross protection for the SAT types, and so it’s been a really big issue in those areas. And it’s a demonstration of how quickly animal diseases can move these days. It’s very much on my radar and of concern to me about how quickly they move. Obviously, we have several oceans on both sides of us that help keep some things at bay. But boy, there’s a lot of flights that come into the U.S. from places where FMD is every day. And we have ships that are coming to container ports that come from those areas as well. It’s not a zero risk. I would say it’s a very low risk. But we wanna make sure we keep it on our radar that we continue to be prepared. It’s better to be prepared for something that doesn’t happen than be unprepared and have an outbreak . I have fire insurance on my house not because I want a fire to happen. I have it just in case, and I hope I never use it. Ted Jacoby III: Why do you think the U.S. has been so much more successful than, let’s say, Europe at staying FMD free? Jamie Jonker: I think part of it is that bit of geographic isolation. The vast majority of the Western Hemisphere is free of foot-and-mouth disease. There may be some in Venezuela, but their political issues over the past decade, their instability , their reporting of disease has been a bit spotty, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they still had a little bit circulating there . But everywhere else in South America, including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay those places have all gotten rid of FMD, and they’ve done it through vaccination campaigns and culling. Essentially eliminating it from the Western Hemisphere, our risk is much lower than Europe, which has direct geographic connections to places where it’s endemic. Ted Jacoby III: That makes a lot of sense. Serena, I’ve got one last question for you. What is the thing that keeps you and your family’s farms what keeps you guys up at night in terms of a disease or an outbreak in the U.S.? Sarina Sharp: Foot-and-mouth disease would be terrible, but it doesn’t feel like that’s imminent. I think that another round of avian influenza feels much more likely to have a devastating impact on an individual dairy. It’s not something that’s keeping us up at night every night, but it is something that when you hear, “Yep, there’s 50-plus cases in Idaho,” it feels could happen right here, kind of no matter where in the US right here is. So I think that one is forefront of dairy producers’ minds. But I just don’t think that disease pressure is keeping dairy producers up at night in the way that it did in 2024 when it was a mysterious virus. We were trying to figure out how to treat it. We weren’t sure how it was spreading, and the impact on animal health was so severe. And it feels to me like how we treat the flu and, to a lesser extent, COVID today compared to how we did in 2020. I think that’s how dairy producers generally feel about disease pressure in general today. I don’t want myself or my kids to get COVID or the flu, and we sure don’t want avian influenza on any of our farms Ted Jacoby III: I’d have to agree with that sentiment. This is what I’ve heard today. I’ve heard that screwworm, we are well prepared to deal with it if it does get on a U.S. dairy, but in general, it’s not something we’re terribly worried about affecting milk production in the United States. Avian flu is something maybe we’re a little bit more worried about affecting milk production, but the strain that’s out there today is one that’s been out there before, and we seem pretty well prepared for it. And foot-and-mouth disease is not in the United States, and we’ve got a lot of protocols in place to really keep it at bay, and we’re in a pretty good place in terms of making sure that foot-and-mouth disease stays away from this country. Jamie, hey, thank you very much for joining us today. I really appreciate it. I learned a lot today, and thank you so much for your time. Jamie Jonker: Yeah. Thank you for having me. Ted Jacoby III: Thanks, guys. Thanks, Serena. Thanks, guys. Jamie Jonker: Thank you. Thank Sarah Olson: you, Serena. Jamie, thank Jamie Jonker: you. Yes, see you. Bye, guys. Ted Jacoby III: Coming up next time. Scott Briggs: Yeah, the US is really in a great position to drive global dairy markets over the next five to 10 years. Ted Jacoby III: Tune in next time when we have Scott Briggs from Bridgescape Commodities joining us, talking about milk production on the global scale and how the US is positioned to be competitive against the major global exporters moving forward

For ten months, the Marines and Sailors of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit operated across the Caribbean under U.S. Southern Command's Operation Southern Spear, moving through one of the most complex and dynamically shifting threat environments in the Western Hemisphere, one where transnational narco-terrorist networks operate with military-grade weapons, sophisticated logistics, and the kind of adaptive counter-surveillance tradecraft that demands a level of environmental reading far beyond standard law enforcement or conventional military doctrine. This episode breaks down what that deployment actually looked like on the ground, how amphibious forces were trained and positioned to identify, track, and interdict heavily armed cartel networks operating across open water and coastal terrain where the threat picture changes faster than any fixed intelligence product can capture, and what the operational lessons from Southern Spear reveal about the future of situational awareness in counter-narcotics and hemispheric defense missions. If you want to understand how elite military units read and respond to a living, breathing narco threat environment in America's own backyard, this episode gives you the inside account of what that looks like when it is actually executed at scale. IAB Tags: Military/Defense, Law Enforcement, News/Politics, Society/Issues, Education, Personal Safety, Law/Government/Legal

An uncommon thread of agreement among textile and apparel associations in Section 301 labor comments. Listen for more on Two Minutes in Trade 

"Go back to your country." It's the favorite phrase of border hawks and armchair historians across the Western Hemisphere. But what happens when we actually crack open a history book and look at the paperwork?In this episode of *The Forefront Radio*, we examine the historical irony of modern border politics. Somewhere between the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria—three ships that nobody's grandmother filed a visa application for—certain groups decided they were "native" to a continent they hadn't even stepped foot on until the 1490s.From the total absence of European populations pre-1492 to the invention of "whiteness" in the 17th-century Virginia colonies, we trace the timeline of how military invasions got rebranded as "exploration," and how waves of European refugees fleeing their own continent's self-inflicted world wars became the arbiters of who belongs on stolen land. We also dive into the "erasure by paperwork"—unpacking the devastating history of how colonial administrators reclassified Native peoples to seize land, the "Five Dollar Indian" phenomenon, and how this exact same playbook was deployed across Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina.The next time someone demands to see a visa, ask them for the paperwork their ancestors filed with the Taino Council.**Stay awake. Stay covenant-minded.**###

Doomberg stops by and drops some truth bombs around the cage. We cover his article for tomorrow and Friday and tee up his book. You can read all of Doomberg's articles on https://newsletter.doomberg.com/Doomberg stops by and drops some truth bombs around the cage. We cover his article for tomorrow and Friday and tee up his book. You can read all of Doomberg's articles on https://newsletter.doomberg.com/1. Sanctions Against Russia & Their IneffectivenessThe hosts discuss Doomberg's article "Treatment Resistant," which argues that sanctions against strong countries like Russia don't work as intended. They compare it to treating cancer—if you don't cure it, it comes back stronger. The EU's strategy of limiting Russian LNG exports while simultaneously importing Russian LNG is highlighted as contradictory and ineffective.2. EU Censorship & Free Speech ConcernsA significant portion focuses on European overreach in censorship, including a new European Court of Justice ruling that makes it illegal to even quote or critique Russian media. This threatens independent journalists and Substack creators, raising concerns about freedom of speech and the weaponization of sanctions enforcement.3. Ukraine War & Geopolitical StrategyThe conversation covers the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, including:Russian refinery damage from drone strikes and its actual impactThe importance of the land corridor to Crimea for RussiaCriticism of endless U.S. military involvement in foreign conflictsThe need for diplomatic talks between Trump, Putin, and Zelensky4. Energy Markets & Oil PricingDiscussion of current oil prices (~$68/barrel), refining capacity constraints, and the crack spread differences between Texas ($5) and California ($15). They debate whether oil will drop to $50 and discuss the role of NGLs (natural gas liquids) as an alternative hydrocarbon source.5. Peak Not Oil & NGL ProductionDoomberg presents the thesis that we're not running out of oil—instead, we're transitioning to abundant NGLs (propane, butane, ethane). U.S. NGL production is expected to cross 8 million barrels per day, offering cleaner-burning alternatives.6. NATO & U.S. Foreign PolicyCritical examination of:Article 5 obligations (e.g., defending Estonia)The Jones Act and its impact on energy pricesWhy the U.S. should focus on the Western Hemisphere rather than global conflictsThe dangers of nuclear proliferation resulting from military interventions7. California's Energy CrisisDiscussion of California's regulatory overreach, refinery closures, and how the temporary suspension of the Jones Act has helped provide cheaper energy to the state.8. Upcoming Doomberg Stories"Sources and Methods" (Friday) - Examining media bias and how to verify information in an age of AI and deepfakes"Blue Chips" (Tomorrow) - A gas-to-data project in the Permian involving Chevron, Microsoft, and GE9. Media Literacy & PropagandaThe hosts emphasize the importance of critical thinking, cross-referencing multiple sources (including alternative media), and understanding that major outlets like the Financial Times have biases and propaganda elements mixed with legitimate reporting.This episode is essentially a deep dive into energy geopolitics, the failures of Western sanctions policy, and the importance of independent analysis in an increasingly censored information landscape.Check out the Energy News Beat SubStack https://theenergynewsbeat.substack.com/A shout-out to Steve Reese and the Reese Energy Consulting group for sponsoring the Podcast https://reeseenergyconsulting.com/.Data2 if you have any business systems, can you trust A? Well, they have the patent on validation. . https://data2.zoholandingpage.com/energyAnd we have WellDatabase rolling in as a new sponsor. https://welldatabase.com/Check out the Energy News Beat SubStack https://theenergynewsbeat.substack.com/A shout-out to Steve Reese and the Reese Energy Consulting group for sponsoring the Podcast https://reeseenergyconsulting.com/.Data2 if you have any business systems, can you trust A? Well, they have the patent on validation. . https://data2.zoholandingpage.com/energyAnd we have WellDatabase rolling in as a new sponsor. https://welldatabase.com/

In this episode, we take you behind the scenes of a historic, grinding 10-month deployment that just wrapped up in our own backyard. The heavily armed Marines and Sailors of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) just returned home after spearheading Operation Southern Spear under U.S. Southern Command. We break down the stark reality of how these amphibious forces took the fight directly to heavily armed transnational narco-terrorist networks, guarded our southern approaches, and changed the rules of engagement in the Western Hemisphere.

Tomorrow, America will celebrate its birth. But the decisive moment, even the real birth of modern America, argues Alexander Mikaberidze in his new book The Louisiana Purchase: The Grand Bargain and the Making of America, may not have been 1776 at all. It was 1803, the year of the Louisiana Purchase. The year Thomas Jefferson bought the future from Napoleon Bonaparte. This was the moment the young American republic doubled its size in a single transaction, absorbed the heart of a continent and set itself on the path to becoming a global superpower. The numbers associated with the Louisiana Purchase are staggering. 828,000 square miles. Thirteen states. Fifteen million dollars — four cents an acre, so the mythology tells us. But Mikaberidze reminds us that the deal Jefferson signed did not actually grant the United States the land. Instead, it merely authorised the republic to negotiate the acquisition of land still owned by Native Americans. So it became the founding event of the US-Indian Treaty System that produced over 200 Native American cessions between 1804 and 1970, and cost the Republic billions of dollars. The Louisiana Purchase was America's grand Faustian bargain. It was a deal that not only enabled America's eventual rise as a 20th century superpower, but also the expansion of slavery, the destruction of Native peoples, and the 19th century imperial reach of the Monroe Doctrine. So forget 1776 and save the fireworks to remember 1803. And celebrate with croissants rather than hot dogs. Without Napoleon Bonaparte's generosity, the United States might be just another regional power like France. Five Takeaways •       The Louisiana Purchase: Arguably the Decisive Moment in American History: Mikaberidze's opening argument: if you had to pick the single most important moment in American history, 1803 has a stronger claim than 1776. Independence established the republic. The Louisiana Purchase made it a continental power. 828,000 square miles. Thirteen states. The heart of the continent. Securing the Mississippi for American commerce. Laying the groundwork for the Monroe Doctrine, Manifest Destiny, and America's eventual emergence as a global superpower. The revolution created the nation. The purchase created its destiny. •       Four Cents an Acre? The Real Price Was Billions: The famous number: $15 million, or four cents an acre. The less famous fact: the agreement Jefferson signed did not grant the United States the land. It merely authorised the republic to negotiate the acquisition of the land, which was still owned by Native Americans. The Louisiana Purchase was the founding event of the US-Indian Treaty System — which produced over 200 Native American cessions between 1804 and 1970, and cost the United States not $15 million but billions of dollars. What appeared to be the greatest real estate deal in history was actually an authorisation to conduct the most expensive series of land negotiations in history. •       The Grand Faustian Bargain: Slavery, Native Peoples, and the Monroe Doctrine: Andrew's formulation — the Grand Faustian Bargain, the deal with the devil — is one Mikaberidze accepts. The purchase did three things simultaneously: it made America a continental power and a future superpower; it enabled the expansion of slavery into the vast new territory (the Missouri crisis of 1820 was a direct consequence); and it set in motion the dispossession of Native peoples at a scale and speed that would otherwise have been impossible. The Monroe Doctrine — America's declaration that the Western Hemisphere was its sphere of influence — would not have been conceivable without the continental reach the purchase provided. •       Napoleon's Bad Weather: The Contingency That Made America: The counterfactual at the heart of Mikaberidze's book: in October 1802, Napoleon had 4,000 veteran French troops ready to sail for New Orleans. The bad weather delayed them. Then it was too late — war with Britain was coming, and Napoleon decided to sell. If those troops had arrived, Mikaberidze argues, France might have retained effective control of southern Louisiana, cultivated alliances with Native nations (as it historically had), and used those alliances to constrain American expansion inland. Without the Louisiana hinterland, the American republic might have been a prosperous but regionally limited power, strong in New England and the Northeast but denied the continental reach that made it a superpower. •       Croissants in Kansas, Tacos in Oklahoma: The Counterfactual Continents: Andrew's closing question: what would July 4 look like in Kansas and Oklahoma if the purchase hadn't happened? Mikaberidze's answer: French Louisiana, Spanish Texas, and Native-controlled hinterlands are all in play. The people of Kansas might indeed be celebrating with croissants rather than hot dogs. Mikaberidze adds: or tacos. Almost certainly more tacos and moles, given the Spanish and ultimately Mexican influence that would have prevailed across most of the continent. The American empire of liberty, in this alternative timeline, stops somewhere in the middle of what is now Missouri. About the Guest Alexander Mikaberidze is Professor of History and the Ruth Herring Noel Endowed Chair at Louisiana State University-Shreveport. He is the author of The Louisiana Purchase: The Grand Bargain and the Making of America (Oxford University Press, July 3, 2026) and more than two dozen other books, including Kutuzov: A Life in War and Peace (Oxford, 2022) and The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History (Oxford, 2020), both winners of the Society for Military History's Distinguished Book Award and the Gilder-Lehrman Military History Prize. He was born in Georgia (the Caucasus) and has lived in Shreveport, Louisiana for twenty-six years. References: •       The Louisiana Purchase: The Grand Bargain and the Making of America by Alexander Mikaberidze (Oxford University Press, July 3, 2026). Part of the Pivotal Moments in American History series. •       Craig Fuhrman, The Vast Enterprise — referenced by Mikaberidze as a new reassessment of Lewis and Clark's expedition. •       Jedediah Morse (1789) — the geographer who wrote of “American Empire” with a western boundary at the Pacific, referenced in the Monroe Doctrine discussion. About Keen On America Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States — hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 3,000 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolif...

In this segment, Tara uses a caller's observation to expand her critique of the modern Democratic Party, claiming that progressive ideology has effectively allowed communism to establish a foothold in the United States. A caller named Vinnie reaches out to the show, drawing a parallel to the Cold War era and noting how past administrations—specifically President John F. Kennedy—fought aggressively to halt the spread of communism in the Western Hemisphere. Tara jumps on this point, highlighting the stark irony that while the nation once fought wars and lost tens of thousands of young men to keep communist ideologies off its "back porch," those very concepts are now being openly embraced within the mainstream Left. She argues that what was once a geopolitical threat fiercely resisted by the country is now walking right through the door of the modern Democratic Party with very little mainstream objection.

Morning Briefing — Tuesday, June 30, 2026 | Heat Dome Deep-Dive, NWS Lincoln IL, Zmanim & MoreWest Rogers Park, Chicago (ZIP 60645)=== ZMANIM — Tuesday, June 30, 2026 (15 Tamuz 5786) ===Hebrew Date: 15 Tamuz 5786 | Parsha: Chukat-BalakAlos HaShachar: 3:25 AMEarliest Talis & Tefillin: 4:04 AMNetz HaChama (Sunrise): 5:18 AMLatest Krias Shma: 9:06 AMLatest Tefila: 10:22 AMChatzos: 12:54 PMEarliest Mincha: 1:32 PMShkiah (Sunset): 8:30 PM=== TOMORROW'S ZMANIM — Wednesday, July 1, 2026 ===Sunrise: 5:19 AM | Sof Zman Shma: 9:06 AM | Sof Zman Tefila: 10:22 AMChatzos: 12:54 PM | Mincha Gedola: 1:32 PM | Shkiah: 8:30 PM=== WEATHER SUMMARY ===An extreme and historic heat dome grips the Midwest today. A 596 decameter (dam) closed upper-level ridge — one of the strongest ever recorded over this region — is centered over the Ohio Valley, pumping oppressive heat and moisture into Chicago and surrounding areas. Highs in the lower 90s°F with dew points near 80°F are expected, producing heat indices of 105-110°F. An Extreme Heat Warning is in effect through Thursday.=== NWS LINCOLN IL DISCUSSION (Barnes, 5:22 AM CDT) ===596 dam closed contour heat dome over Ohio Valley — historically rare signature. NBM model running 2-4°F too warm; actual highs likely lower 90s rather than mid/upper 90s. Heat index exceeds 105°F through Thursday. SW winds gusting 25 kt.=== NWS CHICAGO LOT DISCUSSION (Ratzer, 2:02 AM CDT) ===H5 ~5960m (~596 dam). Extreme Heat Warning through Thursday. 80°F dew points observed Monday afternoon in southern CWA. Heat index 105-110°F. Lake Michigan water temps: Chicago Shore 66°F, Wilmette 62°F, Chicago Crib 61°F.=== 1995 HEATWAVE COMPARISON ===The 1995 Midwest heat wave remains the benchmark. St. Louis hit a dew point of 83°F on July 14, 1995. Appleton, WI recorded a 90°F dew point — the probable Western Hemisphere record — with a heat index of 153°F. The 1995 wet bulb temperature reached approximately 85°F (29°C). The 500mb ridge in 1995 peaked around 594-596 dam over the Great Plains; today's ridge matches or exceeds that at 596 dam over the Ohio Valley.=== CLOSED CONTOUR HEAT DOME SCIENCE ===A "closed contour" means the 500mb height lines form complete loops — no open pathways for cooler air to enter. Most heat domes do NOT produce closed contours; a closed 596 dam contour is extremely rare and represents an exceptionally locked, stagnant ridge. Not all heat domes are closed contour events.=== CORN BELT MOISTURE SCIENCE ===Corn fields act as natural evapotranspiration engines. A single mature corn plant transpires 50+ gallons of water per growing season. With millions of acres of corn in Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa all in active growth phase, the atmosphere is loaded with moisture from below — supplementing Gulf of Mexico moisture streaming northward. This is why Midwest dew points can spike to 80°F+ even without direct Gulf influence.=== WET BULB / WBGT SCIENCE ===Wet bulb temperature (WB) measures what your body actually feels when sweating. At 92°F air temp with 80°F dew point, the wet bulb approaches 84-85°F — near the physiological survivability limit for even healthy adults with shade and hydration. Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) adds solar radiation load; WBGT >32°C (89.6°F) is considered the military/OSHA "extreme danger" threshold.=== ORTHODOX COMMUNITY FORECASTS ===• St. Louis, MO: Mid-upper 90s, heat index 100-110°F. Extreme Heat Warning through Friday. NWS LSX.• Lakewood, NJ: Low-mid 90s, heat index 98-105°F. NWS PHI.• Borough Park, Brooklyn NY: Upper 80s-low 90s, humid. Heat Advisory. NWS OKX.• Baltimore, MD: Lower 90s, heat index 100-107°F. NWS LWX.• Philadelphia, PA: Lower-mid 90s, heat index 100-108°F. Heat Warning.• Atlantic City, NJ: Upper 80s-low 90s, sea breeze influence moderate.=== ISRAEL & DEAD SEA ===Jerusalem: 40-43°C (104-109°F), typical summer ridge. Low humidity (15-25%). Dead Sea: air temps 40-47°C; water temp ~31°C (88°F). Record at Sedom: 51°C. Mediterranean sea breeze provides relief to coastal Tel Aviv but Jerusalem's inland elevation (~750-800m) retains heat without sea-breeze relief.=== INDIA EXTREME HEAT / WORLD RECORD DEW POINTS ===India's Gangetic Plain and Rajasthan experience dew points of 85-90°F during peak monsoon onset with heat indices routinely above 130°F. The probable world record dew point: 95°F (35°C) at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia on July 8, 2003, with an air temp of 108°F (42°C) — producing a heat index of approximately 172°F.=== NAM vs GFS MODEL ACCURACY ===NAM (North American Mesoscale): Higher resolution (3-km), better at capturing local dew point pooling and mesoscale details. GFS: Global model, coarser, tends to underestimate extreme dew point events in the corn belt. For this event, NAM dew point forecasts of 78-82°F appear more accurate than GFS's 74-76°F projections.=== EPISODE FOOTER ===Morning forecasts air at 7 AM every day on Spreaker. Historical weather deep-dives every Tuesday and Thursday at 7 AM CDT. $5/month supports the show.Tags: weather,zmanim,Chicago,NWS,morning briefing,forecast,Jewish times,West Rogers Park,heat dome,extreme heat,dew point,1995 heatwave,wet bulbBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/weather-with-enthusiasm--4911017/support.Weather with Enthusiasm is produced by Kol Simcha Productions.New episodes drop daily (B'N)— a morning forecast at 7 AM and historical deep dives Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact: kolsimchaproductions@outlook.comHistorical content is thoroughly researched and factually verified. After it has been factually verified it often will say so in the description. Should you find any mistakes, please email kolsimchaproductions@outlook.com so we can look into it and correct it. Not affiliated with any government agency or academic institution. Presented for educational and entertainment purposes — with meaning.Support the show — exclusive bonus episodes available to subscribers for just $2/month at spreaker.com/organization/kol-simcha

While the world focused on CIA operations against Havana, Cuba was quietly building one of the Western Hemisphere's most battle-hardened and least understood special operations units, the Avispas Negras, a force that cut its teeth in Angola, refined its tradecraft across decades of economic isolation, and recently demonstrated its reach during high-stakes operations in Venezuela in ways that caught Western intelligence analysts off guard. Trained by multiple foreign intelligence services, operating in compact five-person cells that minimize exposure and maximize deniability, and equipped with locally modified Soviet-era systems that are harder to attribute and track than Western hardware, the Black Wasps represent exactly the kind of asymmetric intelligence and direct action capability that thrives in the gaps between what adversaries expect and what they actually find. This episode pulls back the curtain on one of the most underreported special operations forces in the world, examining how Cuba built a ghost force capable of projecting power far beyond what its GDP and geopolitical footprint would suggest possible.

Send us Fan MailWhat is Hosay really about?For many Trinidadians, it's something we've grown up seeing—but few of us truly understand its history, meaning, or why it continues to unite an entire community.In this episode, community leader and Hosay historian Jameel Bisnath explains the origins of Hosay, the story of Imam Hussein, why St. James has become the largest Hosay community in the Western Hemisphere, and how a tradition rooted in mourning became one of Trinidad & Tobago's greatest examples of multicultural harmony.We also explore the history of tassa, the symbolism behind the moons and tadjahs, the 1884 Hosay Massacre, preserving traditions for future generations, and why Jameel believes St. James offers a blueprint for national unity.Whether you've participated in Hosay all your life or have never fully understood it, this conversation offers a fascinating look into one of our country's richest cultural traditions.

For Haitians living in the Big Easy, many things remind them of home, from Second Line parades to the architecture to the food. Red beans and rice, boudin, jambalaya… all these iconic Louisiana dishes have connections to Haiti.That's because Haitian migrants profoundly shaped New Orleans culture. At the turn of the nineteenth century, enslaved people on the island of St Domingue broke free from their chains. Led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, they snatched their freedom from the French. They renamed the country Ayiti, the Indigenous Taino name for the land.This not only sparked the fire of freedom and Black liberation movements around the world, but also had huge consequences for other French territories. White people fleeing Haiti found familiarity in Louisiana's French culture and the plantation economy. Large groups of Black people, enslaved and free, also arrived with them, boosting Louisiana's sugarcane economy. New Orleans became one of the Blackest cities in the country.“63% of Crescent City inhabitants were now Black. Among the nation's major cities, only Charleston, with the 53% majority, was comparable,” said Zella Palmer, a food historian at Dillard University.The influx dramatically transformed New Orleans' culture and especially its food, giving it a Haitian twist that you can still taste today.“Haitian cuisine is the most underrated and unappreciated cuisine in the Western Hemisphere,” said Palmer.In this episode of Gravy from the Southern Foodways Alliance, Tesfaye gives Haitian cuisine its flowers. She takes us through the history of how Haiti helped shaped New Orleans' iconic cuisine and introduces us to the modern chefs in the city who are bringing Haitian food back to the forefront.***Eva Tesfaye is the lead reporter for WWNO's Coastal Desk. Before joining WWNO, she covered food and agriculture for Harvest Public Media and the Mississippi River Basin Ag and Water Desk. Eva was also a producer for NPR's daily science podcast, Shortwave. A graduate of Columbia University, she started her journalism career as an NPR Kroc Fellow. She grew up moving around Africa and has lived in Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, South Africa, and Kenya.

A catastrophic series of earthquakes has left Venezuela facing widespread destruction, thousands of casualties, and an overwhelming humanitarian crisis. In this STRAT episode, the discussion examines not only the immediate rescue effort but also the broader strategic implications for the United States and the Western Hemisphere. Host Hal Kempfer explores why Venezuela's weakened infrastructure and years of government neglect have complicated disaster response, requiring extensive international assistance led in part by U.S. military and civilian teams. Beyond humanitarian relief, the episode analyzes how disaster response can create lasting diplomatic, military, and political opportunities by building trust, strengthening partnerships, and expanding regional influence. Kempfer also considers how long-term recovery efforts could reshape U.S.-Venezuelan relations, improve regional security cooperation, support future democratic stability, and potentially strengthen counter-cartel operations. This episode provides a strategic risk assessment of how a devastating natural disaster could influence geopolitical relationships long after the rescue missions conclude.Takeaways:Venezuela's earthquakes created a humanitarian disaster requiring significant international assistance.Government neglect and deteriorating infrastructure severely hampered emergency response efforts.Local citizens became first responders despite limited training and significant personal risk.U.S. search-and-rescue teams and military assets play a critical role in relief operations.Establishing logistics, airports, ports, and transportation networks is essential to recovery.Disaster response can become a powerful instrument of diplomacy and strategic influence.Long-term recovery efforts may strengthen U.S.-Venezuelan military and governmental relationships.Humanitarian assistance today could shape Venezuela's future political and security landscape.#STRATPodcast #HalKempfer #MutualBroadcastingSystem #StrategicRiskAnalysis #Venezuela #Earthquake #DisasterRelief #HumanitarianAid #Geopolitics #NationalSecurity #StrategicAnalysis #Southcom #USMilitary #EmergencyResponse #ForeignPolicy #WesternHemisphere #DisasterRecovery #RiskAssessment #RegionalSecurity #CivilMilitaryOperations

As critical chokepoints have frozen traditional trade routes, the global energy sector is abandoning old assumptions for a new mantra: supply diversity. This macro shock is forcing long standing buyers and emerging markets alike to radically rethink their structural exposure to a highly punitive LNG spot market. In this episode of Hub & Flow, NGI's Christopher Lenton sits down with Sergio Chapa of Poten & Partners live from the Mexico Gas Summit in San Antonio to untangle how this high-stakes global reshuffling impacts the Americas. The conversation breaks down the rapid production startup of Sempra's Energía Costa Azul LNG terminal in Baja California, and why localized legal hurdles mean Mexico's broader export ambitions face a slower climb than originally projected. Chapa also sheds light on Latin America's massive, underutilized regasification, explaining why hydro-dependent nations remain dangerously exposed to high LNG spot prices during seasonal droughts, and how Argentina's incoming floating LNG vessels could soon transform the Vaca Muerta Shale into the Western Hemisphere's next major supply wild card.

In “Tasting Haiti in New Orleans,” Gravy reporter Eva Tesfaye gives listeners a taste of Haitian cuisine—and history—in New Orleans. For Haitians living in the Big Easy, many things remind them of home, from Second Line parades to the architecture to the food. Red beans and rice, boudin, jambalaya… all these iconic Louisiana dishes have connections to Haiti. That's because Haitian migrants profoundly shaped New Orleans culture. At the turn of the nineteenth century, enslaved people on the island of St. Domingue broke free from their chains. Led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, they snatched their freedom from the French. They renamed the country Ayiti, the Indigenous Taino name for the land. This not only sparked the fire of freedom and Black liberation movements around the world, but also had huge consequences for other French territories. White people fleeing Haiti found familiarity in Louisiana's French culture and the plantation economy. Large groups of Black people, enslaved and free, also arrived with them, boosting Louisiana's sugarcane economy. New Orleans became one of the Blackest cities in the country.   “63% of Crescent City inhabitants were now Black. Among the nation's major cities, only Charleston, with the 53% majority, was comparable,” said Zella Palmer, a food historian at Dillard University.   The influx dramatically transformed New Orleans' culture and especially its food, giving it a Haitian twist that you can still taste today.   “Haitian cuisine is the most underrated and unappreciated cuisine in the Western Hemisphere,” said Palmer.   In this episode, Tesfaye gives Haitian cuisine its flowers. She takes us through the history of how Haiti helped shaped New Orleans' iconic cuisine and introduces us to the modern chefs in the city who are bringing Haitian food back to the forefront. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Neorealism, neoliberalism, the fallacy of economic interdependency producing peace, the failure of international institutions to foster peace, the complexity of US-Chinese rivalry, neo-con vs neo-liber perspective of international institutions, neorealistic "pragmatism," neorealist rejection of ideology despite commitment to classical liberalism, Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon, Nixon-Kissinger as the defining Cold War era realists, how realism defines Kissinger's foreign policy in China and Latin America, the importance of American hegemony in Western Hemisphere, why America has never been a serious military threat to China, the PRC's re-evaluation of the USSR's military threat, America's disastrous military showing in Asia, the foreign policy establishment's efforts to destroy Nixon and Kissinger, the parallels between Russiagate and the Moorer-Radford Affair, China lobby, neorealism's criticism of US allies, EU lobby, Israel lobby, laissez-faire & foreign lobbies as the catalyst for America's decline, unipolarity vs bipolarity vs multipolarity, US/Chinese drive for bipolarity while world desires multipolarity, America & British Empires possessing weak armies, why air power and air wars are a joke, America as the new Eastern Roman Empire, deflection, the difference between sea-based & land-based Great Powers, the neorealist desire for America to be offshore balancer, differences between neorealists and neolibs on Europe & Persian Gulf, New America, New America's early links to neorealism, New America joins the neoliberal fold, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, Quincy's funding, Quincy's pros and cons, Quincy's links to Cato Institute, Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), parallels between Quincy and IPSMusic by: Keith Allen Dennishttps://keithallendennis.bandcamp.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael is joined by David Shedd, former Acting Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and a veteran intelligence officer, for a comprehensive look at the shifting geopolitical dynamics across Latin America. David discusses the structural collapse of Cuba and the outlook for U.S. intervention, the delicate execution of the administration's plan for Venezuela, and the profound strategic challenges posed by Chinese investments in the U.S. backyard. He also explores the sharp friction points surfacing within the U.S.–Mexico relationship and the reality of behind-the-scenes intelligence sharing.

H.W. Brands describes how, in early 1941, Lindbergh took his arguments to Congress, testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate. He presented himself as a political "babe in the woods," taking pride in his "innocence" compared to the "culture of politics" embodied by Roosevelt. While interventionists argued that air power had made the world smaller and America more vulnerable, Lindbergh used his technical expertise to argue the opposite: air power made the United States more defensible. He reasoned that any invader would require an armada of ships that could now be attacked by aircraft 300 miles off the American shore, long before they reached land. Lindbergh rejected the label of "isolationist," proposing instead a robust "hemispheric defense." He argued that America's frontier was not on the Rhine River but 200 miles off its own coasts, encompassing the entire Western Hemisphere including Canada and Latin America. His message resonated with the public; massive rallies at the Manhattan Center and Madison Square Garden saw crowds so large that many were left waiting outside. Lindbergh's diary noted his own popularity with some vanity, viewing the cheering crowds as a sign that the people agreed with his "America first" message. However, the debate in the summer of 1941 was increasingly characterized by mockery from London, where leaders were desperate for America to stop simply selling weapons and start fighting. (6)1936

Dr. Beatriz Canamary stopped by the Energy News Beat podcast, and we had a great discussion about energy, exports, and our maritime industry, including shipbuilding and the Jones Act. I am going to just be brutally honest for a moment, and say that I have been for totally repealing the Jones Act for years. After my discussion with Dr. Canamery, my opinion has shifted toward more of a "let's get the problem solved and leave the Jones Act in place long-term" stance. But we need a plan to get to a balance. Dr. Canamary has a new book coming out, and we will be getting an interview lined up. Connect with Beatriz on her LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beatrizcanamary/1. U.S. Maritime Industry RevitalizationThe core focus is rebuilding America's shipbuilding capacity. The U.S. currently represents only 0.4% of global ship production (down from over 50% post-WWII), while China dominates with 60% and South Korea adds another 20%. The discussion emphasizes the need for strategic investment in shipyards, workforce development, and creating predictable cargo demand to justify shipbuilding expansion.2. Energy Security & Dominance Through MaritimeEnergy exports (oil and LNG) are central to U.S. dominance, but they're currently transported on international vessels rather than U.S.-flagged ships. The podcast explores how securing cargo on American vessels strengthens both energy security and the maritime industry. The Strait of Hormuz crisis is cited as a wake-up call about supply chain vulnerabilities.3. Global Choke Points & Geopolitical RisksEight major maritime choke points (Strait of Hormuz, Red Sea/Houthis, Strait of Malacca, etc.) are contested and sometimes weaponized. Insurance companies can effectively shut down shipping by canceling coverage, as Lloyd's of London did during the Iran strike. The discussion highlights the need for U.S. insurance alternatives and control over critical passages.4. Nuclear Technology in MaritimeNuclear propulsion for ships and floating nuclear power plants are presented as innovation differentiators for the U.S. The ABS (American Bureau of Shipping) has frameworks for approving nuclear projects, and companies like Nano Nuclear are developing micro-reactors designed for maritime use. Nuclear is positioned as cleaner than traditional fuel oil and a competitive advantage.5. Autonomous & Advanced Maritime TechnologyA new IMO (International Maritime Organization) framework for autonomous commercial ships was recently approved, with a mandatory code coming in 2032. The U.S. is positioned to compete through innovation in automation, AI, and autonomous vessels rather than on cost—since labor-intensive competition with China/Korea is unwinnable.6. Maritime Prosperity ZonesThe U.S. should develop regional maritime clusters (similar to Europe's model) with specialized capabilities—some regions for tankers, others for icebreakers, etc. The American Maritime Industrial Coalition is mapping supply chains and regional expertise to accelerate production.7. Trade Agreements & Bilateral PartnershipsStrategic trade agreements with U.S. allies can secure cargo flows through American ports on U.S.-flagged vessels, creating demand signals for shipbuilding without direct government subsidies. This creates a win-win for allies seeking energy independence.8. The Ships for America ActA bipartisan bill with 126+ seats of support, expected to pass by year-end. It includes tax incentives and supports the broader maritime revitalization strategy outlined in the National Security Strategy and Maritime Action Plan.9. Geopolitical Shifts & New Trading BlocsThe podcast discusses emerging energy-based trading blocs, China's port dominance (129 ports globally), and concerns about China's influence in South America (Peru, Brazil). It also touches on the Monroe Doctrine and regional security in the Western Hemisphere.10. Ports as Strategic InfrastructureDr. Canamari's forthcoming book explores ports as intelligence hubs, infrastructure assets, and strategic military/trade assets. The discussion covers climate resilience, digital twins, automation, and how ports are increasingly weaponized in global trade wars.This is a comprehensive discussion of how maritime infrastructure, energy, innovation, and geopolitics intersect to shape U.S. competitiveness and national security.Check out the Energy News Beat SubStack https://theenergynewsbeat.substack.com/A shout-out to Steve Reese and the Reese Energy Consulting group for sponsoring the Podcast https://reeseenergyconsulting.com/.Data2 if you have any business systems, can you trust A? Well, they have the patent on validation. . https://data2.zoholandingpage.com/energyAnd we have WellDatabase rolling in as a new sponsor. https://welldatabase.com/

The Trump administration is supercharging its aggression toward Latin America. What does the 'Donroe Doctrine' mean for the Western Hemisphere, and could it backfire for the U.S.? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org. This episode was produced by Henry Larson and Michael Levitt. It was edited by Sarah Robbins. Our executive producer is Courtney Dorning. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Unleashed! The Political News Hour with Bruce Robertson –As the primary season heats up in American election districts across the nation and as the nation prepares for its 250-year anniversary and the US economy chugs along with new stock market highs, the Trump Administration has been preparing some major announcements that will likely change the game both domestically...

“ Iran will have permanent control over the Strait of Hormuz. As though that necessarily, in and of itself, is bullish for oil prices. I would argue that, in fact, it isn't. “Doomberg, Substack Author, Energy AnalystThis was another great discussion with Doomberg, and we had over 100k listens and views, plus even more impact from social media during his last visit. This discussion included several key quotes, and I have about 10 of them listed below the video.Make no mistake, the global energy, oil, and gas markets have changed permanently.“Energy security starts at home. Energy dominance is displayed through your exports. “Stu Turley, Energy News Beat Podcast HostWe recommend https://newsletter.doomberg.com/1. Geopolitical Control of the Strait of HormuzThe hosts explore Iran's potential permanent control over the Strait of Hormuz and what this means for global energy markets. The key insight is that while many assume this would drive oil prices higher, the real issue is about sanctions and U.S. dollar hegemony—Iran would need sanctions lifted to collect tolls, which threatens the dollar's position in the global financial system. Long-term, alternative pipelines and infrastructure will mitigate any supply disruptions.2. North American Energy DominanceA major focus is on how the Western Hemisphere (particularly the U.S. and Canada) is becoming an energy powerhouse through:Natural gas production and LNG exports (growing from near-zero to ~30 BCF/day by decade's end)Oil development in Argentina (Vaca Marta), Guyana, Venezuela, and BrazilPipeline infrastructure like Mountain Valley PipelineThe concept of “energy security starts at home” and exporting energy as a display of dominance3. Qatar's LNG Disruptions and Helium CrisisWhile Qatar supplies 20% of global LNG, the real story is helium—Qatar controls about a third of the global helium market. Helium is critical for semiconductors and MRIs, and there's no easy replacement. Recent attacks have disrupted Qatar's production.4. The AI Bubble and Market DynamicsThe hosts discuss:The SpaceX IPO as a potential “top of the Ponzi cycle” with a $1.75 trillion valuationHow AI is simultaneously a transformative technology AND a massive bubble (like railroads and the internet before it)The importance of AI validation and verification—AI without accountability wastes moneyHow companies must be built with AI at their core to survive; large legacy companies may struggle to adapt5. AI Implementation and Business TransformationPractical discussion on:How AI can eliminate inefficiencies (e.g., reducing invoice processing from 2 months to 2 minutes)The need for human oversight and “AI-aware” workers vs. “AI-ignorant” onesAuthentic human content creation remaining valuable in an AI-saturated worldHow small, lean businesses with owner mentality adapt faster than bloated corporations6. Future Economic Blocs and Global RealignmentThe hosts predict a shift toward new trading blocks: the U.S., India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, China, and Japan forming alternative economic structures, with the EU and UK potentially falling behind.Global Oil and Gas Markets Update - Doomberg's insights and opinionsCheck out the Energy News Beat SubStack https://theenergynewsbeat.substack.com/A shout-out to Steve Reese and the Reese Energy Consulting group for sponsoring the Podcast https://reeseenergyconsulting.com/.Data2 if you have any business systems, can you trust A? Well, they have the patent on validation. . https://data2.zoholandingpage.com/energyAnd we have WellDatabase rolling in as a new sponsor. https://welldatabase.com/

Best Esim For Travelers: $27 a month, unlimited data, 100+ countries = pangia pass Use my link for 10% off: https://pangiapass.com/a/bold Find Me Here: https://linktr.ee/bold.perceptions Travel / Lifestyle Consultation, DM Me On Instagram: bold_perceptions #travel #travelblogger #podcast #europe #latinamerica #florida #solotravel #podcasting Al slop summary for keywords : Western Europe is one of the easiest places in the world to romanticize. You step off a train in cities like Paris, Florence, Vienna, or Amsterdam and it feels like centuries of wealth, art, empire, and philosophy are layered directly into the streets. The architecture alone can overwhelm you. Cathedrals built before entire countries existed in the Americas. Cafés where writers, revolutionaries, and painters spent decades shaping culture. The infrastructure is polished, the museums endless, and even ordinary neighborhoods can feel cinematic. But what surprises many travelers is how deeply routine it all is for locals. The beauty becomes normalized. People casually drink wine beside buildings older than most civilizations in the Western Hemisphere. Western Europe feels refined, stable, and historically “finished” in a way few regions on Earth do. Eastern Europe hits differently. It feels heavier, rawer, and in many ways more honest. The scars of war, communism, occupation, and survival are still visible in the architecture and mentality. Cities like Budapest, Belgrade, Kraków, Bucharest, or Sarajevo carry a tension between old-world beauty and recent hardship. You can walk through grand Austro-Hungarian boulevards, then see Soviet apartment blocks only minutes away. The people are often less performative for tourists and more direct in conversation. Prices are lower, nightlife can be wilder, and the atmosphere feels less commercialized than Western Europe. There's also a stronger feeling that history here was not just written in books but lived recently by grandparents still alive today. Eastern Europe often leaves travelers with deeper memories because it feels less filtered and more emotionally textured. One of the biggest differences between traveling Europe and traveling Latin America is the relationship between order and spontaneity. Europe, especially Western Europe, operates with systems that have been refined for generations. Trains run on schedules. Streets were designed for walking centuries ago. Public life functions with a certain predictability. Latin America feels more alive in a chaotic sense. Plans change. Conversations last longer. Bureaucracy can feel irrational one moment and strangely human the next. In Europe, efficiency often dominates culture. In Latin America, relationships dominate culture. Neither is automatically better. One gives structure and reliability. The other gives warmth, adaptability, and energy. Travelers who understand this distinction usually enjoy both regions far more because they stop expecting them to operate the same way.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone following the ongoing Iran war and its implications on global politics. Michael dives into the recent hearing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, where he presented a prepared statement that's more about Venezuela than Iran, and the strategy behind it. The discussion also touches on the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the impact of the war on oil prices, and the role of the US in the Middle East. Michael breaks down the process of how Rubio's prepared statement was crafted, involving multiple iterations and approvals from various government offices. He also analyze the content of the statement, which focuses on the Western Hemisphere and avoids mentioning the ongoing military operations in the Middle East. The discussion highlights the administration's approach to the war and the potential consequences of their strategy. The episode also explores the tension within the Republican party, with some members expressing hesitation about the war. Michael shares their own thoughts on the matter, emphasizing the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz and the need for the US to take a stronger stance. They also discuss the role of the US in the Middle East and the impact of the war on oil prices. If you're interested in staying up-to-date on the latest developments in the Iran war and its implications on global politics, this episode is a must-listen. Michael provides a unique perspective on the situation and offers insights into the complexities of the conflict.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Allen covers how private equity firm Energy Capital Partners ended up owning wind blade factories, TPI Composites’ bankruptcy, and the decades-long GE Vernova relationship behind the rescue. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Speaker: Happy Monday, everyone. Well, there is a company most people have never heard of quietly positioning itself at the very center of America’s energy future. Its name is Energy Capital Partners. It’s a private equity firm headquartered up in Summit, New Jersey. But to understand how ECP ended up owning wind blade factories, you have to start with gas turbines and a power company called Calpine. See, back in 2001, Calpine placed one of the most audacious turbine orders ever recorded, 203 GE gas turbines. enough to power 50,000 megawatts of base load generation. GE did [00:01:00] not just sell Calpine turbines. The two companies co-developed power plants together. GE co-owned facilities. Calpine held options to buy them back. It was a less a vendor relationship and more of a marriage. In 2018, Energy Capital Partners bought Calpine, All 77 power plants, 26,000 megawatts of generation capacity, and every long-term GE service agreement that came with it. And for the next seven years, ECP was GE’s single most consequential private sector gas turbine customer in the Western Hemisphere. That relationship, built on decades of iron and service contracts, would soon reach far beyond gas. Because on the other side of the energy world, a very different kind of company was falling apart, and that was TPI Composites. For years, the world’s largest independent maker of wind turbine blades. [00:02:00] facilities in Iowa, in Mexico, in India, and in Turkey. More than 9,600 employees worldwide. But the cracks were forming long before anyone said bankruptcy. First came the debt. TPI had borrowed heavily from Oaktree Capital Management and by the time the end arrived, the company owed Oaktree $476 million, secured against substantially all of its assets. Then came the customers. Nordex walked away from its Matamoros facility, shutting it down at the end of the second quarter of 2024. Then came customs. US Customs and Border Protection launched a review of TPI’s Mexico facilities under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. TPI maintained its supply chain had no connection to forced labor, but the law did not care about confidence. Cared about proof, and while TPI worked to prove its innocence, a substantial portion of its Mexico-made blades could not cross the border into [00:03:00] the United States. The backlog told the story in numbers. At the end of 2024, there were $237 million in orders. One year later, $114 million in orders, cut nearly in half. On August 11th of last year, TPI filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, delisted from NASDAQ about eight days later. Now, when a company heads into bankruptcy, the first thing it has to solve is a very human problem. How do you keep the people who know how to run the place from walking out the door? Well, TPI’s board had an answer. Two months before the bankruptcy filing, the compensation committee approved retention bonuses for key executives, paid in cash within 30 days. The CEO, $1,225,000. The CFO, $518,000. The COO, [00:04:00] $487,000. And of course, the general counsel, $435,000. But there was one condition, you had to stay through restructuring. If you left early, you had to give it all back. Well, they stayed, at least most of them have. In the months that followed, TPI sold off its Turkish operations. Vestas moved quickly, claiming the India and Matamoros plants for roughly $24 million. And then the phone rang in Summit, New Jersey. GE Vernova needed its blade supply secured. It had a decades-long relationship with the firm on the other end of that call, a relationship forged not in composite factories, but in gas turbine halls. Through a newly formed entity called ECP Blade Holdings, Energy Capital Partners is acquiring TPI’s remaining North American assets , plants up in Newton, Iowa, down in Juarez, Mexico, for about $20 [00:05:00] million. The management team that had guided TPI through its darkest chapter came with it. And embedded in the transaction was a five-year supply agreement requiring GE Vernova to direct a defined share of its blade procurement exclusively to ECP-operated facilities. Well, if this deal had fallen apart, GE Vernova itself was contractually bound as a backup buyer, obligated to step in and at least purchase the Iowa plant for $21 million. GE Vernova was simultaneously ECP’s partner, its customer , and in this case, its buyer of last resort. Two companies, one relationship stretching back about 25 years through gas turbine orders, power plant co-ownership, long-term service contracts, and now wind blade factories rescued from bankruptcy court. A company laid low by debt, customs blockades, and lost contracts, its people paid to [00:06:00] stay, its factory sold for pennies on the dollar, and now rising again under new ownership to supply the very turbines powering America’s AI-driven energy future And that’s the state of the wind industry for the 1st of June 2026. Have a great week

In this explosive episode of STRAT, retired Marine intelligence officer LtCol. Hal Kempfer examines how aggressive U.S. operations across Latin America are transforming the region's political, economic, and security landscape. From renewed American military activity around the Panama Canal to intensified cartel targeting in Mexico, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Venezuela, and a burgeoning strategic shift with Cuba, Washington appears to be executing a sweeping hemispheric strategy aimed at countering narco-terrorism, expanding economic influence, and rolling back Chinese encroachment. The discussion explores covert raids, intelligence cooperation, joint military operations, anti-cartel campaigns, and major mineral and energy agreements reshaping regional alliances. The episode also examines the implications for global trade, maritime security, corruption, foreign investment, and business expansion opportunities throughout the Western Hemisphere. As Operation Southern Spear expands, the future of Latin America may be entering a dramatic new era of geopolitical realignment.Takeaways:U.S. military involvement in Latin America has expanded dramatically.The Panama Canal region is becoming strategically aligned with U.S. interests again.Venezuela's political shift is opening massive U.S. energy and mining opportunities.Cuba faces growing economic collapse and increased American pressure.Ecuador has entered a new phase of joint anti-cartel operations with the United States.Intelligence and special operations activity inside Mexico has intensified significantly.Major cartel leadership losses are reshaping organized crime networks in the region.Operation Southern Spear reflects a broader U.S. effort to counter Chinese influence in the Western Hemisphere.#STRATPodcast #HalKempfer #MutualBroadcastingSystem #StrategicRiskAnalysis #LatinAmerica #CartelWar #PanamaCanal #OperationSouthernSpear #Geopolitics #NationalSecurity #USMilitary #CounterNarcotics #ChinaInfluence #MexicoCartels #Venezuela #Cuba #Ecuador #DrugTrafficking #ForeignPolicy #WesternHemisphere

You can send a text, include contact info to get a response. More focus on Mexico and California than is ideal, but there is a general overview of Spanish America.Spanish America, more than  anywhere else, shows us the global ramifications of the Napoleonic Wars.  “The crisis and collapse of Spain's empire was the direct result of political turmoil in Europe.  During the Napoleonic wars this vast empire got fragmented, was henceforth relegated to the sidelines of world politics.”  It's a big deal.  Spanish America was important to the world and world politics.  The disparate countries of Latin America stopped mattering after independence when they are separate things rather than a huge mass.  This is sort of a harsh, brutal truth,   This was partly because of the Monroe doctrine, Thou Shalt Not Interfere in the Western Hemisphere lest thou tempt the wrath of God, and British policy also was to keep other Europeans out, more practically by means of controlling the seas, and giving a firm no to plans from the Spanish and Russians for interference from non Spanish forces. 

Live from the final day of the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference, host Scotty brings you an all-star lineup from the epicenter of the American energy boom. This episode dives deep into the jaw-dropping evolution of the oil and gas industry, exploring how North Dakota is positioning itself as a global powerhouse by pairing its massive energy reserves with the soaring, insatiable demands of artificial intelligence data centers. Hear the legendary, inspiring American success story of billionaire Harold Hamm, founder of Continental Resources, who rose from poverty as the son of sharecroppers to reshape global energy. Continental's current board chair, Shelly Lambert, also stops by to discuss the future of the company, the lifting of the export ban, and building long-term community roots. Then, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum joins the show for an exclusive, wide-ranging conversation. He reveals a first look at the library project's stunning "AI Teddy Roosevelt" model, exposes the foreign propaganda driving the public hysteria against local data centers, and explains why the next great manufacturing revolution isn't about physical goods—it's about manufacturing intelligence. Plus, Chord Energy CEO Danny Brown breaks down the technical magic of four- and five-mile horizontal drilling laterals and the regulatory hurdles of unlocking another 10 billion barrels of oil. Finally, Landmark Gold's David Fisher sounds a factual, urgent alarm on the latest CPI and PPI reports, warning listeners how devastating 1970s-style stagflation could threaten their retirement portfolios if they aren't properly diversified. Standout Moments & Timestamps [00:01:25] The Sharecropper's Son Who Cracked the Code: Scotty shares the incredible backstory of Harold Hamm, from wearing hand-me-downs to finding his true passion at a high school pottery wheel demo and building an empire. [00:04:00] Strictly Horizontal: Oil champion Harold Hamm reminisces about pioneering the world's very first strictly horizontal oil field at Cedar Hills and outlines the next frontier of enhanced oil recovery. [00:06:55] Choosing the Freedom of Going Private: Harold Hamm explains why he bucked the Wall Street trend and took Continental Resources private after the market stopped appreciating public energy sectors post-COVID. [00:09:50] Tearing Up the Permits: Shelly Lambert shares what it's like working alongside her father and discusses how a pragmatically aligned administration is cutting red tape to secure the Western Hemisphere's energy future. [00:11:00] Having a Conversation with Teddy Roosevelt: Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum gives an exclusive inside look at "AI Teddy"—a closed, highly sophisticated large language…

On this week's Extra Serving, NRN editor in chief Sam Oches and executive editor Alicia Kelso sit down after three days at the National Restaurant Association Show — the biggest foodservice event in the Western Hemisphere, featuring more than 55,000 foodservice professionals from 112 countries and roughly 2,300 exhibitors — to discuss some of the biggest trends they saw from the show floor. This includes innovations in beverage (dirty soda, anyone?), sauces, artificial intelligence, equipment, and much more. Sam and Alicia recap all of the highlights from the show, and share anecdotes they picked up from operators at their exclusive news desk on the show floor.For more from the Restaurant Show: Here's what we liked about this year's National Restaurant Association Show, and what we didn'tRestaurant industry navigates ‘complex' consumer landscape as sentiment hits all-time low29th annual MenuMasters Awards ceremony honors chefs and innovators from across the industry

History echoes as the US increases pressure on Cuba once again. On this episode of Talking Geopolitics, GPF Chairman George Friedman joins host Christian Smith to discuss Cuba's unique place in American geopolitics, the cause and potential outcome of the current crisis, and how Cuba fits into the US's new Western Hemisphere strategy. Also: Cuban parallels to other island nations. Learn more about GeoEconomic Lens and access the first issue for free at https://geopoliticalfutures.com/lens/introducing-lens/. Learn more about GPF and subscribe to our free newsletter at http://www.geopoliticalfutures.com/gpf-newsletter.

Andrew Harding of the Heritage Foundation breaks down the national security stakes behind potential U.S. policy shifts toward Cuba, focusing on its strategic proximity to Florida, historical use as a staging ground for adversarial influence, and its continued ties to Russia and China. He explains how Cuba remains a geopolitical foothold for intelligence activity and how changes in leadership or policy could significantly alter the balance of power in the Western Hemisphere. The conversation expands into broader regional strategy, including coordinated pressure on Venezuela and the effort to limit Chinese influence through infrastructure and port control across the Americas. Harding also addresses Iran policy, emphasizing the shared U.S. and regional objective of preventing a nuclear-armed Iran, while noting that Gulf allies such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE now align more closely with Washington due to Tehran's use of proxy forces and regional destabilization. He frames the current moment as a strategic “chessboard” where U.S. actions are increasingly interconnected across multiple theaters rather than isolated conflicts. Hashtags: #NationalSecurity #Cuba #Iran #Geopolitics #China #Russia #MiddleEast #HeritageFoundation #ForeignPolicy #Defense

This week we had the exciting opportunity to travel to Anchorage, Alaska, to participate in the Fifth Annual Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference. The conference convenes researchers, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and investors to discuss the future of energy development, infrastructure, technology, and resource leadership across Alaska and the broader global energy landscape. We had the honor of moderating a discussion featuring Governor Mike Dunleavy and Chairman of the National Energy Dominance Council and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. Given Alaska's strategic importance across energy, critical minerals, infrastructure, and geopolitics, it was a fascinating and timely discussion. In our conversation, Governor Dunleavy emphasizes the dramatically improved partnership between the federal government and the State of Alaska under the current Administration, contrasting it with prior years when Alaska faced significant federal restrictions on development. Drawing on their experiences leading major energy-producing states, Governor Dunleavy and Secretary Burgum reflect on the operational, economic, and political realities of energy development and infrastructure investment. They walk us through renewed lease sale activity, rising investor interest in Alaska, and the broader role Alaska could play in supporting U.S. energy dominance and Western Hemisphere energy security. We explore the increasing importance of affordable, reliable, and secure energy in attracting manufacturing, AI infrastructure, and industrial investment, as well as the rapidly growing electricity demand tied to data centers and advanced technologies. Secretary Burgum provides an overview of the Administration's efforts to accelerate permitting reform and reduce regulatory bottlenecks, including examples of projects receiving approvals in weeks rather than years. We touch on domestic mining and critical mineral development, LNG exports, the role of nuclear, hydro, geothermal, and natural gas in future energy systems, and the Administration's broader push to accelerate infrastructure and resource development across the United States. We cover the transformational potential of the Alaska LNG project, the growing energy needs of U.S. allies across Asia, the importance of codifying regulatory and permitting reforms for long-term investment certainty, and why Governor Dunleavy and Secretary Burgum both believe Alaska is entering a new “golden age” of development and opportunity. Thank you to Governor Dunleavy for inviting us and to Secretary Burgum for joining us for a thoughtful discussion on the future of Alaska, energy, and American economic development and energy security. About Governor Mike DunleavyGovernor Mike Dunleavy arrived in Alaska in 1983 as a young man looking for opportunity, and he found it. His first job was working in a logging camp in Southeast Alaska. Later on, Governor Dunleavy earned his teacher's certificate, and then a Master of Education degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He spent nearly two decades in northwest Arctic communities working as a teacher, principal, and superintendent. Governor Dunleavy and his family moved to Wasilla in 2004, where he owned an educational consulting firm and worked on several statewide education projects. Dunleavy served on the Mat-Su Borough School Board, with two years as Board President, and then as a state senator for five years. Dunleavy was first elected Governor in 2018 and then again in 2022. Governor Dunleavy has kept the health of the economy and jobs at the forefront of his Administration's policy setting initiatives and has been a true champion for the Alaskan business community. Governor Dunleavy's wife Rose is from the Kobuk River Valley community of Noorvik. Together, they have three children who were raised in both rural and urban Alaska. Governor Dunleavy is focused on moving Alaska forward and believes that our greatest years are yet to come if we work together to maximize our potential. About Secretary Doug BurgumDoug Burgum is the 55th Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Raised in Arthur, North Dakota, Burgum worked as a chimney sweep to help pay his way through North Dakota State University before earning an MBA from Stanford University. In 1983, Doug literally “bet the farm” to provide seed capital for a software startup called Great Plains. Doug led Great Plains through a successful IPO and grew the company to over 2,000 employees before its acquisition by Microsoft. Burgum remained with Microsoft for six years as the Senior Vice President of Business Solutions. Doug later co-founded Arthur Ventures and served as chairman for international software companies including Atlassian, SuccessFactors, and as a board member for Avalara. In 2016, Burgum was elected to serve as North Dakota's 33rd Governor. In 2020, he was re-elected in a landslide. Under his leadership, North Dakota passed the largest tax cut in state history and dramatically reduced red tape. As a testament to Burgum's leadership, Forbes named him “America's Best Entrepreneurial Governor.” During his tenure, North Dakota experienced the highest growth in real GDP and had the lowest unemployment rate in the country. Burgum has three adult children. He is married to Kathryn Burgum, a nationally recognized advocate for addiction recovery. We hope you enjoy today's discussion as much as we did. This certainly won't be our last trip to Alaska. Our best to you all!

Testifying before Congress, Lindbergh challenges the administration's claim that technological advances make the United States more vulnerable to attack. He argues that air power actually enhances hemispheric defense by allowing the U.S. to intercept invading forces far offshore. Rejecting the "isolationist" label, he proposes a robust defense of the Western Hemisphere rather than the Rhine River. Lindbergh continues to hold massive rallies, where he adopts sharper rhetoric against "interventionists" and "defeatists." However, he begins to realize he is outmatched by Roosevelt'ssuperior political maneuvering and control over the national conversation. (6/8)1936

The Joint Readiness Training Center is pleased to present the one-hundredth-and-fifty-sixth episode to air on ‘The Crucible - The JRTC Experience'. Hosted by MAJ David Pfaltzgraff, the Brigade Executive Officer Observer – Coach – Trainer and MAJ Marc Howle, the Brigade Senior Engineer / Protection OCT for the Brigade Command & Control (BDE HQ), on behalf of the Commander of Ops Group (COG). Today's guests are two of the Army's most seasoned noncommissioned officers: CSM Raymond Harris, Command Sergeant Major of Transformation and Training Command (T2COM) and CSM(Retired) Todd Sims, the 23rd Command Sergeant Major of Forces Command (FORSCOM).   The Army is undergoing one of its most significant organizational transformations in decades with the transition away from the legacy structures of United States Army Forces Command and United States Army Training and Doctrine Command toward the newly established Transformation and Training Command and Western Hemisphere Command constructs. This shift is designed to better align Army force generation, experimentation, modernization, and readiness with the demands of large scale combat operations and regionally aligned combatant command requirements. Under the new framework, T2COM integrates force design, training, experimentation, doctrine, and leader development into a single organization capable of rapidly testing and refining future warfighting concepts, while WHC focuses on force readiness and operational alignment across the Western Hemisphere. Together, the changes are intended to increase speed, scale, and adaptability across the Army as it prepares for increasingly contested, multi-domain conflict environments.   This episode discusses Army transformation, modernization, and the importance of maintaining the fundamentals while adapting to the realities of the modern battlefield. The conversation explores how the Army is leveraging the Combat Training Centers (CTCs) as large-scale experimentation platforms to test new formations, equipment, and concepts before integrating them across the force. Topics include Transformation in Contact (TiC), experimentation with new technologies, and how the Army is trying to close the gap between emerging capabilities and operational readiness by getting equipment into soldiers' hands earlier for home-station training. A major theme throughout the episode is that no amount of technology can replace disciplined fieldcraft, security, camouflage, and leadership. The discussion repeatedly reinforces that soldiers must still master the basics—digging fighting positions, reducing electromagnetic signatures, rehearsing battle drills, and maintaining security—even while integrating drones, autonomous systems, and other modern capabilities into operations.     The episode also dives into leadership development, sustainment in contested environments, and the evolving role of Noncommissioned Officers in preparing formations for Large Scale Combat Operations. Leaders discuss how modern warfare has eliminated the idea of “safe areas,” forcing every formation—including sustainment units—to think about survivability, protection, and electromagnetic concealment. Additional topics include lessons from Ukraine, the integration of drone threat response into Army training, changes to NCO Professional Military Education, and the importance of honest feedback loops between soldiers, units, and senior leaders to improve equipment and doctrine. Throughout the discussion, the speakers emphasize that effective leadership remains the decisive factor in combat power: leaders must be present, committed, and relentlessly focused on preparing their soldiers for the harsh realities of ground combat. Ultimately, the episode frames modernization not as replacing the human element of warfare, but as enhancing disciplined, cohesive teams capable of adapting and surviving in increasingly complex multi-domain environments.   Part of S01 “The Leader's Laboratory” series.   For additional information and insights from this episode, please check-out our Instagram page @the_jrtc_crucible_podcast.   Be sure to follow us on social media to keep up with the latest warfighting TTPs learned through the crucible that is the Joint Readiness Training Center.   Follow us by going to: https://linktr.ee/jrtc and then selecting your preferred podcast format.   Again, we'd like to thank our guests for participating. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and review us wherever you listen or watch your podcasts — and be sure to stay tuned for more in the near future.   “The Crucible – The JRTC Experience” is a product of the Joint Readiness Training Center.

The Indigenous Paleolithic of the Western Hemisphere is a reclaimed history of the deep past of Indigenous people in North and South America during the Paleolithic. Paulette F. C. Steeves mines evidence from archaeology sites and Paleolithic environments, landscapes, and mammalian and human migrations to make the case that people have been in the Western Hemisphere not only just prior to Clovis sites (10,200 years ago) but for more than 60,000 years, and likely more than 100,000 years.Steeves discusses the political history of American anthropology to focus on why pre-Clovis sites have been dismissed by the field for nearly a century. She explores supporting evidence from genetics and linguistic anthropology regarding First Peoples and time frames of early migrations. Additionally, she highlights the work and struggles faced by a small yet vibrant group of American and European archaeologists who have excavated and reported on numerous pre-Clovis archaeology sites.In this first book on Paleolithic archaeology of the Americas written from an Indigenous perspective, The Indigenous Paleolithic of the Western Hemisphere includes Indigenous oral traditions, archaeological evidence, and a critical and decolonizing discussion of the development of archaeology in the Americas.Paulette Steeves (Cree-Métis) is a professor of sociology and Canada Research Chair Tier II Indigenous History, Healing, and Reconciliation at Algoma University. She is also an adjunct faculty at Mount Allison University. She is the author of The Indigenous Paleolithic of the Western Hemisphere (Nebraska, 2021).https://paulettesteeves22.wixsite.com/drpaulettesteeveshttps://www.tipdba.ca/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/earth-ancients--2790919/support.

The Trump administration has elevated the strategic importance of the Western Hemisphere to the United States at a time when countries in the region are turning away from leftist populism. Can dollarization play a key role in achieving stability and growth in Latin America? John Cochrane, David Malpass, and Emilio Ocampo will discuss the benefits of dollarization to Latin American countries with a history of bad monetary policy, why dollarization in the Americas would be good for the United States, and how adopting the dollar as the legal currency has worked out in Panama, Ecuador, and El Salvador. The speakers will discuss ways of dollarizing and why that reform is especially relevant to Argentina and Venezuela today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dan Doyle, oil entrepreneur and author of Of Roughnecks and Riches, brings a ground-level view of what's actually happening in the American energy industry — a rig count in freefall as of February that flipped to a boom overnight when Iran closed the Strait, well costs up 65-70% driven by steel prices, and a shale sector that can't survive at $50 oil. Doyle and David Knight walk through the strategic logic of Venezuela — three million barrels a day under Nixon, now barely a million after socialist confiscation, with Exxon and the major service companies now quietly circling back in. The bigger picture is a potential Western Hemisphere energy bloc: U.S., Canadian, Alaskan, and South American production that could get America off Middle Eastern oil entirely — if the political class doesn't kill it first, the same way Biden cancelled mandatory BLM lease sales on day one and the same way New York bans Marcellus shale extraction while 26% of its children live in poverty. Money should have intrinsic value AND transactional privacy: Go to https://davidknight.gold/ for great deals on physical gold/silver For 10% off Gerald Celente's prescient Trends Journal, go to https://trendsjournal.com/ and enter the code “KNIGHT” For high quality made in America products go to HomeSteadProducts.shop and use promo code “Knight” for 10% off your purchases Find out more about the show and where you can watch it at TheDavidKnightShow.com If you would like to support the show and our family please consider subscribing monthly here: SubscribeStar https://www.subscribestar.com/the-david-knight-show Or you can send a donation throughMail: David Knight POB 994 Kodak, TN 37764Zelle: @DavidKnightShow@protonmail.comCash App at: $davidknightshowBTC to: bc1qkuec29hkuye4xse9unh7nptvu3y9qmv24vanh7Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-david-knight-show--2653468/support.

Dan Doyle, oil entrepreneur and author of Of Roughnecks and Riches, brings a ground-level view of what's actually happening in the American energy industry — a rig count in freefall as of February that flipped to a boom overnight when Iran closed the Strait, well costs up 65-70% driven by steel prices, and a shale sector that can't survive at $50 oil. Doyle and David Knight walk through the strategic logic of Venezuela — three million barrels a day under Nixon, now barely a million after socialist confiscation, with Exxon and the major service companies now quietly circling back in. The bigger picture is a potential Western Hemisphere energy bloc: U.S., Canadian, Alaskan, and South American production that could get America off Middle Eastern oil entirely — if the political class doesn't kill it first, the same way Biden cancelled mandatory BLM lease sales on day one and the same way New York bans Marcellus shale extraction while 26% of its children live in poverty. Money should have intrinsic value AND transactional privacy: Go to https://davidknight.gold/ for great deals on physical gold/silver For 10% off Gerald Celente's prescient Trends Journal, go to https://trendsjournal.com/ and enter the code “KNIGHT” For high quality made in America products go to HomeSteadProducts.shop and use promo code “Knight” for 10% off your purchases Find out more about the show and where you can watch it at TheDavidKnightShow.com If you would like to support the show and our family please consider subscribing monthly here: SubscribeStar https://www.subscribestar.com/the-david-knight-show Or you can send a donation throughMail: David Knight POB 994 Kodak, TN 37764Zelle: @DavidKnightShow@protonmail.comCash App at: $davidknightshowBTC to: bc1qkuec29hkuye4xse9unh7nptvu3y9qmv24vanh7Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-david-knight-show--5282736/support.

Stijn Schmitz welcomes Doomberg to the show. Doomberg is Head Writer For The Doomberg Team and Creator of the Doomberg Substack. The podcast explores the current geopolitical and energy landscape, focusing on the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and potential global power dynamics. Discussing the current energy market disruptions, Doomberg suggests that while the Strait of Hormuz closure is significant, the market has been surprisingly stable. He estimates the potential oil supply disruption at around 8 million barrels per day, significantly lower than some analysts’ predictions. The sophisticated oil markets have absorbed these challenges, with China potentially playing a crucial role by releasing strategic reserves and managing supply. The conversation delves into a potential grand geopolitical bargain that might be discussed in the upcoming meeting between Trump and Xi in Beijing. Doomberg speculates about a potential realignment of global interests, including a settlement of the Ukraine conflict on terms favorable to Russia, ceding Taiwan to China’s sphere of influence, and dividing Middle Eastern and Arctic territories among major powers. Regarding the US dollar and global economic shifts, Doomberg argues that we’re moving towards a multipolar or potentially Chinese-dominated unipolar world. He sees the sanctions against Russia after Crimea as the beginning of a new world order, with China and Russia challenging US global dominance. The discussion highlights the United States’ significant natural gas advantage, with the country producing 110 billion cubic feet per day and poised to become a major LNG exporter. Doomberg emphasizes the potential for North American energy dominance, particularly through clean and abundant natural gas. Looking forward, Doomberg suggests a potential multipolar world with the US focusing on its Western Hemisphere, China gaining prominence, and Russia finding its place. He remains cautiously optimistic about a potential diplomatic resolution to current global tensions, while acknowledging the complexity of geopolitical negotiations. Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:00:38 – Oil Supply Disruption Assessment 00:03:54 – China’s Oil Stockpiling Role 00:05:02 – Oil Price Mechanics Explained 00:10:24 – Supply Shortage Estimates 00:12:52 – Strait Reopening Impact 00:15:20 – Trump-Xi Meeting Significance 00:17:54 – Grand Bargain Outlines 00:22:45 – US Western Hemisphere Focus 00:26:30 – Fading Oil Spike Strategy 00:31:03 – Fertilizers and Commodity Impacts 00:34:53 – Helium Just-In-Time 00:36:16 – OPEC & the Petrodollar 00:39:20 – Geopolitical Shifts and Gold 00:46:46 – Unipolarity Outcomes 00:53:46 – Euro Hydrocarbon Resources 00:56:37 – Concluding Thoughts Guest Links: Substack: https://doomberg.substack.com X: https://x.com/DoombergT Website: https://doomberg.com Doomberg is the anonymous publishing arm of a bespoke consulting firm providing advisory services to family offices and c-suite executives. Its principals apply their decades of experience across heavy industry, private equity, and finance to deliver innovative thinking and clarity to complex problems.

Guest host Mary Walter fills in for Brian Kilmeade to break down President Trump's high-stakes commercial diplomacy trip to China alongside CEOs like Elon Musk and Tim Cook. We also dive into the collapsing Iran ceasefire, which Trump describes as being on "life support" after a rejected proposal. Plus, Lt. Col. Allen West joins to discuss the 21st-century "Axis of Evil" and the geopolitical reshaping of the Western Hemisphere. [00:18:26] Allen West   [00:36:51] Ed Lawrence   [01:32:02] Lt. Col. Scott Mann (Ret.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gen. Frank Donovan, commander of U.S. Southern Command, sat down with Ryan to discuss the vision behind the command's new Autonomous Warfare Command and what it signals for the future of military operations in the Western Hemisphere. Donovan explains how SOUTHCOM aims to move drones and autonomous systems beyond tactical experimentation and connect them to strategic effect: disrupting cartel networks designated as terrorist organizations, strengthening cooperation with allies and partners, and giving the command new ways to see, decide, and act across a complex region.   This episode was brought to you by NODA. Find out more about our friends at NODA at warontherocks.com/noda

H.W. Brands examines Lindbergh's 1941 congressional testimony challenging the administration's narrative, arguing that air power actually strengthens hemispheric defense, allowing America to intercept invading armadas 300 miles offshore. Rejecting the "isolationist" label, Lindbergh proposes a robust defense of the Western Hemisphere rather than the Rhine, drawing thousands to rallies while adopting sharper rhetoric branding interventionists as "defeatists." (6)

Meet my friends, Clay Travis and Buck Sexton! If you love Verdict, the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show might also be in your audio wheelhouse. Politics, news analysis, and some pop culture and comedy thrown in too. Here’s a sample episode recapping four takeaways. Give the guys a listen and then follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Carrots and Sticks Clay Travis and Buck Sexton analyze Vance’s public comments emphasizing U.S. military leverage, sanctions relief as a bargaining tool, and the central American demand that Iran permanently abandon any path toward a nuclear weapon. A recurring theme throughout this hour is “trust but verify,” with Clay repeatedly stressing that the real test of Iranian sincerity is tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Ship movement, oil prices, and stock market reactions are presented as concrete indicators of whether the ceasefire is holding, rather than press statements or leaked talking points. The hosts also explore parallel regional developments, including reports of possible Israeli–Lebanese negotiations and efforts to de-escalate conflict involving Hezbollah, which they argue is contributing to a strong stock market surge and falling oil prices. Clay characterizes the Trump–Vance relationship as a strategic “good cop, bad cop” dynamic in negotiations, with Trump maintaining maximum pressure while Vance plays a more diplomatic role. Both hosts agree that the most likely outcome is extended negotiations rather than a rapid, definitive deal, predicting a cycle of short-term extensions as talks continue into the summer. Black Lives Mattered to Trump Clay notes the sustained optimism in the stock market, which remains within a few percentage points of all-time highs, framing this as evidence that investors believe the ceasefire is holding for now. From there, the focus shifts decisively to crime, law enforcement policy, and what the hosts argue is definitive proof that aggressive pro-police strategies save lives. Clay highlights a staggering statistic: murders in Washington, D.C. are down roughly 68% year-over-year, with just 12 murders recorded so far, putting the city on pace for the lowest homicide rate in modern history. He pairs this with similar dramatic declines in cities like Memphis and argues that 2025 was the safest year for violent crime in the United States since record-keeping began. The positive crime data is contrasted with a horrifying case in Charlotte, North Carolina, where a Ukrainian refugee was murdered on public transit by a repeat offender who had been arrested more than a dozen times. Clay and Buck argue this tragedy exposes the moral and policy failures of progressive prosecutors and city leaders who refuse to incarcerate violent offenders, even as evidence shows that targeted federal-state cooperation works. Buck explains that federal law enforcement is coordinating with local police, using federal sentencing standards with no parole, and focusing narrowly on violent repeat offenders—producing rapid, measurable results. Both hosts stress that these policies disproportionately save Black lives in high-crime neighborhoods, directly challenging claims from progressive activists and media outlets that law-and-order policies are racist. Proof of Life in Iran An extensive interview with Steve Yates, senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and former White House national security official, joining live from Seoul, South Korea. Yates provides a sober assessment of the Iran ceasefire negotiations, warning that U.S. policy must move beyond “trust but verify” to strictly “verify,” especially when it comes to freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. He argues that the United States must clearly demonstrate control of key waterways, maintain the credible threat of renewed targeted strikes, and enlist reliable allies such as the UAE, Japan, and South Korea to share enforcement and security burdens. Yates frames the negotiations as surrender terms, not talks between equals, while emphasizing the urgent need to eventually pivot the national focus back to domestic priorities ahead of the midterms. The discussion expands to Israel’s role, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the lack of clarity around who is actually making decisions inside Iran following the decapitation of much of the regime’s command structure. Yates casts doubt on whether Iran’s nominal leadership even has centralized control, describing competing factions between clergy, military, and internal security forces. He also provides an Asia-Pacific perspective, explaining how China, Japan, South Korea, and other energy-dependent economies are closely watching Middle East developments because of oil supply risks, while simultaneously testing U.S. resolve in the Indo-Pacific. He notes that North Korea fired short-range missiles during his visit, underscoring how adversaries probe American focus during moments of global tension. Yates highlights improving conditions in Venezuela, sees cautious promise for peaceful evolution in Cuba, and argues these Western Hemisphere shifts strengthen U.S. leverage against China by improving supply chain resilience. The Dignidad Act Congressman Brandon Gill of Texas, who strongly opposes the bipartisan “Dignity Act," joins the show to argue that the bill is amnesty in disguise, would grant legal status to roughly 12 million illegal immigrants, undermine mass deportation efforts, and directly betray the platform voters supported in the last election. He warns that the legislation would suppress wages, reward lawbreaking, and fracture the Republican Party internally, emphasizing that border enforcement and deportations—not legalization—were core promises of the Trump coalition. Gill also criticizes House scheduling dysfunction, saying lawmakers should be in session funding DHS and advancing conservative priorities instead of advancing immigration compromises. The segment closes with political analysis of upcoming Texas races, where Gill dismisses progressive challengers as out of touch with voters. Make sure you never miss a second of the show by subscribing to the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton show podcast wherever you get your podcasts! ihr.fm/3InlkL8 For the latest updates from Clay and Buck: https://www.clayandbuck.com/ Connect with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton on Social Media: X - https://x.com/clayandbuck FB - https://www.facebook.com/ClayandBuck/ IG - https://www.instagram.com/clayandbuck/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/clayandbuck Rumble - https://rumble.com/c/ClayandBuck TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@clayandbuck YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VerdictwithTedCruzSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Newt talks with Dr. William LeoGrande, a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute and Associate Vice-Provost for Academic Affairs, Professor of Government, and Dean Emeritus of the School of Public Affairs at American University in Washington, D.C. They discuss the foreign policy strategies of President Trump, including actions in Venezuela, Ukraine, and Iran, and the challenges faced by the United States in maintaining dominance in the Western Hemisphere. Dr. LeoGrande provides insights into Cuba's historical and current socio-political landscape, emphasizing the impact of the Cuban Revolution and subsequent U.S. – Cuba relations. They also discuss the geopolitical influence of Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, and his impact on Latin American policy, particularly regarding Cuba and Venezuela. The episode concludes with a new segment addressing listener’s questions on topics such as the Strait of Hormuz and the SAVE Act.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.