Latest / International Flavor: Where the Truth Tastes Better / Medvedev, Hormuz, China Oil & Israel’s Nuclear Secret

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Medvedev, Hormuz, China Oil & Israel’s Nuclear Secret · International Flavor: Where the Truth Tastes Better

0:02
Hello, good morning. Welcome. I am
0:05
Samuel Trap. This is International
0:09
Flavor. You are listening to DAM radio
0:13
here from the Lake Ozark Real Estate Art
0:17
Studio. This fine
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Thursday morning appears to be Thursday
0:24
morning. The weeks are just cruising on
0:26
by. I'm uh
0:29
still waiting. Here it is May and I'm
0:31
still waiting to get warm. When is that
0:33
going to happen? Um I dislike it. I've
0:37
decided I just I dislike the fact that
0:40
it is frigin cold. And uh well
0:45
I'm waiting still waiting. Um let's see.
0:49
Yesterday I was partway through my uh
0:54
discussion of the uh
0:58
appearance by Dimmitri Midviv in front
1:01
of the educational
1:04
conference and talking about people uh
1:06
last uh late last week or over the
1:09
weekend. I forget the exact day that it
1:11
took place and uh and the different
1:15
focus that people
1:18
uh put on things depending on where they
1:21
are in the world. So
1:25
I wanted to continue in that vein if I
1:29
could find out where the hell I was.
1:33
But I'm having a tiny bit of uh trouble
1:36
and drama. I brought today some uh some
1:40
entertainment for sidelines as well that
1:45
um I
1:49
there's a couple of songs I want to play
1:51
for you and I got to question all of
1:54
question 10 yesterday I think or nine.
1:58
Remember when we were talking about uh
2:01
the young girl, the well the woman named
2:04
Tatiana from uh who happened to be from
2:07
Moscow asking Dmitri Midv the question
2:12
about the United States acting as a
2:15
mediator in difficult conflicts. She
2:18
wanted to know if he thought that
2:20
America
2:22
and Trump were succeeding in
2:26
uh being the world mediators or trying
2:29
to bring normaly to the world and he
2:32
said well what do you think and he said
2:35
not very well she said not very well and
2:39
he said he fully agreed he said it's
2:41
difficult for anyone to be a mediator in
2:44
the first place and then a country that
2:46
steals presidents and starts conflicts
2:49
can hardly be considered an effective
2:52
mediator. Uh was his comment. And uh so
2:57
I don't know. There's rhetoric all over
3:00
the planet these days. There's a um
3:05
uh
3:06
oh, you know what? I wanted to see what
3:08
all happened in the in the British uh
3:12
elections that went on. I wanted to find
3:14
out about that. and um talk about a uh
3:19
you know I I I brought a couple of
3:21
these. There was some devastation and
3:23
more devastation in Lebanese cities
3:26
despite the uh ceasefire.
3:30
Um
3:31
and
3:34
there's a story about UK nurseries told
3:38
to report racist toddlers to the police.
3:43
Ain't that crazy? of their racist
3:46
toddlers so they could uh get their um
3:50
uh the pope the pope was taken for a
3:55
prank caller when he called his own
3:57
bank.
3:59
Pretty funny. And uh so the uh Germans
4:04
are banning Soviet World War II symbols.
4:08
And uh you know uh we have some Zalinski
4:12
information uh leaked transcripts
4:16
exposing how top Ukrainian
4:18
officials are trading influence for
4:21
billions of dollars and uh plotting
4:24
their own escapes to the U United
4:27
States.
4:29
Um,
4:32
I don't know. Let's see. Antigua and uh
4:37
uh you know amended their oath to remove
4:40
references to the lo royal family.
4:43
They're breaking with the crown
4:46
and uh
4:49
uhhuh. Ain't this crazy? Why the EU
4:52
cares about Mark Carney? Mark Carney is
4:55
doing some serious stuff for Canada. Uh,
4:57
he really is. And um
5:02
I don't know. I think before I get
5:04
there, I'm going to um
5:09
I'm going to continue on with what I was
5:11
discussing. Yes. Yesterday on there's
5:15
there's like six or eight questions left
5:17
that uh I wanted to get to and I may get
5:20
to all of them, I may not.
5:22
And uh they were asking about because
5:26
there's a lot of discussion in the west
5:28
here about whether or not there are
5:31
enough uh
5:34
uh soldiers in Ukraine and in Russia and
5:38
who's really winning and who's losing
5:40
and uh the Zalinski the Z monster is
5:43
trying to say that the Russians uh
5:46
aren't filling their ranks. Well, that's
5:49
only being said to take um to take uh
5:53
the focus off the fact that Ukraine
5:56
can't, you know, all this booification
5:58
and all the videos on TV or on Telegram,
6:02
I mean, that are uh showing these horror
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story
6:07
uh seizing of um you know, citizens in
6:13
Ukraine and beating the crap out of them
6:15
and then sending them to the front to
6:17
die. So, first you get the crap beat out
6:19
of you and then uh uh and then you die.
6:24
Um
6:26
there's all kinds of news uh around the
6:29
world and that's one of the things that
6:31
they're talking about. But going back to
6:32
the conference that they had with these
6:35
young people, uh what are your current
6:38
professional tasks uh with regard to
6:41
contract soldiers and weapons supplies
6:45
because that's always an issue. Is there
6:46
enough weapons for the front and all
6:48
that other stuff
6:50
and he asked about what you know what he
6:52
is doing and by the order of the
6:54
president he is involved with staffing
6:56
the armed forces with contract
6:58
servicemen and providing military
7:00
equipment and weapons and uh this
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moderator asked him how things are going
7:06
in this area and he said that by the
7:09
head of uh state Vladimir Putin supreme
7:12
commanderin-chief he's working on two
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issues staffing the armed forces ources
7:17
uh with citizens who sign contracts and
7:19
desire to go to the front and supplying
7:21
especially needed weapon system. He said
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some details are classified but he was
7:27
able to give some figures and previous
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year 450,000
7:31
people agreed to uh contracts in the
7:35
combined groups of forces and this year
7:38
as of uh today's date he said there were
7:43
127,000 citizens men and women that had
7:46
signed contracts for military service
7:49
and another 10,000 signed contracts in
7:52
the volunteer formation. He said this is
7:55
essential essentially contract service
7:57
too but not tied to the Ministry of
8:00
Defense. Um that'll be like police and
8:03
stuff like that locally stuff. And uh he
8:06
emphasizes that those who sign contracts
8:09
are doing so based on their own uh
8:12
patriotic motives. They're not forced.
8:14
He regularly visits recruitment
8:16
locations and training grounds and
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speaks with the servicemen. He says some
8:21
of what he hears is uh pretty striking
8:23
when he asks why they choose this path.
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Uh the answer is often what he says
8:29
anyway is who if not me you know don't
8:32
basically don't all of us you know have
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an obligation and he says this deserves
8:37
the you know a deep respect and he says
8:39
regarding weapons no military conflict
8:43
can proceed without modern arms. He says
8:45
that even Russia's enemies recognize
8:47
that Russian defense industry has
8:50
changed dramatically through
8:51
re-equipment in recent years. Um I
8:53
watched u uh something yesterday about
8:57
uh what this um so Russia proposed a
9:01
ceasefire for the 8th and the 9th of uh
9:05
May and said we're going to unilaterally
9:08
have a ceasefire. And so
9:13
the Ukrainians
9:15
are threatening to bomb uh to drone and
9:19
bomb um
9:23
uh Moscow during the Red Square parade
9:28
and uh make sure that that you know that
9:31
they disrupt the services somehow the
9:34
celebration. Uh the 9th of May is a very
9:37
big deal in Russia and it's going to be
9:40
on this Saturday and uh I I for one will
9:44
be watching what uh what goes on there.
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Uh Russia proposed
9:50
at least two weeks ago that they were
9:53
going you know said that you know
9:54
there's going to be a ceasefire and they
9:56
say that unilaterally they are going to
9:58
have a ceasefire. Well, Ukraine has been
10:02
bombing uh Moscow and trying to reach
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there and bombing other places inside
10:08
using uh western supplied
10:11
um what do you call it intelligence and
10:15
stuff like that and uh the
10:20
and threats direct threats from Zilinski
10:23
saying you know we're you know we're
10:25
coming and and we're going to bomb the
10:28
mil the the military parade in uh Moscow
10:31
and trying to threaten that, you know,
10:33
nobody should show up that day and blah
10:35
blah. And
10:38
Russia has made some pretty,
10:43
I don't know, devastating response to
10:46
that and said, you know, if you do, you
10:51
people better leave Kiev cuz we will be
10:53
coming. And yesterday I read an article
10:56
that um showed that they are uh actually
11:01
they've blocked the airspace over Capar
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and which is a large um u testing
11:10
facility and
11:13
um a a launch facility for oresnik type
11:18
missiles and uh and super missiles that
11:21
that the Russians have. and uh they have
11:23
threatened a pretty serious
11:27
uh
11:30
pretty serious response should that take
11:33
place. And so I I I I
11:40
don't know what's going to happen. and
11:42
uh you know but the U with the US couple
11:45
of days ago so in the middle of all of
11:47
this this this weapon stuff that I'm you
11:50
know talking about with Midviv in the
11:53
middle of all of this over the last
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couple of days the US has greenlighted a
11:59
new bomb deal for uh Ukraine
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and so Moscow has been warning the West
12:08
about arms deliveries and uh Now, Donald
12:12
Trump has approved the sale of
12:14
precisiong guided bomb kits worth 373
12:18
million uh follow following
12:21
congressional pressure over stalled arms
12:24
deliveries. And so the move was
12:26
announced by the State Department on
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Tuesday, which greenlights the possible
12:31
foreign military sale of
12:34
1,532
12:36
JDAM extender range tail kits and
12:40
related support equipment to Kiev. And
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this can be used to convert heavy bombs
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into GPSG guided munition munitions to
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hit targets um you know dozens of
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kilometers away and headquartered in St.
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Boeing you know headquartered in St.
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Louis is listed as the primary
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contractor. The deal doesn't guarantee
13:01
that the weapons are going to be
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delivered, but the figures represent the
13:06
maximum quantity and value of the
13:08
purpose of the you know purpose and
13:10
purchase of these in the details subject
13:12
to further negotiation.
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And um you know remember uh remember the
13:22
the lunatic that is uh Mitch Oonnell
13:28
blasted Ukraine uh in late April saying
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that the US isn't a global superpower if
13:35
they don't support Ukraine.
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That's idiocy. You know that that was
13:40
foolish when I shared it with you. But
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the proposed sale is going to improve
13:45
Ukraine's capability to meet current and
13:47
future threat by providing it with the
13:50
means to conduct self-defense missions.
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Yeah, right. And enhance regional
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security, said the State Department and
13:58
said it won't alter the basic military
14:02
uh balance in the region. But Ukraine
14:03
has used J Dammer uh systems since 2023,
14:08
adapting them to Soviet aircraft and
14:11
preparing for integration with Western
14:13
equipment like F-16 fighter jets. But
14:15
the systems reliance on GPS exposes
14:19
vulnerability because Russian forces uh
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have been able to use electronic warfare
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to jam them and degrade the overall
14:27
effectiveness of these precisiong guided
14:30
munitions. So, the sale approval came
14:33
after Mitch McConnell, who's now chair
14:36
of the Senate Defense Appropriation
14:38
Subcommittee, accused the Pentagon of
14:40
freezing 400 million in congressionally
14:43
approved Ukraine assistance. And
14:44
following the criticism, Secretary War
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and put me in coach Pete Hegsth
14:51
confirmed that the 400 million had been
14:55
released. And since his inauguration,
14:58
Trump has been opposed to unconditional
15:00
military support for Ukraine. But he
15:03
doesn't object to selling them arms. But
15:05
rather than direct US funding,
15:07
Washington is routing the arms through
15:10
uh a group called Pearl, prioritizing
15:13
Ukraine requirement lists, a NATO
15:16
mechanism where European nations in
15:18
Canada finance purchases of US weapons
15:22
for Ukraine. So, um, that's still
15:26
ongoing and, uh, so I don't know. That's
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it's it's never going to end. We just
15:34
keep the the war going. There's, uh,
15:41
let's see.
15:44
Let's see. There's art show. How How
15:48
does this go? This this was a really
15:50
weird yellow and blue smoke and out of
15:54
it appeared a pair of breasts
15:57
that written across it say Russia kills
16:01
written and so these women are out
16:04
walking around naked
16:08
naked across uh uh uh where are they
16:14
at art Venice you know art of Venice and
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so this is If you paint yourself in blue
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and yellow, but you're really naked,
16:24
but you have body paint on and you walk
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out with your your blue and yellow and
16:29
write Russia kills and show your support
16:31
for for Ukraine.
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Um, enjoy the show, ignore the war
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art for showing, you know, and so
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basically they're just showing showing
16:44
breasts all over. Um uh the the Venice
16:47
bonal, a handful of uh balaclava wearing
16:51
naked performer performance artists from
16:54
riot and famine barricaded the
16:57
Russian pavilion for 30 minutes to
17:00
protest against
17:02
uh uh uh against the opening of the
17:06
Russian pavilion
17:08
uh you know in support of Ukraine. Nadia
17:12
Tolonova,
17:14
Riot's greatest hit machine,
17:16
grumbled that she had to sneak in under
17:18
an assumed name because the organizers
17:21
wouldn't book her a table.
17:24
So, she went in under a key a different
17:26
name. Mission accomplished. The world's
17:28
most pretentious art crowd got another
17:31
virtue signal photo op with a cheeky
17:34
dose of uh solitary viewing fuel for the
17:38
right hand included.
17:41
It would be the best described as museum
17:44
grade thirst, a brief deliberate detour
17:47
into the bedroom Pulitzer territory.
17:51
Watching organizations that claim to
17:53
fight the patriarchy deploy the
17:55
patriarch's oldest currency is ironic.
17:59
Their weaponry doesn't consist of
18:01
arguments, intellectualism, or difficult
18:04
work of political thought. They offer up
18:07
naked bodies for display. Quarting the
18:10
male gaze they claim to loathe. Whether
18:14
there is a slogan written across the
18:16
naked breasts or not, the ask is the
18:19
same as it always has been. Look at me
18:22
and look at my flesh. The patriarchy
18:25
being neither stupid nor ungrateful
18:28
obliges.
18:30
Here's what makes this particularly
18:32
funny. Feminine was founded in 2008
18:36
after its founder became aware of
18:38
Ukrainian women being duped into going
18:40
abroad and being sexually exploited.
18:43
That is still ongoing. Its original
18:46
slogan was Ukraine is not a brothel. It
18:50
protested sex tourism, trafficking, and
18:53
prostitution and industries that were
18:56
consuming Ukrainian women's bodies for
18:59
foreign money. That was indeed the
19:02
mission. Fast forward to Venice 2026,
19:06
and now we're watching the same movement
19:08
get naked for cameras for foreign
19:11
journalists at a European art show,
19:13
making sure the lighting is good and
19:16
giving the gentlemen of the
19:17
international press something to look
19:20
at.
19:22
Tola Konikova took this to its natural
19:25
conclusion. In 2021, she opened her own
19:29
Only Fans account, selling subscriptions
19:32
to images of herself for $10 a month. It
19:36
is by any functional definition what
19:39
feminine was founded to fight. a woman
19:42
selling access to her body to men for
19:44
money on a platform owned by Leonid
19:49
Radvinski, born in Odessa, who acquired
19:52
Only Fans in 2018 and steered it
19:55
deliberately toward pornography,
19:58
extracting hundreds of millions in
20:00
annual dividends from the arrangement
20:02
before dying in March.
20:05
Though this call though to call this a
20:08
fall from grace would be to misread a
20:11
CV. Before Riot, there was an art
20:14
collective called Viona, a pregnant
20:18
Takonikova
20:20
among couples having sex in a state
20:22
biology museum days before the election.
20:26
The action was entitled Fer F for the
20:31
air puppy bear. Then a supermarket
20:34
chicken inserted into a vagina in
20:37
protest at the police state. Then a
20:39
giant fallus painted on a drawbridge in
20:42
St. Petersburg directly opposite of the
20:45
FSB headquarters. The body provocative
20:49
provocation through the body. The body
20:51
is the only argument ever really being
20:54
made. The Ukrainian feminist scholar
20:58
Axanakis noted in 2012 when this was all
21:02
still new. Feminine has nothing to do
21:05
with feminism whatsoever. She said when
21:08
public nudity becomes the only way to
21:10
deliver a message. It is more than
21:13
strange and the message itself seems to
21:15
get lost while the media focus on
21:18
nakedness. She would probably need
21:20
stronger language now. No one is
21:23
subverting the patriarchy by giving it
21:26
what it wants and calling the
21:28
transaction resistance. Get on your
21:30
knees, sisters. The pink smoke is a nice
21:34
touch, though.
21:36
While feminine was founded in Kiev, it's
21:38
now headquartered in Paris. Riot's
21:41
most prominent members have lived in the
21:44
West for years. The people staging
21:46
Ukraine's grief for the camera left
21:49
Ukraine and Russia long ago and have
21:52
been performing for Western audiences
21:55
ever since. This week's benal delivery
21:58
was a service rendered to the European
22:01
cultural establishment which requires
22:04
regular injections of moral legibility
22:07
suffering to justify its own selfimage.
22:13
Uh let's see.
22:16
The fact that Benali lost€2 million euro
22:19
in EU funding after refusing to reverse
22:22
the participation of Russia, which has
22:25
owned its pavilion in Venice since 1914.
22:29
Uh, an onbrand move for the EU. Brussels
22:33
money always comes with Brussels
22:35
politics and Brussels politics require
22:38
that culture be weaponized on schedule
22:41
without nuance or complication. What no
22:44
one is asking is whether any of this has
22:46
anything to do with Ukraine and whether
22:49
this really is the representation of
22:52
Ukrainians and especially Ukrainian
22:54
women. Before we get to politics, there
22:58
is a simple matter of sociology. A
23:01
Razumov Center survey found that 83% of
23:05
Ukrainians believe a woman's most
23:07
important task is caring for home and
23:10
family, while 78% think women are more
23:13
likely than men to be guided by emotion
23:16
in decisionmaking. As recently as 2026,
23:20
the belief that a man should fully
23:21
provide for his family remained one
23:24
gender pillar still supported by a
23:27
majority across all Ukrainian age
23:30
groups, 69%.
23:33
World value survey data from 2022 found
23:36
that only 10% of Ukrainian women and
23:40
couples reported being the bread winner,
23:42
a strong sign of conformity to
23:45
traditional gender gender roles. the
23:49
Berin Berhinia uh um folkloruric
23:53
hearthmother protector of the fo
23:57
can't speak protector of the home has
23:59
gained considerable symbolic traction in
24:03
postsviet Ukrainian identity in the
24:05
Orthodox church actively reinforces
24:09
traditional gender roles alongside of
24:11
it. This is the portrait of a country
24:14
whose grief is being performed in
24:17
Venice. The actual polling data grows
24:20
more embarrassing the further you go.
24:24
As of 2023, 39%
24:27
of Ukrainians oppose civil partnerships
24:31
with only 28%
24:33
in favor. 42% oppose samesex marriage
24:38
legalization. The civil partnership has
24:41
stalled in parliament for three years,
24:44
blocked not by Russians, but by
24:46
Ukrainian legislators who answer to
24:49
Ukrainian voters. The Constitution,
24:52
unchanged since 96, defines marriage as
24:56
between a man and a woman. Ukraine put
24:59
an an EU assession road map on paper in
25:03
May 2025 and included LGBTQ
25:07
legislative targets because that's what
25:10
you have to do when Brussels is writing
25:12
the checks. But can we really say that
25:15
the Ukrainian people freely subscribe to
25:18
the Western vision of a liberal future?
25:21
Have they been tricked into an
25:23
ideological box where any jailbreak
25:26
points are considered treason? We
25:29
already have the example of Hungary and
25:32
Poland countries constantly being
25:35
punished by Brussels for listening to
25:38
their own citizens conservative
25:40
preferences.
25:43
Ukraine as a state is already fractured,
25:46
corrupt, linguistically schizophrenic
25:49
after Maidan. The people in power in
25:52
Kiev have doubled down, deciding at some
25:54
point in the 2010s, that the path
25:57
forward is to become a copy of somewhere
26:00
it was never going to be. It scrubbed
26:02
Russian from schools and streets,
26:05
toppled statues, memoryhold anything
26:08
that smelled of the old neighborhood,
26:10
embraced the shiny uh similacrim of
26:14
unattainable western cool while the
26:17
villages and the churches and the actual
26:19
70% orthodox majority kept their
26:23
traditional script. The identity
26:25
spiraled into a very war the virtual
26:28
signer the signalers now use as the
26:31
white horse. Abandon your roots. Import
26:35
the fruiest aesthetics money can buy.
26:38
Start poking the bear and act shocked
26:42
when people resist. The results is a
26:45
country at war not only with Russia but
26:48
with significant portions of its past,
26:51
its population and its own internal
26:54
identity.
26:56
Brussels loves this version of Ukraine
26:59
because it demands nothing in return.
27:02
The exported topless sloganing only fans
27:06
adjacent eternally photogenic Ukraine is
27:10
suffering and it requires only that you
27:12
feel good about your flag emoji and you
27:15
hit subscribe.
27:17
Meanwhile, the Benali pres uh president
27:21
Petraello Bhafokco held his ground with
27:24
the only argument that should have
27:26
mattered that art is neutral space. But
27:29
he forgot that nothing is neutral when
27:31
the western establishment controls the
27:35
invoice. The pink smoke cleared. The
27:38
journalists filed their copy and photos.
27:40
The right hands have been satisfied. To
27:43
Konikova did not hear back from the
27:47
benali. Somewhere in Ukraine, the war
27:50
continues. The bodies there do not have
27:53
slogans written on them. They are just
27:56
bodies. The protesting women have lived
27:59
in Paris for years, and the country they
28:01
claim to represent is fighting a war
28:04
that is at least partly produced by the
28:06
decision to treat its own cultural
28:09
complexity as a problem to be eliminated
28:12
rather than a reality to be navigated.
28:16
What we saw at this festival was
28:19
European moral high ground on display,
28:23
funded by European money performed by
28:25
people who left Ukraine for an audience
28:29
ready to flee on to the next big thing.
28:33
Now, that was uh written by Valyriia
28:36
Kovaleinka
28:39
on May the 6th, but it's actually pretty
28:42
relevant. Um
28:46
anyway, all of that about patriotism and
28:49
the professional task of of war. Um back
28:55
to Medved, a history student from Nova
28:58
Subirk State University asked him to
29:01
recommend a book from fiction, history
29:04
or political science that would be
29:06
interesting and important for the young
29:09
generation. And he medved said he would
29:13
say something uh that he does not want
29:15
to impose his own literary literary
29:18
preferences upon anyone and everyone
29:21
should choose books according to their
29:22
own soul. He says that when someone
29:25
speaks in a teacherly mentoring tone and
29:28
says read this he remembers from his own
29:31
youth that this immediately kills the
29:33
desire to read it.
29:36
He said he reads a lot in or read a lot
29:39
in school and university because the
29:42
internet did not exist. Instead of
29:44
prescribing a certain book, he mentions
29:46
what he has read recently. He liked
29:49
Czechov and recently through Czechov's
29:51
letters and correspondence. He says they
29:54
are no less interesting than Czechov's
29:56
stories and more complex work.
30:00
He said he read a book on artificial
30:02
intelligence said uh called artificial
30:05
intelligence inexplicable unpredictable
30:08
and says it's it's a modern rather
30:10
difficult but interesting it made him
30:13
think about the same AI issues he
30:15
discussed earlier in the conference for
30:18
the soul he says he recently looked at
30:20
poems dedicated to Russian fighters of
30:23
the special military operation including
30:26
collection called Russian summer and
30:28
Russian in winter that contain many
30:31
talented poems. But his final advice is
30:35
choose for yourself.
30:38
Okay, this was an a very appropriate
30:41
question and uh u what what he responded
30:44
was was uh interesting to me at least.
30:47
Who is the bigger opponent for Russia
30:50
right now? United States or Europe? This
30:53
was a student named Avdi and asked uh
30:56
Midviv's personal opinion. Midvet says
31:00
they are all problematic. He says he
31:03
began the discussion with this topic and
31:05
not long ago Russia thought it shared
31:08
with Europe some common understanding of
31:10
what the global problems are and a
31:12
culture tied to their own history. But
31:14
that had definitely changed.
31:19
Then he said that European Union is led
31:22
by idiots.
31:25
His words, idiots, destructive,
31:28
narrow-minded people who are obsessed
31:30
with war against Russia. He says each of
31:33
them is pursuing their own goal, but
31:35
they are all idiots and they are
31:38
stubborn idiots. The result is a
31:40
dangerous road for everyone. And he says
31:42
the current level of Russia Europe
31:46
relations is absolutely monstrous. He
31:49
regrets what has been lost but says that
31:53
it will not return. He repeats that the
31:56
conflict with Europe is existential and
31:58
he goes one step further. The conflict
32:01
with Europe likely will not disappear
32:04
within the lifetime of a generation. A
32:07
deep uh furrow a deep dividing line has
32:11
opened between Russia and Europe. And a
32:14
smart politician may come to power and
32:17
try to build a new architecture and
32:19
relationships, but mutual mistrust will
32:22
be around for a very long time. In human
32:25
terms, he says, perhaps pessimistically,
32:28
the conflict with Europe is forever, at
32:31
least one human lifetime, it will
32:34
smolder and continue to flare up. The
32:36
United States, he says, is Russia's main
32:39
geopolitical rival. relations have
32:42
always been complicated in even uh even
32:46
in temporarily improved periods.
32:49
Strategic nuclear warheads define the
32:51
seriousness of their relationship.
32:54
American strategic nuclear forces are
32:57
aimed at Russia and Russian warheads are
33:00
aimed at the United States.
33:05
Even so, Medvidiv says one more time
33:08
that Americans are more pragmatic than
33:10
contemporary European politicians. The
33:12
approach is more practical and that
33:15
gives Russia some confidence that
33:17
relations with the US can still be
33:19
developed. He says geopolitics is not a
33:23
deal that remember that question from
33:24
yesterday. But economic relations can
33:27
still exist. Americans are all about
33:30
making money. They always want to make
33:32
money and make money on everything.
33:34
That's kind of embarrassing, isn't it?
33:36
And around that relations can still be
33:39
built. He says that Russian relations
33:41
with the current US administration and
33:43
with Trump do have a pragmatic character
33:46
and he does view that as positive.
33:49
uh seventh grader uh from Moscow asked
33:53
whether a nuclear strike is possible in
33:56
a country and where is it most likely to
33:59
happen.
34:01
And Medved says he hopes nuclear war
34:04
never happens. He knows he is often
34:06
criticized for rhetoric and talk of
34:08
nuclear apocalypse but he says nuclear
34:10
apocalypse is actually genuinely
34:15
possible. anyone who doesn't recognize
34:17
this is either a dreamer or a fool. And
34:20
he reminded the audience that the only
34:23
country ever to use a nuclear weapon is
34:25
the United States. No matter how much
34:27
the US talks about threats from Iran,
34:30
the possibility of Iran building a bomb,
34:33
the bomb was actually used only by the
34:36
United States. He says that in principle
34:39
there wasn't really a special need to
34:42
use it then because Japan was already
34:45
defeated and Japan had already played
34:47
its role in the war. He says it's
34:50
pointless to speculate about who will
34:52
use a nuclear weapon first. But the knot
34:55
of contradictions is now very tight in
34:58
the Middle East. The United States
35:01
claims Iran seeks nuclear weapons.
35:04
Russia does not have such data and Iran
35:06
denies it. But even if Iran did seek
35:09
nuclear weapons, Midviv asks why one
35:12
country in the Middle East, Israel,
35:15
which has not joined the nuclear
35:16
non-prololiferation treaty, is allowed
35:19
to have nuclear weapons and neighboring
35:21
states are not. No matter who is in
35:25
power, that situation is always just
35:29
unjust and creates a serious potential
35:33
for conflict. Now, I agree with that
35:36
perspective entirely. He says, "God
35:39
forbid we witness such events, but that
35:42
they cannot be excluded and Russia has
35:45
to be prepared. That is why Russia
35:47
maintains its own strategic nuclear
35:50
arsenal and triad in proper working
35:54
condition.
35:57
Crazy.
36:00
A secondyear student uh asked him uh
36:03
who's studying law and politics asked
36:05
Midviv who was a a civil law teacher
36:09
what field he would choose today if he
36:10
was graduating today and what are the
36:13
greatest opportunities. his answer uh uh
36:18
he narrowed it to law because impossible
36:20
to embrace everything. He said that
36:22
Russia is interested in economic
36:23
development and he would still choose
36:26
civil law himself. Why? Because whoever
36:29
understands civil law understands
36:31
economy and other societies and whoever
36:34
understands economy can do anything.
36:37
That's the strength of civil law. Uh
36:40
what awaits our generation in the
36:43
future? A student from Transpal State
36:46
University studying to become a teacher
36:49
of Russian language and liter literature
36:51
says what awaits her generation in the
36:54
future and Midviv calls it an
36:56
interesting question and he hopes what
36:58
awaits them all is happiness with a good
37:01
knowledge of the Russian language. He
37:04
says he has nothing against emojis or
37:06
the informal style of correspondence of
37:09
social media and virtual environments
37:11
where punctuation is ignored and
37:13
spelling syntax are unusual but Russian
37:16
must still be known. The Russian
37:18
language is beautiful and people need to
37:20
know it well. And then that's the end of
37:23
the event. It closes with applause and
37:25
that's it. and uh um you know the the
37:29
three main points you know of his entire
37:31
thing geopolitics is not a deal he uh uh
37:35
you know uh
37:38
conflict with the west is an is an
37:40
existential threat not a transaction and
37:42
he rejects the idea that global conflict
37:45
can be uh solved by deals and he says
37:49
that dealm vulgarizes international
37:51
relationships and third he distinguished
37:54
between Europe Europe and and America
37:57
that shows that uh ideologically
38:01
he thinks that uh
38:04
um you know the hysterics of uh Europe
38:09
don't really apply to America says that
38:12
Trump is dangerous but more pragmatic
38:14
because Americans want to make money and
38:18
so Medved is basically saying with all
38:21
this what what what he says Trump
38:24
refuses to Understand geopolitics
38:27
is not a real estate closing. You cannot
38:31
solve Iran, Ukraine, NATO, Gaza or who
38:35
Hormuz by walking in with a threat, a
38:38
handshake and a term sheet. Nations are
38:42
not buildings. Civilizations are not
38:45
condos. And when one side sees the
38:48
conflict as existential, the word deal
38:53
is childish. And I happen to agree with
38:56
that perspective.
39:00
I brought my book today of uh wisdom and
39:04
wit of Abraham Lincoln, but I didn't
39:07
bring my glasses, so I can't share
39:09
anything with you. We're going to take a
39:12
bit of a break and I shall continue here
39:16
in a bit and we're going to play
39:18
something. I heard this on on my tunes
39:22
the other the other day and uh so I put
39:25
it on a list of things that I was just
39:27
going to play here and so I'm going to
39:29
play this for you. And uh I've always
39:32
liked this song. I don't know why. It's
39:34
pretty stupid but I've always liked it.
39:37
And we're going to listen.
39:42
I like that. I don't know why. It just
39:44
uh you know, interesting stuff. That is
39:47
uh Nathan Evans and Wellaman. Uh C
39:51
Shanti is what it is. Um pretty good
39:55
stuff. Where are we going today? Uh the
39:57
new rules of Iran. They rolled out new
40:02
whorm rules as project freedom has been
40:07
paused.
40:09
Let us discuss, shall we? Iran and this
40:14
is um uh you know published May the 6th
40:18
as of yesterday. No, it was yesterday
40:20
morning. Uh after my show a little bit,
40:23
it came out. Iran officially launched a
40:26
new mechanism to oversee maritime
40:29
traffic. Now, one of the videos I
40:31
watched um actually showed a new app.
40:34
They've created an app of how to get
40:36
through and pay your pay your uh toll to
40:40
get through the uh Straits of Hormuz.
40:42
And uh I watched an interesting um show
40:46
who who was that um
40:49
she's she's pretty good and I like I
40:51
like watching her. I just can't remember
40:52
her name off top of my head. And she had
40:54
an Iranian professor on her show last
40:56
night. She's a a a girl from Texas and I
40:59
wonder if she's in my history somewhere.
41:01
I'll see if I can find it. Um cuz I
41:03
watched that and I found it found it uh
41:05
pretty interesting. He kept talking
41:07
about how the Iranian state has made
41:13
Oman and Pakistan
41:16
far more,
41:19
I guess the right word would be relevant
41:22
these days. that Oman now has a uh a
41:27
structure and he'd said something that I
41:29
really didn't know. Now, I remember
41:31
hearing things about it back in college
41:34
and in, you know, global um, you know,
41:37
political science um, issues and areas
41:40
that Oman really used to stretch far
41:43
much much further into the desert and
41:46
the British basically took over a great
41:49
portion of it and turned it into the
41:51
UAE, the United Arab Emirates. And so
41:55
now apparently there's all kinds of uh
41:57
various princes uh of of varying prince
42:01
princling houses in the UAE and
42:04
everywhere else in that area that are
42:08
fracturing quite a bit more according to
42:10
this guy and and I don't know if it's
42:13
true or not. I really don't. But it was
42:15
an an interesting take on the bigger
42:17
picture. And what he was saying was that
42:22
uh the relevance of of and the the risk
42:26
of what the UAE is doing in basically
42:31
siding with Israel against the greater
42:35
Arabic states is extremely risky for
42:40
them. and that Oman could end up with
42:44
because Oman apparently was always
42:46
superior to these uh lower Emirat
42:50
Emiratis, you know, these u lower states
42:53
and they are going to expand and that
42:56
Oman is going to take back over some of
42:58
these emirate parts because truthfully
43:01
they're subordinate to all these. I
43:02
don't know the truth of that stuff. I
43:04
don't know. I'd have to look into it.
43:06
But that's what this guy was saying and
43:08
uh on this interesting program and he
43:10
was saying that this is going to create
43:13
the start of the show was talking about
43:15
and showing the uh the Iranian
43:19
satellites and yes Iran has their own
43:22
satellites and uh they have some some a
43:26
pretty serious number of satellites.
43:28
they have their own intelligence part
43:30
which nobody really talks about all that
43:33
much that they can provide their own
43:35
intelligence and they were showing some
43:38
of the intelligence and the photo parts
43:40
that came from this um these Iranian
43:44
satellite imagery that showed American
43:49
bases in the region
43:52
and this was put on by New York Times or
43:54
something like that that that put out
43:56
articles that say that the devastation
43:58
in these um American bases in the Middle
44:02
East is astronomically different than
44:05
what is being reported here and that uh
44:09
the US has really lost a lot of uh
44:14
infrastructure and military bases. Now,
44:17
I I reported a while ago that there were
44:19
quite a few stories where uh the
44:21
military housing had all been blown up
44:24
as well, barracks gone, stuff like that,
44:26
and they were housing these people in
44:29
local hotels. And so, people were
44:31
shooting at some of the some of the
44:33
hotels
44:35
as well. So, at any rate, there I I
44:38
don't know that I trust any of the uh
44:41
story from any source basically. I mean,
44:45
you know, who knows, you know, where the
44:47
propaganda is going. I do realize that
44:49
the truth is not being told. There are a
44:51
lot of people that are saying that uh
44:52
Israel is devastated right now and that
44:55
their Iron Dome wasn't so iron and
44:58
doesn't, you know, show up, that the US
45:00
lost billions of dollars with uh the
45:03
especially the uh radar ports that they
45:06
come out. And I've seen some some pretty
45:09
uh serious footage of that. these
45:11
billion-dollar systems that are taken
45:13
out in the first few days. Um, so at any
45:16
rate, what when they talk about hormuz,
45:19
nobody knows what's going on over there.
45:21
Over here, we hear one set of
45:23
propaganda. Over there, you hear
45:24
another. Somewhere in between the two is
45:26
the truth. But here's what's being
45:28
reported about the new rules as Project
45:31
Freedom was paused. And uh, Marco Rubio
45:35
had some interesting things to say about
45:37
that in one of his first days. What is
45:39
he covering for uh Levit, I guess, as
45:42
the uh briefer while she's out on leave
45:45
or something? Pregnancy, is it? I don't
45:47
know. Maternity, who knows? But Iran
45:51
officially launched its own new
45:53
mechanism to oversee the maritime
45:56
traffic through the Straits of Hormuz
45:58
amid a lingering standoff with the US
46:00
over the waterway. Now, I heard
46:02
something that Rubio said yesterday, and
46:04
I wish I could find the um I could
46:06
remember where I actually saw it because
46:09
yesterday in his thing, he basically
46:12
said that uh the goal now is to open the
46:17
Straits of Hormuz, you know, to reopen
46:19
the Straits of Hormuz. Well, it wouldn't
46:21
have been closed but for the US attack
46:25
with Israel on Iran. The the Straits of
46:28
Hormuz wouldn't be closed. They were
46:30
open before you did that. And uh the the
46:34
devastation to the world economy has
46:37
been enormous over this. Agree, disagree
46:40
with the war, it doesn't matter. But the
46:42
the devastation to the economy, you
46:45
cannot
46:46
uh ignore, you know, it's just not
46:50
possible. But anyway, they uh launched
46:54
their new mechanism to oversee this the
46:57
and this is hours after President Trump
46:59
uh paused Project Freedom where Western
47:03
flag ships were supposedly going to give
47:05
military escorts um in the Strait.
47:10
The Strait which carries about a fifth
47:12
of the global oil seaborn oil anyway and
47:15
LNG has been blocked since US and Israel
47:18
launched strikes on Iran.
47:21
In late February, Iranian forces have
47:25
denied passage to US and Israel linked
47:27
vessels as well as ships from Western
47:30
countries supporting actions against
47:32
Thran.
47:34
While the US has imposed its own
47:36
blockade of on Iranian ports, leaving
47:39
tankers stranded for two months.
47:41
Washington and Thran remain at odds over
47:44
the straits future. Reports say the US
47:46
rejects Iran's latest proposal for
47:49
government's governance mechanism in the
47:51
peace talks right now. And this against
47:54
a backdrop of Trump uh going to China
47:57
here in a little bit. And in China,
48:00
they're going to talk about uh you know,
48:02
I wonder what's going to happen when
48:04
they get there.
48:07
uh when he gets there and what is going
48:10
to be you know the deal sheet the uh
48:13
terms that he brings to discuss with uh
48:17
Xi Jinping. You wonder what he's going
48:20
to what what they're going to say about
48:23
these uh alleged um
48:27
sanctions that they're going to impose
48:29
on Chinese uh refineries when China has
48:34
said no that ain't happening. That's uh
48:37
you know we're not you know
48:40
China has informed their own refineries
48:42
that they aren't going to honor any of
48:44
these sanctions and that's that.
48:47
So I wonder how that's going to play
48:50
out. I'm very interested to see how this
48:53
uh uh art of the deal um takes place
48:58
when they get over there. I don't know
49:00
what's going to happen, you know, and
49:01
and Trump is known to be a a
49:04
one-upsmanship sort of guy. And if you
49:07
take a position, he always just takes
49:09
the next position in line and and he
49:12
just oneups it. You know, it's always
49:14
escalation. Always escalation. These you
49:18
you always know what he's going to do.
49:20
He never ever backs off. He always
49:22
escalates. So, all you do is plan for
49:25
the fact that he never backs off. And so
49:28
everybody's now taking their own toys
49:31
and leaving. And they're not they just
49:34
refuse to deal with him because it's
49:36
unreasonable to deal with a person. And
49:39
I'm not saying this. The world is saying
49:40
this that that it's unreasonable to deal
49:43
with the guy who never who always
49:47
escalates. Always.
49:50
So the Iranian forces have denied
49:53
passage um you know to these ships.
49:56
According to this new report, under
49:58
Iran's new scheme,
50:01
vessels seeking transit will receive
50:04
emails from the newly established
50:06
Persian Gulf Strait Authority outlining
50:10
the rules for passage. Ships have to
50:13
adjust operations as requested in the
50:15
email to obtain a permit before passing.
50:19
The report didn't mention what the
50:21
requirements are for these permits. In
50:23
tyran has not officially confirmed the
50:25
details, but parliament speaker Muhammad
50:28
beggar Galab
50:30
I said that wrong. Galibbof said on X
50:32
that the new system for the Strait of
50:34
Hormuz is in the process of being
50:36
solidified. And reports say draft le leg
50:39
legislation in the Iranian parliament
50:41
would ban ships linked to Israel from
50:44
the strait completely and would place
50:47
strict limits on vessels tied to the US
50:50
and impose transit fees on ships from
50:53
non-hostile states.
50:56
Hm. While active fighting has been
50:59
paused under a fragile ceasefire,
51:01
tensions flared up again on Monday with
51:04
the US and Iranian forces exchanging
51:06
fire as US escorts began attempting to
51:09
guide vessels through the strait under
51:11
Project Freedom, announced on Sunday and
51:15
framed as a humanitarian effort rather
51:18
than an offensive operation, at least by
51:21
everybody else. But Trump said, "Well,
51:23
we're gonna kill people if they try to
51:26
interfere." So, it's definitely an
51:29
offensive operation. In a social media
51:31
post on Tuesday, Trump said the escort
51:33
would be halted at the request of
51:35
Pakistan and other countries to test the
51:38
prospects for a deal. He said that
51:40
tremendous military success and great
51:43
progress toward agreement. said the US
51:45
blockade an Iranian porch port which
51:48
Iran considers a violation of the
51:50
ceasefire an impediment to lasting peace
51:53
will remain in force. and Iranian
51:55
foreign minister say Abas Argat Aragshi
51:59
wrote later on next that Trump's project
52:01
freedom is really project deadlock and
52:05
he urged Washington a focus on Pakistani
52:07
mediated talks instead of seeking a
52:10
military solution and being dragged back
52:12
into the quagmire
52:16
h media reports say US forces escorted a
52:19
handful of western flagged vessels
52:22
including three from a US company and
52:25
one operated by Denmark's Marisque.
52:30
Uh de facto closure of the straight to
52:32
Hormuz has pushed oil pro prices to
52:35
multi-year highs and triggered warnings
52:37
of imminent shortage. Chevron CEO Mike
52:40
Worth said Monday that physical
52:43
shortages will emerge within weeks and
52:46
the impact will be as big as in the
52:49
1970s
52:51
when supply shocks caused a global fuel
52:55
crisis. Now that is an interesting
52:59
financial review that physical oil
53:03
shortage will emerge worldwide. It's
53:05
already there for airplane fuel and
53:08
diesel fuel. It's already there. Um
53:11
there are reports last week that uh
53:13
22,000 I think the number was it was
53:16
over 20 that they were saying the um the
53:21
uh 22,000
53:24
um
53:26
flights, airline flights were cancelled
53:29
in Europe and uh people can't go
53:32
anywhere. uh physical oil shortages are
53:35
are are uh going to get worse and
53:38
attacks on energy infrastructure all
53:41
over Russia, um Iran, Middle East, other
53:45
places and a dual shipping blockade in
53:48
uh Hormuz uh cut delivery and push
53:52
prices. Multi multiple tankers remain
53:54
stranded in Hormuz. Um and active
53:57
fighting may be paused. Um but tensions
54:00
are forever flaring back up just like
54:02
they did on Monday.
54:05
And uh uh uh Worth who was speaking at
54:08
the Milin Institute global conference in
54:12
LA on Monday, he said the economies are
54:16
going to begin slowing first in Asia
54:18
which is the most dependent on Gulf oil,
54:22
then in Europe as the supply continues
54:24
to tighten. We will start to see
54:27
physical shortages. Demand needs to move
54:31
to meet the supply. Economies are going
54:34
to have to slow, he said, noting that
54:38
commercial stock piles, shadow tanker
54:42
fleets, and strategic reserves are
54:44
already being drawn down to delay
54:47
shortage. He warned that the impact of
54:50
Hormuz will be as big as in the 70s when
54:54
supply shocks triggered oil crisis in 73
54:58
and 79 which caused widespread fuel
55:01
shortages across US, Europe, Japan. He
55:05
reiterated the warning in an interview
55:07
with CNBC
55:09
saying physical availability not just
55:11
price are soon going to be the main
55:14
concern as people look at the realities
55:16
of tight supply. It's not just a
55:19
question of price. It's actually can we
55:22
get the fuel over the course of the next
55:26
several weeks. We'll see those effects
55:28
begin to move throughout the system, he
55:31
said. And he noted that some European
55:34
airlines, like I was telling you, are
55:35
already restricting jet fuel and cutting
55:38
flights in several Asian countries have
55:40
introduced demand reduction measures. I
55:43
told you about that. Pakistan,
55:45
um, Sri Lanka, uh, Bangladesh, where
55:49
they cut you down to so many gallons
55:51
that you can buy at a time or liters
55:54
they do over there. Worse said the US,
55:56
which is a net crude exporter, would be
55:59
less affected initially, but it will
56:01
feel the impact through higher prices in
56:03
the long run. Even once Hormuz reopens,
56:07
he warned it'll take months to stabilize
56:09
months to stabilize supply routes. The
56:12
fallout is already visible, including in
56:15
the US. The budget carrier Spirit
56:18
Airlines said over the weekend it was
56:20
going out of business, saying it can't
56:24
compete with the fuel cost. The crisis
56:26
also driven shifts in energy policy. The
56:29
UAE said last week that it was leaving
56:31
OPEC and OPEC plus and it said it needed
56:34
greater flexibility. Worth's warning
56:37
echoes recent assessments of the
56:39
International Energy Agency and the
56:42
World Bank. IAEA Faith uh Fati Bir said
56:47
disruption tied to Hormuz pose the
56:49
biggest energy security threat in
56:52
history with some 13 million barrels a
56:56
day lost.
56:58
World Bank projects energy prices to
57:01
jump 24%
57:04
this year with overall commodity costs
57:07
rising 16% as a shock spreads beyond oil
57:10
and gas. So my truck takes 35 gallons of
57:14
gas to fill it up. And back when was the
57:20
last time the prices were um way up? Uh,
57:25
was it during was it I think it was
57:27
during um
57:30
COVID times, wasn't it? And it was uh
57:36
uh
57:38
four bucks a gallon. I paid 160
57:41
something dollars once um
57:45
or 145
57:47
something like that. Just just about 150
57:50
bucks to fill up my truck. And it was
57:54
crazy. And then uh uh you know about 2
58:00
and 1/2 months ago I was all excited.
58:02
Remember that? It was a little before
58:03
all this. It was back in January. I of
58:06
course you mention it and suddenly
58:07
you're punched in the face. You know,
58:09
don't mention it. And so I'm really to
58:11
blame for why the why we can't afford
58:14
gas right now because I um I spoke about
58:17
it. If I had just shut up, none of this
58:20
stuff would have happened. But uh
58:22
instead I said, "Man, this is great. I
58:24
only paid $249
58:26
a gallon. $2.49 a gallon time 35 a
58:31
gallon was uh you know what is that? 70
58:35
about 90 bucks. You know, you can fill
58:37
up my tank for for $80 90, right?"
58:41
And uh now the other day it went baby. I
58:46
I spentund
58:48
128 or something like that. The last
58:50
time I filled up my truck was like 128
58:54
bucks. Crazy. So yeah, you're talking
58:58
about the percentage and and the jump of
59:00
24% this year. I mean, geez, that's
59:03
double the price just Well, not really.
59:07
But I if you take $80 to 120, 66%, isn't
59:12
it that it that it went up? Um, what
59:15
what would that be? That'd be time and a
59:18
half at least. One, it' be it'd be uh
59:20
more than 24%. You know, you put that at
59:23
1.5 is is basically what that is. 1.5%
59:26
because it's up a it's up from 250 to
59:29
$4. you know, that's that's a a hell of
59:32
a jump. That's a hell of a jump. And uh
59:36
it's a lot more than 24%. You know, to
59:38
fill it just just to fill up your truck.
59:40
And uh you know, that sucks cuz if
59:43
because I I usually fill up twice a
59:45
month. Yeah. So twice a month you fill
59:47
that up. What what does that just
59:48
suddenly cost me a month just because I
59:51
open my mouth in uh January, right? So I
59:54
open my mouth in January and say, "This
59:56
is great. We're paying 250." And then
59:58
couldn't have been two weeks later we're
1:00:00
paying $4.
1:00:03
So you could blame me, I guess. But uh
1:00:07
fight or flight, what's the jet fuel
1:00:10
price crisis going to cost? I wanted to
1:00:13
go to Russia this this summer,
1:00:16
you know. Um I'm I'm I'm I'm thinking
1:00:19
and I wanted to go through Egypt to tick
1:00:21
off Egypt to go see some uh pyramids,
1:00:24
which I've never seen. go over there,
1:00:27
see some pyramids, head to uh you know,
1:00:29
I was thinking about uh victory day, you
1:00:31
know, going on the 9th. I, you know, my
1:00:33
visa is still uh in the works, but I
1:00:36
should have it before too long and I'll
1:00:37
be able to set something up for later
1:00:39
this summer and uh get back over there
1:00:41
cuz I want to go to St. Petersburg. I
1:00:43
want to go to the matage. I want to go
1:00:45
and see the uh the lakes up there. I
1:00:48
don't want to get blown up by a damn
1:00:49
drone while I'm there. But uh uh you
1:00:53
know I do wish to uh I do wish to go.
1:00:56
But the new article is called uh you
1:00:59
know what let's do a song before we get
1:01:00
to this article cuz this this article is
1:01:03
called fight or flight. How the global
1:01:06
jet fuel crisis could ground you. I take
1:01:08
this one very personally because they're
1:01:11
talking about cancellations and
1:01:13
largecale price increases. used to be I
1:01:16
could fly roundtrip into just about
1:01:18
anywhere in the world economy. I don't
1:01:22
fly the, you know, the the the business
1:01:24
or class or whatever cuz it's like
1:01:26
literally three times the price. And so,
1:01:29
um, I do the, you know, I don't have any
1:01:32
trouble getting on a plane and sleeping.
1:01:34
You know, it doesn't bother me. What do
1:01:35
I care? And, uh, sitting in coach
1:01:38
doesn't bother me at all. And uh I'll
1:01:40
get on a plane and go to sleep anyway
1:01:42
for like you know I used to be I the
1:01:45
minute I got on a plane I'd fall asleep
1:01:47
and uh nowadays it's a little tougher
1:01:49
but I still still would do it. But uh
1:01:52
we're going to play a song and then get
1:01:54
to how and see how grounded I'm going to
1:01:56
be and what the prices are. But I've
1:01:58
seen a definite increase in u in uh
1:02:02
offerings and prices and uh much more
1:02:05
difficult to get to Russia. You used to
1:02:07
be able to get on Turkish Airways and
1:02:09
get there fairly simply, but even that
1:02:12
now when I looked up to get to St.
1:02:14
Petersburg, Santo Peter Borg, I wanted
1:02:16
to get on there and um
1:02:19
couldn't uh it said there are no flights
1:02:23
in your suggested time frame, meaning
1:02:26
you can't route through a foreign
1:02:28
country and you have to buy them each
1:02:30
separately. So you got to get on Aerofla
1:02:33
or Turkish Airlines or something
1:02:35
generally from Istanbul or maybe Doha or
1:02:38
United Arab Emirates. But now the Middle
1:02:40
East is basically blocked off and there
1:02:42
the prices are costing so much more. So
1:02:45
the reality of international travel is
1:02:48
going to be a little bit more difficult
1:02:49
and I was hoping to go to India to go to
1:02:52
the BRICS conference in uh September
1:02:55
October of this year because that's
1:02:57
coming up too. And um I might have to
1:03:00
pick and choose which one and I don't
1:03:02
want to do that. I want both.
1:03:06
But we're going to play another song
1:03:07
just because uh I like to do that. But
1:03:10
where is my uh latest? I was going to go
1:03:14
back to
1:03:16
my history and pick one for you and go
1:03:21
to YouTube where I usually go and pick
1:03:26
one in my history line
1:03:30
and locate it for you. There were some
1:03:32
pretty good ones in here that I liked.
1:03:35
Um there was a uh did you know? Well,
1:03:38
no. Let's do some m. No, I'm not going
1:03:41
to doin. I'm not going to do yabudu
1:03:44
sigas boy. We're not going to do
1:03:46
Alapugachova. We're not going to do her
1:03:48
either. Maxims Nashley T and Gat Oh, you
1:03:52
know what we're going to play? We're
1:03:53
going to play Ya Iscala
1:03:56
is what we're going to play just because
1:03:59
we like it. And let me see where that
1:04:02
goes.
1:04:04
And here we begin. Let us begin at the
1:04:08
beginning. Zira is
1:04:13
zira and Iscala. Yeah. Iscala.
1:04:18
I was looking for you. Um there you have
1:04:21
it is the name of that song. That
1:04:23
actually came out in the '9s. I can't
1:04:25
remember where I heard that. I think it
1:04:26
was in the movie Sio is where I first
1:04:29
heard it. I think it was there. Um but I
1:04:32
don't remember. Um, I wanted to get into
1:04:35
So, Lavough and Rubio had a uh
1:04:38
conversation.
1:04:41
Now, this was this uh just happened a
1:04:44
couple of days ago and according to
1:04:47
multiple outlets.
1:04:49
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Vic Lav
1:04:54
held a constructive call with US
1:04:56
Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The top
1:05:00
diplomats compared notes on the current
1:05:02
state of international affairs and
1:05:04
Russia US relations and they discussed
1:05:08
the schedule of upcoming bilateral
1:05:10
contacts. The
1:05:14
conversation was constructive and
1:05:17
businesslike
1:05:19
but the US state department had not yet
1:05:21
commented. The Lavrav Rubio call the
1:05:24
first in more than six months came uh
1:05:27
less than a week after Russian President
1:05:29
Putin spoke with Donald Trump. The two
1:05:31
discussed the ceasefire in Iran,
1:05:33
potential escalation in the region as
1:05:36
well as the Ukraine the project Ukraine.
1:05:40
According to the creole, the call was
1:05:42
part of a broader renewed contact
1:05:45
initiated by Trump since his return to
1:05:47
office. at least he and his um cronies
1:05:53
are speaking
1:05:56
to the opposing side. Uh that is at
1:05:59
least some sort of uh
1:06:05
of uh
1:06:07
discussion, diplomacy a little bit, you
1:06:11
know, uh frozen relationships during the
1:06:14
Biden presidency were idiotic. at least
1:06:16
you talk, you know, but three rounds of
1:06:20
Washington mediated direction and
1:06:23
negotiations between Moscow and Kiev
1:06:27
have brought zero breakthrough.
1:06:30
And the same appears to be going on in
1:06:34
the Iran Iranian conflict
1:06:39
just ain't working. But at least they're
1:06:42
still talking. You can talk um
1:06:45
you can talk about it at least. And and
1:06:48
uh allegedly the old Trumpster is going
1:06:50
to go to uh China. China as JR called
1:06:56
it. China. Uh and on May 2nd, the
1:06:59
Ministry of Commerce of China issued an
1:07:02
injunction
1:07:04
blocking US restrictions against five
1:07:08
independent Chinese oil refineries that
1:07:12
have been sanctioned for importing
1:07:14
Iranian oil and utilizing now what what
1:07:18
people call the shadow fleet. Here's why
1:07:22
Beijing made this decision and why it
1:07:25
could be historically significant.
1:07:29
China has been inching toward this
1:07:32
decision over the last year. The
1:07:36
uh Shia Guang Luking refinery in
1:07:39
Shandong province was the first to be
1:07:42
added to the sanctions list on March the
1:07:44
20th of 2025.
1:07:47
And by October of that year, the US had
1:07:50
imposed restrictions on three other
1:07:53
Chinese refineries. Finally, on April
1:07:56
the 24th, Henley Prochemical Refinery
1:08:01
fell under sanctions as well. With a
1:08:04
capacity of 400,000 barrels a day, the
1:08:07
facility exceeds the combined capacity
1:08:10
of the four previous refineries, so the
1:08:14
largest one. This seems to have been the
1:08:16
tipping point and prompted the Chinese
1:08:18
government to shift from verbal threats
1:08:21
to decisive action. The legal groundwork
1:08:25
has been in place for some time. A local
1:08:29
law against foreign sanctions was passed
1:08:33
in 2021
1:08:36
but was symbolic due to the absence of
1:08:39
implementing regulation and the delay
1:08:42
made sense. The law was adopted during
1:08:45
President Trump's first term. After the
1:08:48
thaw in US China relations under
1:08:51
President Biden, it was put on hold and
1:08:55
ultimately the directive to activate
1:08:57
this law was only signed by uh Chinese
1:09:01
Premier Lee King in March of 2025.
1:09:07
Finally, on April 14 of 2026, China
1:09:10
implemented the regulations on
1:09:12
countering improper extr territorial
1:09:15
jurisdictions by foreign states. These
1:09:18
regulations contain 20 articles,
1:09:21
including provisions that allow the
1:09:23
Chinese governments to add individuals
1:09:26
and organizations involved in
1:09:28
discriminatory measures against China,
1:09:31
to its own sanctions list. Those
1:09:34
included in the list could be expelled
1:09:36
from China or denied entry. Their assets
1:09:40
could be frozen and they can be banned
1:09:42
from doing business with any individual
1:09:45
or organization in China.
1:09:49
Now this this is going to be
1:09:50
interesting, right? Evidently, China has
1:09:54
taken the first step regarding these
1:09:58
five refineries. As mentioned, this move
1:10:01
is tied to the US sanctions against a
1:10:04
major refinery, the last one in in
1:10:06
Dalian. The sanctions themselves are a
1:10:09
result of America's conflict with Iran
1:10:12
or the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
1:10:15
To recap, Iran will only allow ships
1:10:18
that coordinate their routes with
1:10:20
Iranian authorities, which means pay for
1:10:23
passage, to enter the straight, while
1:10:25
the US is attempting to prevent any
1:10:27
vessel from leaving the straight. As a
1:10:29
result, traffic to through the straight
1:10:32
has plummeted uh by 20 to 30 times
1:10:36
compared with pre-war levels. But uh
1:10:39
Ryan has seen the smallest decrease
1:10:42
relative to other countries. This is
1:10:44
because Iranian shadow fleet tankers do
1:10:47
not have to seek approval from their own
1:10:49
authorities and they are more willing to
1:10:52
navigate past US naval warships along
1:10:56
the Iranian coast and in Pakistani
1:10:58
territorial waters. In contrast, other
1:11:01
ships refrain from such maneuvers as
1:11:03
they cannot risk losing insurance
1:11:06
coverage.
1:11:07
As of April 22nd, 34 Iranian tankers
1:11:12
successfully navigated around the US
1:11:15
blockade, averaging about 3 to four
1:11:17
vessels a day. These figures are
1:11:20
comparable to prewar levels. And nearly
1:11:23
all the oil from these tankers is headed
1:11:26
to China.
1:11:29
So what we're seeing is a direct attempt
1:11:31
by Washington to influence Chinese
1:11:34
buyers of Iranian oil and pressure them
1:11:37
to back away. Chinese authorities, they
1:11:41
don't really talk much when they make a
1:11:43
decision. They don't explain it away,
1:11:45
you know, they don't get online and talk
1:11:48
about it a lot. They just do what
1:11:50
they're going to do. And you got to
1:11:51
honor that actually. It's actually a
1:11:53
smart way to operate. And uh here in
1:11:56
America, everything is done by you know
1:11:58
an expost or true social or something
1:12:00
like that. China that's not how they
1:12:03
operate. Chinese authorities have made
1:12:05
comments though regarding secondary
1:12:08
sanctions but most of these have either
1:12:10
been declarations saying we won't let
1:12:13
third countries dictate relationships or
1:12:16
they make them behind closed doors. This
1:12:19
approach aligns with traditional Chinese
1:12:22
policy. Avoid direct confrontation,
1:12:25
steer clear of dispute,
1:12:27
achieve objectives through more subtle
1:12:29
means. Moscow has felt the impact of
1:12:32
this strategy firsthand. Since 2022,
1:12:35
China has engaged in trade with Russia
1:12:38
discreetly. Everyone knows that China is
1:12:41
purchasing Russian oil, but new US
1:12:44
sanctions do do affect the flow of those
1:12:47
shipments. The same applies to Iran.
1:12:50
When there's an overupp of oil, China
1:12:52
had the luxury of being selective. The
1:12:55
market was determined by buyers.
1:12:57
Sanctioned oil was bought as a last
1:12:59
resort and at a large discount. Tankers
1:13:02
could be anchored for months waiting for
1:13:04
better conditions and so on. However,
1:13:07
faced with its own oil shortage, China
1:13:10
has been forced to enter into more
1:13:12
direct conflict with the United States.
1:13:15
The United States is unlikely to
1:13:18
realiate and China's decision will
1:13:21
likely lead to the establishment of
1:13:23
transparent alternative training and
1:13:26
payment infrastructures. Remember this,
1:13:28
this is key. The alternative trading and
1:13:32
payment infrastructures which will be
1:13:33
paid with not dollars but yuan. All the
1:13:37
major decisions have already long been
1:13:40
in place in this regard. for example,
1:13:43
the creation and implementation of SIPs,
1:13:46
which is China's equivalent to the Swift
1:13:48
system. But like sanctions, the
1:13:50
alternative payment infrastructure has
1:13:53
remained not as prevalent, of course, in
1:13:58
for years, but now they're pushing it
1:14:02
and this mechanism already exists. So
1:14:06
remember, we're getting rid of uh we're
1:14:08
getting rid of uh Russian I mean I'm
1:14:11
sorry of westernbacked
1:14:14
uh payment mechanisms. Okay.
1:14:18
So the these have been around for the
1:14:21
past four years. Russia has been calling
1:14:23
on its own partners to take action,
1:14:25
finding alternatives to the dollar,
1:14:27
depart from American control over
1:14:30
international trade, replacing
1:14:32
clandestine payment schemes with solid,
1:14:34
transparent, reliable systems. And for
1:14:37
the past four years, Russia's trading
1:14:39
partners have been saying, you know, you
1:14:43
do it. We're still going to use
1:14:45
primarily the westernbased Swift US
1:14:49
systems. Iran was in a uh similar
1:14:52
position, but Iran, not like Russia,
1:14:57
relied on China as its de facto majority
1:15:01
buyer cuz most of the oil that comes
1:15:04
from Iran is sold in China. So now it's
1:15:07
Trump though who is forcing China to
1:15:10
change the approach and they've been
1:15:13
trying to stay without, you know,
1:15:16
without a lot of risk. But what he's
1:15:18
done is he shot himself in the foot
1:15:21
according to most analysis because his
1:15:24
actions have now provoked a newer,
1:15:27
tougher, and more defensive Chinese
1:15:30
policy. And Beijing has all the
1:15:33
political, economic, and financial tools
1:15:36
at its disposal to make this happen,
1:15:38
including its own insurance mechanisms.
1:15:44
you know, when you go into a western
1:15:46
port, you got to have western western
1:15:48
insurance, but that's not necessarily
1:15:51
the case anymore. That's been the case
1:15:53
for years, but it's not necessarily the
1:15:55
case any longer.
1:15:58
And so, uh, all of these, and I talk
1:16:01
about it on on this channel pretty
1:16:03
frequently, that these competing systems
1:16:08
have been existing
1:16:10
in the shadows for quite a few years.
1:16:15
And uh, they started back in uh, 2016,
1:16:19
2017 is when they started and they
1:16:22
ramped up. And in 2023 and 24, they've
1:16:26
just been an everinccreasing. Are they
1:16:29
gonna knock out the dollar system
1:16:31
anytime really soon? I mean, this is
1:16:33
what Trump is trying to prevent in my
1:16:35
humble opinion that he's been trying to
1:16:38
u
1:16:41
make sure that the dollar hegemony
1:16:46
still exists after
1:16:49
the hormuz comes out. But Hormuz, the
1:16:52
Iranians are perfectly happy to take um
1:16:59
the yuan as payment. I mean, hell,
1:17:02
they've been under sanctions forever
1:17:03
anyway. And uh
1:17:08
they they have been looking for
1:17:09
alternative payment structures for a
1:17:11
good long time. And China has offered
1:17:14
them to Iran for several years, just a
1:17:17
little more on the quiet side. So,
1:17:20
there you have it. I think it's good to
1:17:22
keep an eye on that. Um, one more thing
1:17:26
on nuclear weapons that I wanted to talk
1:17:28
about, and I wonder if I have time to
1:17:30
get through this. I think I do. So,
1:17:34
we're going to talk about some Democrats
1:17:39
here in America. A group of 30 Democrats
1:17:42
in the House of Representatives have
1:17:45
demanded that the administration
1:17:47
disclose information about Israel's
1:17:50
nuclear arsenal
1:17:53
because the lack of transparency is
1:17:56
threatening the entire Middle East.
1:17:59
According to these lawmakers, Israel has
1:18:02
never confirmed nor denied that it
1:18:04
possesses nuclear weapons, nor has it
1:18:08
presented a public doctrine that
1:18:10
outlines the use of them or any red
1:18:13
lines. The US, which has been aware of
1:18:16
the Israeli nuclear program, at least
1:18:19
since the early 60s, has remained silent
1:18:22
on this issue.
1:18:27
Washington is fighting side by side with
1:18:30
a country whose potential nuclear
1:18:33
weapons program the United States
1:18:36
government officially refuses to
1:18:38
acknowledge.
1:18:41
a congressman led by Democratic
1:18:43
representative um you know a group of
1:18:45
congressmen led by Democratic
1:18:47
representative Wen Castro said in a
1:18:50
letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio
1:18:54
the risk of miscalculation
1:18:58
escalation and nuclear use in this
1:19:01
environment are not the theoretical said
1:19:05
the letter the group has demanded that
1:19:08
the US hold Israel to the same standards
1:19:10
of transparency as other countries,
1:19:12
adding that a coherent
1:19:14
non-prololiferation policy for the
1:19:16
Middle East, including Iran's nuclear
1:19:19
program and Saudi nuclear ambitions,
1:19:21
would otherwise be impossible. Well, and
1:19:24
that's one of the biggest beef the
1:19:26
Iranians have. It's like, you don't care
1:19:29
if Israel has them. You know, Israel's
1:19:32
allowed, but nobody else.
1:19:36
So, uh I don't know. Um, how big is
1:19:40
Israel's arsenal? Israel is believed to
1:19:43
possess 80 or 90 nuclear weapons,
1:19:46
including 30 bombs, 50 ballistic missile
1:19:49
warheads, including according to
1:19:52
estimates by the Stockholm International
1:19:55
Peace Research Institute. Photos from
1:19:58
inside an Israeli nuclear facility
1:20:02
leaked in 1986
1:20:04
suggest a country could have produced
1:20:06
enough material for 200 nuclear bombs at
1:20:10
that time. Uh Morai Venunu, the
1:20:14
technician who leaked the photos, was
1:20:16
kidnapped by MSAD and sentenced to two
1:20:20
decades in prison for releasing it. When
1:20:24
did Israel launch its nuclear program?
1:20:26
Israel pursued nuclear ambitions soon
1:20:29
after it was founded in 1948.
1:20:32
Ernest David Bergman, the first head of
1:20:35
Israel's atomic energy commission
1:20:37
established in 52, spoke about a nuclear
1:20:40
bomb as something that would ensure that
1:20:42
we shall never again be led as lambs to
1:20:45
the slaughter. The negative nuclear
1:20:48
research center near the city of Deona
1:20:51
built in the 50s was designed to produce
1:20:54
weaponsgrade plutonium according to a
1:20:58
1960 US intelligence report. According
1:21:01
to CRI uh Israel could have acquired its
1:21:05
first nuclear weapons in the late60s.
1:21:09
What did the US know? Washington is
1:21:11
aware
1:21:13
uh the NNRC was we reference related as
1:21:16
early as December 1960.
1:21:18
By 1973, Washington was convinced Israel
1:21:22
had nuclear weapons. Uh Leonard Weiss, a
1:21:25
Senate adviser briefed during the Carter
1:21:27
and Reagan administrations,
1:21:30
uh said, "I was told it would create
1:21:31
serious foreign policy issue for the US
1:21:34
if I said it was a nuclear test."
1:21:36
someone had led something off that the
1:21:39
US didn't want anyone to know about it.
1:21:41
He told the Guardian this in 2014.
1:21:45
Why the silence?
1:21:48
Declassified CIA files suggests the
1:21:51
intelligence agency informed President
1:21:53
Lyndon Johnson that Israel had nuclear
1:21:56
weapons in 1968.
1:22:00
The president ordered CIA director
1:22:03
Richard Helms to keep it secret, even
1:22:05
from Secretary of State Dean Rusk and
1:22:08
Defense Secretary Robert McNamera.
1:22:11
Washington allegedly feared the Arab
1:22:13
states would refuse to join the
1:22:14
non-prololiferation treaty if news of
1:22:18
Israel's undeclared weapons came out.
1:22:20
Well, of course they would. That's why I
1:22:22
mean this is this is the funny part, you
1:22:24
know, but it's okay if it's just Israel,
1:22:27
right? The policy of silence was
1:22:29
formalized at a 1969 meeting between US
1:22:32
President Nixon and Israeli Prime
1:22:34
Minister Goldmir. According to Aer
1:22:37
Cohen, a professor at the Middbury
1:22:39
Institute of International Studies and
1:22:41
author of Israel and the Bomb. Israel
1:22:45
alone could not have maintained this
1:22:47
policy over decades without the United
1:22:50
States participation,
1:22:52
he told the Washington Post on Tuesday.
1:22:57
rules for thee but not for me. A
1:23:00
constant theme
1:23:03
in uh you know western politics, right?
1:23:07
And particularly Israeli
1:23:09
non-prololiferation
1:23:11
only for Arabs, not for Israelis. Uhhuh.
1:23:15
Crazy. My name is Samuel Trap. This is
1:23:17
International Flavor. Tomorrow is Civic
1:23:19
Outlaws. Join us tomorrow morning, 7:00
1:23:21
a.m. to 8:30 for Civic Outlaws. It'll be
1:23:23
entertaining, uh, fun, and only slightly
1:23:26
illegal. Um,
1:23:28
happy day to you all in from Mid
1:23:31
Missouri and hope you have a wonderful
1:23:33
Mid Missouri
1:23:35
day.