Latest / International Flavor: Where the Truth Tastes Better / Medvedev’s Warning, Hormuz Rules, China’s Oil Defiance, and Israel’s Nuclear Double Standard

Transcript

Medvedev’s Warning, Hormuz Rules, China’s Oil Defiance, and Israel’s Nuclear Double Standard · International Flavor: Where the Truth Tastes Better

0:02
Hello, good morning, welcome.
0:04
I am Samuel Trapp.
0:06
This is International Flavor.
0:10
You are listening to Dama Radio here from
0:14
the Lake Ozark Real Estate of the Art
0:16
Studio.
0:17
This fine Thursday morning appears to be Thursday
0:23
morning.
0:24
The weeks are just cruising on by.
0:26
I'm still waiting.
0:30
Here it is May and I'm still waiting
0:31
to get warm.
0:32
When is that going to happen?
0:35
I dislike it, I've decided.
0:37
I dislike the fact that it is frigging
0:41
cold.
0:43
And well, I'm waiting, still waiting.
0:48
Let's see, yesterday I was part way through
0:52
my discussion of the appearance by Dmitry Medvedev
1:00
in front of the educational conference talking about
1:05
people last, late last week or over the
1:08
weekend.
1:09
I forget the exact day that it took
1:11
place.
1:12
And the different focus that people put on
1:19
things depending on where they are in the
1:22
world.
1:22
So I wanted to continue in that vein
1:29
if I could find out where the hell
1:31
I was.
1:32
But I'm having a tiny bit of trouble
1:36
and drama.
1:37
I brought today some entertainment for sidelines as
1:43
well.
1:49
There's a couple of songs I want to
1:51
play for you.
1:52
And I got to question all of question
1:54
10 yesterday, I think, or 9.
1:58
Remember when we were talking about the young
2:03
girl, the woman named Tatiana, who happened to
2:07
be from Moscow, asking Dmitry Medvedev the question
2:11
about the United States acting as a mediator
2:15
in difficult conflicts.
2:17
She wanted to know if he thought that
2:20
America and Trump were succeeding in being the
2:27
world mediators or trying to bring normalcy to
2:31
the world.
2:31
And he said, well, what do you think?
2:34
And he said, not very well.
2:36
She said, not very well.
2:38
And he said he fully agreed.
2:40
He said it's difficult for anyone to be
2:43
a mediator in the first place.
2:45
And then a country that steals presidents and
2:48
starts conflicts can hardly be considered an effective
2:52
mediator was his comment.
2:55
And so I don't know.
2:58
There's rhetoric all over the planet these days.
3:02
There's a, oh, you know what?
3:07
I wanted to see what all happened in
3:09
the British elections that went on.
3:13
I wanted to find out about that and
3:16
talk about, you know, I brought a couple
3:21
of these.
3:21
There was some devastation, more devastation in Lebanese
3:25
cities despite the ceasefire.
3:32
And there's a story about UK nurseries told
3:38
to report racist toddlers to the police.
3:43
Isn't that crazy?
3:45
They're racist toddlers, so they could get their
3:51
the Pope.
3:52
The Pope was taken for a prank caller.
3:56
What he called his own bank.
3:59
It's pretty funny.
4:00
And so the Germans are banning Soviet World
4:06
War Two symbols.
4:08
And, you know, we have some Zelensky information,
4:14
leaked transcripts exposing how top Ukrainian officials are
4:19
trading influence for billions of dollars and plotting
4:24
their own escapes to the United States.
4:31
I don't know.
4:33
Let's see.
4:35
Antigua and, you know, amended their oath to
4:40
remove references to the royal family.
4:43
They're breaking with the crown.
4:47
And uh-huh.
4:50
Isn't this crazy?
4:51
Why the EU cares about Mark Carney?
4:54
Mark Carney's doing some serious stuff for Canada.
4:57
He really is.
4:59
And I don't know.
5:03
I think before I get there, I'm going
5:05
to, um, I'm going to continue on with
5:11
what I was discussing yesterday.
5:14
There's like six or eight questions left that
5:18
I wanted to get to.
5:19
And I may get to all of them.
5:20
I may not.
5:23
And they were asking about, because there's a
5:26
lot of discussion in the West here about
5:29
whether or there are enough, uh, uh, soldiers
5:35
in Ukraine and in Russia and who's really
5:38
winning and who's losing.
5:40
And, uh, the Zelensky, the Z monster is
5:43
trying to say that the Russians, uh, aren't
5:46
filling their ranks.
5:47
Well, that's only being said to take, um,
5:51
to take, uh, the focus off the fact
5:55
that Ukraine can't, you know, all this boosification
5:58
and all the videos on TV or on
6:01
a telegram, I mean, that are showing these
6:05
horror story, uh, seizing of, um, you know,
6:12
citizens in Ukraine and beating the crap out
6:15
of them and then sending them to the
6:16
front to die.
6:17
So first you get the crap beat out
6:19
of you and then, uh, uh, and then
6:23
you die.
6:24
Um, there's all kinds of news, uh, around
6:28
the world.
6:29
And that's one of the things that they're
6:31
talking about, but going back to the conference
6:33
that they had with these young people, uh,
6:36
what are your current professional tasks, uh, with
6:40
regard to contract soldiers and weapons supplies?
6:44
Because that's always an issue.
6:46
Is there enough weapons for the front and
6:48
all that other stuff?
6:49
And he asked about what, you know, what
6:52
he's doing.
6:53
And by the order of the president, he
6:54
is involved with staffing the armed forces with
6:57
contract servicemen and providing military equipment and weapons.
7:02
And, uh, this moderator asked him how things
7:05
are going in this area.
7:07
And he said that by the head of,
7:09
uh, state, Vladimir Putin, Supreme Commander-in-Chief,
7:13
he's working on two issues, staffing the armed
7:15
forces, uh, with citizens who signed contracts and
7:19
a desire to go to the front and
7:20
supplying a specially needed weapons system.
7:23
He said some details are classified, but he
7:26
was able to give some figures.
7:28
And previous year, 450,000 people agreed to,
7:34
uh, contracts in the combined groups of forces.
7:37
And this year, as of, uh, today's date,
7:41
he said there were 127,000 citizens, men
7:45
and women, that had signed contracts for military
7:48
service, and another 10,000 signed contracts in
7:52
the volunteer formations.
7:53
He said this is essential, essentially, contract service
7:57
too, but not tied to the Ministry of
8:00
Defense.
8:01
Um, that'll be, like, police and stuff like
8:03
that, locally stuff.
8:05
And, uh, he emphasizes that those who sign
8:08
contracts are doing so based on their own,
8:11
uh, patriotic motives.
8:13
They're not forced.
8:14
He regularly visits recruitment locations and training grounds
8:18
and speaks with the servicemen.
8:20
He says some of what he hears is,
8:22
uh, pretty striking.
8:23
When he asks why they choose this path,
8:25
uh, the answer is often what he says
8:29
anyway is, who, if not me?
8:31
You know, don't, basically, don't all of us,
8:34
you know, have an obligation.
8:35
And he says this deserves the, you know,
8:38
a deep respect.
8:39
And he says regarding weapons, no military conflict
8:43
can proceed without modern arms.
8:45
He says that even Russia's enemies recognize that
8:47
Russian defense industry has changed dramatically through re
8:51
-equipment in recent years.
8:53
Um, I watched, uh, uh, something yesterday about,
8:57
uh, what this, um, so Russia proposed a
9:01
ceasefire for the 8th and the 9th of,
9:04
uh, May and said, we're gonna unilaterally have
9:08
a ceasefire.
9:09
And so the Ukrainians are threatening to bomb,
9:17
uh, to drone and bomb, um, uh, Moscow
9:24
during the Red Square parade and, uh, make
9:29
sure that that, you know, that they disrupt
9:32
the services somehow, the celebration.
9:35
Uh, the 9th of May is a very
9:37
big deal in Russia and it's going to
9:40
be on this Saturday.
9:42
And, uh, I, I for one will be
9:44
watching what, uh, what goes on there.
9:47
Uh, Russia proposed, uh, at least two weeks
9:51
ago that they were going, you know, said
9:54
that, you know, there's going to be a
9:55
ceasefire.
9:56
And they say that unilaterally they are going
9:58
to have a ceasefire.
9:59
Well, Ukraine has been bombing, uh, Moscow and
10:05
trying to reach there and bombing other places
10:07
inside using a Western supplied, um, what do
10:12
you call it?
10:13
Intelligence and stuff like that.
10:17
And, uh, the, and threats, direct threats from
10:22
Zelensky saying, you know, we're, you know, we're
10:25
coming in when we're going to bomb the
10:28
military parade in, uh, Moscow and trying to
10:32
threaten that, you know, nobody should show up
10:34
that day and blah, blah.
10:36
And Russia has made some pretty, I don't
10:43
know, devastating response to that and said, you
10:47
know, if you do, you people better leave
10:52
Kiev because we will be coming.
10:54
And yesterday I read an article that, um,
10:57
showed that they are, uh, actually they've blocked
11:02
the airspace over Kapustin Yar and which is
11:05
a large, um, uh, testing facility and, um,
11:14
a launch facility for Oreshnik type missiles and,
11:19
uh, and super missiles that, that the Russians
11:21
have.
11:22
And they have threatened a pretty serious, uh,
11:28
uh, pretty serious response should that take place.
11:34
And so I, I, I, I, I don't
11:40
know what's going to happen in, uh, you
11:42
know, but the U with the U S
11:45
couple of days ago.
11:46
So in the middle of all of this,
11:48
this, this weapon stuff that I've, you know,
11:50
talking about with, uh, mid video in the
11:53
middle of all of this over the last
11:55
couple of days, the U S has greenlighted
11:58
a new bomb deal for, uh, Ukraine.
12:03
And so Moscow has been warning the West
12:08
about arms deliveries.
12:10
And now Donald Trump has approved the sale
12:13
of precision guided bomb kits were 373 million,
12:19
uh, follow following congressional pressure over stalled arms
12:23
deliveries.
12:24
And so the move was announced by the
12:27
state department on Tuesday, which greenlights the possible
12:30
foreign military cell of 1,532 JDAM extender
12:37
range tail kits and related support equipment to
12:41
Kiev.
12:42
And this can be used to convert heavy
12:45
bombs into GPS guided munition munitions to hit
12:49
targets, um, you know, dozens of kilometers away
12:52
and headquartered in St. Boeing, you know, headquartered
12:56
in St. Louis is listed as the primary
12:59
contractor.
13:00
The deal doesn't guarantee that the weapons are
13:02
going to be delivered, but the figures represent
13:05
the maximum quantity and value of the purpose
13:08
of the, you know, purpose and purchase of
13:11
these in the details subject to further negotiation.
13:16
And, um, you know, remember, uh, remember the,
13:22
the lunatic that is, uh, Mitch O'Connell,
13:27
uh, blasted Ukraine, uh, in late April saying
13:32
that the U S isn't a global superpower.
13:34
If they don't support Ukraine, that's idiocy.
13:39
You know, that, that was foolish when I
13:41
shared it with you, but the proposed sale
13:44
is going to improve Ukraine's capability to meet
13:47
current and future threat by providing it with
13:49
the means to conduct self-defense missions.
13:53
Yeah.
13:53
Right.
13:54
And enhance regional security said the state department
13:57
said it won't alter the basic military, uh,
14:02
balance in the region, but Ukraine has used
14:04
J dammer, uh, systems since 2023, adapting them
14:09
to Soviet era aircraft and preparing for integration
14:12
with Western equipment like F 16 fighter jets.
14:15
But the system's reliance on GPS exposes vulnerability
14:19
because Russian forces, uh, have been able to
14:22
use electronic warfare to jam them and degrade
14:26
the overall effect is effectiveness of these precision
14:29
guided munitions.
14:31
So the sale approval came after Mitch McConnell,
14:35
who's now chair of the Senate defense appropriation
14:38
subcommittee, accused the Pentagon of freezing 400 million
14:42
in congressionally approved Ukraine assistance.
14:44
And following the criticism secretary of war and
14:48
put me in coach Pete egg set confirmed
14:51
that the 400 million had been released.
14:55
And since his inauguration, Trump has been opposed
14:59
to unconditional military support for Ukraine, but he
15:03
doesn't object to selling them arms.
15:05
But rather than direct us funding, Washington is
15:08
routing the arms through, uh, a group called
15:12
Pearl prioritizing Ukraine requirement lists and NATO mechanism
15:16
where European nations in Canada finance purchases of
15:21
us weapons for Ukraine.
15:23
So, um, that's still on going and, uh,
15:30
so I don't know.
15:31
That's it's, it's never going to end.
15:33
We just keep the, the war going.
15:36
There's, um, uh, let's see.
15:44
Let's see.
15:45
There's art show.
15:47
How, how does this go?
15:48
This, this was a really weird yellow and
15:51
blue smoke and out of it appeared a
15:55
pair of breasts that written across it say
16:00
Russia kills written.
16:02
And so these women are out walking around
16:05
naked, naked across, uh, uh, uh, where are
16:12
they at, uh, art Venice, you know, art
16:16
of Venice.
16:17
And so this is art.
16:18
If you paint yourself in blue and yellow,
16:21
but you're really naked, but you have body
16:25
paint on and you walk out with your,
16:27
your blue and yellow and write Russia kills
16:30
and show your support for, for Ukraine.
16:33
Um, enjoy the show, ignore the war art
16:39
for showing, you know, and so basically they're
16:42
just showing, showing breasts all over, um, uh,
16:46
the, the Venice Biennale, a handful of, uh,
16:50
balaclava wearing naked performer and performance artists from
16:54
pussy riot and famine barricaded the Russian pavilion
16:58
for 30 minutes to protest against it, uh,
17:03
uh, uh, against the opening of the Russian
17:06
pavilion, uh, you know, in support of Ukraine,
17:11
Nadia Tolokonnikova, Pussy Riot's greatest hit machine, grumbled
17:16
that she had to sneak in under an
17:18
assumed name because the organizers wouldn't book her
17:22
a table.
17:23
So she went in under a key, a
17:26
different name mission accomplished the world's most pretentious
17:29
art crowd got another virtue signal photo op
17:33
with a cheeky dose of a solitary viewing
17:37
fuel for the right hand included.
17:40
It would be the best described as museum
17:44
grade thirst, a brief deliberate detour into the
17:48
bedroom Pulitzer territory watching organizations that claim to
17:53
fight the patriarchy deploy the patriarch's oldest currency
17:57
is ironic.
17:59
Their weaponry doesn't consist of arguments, intellectualism, or
18:04
difficult work of political thought.
18:06
They offer up naked bodies for display, courting
18:10
the male gaze.
18:11
They claim to loathe whether there is a
18:14
slogan written across the naked breasts or not.
18:18
The ask is the same as it always
18:20
has been.
18:21
Look at me and look at my flesh.
18:24
The patriarchy being neither stupid nor ungrateful obliges.
18:29
Here's what makes this particularly funny.
18:33
Femin was founded in 2008 after its founder
18:36
became aware of Ukrainian women being duped into
18:40
going abroad and being sexually exploited.
18:43
That is still ongoing.
18:45
Its original slogan was Ukraine is not a
18:49
brothel.
18:50
It protested sex tourism, trafficking, and prostitution and
18:55
industries that were consuming Ukrainian women's bodies for
18:59
foreign money.
19:00
That was indeed the mission.
19:02
Fast forward to Venice 2026 and now we're
19:06
watching the same movement get naked for cameras
19:09
for foreign journalists at a European art show,
19:13
making sure the lighting is good and giving
19:16
the gentlemen of the international press something to
19:20
look at.
19:23
Tolokonnikova took this to its natural conclusion.
19:26
In 2021 she opened her own OnlyFans account,
19:30
selling subscriptions to images of herself for $10
19:34
a month.
19:35
It is by any functional definition what Femin
19:39
was founded to fight, a woman selling access
19:42
to her body to men for money on
19:46
a platform owned by Leonid Radvinsky, born in
19:50
Odessa, who acquired OnlyFans in 2018 and steered
19:55
it deliberately toward pornography, extracting hundreds of millions
19:59
in annual dividends from the arrangement before dying
20:02
in March.
20:05
Though to call this a fall from grace
20:09
would be to misread a CV.
20:12
Before Pussy Riot there was an art collective
20:15
called Viona.
20:17
A pregnant Tolokonnikova among couples having sex in
20:22
a state biology museum days before the election.
20:26
The action was entitled F for the Air
20:31
Puppy Bear, then a supermarket chicken inserted into
20:35
a vagina in protest at the police state.
20:39
Then a giant phallus painted on a drawbridge
20:42
in St. Petersburg directly opposite of the FSB
20:46
headquarters.
20:47
The body, provocative provocation through the body, the
20:50
body is the only argument ever really being
20:54
made.
20:56
The Ukrainian feminist scholar Oksana Kis noted in
20:59
2012 when this was all still new.
21:03
Femin has nothing to do with feminism whatsoever,
21:07
she said.
21:07
When public nudity becomes the only way to
21:10
deliver a message it is more than strange
21:13
and the message itself seems to get lost
21:16
while the media focus on nakedness.
21:19
She would probably need stronger language now.
21:23
No one is subverting the patriarchy by giving
21:26
it what it wants and calling the transaction
21:28
resistance.
21:30
Get on your knees sisters, the pink smoke
21:33
is a nice touch though.
21:36
While Femin was founded in Kiev it's now
21:39
headquartered in Paris.
21:40
Pussy Riot's most prominent members have lived in
21:43
the west for years.
21:45
The people staging Ukraine's grief for the camera
21:48
left Ukraine and Russia long ago and have
21:52
been performing for western audiences ever since.
21:56
This week's Benal delivery was a service rendered
21:59
to the European cultural establishment which requires regular
22:04
injections of moral legibility suffering to justify its
22:09
own self-image.
22:13
Let's see.
22:16
The fact that Benali lost 2 million euro
22:19
in EU funding after refusing to reverse the
22:22
participation of Russia which has owned its pavilion
22:26
in Venice since 1914.
22:29
An on-brand move for the EU, Brussels
22:32
money always comes with Brussels politics and Brussels
22:36
politics require that culture be weaponized on schedule
22:40
without nuance or complication.
22:43
What no one is asking is whether any
22:46
of this has anything to do with Ukraine
22:48
and whether this really is the representation of
22:51
Ukrainians and especially Ukrainian women.
22:55
Before we get to politics there is a
22:58
simple matter of sociology.
23:01
A Razumkov Center survey found that 83 percent
23:04
of Ukrainians believe a woman's most important task
23:08
is caring for home and family while 78
23:11
percent think women are more likely than men
23:14
to be guided by emotion and decision making.
23:17
As recently as 2026 the belief that a
23:20
man should fully provide for his family remained
23:23
one gender pillar still supported by a majority
23:27
across all Ukrainian age groups.
23:31
69 percent.
23:33
World value survey data from 2022 found that
23:36
only 10 percent of Ukrainian women and couples
23:40
reported being the bread winner, a strong sign
23:43
of conformity to traditional gender roles.
23:49
The Berehinia folkloric hearth mother, protector of the
23:55
phone, I can't speak, protector of the home,
23:59
has gained considerable symbolic traction in post-Soviet
24:04
Ukrainian identity and the Orthodox Church actively reinforces
24:08
traditional gender roles alongside of it.
24:12
This is the portrait of a country whose
24:14
grief is being performed in Venice.
24:18
The actual polling data grows more embarrassing the
24:21
further you go.
24:23
As of 2023, 39 percent of Ukrainians oppose
24:29
civil partnerships with only 28 percent in favor.
24:34
42 percent oppose same-sex marriage legalization.
24:39
The civil partnership has stalled in parliament for
24:42
three years, blocked not by Russians but by
24:46
Ukrainian legislators who answer to Ukrainian voters.
24:50
The constitution unchanged since 96 defines marriage as
24:56
between a man and a woman.
24:58
Ukraine put an EU accession roadmap on paper
25:02
in May 2025 and included LGBTQ legislative targets
25:08
because that's what you have to do when
25:11
Brussels is writing the checks.
25:14
But can we really say that the Ukrainian
25:16
people freely subscribe to the Western vision of
25:19
a liberal future?
25:21
Have they been tricked into an ideological box
25:24
or any jail break points are considered treason?
25:29
We already have the example of Hungary and
25:32
Poland, countries constantly being punished by Brussels for
25:37
listening to their own citizens' conservative preferences.
25:43
Ukraine as a state is already fractured, corrupt,
25:47
linguistically schizophrenic after Maidan.
25:50
The people in power in Kiev have doubled
25:53
down, deciding at some point in the 2010s
25:56
that the path forward is to become a
25:58
copy of somewhere it was never going to
26:01
be.
26:01
It scrubbed Russian from schools and streets, toppled
26:05
statues, memory-holed anything that smelled of the
26:08
old neighborhood, embraced the shiny simulacrum of unattainable
26:14
Western cool, while the villages and the churches
26:18
and the actual 70% Orthodox majority kept
26:22
their traditional script, the identity spiraled into a
26:26
very war the virtual signalers now use as
26:31
the white horse.
26:32
Abandon your roots, import the fruitiest aesthetics money
26:37
can buy, start poking the bear, and act
26:40
shocked when people resist.
26:43
The result is a country at war not
26:46
only with Russia but with significant portions of
26:50
its past, its population, and its own internal
26:54
identity.
26:56
Brussels loves this version of Ukraine because it
26:59
demands nothing in return.
27:02
The exported, topless, sloganing, only fans adjacent, eternally
27:07
photogenic Ukraine is suffering, and it requires only
27:12
that you feel good about your flag emoji
27:14
and you hit subscribe.
27:16
Meanwhile, the Benali president, Petrogello Boutafuoco, held his
27:24
ground with the only argument that should have
27:26
mattered, that art is neutral space, but he
27:29
forgot that nothing is neutral when the Western
27:32
establishment controls the invoice.
27:36
The pink smoke cleared.
27:37
The journalists filed their copy and photos.
27:40
The right hands have been satisfied.
27:43
Tolokonnikova did not hear back from the Benali.
27:48
Somewhere in Ukraine, the war continues.
27:51
The bodies there do not have slogans written
27:54
on them.
27:55
They are just bodies.
27:57
The protesting women have lived in Paris for
27:59
years, and the country they claim to represent
28:02
is fighting a war that is at least
28:04
partly produced by the decision to treat its
28:07
own cultural complexity as a problem to be
28:11
eliminated rather than a reality to be navigated.
28:16
What we saw at this festival was European
28:20
moral high ground on display, funded by European
28:24
money, performed by people who left Ukraine for
28:28
an audience ready to flee on to the
28:30
next big thing.
28:33
Now, that was written by Valeria Kovalenko on
28:39
May the 6th, but it's actually pretty relevant.
28:45
Anyway, all of that about patriotism and the
28:50
professional task of war.
28:53
Back to Medvedev, a history student from Novosibirsk
28:59
State University asked him to recommend a book
29:02
from fiction, history, or political science that would
29:06
be interesting and important for the young generation.
29:11
And Medvedev said he would say something that
29:14
he does not want to impose his own
29:16
literary preferences upon anyone, and everyone should choose
29:21
books according to their own soul.
29:23
He says that when someone speaks in a
29:25
teacherly mentoring tone and says, read this, he
29:29
remembers from his own youth that this immediately
29:32
kills the desire to read it.
29:36
He said he reads a lot or read
29:38
a lot in school and university because the
29:41
internet did not exist.
29:43
Instead of prescribing a certain book, he mentions
29:46
what he has read recently.
29:48
He liked Chekhov, and recently through Chekhov's letters
29:51
and correspondence.
29:52
He says they are no less interesting than
29:55
Chekhov's stories and more complex work.
29:59
He said he read a book on artificial
30:02
intelligence called Artificial Intelligence, Inexplicable, Unpredictable, and
30:08
says it's modern, rather difficult, but interesting.
30:11
It made him think about the same AI
30:14
issues he discussed earlier in the conference.
30:17
For the soul, he says he recently looked
30:19
at poems dedicated to Russian fighters of the
30:23
special military operation, including collection called Russian Summer
30:28
and Russian Winter that contain many talented poems.
30:33
But his final advice is, choose for yourself.
30:38
Okay, this was a very appropriate question, and
30:42
what he responded was interesting to me at
30:47
least.
30:47
Who is the bigger opponent for Russia right
30:50
now, United States or Europe?
30:52
This was a student named Avdeev and asked
30:56
Medvedev's personal opinion.
30:58
Medvedev says they are all problematic.
31:02
He says he began the discussion with this
31:04
topic and not long ago, Russia thought it
31:07
shared with Europe some common understanding of what
31:10
the global problems are and a culture tied
31:13
to their own history, but that had definitely
31:15
changed.
31:19
Then he said that European Union is led
31:22
by idiots.
31:24
His words, idiots, destructive, narrow-minded people who
31:29
are obsessed with war against Russia.
31:32
He says each of them is pursuing their
31:34
own goal, but they are all idiots, and
31:37
they are stubborn idiots.
31:39
The result is a dangerous road for everyone,
31:42
and he says the current level of Russia
31:45
-Europe relations is absolutely monstrous.
31:49
He regrets what has been lost, but says
31:53
that it will not return.
31:54
He repeats that the conflict with Europe is
31:57
existential, and he goes one step further.
32:00
The conflict with Europe likely will not disappear
32:04
within the lifetime of a generation.
32:07
A deep furrow, a deep dividing line has
32:11
opened between Russia and Europe, and a smart
32:14
politician may come to power and try to
32:17
build a new architecture and relationships, but mutual
32:20
mistrust will be around for a very long
32:23
time.
32:24
In human terms, he says, perhaps pessimistically, the
32:28
conflict with Europe is forever.
32:31
At least one human lifetime, it will smolder
32:34
and continue to flare up.
32:36
The United States, he says, is Russia's main
32:39
geopolitical rival.
32:41
Relations have always been complicated, even in temporarily
32:47
improved periods.
32:49
Strategic nuclear warheads define the of their relationship.
32:54
American strategic nuclear forces are aimed at Russia,
32:58
and Russian warheads are aimed at the United
33:01
States.
33:05
Even so, Medvedev says one more time that
33:08
Americans are more pragmatic than contemporary European politicians.
33:12
The approach is more practical, and that gives
33:15
Russia some confidence that relations with the U
33:18
.S. can still be developed.
33:20
He says geopolitics is not a deal.
33:23
Remember that question from yesterday.
33:25
But economic relations can still exist.
33:28
Americans are all about making money.
33:30
They always want to make money and make
33:32
money on everything.
33:34
That's kind of embarrassing, isn't it?
33:36
And around that, relations can still be built.
33:39
He says that Russian relations with the current
33:41
U.S. administration and with Trump do have
33:44
a pragmatic character, and he does view that
33:47
as positive.
33:49
A seventh grader from Moscow asked whether a
33:54
nuclear strike is possible in a country, and
33:57
where is it most likely to happen?
34:01
And Medvedev says he hopes nuclear war never
34:04
happens.
34:05
He knows he is often criticized for rhetoric
34:07
and talk of nuclear apocalypse, but he says
34:10
nuclear apocalypse is actually genuinely possible.
34:15
Anyone who doesn't recognize this is either a
34:18
dreamer or a fool.
34:20
And he reminded the audience that the only
34:22
country ever to use a nuclear weapon is
34:25
the United States.
34:26
No matter how much the U.S. talks
34:28
about threats from Iran, the possibility of Iran
34:32
building a bomb, the bomb was actually used
34:35
only by the United States.
34:37
He says that in principle, there wasn't really
34:40
a special need to use it then, because
34:43
Japan was already defeated, and Japan had already
34:47
played its role in the war.
34:49
He says it's pointless to speculate about who
34:52
will use a nuclear weapon first, but the
34:54
knot of contradictions is now very tight in
34:58
the Middle East.
34:59
The United States claims Iran seeks nuclear weapons.
35:03
Russia does not have such data, and Iran
35:06
denies it.
35:07
But even if Iran did seek nuclear weapons,
35:10
Medvedev asks why one country in the Middle
35:13
East, Israel, which has not joined the nuclear
35:16
non-proliferation treaty, is allowed to have nuclear
35:20
weapons, and neighboring states are not.
35:23
No matter who is in power, that situation
35:27
is always just unjust and creates a serious
35:32
potential for conflict.
35:34
Now, I agree with that perspective entirely.
35:38
He says God forbid we witness such events,
35:41
but that they cannot be excluded, and Russia
35:44
has to be prepared.
35:46
That is why Russia maintains its own strategic
35:49
nuclear arsenal and triad in proper working condition.
35:57
Crazy.
35:59
A second year student asked him, who's studying
36:03
law and politics, asked Medvedev, who was a
36:07
civil law teacher, what field he would choose
36:10
today if he was graduating today, and what
36:13
are the greatest opportunities?
36:14
His answer, he narrowed it to law because
36:20
it's impossible to embrace everything.
36:21
He said that Russia is interested in economic
36:23
development, and he would still choose civil law
36:26
himself.
36:28
Why?
36:28
Because whoever understands civil law understands economy and
36:32
other societies, and whoever understands economy can do
36:36
anything.
36:37
That's the strength of civil law.
36:40
What awaits our generation in the future?
36:43
A student from Transbaikal State University studying to
36:48
become a teacher of Russian language and literature
36:51
says, what awaits her generation in the future?
36:55
And Medvedev calls it an interesting question, and
36:57
he hopes what awaits them all is happiness
37:00
with a good knowledge of the Russian language.
37:03
He says he has nothing against emojis or
37:06
the informal style of correspondence on social media
37:09
and virtual environments where punctuation is ignored and
37:13
spelling syntax are unusual, but Russian must still
37:16
be known.
37:17
The Russian language is beautiful, and people need
37:20
to know it well.
37:21
And then that's the end of the event.
37:23
It closes with applause, and that's it.
37:26
And the three main points of his entire
37:31
thing, geopolitics is not a deal.
37:37
Conflict with the West is an existential threat,
37:41
not a transaction, and he rejects the idea
37:43
that global conflict can be solved by deals,
37:48
and he says that deal-making vulgarizes international
37:51
relationships.
37:52
And third, he distinguished between Europe and America
37:57
that shows that ideologically, he thinks that you
38:04
know, the hysterics of Europe don't really apply
38:10
to America, says that Trump is dangerous but
38:13
more pragmatic because Americans want to make money.
38:18
And so Medvedev is basically saying with all
38:21
this what he says Trump refuses to understand.
38:26
Geopolitics is not a real estate closing.
38:30
You cannot solve Iran, Ukraine, NATO, Gaza, or
38:34
Hormuz by walking in with a threat, a
38:38
handshake, and a term sheet.
38:41
Nations are not buildings.
38:43
Civilizations are not condos.
38:46
And when one side sees the conflict as
38:49
existential, the word deal is childish.
38:55
And I happen to agree with that perspective.
38:59
I brought my book today of Wisdom and
39:04
Wit of Abraham Lincoln, but I didn't bring
39:07
my glasses, so I can't share anything with
39:10
you.
39:11
We're going to take a bit of a
39:12
break, and I shall continue here in a
39:16
bit.
39:17
And we're going to play something.
39:19
I heard this on my tunes the other
39:22
day, and so I put it on a
39:25
list of things that I was just going
39:27
to play here.
39:27
And so I'm going to play this for
39:30
you.
39:31
And I've always liked this song.
39:33
I don't know why.
39:34
It's pretty stupid, but I've always liked it.
39:36
And we're going to listen.
39:42
I like that.
39:43
I don't know why.
39:43
It just interesting stuff.
39:47
That is Nathan Evans and Wellerman C.
39:51
Shanty is what it is.
39:54
Pretty good stuff.
39:55
Where are we going today?
39:57
The new rules of Iran.
40:00
They rolled out new Hormuz rules as Project
40:05
Freedom has been paused.
40:08
Let us discuss, shall we?
40:13
Iran, and this is published May the 6th
40:17
as of yesterday.
40:19
No, it was yesterday morning after my show
40:22
a little bit.
40:23
It came out.
40:24
Iran officially launched a new mechanism to oversee
40:29
maritime traffic.
40:30
Now, one of the videos I watched actually
40:33
showed a new app.
40:34
They've created an app of how to get
40:36
through and pay your toll to get through
40:40
the Straits of Hormuz.
40:42
And I watched an interesting show.
40:46
Who was that?
40:49
She's pretty good, and I like watching her.
40:52
I just can't remember her name off the
40:53
top of my head.
40:54
And she had an Iranian professor on her
40:56
show last night.
40:56
She's a girl from Texas, and I wonder
40:59
if she's in my history somewhere.
41:01
I'll see if I can find it, because
41:02
I watched that and I found it pretty
41:05
interesting.
41:06
He kept talking about how the Iranian state
41:12
has made Oman and Pakistan far more, I
41:19
guess the right word would be relevant these
41:22
days.
41:22
Oman now has a structure.
41:28
And he'd said something that I really didn't
41:30
know.
41:30
Now, I remember hearing things about it back
41:32
in college and in global political science issues
41:39
and areas that Oman really used to stretch
41:43
far, much, much further into the desert.
41:45
And the British basically took over a great
41:49
portion of it and turned it into the
41:51
UAE, the United Arab Emirates.
41:54
And so now, apparently, there's all kinds of
41:57
various princes of varying princeling houses in the
42:03
UAE and everywhere else in that area that
42:07
are fracturing quite a bit more, according to
42:10
this guy.
42:11
And I don't know if it's true or
42:13
not.
42:13
I really don't.
42:14
But it was an interesting take on the
42:17
bigger picture.
42:19
And what he was saying was that the
42:23
relevance and the risk of what the UAE
42:27
is doing in basically siding with Israel against
42:33
the greater Arabic states is extremely risky for
42:40
them.
42:41
And that Oman could end up with, because
42:44
Oman apparently was always superior to these lower
42:49
Emirates, you know, these lower states.
42:53
And they are going to expand and that
42:55
Oman is going to take back over some
42:58
of these Emirate parts.
43:00
Because truthfully, they're subordinate to all these.
43:02
And I don't know the truth of that
43:03
stuff.
43:04
I don't know.
43:04
I'd have to look into it.
43:06
But that's what this guy was saying.
43:08
And on this interesting program, and he was
43:10
saying that this is going to create the
43:13
start of the show was talking about and
43:15
showing the Iranian satellites.
43:20
And yes, Iran has their own satellites.
43:23
And they have a pretty serious number of
43:27
satellites.
43:27
They have their own intelligence part, which nobody
43:31
really talks about all that much, that they
43:33
can provide their own intelligence.
43:36
And they were showing some of the intelligence
43:39
and the photo parts that came from this,
43:42
these Iranian satellite imagery that showed American bases
43:49
in the region.
43:52
And this was put on by New York
43:53
Times or something like that, that put out
43:56
articles that say that the devastation in these
43:59
American bases in the Middle East is astronomically
44:04
different than what is being reported here.
44:08
And that the U.S. has really lost
44:11
a lot of infrastructure and military bases.
44:16
Now, I reported a while ago that there
44:19
were quite a few stories where the military
44:22
housing had all been blown up as well,
44:24
barracks gone, stuff like that.
44:26
And they were housing these people in local
44:29
hotels.
44:30
And so people were shooting at some of
44:32
the hotels as well.
44:35
So at any rate, I don't know that
44:38
I trust any of the story from any
44:42
source, basically.
44:44
Who knows where the propaganda is going?
44:48
I do realize that the truth is not
44:49
being told.
44:50
There are a lot of people that are
44:51
saying that Israel is devastated right now and
44:55
that their Iron Dome wasn't so iron and
44:58
doesn't show up, that the U.S. lost
45:00
billions of dollars with especially the radar ports
45:06
that they come out.
45:06
And I've seen some pretty serious footage of
45:10
that, these billion-dollar systems that are taken
45:13
out in the first few days.
45:15
So at any rate, when they talk about
45:18
Hormuz, nobody knows what's going on over there.
45:21
Over here, we hear one set of propaganda.
45:23
Over there, you hear another.
45:25
Somewhere in between the two is the truth.
45:27
But here's what's being reported about the new
45:29
rules as Project Freedom was paused.
45:33
And Marco Rubio had some interesting things to
45:36
say about that in one of his first
45:38
days.
45:39
What is he covering for Levitt, I guess,
45:41
as the briefer while she's out on leave
45:45
or something?
45:46
Pregnancy, is it?
45:47
I don't know.
45:48
Maternity?
45:49
Who knows?
45:50
But Iran officially launched its own new mechanism
45:53
to oversee the maritime traffic through the Straits
45:57
of Hormuz amid a lingering standoff with the
46:00
U.S. over the waterway.
46:01
Now, I heard something that Rubio said yesterday,
46:04
and I wish I could remember where I
46:07
actually saw it because yesterday in his thing,
46:10
he basically said that the goal now is
46:16
to open the Straits of Hormuz, you know,
46:18
to reopen the Straits of Hormuz.
46:20
Well, it wouldn't have been closed but for
46:23
the U.S. attack with Israel on Iran.
46:27
The Straits of Hormuz wouldn't be closed.
46:29
They were open before you did that.
46:32
And the devastation to the world economy has
46:36
been enormous over this.
46:39
Agree, disagree with the war.
46:41
It doesn't matter.
46:42
But the devastation to the economy you cannot
46:45
ignore.
46:48
You know, it's just not possible.
46:50
But anyway, they launched their new mechanism to
46:55
oversee this.
46:56
And this is hours after President Trump paused
47:00
Project Freedom, where Western flag ships were supposedly
47:04
going to give military escorts in the Strait.
47:09
The Strait, which carries about a fifth of
47:12
the global oil, seaborne oil anyway, and LNG,
47:15
has been blocked since the U.S. and
47:17
Israel launched strikes on Iran in late February.
47:23
Iranian forces have denied passage to U.S.
47:26
and Israel-linked vessels, as well as ships
47:29
from Western countries supporting actions against Tehran.
47:34
While the U.S. has imposed its own
47:36
blockade on Iranian ports, leaving tankers stranded for
47:40
two months, Washington and Tehran remain at odds
47:43
over the Strait's future.
47:45
Reports say the U.S. rejects Iran's latest
47:47
proposal for governance mechanism in the peace talks.
47:53
Now, and this is against the backdrop of
47:55
Trump going to China here in a little
47:58
bit.
47:58
And in China, they're going to talk about,
48:01
you know, I wonder what's going to happen
48:03
when they get there, when he gets there,
48:09
and what is going to be, you know,
48:12
the deal sheet, the terms that he brings
48:15
to discuss with Xi Jinping.
48:18
You wonder what he's going to, what they're
48:21
going to say about these alleged sanctions that
48:28
they're going to impose on Chinese refineries when
48:33
China has said, no, that ain't happening.
48:36
That's, you know, we're not, you know, China
48:40
has informed their own refineries that they aren't
48:43
going to honor any of these sanctions, and
48:45
that's that.
48:47
And so, I wonder how that's going to
48:49
play out.
48:50
I'm very interested to see how this art
48:55
of the deal takes place when they get
48:59
over there.
48:59
I don't know what's going to happen, you
49:01
know, and Trump is known to be a
49:03
one-upsmanship sort of guy, and if you
49:07
take a position, he always just takes the
49:09
next position in line, and he just one
49:13
-ups it.
49:13
You know, it's always escalation, always escalation.
49:17
These, you always know what he's going to
49:19
do.
49:19
He never, ever backs off.
49:22
He always escalates.
49:23
So, all you do is plan for the
49:25
fact that he never backs off.
49:27
And so, everybody's now taking their own toys
49:31
and leaving, and they're not, they just refuse
49:34
to deal with him because it's unreasonable to
49:37
deal with a person, and I'm not saying
49:39
this, the world is saying this, that it's
49:42
unreasonable to deal with the guy who never,
49:45
who always escalates, always.
49:49
So, the Iranian forces have denied passage, you
49:55
know, to these ships according to this new
49:57
report under Iran's new scheme.
50:01
Vessels seeking transit will receive emails from the
50:05
newly established Persian Gulf Strait Authority outlining the
50:10
rules for passage.
50:12
Ships have to adjust operations as requested in
50:15
the email to obtain a permit before passing.
50:18
The report didn't mention what the requirements are
50:21
for these permits.
50:23
And Tehran has not officially confirmed the details,
50:26
but Parliament Speaker Mohammad Begher Ghalibaf said on
50:32
X that the new system for the Strait
50:34
of Hormuz is in the process of being
50:36
solidified.
50:37
And reports say draft legislation in the Iranian
50:41
parliament would ban ships linked to Israel from
50:44
the Strait completely and would place strict limits
50:48
on vessels tied to the U.S. and
50:50
impose transit fees on ships from non-hostile
50:54
states.
50:57
While active fighting has been paused under a
51:00
fragile ceasefire, tensions flared up again on Monday
51:03
with the U.S. and Iranian forces exchanging
51:06
fire as U.S. escorts began attempting to
51:09
guide vessels through the Strait under Project Freedom
51:12
announced on Sunday and framed as a humanitarian
51:16
effort rather than an offensive operation, at least
51:20
by everybody else.
51:21
But Trump said, we're going to kill people
51:25
if they try to interfere.
51:27
So it's definitely an offensive operation.
51:30
In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump
51:32
said the escort would be halted at the
51:34
request of Pakistan and other countries to test
51:37
the prospects for a deal.
51:39
He said that tremendous military success and great
51:43
progress toward agreement said the U.S. blockade
51:46
an Iranian port, which Iran considers a violation
51:50
of the ceasefire and impediment to lasting peace,
51:53
will remain in force.
51:55
And Iranian Foreign Minister Said Abbas Araghchi wrote
51:59
later on X that Trump's Project Freedom is
52:02
really Project Deadlock.
52:04
And he urged Washington to focus on Pakistani
52:07
mediated talks instead of seeking a military solution
52:11
and being dragged back into the quagmire.
52:16
Media reports say U.S. forces escorted a
52:19
handful of Western flagged vessels, including three from
52:23
a U.S. company and one operated by
52:26
Denmark's Maersk.
52:30
De facto closure of the Strait to Hormuz
52:33
has pushed oil prices to multi-year highs
52:36
and warnings of imminent shortage.
52:38
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said Monday that physical
52:42
shortages will emerge within weeks and the impact
52:46
will be as big as in the 1970s
52:51
when supply shocks caused a global fuel crisis.
52:56
Now, that is an interesting financial review that
53:01
physical oil shortage will emerge worldwide.
53:05
It's already there for airplane fuel and diesel
53:08
fuel.
53:09
It's already there.
53:10
There are reports last week that 22,000,
53:14
I think the number was.
53:15
It was over 20 that they were saying
53:18
the 22,000 flights, airline flights
53:28
were canceled in Europe.
53:31
And people can't go anywhere.
53:33
Physical oil shortages are going to get worse.
53:38
And attacks on energy infrastructure all over Russia,
53:41
Iran, Middle East, other places.
53:46
And a dual shipping blockade in Hormuz.
53:50
Cut delivery and push prices.
53:52
Multiple tankers remain stranded in Hormuz.
53:56
And active fighting may be paused, but tensions
54:00
are forever flaring back up, just like they
54:02
did on Monday.
54:06
And Wirth, who was speaking at the Milken
54:09
Institute Global Conference in LA on Monday, he
54:14
said the economies are going to begin slowing.
54:17
First in Asia, which is the most dependent
54:20
on Gulf oil.
54:21
Then in Europe, as the supply continues to
54:25
tighten, we will start to see physical shortages.
54:29
Demand needs to move to meet the supply.
54:33
Economies are going to have to slow, he
54:37
said, noting that commercial stockpiles, shadow tanker fleets,
54:42
and strategic reserves are already being drawn down
54:46
to delay shortage.
54:48
He warned that the impact of Hormuz will
54:51
be as big as in the 70s, when
54:54
supply shocks triggered oil crises in 73 and
54:58
79, which caused widespread fuel shortages across US,
55:03
Europe, Japan.
55:04
He reiterated the warning in an interview with
55:07
CNBC, saying physical availability, not just price, are
55:12
soon going to be the main concern.
55:14
As people look at the realities of tight
55:17
supply, it's not just a question of price.
55:20
It's actually, can we get the fuel?
55:23
Over the course of the next several weeks,
55:27
we'll see those effects begin to move throughout
55:30
the system, he said.
55:32
And he noted that some European airlines, like
55:34
I was telling you, are already restricting jet
55:37
fuel and cutting flights.
55:38
And several Asian countries have introduced demand reduction
55:42
measures.
55:42
I told you about that, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,
55:47
Bangladesh, where they cut you down to so
55:51
many gallons that you can buy at a
55:52
time, or liters they do over there.
55:55
Worse said the US, which is a net
55:57
crude exporter, would be less affected initially, but
56:01
it will feel the impact through higher prices
56:03
in the long run.
56:04
Even once Hormuz reopens, he warned it'll take
56:08
months to stabilize supply routes.
56:12
The fallout is already visible, including in the
56:15
US.
56:16
The budget carrier Spirit Airlines said over the
56:19
weekend it was going out of business, saying
56:23
it can't compete with the fuel cost.
56:25
The crisis has also driven shifts in energy
56:28
policy.
56:29
The UAE said last week that it was
56:31
leaving OPEC and OPEC Plus, and it said
56:34
it needed greater flexibility.
56:36
Worse warning echoes recent assessments of the International
56:40
Energy Agency and the World Bank.
56:43
IAEA Fatih Birol said disruption tied to Hormuz
56:48
posed the biggest energy security threat in history,
56:53
with some 13 million barrels a day lost.
56:58
World Bank projects energy prices to jump 24
57:03
% this year, with overall commodity costs rising
57:08
16% as the shock spreads beyond oil
57:10
and gas.
57:11
So my truck takes 35 gallons of gas
57:15
to fill it up.
57:17
And back, when was the last time that
57:20
prices were way up?
57:24
Was it during, was it, I think it
57:27
was during COVID times, wasn't it?
57:32
And it was $4 a gallon.
57:39
I paid $160 something dollars once, or $145,
57:47
something like that, just about $150 to fill
57:51
up my truck.
57:53
It was crazy.
57:55
And then, you know, about two and a
58:00
half months ago, I was all excited.
58:02
Remember that?
58:02
It was before all of this.
58:04
It was back in January.
58:05
I said, of course, you mentioned it, and
58:07
suddenly you're punched in the face, you know,
58:09
don't mention it.
58:10
And so I'm really to blame for why
58:12
we can't afford gas right now, because I
58:16
spoke about it.
58:17
If I had just shut up, none of
58:19
this stuff would have happened.
58:21
But instead, I said, man, this is great.
58:24
I only paid $2 and 49 cents a
58:27
gallon.
58:28
$2.49 a gallon times 35 a gallon
58:31
was, you know, what is that?
58:34
70, about 90 bucks.
58:36
You know, you can fill up my tank
58:37
for $80, $90, right?
58:41
And now, the other day, I spent 128
58:47
or something like that.
58:50
The last time I filled up my truck
58:52
was like 128 bucks.
58:55
Crazy.
58:56
So, yeah, you're talking about the percentage and
58:59
the jump of 24% this year.
59:02
I mean, geez, that's double the price just,
59:05
well, not really, but if you take $80
59:09
to 120, 66%, isn't it, that it went
59:13
up, what would that be?
59:17
That'd be time and a half at least.
59:19
It'd be more than 24%.
59:22
You know, you put that at 1.5
59:23
is basically what that is, 1.5%, because
59:27
it's up from $2.50 to $4, you
59:30
know, that's a hell of a jump.
59:33
That's a hell of a jump.
59:35
And it's a lot more than 24%, you
59:38
know, just to fill up your truck.
59:40
And, you know, that sucks, because I usually
59:44
fill up twice a month, yeah?
59:46
So twice a month, you fill that up.
59:47
What does that just suddenly cost me a
59:50
month, just because I opened my mouth in
59:52
January, right?
59:54
So I opened my mouth in January and
59:56
say, this is great, we're paying $2.50.
59:58
And then couldn't have been two weeks later,
1:00:00
we're paying $4.
1:00:02
So you can blame me, I guess.
1:00:05
But fight or flight, what's the jet fuel
1:00:10
crisis going to cost?
1:00:12
I wanted to go to Russia this summer,
1:00:14
you know?
1:00:18
I'm thinking, and I wanted to go through
1:00:20
Egypt, to tick off Egypt, to go see
1:00:23
some pyramids, which I've never seen, go over
1:00:26
there, see some pyramids, head to, you know,
1:00:29
I was thinking about Victory Day, you know,
1:00:32
going on the 9th.
1:00:33
You know, my visa is still in the
1:00:35
works, but I should have it before too
1:00:37
long, and I'll be able to set something
1:00:38
up for later this summer.
1:00:40
And get back over there, because I want
1:00:42
to go to St. Petersburg.
1:00:43
I want to go to the Hermitage.
1:00:45
I want to go and see the lakes
1:00:47
up there.
1:00:47
I don't want to get blown up by
1:00:49
a damn drone while I'm there.
1:00:51
But, you know, I do wish to go.
1:00:56
But the new article is called, you know
1:00:59
what, let's do a song before we get
1:01:00
to this article.
1:01:01
Because this article is called Fight or Flight?
1:01:04
How the Global Jet Fuel Crisis Could Ground
1:01:08
You.
1:01:08
I take this one very personally, because they're
1:01:11
talking about cancellations and large-scale price increases.
1:01:15
Used to be, I could fly roundtrip into
1:01:18
just about anywhere in the world.
1:01:21
Economy, I don't fly the, you know, the
1:01:23
business or class or whatever, because it's like
1:01:26
literally three times the price.
1:01:28
And so, I do the, you know, I
1:01:31
don't have any trouble getting on a plane
1:01:32
and sleeping.
1:01:33
You know, it doesn't bother me.
1:01:35
What do I care?
1:01:36
And sitting in coach doesn't bother me at
1:01:39
all.
1:01:39
And I'll get on a plane and go
1:01:41
to sleep anyway.
1:01:42
For like, you know, it used to be
1:01:44
the minute I got on a plane, I'd
1:01:46
fall asleep.
1:01:47
And nowadays, it's a little tougher, but I
1:01:50
still would do it.
1:01:51
But we're going to play a song and
1:01:53
then get to how, and see how grounded
1:01:56
I'm going to be and what the prices
1:01:57
are.
1:01:57
But I've seen a definite increase in offerings
1:02:02
and prices, and much more difficult to get
1:02:06
to Russia.
1:02:06
You used to be able to get on
1:02:08
Turkish Airways and get there fairly simply.
1:02:11
But even that now, when I looked up
1:02:13
to get to St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, I
1:02:16
wanted to get on there and couldn't.
1:02:21
It said, there are no flights in your
1:02:24
suggested timeframe, meaning you can't route through a
1:02:28
foreign country and you have to buy them
1:02:30
each separately.
1:02:31
So, you got to get on Aeroflot or
1:02:33
Turkish Airlines or something, generally from Istanbul or
1:02:36
maybe Doha or United Arab Emirates.
1:02:39
But now the Middle East is basically blocked
1:02:41
off and the prices are costing so much
1:02:44
more.
1:02:45
So, the reality of international travel is going
1:02:48
to be a little bit more difficult.
1:02:49
And I was hoping to go to India
1:02:51
to go to the conference in September, October
1:02:55
of this year, because that's coming up too.
1:02:58
And I might have to pick and choose
1:03:01
which one.
1:03:02
And I don't want to do that.
1:03:03
I want both.
1:03:05
But we're going to play another song just
1:03:07
because I like to do that.
1:03:10
But where is my latest?
1:03:13
I was going to go back to my
1:03:16
history and pick one for you and go
1:03:21
to YouTube, where I usually go, and pick
1:03:25
one in my history line and locate it
1:03:31
for you.
1:03:32
There were some pretty good ones in here
1:03:33
that I liked.
1:03:36
There was a, did you know?
1:03:38
Well, no, let's do some Monterey.
1:03:40
No, I'm not going to do Otikin.
1:03:43
I'm not going to do, we're not going
1:03:46
to do, we're not going to do her
1:03:48
either.
1:03:51
Oh, you know what we're going to play?
1:03:53
We're going to play, is what we're going
1:03:57
to play.
1:03:58
Just because we, let me see where that
1:04:02
goes.
1:04:04
And here we begin.
1:04:07
Let us begin at the beginning.
1:04:18
I was looking for you.
1:04:20
There you have it, is the name of
1:04:22
that song.
1:04:22
That actually came out in the nineties.
1:04:24
I can't remember where I heard that.
1:04:26
I think it was in the movie Siostri
1:04:28
is where I first heard it.
1:04:29
I think it was there, but I don't
1:04:32
remember.
1:04:33
I wanted to get into, so Lavrov and
1:04:36
Rubio had a conversation.
1:04:41
Now this is what, this just happened a
1:04:43
couple of days ago.
1:04:45
And according to multiple outlets, Russian Foreign Minister
1:04:51
Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov held a constructive call with
1:04:56
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
1:04:59
The top diplomats compared notes on the current
1:05:02
state of international affairs and Russia, US relations.
1:05:07
And they discussed the schedule of upcoming bilateral
1:05:10
contacts.
1:05:12
The conversation was constructive and business-like, but
1:05:19
the US State Department had not yet commented.
1:05:22
The Lavrov-Rubio call, the first in more
1:05:24
than six months, came less than a week
1:05:27
after Russian President Putin spoke with Donald Trump.
1:05:30
The two discussed the ceasefire in Iran, potential
1:05:34
escalation in the region, as well as the
1:05:36
Ukraine, the project Ukraine, according to the Kreml.
1:05:41
The call was part of a broader renewed
1:05:44
contact initiated by Trump since his return to
1:05:47
office.
1:05:48
At least he and his cronies are speaking
1:05:54
to the opposing side.
1:05:58
That is at least some sort of discussion,
1:06:08
diplomacy, a little bit, you know.
1:06:11
Frozen relationships during the Biden presidency were idiotic.
1:06:16
At least you talk, you know.
1:06:18
But three rounds of Washington-mediated direction and
1:06:23
negotiations between Moscow and Kiev have brought zero
1:06:28
breakthrough.
1:06:30
And the same appears to be going on
1:06:33
in the Iran-Iranian conflict.
1:06:39
Just ain't working, but at least they're still
1:06:42
talking.
1:06:43
You can talk about it at least.
1:06:47
And allegedly the old Trumpster is going to
1:06:50
go to China.
1:06:54
China, as JR called it.
1:06:56
China.
1:06:58
And on May 2nd, the Ministry of Commerce
1:07:00
of China issued an injunction blocking US restrictions
1:07:06
against five independent Chinese oil refineries that have
1:07:12
been sanctioned for importing Iranian oil and utilizing
1:07:16
now what people call the shadow fleet.
1:07:21
Here's why Beijing made this decision and why
1:07:25
it could be historically significant.
1:07:29
China has been inching toward this decision over
1:07:32
the last year.
1:07:34
The Shaoguang Luqing refinery in Shandong province was
1:07:41
the first to be added to the sanctions
1:07:42
list on March the 20th of 2025.
1:07:46
And by October of that year, the US
1:07:50
had imposed restrictions on three other Chinese refineries.
1:07:55
Finally, on April the 24th, Hengli petrochemical refinery
1:08:00
fell under sanctions as well.
1:08:03
With a capacity of 400,000 barrels a
1:08:06
day, the facility exceeds the combined capacity of
1:08:10
the four previous refineries.
1:08:13
So the largest one.
1:08:14
This seems to have been the tipping point
1:08:17
and prompted the Chinese government to shift from
1:08:20
verbal threats to decisive action.
1:08:23
The legal groundwork has been in place for
1:08:27
some time.
1:08:28
A local law against foreign sanctions was passed
1:08:33
in 2021, but was symbolic due to the
1:08:38
absence of implementing regulation, and the delay made
1:08:42
sense.
1:08:43
The law was adopted during President Trump's first
1:08:46
term.
1:08:47
After the thaw in US-China relations under
1:08:51
President Biden, it was put on hold.
1:08:54
And ultimately, the directive to activate this law
1:08:57
was only signed by Chinese Premier Li King
1:09:02
in March of 2025.
1:09:06
Finally, on April 14 of 2026, China implemented
1:09:11
the regulations on countering improper extraterritorial jurisdictions by
1:09:16
foreign states.
1:09:18
These regulations contain 20 articles, including provisions that
1:09:23
allow the Chinese government to add individuals and
1:09:26
organizations involved in discriminatory measures against China to
1:09:31
its own sanctions list.
1:09:34
Those included in the list could be expelled
1:09:36
from China or denied entry.
1:09:39
Their assets could be frozen, and they can
1:09:41
be banned from doing business with any individual
1:09:44
or organization in China.
1:09:49
Now this is going to be interesting, right?
1:09:52
Evidently, China has taken the first step regarding
1:09:57
these five refineries.
1:09:59
As mentioned, this move is tied to the
1:10:02
US sanctions against a major refinery, the last
1:10:06
one in Dalian.
1:10:07
The sanctions themselves are a result of America's
1:10:10
conflict with Iran or the blockade of the
1:10:14
Strait of Hormuz.
1:10:15
To recap, Iran will only allow ships that
1:10:19
coordinate their routes with Iranian authorities, which means
1:10:22
pay for passage, to enter the strait, while
1:10:25
the US is attempting to prevent any vessel
1:10:27
from leaving the strait.
1:10:29
As a result, traffic through the strait has
1:10:32
plummeted by 20 to 30 times compared with
1:10:36
pre-war levels.
1:10:38
But Iran has seen the smallest decrease relative
1:10:42
to other countries.
1:10:43
This is 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 navigate
1:10:52
past US naval warships along the Iranian coast
1:10:57
and in Pakistani territorial waters.
1:10:59
In contrast, other ships refrain from such maneuvers
1:11:03
as they cannot risk losing insurance coverage.
1:11:07
As of April 22nd, 34 Iranian tankers successfully
1:11:12
navigated around the US blockade, averaging about three
1:11:17
to four vessels a day.
1:11:18
These figures are comparable to pre-war levels,
1:11:22
and nearly all the oil from these tankers
1:11:26
is headed to China.
1:11:28
So what we're seeing is a direct attempt
1:11:31
by Washington to influence Chinese buyers of Iranian
1:11:35
oil and pressure them to back away.
1:11:39
Chinese authorities, they don't really talk much when
1:11:43
they make a decision.
1:11:44
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.
1:11:49
They just do what they're gonna do.
1:11:51
And you gotta honor that, actually.
1:11:53
It's actually a smart way to operate.
1:11:55
And here in America, everything is done by,
1:11:58
you know, an ex-post or true social
1:12:00
or something like that.
1:12:01
China, that's not how they operate.
1:12:03
Chinese authorities have made comments, though, regarding secondary
1:12:07
sanctions, but most of these have either been
1:12:10
declarations, saying we won't let third countries dictate
1:12:14
relationships, or they make them behind closed doors.
1:12:18
This approach aligns with traditional Chinese policy.
1:12:23
Avoid direct confrontation.
1:12:24
Steer clear of dispute.
1:12:27
Achieve objectives through more subtle means.
1:12:30
Moscow has felt the impact of this strategy
1:12:33
firsthand.
1:12:34
Since 2022, China has engaged in trade with
1:12:38
Russia discreetly.
1:12:39
Everyone knows that China is purchasing Russian oil,
1:12:43
but new US sanctions do affect the flow
1:12:46
of those shipments.
1:12:47
The same applies to Iran.
1:12:50
When there's an oversupply of oil, China had
1:12:52
the luxury of being selective.
1:12:55
The market was determined by buyers.
1:12:57
Sanctioned oil was bought as a last resort
1:12:59
and at a large discount.
1:13:02
Tankers could be anchored for months, waiting for
1:13:04
better conditions and so on.
1:13:06
However, faced with its own oil shortage, China
1:13:10
has been forced to enter into more direct
1:13:12
conflict with the United States.
1:13:15
The United States is unlikely to retaliate, and
1:13:19
China's decision will likely lead to the establishment
1:13:23
of transparent alternative trading and payment infrastructures.
1:13:28
Remember this.
1:13:28
This is key.
1:13:30
The alternative trading and payment infrastructures, which will
1:13:33
be paid with not dollars, but yuan.
1:13:37
All the major decisions have already long been
1:13:40
in place in this regard.
1:13:42
For example, the creation and implementation of SIPs,
1:13:46
which is China's equivalent to the SWIFT system.
1:13:48
But like sanctions, the alternative payment infrastructure has
1:13:53
remained not as prevalent, of course, for years.
1:13:59
But now they're pushing it, and this mechanism
1:14:03
already exists.
1:14:05
Remember, we're getting rid of Western-backed
1:14:14
payment mechanisms.
1:14:18
These have been around for the past four
1:14:21
years.
1:14:22
Russia has been calling on its own partners
1:14:24
to take action, finding alternatives to the dollar,
1:14:27
depart from American control over international trade, replacing
1:14:31
clandestine payment schemes with solid, transparent, reliable systems.
1:14:36
And for the past four years, Russia's trading
1:14:39
partners have been saying, you know, you do
1:14:43
it.
1:14:44
We're still going to use primarily the Western
1:14:47
-based SWIFT US systems.
1:14:49
Iran was in a similar position, but Iran,
1:14:56
not like Russia, relied on China as its
1:14:59
de facto majority buyer, because most of the
1:15:03
oil that comes from Iran is sold in
1:15:06
China.
1:15:06
So now it's Trump, though, who is forcing
1:15:09
China to change the approach, and they've been
1:15:13
trying to stay without a lot of risk.
1:15:17
But what he's done is he shot himself
1:15:20
in the foot, according to most analysis, because
1:15:24
his actions have now provoked a newer, tougher,
1:15:28
and more defensive Chinese policy.
1:15:31
And Beijing has all the political, economic, and
1:15:35
financial tools at its disposal to make this
1:15:38
happen, 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 insurance.
1:15:49
But that's not necessarily the case anymore.
1:15:52
That's been the case for years, but it's
1:15:54
not necessarily the case any longer.
1:15:58
And so all of these, and I talk
1:16:00
about it on this channel pretty frequently, that
1:16:04
these competing systems have been existing in the
1:16:11
shadows for quite a few years.
1:16:14
And they started back in 2016, 2017 is
1:16:20
when they start, and they were ramped up.
1:16:22
And in 2023 and 2024, they've just been
1:16:26
ever increasing.
1:16:28
Are they going to knock out the dollar
1:16:30
system anytime really soon?
1:16:32
I mean, this is what Trump is trying
1:16:34
to prevent, in my humble opinion, that he's
1:16:36
been trying to make sure that dollar hegemony
1:16:46
still exists after the Hormuz comes out.
1:16:51
But Hormuz, the Iranians are perfectly happy to
1:16:56
take the yuan as payment.
1:17:01
I mean, hell, they've been under sanctions forever
1:17:03
anyway.
1:17:04
And they have been looking for alternative payment
1:17:10
structures for a good long time.
1:17:12
And China has offered them to Iran for
1:17:15
several years, just a little more on the
1:17:17
quiet side.
1:17:19
So there you have it.
1:17:21
I think it's good to keep an eye
1:17:23
on that.
1:17:25
One more thing on nuclear weapons that I
1:17:27
wanted to talk about, and I wonder if
1:17:29
I have time to get through this.
1:17:32
I think I do.
1:17:33
So we're going to talk about some Democrats
1:17:37
here in America, a group of 30 Democrats
1:17:42
in the House of Representatives have demanded that
1:17:46
the administration disclose information about Israel's nuclear arsenal
1:17:51
because the lack of transparency is threatening the
1:17:57
entire Middle East, according to these lawmakers.
1:18:01
Israel has never confirmed nor denied that it
1:18:04
possesses nuclear weapons, nor has it presented a
1:18:09
public doctrine that outlines the use of them
1:18:12
or any red lines.
1:18:14
The US, which has been aware of the
1:18:16
Israeli nuclear program at least since the early
1:18:19
60s, has remained silent on this issue.
1:18:26
Washington is fighting side by side with a
1:18:30
country whose potential nuclear weapons program the United
1:18:35
States government officially refuses to acknowledge.
1:18:40
A congressman led by Democratic representative, you know,
1:18:45
a group of congressmen led by Democratic representative
1:18:48
Joaquin Castro said in a letter to Secretary
1:18:51
of State Marco Rubio, the risk of miscalculation,
1:18:57
escalation, and nuclear use in this environment are
1:19:02
not theoretical, said the letter.
1:19:06
The group has demanded that the US hold
1:19:08
Israel to the same standards of transparency as
1:19:11
other countries, adding that a coherent non-proliferation
1:19:15
policy for the Middle East, including Iran's nuclear
1:19:18
program and Saudi nuclear ambitions, would otherwise be
1:19:22
impossible.
1:19:23
Well, and that's one of the biggest beef
1:19:26
the Iranians have.
1:19:27
It's like, you don't care if Israel has
1:19:30
them.
1:19:30
You know, Israel's allowed, but nobody else.
1:19:36
So, I don't know.
1:19:39
How big is Israel's arsenal?
1:19:41
Israel is believed to possess 80 or 90
1:19:45
nuclear weapons, including 30 bombs, 50 ballistic missile
1:19:49
warheads, according to estimates by the Stockholm International
1:19:54
Peace Research Institute.
1:19:57
Photos from inside an Israeli nuclear facility leaked
1:20:02
in 1986 suggest the country could have produced
1:20:06
enough material for 200 nuclear bombs at that
1:20:10
time.
1:20:12
Mordecai Vanunu, the technician who leaked the photos,
1:20:16
was kidnapped by Mossad and sentenced to two
1:20:20
decades in prison for releasing it.
1:20:23
When did Israel launch its nuclear program?
1:20:26
Israel pursued nuclear ambitions soon after it was
1:20:30
founded in 1948.
1:20:32
Ernest David Bergman, the first head of Israel's
1:20:35
Atomic Energy Commission, established in 1952, spoke about
1:20:39
a nuclear bomb as something that would ensure
1:20:42
that we shall never again be led as
1:20:44
lambs to the slaughter.
1:20:46
The Negev Nuclear Research Center near the city
1:20:50
of Dimona, built in the 50s, was designed
1:20:53
to produce weapons-grade plutonium, according to a
1:20:57
1960 U.S. intelligence report.
1:21:01
According to Sipri, Israel could have acquired its
1:21:05
first nuclear weapons in the late 60s.
1:21:08
What did the U.S. know?
1:21:10
Washington is aware the NNRC was reference-related
1:21:15
as early as December 1960.
1:21:18
By 1973, Washington was convinced Israel had nuclear
1:21:23
weapons.
1:21:24
Leonard Weiss, a Senate advisor briefed during the
1:21:27
Carter and Reagan administrations, said, I was told
1:21:31
it would create serious foreign policy issue for
1:21:33
the U.S. if I said it was
1:21:35
a nuclear test.
1:21:36
Someone had led something off that the U
1:21:39
.S. 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 suggest the intelligence agency informed
1:21:53
President Lyndon Johnson that Israel had nuclear weapons
1:21:57
in 1968.
1:22:00
The President ordered CIA Director Richard Helms to
1:22:04
keep it secret even from Secretary of State
1:22:07
Dean Rusk and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara.
1:22:11
Washington allegedly feared the Arab states would refuse
1:22:14
to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty if news
1:22:17
of Israel's undeclared weapons came out.
1:22:20
Well, of course they would.
1:22:21
That's why, I mean, this is the funny
1:22:24
part, you know, but it's okay if it's
1:22:26
Israel, right?
1:22:27
The policy of silence was formalized at a
1:22:29
1969 meeting between U.S. President Nixon and
1:22:33
Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, according to Avner
1:22:37
Cohen, a professor at the Middlebury Institute of
1:22:39
International Studies and author of Israel and the
1:22:42
Bomb.
1:22:44
Israel alone could not have maintained this policy
1:22:48
over decades without the United States participation, he
1:22:52
told the Washington Post on Tuesday.
1:22:57
Rules for thee, but not for me.
1:23:00
A constant theme in, you know, Western politics,
1:23:06
right?
1:23:07
And particularly Israeli.
1:23:09
Non-proliferation only for Arabs, not for Israelis.
1:23:14
Crazy.
1:23:15
My name is Samuel Trapp.
1:23:16
This is International Flavor.
1:23:18
Tomorrow is Civic Outlaws.
1:23:19
Join us tomorrow morning, 7 a.m. to
1:23:21
8.30 for Civic Outlaws.
1:23:23
It'll be entertaining, fun, and only slightly illegal.
1:23:28
Happy day to you all from mid-Missouri,
1:23:31
and hope you have a wonderful mid-Missouri
1:23:34
day.