Three super-powers will control the world?

[Radiorum]

10 minutes ago, Nationalist said:

The USA has no real intentions on making Canada a 51st state.

then why do they keep saying it?

Venezuela is a warning shot to the rest of the western hemisphere.

Here's what Trump had to say about Greenland, Mexico and Columbia - 

Making clear to other nations a heavy price will be paid if one dares to stand in his way, only a day after the invasion of Venezuela, he reiterated his position on Greenland, making clear the Arctic gateway’s sovereignty too is in doubt. He stated: “We need Greenland. … It’s so strategic right now. Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” he said. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”

Not stopping there, he responded to criticism levied by the leaders of Mexico and Colombia, warning that their respective countries could be next, saying, “Colombia is very sick too, run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long.”

When pressed by a reporter whether those comments meant there could be an “operation” in Colombia in the future, Trump responded: “Sounds good to me.” Turning his attention to his southern neighbour, he said: “Mexico has to get their act together, because they’re pouring through Mexico, and we’re going to have to do something,” referring to drugs.

Sovereignty means nothing to Trump....

Equally meaningless are land borders or even proximity (Canada). Once material advantages that benefited national and regional economies are now seen as assets to be devoured by the mightiest.

Mark Carney knows this all too well. The prime minister is acutely aware that congeniality and conviviality are no match for ego, greed, and dominance. For once the threat materializes, much like Maduro, no world leader, no economic engine, no military apparatus will rear its head to stand with Canadians or Greenlanders to ward off the Trump onslaught.

 

18 minutes ago, Nationalist said:

Too many headaches.

You make the mistake of thinking that Trump is rational in his strategies.

 

13 minutes ago, Nationalist said:

You say that like it's a "bad" thing. Why? If executed properly, the people of Venezuela could return to prosperity.

You say that like Trump has the interests of the Venezuelan people in mind.

If Trump wanted what was best for Venezuela, he would install the duly-elected democratic opposition.

But in a stunning display of egocentrism, he puts his megalomaniac needs first.

According to reporting from the Washington Post, Trump is not installing the legally-elected Machado because she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize instead of giving it to him -

The day before, Trump had effectively dismissed the prospects of Venezuela’s democratic opposition, including Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, whose stand-in candidate, Edmundo González, won more than two-thirds of the vote in an election last year that saw Maduro refuse to leave office.

“It’d be very tough for her to be the leader,” Trump said when asked about Machado on Saturday, adding that she “doesn’t have the support or the respect within the country.”

[…]

Two people close to the White House said the president’s lack of interest in boosting Machado, despite her recent efforts to flatter Trump, stemmed from her decision to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, an award the president has openly coveted

Although Machado ultimately said she was dedicating the award to Trump, her acceptance of the prize was an “ultimate sin,” said one of the people.

“If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” this person said.

 

15 minutes ago, Nationalist said:

and the USA has a sort of satellite state.

You mean colony. Do you think the Venezuelan people want to be a colony of the USA?

 

[Radiorum]

17 minutes ago, User said:

Where did you come up with this or are you just wildly throwing predictions out there?

It's a well-established fact. Where have you been?

 

While speaking about his ambitions to rebuild Venezuelan infrastructure, which he called "old" and "rotted," Trump said he'll get the oil flowing and will sell it to several countries...

Trump also said his government's involvement in Venezuela "won't cost us a penny" because the United States would be reimbursed from the "money coming out of the ground," referring to Venezuela's oil reserves.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-maduro-venezuela-strikes-9.7032572

[User]

3 minutes ago, Radiorum said:

then why do they keep saying it?

If you have to sit here guessing at his motives, then you do not have enough information to fear-monger on how serious he is being. 

4 minutes ago, Radiorum said:

Venezuela is a warning shot to the rest of the western hemisphere.

Well, certainly to 3rd world tinpot dictators. Is that what you think of Canada?

 

[User]

1 minute ago, Radiorum said:

It's a well-established fact. Where have you been?

You seemed to be claiming he was going to take it over as in literally US owns it all... but that is not what he was saying, he was talking about helping the build out their infrastructure to sell to the world for themselves and that we would get compensated for doing so, so it doesn't cost us anything. 

A bit more nuanced than what you were trying to insinuate. 

 

[Radiorum]

3 minutes ago, User said:

Well, certainly to 3rd world tinpot dictators. Is that what you think of Canada?

For someone who has made Trump a god, you sure understand very little about him

Edited January 5 by Radiorum

[User]

50 minutes ago, Radiorum said:

For someone who has made Trump a god, you sure understand very little about him

I understand plenty, the guy is a clown show shit talker. You are a petty partisan Trump hater who will use anything to fear-monger. 

[Radiorum]

14 minutes ago, User said:

You are a petty partisan Trump hater who will use anything to fear-monger. 

I use Trump's own words and actions.

I don't mean to cause fear, but present reality, which Trump supporters do not live in.

There are videos of Trump and Lindsey Graham in the article linked below. Listen to their own words.

In the 1st video, Graham says, "You just wait for Cuba ... their days are numbered ... I hope in '26, in our backyard, we're going to have the allies in this country, doing business with America."

In the 2nd video, when Trump is asked whether he would demand that Rodriquez allow opposition to return, Trump replies, "We haven't gotten to that yet. Right now what we want to do is fix the oil, fix up the country, bring the country back, then have elections."

In the 4th video, when Trump is asked what he needs for Rodriquez, he answers, "Total access to the oil."

 

"We Just Want the Oil"

[Nationalist]

19 hours ago, Radiorum said:

then why do they keep saying it?

Venezuela is a warning shot to the rest of the western hemisphere.

Here's what Trump had to say about Greenland, Mexico and Columbia - 

Making clear to other nations a heavy price will be paid if one dares to stand in his way, only a day after the invasion of Venezuela, he reiterated his position on Greenland, making clear the Arctic gateway’s sovereignty too is in doubt. He stated: “We need Greenland. … It’s so strategic right now. Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” he said. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”

Not stopping there, he responded to criticism levied by the leaders of Mexico and Colombia, warning that their respective countries could be next, saying, “Colombia is very sick too, run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long.”

When pressed by a reporter whether those comments meant there could be an “operation” in Colombia in the future, Trump responded: “Sounds good to me.” Turning his attention to his southern neighbour, he said: “Mexico has to get their act together, because they’re pouring through Mexico, and we’re going to have to do something,” referring to drugs.

Sovereignty means nothing to Trump....

Equally meaningless are land borders or even proximity (Canada). Once material advantages that benefited national and regional economies are now seen as assets to be devoured by the mightiest.

Mark Carney knows this all too well. The prime minister is acutely aware that congeniality and conviviality are no match for ego, greed, and dominance. For once the threat materializes, much like Maduro, no world leader, no economic engine, no military apparatus will rear its head to stand with Canadians or Greenlanders to ward off the Trump onslaught.

 

You make the mistake of thinking that Trump is rational in his strategies.

 

You say that like Trump has the interests of the Venezuelan people in mind.

If Trump wanted what was best for Venezuela, he would install the duly-elected democratic opposition.

But in a stunning display of egocentrism, he puts his megalomaniac needs first.

According to reporting from the Washington Post, Trump is not installing the legally-elected Machado because she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize instead of giving it to him -

The day before, Trump had effectively dismissed the prospects of Venezuela’s democratic opposition, including Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, whose stand-in candidate, Edmundo González, won more than two-thirds of the vote in an election last year that saw Maduro refuse to leave office.

“It’d be very tough for her to be the leader,” Trump said when asked about Machado on Saturday, adding that she “doesn’t have the support or the respect within the country.”

[…]

Two people close to the White House said the president’s lack of interest in boosting Machado, despite her recent efforts to flatter Trump, stemmed from her decision to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, an award the president has openly coveted

Although Machado ultimately said she was dedicating the award to Trump, her acceptance of the prize was an “ultimate sin,” said one of the people.

“If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” this person said.

 

You mean colony. Do you think the Venezuelan people want to be a colony of the USA?

 

Ok...

1. They dont say it much anymore. Why? Simple. The carney is in his hip pocket.

2. Greenland IS critical. I dont know how they'll justify it yet...maybe they'll just buy it?

3. Mexico is not in danger. The cartels...that's another matter. Same with Columbia. Any who work with the cartels will also be in trouble.

4. The populated and mining sections of Canada, the lower mainland, is safe. The passage...not so much. However...once the US is maintained and managing the passage, it'll all be academic.

5. Colonized? Dude...much of South America is already a US colony. But I dont think it'll get much more intense in the short term.

Edited January 6 by Nationalist

[User]

8 minutes ago, Radiorum said:

I use Trump's own words and actions.

No, you don't. What exactly has Trump said or done or is he even capable of that would actually make Canada the 51st state?

This goes back to me claiming I am the King of England. Those are my words, so do you believe I am the King of England?

9 minutes ago, Radiorum said:

I don't mean to cause fear, but present reality, which Trump supporters do not live in.

You have proven time and time again to be the one making crap up. Here we are in a thread you created based on your ignorance of a FICTIONAL novel... then you want to talk to me about reality?

11 minutes ago, Radiorum said:

"We Just Want the Oil"

Again, that is not all he said, not even in what you quoted:

" fix up the country, bring the country back, then have elections.""

 

[cannuck]

20 hours ago, Radiorum said:

The Trump administration has no clear policy for what should come next. there is no plan in place beyond 'get the oil'

 

"But the assumption that forcefully overthrowing the current government will lead to a smooth transition to democracy is dangerous," he said.

"Venezuela is full of armed groups that would resist the regime's collapse and undermine any effort to restore the rule of law. Generals currently loyal to Maduro might install an even more repressive leader.

"Without a viable strategy for what comes after the government falls, ousting Maduro could lead to even greater repression and hardship for Venezuelans."

This is very true, but what most of us are seeing and hearing is the orange man shooting his mouth off without the intellectual capacity to control what comes out.   What we do NOT know is exactly what people in the back rooms have probably long ago planned on how to execute the fallout from what is a bit of a stretch of international law to begin with.   I guess we can look back to bin Laden and Noriega for precedent.  I wish the current US admin had the sense to at least brook the subject with UN as they did in Iraq before acting unilaterally.

Don't get me wrong: I am delighted that someone stepped in and did what the UN is to corrupt and spineless to do in the first place.   I just hope for the 8 million Venezuelan refugees there really IS a workable plan how to give them back their country in a reasonable period of time.

As to the oil thing:  Lifting costs of extra heavy crude are extremely high.  When some talking head on the boob tube says that "oil" prices are $62 or whatever they neglect to point out that is for WTI or North Sea Brent sitting at a delivered reference point.  I can tell you that Wyoming Heavy Sour (very similar to Orinoco from Venezuela) is more like $42 at the well head.  No big profit in Orinoco at today's prices and adding 2mm bbl/day by restoring Venezuela production will tend to depress oil prices, not increase them.  It will be tough to get US big oil to shell (sorry for that pun) out to get Venezuela back up to speed.

[paxamericana]

6 hours ago, cannuck said:

It will be tough to get US big oil to shell (sorry for that pun) out to get Venezuela back up to speed.

Not unless we planned on taking Russia completely offline . That’s 10-11 million bpd going away. Giving you all a big hint.

Edited January 6 by paxamericana

[cannuck]

21 hours ago, paxamericana said:

Not unless we planned on taking Russia completely offline . That’s 10-11 million bpd going away. Giving you all a big hint.

I'll give you an even bigger hint:   Sanctions were supposed to do that, but Swiss traders keep moving half that every day in "ghost fleets" from "not Russia" supposed shipping points.  Beyond that even the orange man doesn't have the balls or ability to stop pipelines flowing ioil and gas into China.

[paxamericana]

1 hour ago, cannuck said:

I'll give you an even bigger hint:   Sanctions were supposed to do that, but Swiss traders keep moving half that every day in "ghost fleets" from "not Russia" supposed shipping points.  Beyond that even the orange man doesn't have the balls or ability to stop pipelines flowing ioil and gas into China.

The Siberian oil has water that will freeze over solid and destroy their pipelines if oil does not move continuously. All it takes is for US to stop by hook or crook for Russia to run out of places to dump the oil. And it will freeze over. It took the Super Majors 30 years to re drill that when it happened during the post Soviet collapse btw. 

Edited January 7 by paxamericana

[cannuck]

1 hour ago, paxamericana said:

The Siberian oil has water that will freeze over solid and destroy their pipelines if oil does not move continuously. All it takes is for US to stop by hook or crook for Russia to run out of places to dump the oil. And it will freeze over. It took the Super Majors 30 years to re drill that when it happened during the post Soviet collapse btw. 

Sonny boy (or girl?) someone is filling you head full of total bullshyte.  Any produced water is separated at the wellhead collection unit beore putting into a pipeline.  That's petroleum engineering for beginners.

Edited January 7 by cannuck

[paxamericana]

10 hours ago, cannuck said:

Sonny boy (or girl?) someone is filling you head full of total bullshyte.  Any produced water is separated at the wellhead collection unit beore putting into a pipeline.  That's petroleum engineering for beginners.

The pressure is built up at the well head . It’s the pipe under ground that are difficult to replace.

[cannuck]

1 hour ago, paxamericana said:

The pressure is built up at the well head . It’s the pipe under ground that are difficult to replace.

the wellheads in a field are pumped into a central collection point where it is prepared tor injection into a pipeline.  To do so, you have to meet pipeline specs and if wells are producing water usually means decanting in tanks to separate out water.   It just flowing through it will be fed into a "knockout" that removes water online in continuous flow.   It might surprise you to learn that after 175 years of drilling modern oil wells we have learned how to run our business.

[paxamericana]

12 minutes ago, cannuck said:

the wellheads in a field are pumped into a central collection point where it is prepared tor injection into a pipeline.  To do so, you have to meet pipeline specs and if wells are producing water usually means decanting in tanks to separate out water.   It just flowing through it will be fed into a "knockout" that removes water online in continuous flow.   It might surprise you to learn that after 175 years of drilling modern oil wells we have learned how to run our business.

This assumes continuous flow and storage capacity. Care to guess what happens when you shut off the valve ? 

[cannuck]

53 minutes ago, paxamericana said:

This assumes continuous flow and storage capacity. Care to guess what happens when you shut off the valve ? 

It doesn't matter if you have continuous flow or batch (from storage), I just told you how the oil industry worldwide handles each situation.  I will give you another absolute guarantee: EVERY major pipeline has storage capacity since you need that at pumping stations so you can do maintenance or repair without stopping flow.  I will give you yet another hint: one of the two of us has actually been IN the energy business upstream and downstream for several decades.  

Edited January 7 by cannuck

[paxamericana]

1 hour ago, cannuck said:

I will give you yet another hint: one of the two of us has actually been IN the energy business upstream and downstream for several decades.  

Not here to embarrass you but let’s see where your limitless storage space goes in this brave new world we find ourselves.

[cannuck]

The media gets so much completely wrong when it attempts to "report" on things related to oil.

No question that the "ghost fleet(s)" have been shipping oil from Russia (BIG time), Iran (still pretty significant and directly funds ISIS and all other Iranian proxies) and Venezuela - but with about 800k bbls/day of extra heavy asphaltics they are not putting a dent in any market today.  Consider that domestic refineries have more capacity than what they are producing (not sure how much output they have as all competent PDVSA staff was fired 23 years ago and replaced with party faithfuls who didn't have a clue so production is no where near capacity.  Even so, the difference is not a really big number available for export.  Some of the crude and refined product has been flowing either at very low cost or often no cost at all to prop up the Bolivarians of Cuba.  What is going to China and Russia is not "stolen" as often reported, it is repayment for the hundreds of billions Russia and China have poured into Venezuela to prop up PDVSA and Chavez/Maduro over the years and stake their claim on it's oil sector.

Every time they report on a seizure under sanctions they calculate the value as WTI or North Sea - but the crap coming out of the ground is worth no where near that.  Nor is it coming from upgraders where it IS even more valuable - it is "dilbit" - i.e. extra heavy crude diluted with mostly NGLs (natural gas liquids) to be able to move it.  I don't think PDVSA even has the capacity to produce diluent from oil feedstock.

[Goddess]

On 1/5/2026 at 12:17 PM, Nationalist said:

Greenland IS critical.

Did everybody here forget how to play Risk?  🤣

One of the best strategies for the game was controlling Venezuela and Greenland, to protect the Western hemisphere.  Everyone else had to go through those countries to get to the US.

 

During WWll, Greenland was made a protectorate of the US, as Europe was unable to secure it from the Germans.  If the Europeans are correct in that Russia is intending to take over all of Europe, I don't think they will be able to protect Greenland any better than they did in WWll.

I think Trump is trying to secure the Western hemisphere from both Russia and China.  Both were making inroads just outside US borders, their "neighborhood" as they call it.  The US doesn't like that any more than Russia liked NATO's setting up just outside their borders.

I believe the OP is correct - there are 3 powers jockeying for supremacy right now.

The Canadian government is choosing China.  which will, at some point in the future, put us in the crosshairs of the US.

Look at the map again.  Do you blame them?

[Goddess]

Greenland is not freaking out over this and they want the rest of us to stop freaking out about it.  They want to talk to Trump, see what is on the table and why.

 

[Nationalist]

1 hour ago, Goddess said:

Did everybody here forget how to play Risk?  🤣

One of the best strategies for the game was controlling Venezuela and Greenland, to protect the Western hemisphere.  Everyone else had to go through those countries to get to the US.

 

During WWll, Greenland was made a protectorate of the US, as Europe was unable to secure it from the Germans.  If the Europeans are correct in that Russia is intending to take over all of Europe, I don't think they will be able to protect Greenland any better than they did in WWll.

I think Trump is trying to secure the Western hemisphere from both Russia and China.  Both were making inroads just outside US borders, their "neighborhood" as they call it.  The US doesn't like that any more than Russia liked NATO's setting up just outside their borders.

I believe the OP is correct - there are 3 powers jockeying for supremacy right now.

The Canadian government is choosing China.  which will, at some point in the future, put us in the crosshairs of the US.

Look at the map again.  Do you blame them?

Yup. Well y'know...Risk takes vision and strategy. The carney and his following more prefer playing Operation...I'd suspect.

[August1991]

On 1/3/2026 at 7:15 PM, Radiorum said:

...

How prescient was Orwell in describing our modern-day reality, where these three powers – Trump’s USA, Putin’s Russia, and Xi Jinping’s China – vie for power?

....

 

 

Orwell was imagining a world - after the cataclysm of 1914-1945.

In 1991, in fact, America defeated the Soviets.

[Goddess]

This video discussion between Brian Lilley and Sam Cooper, I think sums up exactly what is going on.

It's really worth 45 mins of your time, even if just to understand where the "other side" is coming from.

I hope that it will enlighten the CBC watchers that the picture is much bigger than "it's all about oil" and "China is our friend".

Canada is being incredibly stupid and playing a dangerous game by aligning ourselves with China right now and openly moving away from the US.

 

Edited January 9 by Goddess