Grumpy Old Man

My points of view are unique and my own. I have yet to come across an account here that I'm 🎯💯 with so if I endorse a post I'm not endorsing a poster.

An HIV-positive man with colon cancer, unable to work for four years, lived in his Los Angeles apartment for almost 25 years. He says he mailed his rent on time. The landlord said the check never arrived and filed for eviction. After a trial, a jury ruled he DID mail the payment, but since it wasn't cashed, they said he failed to pay on time. A judge ordered him out. Sheriff's deputies escorted him from his home of a quarter-century. He took his dog, Simba, and his clothes. He left behind his furniture, his blankets, his two TVs, and his beloved Madonna CDs. He's now homeless, sleeping on a friend's sofa. The system will evict a dying man over a payment dispute. But a corporation can squat in bankruptcy court for years? "That's a different matter entirely."

Oops... The end result of U.S. semiconductors export controls is: Nvidia down to 0% market share in the world's largest semiconductors market, and China's AI is on par with the U.S. "Backfired" is the understatement of the century. (tomshardware.com/tech-industry/…)

@venanalysis When was this system initiated? I mean bonuses rather than wages.

The distinction is relevant, and a major point of contention from trade unions, because non-wage bonuses do not affect a string of labor rights and benefits. Take a concrete example: a cashier working in a private sector supermarket. They are on the official payroll earning minimum wage. That's $0.27 a month. And then, assuming the employer accepts the government's recommendation of setting a similar income floor, they will pay the employee $240 as a monthly bonus (note that this is paid in bolívars). If the supermarket wants to fire the cashier, the severance established by law (depends on how long the work relationship was and other factors) is computed based on the wage. In other words, firing people becomes incredibly cheap, which means workers are subjected to greater exploitation because their posts are more precarious. While the bonus-over-wage policies were a gov't response under murderous US sanctions, it's no secret that business sectors love it

There's some misinformation or mistranslations going around, but it's important to clarify that on May 1 the Venezuelan gov't did not raise the minimum wage. It did increase the income floor for public sector workers, but through non-wage bonuses venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuela…

@tradingguy4u @HealthRanger Parasite wants other people's kids to die so he can make bank on $peculation.

@HealthRanger That fact is, this war needs to be continued and the strait needs to reopen at all cost, America is loosing its global dominance and super power status due mainly to this useless war....once the war starts all those ships blocking the iran ports will be bombed

President Donald Trump has just announced 'Project Freedom' -- a U.S. Navy mission to escort commercial tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. The official line is that this is a humanitarian gesture to keep global oil flowing. I see it for what it really is: a reckless provocation designed to force Iran into a military response, giving Washington the excuse it needs for a wider war. And our own sailors are being used as bait. Trump rejected Iran's latest 14-point peace proposal on May 3, calling it unacceptable, and then ordered the Navy to start guiding ships out of Hormuz. The Iranians had offered to reopen the strait within 30 days in exchange for an end to hostilities and later talks on nuclear enrichment. Instead of seizing a diplomatic off-ramp, Trump chose escalation. It looks to me like the goal is simple: put American warships in harm's way, hope for a clash, and then use the resulting casualties to justify a full-scale ground war without congressional approval. Prepare for escalation.

@deceptibling @HealthRanger @DanielLDavis1 Huh?

@HealthRanger but ther is ni ground component commander at CENTCOM right now just air and navel component trump can't stant to tak and L nor can rubio Hubris leads to bad decisions an weakness Ira s not gonna capulate you Larry Johnson and @DanielLDavis1 all need to donate show together

@HealthRanger I'd be amazed to see any tankers take Trump up on the offer of an escort. No way would the tankers get insurance coverage for such reckless stupidity. And expect more "laundry fires" on US warships, should any be ordered into the Strait of Hormuz. Sailors aren't suicidal.

@TheOnlyEsta How about apartments with bathrooms, kitchens and windows?

The is AWESOME‼️ Hopefully more states can make something like this happen. Please LIKE and RETWEET if you agree

If the US really wanted Hormuz open... don't you think they would just, you know, fuck off back to America? It wasn't closed to begin with. Maybe they want it closed? Because they're literally blockading it? Why do people struggle to grasp what is staring them in the face?

Bombshell: Leaked audio recordings prove Argentina's libertarian President Javier Milei is conspiring with the drug lord Juan Orlando Hernández -- the drug-trafficking former dictator of Honduras, whom Trump freed from prison. In a recording between Milei and the drug lord, Hernández proposed creating a right-wing fake news operation, with the support of the US government, in order to spread propaganda online to "eliminate the left" in Latin America, targeting Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, and the left-wing opposition in Honduras. The self-declared "anarcho-capitalist" Milei offered to contribute $350,000 USD of Argentine government money to help fund this disinformation operation, while millions of Argentines are suffering in poverty, and they have to eat donkey meat, because they can't afford local beef. Link: jornada.com.mx/noticia/2026/0…

🚨🇮🇱 BREAKING: Israel has kidnapped two Flotilla members and labeled them as Hamas. Now they face execution in israel. Repost this.

Questions: If two U.S F-15E pilots were rescued, why has there been ZERO interviews with these pilots? Why hasn't @realDonaldTrump paraded them around like a victory trophy? Why haven't their names been released to the media? We're told it's bcos of "security reasons," but we all know damn well, if there's a way to make Trump look like a competent "leader" he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to parade them around. Plus, what "security reasons" could they possibly have? — they're already home. Idk about you, but that sure seems made up, fabricated, and a lie. But that's just me.

Just thinking... What happened to the American Pilot and his Weapons officer, that were shot down over Iran in their F15 and subsequently rescued? It all went very quiet, very quickly. No pictures, no publicity, no heroic welcome from Trump, nothing. It's a mystery indeed.

Trump’s announced “escort” of ships thru Hormuz recalls the famous 1964 Tonkin Gulf incident … A manufactured pretext for the United States to massively escalate its military involvement in the Vietnam War Prepare for major escalation vs Iran google.com/imgres?imgurl=…

Just a reminder a 5-year-old boy in a bunny hat spent more time in jail than any billionaire pedophile on Epstein's client list

If a country had assassinated the US president, do you think the US would respond by negotiating with them? What about if someone threatened Washington's fuel supply, or hit their refineries? Many don't want to admit it but Russia, China, Iran have failed to establish and maintain a red line and proper deterrence against Western attacks.

@petrogustavo 🇨🇺No se puede hablar honestamente de #Cuba sin mencionar el bloqueo económico que durante décadas asfixia al pueblo cubano. Amenazar con invasiones contra Cuba no traerá democracia ni bienestar para América Latina; solo más sufrimiento e inestabilidad. @soberania_ja @JairoHDavidN

Dejen de hablar carteta: en Cuba hay hambre y pobreza que mitigan con educación y salud porque hay un bloqueo criminal desde hace décadas. Desbloqueen Cuba y veran cambios políticos, quizás no como quiere el actual sistema de Cuba, pero quizás tampoco como lo quieren algunos cubanos miamienses, que no saben que Miami es una de las ciudades del mundo más expuestas a su final por la crisis climática. Quienes quieren invadir Cuba solo van a prender la violencia política en toda América Latina y extinguir su naciente democracia.

#1Enero ¡VIVA LA PLENA SOBERANÍA PETROLERA! Un día como hoy junto al Presidente Chávez y más de 40mil trabajadores petroleros, entró en vigencia el Decreto 5.200 (hoy derogado) y Nacionalizamos la FAJA PETROLÍFERA DEL ORINOCO. Un acto soberano donde obtuvimos el control de la mayor reserva de petróleo del planeta. Las empresas petroleras transnacionales (31 de 33) se ajustaron a nuestra Ley de Hidrocarburos del 2002, su régimen fiscal y a nuestra soberanía jurisdiccional. Con esta acción desmontamos la nefasta apertura petrolera de los 90’, que entregó el petróleo a las transnacionales, quienes pagaban solo 1 % de regalías y no pagaban impuestos petroleros. Con la Nacionalización de la Faja Petrolífera del Orinoco conquistamos la Plena Soberanía Petrolera, que significó para el país, entre 2002-2012, entre otras cosas, lo siguiente: - Producción de petróleo promedio de 3 millones de barriles/dia - Defensa efectiva del precio del petróleo en la OPEP. - PDVSA era quien exportaba todo nuestras petróleo, fijábamos nuestros precios de venta y el ingreso petrolero iba al BCV. - Se obtuvieron Ingresos al país de 700 mil millones de dólares por exportaciones petroleras. - Ingresos al Fisco, por regalías e Impuestos, de 500 mil millones de dólares. - El ingreso petrolero permitió sostener la Misiones Sociales: Robisnson, Ribas, Sucre y Alimentación entre otras. - Entre 2010-2011 se construyeron 600 mil viviendas en la Gran Mision Vivienda Venezuela. - El pais pudo derrotar la pobreza y la desigualdad social (según la ONU) - La economía tuvo un crecimiento constante para ubicarse en un PIB de 372 mil 592 millones de dólares al 2012 (según el FMI) - El salario mínimo y las pensiones eran de 480 dólares al mes, con incidencia en las prestaciones sociales - La inflación promedio se ubicó en 25% anual y el Bolívar tenía un alto poder adquisitivo. - Nadie escapaba del país. - Venezuela era un país Soberano, respetado y ejemplo en el mundo. -El nuestro era un pueblo orgulloso con plenos derechos y garantías. - El Plan de la Patria, era el Plan para superar el modelo rentista petrolero. Nosotros demostramos que con PDVSA, nuestra empresa estatal, en control de la industria petrolera y garante de la Soberanía nacional, pudimos poner el petróleo al servicio del Pueblo, de todo el país. Solo recuerdo estos datos y hechos en un momento en el que el país ha perdido la memoria, nadie del gobierno celebrará esta fecha, pues vivimos bajo una situación de tutelaje y entrega. Pero allí está la memoria colectiva, nuestra historia reciente, que nos permitirá recuperar -más temprano que tarde- nuestra plena soberanía y reconstruir nuestra Patria! ¡Vivan los trabajadores petroleros!!

@Hawkeye1745 @GodfreeTrh Expect more actions under China's 2021 law and the 13 April 2026 Decree 835. Details in my 13 April article: #China_punishes_the_USA_for_its_extraterritorial_secondary_sanctions" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">lauriemeadows.info/conflict_secur…