In January 2026, the United States overthrew Nicolás Maduro and seized operational control of Venezuela’s oil exports. In February 2026, the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran that closed the Strait of Hormuz. These are not separate events. They are the same strategy executed in sequence. Before the first bomb fell on Tehran, the US had already redirected 900,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan crude away from China and toward American, European, and Indian refiners. Chevron, Vitol, and Trafigura now market PDVSA oil under General License 52, with all proceeds flowing to a US Treasury account. China’s share of Venezuelan exports collapsed from over 600,000 barrels per day to 48,000 in February, a 67 percent drop in weeks. The US did not announce this as war preparation. It announced it as democracy promotion. But the barrel does not care what you call it. Now connect the second move. China buys 80 to 91 percent of Iran’s oil exports, approximately 1.38 million barrels per day transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The strait is now closed. Iran’s export infrastructure is under sustained bombardment. Kharg Island, which handles 90 percent of Iranian crude, is on the Pentagon’s contingency list. In two months, the United States has cut China off from its two largest non-traditional crude suppliers simultaneously: Venezuela by regime change, Iran by war. Combined, China has lost access to roughly two million barrels per day of supply it was receiving 60 days ago. This is why Dar is in Beijing today. China is not mediating the Iran war out of altruism or diplomatic ambition. China is mediating because it is running out of affordable oil. The country that controls 90 percent of the world’s rare earth processing, that supplies BeiDou navigation to Iranian missiles and neodymium magnets to American interceptors, that holds the leverage to end or extend this war, is sitting at the negotiating table because the United States methodically cut its energy supply lines before the first missile was fired. The grand bargain is not a theory. It is a pressure system. The US needs Chinese rare earths to rebuild 2,400 depleted Patriot interceptors. China needs Hormuz open and Venezuelan barrels restored. The US controls the Venezuelan spigot. China controls the rare earth pipeline. Each side holds a chokepoint the other cannot survive without. The deal writes itself: rare earth guarantees for oil access, semiconductor export relief for Hormuz security, Taiwan status-quo assurance for NPT compliance. Every variable has a price. Every price has a counterparty. And both counterparties are now desperate enough to pay. Venezuela was the opening move. Iran is the middle game. Beijing is the endgame. The molecule that connects all three is crude oil, and the country that controls where it flows controls the terms of the peace. The US did not stumble into this war. It secured alternative supply, redirected barrels away from its principal competitor, launched the campaign that closed the competitor’s primary import route, and is now negotiating from a position where the competitor must choose between its rare earth leverage and its energy security. That is not improvisation. That is the most sophisticated energy weapon deployed since the 1973 Arab oil embargo, except this time, America is not the victim. It is the architect. The arithmetic leads to Beijing. It always did. The only question was whether Beijing would arrive at the table voluntarily or be starved into it. The answer, as of March 31, is the latter. open.substack.com/pub/shanak…

The prevailing view of so much of the young left in America is that we’re the worst country ever, so if someone attacks us, they can’t be all bad.

Since Trump won in 2024, this is how much richer the oligarchs have become: Elon Musk: $531 billion Larry Page: $139 billion Jeff Bezos: $60 billion Sergey Brin: $128 billion Michael Dell: $107 billion FIGHT FOR AN ECONOMY THAT WORKS FOR ALL, NOT JUST THE FEW.

Over the last 10 years, US Federal Government Tax Revenue has increased 65% to $5.3 Trillion while Government Spending has increased 96% to $7.3 Trillion. The result: a more than doubling of the US National Debt from $19 trillion to $39 trillion. Video: youtube.com/watch?v=f3ECfl1a…

The S&P 500's Dividend Yield has moved down to 1.04%, the lowest level in history.

S&P 500 earnings are now expected to increase by 24% this year. We've never seen earnings growth this high outside of post-recessionary rebounds. An unprecedented boom fueled by massive EPS gains in big tech. Video: youtube.com/watch?v=6Spz0WNP…

Your dollar lost 53% of its purchasing power over the past 30 years. That’s not an anomaly. That’s the system. Inflation isn’t just a number - it’s a silent thief. Invest in real assets, or watch your money evaporate.

BREAKING: US oil prices fall below $72/barrel for the first time since March 3rd.