Yesterday I had Dexter White on the podcast as the perfect follow up to Tom Luongo on Monday. This was before the ceasefire, so we will see how that plays out and how markets react. We talked about the Strait of Hormuz and other international choke points, some of the nuances of AI and the media environment, and the national security importance of the great power competition with China. For anyone interested in a look at some of the most important topics facing the US right now, this one is worth a listen. You can find Dexter on Twitter and at Gold Goats n’ Guns.

Podcast Summary

* The situation with the Strait of Hormuz, what it means for the US, and the various supply chains that are impacted by it.

* The nuances that are involved with the situation in Iran, and the lack of second and third order thinking from different media personalities.

* The legal problems facing Netanyahu, and why Israel has influence, but they aren’t the only driving force behind the recent operations in Iran.

* Why the US approach to China’s access to energy is a matter of national security.

* The different islands in play in the Strait of Hormuz, from Qeshm and other islands in the narrowest part of the channel, and why he wouldn’t be surprised to see US Marines taking Qeshm, Hormuz, Larac, and the other small islands.

* The importance of Kharg Island farther north, and why the US has to cut off the flow to reorder the political situation in Iran.

* Why the US is targeting different international choke points, and how other countries have benefited from our role as guarantor of global shipping lanes.

* The AI spending and the brute force approach of the LLM models that make it more power and data hungry than they need to be.

* Why we won’t get AGI until you start working with neural tissue chip arrays.

* The potential for data centers to be used for a digital control grid.

* Why the waves of layoffs are not driven as much by AI and it’s more driven by the middle management bloat that has built up in the system over the last several decades.

* The problems with the hyperfinancialized economy and globalization, how this was tied into the push towards egalitarianism, and the return to a reality based economy.

* How the media environment shapes and pushes different narratives.

* Where things lead with China, and why the US needs to address supply chain deficiencies rapidly because we are behind on that front.

* Canada, why each province is a colonial exploitation zone, and the future of Alberta and Quebec.

* Book Recommendation: On War by Carl von Clausewitz.

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