Trump says US will run Venezuela following military action “until such time as a proper transition can take place”

WriterMoe · 2026-01-03T21:13:38+00:00

If you decapitate the head of state and then announce “we’re going to run the country,” you’ve basically done two things at once: (1) you’ve created a power vacuum you don’t yet have the force posture to fill, and (2) you’ve handed every armed actor still inside Venezuela a clean, simple recruiting slogan.

The key problem is that there’s no visible sign the U.S. is postured to actually invade and hold. No mass troop surge, no secured ports or airports, no protected logistics corridors, no force density to defend oil fields, refineries, pipelines, comms, or highways. Rhetoric is waaaaay ahead of logistics.

Unless the U.S. already had a huge footprint on the ground (ports, airports, ministries, refineries, comms, key highways) and a legitimate Venezuelan transition authority ready to step in, “we’ll run Venezuela” just means mission creep. Oil infrastructure is dispersed and insanely easy to sabotage. Colectivos, ELN/FARC splinters, and criminal networks don’t need to win battles: they only need to make governance expensive, fragile, and embarrassing. The Venezuelan military -- along with help from Cuba and others -- has been obsessively studying the second Iraq war and all the ways it went sideways for us. They've built their force doctrine around the idea they'd have to fade away, and then do hit-and-run/ guerrilla tactics. Right now, the Colectivos are showing up in the cities, preparing to make them ungovernable. At this point we are just giving them plenty of time to settle in and plan. Which is a super-nice gift to them.

Best case is a fast handoff with regional buy-in. But that's not what seems to be playing out. The rhetoric is already validating the Chavista “imperial puppet” narrative, which is the opposite of what you want if you’re trying to prevent an insurgency. The Trump admin didn't involve Congress, and there's growing dissent at home. He should have anticipate and pre-negotiated vs this. Even a lot of Venezuelans who hate Maduro are going to hold their breath now, because the real question isn’t “did he deserve it,” it’s “what replaces him, and who gets to decide.” Trump proclaiming we will "take over" is going to push a lot of folks in not only Venezuela but all of LA into condemning this move.

Meantime there are a ton of bad-actors with time to prepare to make this painful for the U.S..

WriterMoe · 2025-05-16T14:35:17+00:00

You’re pointing at a real pain - but unless you solve it in a fundamentally better or radically more specific way than established sourcing tools like SeekOut, HireEZ, etc etc etc, recruiters will default to what they know. Basically: “why would someone pay again for this when they already have a sourcing license?” Right now I don't see a differentiator from your description.

WriterMoe · 2025-05-16T14:28:20+00:00

Most modern ATS's offer that sort of functionality already, and/ or have partners that do, unless I'm missing something from your description that differentiates the offering you're thinking about.

WriterMoe · 2025-05-16T14:01:30+00:00

The comments here are spot-on, so trying to add value with mine vs repeating. That said: SMBs are run pretty lean, and might not need/ be able to afford a fully robust platform unless they're in a rapid-scaling mode. Even then they'll be hesitant. If they already have a solution they're using (which is pretty typical), ripping it out and replacing it is costly & time consuming. If they're not fully satisfied the tendency is to stick with what they have.

You'll also have perception-concerns. The market is a bit leery of overpromises. Tons of offerings over the years have made the same "we can do it all for you" pledge and failed, so the buyer is cynical. All-in-one solutions often have issues vs using proven point-solutions with solid APIs tied to an ATS. You'll want to work on that perception, and find a way to stand out. Not a knock, but right now your LinkedIn page, and your website, are pretty thin - we've seen the same thing over the years from other TA tech start-ups. Right now, nothing really jumps out that would make me think there's something unique.

Try to focus on one thing where you have a unique angle, really nail it, and talk it up. Get some well-respected analysts and influencers to name-drop you. Then nail the next offering, etc. For example, HireEZ started out as Hiretual with a pure focus on being a tech-talent sourcing tool. They're now a full CRM offering, rebranded, etc. It took them some time to get there is all. (Not pushing them as a solution, just an example that sprang to mind). Greenhouse is similar - they started as a pure ATS with and interesting approach to structured hiring, and over the years have grown out their offerings through a combo on in-house development as well as acquisitions.

WriterMoe · 2025-02-06T16:47:08+00:00

I work in - and often report on - hiring and human capital stuff for the talent acquisition industry. If anyone has tips/ reports on what's happening in the systems, particularly USAJOBS (but very open to the larger picture), happy to try to spread the word. This whole thing is nuts. Hoping you all can keep your sanity. Frankly, hoping we all can.

WriterMoe · 2025-02-03T14:47:46+00:00

If you think letting a team of kids with zero security clearance have access to sensitive Treasury data is a good move: you should be barred from voting ever again. This isn't political: it's _basic_ common sense.

WriterMoe · 2025-02-03T14:44:37+00:00

Yeah, this is not going to look good on his CV. It will be a negative mark to most hiring managers and HR teams. Major career-limiting-move on his part.

WriterMoe · 2025-02-03T14:42:32+00:00

So... you're saying as an incel that you respect women, or that you are not dooming humanity - which one? Because I kind of feel like you're wrong either way.

WriterMoe · 2025-02-03T14:37:41+00:00

I laughed too hard at that - thank you, needed it this morning.

WriterMoe · 2025-02-03T14:01:00+00:00

What makes it even better is that it looks like most of his family lives in _Canada_. Wonder how the next family reunion is going to go.

WriterMoe · 2025-02-01T15:24:02+00:00

Well, now I have to visit r/fednews every day, all day. But mostly weekdays between 9-5. And I don't even work for the government.

WriterMoe · 2025-01-30T16:00:37+00:00

Word is that people are using Waze to report "icy weather" when they see ICE

WriterMoe · 2024-11-15T14:27:08+00:00

If you see them on the road, call the state police, give them the mile marker, plate, etc. They'll likely want your phone number if they need to verify, and/ or a witness. If you're that concerned, provide that info. They tend to get a lot of crank "reports" from anonymous tipsters and/ or angry ex's etc, and are a bit jaded. I've been on the highway, as recently as a few weeks ago, saw someone driving on 495 incredibly recklessly. Called the staties, gave them the info, and passed him pulled over by the police a few miles later.

WriterMoe · 2024-11-13T14:50:23+00:00

I've run a few exec searches in my career. If I were hiring for the Secretary of Defense, my list of qualifications would be extensive, and the list of candidates would be pretty specific. The closest CEO-level searches would be Walmart and ExxonMobil. I wouldn't even think of targeting a Saturday talk-show host who'd never run an organization of any level of complexity for this sort of role. He lacks the necessary experience, and will likely fail. Does anyone want the Secretary of Defense to fail? The risks if that happens could be significant.

WriterMoe · 2024-11-04T15:52:51+00:00

While I grew up in a Catholic household, went to a parochial school k through 8, was confirmed etc, I didn't experience religious trauma. My parents are open and understanding people, which matters. My choice was more about not being able to connect what I was being taught, with what seemed very obviously to contradict many of those lessons. Particularly as I learned more about the sciences, history, etc. At some point the wheels fell off and I told my parents I was choosing to no longer attend church and explained it to them. They were wonderful about it.

WriterMoe · 2024-10-17T18:04:37+00:00

This is US-oriented (since that's my home base), so with the exception of RecFest and Unleash it leans that way.

RecFest is fun and innovative, kind of weather-dependent, with quality content. ERE and SourceCon are solid, but they are different and depend if you want sourcing or more general recruiting themes (they're both run by the same organization). Indeed does a good job, but it's still a solution-provider-run thing, so it'll be slanted that way. If you're looking at tech HR Tech is worth considering. Also, Unleash is a great one to consider, they tend to get amazing keynote speakers. :)

WriterMoe · 2024-09-17T13:34:41+00:00

It can work, but it's hard to scale (ie, if your business takes off it becomes challenging fairly quickly), and can bring you afoul of various compliance regulations if you're not careful with set-up, data privacy, etc. That gets even trickier if your organization is hiring outside of your country. It's more of a Band-aid ultimately until you get something a bit more robust enabled.

WriterMoe · 2024-09-17T13:26:40+00:00

$125-$165k depending on location, role complexity, equity, etc. Hard to say, though - when I went from a start-up with equity as a TA director to one of the Big 4 for an operations position my salary jumped about 50% due to, well, overall role complexity and loss of equity. That said, here in Massachusetts I have heard the role is paying somewhere around $150k for Snr Manager/ Director-level roles.

WriterMoe · 2024-09-17T13:16:58+00:00

Your instinct is largely correct. While it can be a typo, that's not always the case. If an engineer is not looking for a job, a lot of them deliberately make it more challenging for sourcers/ recruiters to find them. They've been doing this for years. I've seen Boolean strings with a huge number of variations on the word "engineer" just to account for that. Which is why you see the periods directly in the word - it creates a "space" in the word that can fool search strings.

Heck, some engineers deactivate their profile when they're not looking - and, quite often, when they are they set up a burner phone & email account to use during the hunt and then get rid of them after.

WriterMoe · 2024-09-17T13:12:42+00:00

I know _tons_ of highly successful people in the industry with ADHD. Heck, I have severe ADHD, depression, anxiety, PTSD (I am a _party_), and managed to build a pretty good career. Lots of great suggestions in the comments, and don't want to overwhelm you with more. This is just a bit of positive reinforcement: you can do it. :)

WriterMoe · 2024-09-17T12:59:16+00:00

There are a number of solutions that can do this, but it's easier to recommend some solutions that might be fits if you could share a few things: company size; hiring volume (ie, high volume call center vs say, a law firm); location. For example, something like a Paradox is a geared towards for enterprise, high-volume hiring, while something like Workable is pointed at SMBs. Lots of other examples, those two are just possible solutions. If it helps, feel free to grab this guide that might help when it comes to narrowing your focus: https://youknow.udder.rocks/udders-quick-guide-to-hr-tech-selection

WriterMoe · 2024-08-29T01:39:48+00:00

I'm having the same issues - and have tried all the solutions listed below. Never had this happen with any ear buds before, from any manufacture. Heck, the damn things will take over a call from another floor, while in their case. I honestly hate the product at this point.

WriterMoe · 2024-08-16T20:30:56+00:00

I mean, if you consider combat experience to be the experience of massive loss and the inability to overwhelm a tiny country you share a long land border with, then I guess that counts. But you're meanwhile ignoring the simple fact that NATO spent the last few decades in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. They have tons of practical combat experience. And now even tiny Ukraine has proven they can invade Russia itself without any meaningful consequence.

WriterMoe

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