Behind the Bastards

It Could Happen Here Weekly 224

March 21, 2026

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  • The proliferation of Private Maritime Security Companies (PMSCs) stems from the lack of state regulation under 'flags of convenience,' creating a largely unaccountable private militarization of the high seas. 
  • The current conflict in the Strait of Hormuz threatens to make global shipping uninsurable due to Iranian capabilities like mines, drones, and fast attack vessels, forcing a reliance on private security or risky state intervention. 
  • Palestinians are not monolithic in their views on armed tactics or disarmament, with internal debates between factions like Hamas and Fatah demonstrating a lack of national consensus, which is ignored by international post-conflict planning. 
  • Palestinians are seriously debating the strategic and moral implications of armed tactics, indicating no single party speaks for their entire population. 
  • Venture capital acts as a central coordinator and efficient machine for generating startups, often masking a cartel-like structure that is increasingly impacting geopolitics. 
  • The Network State concept, championed by figures like Balaji Srinivasan, is a strategy for creating unregulated zones globally to facilitate corporate colonization, medical experimentation, and tax evasion, serving as a counter to initiatives like China's Belt and Road. 
  • The speakers advocate for building a global, organized resistance movement against the advanced and often unrecognized power structures fueled by venture capital, drawing historical parallels to successful anti-globalization and anti-colonial movements. 
  • The Prairieland trial established concerning precedents by convicting defendants on terrorism-related charges using fireworks as statutory explosives and applying the 'material support to terrorists' statute based on ideological alignment with Antifa. 
  • The escalating conflict between Iran and Israel has moved into a critical phase, evidenced by strikes on major LNG infrastructure in Qatar and the deployment of US Marine Expeditionary Units, signaling a dangerous trajectory for global energy markets and regional stability. 
  • The resignation of National Counter-Terrorism Center Director Joe Kent is framed by his explicitly anti-Semitic reasoning, suggesting the war with Iran was manufactured by Israel and that Trump was conned, aligning him with figures like Nick Fuentes. 
  • The hosts criticize the mainstream media for failing to report on the anti-Semitic context of Joe Kent's resignation, warning listeners against news sources that omit this crucial information. 
  • The conversation notes the disturbing normalization of anti-Semitic terminology like 'Zog' and 'goy' within certain segments of the online left, exemplified by figures associated with The Young Turks (TYT). 

Segments

Introduction and Compilation Note
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(00:00:00)
  • Key Takeaway: This episode of Behind the Bastards is a compilation of all weekly episodes of It Could Happen Here.
  • Summary: The episode begins with advertisements for Weatherbug, Sunday lawn care, Virgin Voyages, and Public investing. Robert Evans introduces the episode as a compilation of the week’s It Could Happen Here shows in one package with fewer ads. The hosts, James and Garrison, prepare to discuss private maritime security.
Private Maritime Security Overview
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(00:03:54)
  • Key Takeaway: Private Maritime Security Companies (PMSCs) provide armed security, intelligence, and crisis response, often employing former military personnel who struggled to find civilian work.
  • Summary: The discussion focuses on private maritime security due to current attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. PMSCs offer comprehensive packages including armed guards, intelligence, and intervention services for large commercial vessels like cargo ships and oil tankers. The need for such security arose significantly following the rise in Somali piracy around 2008, which shifted tactics from simple theft to vessel seizure or kidnapping for ransom.
Maersk Alabama Incident Details
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(00:09:26)
  • Key Takeaway: The 2009 Maersk Alabama hijacking, involving Somali pirates with basic weaponry, resulted in a multi-day standoff resolved when US Navy SEALs sniped the pirates while the captain was in the lifeboat.
  • Summary: The Maersk Alabama incident highlighted the vulnerability of US-flagged ships to small, armed pirate crews. The crew managed to capture one pirate leader, but the pirates escaped with the captain in a lifeboat. The US Navy engaged in a standoff, eventually using sniper rifles to neutralize the pirates, demonstrating the high-stakes nature of modern maritime security crises.
Flags of Convenience and Jurisdiction
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(00:13:50)
  • Key Takeaway: Flags of convenience (like Liberia or Panama) allow vessel owners to avoid taxation, safety regulations, and labor laws imposed by their home nations, which in turn allows for minimal regulation of armed security on board.
  • Summary: The legal framework enabling PMSCs is rooted in ‘flags of convenience,’ where nations allow foreign vessels to register under their flag with minimal oversight. This lack of regulation means flag nations like Liberia offer little assistance if a vessel is seized, and they generally do not regulate the weaponry carried by security contractors. The UN authorized military action against Somali pirates, but the sheer volume of traffic necessitated the widespread adoption of on-vessel private security.
Iranian Naval Threats in Hormuz
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(00:30:24)
  • Key Takeaway: Iran can effectively threaten the Strait of Hormuz not just with its IRGC fast attack vessels, but also with easily hidden mobile missile launchers and uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) designed to explode on impact.
  • Summary: The current threat involves mines, which are difficult for the US to clear due to currents, and swarms of small, fast IRGC boats armed with machine guns or RPGs. Furthermore, Iran utilizes USVs, which are essentially sea-borne suicide drones, as demonstrated by an attack on a tanker in Basra port. Iran only needs to make transiting the strait uninsurable to effectively close it, as the US Navy lacks the capacity for universal escort.
Palestinian Debate on Armed Tactics
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(00:45:17)
  • Key Takeaway: Palestinian political factions (Hamas, Fatah) and activists hold divergent views on disarmament and armed resistance, indicating no unified national consensus exists, a reality ignored by international post-conflict planning.
  • Summary: Despite ongoing Israeli violations of the ceasefire, Palestinian political discourse reveals deep divisions regarding the role of armed groups and disarmament. Hamas argues for resistance rights and consensus-based decisions, while Fatah insists on PLO legitimacy, disarmament, and PA control over Gaza. Polling shows neither party holds a majority mandate, and intellectual critiques quickly followed October 7th, arguing that immoral acts harm the legitimacy of the resistance cause.
Palestinian Resistance Morality
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(01:01:54)
  • Key Takeaway: Distinguishing between legitimate military operations and immoral acts against civilians is essential for maintaining the justice of the Palestinian cause.
  • Summary: The right to resist occupation is deemed permissible, even necessary, but movements are not exempt from moral judgment. Maintaining the justice of the Palestinian cause requires distinguishing between legitimate military actions and immoral acts targeting civilians. This ongoing debate shows Palestinians seriously consider the strategic and moral implications of armed tactics.
VC Focus vs. Systemic Force
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(01:08:02)
  • Key Takeaway: Focusing critique solely on mythological figures like Peter Thiel and Curtis Yarvin minimizes the systemic threat posed by the trillions of dollars and thousands of startups coordinated by venture capital.
  • Summary: The public fixation on individual ‘freaks’ like Thiel, Yarvin, and Sam Altman diverts attention from the serious structural force of venture capital. This system involves trillions of dollars, hundreds of firms, and thousands of startups acting as a coordinated machinery. Critiquing the system structurally, rather than focusing on personalities, is necessary to address the actual threat.
Venture Capital Mechanics and Funding
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(01:13:08)
  • Key Takeaway: Venture capital operates as a black box, taking in capital from often unknown sources and deploying it into high-risk sectors like weapons, crypto, and nuclear energy.
  • Summary: Venture capital firms aggregate global capital with limited transparency regarding their investors. This money is then channeled into diverse, often controversial, sectors including weapons manufacturing and crypto development. This structure allows for complex relationships, such as US-funded VC firms supporting weapons used by Israel.
Major VC Firms and Moral Degradation
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(01:22:06)
  • Key Takeaway: Andreessen Horowitz is identified as the firm most responsible for the current trajectory, dominating the market and exhibiting a culture of moral depravity, exemplified by hiring Daniel Penny.
  • Summary: Andreessen Horowitz raised over 18% of all venture capital dollars in 2025, indicating a monopolistic trend alongside firms like Founders Fund and General Catalyst. This ecosystem displays a degradation in morality, evidenced by Andreessen Horowitz hiring Daniel Penny, the man who killed Jordan Neely. Other key players include Lux Capital, known for extreme Zionism, and CIA-backed InQTEL.
Crypto’s Role in VC Strategy
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(01:34:14)
  • Key Takeaway: Crypto represents venture capital’s attempt to build a fully featured, parallel financial system owned and controlled by them, aiming to move transactions out of the sovereign US financial system.
  • Summary: Crypto development, including banks, stock exchanges, and loan programs, is a strategic move to capture transaction value currently flowing to traditional bankers. This effort is intrinsically linked to the Network State concept, which functions as global tax evasion zones to avoid IRS and other national tax obligations. The goal is replacing the existing global financial system with one controlled by venture capitalists.
Network State as Corporate Colonization
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(01:48:00)
  • Key Takeaway: The Network State is an extensible concept utilizing Special Economic Zones to carve out areas free from traditional regulation, enabling corporate colonization, resource extraction, and unethical medical experimentation.
  • Summary: Network State sites serve multiple purposes, including ideological projects, industrial centers, and zones for unregulated biotech development, such as the unregulated clinical trials occurring in Honduras. This model allows venture capitalists to negotiate entry into countries on their own terms, often involving crypto adoption and access to land and minerals. This process mirrors corporate colonization, exploiting local populations for labor and resources while bypassing national laws.
Building Global Resistance to VC
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(02:15:13)
  • Key Takeaway: A global coalition is necessary to resist venture capitalists who are advancing projects beyond public awareness, treating their entry into areas as invasions of sovereign nations.
  • Summary: Venture capital projects are reportedly more advanced than the public realizes, necessitating a global emergency response and resistance. This resistance should be a global coalition ready to stand by local populations against these invasions. Historical movements like the anti-globalization movement, which successfully halted new free trade agreements, provide a blueprint for this necessary fight.
Weatherbug and Sunday Ads
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(02:22:41)
  • Key Takeaway: Weatherbug offers hyper-local, real-time weather alerts, while Sunday promotes ditching chemical lawn care for natural ingredients like soybean proteins and seaweed.
  • Summary: Weatherbug provides fast local alerts and comprehensive 10-day forecasts, allowing users to plan with confidence. Sunday’s lawn care system uses clean, science-backed ingredients for greener grass without harsh toxins. Users can order a custom Sunday yard plan based on their specific needs.
Public Investing Platform Features
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(02:23:42)
  • Key Takeaway: Public’s investing platform now allows users to create ‘Generated Assets’ using AI prompts to build custom, multi-asset investment indexes.
  • Summary: Public allows users to build portfolios across stocks, bonds, options, and crypto, plus AI-generated assets. Users input a prompt (e.g., ‘semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20%’), and the AI builds a custom index that can be backtested. New users can earn an uncapped 1% bonus when transferring their portfolio.
Text Now Wireless Service
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(02:24:43)
  • Key Takeaway: Text Now offers commitment-free wireless plans with free talk and text over real 5G coverage, built for users who avoid long-term contracts.
  • Summary: Text Now provides service without commitments or credit checks, focusing on user needs rather than carrier schedules. Users can download the app to connect in minutes with free talk and text. This service is positioned for people who prefer flexibility over traditional carrier structures.
Executive Disorder News Roundup Start
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(02:25:18)
  • Key Takeaway: The ‘Executive Disorder’ segment covers the week of March 11th to March 18th, beginning with an apology for failing to cover the limited release of the Buffalo Wild Wings Espresso Protini.
  • Summary: The hosts issued a serious apology for not traveling to the SeaWorld Orlando location to cover the Espresso Protini on National Espresso Martini Day. Small news items included Meta sunsetting the VR portion of Horizon Worlds on June 15th. Colombian student Lika Cordilla was released from ICE custody after a judge’s third release order was not appealed.
Ecuador Bombing and Shutdown Offer
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(02:30:09)
  • Key Takeaway: Ecuador’s military mistakenly bombed Colombian territory, prompting a diplomatic protest, while the White House offered concessions to end a government shutdown.
  • Summary: Colombian President Gustavo Petro confirmed that a bomb landing in Colombian territory belonged to the Ecuadorian army, leading to a diplomatic protest note. The White House’s offer to end the shutdown included expanding body-worn camera use by DHS law enforcement and limiting civil immigration enforcement at sensitive locations like hospitals and schools.
Gregory Bovino Retirement Analysis
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(02:32:49)
  • Key Takeaway: Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino’s early retirement appears linked to his role as a ‘sacrificial pawn’ following controversial statements about the Alex Pretty killing.
  • Summary: Bovino, Chief Patrol Agent of the El Centro sector, is retiring earlier than previously indicated, likely due to political pressure after claiming the deceased Alex Pretty was planning to ‘massacre agents.’ His retirement, alongside other political shifts like Republican sheriffs opposing mass deportations, suggests the right wing may be distancing itself from hardline immigration enforcement.
Polymarket Harassment of Journalist
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(02:37:08)
  • Key Takeaway: A journalist reporting an Iranian missile strike in Israel was aggressively harassed and threatened by individuals financially invested in a $14 million Polymarket bet that required the missile to be intercepted.
  • Summary: The market rules stipulated that intercepted missiles would resolve the bet to ’no,’ leading bettors who lost money to pressure the journalist to retract or alter his report confirming an intact strike. This incident signals a bleak future where journalists face financial threats to influence their on-the-ground reporting for prediction market outcomes.
Polymarket Situation Room Bar Opening
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(02:42:56)
  • Key Takeaway: Polymarket is opening ‘The Situation Room,’ a bar in D.C. dedicated to monitoring global events via live feeds, which critics note aligns perfectly with the company’s destabilizing nature.
  • Summary: The new bar is described as a sports bar concept focused on situation monitoring, featuring live X-Feeds, flight radar, and Bloomberg terminals. The grand opening was met with commentary noting that the concept of ‘drinking your way through World War III’ is already the reality of every bar in Washington, D.C.
Supreme Court TPS Ruling
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(02:44:43)
  • Key Takeaway: The Supreme Court scheduled arguments for the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) cases for Syria and Haiti in April, ensuring these statuses remain active until at least late June or July.
  • Summary: The court upheld the indefinite postponement of termination by lower courts in New York and D.C., allowing TPS for these groups to continue temporarily. The Trump administration expedited this case to the Supreme Court via Certiorari before judgment. The smaller number of people involved in the Syria/Haiti cases makes it easier for advocates to show potential harm compared to the Venezuela TPS case.
Prairieland Trial Convictions and Precedent
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(02:46:14)
  • Key Takeaway: Eight individuals were convicted in the Prairieland trial for terrorism-related charges stemming from a protest, with the judge restricting self-defense arguments against an officer who drew his weapon on a fleeing suspect.
  • Summary: The defendants were convicted of riot, material support to terrorists, and explosives charges, with one convicted of attempted murder for shooting an officer in the neck with an AR-15. The prosecution successfully linked the defendants through a Venn diagram of groups like the Socialist Rifle Association, arguing they formed a ‘North Texas Antifa cell.’ The case established that fireworks meet the statutory definition of explosives under federal law, creating a worrying precedent for future protest charges.
Iran Conflict Escalation and Economic Impact
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(03:00:30)
  • Key Takeaway: Israel’s strike on Iran’s South Pars gas field and Iran’s subsequent destruction of 17% of Qatar’s LNG capacity signal a catastrophic escalation threatening global energy supply for years.
  • Summary: The destruction of Qatar’s LNG facility could cause disruptions lasting months or years, pushing energy analysts toward a ‘doomsday gas crisis scenario,’ with Brent Crude already over $100. Iran’s retaliation occurred after Israel struck its domestic gas fields, and continued attacks incentivize Iran to target more critical infrastructure, potentially including desalination plants.
Trump Denies Drone Existence
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(03:09:22)
  • Key Takeaway: Donald Trump publicly denied the existence of uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) despite CENTCOM confirming their presence and use in the region, illustrating a trend of denying reality by labeling it as AI-generated.
  • Summary: CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper provided evidence of naval drone storage facilities near the Strait of Hormuz, confirming USVs are real and actively used in conflicts like the one in Ukraine. This denial highlights a troubling future where political actors dismiss verifiable facts by claiming they are AI-generated or fake news.
Iranian Troop Movements
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(03:20:59)
  • Key Takeaway: Iranian government forces reportedly ordered troops to shoot civilians perceived as moving without permission, occupying strategic locations like mountains and schools.
  • Summary: Iranian government forces appear to have ordered troops to shoot people moving without authorization, a situation exacerbated by forces occupying mountains and local educational/sports facilities. This action puts residents in towns under direct threat. Hengar reported specific incidents of civilians being shot by security forces in the region.
Joe Kent Resignation Context
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(03:21:33)
  • Key Takeaway: Joe Kent resigned as Director of the National Counter-Terrorism Center citing that Iran posed no imminent threat, with his resignation note heavily referencing the death of his wife, Shannon Kent.
  • Summary: Joe Kent resigned, stating Iran was not an imminent threat, a detail often missed in reporting. His resignation note focused heavily on the death of his wife, Shannon Kent, a cryptologist killed by an ISIS suicide bomber in Manbij, Syria. Kent attributed the circumstances leading to his wife’s death to a ‘war manufactured by Israel’ and suggested Trump was conned by Israel into starting the war with Iran.
Anti-Semitic Justifications
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(03:23:05)
  • Key Takeaway: Kent’s justification for his stance is explicitly anti-Semitic, rooted in the conspiratorial belief of a ‘Zionist-occupied government’ (Zog) controlling US state operations.
  • Summary: Kent’s reasoning for opposing the war is identified as explicitly anti-Semitic, utilizing conspiratorial frameworks rather than principled anti-imperialism or solidarity. This viewpoint is shared by figures like Tucker Carlson, who is set to interview Kent. The hosts note the frustrating resurgence of terms like ‘Zog’ and ‘goy’ among segments of the online left.
Presidential Authority and US-Israel Ties
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(03:24:43)
  • Key Takeaway: A statement by Caroline Levitt asserted that the Commander-in-Chief alone determines threats based on constitutional empowerment and electoral trust, contrasting with historical context of US involvement in the Middle East.
  • Summary: Caroline Levitt’s statement emphasized that the President holds sole constitutional authority to define threats based on the mandate given by voters. The US maintains a long history of involvement in the Middle East, often utilizing Israel as a proxy state to support broader regional objectives. The alignment of US and Israeli interests in the Persian Gulf is often based on shared strategic goals, not solely on conspiracy theories.
Cesar Chavez Allegations
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(03:27:03)
  • Key Takeaway: The New York Times published extensive sourcing detailing allegations that Cesar Chavez sexually assaulted, raped, and molested numerous girls and women, including Dolores Huerta.
  • Summary: Extensive sourcing from the New York Times reported that Cesar Chavez sexually assaulted, raped, and molested girls and women, with grooming starting as young as eight or nine. Dolores Huerta, a long-time organizing partner, publicly stated that Chavez raped her on at least two occasions, resulting in pregnancies. Listeners are encouraged to read the article for the horrific details.
Contact Information and PR Policy
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(03:28:05)
  • Key Takeaway: News gathering tips should be sent to coolzone tips at proton.me, while PR pitches sent to this address will result in the sender being blocked and publicly called out.
  • Summary: The dedicated email for news gathering tips is coolzone tips at proton.me. Emails pitching bosses to appear on the podcast or general praise should be directed to coolzone media at iHeartMedia.com. The hosts explicitly stated they will block and engage in ‘anti-advertising’ against PR companies that spam the tips email address.