Two things always jump out. The first is the complete absence of the sort of analysis as to who “threw the first punch”. With regard to the Israeli-Hamas imbroglio, it was indisputably Hamas. Coordinated by Iran, with their “mob” back up of The Houthis and Hezbollah That Israeli then kicks their ass shouldn’t be held against Israel - or the U.S. for that matter. It’s not as though the real antagonists weren’t given the FAFO warnings. The second thing that jumps out is the obvious naïveté of critics of this alpha dog POTUS. They blithely overlook the milquetoast leadership damage that preceded this point in history. A telegraphing of weakness out into a hostile world which now needs to be set right. One extreme set of factors, now requiring an equally extreme response to the other - the “first punch thrown” at our nation by our faint hearted domestic voices, which damage, they still don’t fully understand
Ed, do what I decided to do: read these missives from the perspective that the author is, upfront, a priori, completely right. It's the only way to get through it. Best always. PM
So many readers need to hold their noses when Bill starts up again with his antisemitic mouth farts. However, Bill does employ some very solid people who provide very valuable market analysis and commentary. I subscribe to read them and just ignore Bill barking at the moon and bloviating.
Do you consider criticizing Israel to be antisemitic? I've seen a significant number of Jews criticizing the Israel genocide in Gaza. Does anti-zionism equate to anti-Semitism?
Perhaps these Jews are the same ones that recently voted in Mandavi as NYC Mayor and then promptly expressed concern over his voiding of key legislation protecting Jews. I can't explain their motivation. But obviously there must be some twisted rationale behind this behavior. I suspect a glossy take on Marxism a' la' Bernie Sanders.
That old nonsense again? Without exception, every anti-Semite is anti-Zionist. When the so called “critic” is unbalanced, rhetorical, absurd and applies double standards to Israel vs those who pledge to destroy Israel and act on their stated genocidal intent you can be assured you are dealing with an anti-Semite camouflaged in critics clothing rather than a rational critic of an Israeli policy just as assuredly as you can identify an antisemite by their description of Israel’s self defense against avowedly genocidal enemies as the “genocide” of their foes.
The point was not every anti-zionist is an anti-semite. Would you have considered anyone who criticized the Israeli attack in the USS Liberty and anti-semite? How about anyone who critizes the fact that we send billions to a country with a national health care system -Israel- while Americans go bankrupt with medical bills? How about someone who criticized Netanyahu for coming to the US to drum up our invasion of Iraq back in 2003? How about people who criticize the Israel tech billionaire who was recently on CNBC stating that our first amendment rights needed to be curtailed? I'd appreciate a direct answer to the question.
You already got a very clear and direct answer. But in lieu of your slowness I’ll make it simple. Obviously it’s not antisemitic to disagree with a policy. It is antisemitic to hold Israel to a different standard than those who are overtly committed to its destruction. All antisemites are critics of Israel to an extreme. The relentlessness’, lopsidedness, double standards, distortions, omissions and falsehoods woven into their ‘criticisms’ are the very clear indications that they are displacing and disguising their antisemitism into a pseudo rational diatribe against Israel. When they are called out, they frequently present the same silly subterfuge that you present.
You are so correct. Just because you do not like the current regime in Israel doesn't mean you are anti-Semitic. Some people just cannot seem to grasp that concept.
You’re a far nicer guy than I am, Paul. Certainly more patient. I’m so tired of these “futurists” that never guess correctly. I understand that Trump is a lightening rod for controversy, but I also note how quickly our LE personnel, our military, our industry leaders , all follow Trump under the bus. People should stay in one lane, instead, we all see Baby Boomers tired old hostilities to “The man” being regurgitated.
Ed, we can't undo time. We let the commies do their thing in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. What did we expect? Now, the country is at a crossroads, we're in our 70s and 80s. I remember my teachers in all good faith telling us kids "It can't happen here." Guess what? Best always. PM
By the way, I'm neither nice nor patient by nature, but I'm glad I give off that "vibe". Thanks for your participation here. PM
In the late 1960’s I rejected the Baby Boomer knee jerk reaction to the Vietnam War. Not that I saw merit to our involvement but simply because I watched as the same kids spit on our soldiers coming back home. Evidently, it was entirely lost on these BB D’bags that these soldiers were drafted - even as the BB’s themselves were protesting the draft. My father, a USAF Colonel was not a warmonger so I cast a suspicious eye on my own BB generation ever since those days. BTW: These same avocado waving, folk song chanting dweebs will always mention Trump as a draft dodger as though they have earned the right to criticize. They’ll always ignore their own draft resistance and Biden’s draft dodging with his asthma claim. I remain very unimpressed with the BB’s continuing BS.
Before the hippies and the yippies, there were beatniks. It was all an attempt to justify irresponsibility. Leftists think they shouldn't have to work. Best always. PM
And you’re actually suggesting that attacking one of the poorest countries in the world because they rejected Truman’s dictate that they continue as a colony of France after WWII?. Our peace loving soldiers slaughtered 3 million hapless Vietnamese—and you condemn these who opposed this absolute insanity built on nothing but lies, propaganda, total ignorance, and misplaced sense of superiority. And you think we should be rewarded? No, the Vietnamese should be compensated many trillions. But because they don’t dwell in the past like believers in the savagery and never-ending grudge-generating, hate-mongering Old (very OLD) Testament, they have forgotten their mistreatment by the know-it-all white people from the other side of the world. It must be dismaying to you, Paul, to see Vietnam actually moving ahead while we are collapsing.
Yes. I agree. The world will always hold these sort of people. Conspiracy theorists that never want to consider that their relative status in life is something for which they alone hold responsibility. “Makers vs Takers” it has always been this way - and the “Takers” are always pointing fingers at everyone except themselves.
Congratulations, you are fine tuning your endless talent for name-calling and labeling. Why do you even take the time to continually go after Bill when you probably have a lot more names to call your neighbors?
Stay in one lane? Sounds like North Korea. $2.4 trillion increase in the national debt in 2025. And now "The Man" wants to increase the defense budget by $500 billion. How do you guess the "future" will be for future generations?
You’ve got to be joking: people held in a concentration camp named Gaza (fenced off and controlled by the people who stole their homes, businesses and property without a penny of compensation for 70 years) are suddenly controlled and manipulated by Iran? Had any of the hapless prisoners similarly held by the original Hitler revolted, it would be celebrated today as heroic—not condemned as today’s Hitlers, Netanyahu and his lone admirer Trump, demand of us. Poor you!
I’m always curious as to the motivation for others subscribing to Bills letters and analysis. I assume that we’re all here for the financial and economic analysis. Is that why you’re here Ed?
Was October 7 allowed to happen? There are a number of sources that certainly believe so. Ben Swann did a series about it. Articles have been written about it, including on Substack.
The money that was funneled from Israel through Qatar to Hamas probably didn’t help the situation! Neither did ignoring the advance warnings that there was a good possibility that they were going to be attacked! There has been an ongoing effort to potentially hold Netanyahu responsible in court, and in the news in Israel! That will probably never happen, but there have certainly been articles blaming the IDF!
“Allowed to happen” by a cooperative relationship with violent Islamist murderers of innocent Jewish men, women and children is the sort of calumny that is beneath any obligation for any response. I’ll just award an “Alcoa Hat” award and move on.
Contributed how? That’s the question. Do the Israeli intelligence and defense forces feel sorrow and perhaps shame for not routing out what Hamas was plotting in time? Probably. But is this lapse indicative of Netanyahu plotting with the enemy? Probably not. Get your facts straight if you want to be taken seriously.
Reread what you wrote. The implication regarding Netanyahu came across quite clearly. If you’re taking the position that you didn’t intend to convey this understanding, that’s good and we’re done. Any questioning of what went wrong in the lead up to October 7th is good. Coming to a conclusion prematurely is not.
Ed, even conservative icon Charlie Kirk found it hard to believe that Mossad knew mothing about 10/7 and even some IDF soldiers have said they received Stand Down orders. Plus, Israeli newspapers have reported in the past that Netanyahu funded Hamas in order to keep the Palestinians divided.
Speaking of cooperative relations with violent Jihadis - Israel provided medical treatment to ISIS fighters wounded during the Syrian civil war. Ex headchopper and Al-Queda leader Jolani just visited Donnie at the White House.
The very idea that Israeli assets such as their President or the Mossad, could ever find a rationale for killing Jews is somewhat of an obscenity in my book. Can mistakes be made? Sure. We’re all human. No one is perfect other than …. 🎚️. But to question these guardians of their people, is just not right.
Then your book needs to be updated. Maybe research the Hannibal Directive. Here's a definition- If an Israeli soldier is being abducted by enemy forces, Israeli troops are authorized to use overwhelming force—including firing on the area where the soldier is held—to stop the kidnapping at almost any cost. There are reports that that directive was used on 10/7.
Or maybe the Haavara Agreement in which the Zionists collaborated with Hitler in order to facilitate their emigtstion to Palestine.
Ed, obviously you understand the ‘first punch’ wasnt thrown on Oct 7… Why do you lot read Bills work and then spend everyday pissing and moaning in the comments? Boomer activities….
There was a relative peace between Israel and Gazans prior to October 7th. Then the Hamas butchers shattered it. If you want to go further back in time - how far should we go? The Palestinians have been offered their two-state solution on many occasions. Gaza was turned over to Palestinians by Israel and look what happened.
I think the math here is very easy; you just choose who you think you should back on principle alone. I could never back any people who would strap bombs on their own children just to kill crowds of strangers. But each to his own.
Relative peace haha… Not that im going to convince you of anything, I’ll ask you to try and steel man the palestinian position - go with 1947-1948 partition plan - 56% european, russian, polish jews, 44% arab when jews owned only 6-7% of the land, and then the nakba - ethnic cleansing of 700,000 people then the naksa? They were never offered ‘their’ two state solution, they were offered Israels, the ‘terms’ untenable and loaded with poison pills. Gaza was turned over to the Palestinians and put under blockade controlled by Israel, under the guise of having a ‘no one to talk to certificate’: “In the game of delegitimisation, Hamas is an asset.” - Smotrich.
Whats the mindset of a suicide bomber? Consider Robert Papes book ‘Dying to Win’. I dont ‘back’ anyone i try to understand others perspective, you seem to back the people that snipe kids in the head and drop baby busters on civilians even during a ceasefire (15 dead today including an 11 year old girl Hamsa Houso, who was shot in the head by the IDF). But 100k dead Palestinians since 10-7 is probably inconsequential, because they were all Hamas and Hamas was under every building. The other 2million + will be shipped to Somaliland or similar soon enough - as was always the plan. Enough people see it now.
Moshe Dayan (IDF chief) - 1956: "What claim do we have against their mortal hatred of us? For eight years they have been sitting in the refugee camps in Gaza, and before their eyes we have been turning the land and villages in which they and their forefathers lived into our own inheritance."
Thats enough pissing and moaning in the comment section for me…
I'll keep this short and not so sweet. "It takes two to tango". When I watch what Palestinian Islamist militants do to their own children, I see a sick sub-specie of human being. Needlessly cruel, excessively tribal and simply not as evolved as most of humanity. That the bulk of the Arab world also keeps Palestinians out of their own countries speaks volumes as well.
Jews are 0.021% of the world's population. Just absorbing how much their culture has contributed to legal codes, philosophy, literature, the arts, science and technology, speaks to a people who have "punched far above their weight" and to the benefit of the entire world - including the Muslim world.
If turnaround is fair play - when the Palestinian people and militant Islamists the world over, turn their society around and seek a peaceful coexistence with Jews, Christians, Hindu, etc., etc., I sense the greater Muslim populations will thrive. Until then, they will be treated as all bloodthirsty, tribal and relatively primitive people are treated. They will be isolated and scorned.
Good question. We could go all the way back to the seventh century crusades- which some are still fighting. Or perhaps start at the end of WWI and the Balfour Declaration with the remapping of the ME by the British. Palestine existed as a multi-cultural enclave right up to 1948.
“There is surely a ‘reason’ for all this violence. But you could ask 100 million Americans and probably not discover what it is.”
Ask a hundred million Americans why the violence is happening and you’ll get a hundred million blank stares and one guy yelling “terrorism” like it’s a magic spell. Because when you don’t know the reason, you just chant the word louder.
Those poor Somalis. They pay a “big price.” For what? For existing in the general vicinity of American boredom. No oil, no money, no orchestra. And yet they still qualify for precision democracy, delivered at altitude.
One hundred twenty-seven strikes. That’s not strategy, that’s nervous tapping with explosives. That’s a government pacing the room going, “What else we got? Somalia again? Sure, why not, they’re still there.”
Ask a hundred million Americans why it’s happening and you’ll get a hundred million blank stares and one guy yelling “terrorism” like it’s a magic spell. Because when you don’t know the reason, you just chant the word louder.
This is how empires rot. They start swinging at shadows, confusing motion with meaning. Bombing the defenseless isn’t power, it’s insecurity with a flight budget. History isn’t impressed. History has seen this idiot before.
Somalia has nothing. That’s the crime. No leverage. No lobbyists. No “please clap.” Just people trying to survive while the US uses them as a stress ball.
And the list keeps growing. Nigeria, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Venezuela. At this point US foreign policy looks like a dartboard made out of countries nobody in Congress can pronounce.
Then came the kidnapping. Not a coup, not an invasion, Kidnapping. That’s a felony, not a doctrine. And announcing you’re going to “run” the country afterward? That’s not empire. That’s a hostile takeover run by people who can’t manage a budget or a website.
You don’t stabilize anything. You just knock over the same mess in a new direction and call it leadership.
It seems odd to bomb a place repeatedly when you can’t remember why you started, but Somalia doesn’t have oil, Venezuela does. That feels like a clue, not a big clue, just a subtle one. Like when a gal says she’s dating you for your personality but keeps checking your wallet.
They say they’re fixing things. That’s nice. I say I’m fixing my life every morning. Then I lie down again.
Running another country is hard. Running your own country is hard. Doing both at the same time while borrowing money you don’t have feels ambitious. Or stupid. I get those mixed up.
Anyway, History usually lets you finish digging before it asks why you needed the hole.
They have to keep us peons occupied with something or maybe we would wonder what has happened to the Epstein files. With the U.S. Governments continued and growing deficit spending huge sums on targeting a foreign leader makes perfect sense - can't let us peons think about "America First". The money spent on building a replica of the building in Caracas and untold sums on preparing and having the military float around the southern Caribbean. Yep - makes perfect sense to me. Of course, the heavy crude that bubbles up in Venezuela is perfect for asphalt and now none of the oil companies want any part of "investing" funds into building the oil fields in Venezuela - so Trump says the Government will do. How does that play out? Boots on the ground........if so, ugh! Take ten (10) years and untold sums America doesn't have and certainly isn't being spend on America. But I am sure Trump has a strategy for all this......is Colombia next or Cuba or Canada or Greenland. Hard to know.......
Something is indeed amiss in the mind of our pseudo king:
In December, Trump masterfully snatches one Latin American president for selling cocaine to Americans who crave it and, in the preceding month, he freed another. Announcement below:
"President Trump has officially pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who U.S. officials said was at the center of one of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking conspiracies in the world. The pardon was announced on November 28, 2025, and Hernández was released from prison shortly after the announcement."
My take: The Venezuelan president didn't buy any of the Trump family "coins" whereas the Honduran president did.
Hard to imagine...........and this is the President of the United States. How did America sink to this point? When is Congress and/or SCOTUS going to show up? So much for 3 branches of government. We have truly become a rogue state.
As far as the Hernandez pardon, he was a major league trafficker. Retired DEA agent Mike Vigil said he was bigger than El Chapo or Pablo Escobar. Plus, he was being investigated during the first Trump term. He should have pardoned him back then instead of wasting millions of tax dollars.
But hey! Its all conspiracy. Look, meat head Carney ex governor of the BOC,who prefers an upside risk, as opposed to a down side risk, is todays PM who had a visit from none other than Mr. Zelensky himself. What did he want? Why? welfare of course. Yet things continue undisturbed. Why? Because the majority of people in the US and Canada insofar as Western principles are concerned amount to nothing, but delusional cowardace or worse, ignorance. Infact Id go deeper and say they'll look to undermine those closest to them. And anyone who has the slightest idea of what is transpiring never needed a permission slip from a montebank, charlatan,or sophist. And
Just remember never forget "its safe and effective".
That sounds like what happens when the hole gets so deep people stop asking who’s digging it and start arguing about whether the shovel itself is a conspiracy.
Once former central bankers with “upside risk preferences” are running countries and surprise visits turn into welfare check-ins nobody’s allowed to question, the crowd doesn’t panic anymore, they quietly nap and anyone who notices doesn’t need permission slips because permission is the first thing that disappears when slogans replace their thinking abilities. Especially slogans you’re told to repeat calmly right before everything that was supposed to be safe and effective quietly proves it needed a footnote.
Yes quietly, wouldnt want to wake anyone from their internal world views.
On a side note insofar as largesse goes people should talk to my broker. If there ever was a foreigner who took advantage it was misdirected and misunderstood.
The philosophical heavyweight of barstools and comment sections everywhere. You see, if someone criticizes the USA, they must be a foreigner. And if they’re a foreigner, they must be freeloading. And if they’re freeloading, they must shut up forever. That’s not logic folks, that’s emotional duct tape.
“Came here to live off the largesse.”
Buddy, this country doesn’t give largesse, it sells subscriptions with interest, late fees, and bombs.
And “shits upon it”? Please, the system’s been doing that to itself for decades. I’m just pointing at the smell.
It seems odd to complain about someone “living off the largesse” while defending a government that spends money it doesn’t have, on wars it can’t explain, for reasons nobody remembers.
Also, if criticizing something means you hate it, then I hated my house every time I fixed a leak. Which explains why it collapsed.
Anyway, telling people to leave instead of answering the argument usually means the argument’s winning. That’s just math, bad math, but math.
...there is no reference in Ed's, LSO and Egypt's long diatribes (and presumably no understanding) to the manifestation and significance of the Monroe Doctrine.
The Monroe Doctrine has been cosplay for decades, used only when it’s convenient, and ignored whenever inconvenient.
You saying “you don’t understand the Doctrine” isn’t an argument, it’s a history-themed mic drop with no mic, no drop, and no audience left listening, especially when it’s being used to excuse modern power grabs that look nothing like 1823 and everything like panic dressed up as precedent.
Instead of fabricating to the masses, someone should explain why invoking a centuries-old warning label suddenly counts as strategy rather than nostalgia with a security clearance.
...true, the Monroe Doctrine has been a doctrine of convenience.
That doesn't mean it's a bad concept.
IMO Trump is resurrecting American sovereignty, long overdue.
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Clearing roots from the septic tank is stinky business...
But must be done or the septic tank no longer functions eliminating septic waste... it starts piling up...kinda like what is happening to the U.S. now...
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Trump's acts are bolstering U.S. sovereignty and security.
Rome was not built in a day, but Hiroshima was wiped out in seconds.
Well, I don’t know for sure either, and nobody has ever invited me to the Pentagon, but if I had to guess, Somalia probably wasn’t on that list because of something it “did” so much as something it “couldn’t stop”. No army, no lawyers, no lobbyists, no one to say “hey, maybe don’t.”
Those lists tend to work like grocery lists written by people who aren’t paying. You don’t start with steak, you start with whatever’s cheapest, easiest, and already sitting there looking defenseless. Somalia didn’t make the list because it mattered. It made the list because it didn’t matter, and once a country ends up on a list like that, it’s never about the reason anymore. The reason just becomes “well, it was already on the list.” Which is not a great thing to hear right before the bombing starts.
While I appreciate the economic analyses of Tom and Dan, I marvel at the political/social/humanistic analytical genius of Bill. No one I know brings past follies into the present better than Bill. No one is better or more honest and brave at distinguishing the vast gap between absolute stupidity and brilliance—something bigots (particularly those proclaiming their religious superiority) have no concept of. In fact their “infallible” “truths” carry them in the opposite direction. If only Bill could be with us forever! The world would become a happier, healthier place. That’s how fanatic (crazy?) I am about the subject you just brought up. Thanks, btw.
Well Bill the world, as you well know, is a very dangerous place and getting more dangerous every day. The major threat comes from commodities or lack thereof. If you don't have the right ones your whole economy is at risk of collapse. AI is the key to peace and prosperity. It is the straw that stirs the world's economies. So winning the AI race is of paramount importance. The most important commodity needed in the AI race is silver. It is a basic requirement for AI, EVs, medicine, military technology, and many other industries. China produces 60 to 70 percent of the world's silver and as of January 1st they they stop the sale of silver outside of their country. Now, it comes to pass that for the last 6 years there has been a structural deficit in the production of silver, meaning each of the last 6 years worldwide use of the commodity has exceeded its production. So let's just mine more silver you say? Well, all of easy to obtain silver has already been mined. Today 70 percent of all mined silver worldwide is a byproduct of mining lead, zinc, copper and nickel, so you just can't increase silver productivity by opening new silver mines. And if you could it takes 7 to 10 yeears before the mine becomes a viable producer. So Trump is a practical man. He understands the nature of commodities and their importance to America's survival and prosperity. He also understands that China has been in South America with their belt and road initiative securing the necessary commodities to feed their AI programs. Oh yes Venezuela not only has the oil but they have vast reserves of silver and other AI necessary commodities as does Greenland. The world is a very dangerous place and to survive you must be a very dangerous predator...nuff said.
Comparing Belt and Road with capturing a ship in order to steal its cargo because we don’t like to buyer of the oil is insane. China’s purpose is to provide jobs and make the B&R countries and their people rich enough to become customers of Chinese products. They pay for what they export to China. Trump openly and brazenly steals!
Excuse me Ed but did you read anything other than the belt and road initiative which of course is outright theft designed to to look like help? In reality B and R is more predatory than Trump's behavior in Venezuela.
Have you read "Confessions of an Economic Hitman"? I see the BRI as nearly a copy of the strategy described therein. The Chinese do know how to copy successful programmes.
But Ed does have a point about piracy and letters of marque. Nobody seems to discuss the point that blockade is formally an act of war. Still waiting for Congress.
I can’t believe that this article is so one-sided bullshit. You just mention the response by the US and Israel. I know your head is way into the sand (probably your anus). FYI, Israel attacked these countries you mentioned as a result OF BEING ATTACKED. The US went into Venezuela AS A RESULT of drugs coming into America and killing Americans. Maduro was involved in the transportation of much of these drugs. This is a strong message to other countries that are involved in drugs coming to the US. As far as the oil; Maduro nationalized American oil companies after these companies spent millions of oil infrastructure in Venezuela. Venezuela was a rich country with excellent standard of living. Furthermore, the fact that millions of Venezuelans left the country tells you this leader was a bad guy. In the next few years you will see the standard of living increasing in that region and see many Venezuelans returning to their homes.
"shouldn’t it be okay for China to do the same with Taiwan? "
I say, shouldn’t it be okay for China to do the same with the United States? Our government is guilty of pretty much the same things of which we accuse Venezuela.
And as a side note, there would be plenty of opportunity to video people celebrating in the streets if Trump and the First Lady were kidnapped.
To my knowledge, the US did not confiscate infrastructure of American oil companies in China. Also, I don’t believe the US is illegally sending dangerous drugs into China. And yes, there would be many people dancing in the streets if Trump and the First Lady were kidnapped BUT many people (more than 50% of the country) would be pissed.
Another random walk in the jungle by a blindfolded Bongo Bill, bouncing off one tree, changing direction, bouncing off another, each time coming to an erroneous conclusion of what he is bumping into. Another column of total, incomprehensible drivel.
Yet as F'ed up as the country is (as painted by you) you remain a free man able to spew your bullshit and hatred (TDS) rhetoric no stop. Where was your rhetoric when the cadaver was in charge? Did you get an autopen signed million or two?
Where is the financial tie in to your commentary, is not that the purpose of this newsletter? Is this why you have Dan commenting with something financial after every one of your diatribes? IT seems you gave up on that financial crap to try and convince the paying populace that your view is the right view. Perhaps MSNOW can hire you!!!!
In other words, allow the free flow of drugs, allow the people of Ven. to continue to suffer and eat out of garbage bins, Allow hamas to run rampant. Do nothing, you know like the WEP mantra states: "You will own nothing and be happy".
Your mantra: Sit back, do nothing and eat all the shit tossed at us.
Hey let's let the muslims control the US, they can implement sharia law, yea that's it. Put up bullhorns in every locality so we can all hear the call to prayer 5 times a day, I mean after all we already have it blasting in NYC. You're right Billy boy!
Yet you are still here.... leads folks to wonder why. Why would you want to be a citizen of such a f'ed place. Well, you do have your ranches, Bought with the millions you made here. Why would you want to eat where you shit?
Agreed. BB is wealthy enough that he can move around the world to the properties he owns. He can ‘dump’ his complete bullshit and move on to Argentina, France, Scotland, etc
It is ludicrous to compare the Russian invasion of Ukraine with anything the US has done since our insane invasion of Iraq. All the other military actions have been justified.
Well at least Bill’s consistent, always blaming Israel for defending themselves against a vicious bloody attack against their civilians. I guess they should have gone to the UN and complained. What a joke you’ve become.
For a different perspective I refer you to Joel Bowman's ( a former BPR contributor who I know many of you still read on Substack) article from today entitled: Don't Cry For Me, Venezuela.
"Whoa! What a difference a year makes!
On January 10, waaay back in the Olden Days of 2025, Joe Biden’s totally qualified press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, threw some baitfish to the seal-clapping propagandists performing in the White House (press) cesspool.
There she explained, in no uncertain terms and using her very best “serious Obama” voice, the Biden administration’s tough, no-nonsense stance on Nicolás Maduro, a man the administration openly and repeatedly labeled an “illegitimate” president:
“Let us quickly turn to Venezuela, where Maduro once again demonstrated his complete disregard for democratic norms and proceeded with his illegitimate inauguration.
“As President Biden emphasized earlier, during his meeting with President Elect, Edmundo González, on Monday January 6, we believe that it is essential that the will of the Venezuelan people is respected.”
Jean-Pierre then went on to announce that the reward money for information that led to Maduro’s arrest, as part of the United States’ “narcotics rewards program,” would be increased to $25 million.
Gee... for a moment there, it almost seemed like they wanted the man arrested or something? That they did not recognize his legitimacy as Venezuelan president. That rather than a pillar of democracy, Biden & Co. considered him a threat to it."
There's a whole lot more for those who are interested. Thanks Joel for your contribution. Its great to read an article from someone who gets it.
Well Bill, the “comment section “ is much more interesting reading than your daily column is. Might get back to writing about the US debt and financial issues, though most then might agree with you.
Two things always jump out. The first is the complete absence of the sort of analysis as to who “threw the first punch”. With regard to the Israeli-Hamas imbroglio, it was indisputably Hamas. Coordinated by Iran, with their “mob” back up of The Houthis and Hezbollah That Israeli then kicks their ass shouldn’t be held against Israel - or the U.S. for that matter. It’s not as though the real antagonists weren’t given the FAFO warnings. The second thing that jumps out is the obvious naïveté of critics of this alpha dog POTUS. They blithely overlook the milquetoast leadership damage that preceded this point in history. A telegraphing of weakness out into a hostile world which now needs to be set right. One extreme set of factors, now requiring an equally extreme response to the other - the “first punch thrown” at our nation by our faint hearted domestic voices, which damage, they still don’t fully understand
Ed, do what I decided to do: read these missives from the perspective that the author is, upfront, a priori, completely right. It's the only way to get through it. Best always. PM
Amen Brother well said and the use of the word Priori will get all them running for the dictionary!!
Paul, I get it, but the only way you can do this is to completely unfocus your mind and disregard all the facts.
So many readers need to hold their noses when Bill starts up again with his antisemitic mouth farts. However, Bill does employ some very solid people who provide very valuable market analysis and commentary. I subscribe to read them and just ignore Bill barking at the moon and bloviating.
Do you consider criticizing Israel to be antisemitic? I've seen a significant number of Jews criticizing the Israel genocide in Gaza. Does anti-zionism equate to anti-Semitism?
Perhaps these Jews are the same ones that recently voted in Mandavi as NYC Mayor and then promptly expressed concern over his voiding of key legislation protecting Jews. I can't explain their motivation. But obviously there must be some twisted rationale behind this behavior. I suspect a glossy take on Marxism a' la' Bernie Sanders.
That old nonsense again? Without exception, every anti-Semite is anti-Zionist. When the so called “critic” is unbalanced, rhetorical, absurd and applies double standards to Israel vs those who pledge to destroy Israel and act on their stated genocidal intent you can be assured you are dealing with an anti-Semite camouflaged in critics clothing rather than a rational critic of an Israeli policy just as assuredly as you can identify an antisemite by their description of Israel’s self defense against avowedly genocidal enemies as the “genocide” of their foes.
The point was not every anti-zionist is an anti-semite. Would you have considered anyone who criticized the Israeli attack in the USS Liberty and anti-semite? How about anyone who critizes the fact that we send billions to a country with a national health care system -Israel- while Americans go bankrupt with medical bills? How about someone who criticized Netanyahu for coming to the US to drum up our invasion of Iraq back in 2003? How about people who criticize the Israel tech billionaire who was recently on CNBC stating that our first amendment rights needed to be curtailed? I'd appreciate a direct answer to the question.
You already got a very clear and direct answer. But in lieu of your slowness I’ll make it simple. Obviously it’s not antisemitic to disagree with a policy. It is antisemitic to hold Israel to a different standard than those who are overtly committed to its destruction. All antisemites are critics of Israel to an extreme. The relentlessness’, lopsidedness, double standards, distortions, omissions and falsehoods woven into their ‘criticisms’ are the very clear indications that they are displacing and disguising their antisemitism into a pseudo rational diatribe against Israel. When they are called out, they frequently present the same silly subterfuge that you present.
You cannot win with these people. But I do give you credit for trying.
You are so correct. Just because you do not like the current regime in Israel doesn't mean you are anti-Semitic. Some people just cannot seem to grasp that concept.
You’re a far nicer guy than I am, Paul. Certainly more patient. I’m so tired of these “futurists” that never guess correctly. I understand that Trump is a lightening rod for controversy, but I also note how quickly our LE personnel, our military, our industry leaders , all follow Trump under the bus. People should stay in one lane, instead, we all see Baby Boomers tired old hostilities to “The man” being regurgitated.
Ed, we can't undo time. We let the commies do their thing in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. What did we expect? Now, the country is at a crossroads, we're in our 70s and 80s. I remember my teachers in all good faith telling us kids "It can't happen here." Guess what? Best always. PM
By the way, I'm neither nice nor patient by nature, but I'm glad I give off that "vibe". Thanks for your participation here. PM
In the late 1960’s I rejected the Baby Boomer knee jerk reaction to the Vietnam War. Not that I saw merit to our involvement but simply because I watched as the same kids spit on our soldiers coming back home. Evidently, it was entirely lost on these BB D’bags that these soldiers were drafted - even as the BB’s themselves were protesting the draft. My father, a USAF Colonel was not a warmonger so I cast a suspicious eye on my own BB generation ever since those days. BTW: These same avocado waving, folk song chanting dweebs will always mention Trump as a draft dodger as though they have earned the right to criticize. They’ll always ignore their own draft resistance and Biden’s draft dodging with his asthma claim. I remain very unimpressed with the BB’s continuing BS.
Before the hippies and the yippies, there were beatniks. It was all an attempt to justify irresponsibility. Leftists think they shouldn't have to work. Best always. PM
And you’re actually suggesting that attacking one of the poorest countries in the world because they rejected Truman’s dictate that they continue as a colony of France after WWII?. Our peace loving soldiers slaughtered 3 million hapless Vietnamese—and you condemn these who opposed this absolute insanity built on nothing but lies, propaganda, total ignorance, and misplaced sense of superiority. And you think we should be rewarded? No, the Vietnamese should be compensated many trillions. But because they don’t dwell in the past like believers in the savagery and never-ending grudge-generating, hate-mongering Old (very OLD) Testament, they have forgotten their mistreatment by the know-it-all white people from the other side of the world. It must be dismaying to you, Paul, to see Vietnam actually moving ahead while we are collapsing.
Yes. I agree. The world will always hold these sort of people. Conspiracy theorists that never want to consider that their relative status in life is something for which they alone hold responsibility. “Makers vs Takers” it has always been this way - and the “Takers” are always pointing fingers at everyone except themselves.
Is that BB "Baby Boomers" or "Bill Bonner"? Never, mind, both fit.
I try not to get personal. My intent was “Baby Boomers” of which I am one, but as has been said in ancient China “If the Foo shits, wear it”.
Congratulations, you are fine tuning your endless talent for name-calling and labeling. Why do you even take the time to continually go after Bill when you probably have a lot more names to call your neighbors?
Stay in one lane? Sounds like North Korea. $2.4 trillion increase in the national debt in 2025. And now "The Man" wants to increase the defense budget by $500 billion. How do you guess the "future" will be for future generations?
You’ve got to be joking: people held in a concentration camp named Gaza (fenced off and controlled by the people who stole their homes, businesses and property without a penny of compensation for 70 years) are suddenly controlled and manipulated by Iran? Had any of the hapless prisoners similarly held by the original Hitler revolted, it would be celebrated today as heroic—not condemned as today’s Hitlers, Netanyahu and his lone admirer Trump, demand of us. Poor you!
I’m always curious as to the motivation for others subscribing to Bills letters and analysis. I assume that we’re all here for the financial and economic analysis. Is that why you’re here Ed?
Was October 7 allowed to happen? There are a number of sources that certainly believe so. Ben Swann did a series about it. Articles have been written about it, including on Substack.
The money that was funneled from Israel through Qatar to Hamas probably didn’t help the situation! Neither did ignoring the advance warnings that there was a good possibility that they were going to be attacked! There has been an ongoing effort to potentially hold Netanyahu responsible in court, and in the news in Israel! That will probably never happen, but there have certainly been articles blaming the IDF!
“Allowed to happen” by a cooperative relationship with violent Islamist murderers of innocent Jewish men, women and children is the sort of calumny that is beneath any obligation for any response. I’ll just award an “Alcoa Hat” award and move on.
Of course you will! A very self-righteous response, and one in which you don’t have to consider that Israel contributed to their own problem!
Contributed how? That’s the question. Do the Israeli intelligence and defense forces feel sorrow and perhaps shame for not routing out what Hamas was plotting in time? Probably. But is this lapse indicative of Netanyahu plotting with the enemy? Probably not. Get your facts straight if you want to be taken seriously.
I never said that Netanyahu was plotting with the enemy!
I said that there were people in Israel trying to hold him responsible for it having occurred!
Reread what you wrote. The implication regarding Netanyahu came across quite clearly. If you’re taking the position that you didn’t intend to convey this understanding, that’s good and we’re done. Any questioning of what went wrong in the lead up to October 7th is good. Coming to a conclusion prematurely is not.
Ed, even conservative icon Charlie Kirk found it hard to believe that Mossad knew mothing about 10/7 and even some IDF soldiers have said they received Stand Down orders. Plus, Israeli newspapers have reported in the past that Netanyahu funded Hamas in order to keep the Palestinians divided.
Speaking of cooperative relations with violent Jihadis - Israel provided medical treatment to ISIS fighters wounded during the Syrian civil war. Ex headchopper and Al-Queda leader Jolani just visited Donnie at the White House.
The very idea that Israeli assets such as their President or the Mossad, could ever find a rationale for killing Jews is somewhat of an obscenity in my book. Can mistakes be made? Sure. We’re all human. No one is perfect other than …. 🎚️. But to question these guardians of their people, is just not right.
Then your book needs to be updated. Maybe research the Hannibal Directive. Here's a definition- If an Israeli soldier is being abducted by enemy forces, Israeli troops are authorized to use overwhelming force—including firing on the area where the soldier is held—to stop the kidnapping at almost any cost. There are reports that that directive was used on 10/7.
Or maybe the Haavara Agreement in which the Zionists collaborated with Hitler in order to facilitate their emigtstion to Palestine.
Please do not confuse Bongo Bill with facts and logic.
I only state my case. Hopefully, no confusion will proceed from there.
No confusion at all.... to sane people. Unfortunately, it seems Bongo Bill has crossed the threshold.
Have you met Ed Uehling? 😂
🤣OMG, what a perfect response!!!
Ed, obviously you understand the ‘first punch’ wasnt thrown on Oct 7… Why do you lot read Bills work and then spend everyday pissing and moaning in the comments? Boomer activities….
There was a relative peace between Israel and Gazans prior to October 7th. Then the Hamas butchers shattered it. If you want to go further back in time - how far should we go? The Palestinians have been offered their two-state solution on many occasions. Gaza was turned over to Palestinians by Israel and look what happened.
I think the math here is very easy; you just choose who you think you should back on principle alone. I could never back any people who would strap bombs on their own children just to kill crowds of strangers. But each to his own.
Relative peace haha… Not that im going to convince you of anything, I’ll ask you to try and steel man the palestinian position - go with 1947-1948 partition plan - 56% european, russian, polish jews, 44% arab when jews owned only 6-7% of the land, and then the nakba - ethnic cleansing of 700,000 people then the naksa? They were never offered ‘their’ two state solution, they were offered Israels, the ‘terms’ untenable and loaded with poison pills. Gaza was turned over to the Palestinians and put under blockade controlled by Israel, under the guise of having a ‘no one to talk to certificate’: “In the game of delegitimisation, Hamas is an asset.” - Smotrich.
Whats the mindset of a suicide bomber? Consider Robert Papes book ‘Dying to Win’. I dont ‘back’ anyone i try to understand others perspective, you seem to back the people that snipe kids in the head and drop baby busters on civilians even during a ceasefire (15 dead today including an 11 year old girl Hamsa Houso, who was shot in the head by the IDF). But 100k dead Palestinians since 10-7 is probably inconsequential, because they were all Hamas and Hamas was under every building. The other 2million + will be shipped to Somaliland or similar soon enough - as was always the plan. Enough people see it now.
Moshe Dayan (IDF chief) - 1956: "What claim do we have against their mortal hatred of us? For eight years they have been sitting in the refugee camps in Gaza, and before their eyes we have been turning the land and villages in which they and their forefathers lived into our own inheritance."
Thats enough pissing and moaning in the comment section for me…
I'll keep this short and not so sweet. "It takes two to tango". When I watch what Palestinian Islamist militants do to their own children, I see a sick sub-specie of human being. Needlessly cruel, excessively tribal and simply not as evolved as most of humanity. That the bulk of the Arab world also keeps Palestinians out of their own countries speaks volumes as well.
Jews are 0.021% of the world's population. Just absorbing how much their culture has contributed to legal codes, philosophy, literature, the arts, science and technology, speaks to a people who have "punched far above their weight" and to the benefit of the entire world - including the Muslim world.
If turnaround is fair play - when the Palestinian people and militant Islamists the world over, turn their society around and seek a peaceful coexistence with Jews, Christians, Hindu, etc., etc., I sense the greater Muslim populations will thrive. Until then, they will be treated as all bloodthirsty, tribal and relatively primitive people are treated. They will be isolated and scorned.
If we look for that first punch. what is the starting date we should use?
Good question. We could go all the way back to the seventh century crusades- which some are still fighting. Or perhaps start at the end of WWI and the Balfour Declaration with the remapping of the ME by the British. Palestine existed as a multi-cultural enclave right up to 1948.
Well said.
Bill Bonner:
“There is surely a ‘reason’ for all this violence. But you could ask 100 million Americans and probably not discover what it is.”
Ask a hundred million Americans why the violence is happening and you’ll get a hundred million blank stares and one guy yelling “terrorism” like it’s a magic spell. Because when you don’t know the reason, you just chant the word louder.
Those poor Somalis. They pay a “big price.” For what? For existing in the general vicinity of American boredom. No oil, no money, no orchestra. And yet they still qualify for precision democracy, delivered at altitude.
One hundred twenty-seven strikes. That’s not strategy, that’s nervous tapping with explosives. That’s a government pacing the room going, “What else we got? Somalia again? Sure, why not, they’re still there.”
Ask a hundred million Americans why it’s happening and you’ll get a hundred million blank stares and one guy yelling “terrorism” like it’s a magic spell. Because when you don’t know the reason, you just chant the word louder.
This is how empires rot. They start swinging at shadows, confusing motion with meaning. Bombing the defenseless isn’t power, it’s insecurity with a flight budget. History isn’t impressed. History has seen this idiot before.
Somalia has nothing. That’s the crime. No leverage. No lobbyists. No “please clap.” Just people trying to survive while the US uses them as a stress ball.
And the list keeps growing. Nigeria, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Venezuela. At this point US foreign policy looks like a dartboard made out of countries nobody in Congress can pronounce.
Then came the kidnapping. Not a coup, not an invasion, Kidnapping. That’s a felony, not a doctrine. And announcing you’re going to “run” the country afterward? That’s not empire. That’s a hostile takeover run by people who can’t manage a budget or a website.
You don’t stabilize anything. You just knock over the same mess in a new direction and call it leadership.
It seems odd to bomb a place repeatedly when you can’t remember why you started, but Somalia doesn’t have oil, Venezuela does. That feels like a clue, not a big clue, just a subtle one. Like when a gal says she’s dating you for your personality but keeps checking your wallet.
They say they’re fixing things. That’s nice. I say I’m fixing my life every morning. Then I lie down again.
Running another country is hard. Running your own country is hard. Doing both at the same time while borrowing money you don’t have feels ambitious. Or stupid. I get those mixed up.
Anyway, History usually lets you finish digging before it asks why you needed the hole.
They have to keep us peons occupied with something or maybe we would wonder what has happened to the Epstein files. With the U.S. Governments continued and growing deficit spending huge sums on targeting a foreign leader makes perfect sense - can't let us peons think about "America First". The money spent on building a replica of the building in Caracas and untold sums on preparing and having the military float around the southern Caribbean. Yep - makes perfect sense to me. Of course, the heavy crude that bubbles up in Venezuela is perfect for asphalt and now none of the oil companies want any part of "investing" funds into building the oil fields in Venezuela - so Trump says the Government will do. How does that play out? Boots on the ground........if so, ugh! Take ten (10) years and untold sums America doesn't have and certainly isn't being spend on America. But I am sure Trump has a strategy for all this......is Colombia next or Cuba or Canada or Greenland. Hard to know.......
Something is indeed amiss in the mind of our pseudo king:
In December, Trump masterfully snatches one Latin American president for selling cocaine to Americans who crave it and, in the preceding month, he freed another. Announcement below:
"President Trump has officially pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who U.S. officials said was at the center of one of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking conspiracies in the world. The pardon was announced on November 28, 2025, and Hernández was released from prison shortly after the announcement."
My take: The Venezuelan president didn't buy any of the Trump family "coins" whereas the Honduran president did.
Hard to imagine...........and this is the President of the United States. How did America sink to this point? When is Congress and/or SCOTUS going to show up? So much for 3 branches of government. We have truly become a rogue state.
As far as the Hernandez pardon, he was a major league trafficker. Retired DEA agent Mike Vigil said he was bigger than El Chapo or Pablo Escobar. Plus, he was being investigated during the first Trump term. He should have pardoned him back then instead of wasting millions of tax dollars.
This is what happens to governments by Trump’s number one hero, Netanyahu
Well said Egypt.
With the hole getting deeper unfortunately.
But hey! Its all conspiracy. Look, meat head Carney ex governor of the BOC,who prefers an upside risk, as opposed to a down side risk, is todays PM who had a visit from none other than Mr. Zelensky himself. What did he want? Why? welfare of course. Yet things continue undisturbed. Why? Because the majority of people in the US and Canada insofar as Western principles are concerned amount to nothing, but delusional cowardace or worse, ignorance. Infact Id go deeper and say they'll look to undermine those closest to them. And anyone who has the slightest idea of what is transpiring never needed a permission slip from a montebank, charlatan,or sophist. And
Just remember never forget "its safe and effective".
That sounds like what happens when the hole gets so deep people stop asking who’s digging it and start arguing about whether the shovel itself is a conspiracy.
Once former central bankers with “upside risk preferences” are running countries and surprise visits turn into welfare check-ins nobody’s allowed to question, the crowd doesn’t panic anymore, they quietly nap and anyone who notices doesn’t need permission slips because permission is the first thing that disappears when slogans replace their thinking abilities. Especially slogans you’re told to repeat calmly right before everything that was supposed to be safe and effective quietly proves it needed a footnote.
Yes quietly, wouldnt want to wake anyone from their internal world views.
On a side note insofar as largesse goes people should talk to my broker. If there ever was a foreigner who took advantage it was misdirected and misunderstood.
OMG - yet another foreigner, came here to live off the largesse and now shits upon it.
Ah yes, the Largesse Argument.
The philosophical heavyweight of barstools and comment sections everywhere. You see, if someone criticizes the USA, they must be a foreigner. And if they’re a foreigner, they must be freeloading. And if they’re freeloading, they must shut up forever. That’s not logic folks, that’s emotional duct tape.
“Came here to live off the largesse.”
Buddy, this country doesn’t give largesse, it sells subscriptions with interest, late fees, and bombs.
And “shits upon it”? Please, the system’s been doing that to itself for decades. I’m just pointing at the smell.
It seems odd to complain about someone “living off the largesse” while defending a government that spends money it doesn’t have, on wars it can’t explain, for reasons nobody remembers.
Also, if criticizing something means you hate it, then I hated my house every time I fixed a leak. Which explains why it collapsed.
Anyway, telling people to leave instead of answering the argument usually means the argument’s winning. That’s just math, bad math, but math.
...there is no reference in Ed's, LSO and Egypt's long diatribes (and presumably no understanding) to the manifestation and significance of the Monroe Doctrine.
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Someone should tell them...
The Monroe Doctrine has been cosplay for decades, used only when it’s convenient, and ignored whenever inconvenient.
You saying “you don’t understand the Doctrine” isn’t an argument, it’s a history-themed mic drop with no mic, no drop, and no audience left listening, especially when it’s being used to excuse modern power grabs that look nothing like 1823 and everything like panic dressed up as precedent.
Instead of fabricating to the masses, someone should explain why invoking a centuries-old warning label suddenly counts as strategy rather than nostalgia with a security clearance.
...true, the Monroe Doctrine has been a doctrine of convenience.
That doesn't mean it's a bad concept.
IMO Trump is resurrecting American sovereignty, long overdue.
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Clearing roots from the septic tank is stinky business...
But must be done or the septic tank no longer functions eliminating septic waste... it starts piling up...kinda like what is happening to the U.S. now...
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Trump's acts are bolstering U.S. sovereignty and security.
Rome was not built in a day, but Hiroshima was wiped out in seconds.
For whatever reason Somalia was on that list of countries to be invaded that General Wesley Clark received at the Pentagon after 9/11.
Well, I don’t know for sure either, and nobody has ever invited me to the Pentagon, but if I had to guess, Somalia probably wasn’t on that list because of something it “did” so much as something it “couldn’t stop”. No army, no lawyers, no lobbyists, no one to say “hey, maybe don’t.”
Those lists tend to work like grocery lists written by people who aren’t paying. You don’t start with steak, you start with whatever’s cheapest, easiest, and already sitting there looking defenseless. Somalia didn’t make the list because it mattered. It made the list because it didn’t matter, and once a country ends up on a list like that, it’s never about the reason anymore. The reason just becomes “well, it was already on the list.” Which is not a great thing to hear right before the bombing starts.
So true.
Hang it up Bill no one except the leftest like Mamdani are buying your weak one sided dialogue.
Unlike Sleepy Joe, I don't think Bill ever ran into Corn Pop or his ilk. If he had, his eyesight would be a little better now.
While I appreciate the economic analyses of Tom and Dan, I marvel at the political/social/humanistic analytical genius of Bill. No one I know brings past follies into the present better than Bill. No one is better or more honest and brave at distinguishing the vast gap between absolute stupidity and brilliance—something bigots (particularly those proclaiming their religious superiority) have no concept of. In fact their “infallible” “truths” carry them in the opposite direction. If only Bill could be with us forever! The world would become a happier, healthier place. That’s how fanatic (crazy?) I am about the subject you just brought up. Thanks, btw.
Well Bill the world, as you well know, is a very dangerous place and getting more dangerous every day. The major threat comes from commodities or lack thereof. If you don't have the right ones your whole economy is at risk of collapse. AI is the key to peace and prosperity. It is the straw that stirs the world's economies. So winning the AI race is of paramount importance. The most important commodity needed in the AI race is silver. It is a basic requirement for AI, EVs, medicine, military technology, and many other industries. China produces 60 to 70 percent of the world's silver and as of January 1st they they stop the sale of silver outside of their country. Now, it comes to pass that for the last 6 years there has been a structural deficit in the production of silver, meaning each of the last 6 years worldwide use of the commodity has exceeded its production. So let's just mine more silver you say? Well, all of easy to obtain silver has already been mined. Today 70 percent of all mined silver worldwide is a byproduct of mining lead, zinc, copper and nickel, so you just can't increase silver productivity by opening new silver mines. And if you could it takes 7 to 10 yeears before the mine becomes a viable producer. So Trump is a practical man. He understands the nature of commodities and their importance to America's survival and prosperity. He also understands that China has been in South America with their belt and road initiative securing the necessary commodities to feed their AI programs. Oh yes Venezuela not only has the oil but they have vast reserves of silver and other AI necessary commodities as does Greenland. The world is a very dangerous place and to survive you must be a very dangerous predator...nuff said.
Comparing Belt and Road with capturing a ship in order to steal its cargo because we don’t like to buyer of the oil is insane. China’s purpose is to provide jobs and make the B&R countries and their people rich enough to become customers of Chinese products. They pay for what they export to China. Trump openly and brazenly steals!
Excuse me Ed but did you read anything other than the belt and road initiative which of course is outright theft designed to to look like help? In reality B and R is more predatory than Trump's behavior in Venezuela.
Have you read "Confessions of an Economic Hitman"? I see the BRI as nearly a copy of the strategy described therein. The Chinese do know how to copy successful programmes.
But Ed does have a point about piracy and letters of marque. Nobody seems to discuss the point that blockade is formally an act of war. Still waiting for Congress.
I can’t believe that this article is so one-sided bullshit. You just mention the response by the US and Israel. I know your head is way into the sand (probably your anus). FYI, Israel attacked these countries you mentioned as a result OF BEING ATTACKED. The US went into Venezuela AS A RESULT of drugs coming into America and killing Americans. Maduro was involved in the transportation of much of these drugs. This is a strong message to other countries that are involved in drugs coming to the US. As far as the oil; Maduro nationalized American oil companies after these companies spent millions of oil infrastructure in Venezuela. Venezuela was a rich country with excellent standard of living. Furthermore, the fact that millions of Venezuelans left the country tells you this leader was a bad guy. In the next few years you will see the standard of living increasing in that region and see many Venezuelans returning to their homes.
Once again, you are going to confuse Bongo Bill by citing the facts. He will become disoriented!
"shouldn’t it be okay for China to do the same with Taiwan? "
I say, shouldn’t it be okay for China to do the same with the United States? Our government is guilty of pretty much the same things of which we accuse Venezuela.
And as a side note, there would be plenty of opportunity to video people celebrating in the streets if Trump and the First Lady were kidnapped.
To my knowledge, the US did not confiscate infrastructure of American oil companies in China. Also, I don’t believe the US is illegally sending dangerous drugs into China. And yes, there would be many people dancing in the streets if Trump and the First Lady were kidnapped BUT many people (more than 50% of the country) would be pissed.
Another random walk in the jungle by a blindfolded Bongo Bill, bouncing off one tree, changing direction, bouncing off another, each time coming to an erroneous conclusion of what he is bumping into. Another column of total, incomprehensible drivel.
Yet as F'ed up as the country is (as painted by you) you remain a free man able to spew your bullshit and hatred (TDS) rhetoric no stop. Where was your rhetoric when the cadaver was in charge? Did you get an autopen signed million or two?
Where is the financial tie in to your commentary, is not that the purpose of this newsletter? Is this why you have Dan commenting with something financial after every one of your diatribes? IT seems you gave up on that financial crap to try and convince the paying populace that your view is the right view. Perhaps MSNOW can hire you!!!!
In other words, allow the free flow of drugs, allow the people of Ven. to continue to suffer and eat out of garbage bins, Allow hamas to run rampant. Do nothing, you know like the WEP mantra states: "You will own nothing and be happy".
Your mantra: Sit back, do nothing and eat all the shit tossed at us.
Hey let's let the muslims control the US, they can implement sharia law, yea that's it. Put up bullhorns in every locality so we can all hear the call to prayer 5 times a day, I mean after all we already have it blasting in NYC. You're right Billy boy!
Yet you are still here.... leads folks to wonder why. Why would you want to be a citizen of such a f'ed place. Well, you do have your ranches, Bought with the millions you made here. Why would you want to eat where you shit?
But why when you leave do you come back? Hmmmm
Agreed. BB is wealthy enough that he can move around the world to the properties he owns. He can ‘dump’ his complete bullshit and move on to Argentina, France, Scotland, etc
I have lost all respect for Bongo Bill.
It is ludicrous to compare the Russian invasion of Ukraine with anything the US has done since our insane invasion of Iraq. All the other military actions have been justified.
You really believe that all of the military incursions that the United States and its three letter agencies have been involved in have been justified?
Bill: I think the pendulum has struck that old noggin of yours. You are truly bonkers.
Well at least Bill’s consistent, always blaming Israel for defending themselves against a vicious bloody attack against their civilians. I guess they should have gone to the UN and complained. What a joke you’ve become.
Ugh, it's all so tiring...let the man do his job. Then you can vote for AOC in 2028. Ugh
For a different perspective I refer you to Joel Bowman's ( a former BPR contributor who I know many of you still read on Substack) article from today entitled: Don't Cry For Me, Venezuela.
"Whoa! What a difference a year makes!
On January 10, waaay back in the Olden Days of 2025, Joe Biden’s totally qualified press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, threw some baitfish to the seal-clapping propagandists performing in the White House (press) cesspool.
There she explained, in no uncertain terms and using her very best “serious Obama” voice, the Biden administration’s tough, no-nonsense stance on Nicolás Maduro, a man the administration openly and repeatedly labeled an “illegitimate” president:
“Let us quickly turn to Venezuela, where Maduro once again demonstrated his complete disregard for democratic norms and proceeded with his illegitimate inauguration.
“As President Biden emphasized earlier, during his meeting with President Elect, Edmundo González, on Monday January 6, we believe that it is essential that the will of the Venezuelan people is respected.”
Jean-Pierre then went on to announce that the reward money for information that led to Maduro’s arrest, as part of the United States’ “narcotics rewards program,” would be increased to $25 million.
Gee... for a moment there, it almost seemed like they wanted the man arrested or something? That they did not recognize his legitimacy as Venezuelan president. That rather than a pillar of democracy, Biden & Co. considered him a threat to it."
There's a whole lot more for those who are interested. Thanks Joel for your contribution. Its great to read an article from someone who gets it.
Quit being so deliberately dense, Bill.
Maduro is being “Al Caponed.” There’s what he did, and what he can be convicted of.
Well Bill, the “comment section “ is much more interesting reading than your daily column is. Might get back to writing about the US debt and financial issues, though most then might agree with you.