As a once upon a time lobbyist for a major defense contractor, I can assure you that the military-industrial complex does not agitate for war.
It does, however, zealously seek funds for cutting edge weapons and for readiness training to protect and defend America
The two major recent wars which have employed these instruments of destruction were ones our elected representatives voluntarily chose to wage.
LBJ staged an attack by a North Vietnam gunboat to justify the needless Vietnam War (in which I served; and after which no dominoes fell). He needed to show voters that he was tougher than Barry Goldwater
George Bush actually invaded not one but two dirt pile countries, neither a remote threat to us. He and his vice president wanted to believe Iraq had nuclear weapons and Afghanistan had Osama bin Laden
When Bush invaded Iraq, he made a strategic blunder by unleashing Iran. He did this by "neutralizing" Saddam Hussein (whom the Iranians feared and who most Americans believe to this day was somehow responsible for 9/11 when, in fact, it was a batch of Muslim extremists from Saudi Arabia who performed that atrocity)
The hundreds of thousands of deaths, massive destruction and enormous sums of wasted wealth these two presidents wrought require both to be placed on Dante's 7th Ring of Hell for eternity.
Because of your background, I wonder if you would take a guess about how many U.S. citizens are employed annually by the $858B? It’s not just soldiers, and not even government employees who work in the Defense Department, but the millions (tens of millions?) of U.S. citizens who work as government contractors and subcontractors (who are considered private-sector employees). I assume these are all good-paying jobs with benefits. And I would guess that a far greater percentage of these employees than the national average of 50%-60% vote; just like the Welfare State government and contractor/subcontractor employees. But as Bill has asked for many years: how much REAL WEALTH does the Warfare-Welfare State provide the U.S.? Joel appears to be asking this Q today. The generals-admirals vs. the Bernie-AOC-LizW radicals. Or are they all in bed with one another?
I understand the nuclear subs (the ultimate peace keepers), missile defense systems, a certain number of soldiers/robots, support personnel, and computer systems to keep the peace. But all these weapons systems; and, installations-setups around the world? But cut the Warfare-Welfare State and you cut jobs held by VOTERS. If I was POTUS, and knowing how soft most Americans have become, mostly via Warfare-Welfare State employment, central banker easy money, and decades-long brainwashing via the K-12-Public-School-MSM-Hollywood State, I would be a super-realist and peck away very gradually at reducing it, hoping all these Warfare-Welfare State voters could transition to the TRUE private sector without backlashing against me and my party come the next election. (And I would close the U.S. border ASAP.)
I agree with the last sentence. So what do we do, sending them billions for the war on drugs, the war on terror, and now to stop our illegal immigration problem, to name a few. Does anyone really believe foreign governments want the gravy train to stop? All we have ever succeeded in doing is pissing everyone off, destabilizing their governments, and creating in environments where it pays to be corrupt.
Not too interested in Reality are you fiend? Trump and the JCS had developed a timeline for an orderly and complete withdrawal because he could see what a colossal waste of time, life and treasure that s-hole truly was and is. They had set the plan in motion just before your club of domestic enemies stole the 2020 election.
Then your boy TraitorJoe moved everything up by nearly a year, against the advice of ALL the Generals...
As a professional pilot I have had the opportunity to land at a private airfield on Key Largo (Ocean Reef Club) where residents are said to brag about it being more expensive than even Hollywood Stars can afford. On one occasion an Ocean Reef Club member made small talk with me at the airport. I asked him what he did for a living and he told me he was a lobbyist and basically arranges for government money to be spent with unspecified corporations. To me this ties in perfectly with this well written article and truly shows what is wrong with this great country and what ultimately destroys empires. Spending money you don’t have eventually leads to disaster.
That's the great "chicken or the egg" question. As I often say, we need to get back to the Constitution as it was originally written and intended. Like the post I responded to reveals, there's just too much money for too many grifters, and people that add no value. Term limits would be a huge benefit as well because the Founders never envisioned a "professional political class".
Due to their economic illiteracy, the Neocons are overlooking the most important weapon to defeat Communism; Central Planning. Central Planning is a sure fire way to destroy a government without firing a shot. Whoops, the Neocons rely on Central Planning to fund their boondoggles. Well at least we can say the Neocons are consistently illogical.
PGV -- Your recollection for events is impressive.
Notwithstanding my admiration, time and space don't permit me to address the assertions with which I believe are not historically accurate or which I contend are misinterpreted.
However, our major difference is you are conveying your opinion of what happened; I am simply asserting none of it needed to occur
The world would have been better off had we not voluntarily used force of arms to fashion it into what we believed it should be.
Neither Iraq, which we had under constant surveillance for a decade by air, sea and land, and Afghanistan were threatening America (although the former was perceived a threat to Israel which was delighted we destroyed Iraq)
Asleep at the switch (e. g., failing to change the DEFCON) when warned by Philippine intelligence of Al Qaeda's intent to use airplanes as flying bombs, and then invading the wrong country which concomitantly unleashed Iran, Bush is destined to join LBJ on the 7th Ring of Hell
(And one day I might find time and reason to tell you of my role taking wounded Mujaheddin to US hospitals in Germany and in the US)
As someone who spent his career working with aircraft carriers, I think Joel's statement "and 11 aircraft carriers, boasting around 80 fighter jets each, the combined deck space of which is more than twice that of the rest of the world’s carriers… combined." as an example of excessive military spending needs to be clarified. A nuclear powered aircraft carrier is an extremely complex piece of military gear, requiring lots of maintenance and training to operate it safely and effectively. The rule of thumb is that a carrier spends 1/3rd of its lifetime in shipyard/naval base maintenance following a deployment, 1/3rd of its lifetime doing crew training prior to a deployment, and only 1/3rd of its lifetime in active deployment. Consequently, you have only 3 to 4 aircraft carriers in deployment at any time, with 1 in the Pacific fleet, 1 in the Atlantic fleet, 1 in the Med, and 1 in the present "hotspot" like the Middle East. In my opinion these 3 to 4 active carriers are extremely valuable in defense of our country, and not an excessive cost! My two cents...
Undoubtedly it is right near the top of the list. My gut tells me that we likely DO have a method or three in place to minimize that particular threat. We are, after all, still the world's leader in coming up with truly whiz-bang tech that actually works, especially in the area of warfare both offensive and defensive.
Historically we would keep those "aces-in-the-hole" - but I'm not as comfortable now with the true level of secrecy from our enemies, considering Milley (disgusting) "in charge" and a purchased, compromised, traitorous imposter in the White House.
Throw in the towel?? NEVER! That is one thing I love about the BPR boards - I don't see many others here who would ever consider giving up as a viable option...
" Putin has his hands full just getting control of a Russian-speaking area on his southeastern flank, where the local people actually begged him to come in."
This is a gross distortion of the truth. A minority of a minority in the Donbas were incited by Putin to claim they were being persecuted because they were Russian speakers. A claim totally untrue. Putin invaded a democratic, peaceful neighbour simply to acquire control of another country. His forces have raped, tortured and murder hundreds of defenceless civilians. He is a 21st Century Hitler and the free world has to stand up to him.
Always eager to spend somebody else's money when there's no skin in the game. Lets have the Ukrainian midget set up a Go-Fund-Me account and see how he fares. I suspect most of the world wouldn't agree with your concern that Putin is the 21st Century Hitler. I also suspect that most people would be hesitant giving their hard earned money to an irredeemably corrupt banana republic.
Here's another thought. Since you're fighting for your beloved democracy, lets put the funding to a vote with the general public. Again, I suspect you and the Ukrainian Midget would be shit out of luck :-)
And your source for that statement? I would have no doubt that any corruption within Ukraine pales into insignificance compared to that in Russia. Even if it were true are you so inhuman that you think they deserve to be invaded by a monster and their wives and children raped. Surely even you must know the UN is seriously investigating Russia for war crimes?
Actually I'm British and here we are used to Putin's useful idiots like you trolling the internet. I note that your response is purely rudeness with no attempt to address the issue.
You are one of my fellow countrymen who obviously don't read widely enough.
Approximately 48% of them are effectively the same as US Democrats. They'd sell the UK up the river for a place in the EU and like PG won't read anything that undermines their belief system which is basically - Ukraine good, EU perfect UK bad, Russia - Evil Empire. I won't bother reprinting ALL the links to serious students of politics and history that explain how Putin/Russia are in the right, because you won't read them. As someone once said
"You cant force a man/woman/whatever to see what they dont want to see or smell or hear. You cant make them understand what they dont want to understand, including history"
BUT here's a thought. Why did Germany plough billions into the Nordstream Gas pipelines when they already got gas from Russia via Ukraine pipelines and new land pipelines are cheaper?
I know you won't search for why, but the reason was , the Ukraine kept nicking the gas Germany paid for when the Ukraine regularly fell out with Russia. So Nordstreams bypassed Ukraine.
Ukraine bad. EU bad. U.K….well let’s just say deeply compromised and Islamized. Germany, France will have a cold winter. Ditto Austria. Euro not long for this world. Whew. Not a good outlook for Eurozone. Or the US.
My gosh dollar hegemony fragile. Petrodollar almost history as well.
$4.5 quadrillion global derivative bets….. did I leave anything out? Oh actually, the dark economy running on child sex traffic, pedophelia, and throw in satanic ritual abuse of children under the House of Windsor. That’s just the begining. But don’t forget drug and arms trafficking. Huh.
In world ranking on corruption Ukraine is only three spots higher than Russia. Zelensky has imprisoned political opponents, abolished political parties he did not like and is scamming the west out of billions of dollars. Finally, Ukraine is noted as one of the world’s traders in illegal weapons. No wonder there is no audit of what happens to the weapons we give them.
I'm developing a theory folks. It would appear that our righteous friend PG is generally respectful and considerate in his morning posts, but invariably begins ranting and hurling unwarranted, juvenile insults at complete strangers as the afternoon progresses.
Perhaps his meds start to wind down after about 2:00 pm...
If you don't support the Neocon's forever wars, the Uniparty brands you an extremist and domestic terrorist. Hum, who's doing the killing? Yes folks, we're living in the era of Peak Stupidity :-)
I can only hazard a guess to your question, "I wonder if you would take a guess about how many U.S. citizens are employed annually by the $858B?"
Since Lockheed Martin, one of the largest defense contractors in the world, has more employees than the US Marine Corps has Marines, then I think it's not unreasonable to extrapolate that the other major defense contractors (e. g., Raytheon, Northrup, Boeing, etc) are equally large
But unlike the Welfare State, a wealth-taking enterprise which subsists on taxpayer largess, the US Defense sector are composed of wealth-makers whose profits are shared between its owners (shareholders) and the local, state and Federal governments which host their facilities.
Moreover, if a defense contractor can't operate efficiently (where revenues exceed expenses, aka profitably), then it declares bankruptcy and its resources are made available -- generally via auction -- to others who can use them more efficiently.
The Welfare State, however, does not need to operate efficiently. Pity thus. Hence I endorse your suggestion that it would be ideal if wealth-taking Welfare State employees could find gainful employment in the wealth-making private sector.
One out of six workers already works for the wealth-taking sector, mostly in state, local and Federal government agencies. Too many by half IMO
Bill, this planet is going to kick your ass like you've never imagined and the humans that Now occupy it are not them once great adventures and pioneers that settled the entire planet .. nice bit of sentimental history is not going to get you or mankind back to them good old days that are gone forever .. if you haven't noticed the planet is being overrun by them two legged things that all want to have, 'what you have and more'. Your stupid propaganda (advertisement/hypnotisement) policies of spreading the word about how great USA is and aren't we the envy of the world has come true .. what else do you want? you showed off and now everybody wants to eat your lunch.
The party of planetary exploitation is OVER, so get used to it, gold no longer shimmers in every river of the west and you have no idea how much energy it takes to get even one GRAM out of this planet .. the fishing in the north sea is dead as is all the marine life from smart people dumping their waste (nuclear etc) into their neighbors waters .. it's an age of FU*K YOU it's all about me and get out of my way .. the 'American Way' or I'll kill you MF**ER .. just read the comments the of PGV (Perversion Gone Viral) ..
The continued exploitation of the (HUMANS) by the elite world wide, which is why the correction will not be allowed to complete its work.
The decline of the American Empire, beginning about 1960 and continuing by the same rules as the old gunslinger code "kill it before it kills you" so go buy your six (6) year a loaded Glock to take to school so he can enforce his little will his playmates ..
Abandoning the ideas that made the US so successful. Free trade, free enterprise, free speech, equal protection under the law –who Practices (not just believes) in these principles anymore? Not the deciders. How about you? those mythical ethics and morals are long gone or your watching watching 10 different version of CSI bullshit programs that preach the exact philosophy your against
A fanatical, unquestioning fear of global warming and a belief that the earth’s climate can be and must be controlled. Just go fishing you idiot! or skiing surfing hang gliding or anything or just look at the damage bill to rebuild decrepit crumbling Calif ..
The unchallenged political power of what Eisenhower called the ‘military, industrial complex.’ Yep and don't forget the entire business enterprises of planet earth and their corrupt sales/marketing practices where the best products get destroyed so that the lowest MTBF shit continues to get consumed .. its all about recurrent profits baby that what market superiority is all about the rest is just emotional bullshit ..
Bill - you're preaching to the choir that are all singing from the same media/infotainment propaganda hymnbook so nothing will change until significant numbers of humans decide they've had enough .. look out as that time is soon/now upon us from many different sources ..
This spot on. We're killing ourselves
As a once upon a time lobbyist for a major defense contractor, I can assure you that the military-industrial complex does not agitate for war.
It does, however, zealously seek funds for cutting edge weapons and for readiness training to protect and defend America
The two major recent wars which have employed these instruments of destruction were ones our elected representatives voluntarily chose to wage.
LBJ staged an attack by a North Vietnam gunboat to justify the needless Vietnam War (in which I served; and after which no dominoes fell). He needed to show voters that he was tougher than Barry Goldwater
George Bush actually invaded not one but two dirt pile countries, neither a remote threat to us. He and his vice president wanted to believe Iraq had nuclear weapons and Afghanistan had Osama bin Laden
When Bush invaded Iraq, he made a strategic blunder by unleashing Iran. He did this by "neutralizing" Saddam Hussein (whom the Iranians feared and who most Americans believe to this day was somehow responsible for 9/11 when, in fact, it was a batch of Muslim extremists from Saudi Arabia who performed that atrocity)
The hundreds of thousands of deaths, massive destruction and enormous sums of wasted wealth these two presidents wrought require both to be placed on Dante's 7th Ring of Hell for eternity.
Because of your background, I wonder if you would take a guess about how many U.S. citizens are employed annually by the $858B? It’s not just soldiers, and not even government employees who work in the Defense Department, but the millions (tens of millions?) of U.S. citizens who work as government contractors and subcontractors (who are considered private-sector employees). I assume these are all good-paying jobs with benefits. And I would guess that a far greater percentage of these employees than the national average of 50%-60% vote; just like the Welfare State government and contractor/subcontractor employees. But as Bill has asked for many years: how much REAL WEALTH does the Warfare-Welfare State provide the U.S.? Joel appears to be asking this Q today. The generals-admirals vs. the Bernie-AOC-LizW radicals. Or are they all in bed with one another?
I understand the nuclear subs (the ultimate peace keepers), missile defense systems, a certain number of soldiers/robots, support personnel, and computer systems to keep the peace. But all these weapons systems; and, installations-setups around the world? But cut the Warfare-Welfare State and you cut jobs held by VOTERS. If I was POTUS, and knowing how soft most Americans have become, mostly via Warfare-Welfare State employment, central banker easy money, and decades-long brainwashing via the K-12-Public-School-MSM-Hollywood State, I would be a super-realist and peck away very gradually at reducing it, hoping all these Warfare-Welfare State voters could transition to the TRUE private sector without backlashing against me and my party come the next election. (And I would close the U.S. border ASAP.)
Like Putin says "we build weapons to kill people while the Americans build weapons to make money". Cut the MIC budget by 80%.
I agree with the last sentence. So what do we do, sending them billions for the war on drugs, the war on terror, and now to stop our illegal immigration problem, to name a few. Does anyone really believe foreign governments want the gravy train to stop? All we have ever succeeded in doing is pissing everyone off, destabilizing their governments, and creating in environments where it pays to be corrupt.
Too late PG, the Brooklyn Bridge was sold to the Chinese, along with most of America when they placed Biden in office...as if you haven't noticed.
Bloviation comes to mind....again.
Bla bla bla bla bla.
" But Biden sold out EVERYONE including our own troops when he abruptly pulled out and TOLD THEM WHEN WE WERE LEAVING. "
Correction ;
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-jan-6-afghanistan_n_63485fd7e4b051268c4768f1
Trump threw a hissy fit when he knew he lost and ordered all personal out of Afghanistan knowing he would create a mess for Biden.
Pfffffft...
Not too interested in Reality are you fiend? Trump and the JCS had developed a timeline for an orderly and complete withdrawal because he could see what a colossal waste of time, life and treasure that s-hole truly was and is. They had set the plan in motion just before your club of domestic enemies stole the 2020 election.
Then your boy TraitorJoe moved everything up by nearly a year, against the advice of ALL the Generals...
Man o Man that damn Trump..I'm glad they are prosecuting Trump for all those classified documents they found in Biden's garage
Man alive you got the Company line down....now exactly what did we gain from any of those wars.........
As a professional pilot I have had the opportunity to land at a private airfield on Key Largo (Ocean Reef Club) where residents are said to brag about it being more expensive than even Hollywood Stars can afford. On one occasion an Ocean Reef Club member made small talk with me at the airport. I asked him what he did for a living and he told me he was a lobbyist and basically arranges for government money to be spent with unspecified corporations. To me this ties in perfectly with this well written article and truly shows what is wrong with this great country and what ultimately destroys empires. Spending money you don’t have eventually leads to disaster.
Especially, as Bill likes to say, when you "spend money you don't have on things you don't need." That second part is a killer.
That's the great "chicken or the egg" question. As I often say, we need to get back to the Constitution as it was originally written and intended. Like the post I responded to reveals, there's just too much money for too many grifters, and people that add no value. Term limits would be a huge benefit as well because the Founders never envisioned a "professional political class".
Brilliant. I’ll frame this one
Due to their economic illiteracy, the Neocons are overlooking the most important weapon to defeat Communism; Central Planning. Central Planning is a sure fire way to destroy a government without firing a shot. Whoops, the Neocons rely on Central Planning to fund their boondoggles. Well at least we can say the Neocons are consistently illogical.
PGV -- Your recollection for events is impressive.
Notwithstanding my admiration, time and space don't permit me to address the assertions with which I believe are not historically accurate or which I contend are misinterpreted.
However, our major difference is you are conveying your opinion of what happened; I am simply asserting none of it needed to occur
The world would have been better off had we not voluntarily used force of arms to fashion it into what we believed it should be.
Neither Iraq, which we had under constant surveillance for a decade by air, sea and land, and Afghanistan were threatening America (although the former was perceived a threat to Israel which was delighted we destroyed Iraq)
Asleep at the switch (e. g., failing to change the DEFCON) when warned by Philippine intelligence of Al Qaeda's intent to use airplanes as flying bombs, and then invading the wrong country which concomitantly unleashed Iran, Bush is destined to join LBJ on the 7th Ring of Hell
(And one day I might find time and reason to tell you of my role taking wounded Mujaheddin to US hospitals in Germany and in the US)
No. Actually you are a blabbermouth. All hat, belt buckle and no cattle.
WV. A real "warrior" would volunteer to fight in Ukraine. LOL. He does say he loves war and he hates Russians.
As someone who spent his career working with aircraft carriers, I think Joel's statement "and 11 aircraft carriers, boasting around 80 fighter jets each, the combined deck space of which is more than twice that of the rest of the world’s carriers… combined." as an example of excessive military spending needs to be clarified. A nuclear powered aircraft carrier is an extremely complex piece of military gear, requiring lots of maintenance and training to operate it safely and effectively. The rule of thumb is that a carrier spends 1/3rd of its lifetime in shipyard/naval base maintenance following a deployment, 1/3rd of its lifetime doing crew training prior to a deployment, and only 1/3rd of its lifetime in active deployment. Consequently, you have only 3 to 4 aircraft carriers in deployment at any time, with 1 in the Pacific fleet, 1 in the Atlantic fleet, 1 in the Med, and 1 in the present "hotspot" like the Middle East. In my opinion these 3 to 4 active carriers are extremely valuable in defense of our country, and not an excessive cost! My two cents...
Hi Tim -
Thank you for the factual information coming from your experience and thank you for serving.
IMO, maybe spending on 11 new behemoths of this variety is a tad short sighted given today's climate.
Hypersonic missile (from China or Russia) incoming in 3, 2, 1...
Excellent point. Defending the aircraft carrier against hypersonic weapons is a top priority of the US Navy. https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2019/3/22/incoming-can-aircraft-carriers-survive-hypersonic-weapons is several years old but gives some general ideas of how the Navy might counter the threat. Details are highly classified. Not ready to "throw in the towel" yet!
Undoubtedly it is right near the top of the list. My gut tells me that we likely DO have a method or three in place to minimize that particular threat. We are, after all, still the world's leader in coming up with truly whiz-bang tech that actually works, especially in the area of warfare both offensive and defensive.
Historically we would keep those "aces-in-the-hole" - but I'm not as comfortable now with the true level of secrecy from our enemies, considering Milley (disgusting) "in charge" and a purchased, compromised, traitorous imposter in the White House.
Throw in the towel?? NEVER! That is one thing I love about the BPR boards - I don't see many others here who would ever consider giving up as a viable option...
This is unfortunately an excellent assessment of our situation. You and Ray Dalio, both on the same page.
Thank you for being so articulate and courageous.
Kenneth
" Putin has his hands full just getting control of a Russian-speaking area on his southeastern flank, where the local people actually begged him to come in."
This is a gross distortion of the truth. A minority of a minority in the Donbas were incited by Putin to claim they were being persecuted because they were Russian speakers. A claim totally untrue. Putin invaded a democratic, peaceful neighbour simply to acquire control of another country. His forces have raped, tortured and murder hundreds of defenceless civilians. He is a 21st Century Hitler and the free world has to stand up to him.
Always eager to spend somebody else's money when there's no skin in the game. Lets have the Ukrainian midget set up a Go-Fund-Me account and see how he fares. I suspect most of the world wouldn't agree with your concern that Putin is the 21st Century Hitler. I also suspect that most people would be hesitant giving their hard earned money to an irredeemably corrupt banana republic.
Like I said.....
Here's another thought. Since you're fighting for your beloved democracy, lets put the funding to a vote with the general public. Again, I suspect you and the Ukrainian Midget would be shit out of luck :-)
Agreed. Hopefully the MSM hasn’t entirely soaked the US public in the Blue and Yellow. But it is highly likely.
Craig. Yeah tell the average guy his check is $90 less each week because of Ukraine. Lets see who votes for what. Warmongers make me sick.
Check the record. Ukraine is the most corrupt western nation of the last 100 years. It needs a good lesson taught.
And your source for that statement? I would have no doubt that any corruption within Ukraine pales into insignificance compared to that in Russia. Even if it were true are you so inhuman that you think they deserve to be invaded by a monster and their wives and children raped. Surely even you must know the UN is seriously investigating Russia for war crimes?
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2015/feb/04/welcome-to-the-most-corrupt-nation-in-europe-ukraine
Russia usually counts as Europe over here.
You must watch the evening news like every other insouciant American.
Actually I'm British and here we are used to Putin's useful idiots like you trolling the internet. I note that your response is purely rudeness with no attempt to address the issue.
Here's the issue; the West wants Russia's natural resources. Unfortunately for the West, Russia won't hand them over.
Exactly.
Craig. In a nutshell. All you need to know.
What an absurd comment! It must be interesting in your parallel universe
You are one of my fellow countrymen who obviously don't read widely enough.
Approximately 48% of them are effectively the same as US Democrats. They'd sell the UK up the river for a place in the EU and like PG won't read anything that undermines their belief system which is basically - Ukraine good, EU perfect UK bad, Russia - Evil Empire. I won't bother reprinting ALL the links to serious students of politics and history that explain how Putin/Russia are in the right, because you won't read them. As someone once said
"You cant force a man/woman/whatever to see what they dont want to see or smell or hear. You cant make them understand what they dont want to understand, including history"
BUT here's a thought. Why did Germany plough billions into the Nordstream Gas pipelines when they already got gas from Russia via Ukraine pipelines and new land pipelines are cheaper?
I know you won't search for why, but the reason was , the Ukraine kept nicking the gas Germany paid for when the Ukraine regularly fell out with Russia. So Nordstreams bypassed Ukraine.
Jo. Who are you addressing?
Ukraine bad. EU bad. U.K….well let’s just say deeply compromised and Islamized. Germany, France will have a cold winter. Ditto Austria. Euro not long for this world. Whew. Not a good outlook for Eurozone. Or the US.
My gosh dollar hegemony fragile. Petrodollar almost history as well.
$4.5 quadrillion global derivative bets….. did I leave anything out? Oh actually, the dark economy running on child sex traffic, pedophelia, and throw in satanic ritual abuse of children under the House of Windsor. That’s just the begining. But don’t forget drug and arms trafficking. Huh.
Address what issue exactly?
and the Anzov battalion(Nazi) are choir boys as they killed upwards of 19000 ethnic Russian in Donbas
Andrew. After what we have done the last 22 years you have a problem with Russia? That is rich.
In world ranking on corruption Ukraine is only three spots higher than Russia. Zelensky has imprisoned political opponents, abolished political parties he did not like and is scamming the west out of billions of dollars. Finally, Ukraine is noted as one of the world’s traders in illegal weapons. No wonder there is no audit of what happens to the weapons we give them.
The UN investigating anything is an oxymoron. Moron.
Wv. UN is a very corrupt organization.
He hasn't though. Russia fixed the Azov Battalion problem for him. He was as much in danger from them as from Russia, in fact possibly more so.
Oh yeah. Zelensky the fixer. That cross-dressing, gay-baiting comedian. Him? Hahahahahaha
Hmm. PutinGovernment Victim can’t seem to collect any ‘likes’. Bloviating has a way of doing that apparently.
I'm developing a theory folks. It would appear that our righteous friend PG is generally respectful and considerate in his morning posts, but invariably begins ranting and hurling unwarranted, juvenile insults at complete strangers as the afternoon progresses.
Perhaps his meds start to wind down after about 2:00 pm...
He does it after he has accused fellow correspondents of inappropriate ah hominem arguments :)
Star. Now that thought is too funny. Now you are going to be called bad names! He once told me to " be careful ". Of what LOL?
Pot calling the Kettle black lol
If you don't support the Neocon's forever wars, the Uniparty brands you an extremist and domestic terrorist. Hum, who's doing the killing? Yes folks, we're living in the era of Peak Stupidity :-)
I can only hazard a guess to your question, "I wonder if you would take a guess about how many U.S. citizens are employed annually by the $858B?"
Since Lockheed Martin, one of the largest defense contractors in the world, has more employees than the US Marine Corps has Marines, then I think it's not unreasonable to extrapolate that the other major defense contractors (e. g., Raytheon, Northrup, Boeing, etc) are equally large
But unlike the Welfare State, a wealth-taking enterprise which subsists on taxpayer largess, the US Defense sector are composed of wealth-makers whose profits are shared between its owners (shareholders) and the local, state and Federal governments which host their facilities.
Moreover, if a defense contractor can't operate efficiently (where revenues exceed expenses, aka profitably), then it declares bankruptcy and its resources are made available -- generally via auction -- to others who can use them more efficiently.
The Welfare State, however, does not need to operate efficiently. Pity thus. Hence I endorse your suggestion that it would be ideal if wealth-taking Welfare State employees could find gainful employment in the wealth-making private sector.
One out of six workers already works for the wealth-taking sector, mostly in state, local and Federal government agencies. Too many by half IMO
PG V is going to go ape on this one
Bill, this planet is going to kick your ass like you've never imagined and the humans that Now occupy it are not them once great adventures and pioneers that settled the entire planet .. nice bit of sentimental history is not going to get you or mankind back to them good old days that are gone forever .. if you haven't noticed the planet is being overrun by them two legged things that all want to have, 'what you have and more'. Your stupid propaganda (advertisement/hypnotisement) policies of spreading the word about how great USA is and aren't we the envy of the world has come true .. what else do you want? you showed off and now everybody wants to eat your lunch.
The party of planetary exploitation is OVER, so get used to it, gold no longer shimmers in every river of the west and you have no idea how much energy it takes to get even one GRAM out of this planet .. the fishing in the north sea is dead as is all the marine life from smart people dumping their waste (nuclear etc) into their neighbors waters .. it's an age of FU*K YOU it's all about me and get out of my way .. the 'American Way' or I'll kill you MF**ER .. just read the comments the of PGV (Perversion Gone Viral) ..
The continued exploitation of the (HUMANS) by the elite world wide, which is why the correction will not be allowed to complete its work.
The decline of the American Empire, beginning about 1960 and continuing by the same rules as the old gunslinger code "kill it before it kills you" so go buy your six (6) year a loaded Glock to take to school so he can enforce his little will his playmates ..
Abandoning the ideas that made the US so successful. Free trade, free enterprise, free speech, equal protection under the law –who Practices (not just believes) in these principles anymore? Not the deciders. How about you? those mythical ethics and morals are long gone or your watching watching 10 different version of CSI bullshit programs that preach the exact philosophy your against
A fanatical, unquestioning fear of global warming and a belief that the earth’s climate can be and must be controlled. Just go fishing you idiot! or skiing surfing hang gliding or anything or just look at the damage bill to rebuild decrepit crumbling Calif ..
The unchallenged political power of what Eisenhower called the ‘military, industrial complex.’ Yep and don't forget the entire business enterprises of planet earth and their corrupt sales/marketing practices where the best products get destroyed so that the lowest MTBF shit continues to get consumed .. its all about recurrent profits baby that what market superiority is all about the rest is just emotional bullshit ..
Bill - you're preaching to the choir that are all singing from the same media/infotainment propaganda hymnbook so nothing will change until significant numbers of humans decide they've had enough .. look out as that time is soon/now upon us from many different sources ..
"I keep my guns in a locked vault. I also keep ammo separate."
Gonna do you a HEAP of good if you need either in a hurry. Might as well just throw butter knives...
We won't have to worry about invasion from anyone. Just read what we have spent on military issues and they will run like hell. lol Just sayin'
Don Harrell
"Woke military run by a big dick?" - Must be Joe Biden.
Agreed, but our politicians can’t resist banging someone over the head with it. Go read you own missives
I hope Mr Bonner still has American citizenship. HE MUST RUN FOR PRESIDENT .
We need to voice these lessons in our colleges, we're not teaching our youth how to think and challenge the decider's narratives...