There’s a corruption cycle too...roughly corresponding to the shift away from the ‘rule of law’ to the ‘rule of men.’ This appears to be a part of the life cycle of democracy.
Don’t you mean we should be lamenting the inflated cost of the US dollar? It’s not gold that’s now a higher cost but that by which you are measuring its value. Seems to me gold is doing what it’s supposed to do and housing seems to be maintaining its value as measured in ounces of gold. It’s the dollar’s value that has tanked. If you had put 180 oz. of gold under your bed and $6300 of US currency next to the gold in 1920, which one should you be lamenting?
AI. It’s not about the price of the house it’s realistic affordability today. Not about return on capital but return of capital. Repayments take much more of combined family incomes reducing affordability of homes. If there is a lament as to current situations the indicator is the price of gold.
The Bessent - Citrone "thing", of which I was unaware, is a perfect example of big-governmental cronyism, where the insiders use the leverage and power of the government (currently 40% of GDP) to "take care of" each other. The first, really good, naked look at this tit-for-tat phenomenon for most of us was Hillary Clinton's foray into cattle futures, but the arrangement is as old as Man himself. One thing Mr. Bonner seldom mentions with his musings on empire is the growth of government that must occur in order for "empire" to happen. As President Reagan said, government is not the solution; it is the problem. Onliest difficulty is that President Reagan himself came under the spell of big government. A little ahead of the curve, and seeking a bolt-hole, I moved here in 1990, For years, at least 10, a man up here had painted and displayed on the entire east-side of his house: "The Radical Record of Red-Ink Ronnie". Another fellow parked an old van in his front lawn and painted on it: "Zoning: America's Communism." The "C" in "communism" was a sickle. Best always. PM
Ballsy, ol' Bill, Ballsy - and today's thoughts are absolutely AWESOME! We peons these days with the primary media tied up by the Billionaire Club rarely, if ever, get the real story. Protection of the wealth has become their battle cry - of course, unless you are on the other side of the view. Then - "off with your head". Obviously, Citrone appears to have called in some "markers". History repeats itself because human nature never changes - cycles repeat but it is "always different this time" until too late and the masses come to know it isn't different. The only difference is who got wealthy this time. The 4th Turning continues and the Big Men (primarily the zionist lobby) will reign until they don't and that lies ahead. Buckle Up - it is going to get ugly. Your cycle musing also shows the BRICS, ASEAN, and the Global South are in a completely different phase of their development. As the East rises, the West continues its decline. And, in today's technology driven world, the bumps get bigger and bigger! It's a little early on a "miercoles" but poppin' a big Tacana Malbec is in sight!
OK. One more thing I forgot. You mention the Zionist lobby does not care about America. Open your eyes, no one in Washington cares about America. The lobbyists, the politicians and their families. The bottom line is everyone in Washington are there to help themselves, especially when it increases their finances. As BB, explained, it includes Citroen, Bessent and many others.
It is very sad that Palestenians women and children are killed in this awful war. Remember the Palestenians voted for Hamas in power. They teach their children hatred for Israel. This war would end if Hamas returned the dead and living Israeli hostages. Hamas also uses the women and children as human shields; they are terrorists. They do not care about their own people. Historically Arafat had a chance for a 2 state solution years ago. During the negotiations he got 90% of what he wanted and he refused it. Abe (another old man)
Unfortunately, Abe, the odds are stack against the zionists. There are somewhere short of 15 million Jews worldwide versus over 2.1 Billion muslims. Plus there are as many coptic christians in the middle east (yes - primarily Egypt) as there are Jews. And, now so many other countries - including the majority of Europe - are against the genocide as well. When the West ruled the world through two eras (British then the U.S.) and had both the financial and military power, this type of warfare somewhat worked. Today - that is just beyond unrealistic and it is going to end bad for the Jewish people. If another way isn't found to secure the state of israel's safety, it is going to be truly ugly for not only Israel but the world too. But the zionists will have none of that. Seems all they can see is a Greater Israel - full speed ahead! I keep with the Malbec - got drunk on gin after one Army-Navy game and lost all taste for it.
Using your math (and logic), there's no chance for any religious, cultural, political entity to survive without Islam's permission, since the adherents of Islam outnumber everybody, including the 335,000,000 Americans, Pew identifying 62% of those as Christian and Gallup identifying 69% of those as Christian, with the 2.1 Billion Islamists being 100% Islamist. Still, there are Asian Islamists, and African Islamists, and Middle-eastern Islamists, all militant against Jews/Israel to varying degrees, and not all Jews are Zionists. The practicing Jews (of which there are varying sects) believe they enjoy the ultimate protection of all, contingent upon their faithfulness and righteousness. In my view, It's not as cut-and-dried as you might present. Still, I think the problem would go away to a great extent if the Islamists did not consider it their mission to kill non-Islamists, particularly their Abrahamic cousins. Best always. PM
Paul - well said. And, frankly, I don't know if there is an answer. Most of the Middle East is Islamic. Most of China follows Buddism, Taoist, or various forms of Chinese ritual folklore - a mere 1 to 2% are Islamic.. Most of India is heavily Hindu with some 200 million or so islamic and then a scatter of others. Religions polarize people and cultures like nothing else and it has nothing to do with logic or rational thought. It is pure BELIEF! It is seen here when there are those that only see the word "Trump" or "zionists" or many other lightning rod words and rational is gone in a flash. As the world's population grows and people/cultures become forced to be in closer and closer proximity - these differences become flash points. We are seeing it here in America as the Far Right and Far Left literally hate each other and there are no common grounds. No negotiations - no tolerance - no patience. On top of that the West is in decline and the East is rising. From my limited view, the West just can't grasp their hegemony - both militarily and financially - are over. Technology is progressing rapidly and such things as the Non-Proliferation Treaty designed to safeguard all people are now just a footnote in history. Decorum and statesmanship have become relics. Our Founding Fathers tried to put limits on government to maintain the Republic they fought so hard for - those gone a long time ago. Eisenhower warranted in 1958 of foreign entanglements and the evil of the military industrial complex ("MIC") and it has spread to the medical community. So I would like to hear from those that resent my distaste for the billionaire zionist lobby who know apparently control the American media and give marching orders to the U.S. government - what is the answer shy of a world war. The Levant won't be back.....as always, one ol' man's opinion.
Mr. Ol’ LSO, I notice you didn’t respond to Mr. Porter’s point about Hamas using their own people and Israeli hostages as human shields, which even the one-worlder-globalist International Criminal Court (ICC) continues to condemn as a war crime. This is one of the main reasons the IDF has had to respond in this conflict as it has, and why the conflict has been so drawn out. And the term “genocide” is thrown around rather loosely here. The numbers of dead and injured among Palestinians is reported by Hamas or those favoring Hamas. We shall see once the conflict finally ends what the actual numbers are. And independent aid orgs report repeatedly that much of the aid goes, not to the so-called innocent Palestinian people, but to Hamas fighters. And you use the term “Greater Israel.” But what does that actually mean? Israel only wanting a tiny buffer zone (Gaza is EXTREMELY TINY) most likely where Israel has pledged to try to make the Gaza coast a resort mecca providing good jobs for the Palestinian people. But this “greater” term would indicate to any thinking person that Israel wants to conquer Jordan, Egypt, S.A., Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, etc. And this is completely ridiculous. Just like “Greater Russia.” But Russia only appears to want a buffer zone, which is tiny Donbas. And they don’t want NATO nukes in their backyard anymore than the U.S. wants ChiCom nukes in Mexico or anywhere in Central America. Terms like “Greater Israel” or “Greater Russia” bother me greatly because they are Orwellian in nature, such as “democracy” for “constitutional republic,” “global warming” or “climate change” for the weather, “affordable housing” for “public housing,” or "Hamas prisoners" for "Israeli hostages."
No, Abe, didn't blame Jews - but I do think the zionist lobby does not have America's interest at heart. The genocide in Gaza is horrific - killing women and children indiscriminately. There can be no justification for it in my view. You can have your view. I have mine. However, I am sure when Israel/U.S. attack Iran again (and it is coming) the Iranians will reign down on not just the military infrastructure but all of Israel including women and children. They'll be screams from the rooftops but those zionists making the decision to continue instead of seeking another way will be the ones to blame in my opinion. And, unfortunately, mushroom clouds may appear and, if so, it won't be just mushrooms in Iran. The zionists including the U.S. aren't all powerful. The world has changed. Now back to my Malbec. Yummy!
If all the Israelis that have captured were released and sent home the war would stop
I also remember that Arafat had a 95% chance for a 2 state solution and he refused it. I don’t like any extreme groups no matter what nationality they are
After listening to you back to my gin and tonic-much stronger than Malbec
History? Abe, you need to go back to at least 1948 to understand the history there. You need to read about the Nakba and the Balfour Declaration for example. Maybe if you use that as a start, as well as many others here, you'll get a better understanding of why the Palestinians, at this point, fight the only way that they can. The state of Israel is on land stolen from the Palestinians and ever since the Palestinians have been subjected to degrading treatment by the Jews. As an aside the Jews of Israel are not descendants of biblical jews but are Khazarian Jews from eastern Europe, mostly from the area between the Black and Caspian seas, but from other parts of Europe as well who were literally shipped there after WWII. Biblical Jews were wiped out by AD 70. Thus the Jews of Israel are not semites but the Palestinians are semites. So it is more accurate to call someone who is against the Palestinians an antisemite. So few people understand the history behind what is happening there currently. You can even go back to medieval period and the beginnings of the Rothschild banking dynasty to get a broader perspective and why European countries wanted to expel the Jews. Current events are a result of this long history and more people need to look into it.
I can not dispute Your history lesson . I never did look into it , but now that I can see a direction I can explore. As far as expelling "Jews" , In my opinion is because the other groups were jealous. Jewish people seem to be very good with money management. I remember reading about this in the Gulag writings.
Bill it seems you've found another reason to support TDS. Milei you might want to add to your comments is one of Von Mises followers. He has slashed Argentine's government. Isn't that what you have professed should be done in the US. Sure maybe someone, Citrone, makes big money but isn't there someone making big money with every move. Still Donald fights crime the way this crime should be fought i.e. not sticking the US tax payer with the costs of illegals and crime cartels. His admin is exposing the facade of vaccines and drugs. He is fighting the climate change narrative which is nothing but giving the government a chance to milk businesses because of carbon dioxide, while China goes berserk on carbon dioxide at lower costs. The UN is a fake news entity that promotes socialism world wide and tries to destroy the US and what is left of capitalism while the US taxpayer gets the tab. What do you believe in Bill? Is socialism now the most acceptable world order and preferred? And what about these "leaders" in the EU who want WWIII with the US fighting it for the EU? Do you support their efforts to "save democracy" with just a little more war? It seems you are playing both sides of the street here Bill? Someone found that Citrone was Bessent's friend and had a big position in Argentina, WOW does that every look crooked? It kinda looks like you want the US to defend and pay for France and Ireland, where you live. Why care about the US middle class when you live in the EU? What about that little factoid?
Mr. Mackinac, Good point about Argentine Pres. Milei. What Bill misses about his criticism of U.S. Sec. Bessent is that he is trying to help Pres. Milei's efforts to survive politically right now. And Bill strongly supports Pres. Milei's efforts even though Milei's efforts have been recently overridden overwhelming by the Argentine Congress because of the increase in unemployment these efforts have caused in Argentina. You kill debt, you kill jobs. It's not rocket science. And, of course, Milei will always lose Buenos Aires because they are leftist. Milei's power is Argentina outside Buenos Aires. But Bill ignores this fact. Who knows why? Now maybe Sec. Bessent, while trying to help Milei is also trying to help Citrone, which appears sleazy. But Bill leaves out the part about Milei's problems, which is a classic smear of Sec. Bessent who is first trying to help Milei.
And, more importantly, grandstanders like Bill, Sen. Paul, & Rep. Massie fully understand that with all the debt propping up jobs in not only the U.S. but throughout the world, if you massively cut debt quickly, you rapidly cut jobs, and the folks backlash against you. Pres. Milei, to his credit, continues to try to cut more and more debt, but he is seeing a backlash, and thus his recent efforts have been overwhelming rejected by the Argentine Congress, who is panicking. If Pres. Trump tried this massive debt reduction in the U.S., the GOP Congress would be wiped out Nov. 2026, and the Dem Congress would then hamstring ICE enforcement and other reforms Trump and the GOP are pushing through right now.
Couldn't agree more. It is a complex problem with no popular solution. The fact is there are a lot more spendthrifts than savers in this world and of course they want to be bailed out. But the reality is that this promotes further speculation and deeper debt / leverage. Simply there isn't a solution that saves all the spendthrifts who cherished the idea of free money for them to live above their means. These grandstanders should support Trump to gradually defund the corruption because they are positioning themselves and anti corruption. Wish it was all that simple. Good comment and relevent.
Bill, I agree with what you wrote about countries becoming very rich, and then falling into the trap of wanting to then become powerful around the world via empire building. But you left out that these empires were also felled by these empire-building countries bringing in massive numbers of slaves or modern day peasants for cheap labor. And, as Julia Hahn, former Trump advisor, has pointed out, these immigrants (legal or illegal) multiply faster than the host population, and their culture believes that Big Govt. is god-like, and could never be the reason why their countries turned into third-world hellholes. She even pointed out that polling shows that, pertaining to the U.S., even two-thirds of third-world LEGAL immigrants to the U.S. vote Democrat. This shows that most of these people believe in the goodness of big government, which is a fatal flaw. This seems to be a distinctly third-world belief and is cultural, not racial. This is why I call U.S. cities (not suburbs) run overwhelmingly by Democrats, third-world cities.
I wonder if Citrone owns Gold and/or Bitcoin-- thus being short the US Dollar. Bessant?
People have been so poorly educated in economic matters over the last 30 years that hardly a few understand that it is not the inflating prices of "stuff" but rather the declining value of US Dollars that creates the squeeze on their finances. It is regrettable that their Representatives, on the whole, are so corrupt. Gold is but the canary in the coal mine... nothing more than a warning which will burn bright for as long as sound money remains absent from our society.
I’m reading “A Year With Thomas Merton”, daily snippets of his reflections. This, written 10/20/62: “The United States is now spending more each year on armaments than was spent in any year before 1942 for the entire national budget…. I have no doubt the world feels toward America the way many monks feel toward an abbott who wants to exercise total power, to receive unquestioning obedience on the basis of slogans about which he himself ceased thinking 25 years ago, and who above all wants to be loved, so that he may never, at any time, to himself, seem to be exercising power, or loving it. Nobody denies him the power he has: few give him the love that he needs in order to be safe and content. And therefore he uses his power, from time to time, in unpredictable, arbitrary, and absurd ways in which he defends his own ends and makes everybody miserable.”
What Merton is bemoaning in a roundabout way is the growth of government; nevertheless, he is happy, mostly, to subject himself to what he admits can be arbitrary whims of the monastery government, relying on the abbot's basic goodness to be fair and just in his administration. The less government, the better, so far as I'm concerned, religious or otherwise. Best always. PM
Based on this writing, I think he views the abbot as an authoritarian, not someone good and fair. I do agree that he's drawing an analogy between the growth of federal government, with it's ever-burgeoning laws, regulations and rules, and the restrictions of the monastery. He moved into a hermitage in 1965 and was much happier there.
In 1900, most people were riding horses. There were no gas guzzlers, credit was rare.
You could say economic history, the history of today’s opulence was because of the uniqueness of America, freedom, and opportunity, unleashing of the individual.
Any charts or rhythms prior are useless.
It is gone because America has joined the common stupid heard of human refuse.
I long for America to be great again. I believe it is possible; the alternative is disaster. But we are wimps, we cannot stand the pain necessary. We don’t even know what a woman is. It is a disgusting mess.
I've cast my last vote for a republican any position, and sure a hell don't vote for the jackasses.. This Bessett scam sending $20 billion to Argentina of US taxpayers money is unconscionable to buy pesos my ass.... Bessetts money guy just so happens to be heavily invested in Argentinas economy. Well isn't that just perfect. I'm disappointed disgusted and not surprised the corruption runs far and wide in both parties in this F##KED up government we have...
Oooops… yesterday I used the wrong price per oz.
Using Ai and recalculating…
-
1920 Gold $20.67 oz (gold price was fixed by Uncle Sam).
1920 home $6300 = 304 oz of gold.
1920 blue collar wage $1.50/hour = 14 hours of work per oz
-
1934 the gov’t confiscated gold and priced it at $35 oz
1934 home (during depression) $6000 = 172 oz
1934 Average blue collar wage $.65/hour = 54 hours of work per oz
-
1960 gold $35 oz
1960 home $12,700 = 363 oz
1960 average blue collar wage $ 3.00/hour = 12 hours per oz
-
2025 gold $4000 oz
2025 home $370,000 = 93 oz of gold
2025 average blue collar wage $20/hour = 200 hours of work per oz
-
Did gold just get ahead of itself?
...or does this mean something else?
Don’t you mean we should be lamenting the inflated cost of the US dollar? It’s not gold that’s now a higher cost but that by which you are measuring its value. Seems to me gold is doing what it’s supposed to do and housing seems to be maintaining its value as measured in ounces of gold. It’s the dollar’s value that has tanked. If you had put 180 oz. of gold under your bed and $6300 of US currency next to the gold in 1920, which one should you be lamenting?
AI. It’s not about the price of the house it’s realistic affordability today. Not about return on capital but return of capital. Repayments take much more of combined family incomes reducing affordability of homes. If there is a lament as to current situations the indicator is the price of gold.
The Bessent - Citrone "thing", of which I was unaware, is a perfect example of big-governmental cronyism, where the insiders use the leverage and power of the government (currently 40% of GDP) to "take care of" each other. The first, really good, naked look at this tit-for-tat phenomenon for most of us was Hillary Clinton's foray into cattle futures, but the arrangement is as old as Man himself. One thing Mr. Bonner seldom mentions with his musings on empire is the growth of government that must occur in order for "empire" to happen. As President Reagan said, government is not the solution; it is the problem. Onliest difficulty is that President Reagan himself came under the spell of big government. A little ahead of the curve, and seeking a bolt-hole, I moved here in 1990, For years, at least 10, a man up here had painted and displayed on the entire east-side of his house: "The Radical Record of Red-Ink Ronnie". Another fellow parked an old van in his front lawn and painted on it: "Zoning: America's Communism." The "C" in "communism" was a sickle. Best always. PM
Ballsy, ol' Bill, Ballsy - and today's thoughts are absolutely AWESOME! We peons these days with the primary media tied up by the Billionaire Club rarely, if ever, get the real story. Protection of the wealth has become their battle cry - of course, unless you are on the other side of the view. Then - "off with your head". Obviously, Citrone appears to have called in some "markers". History repeats itself because human nature never changes - cycles repeat but it is "always different this time" until too late and the masses come to know it isn't different. The only difference is who got wealthy this time. The 4th Turning continues and the Big Men (primarily the zionist lobby) will reign until they don't and that lies ahead. Buckle Up - it is going to get ugly. Your cycle musing also shows the BRICS, ASEAN, and the Global South are in a completely different phase of their development. As the East rises, the West continues its decline. And, in today's technology driven world, the bumps get bigger and bigger! It's a little early on a "miercoles" but poppin' a big Tacana Malbec is in sight!
OK. One more thing I forgot. You mention the Zionist lobby does not care about America. Open your eyes, no one in Washington cares about America. The lobbyists, the politicians and their families. The bottom line is everyone in Washington are there to help themselves, especially when it increases their finances. As BB, explained, it includes Citroen, Bessent and many others.
Old Man:
It is very sad that Palestenians women and children are killed in this awful war. Remember the Palestenians voted for Hamas in power. They teach their children hatred for Israel. This war would end if Hamas returned the dead and living Israeli hostages. Hamas also uses the women and children as human shields; they are terrorists. They do not care about their own people. Historically Arafat had a chance for a 2 state solution years ago. During the negotiations he got 90% of what he wanted and he refused it. Abe (another old man)
Unfortunately, Abe, the odds are stack against the zionists. There are somewhere short of 15 million Jews worldwide versus over 2.1 Billion muslims. Plus there are as many coptic christians in the middle east (yes - primarily Egypt) as there are Jews. And, now so many other countries - including the majority of Europe - are against the genocide as well. When the West ruled the world through two eras (British then the U.S.) and had both the financial and military power, this type of warfare somewhat worked. Today - that is just beyond unrealistic and it is going to end bad for the Jewish people. If another way isn't found to secure the state of israel's safety, it is going to be truly ugly for not only Israel but the world too. But the zionists will have none of that. Seems all they can see is a Greater Israel - full speed ahead! I keep with the Malbec - got drunk on gin after one Army-Navy game and lost all taste for it.
Using your math (and logic), there's no chance for any religious, cultural, political entity to survive without Islam's permission, since the adherents of Islam outnumber everybody, including the 335,000,000 Americans, Pew identifying 62% of those as Christian and Gallup identifying 69% of those as Christian, with the 2.1 Billion Islamists being 100% Islamist. Still, there are Asian Islamists, and African Islamists, and Middle-eastern Islamists, all militant against Jews/Israel to varying degrees, and not all Jews are Zionists. The practicing Jews (of which there are varying sects) believe they enjoy the ultimate protection of all, contingent upon their faithfulness and righteousness. In my view, It's not as cut-and-dried as you might present. Still, I think the problem would go away to a great extent if the Islamists did not consider it their mission to kill non-Islamists, particularly their Abrahamic cousins. Best always. PM
Paul - well said. And, frankly, I don't know if there is an answer. Most of the Middle East is Islamic. Most of China follows Buddism, Taoist, or various forms of Chinese ritual folklore - a mere 1 to 2% are Islamic.. Most of India is heavily Hindu with some 200 million or so islamic and then a scatter of others. Religions polarize people and cultures like nothing else and it has nothing to do with logic or rational thought. It is pure BELIEF! It is seen here when there are those that only see the word "Trump" or "zionists" or many other lightning rod words and rational is gone in a flash. As the world's population grows and people/cultures become forced to be in closer and closer proximity - these differences become flash points. We are seeing it here in America as the Far Right and Far Left literally hate each other and there are no common grounds. No negotiations - no tolerance - no patience. On top of that the West is in decline and the East is rising. From my limited view, the West just can't grasp their hegemony - both militarily and financially - are over. Technology is progressing rapidly and such things as the Non-Proliferation Treaty designed to safeguard all people are now just a footnote in history. Decorum and statesmanship have become relics. Our Founding Fathers tried to put limits on government to maintain the Republic they fought so hard for - those gone a long time ago. Eisenhower warranted in 1958 of foreign entanglements and the evil of the military industrial complex ("MIC") and it has spread to the medical community. So I would like to hear from those that resent my distaste for the billionaire zionist lobby who know apparently control the American media and give marching orders to the U.S. government - what is the answer shy of a world war. The Levant won't be back.....as always, one ol' man's opinion.
That "religion" of peace is outnumbered by all the "other religions" of peace.
All the other religions of peace would resist that particular religion of peace if they made demands of their existence.
And to your point...
why is Israel accused of genocide when the choice is clearly up to Hamas.
Mr. Ol’ LSO, I notice you didn’t respond to Mr. Porter’s point about Hamas using their own people and Israeli hostages as human shields, which even the one-worlder-globalist International Criminal Court (ICC) continues to condemn as a war crime. This is one of the main reasons the IDF has had to respond in this conflict as it has, and why the conflict has been so drawn out. And the term “genocide” is thrown around rather loosely here. The numbers of dead and injured among Palestinians is reported by Hamas or those favoring Hamas. We shall see once the conflict finally ends what the actual numbers are. And independent aid orgs report repeatedly that much of the aid goes, not to the so-called innocent Palestinian people, but to Hamas fighters. And you use the term “Greater Israel.” But what does that actually mean? Israel only wanting a tiny buffer zone (Gaza is EXTREMELY TINY) most likely where Israel has pledged to try to make the Gaza coast a resort mecca providing good jobs for the Palestinian people. But this “greater” term would indicate to any thinking person that Israel wants to conquer Jordan, Egypt, S.A., Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, etc. And this is completely ridiculous. Just like “Greater Russia.” But Russia only appears to want a buffer zone, which is tiny Donbas. And they don’t want NATO nukes in their backyard anymore than the U.S. wants ChiCom nukes in Mexico or anywhere in Central America. Terms like “Greater Israel” or “Greater Russia” bother me greatly because they are Orwellian in nature, such as “democracy” for “constitutional republic,” “global warming” or “climate change” for the weather, “affordable housing” for “public housing,” or "Hamas prisoners" for "Israeli hostages."
I resent your comment on the ‘Zionist’ lobby. They may be one of them but there many other lobbyists sucking the big tit
Please be fair. You’re back to your old ways of blaming Jews.
No, Abe, didn't blame Jews - but I do think the zionist lobby does not have America's interest at heart. The genocide in Gaza is horrific - killing women and children indiscriminately. There can be no justification for it in my view. You can have your view. I have mine. However, I am sure when Israel/U.S. attack Iran again (and it is coming) the Iranians will reign down on not just the military infrastructure but all of Israel including women and children. They'll be screams from the rooftops but those zionists making the decision to continue instead of seeking another way will be the ones to blame in my opinion. And, unfortunately, mushroom clouds may appear and, if so, it won't be just mushrooms in Iran. The zionists including the U.S. aren't all powerful. The world has changed. Now back to my Malbec. Yummy!
Remember your history
Palestinians voted for hamas to be in power
They teach their children to hate Israel
Hamas uses them as human shields
If all the Israelis that have captured were released and sent home the war would stop
I also remember that Arafat had a 95% chance for a 2 state solution and he refused it. I don’t like any extreme groups no matter what nationality they are
After listening to you back to my gin and tonic-much stronger than Malbec
History? Abe, you need to go back to at least 1948 to understand the history there. You need to read about the Nakba and the Balfour Declaration for example. Maybe if you use that as a start, as well as many others here, you'll get a better understanding of why the Palestinians, at this point, fight the only way that they can. The state of Israel is on land stolen from the Palestinians and ever since the Palestinians have been subjected to degrading treatment by the Jews. As an aside the Jews of Israel are not descendants of biblical jews but are Khazarian Jews from eastern Europe, mostly from the area between the Black and Caspian seas, but from other parts of Europe as well who were literally shipped there after WWII. Biblical Jews were wiped out by AD 70. Thus the Jews of Israel are not semites but the Palestinians are semites. So it is more accurate to call someone who is against the Palestinians an antisemite. So few people understand the history behind what is happening there currently. You can even go back to medieval period and the beginnings of the Rothschild banking dynasty to get a broader perspective and why European countries wanted to expel the Jews. Current events are a result of this long history and more people need to look into it.
I can not dispute Your history lesson . I never did look into it , but now that I can see a direction I can explore. As far as expelling "Jews" , In my opinion is because the other groups were jealous. Jewish people seem to be very good with money management. I remember reading about this in the Gulag writings.
...so in your world the Muslims are totally innocent victims of the Israeli aggressions?
They cannot control the situation?
They have no input, they can do nothing?
There's not a thing they can do to stop Israel and save innocent lives?
sure there is, stop raiding, killing, raping and murdering children. Period. Had that not happened we would not be where we are now would we....
IF it wasn't for a negative attitude, toward everything, this joker would have no attitude at all.
Bill it seems you've found another reason to support TDS. Milei you might want to add to your comments is one of Von Mises followers. He has slashed Argentine's government. Isn't that what you have professed should be done in the US. Sure maybe someone, Citrone, makes big money but isn't there someone making big money with every move. Still Donald fights crime the way this crime should be fought i.e. not sticking the US tax payer with the costs of illegals and crime cartels. His admin is exposing the facade of vaccines and drugs. He is fighting the climate change narrative which is nothing but giving the government a chance to milk businesses because of carbon dioxide, while China goes berserk on carbon dioxide at lower costs. The UN is a fake news entity that promotes socialism world wide and tries to destroy the US and what is left of capitalism while the US taxpayer gets the tab. What do you believe in Bill? Is socialism now the most acceptable world order and preferred? And what about these "leaders" in the EU who want WWIII with the US fighting it for the EU? Do you support their efforts to "save democracy" with just a little more war? It seems you are playing both sides of the street here Bill? Someone found that Citrone was Bessent's friend and had a big position in Argentina, WOW does that every look crooked? It kinda looks like you want the US to defend and pay for France and Ireland, where you live. Why care about the US middle class when you live in the EU? What about that little factoid?
Mr. Mackinac, Good point about Argentine Pres. Milei. What Bill misses about his criticism of U.S. Sec. Bessent is that he is trying to help Pres. Milei's efforts to survive politically right now. And Bill strongly supports Pres. Milei's efforts even though Milei's efforts have been recently overridden overwhelming by the Argentine Congress because of the increase in unemployment these efforts have caused in Argentina. You kill debt, you kill jobs. It's not rocket science. And, of course, Milei will always lose Buenos Aires because they are leftist. Milei's power is Argentina outside Buenos Aires. But Bill ignores this fact. Who knows why? Now maybe Sec. Bessent, while trying to help Milei is also trying to help Citrone, which appears sleazy. But Bill leaves out the part about Milei's problems, which is a classic smear of Sec. Bessent who is first trying to help Milei.
And, more importantly, grandstanders like Bill, Sen. Paul, & Rep. Massie fully understand that with all the debt propping up jobs in not only the U.S. but throughout the world, if you massively cut debt quickly, you rapidly cut jobs, and the folks backlash against you. Pres. Milei, to his credit, continues to try to cut more and more debt, but he is seeing a backlash, and thus his recent efforts have been overwhelming rejected by the Argentine Congress, who is panicking. If Pres. Trump tried this massive debt reduction in the U.S., the GOP Congress would be wiped out Nov. 2026, and the Dem Congress would then hamstring ICE enforcement and other reforms Trump and the GOP are pushing through right now.
Couldn't agree more. It is a complex problem with no popular solution. The fact is there are a lot more spendthrifts than savers in this world and of course they want to be bailed out. But the reality is that this promotes further speculation and deeper debt / leverage. Simply there isn't a solution that saves all the spendthrifts who cherished the idea of free money for them to live above their means. These grandstanders should support Trump to gradually defund the corruption because they are positioning themselves and anti corruption. Wish it was all that simple. Good comment and relevent.
Bill, I agree with what you wrote about countries becoming very rich, and then falling into the trap of wanting to then become powerful around the world via empire building. But you left out that these empires were also felled by these empire-building countries bringing in massive numbers of slaves or modern day peasants for cheap labor. And, as Julia Hahn, former Trump advisor, has pointed out, these immigrants (legal or illegal) multiply faster than the host population, and their culture believes that Big Govt. is god-like, and could never be the reason why their countries turned into third-world hellholes. She even pointed out that polling shows that, pertaining to the U.S., even two-thirds of third-world LEGAL immigrants to the U.S. vote Democrat. This shows that most of these people believe in the goodness of big government, which is a fatal flaw. This seems to be a distinctly third-world belief and is cultural, not racial. This is why I call U.S. cities (not suburbs) run overwhelmingly by Democrats, third-world cities.
Good write up. I never seen that side of the "argument". Presents another perspective to remember and consider.
Thanks Bill.
I wonder if Citrone owns Gold and/or Bitcoin-- thus being short the US Dollar. Bessant?
People have been so poorly educated in economic matters over the last 30 years that hardly a few understand that it is not the inflating prices of "stuff" but rather the declining value of US Dollars that creates the squeeze on their finances. It is regrettable that their Representatives, on the whole, are so corrupt. Gold is but the canary in the coal mine... nothing more than a warning which will burn bright for as long as sound money remains absent from our society.
I’m reading “A Year With Thomas Merton”, daily snippets of his reflections. This, written 10/20/62: “The United States is now spending more each year on armaments than was spent in any year before 1942 for the entire national budget…. I have no doubt the world feels toward America the way many monks feel toward an abbott who wants to exercise total power, to receive unquestioning obedience on the basis of slogans about which he himself ceased thinking 25 years ago, and who above all wants to be loved, so that he may never, at any time, to himself, seem to be exercising power, or loving it. Nobody denies him the power he has: few give him the love that he needs in order to be safe and content. And therefore he uses his power, from time to time, in unpredictable, arbitrary, and absurd ways in which he defends his own ends and makes everybody miserable.”
That which does not change remains the same.
What Merton is bemoaning in a roundabout way is the growth of government; nevertheless, he is happy, mostly, to subject himself to what he admits can be arbitrary whims of the monastery government, relying on the abbot's basic goodness to be fair and just in his administration. The less government, the better, so far as I'm concerned, religious or otherwise. Best always. PM
Based on this writing, I think he views the abbot as an authoritarian, not someone good and fair. I do agree that he's drawing an analogy between the growth of federal government, with it's ever-burgeoning laws, regulations and rules, and the restrictions of the monastery. He moved into a hermitage in 1965 and was much happier there.
In 1900, most people were riding horses. There were no gas guzzlers, credit was rare.
You could say economic history, the history of today’s opulence was because of the uniqueness of America, freedom, and opportunity, unleashing of the individual.
Any charts or rhythms prior are useless.
It is gone because America has joined the common stupid heard of human refuse.
I long for America to be great again. I believe it is possible; the alternative is disaster. But we are wimps, we cannot stand the pain necessary. We don’t even know what a woman is. It is a disgusting mess.
I've cast my last vote for a republican any position, and sure a hell don't vote for the jackasses.. This Bessett scam sending $20 billion to Argentina of US taxpayers money is unconscionable to buy pesos my ass.... Bessetts money guy just so happens to be heavily invested in Argentinas economy. Well isn't that just perfect. I'm disappointed disgusted and not surprised the corruption runs far and wide in both parties in this F##KED up government we have...
To bad Bill did't get us in on the Argentine information earlier could have used a boost
in my portfolio.
I believe Bill has some very good sources of information....