"In the course of the discussion Ritter gets into the issue of the demands of the US military for future spending. Mark Milley says US military spending will need to double—to nearly a trillion dollars. Which leads one to wonder, How could drag shows possibly be that expensive? The real question is, Will the US any longer be in a position to be spending that kind of money when King Dollar is no longer the world’s sole reserve currency? That day of reckoning appears to be coming sooner than anyone ever thought. My view is that the American Empire will face very serious constraints on spending on military matters. "
You are not alone in this view. I think William Lind recently wrote something about how to defend America when economic circumstances force us to reduce defense spending by 90%. I have tried to find a link but can't. I confess annoyance. I have my own views on the matter, but rather than write an essay here I will simply say that we can afford to defend America but that defending dependent client states that cannot or will not fend for themselves is an expensive hobby we will likely have to give up. We are presently covering Ukraine's basic governmental services at a time when ours leave much to be desired.
As for the cost of drag shows I will point out that if you can spend $400 dollars on a toilet seat you can likely run up some pretty serious drag show expenses.
The modern Pentagon is starting to remind me of a woman I knew who inherited a house and between sixty and seventy thousand dollars when her father died and within two years had frittered every penny of it away on Japanese anime videos. Today the house is a wreck and the structure is starting to collapse. Whatever it once was (I visited that house when it was beautiful and well tended) it is today an eyesore and a hazard to health and safety. Madness carries a price.
Right. I'm not suggesting that the US won't be able to defend itself in some reasonable way, but it will require dispensing with the madness and coming to terms with reality.
Having read MacLeod's article I stand by my point that there isn't any deep level incredibly cunning 4D chess move by the Fed to destroy the Eurodollar and keep US banks on top as some claim. The Fed and Powell are simply using the only tools in the toolbox to fight inflation and hoping that they will work. And as MacLeod points out, even doing the right thing and keeping interest rates high will - whatever the knock-on effects in Europe are - have devasting effects on the US economy: "The fallout from rising interest rates will undoubtedly lead to higher government budget deficits. Tax revenues will decline, and welfare costs increase." That might not be much consolation to Dimon and the other East Coast big banking boys. As for inflation being transitory, in a sense that is correct. In the end, everything is transitory, including life itself.
Regarding the last portion of the post. The effing Dept of HHS flew the “trans flag” less than a week after the evil POS murdered those people. What a bunch of scumbags.
So Biden admits that he’s too old to travel around the world to do his job? Ok, seems legit, I mean he is only the President of some third rate Banana Republic that threatens its own citizens if they don’t agree with the Ministry of Propaganda as well as not knowing what mark on the floor to stand on and he does occasionally shake hands with non-existent people. I mean what do you want, a fully functioning human being in possession of all of his faculties? Sorry, you didn’t get the made in the US model, this one was made in China and the warranty has expired! But thanks for shopping with us.
In defense of Keynes, who was not an idiot, deficit spending was for the crisis, to jump-start the economy, and was to be paid back later when things got better. Our current politicians are idiots, and they will find they are not even good as politicians when Trump gets through with them. Why are they baiting the bear?
IMHO, Keynes *was* an idiot, because he completely misunderstood how governments actually work. No politician is ever going to stop an existing program. That was true in the 30s as it is today.
I read your comment with dismay. Too true. When we shortly enter the Greatest Depression ever we will not have the likes of Keynes to help us out of it, and in any case with the level of debt public and private outstanding there may be no solution. Keynes was an economist. Now the politicians run everything, even health care so intervectin which could have saved lives was hard to come by. The new 'science' is what enriches the politicians and increases their power over us. In the 1930s when I was born Keynes ' policies did help, until FDR's New Deal messed things up and gave us the 'Grapes of Wrath' in 1939.
I hope this doesn’t get me banned, but I have been thinking about this a lot lately and I’m absolutely convinced that there is a Galactic shit storm headed our way and it will be unlike anything the world has seen before. The collective West and the United States in particular, have drifted so far from historical societal, fiscal, political and moral norms that, as you pointed out Mark, a small child’s heroism in the worst imaginable situation is just simply ignored and dismissed. We are due a reckoning, such a scourge we have brought upon our heads.
No question about it. And it's becoming more clear by the week that the people at the center of all this evil will force us to take actions we previously would have thought unimaginable.
It's not a matter of 'if' anymore...just a matter of time.
We are already there. “When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law.”
"In the course of the discussion Ritter gets into the issue of the demands of the US military for future spending. Mark Milley says US military spending will need to double—to nearly a trillion dollars. Which leads one to wonder, How could drag shows possibly be that expensive? The real question is, Will the US any longer be in a position to be spending that kind of money when King Dollar is no longer the world’s sole reserve currency? That day of reckoning appears to be coming sooner than anyone ever thought. My view is that the American Empire will face very serious constraints on spending on military matters. "
You are not alone in this view. I think William Lind recently wrote something about how to defend America when economic circumstances force us to reduce defense spending by 90%. I have tried to find a link but can't. I confess annoyance. I have my own views on the matter, but rather than write an essay here I will simply say that we can afford to defend America but that defending dependent client states that cannot or will not fend for themselves is an expensive hobby we will likely have to give up. We are presently covering Ukraine's basic governmental services at a time when ours leave much to be desired.
As for the cost of drag shows I will point out that if you can spend $400 dollars on a toilet seat you can likely run up some pretty serious drag show expenses.
The modern Pentagon is starting to remind me of a woman I knew who inherited a house and between sixty and seventy thousand dollars when her father died and within two years had frittered every penny of it away on Japanese anime videos. Today the house is a wreck and the structure is starting to collapse. Whatever it once was (I visited that house when it was beautiful and well tended) it is today an eyesore and a hazard to health and safety. Madness carries a price.
Right. I'm not suggesting that the US won't be able to defend itself in some reasonable way, but it will require dispensing with the madness and coming to terms with reality.
Having read MacLeod's article I stand by my point that there isn't any deep level incredibly cunning 4D chess move by the Fed to destroy the Eurodollar and keep US banks on top as some claim. The Fed and Powell are simply using the only tools in the toolbox to fight inflation and hoping that they will work. And as MacLeod points out, even doing the right thing and keeping interest rates high will - whatever the knock-on effects in Europe are - have devasting effects on the US economy: "The fallout from rising interest rates will undoubtedly lead to higher government budget deficits. Tax revenues will decline, and welfare costs increase." That might not be much consolation to Dimon and the other East Coast big banking boys. As for inflation being transitory, in a sense that is correct. In the end, everything is transitory, including life itself.
Regarding the last portion of the post. The effing Dept of HHS flew the “trans flag” less than a week after the evil POS murdered those people. What a bunch of scumbags.
To borrow from Mackay and the Madness of Crowds, we saw people thinking in herds during Covid; now we are seeing them go mad in herds.
Joel Berry
@JoelWBerry
·
Mar 28
To get a mass shooter, you need 2 things: an evil ideology, and a mind insane and numb enough to take the ideology to its logical conclusion.
Our schools supply the ideology.
Big Pharma supplies the mind-altering insanity.
Our culture is a mass shooter factory.
So Biden admits that he’s too old to travel around the world to do his job? Ok, seems legit, I mean he is only the President of some third rate Banana Republic that threatens its own citizens if they don’t agree with the Ministry of Propaganda as well as not knowing what mark on the floor to stand on and he does occasionally shake hands with non-existent people. I mean what do you want, a fully functioning human being in possession of all of his faculties? Sorry, you didn’t get the made in the US model, this one was made in China and the warranty has expired! But thanks for shopping with us.
Incredible!!
In defense of Keynes, who was not an idiot, deficit spending was for the crisis, to jump-start the economy, and was to be paid back later when things got better. Our current politicians are idiots, and they will find they are not even good as politicians when Trump gets through with them. Why are they baiting the bear?
IMHO, Keynes *was* an idiot, because he completely misunderstood how governments actually work. No politician is ever going to stop an existing program. That was true in the 30s as it is today.
I read your comment with dismay. Too true. When we shortly enter the Greatest Depression ever we will not have the likes of Keynes to help us out of it, and in any case with the level of debt public and private outstanding there may be no solution. Keynes was an economist. Now the politicians run everything, even health care so intervectin which could have saved lives was hard to come by. The new 'science' is what enriches the politicians and increases their power over us. In the 1930s when I was born Keynes ' policies did help, until FDR's New Deal messed things up and gave us the 'Grapes of Wrath' in 1939.
That Stanford case had my blood boiling. Now it’s even worse than I’d imagined. Anger and disbelief.
I am still so upset about the Memphis shooting.
I hope this doesn’t get me banned, but I have been thinking about this a lot lately and I’m absolutely convinced that there is a Galactic shit storm headed our way and it will be unlike anything the world has seen before. The collective West and the United States in particular, have drifted so far from historical societal, fiscal, political and moral norms that, as you pointed out Mark, a small child’s heroism in the worst imaginable situation is just simply ignored and dismissed. We are due a reckoning, such a scourge we have brought upon our heads.
No question about it. And it's becoming more clear by the week that the people at the center of all this evil will force us to take actions we previously would have thought unimaginable.
It's not a matter of 'if' anymore...just a matter of time.
Agreed, we are rapidly reaching a “choose this day who you will serve” moment. A little scary.
We are already there. “When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law.”
― Frédéric Bastiat, The Law
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/the-monster-behind-the-case-that-drove-stanford-students-to-protest/
What a world.
I wish I had just a nickel for each time I say that per day.
https://freebeacon.com/campus/federal-judges-say-they-wont-hire-clerks-from-stanford-law-school/