cubsfan

^^^ Some of that is to be expected. The USA is awash in natural resources, China not so much.

Not sure what the controversy is here. Excercise in the proper doses does much to turn back the clock and lessen the impacts of aging. You CAN feel young again - but it takes consistency and work. Just ask the old guys like me & @boilermaker75 !

That's what it will come to - if you don't think the USA has your back - you're wise to nuke up. I doubt Trump will pull back from NATO if Europe keeps it's commitments up - and that's the way it should be. Germany ought to be leading the charge. Do you think Germany is prepared militarily? Will be interesting to see how Trump handles China. He's had successful dialogues with Xi before.

For good reason - enjoy!

It may be a derailment from the thread, but a very valuable discussion. I found the Paul Tudor Jones CNBC interview very alarming, because it seem to make so much sense when you look at the trajectory of the deficit. But I certainly do understand the plumbing, and the reserve currency topics. Many thanks.

I thought the Paul Tudor Jones interview on this debt and tax issue was along the same lines. Kicking the can down the road can't last forever. Maybe WEB agrees.

Beginning at 3:45 - there is a short 3 minute interview of an UNRWA employee discussing Hamas control of their facilities.

^^^ Awful. Artillery was the big killer in WWII combat, accounting for, I believe 60% of casualties.

Sure - you roll your tanks into another country and destroy it, killing hundreds of thousands. Putin is a great guy.

I'm not feeling trapped at all. And I totally agree. These are all perfectly legitimate questions. After all, war should always be a last resort - the very last. But a terrorist group or resistance is responsible for it's actions. Which gets you to the major point: IF the resistance group is heads and tails weaker than the opponent - then they have no business taking action or employing violence. Everyone knows they were predestined to lose. They simply could not win. So you are entering into loss of life for nothing. You are committing suicide for your group or followers. In this case, the total destruction of Gaza. The difference with Israel vs Hamas (or Hezbollah) is that the terrorists never counted on Israel to crush them with overwhelming force. There is NO way they could EVER win this war. But they rolled the dice. They gambled with the lives of their people, for whom they had no regard if Israel finally said "enough, never again".

It's a perfectly reasonable scenario. IF I understand you - there is going to be a penalty extracted from the Ukrainian partisans that forcibly use Ukrainian human shields, once they start attacking Russians. If you use human shields you are committing a war crime.

I knew you would fact-check me! Have a nice weekend @Xerxes!

In regards to schools, hospitals, charities (UNWRA), churches, mosques... For the "uninformed" this is worth the read about war crimes (Geneva Convention): https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/17/can-hospitals-be-military-targets-international-law-israel-gaza-al-shifa Philip-Gay said that “if a civilian hospital is used for acts harmful to the enemy, that is the legal term used”, the hospital can lose its protected status under international law and be considered a legitimate target. Nevertheless, if there is doubt as to whether a hospital is a military objective or being used for acts harmful to the enemy, the presumption, under international humanitarian law, is that it is not.

Who is cutting off the supplies to the Palestinians in Gaza?? It's Hamas. And you believe UNRWA?? The same guys that had several UNRWA members that participated in the Oct 7th massacre. The same guys that had hordes of weapons stored in their facilities for Hamas.

Oh, so Israel wanted to undermine the PLO in 1978 AFTER the PLO massacred Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich?? You make no sense at all.

This is a silly argument. Israel is the ONLY country in the world where the army (IDF) issues WARNINGS to civilians to evacuate BEFORE they take out a building. I have never seen this done - and of course - it's much to their military disadvantage to do so. The IDF has take great pains to limit civilian casualties. And a terrorist government (Hamas) has NO regard for the life the Palestinian civilians. Who in the world would DELIBERATELY place military targets beneath civilian hospitals and schools? -- Only Hamas & Hezbollah - as they could care less about using their population as human shields. Who would steals humanitarian aid & money from their own population to construct a underground tunnel and terror network, instead of feeding and building infrastructure for the benefit of their citizens? -- Only Hamas and Hezbollah. Using your own population as Human shields is both despicable and cowardly. And then your enemy comes in to feed the population - and you steal the food. I hope you've seen the clip where Hamas is executing young Palestinian men who tried to get to the aid before Hamas did.

Let him vent. The truth will be out soon enough.

Pretty brilliant move today: Israel taking out Hezbollah banks and financial institutions on Sunday. Might make it tough for Hezbollah to make payroll. Supposely, via captured intelligence, Israel has mapped out Hezbollah's entire financial support network. Hell, if you get a run on the bank - financial collapse is possible.

Yup, we may find out. Not only has command structure been gutted, but estimated missile arsenal in Lebanon is 60-70% destroyed. Iran has to be shocked how their "investment" has been so rapidly diminished.

I was unfamiliar, but had heard of UATX - thanks for bringing it to my attention. It reminds me a lot of Hillsdale College and New College of Florida. I've given plenty to Hillsdale as my former alma mater, Lawrence University in Wisconsin as taken a sharp turn to indoctrination and I stopped my giving. Teaching kids "what to think" as opposed to "how to think" has become the new mantra of higher education. We need trailblazers like Hillsdale & UATX. They will do extremely well as they demostrate real moral courage.

Very impressive and refreshing. Congratulations to you as a founder. Any higher education institution that is dedicated to the truth, as opposed to social indoctrination is bound to do very, very well in the United States. There are far more educational institutions that have shifted hard to political/social activism at the expense of truth. A large part of the country is sick of the disgusting state of higher education in America.

Kudos to you guys. This is a very worthwhile thread with some terrific ideas.

Big week for Israel. Not so much for Iran. Hamas decapitated fully, Israel now waiting for next leader to raise his head to be eliminated. The Hamas hit list is long, and the they are all Dead Men Walking. USA hits Houtis hard. Clear message to Iran: we can take out your fortified underground sites if you push this war. Bashar Assad, take note as well. Is Hezbollah now on their own?? I don't know, but new leadership must be a little nervous. Going to be a long ugly invasion that will cost many Israeli lives as well. Too bad it's come to this. It all could have been avoided if Biden/Harris had not funded Iran & all it's proxies. US foreign policy disaster.

This was a good one @Spekulatius . I never heard of these guys, but talk about boring - french fry company, world's largest. Yawn... Wish I had bought more of it. Thanks and nice work here.

I've been a big fan of Dakshana, the Foundation run by Monish Pabrai. Personally, I think he's done great work, regardless of what you think of him as an investor: https://www.dakshana.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/AR23.pdf