Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

The core reason we spend so much on "defense" is the ability to project power.  Look at how many fleet aircraft carriers the rest of the world has.  Zero.

We have ten.  Those are meant to protect sea lanes so we can "safely" ship men and supplies across oceans.  No other country can do that.  It's very expensive to retain that capability.  If we had fewer defense agreements, we would be able to make do with a lot less protecting ONLY US direct interests.

But, the best war is one avoided.

Yeah, that's nice. 
I happen to think there's no defending the cost of our military industrial complex.  $600 billion+ annually.  55% of our discrectonary budget. 
More than the next, what, 13 countries combined.  12 of which are friendly. 
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It's indefensible.  But you tried.

Yeah, that's nice. 
I happen to think there's no defending the cost of our military industrial complex.  $600 billion+ annually.  55% of our discrectonary budget. 
More than the next, what, 13 countries combined.  12 of which are friendly. 
.
It's indefensible.  But you tried.

I was not defending it at all.  An explanation is not a defense.  And the cost is closer to $800 billion a year.  I personally think it is too high, but I also think our overseas commitments are too massive.  You can't have one without the other.

We could defend the US with a lot less spending than we currently spend obviously.  The rest is to be able to defend Europe and other places where we decided we have "interests".

Yeah, that's nice. 
I happen to think there's no defending the cost of our military industrial complex.  $600 billion+ annually.  55% of our discrectonary budget. 
More than the next, what, 13 countries combined.  12 of which are friendly. 
.
It's indefensible.  But you tried.

It’s far more than $600 billion.

It’s really like a trillion and change per year when you count everything that’s not included in the DoD base budget and hidden costs like interest payments, weapons programs cost overruns, and nuclear weapons programs (DoE). 

National Review articles. 
Sure, why not. 

How is this ↑ different from this? ↓

Maybe this is why I'm confident.  Whenever I plainly ask for reasoning behind an argument, you just jump ship.  You don't get to bitch about my arrogance if you're never going to provide reasoning when we're at odds. 
.
Don't be the coward behind his keyboard.

You can't do drive-by shootings and then take umbrage when others do the same to you.

So which is untrue?  1, 2, or 3?

First you'd need to prove all of 1,2,3.  3 is going to be really really hard to prove if you remove bigotry and confirmation bias.  Actually it's impossible to prove, but there you have it.

But even if I went ahead and just agreed to #3,  your real problem is that your bigoted conjecture relies on something further-- something more than the word "hoax" (which plenty of conservative idiots piled onto), but the more general idea that it wasn't a big deal, it was something that could be put aside and ignored, which is what would result in this behavior of disregard.

That's a big problem for your bigoted conjecture, because the evidence shows that a lot of  millennials and GenZ didn't take it seriously.  And you see, a very large percentage of millennials and GenZ, are liberal.  So here's the evidence in number form because I guess that's the only way you can understand it?

1)  Millennials and GenZ continued on with their Spring Break plans despite the outbreak
2)  They licked toilet seats and other various gross public facilities in the midst of their Corona Virus challenges
3)  A majority of those that are in the Millennial and GenZ identify as, and are considered to be, "liberal."

I'll also point out that this is simply a response to you, I don't actually condemn all of the Millennials and GenZ for being grossly stupid, self-absorbed, or just plain ignorant.  That's your bigoted way of viewing things.

I recognize that people from all walks of life failed to recognize its seriousness.  I'm just pointing out a counter to your bigoted view that only Southerners that explicitly labeled it a "hoax" are the ones guilty of not taking it seriously.

Lots of people didn't take it seriously.

But more importantly than all of that, you, as someone that constantly INSISTS on everyone just looking to the math, you've completely abandoned the mathematics that show that there could possibly be another legitimate reason for people in that particular geography, to still be traveling, versus their Northeastern or Western counterparts.

That's your real failure.

I eagerly await your next bigoted response, though.  Thanks for all of the entertainment this afternoon.

This isn’t true. At all. The Chinese economy has been tanking for months because of this. This will be by the worst economy China has seen since the ‘80s when off-shoring began and foreign investment began pouring into their country in droves and their economy exploded into the stratosphere.

China is in the midst of a massive PR problem and they are doing everything they can to spin the narrative and save face.

The U.K. is going to terminate its deal with Huawei to build its new 5G networks over this. Other EU countries are talking about doing the same.

US multinationals are expediting their exit strategies to pull production out of China and US lawmakers are openly talking about going after China and moving production of essential things like pharmaceuticals and medical equipment back to US soil permanently.

This will be devastating for China and it’ll accelerate the rise of Mexico as the western worlds next low cost manufacturing hub.

I hope you are right.  It would be good to have a prosperous Mexico on our southern border.

This is true.  West of the Hudson, there's much open space all the way south from West Point almost until you get to New York City.

Correct. For those who are interested in available properties for development, I'd say start here. I'm not doing the research here. I've got enough with Alabama.


https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/index.page