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The somber photos and videos that came out of Afghanistan this year led many to wonder whether the 20-year conflict was worth the cost.

According to the Associated Press, through April, more than 172,000 people (American and otherwise) have died in the course of the War in Afghanistan. The estimated amount of direct Afghanistan and Iraq war costs that the United States has debt-financed: is estimated at more than $2 trillion.

The estimated principal and interest owed by 2050: up to $6.5 trillion.

This war, as with much of government spending, isnt paid by money the government has. The money is borrowed into existence.

The financial costs of debt-financed spending by todays decision makers will burden future generations. The pain of printing trillions of unbacked bills isnt felt immediately, so the gravity of the action is subtle, but the end result is unavoidable.

When Congress granted then-President George W. Bush the authority to use all necessary and appropriate force against those involved with the 9/11 a week after the attacks, the federal government went down a course set for monetary ruin.

One dollar in 2001 had the purchasing power of $1.54 today. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 2.19 percent per year between 2001 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 54.15 percent.

That means that todays prices are 1.54 times higher than average prices in 2001, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index, a measure that notoriously understates real-world inflation as a result of deploying clever hedonic adjustments, geometric weighting, and substitutions that tend to paint a rosier picture.

Said another way, a dollar today buys no more than 65 percent of what it could buy in 2001. And by other measures besides the flawed Consumer Price Index (CPI), it buys even less.

The governments borrowing has accelerated rapidly to the upside since the COVID lockdowns and emergency stimulus efforts. That portends potentially much higher rates of inflation ahead.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that world food prices [climbed] in November, [staying] at 10-year peak.

Substituting chicken breast for Angus beef or the less expensive chicken thigh for chicken breast might be an innocuous sacrifice, but what if you are now having trouble affording chicken at all?

Inflation harms the poorest among us. Individuals with means can invest in assets that protect against dollar devaluation. Gold and silver, real estate, even the stock market.

But what about wage earners? Senior citizens on fixed income? Those trying to save a little extra for the future?

Those most harmed by the increased costs are those already struggling to afford these things. Dollar menus at fast food restaurants have vanished while the costs of homes, food, cars, college tuition, and medicine have soared.

One of sound moneys most central features is that it restricts government spending to only what can be extracted from the populace through taxation. A print-and-spend approach to monetary policy enables wasteful and fruitless government expenditures, such as, for example, unpopular decades-long wars.

For 20 years, Americans fought a war that cost thousands of lives and trillions of dollars. Many are left questioning whether the cost of this war was worth it.

There are many costs that are apparent, but the sapping away of the dollars purchasing powerand the theft of wealth from all of those who hold it is one of the greatest costs of all.

Originally published by Sound Money Defense League

Read this article:
The (Hidden) Costs of the Afghanistan War - Foundation for Economic Education

The Wisconsin Badgers football team (9-4 overall) finished off their 2021 season with a 20-13 win over Arizona State on Thursday night in the Las Vegas Bowl. Despite playing without multiple traditional starters, the Badgers managed to take care of business and leave Vegas with some new hardware.

Lets dive into three storylines that emerged from the win.

As mentioned in the lede, the Badgers were without some key pieces against ASU. On defense, without Faion Hicks and Collin Wilder in the Wisconsin secondary, Alexander Smith, John Torchio, and Hunter Wohler all saw more opportunities. Linebacker Jordan Turner acquitted himself well in meaningful snaps to spell Jack Sanborn and Leo Chenal. Freshman outside linebacker Darryl Peterson earned reps throughout the game as well and bull-rushed the tackle across from him on Torchios early interception.

On offense, wide receivers Markus Allen and Skyler Bell each had critical grabs with Danny Davis unable to go and Kendric Pryor injured for most of the second half. 17-year-old Braelon Allen was his usual studly self with 29 carries and 159 rushing yards. Reserve tight end Jaylan Franklin and converted fullback Riley Nowakowski saw playing time as well in blocking situations. Lastly, along the offensive line, Tanor Bortolini and Cormac Sampson played well in place of Logan Bruss and Joe Tippmann.

Overall, the Badgers leaned on some of their younger players to help pick up the bowl win. At one point the weapons around Mertz consisted of three true freshmen (Braelon Allen, Markus Allen, Skyler Bell). While the results on offense were not always perfect, the extra reps from bowl prep and in the game could pay major dividends heading into a crucial off-season for the team.

Its hard to read too much into a singular game, but there were some positives to glean from the performance at some notable positions where these young players will be called into larger roles next season. Beyond the two receivers, Jordan Turner was a player that specifically caught my eye, and I also enjoyed seeing freshman safety Hunter Wohler bounce back quickly from a misplayed deep ball with a critical tackle for loss.

Jim Leonhards defense was once again active on Thursday. The Badgers managed to sack Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels five times and also forced an intentional grounding/sack as well on a trick play.

Sophomore Nick Herbig was particularly good in pass-rushing situations as he personally got home for two sacks, but I thought that the defense, in general, put together a strong performance. The Badgers held Arizona State to only 13 points and 219 total yards, while also adding a pivotal takeaway early to help give the offense plus field position.

Wisconsins defense came into the bowl game as one of the top units in the entire country, and despite missing some key pieces they did not disappoint. Even when the Badgers offense was sputtering in the third quarterback, the defense was able to notch a couple of big stops to keep the lead in their favor.

The Wisconsin defense is built on creating pressure and Daniels was running for his life throughout the contest. Given the number of young players that saw playing time on Thursday night, I would imagine that the group should be great once again next season.

Wisconsin held a 20-6 lead at halftime. In the third quarter, the offense laid an egg, however, and Arizona State was able to make things interesting by the fourth quarter.

Pinned near their own goal line, Graham Mertz and the Wisconsin offense put together one of their best drives of the season to salt the game away. In total, the drive took nearly 10 minutes off the clock on 19 plays, including multiple impressive third-down conversions. Braelon Allen toted the rock 10 times in that period, including a 14-yard pile driver that absolutely appeared to break Arizona States will. Equally crucial, Graham Mertz stood tall in the pocket and delivered a huge 30-yard toss to Chimere Dike while getting blasted by an oncoming blitzer.

Mertz and the offense were far from perfect, especially in the third quarter, but the group weathered injuries to secure the win on one of the top drives of 2021. Mertzs third-down throws were on the money most of the night and it was fun to see them come to the young guns in the wide receiver room. The interception early in the game on a poorly run route by Kendric Pryor, and off-the-mark toss by Mertz, was obviously not ideal, but it was nice to see No. 5 bounce back late in the game when the team needed it most.

That final drive was Wisconsin football, and that was a great way to cap off the season.

See more here:
Wisconsin Badgers football: three things that stood out from the Las Vegas Bowl win - Bucky's 5th Quarter

And so when asked if he is worried about the rise of authoritarian China and Russia, Peterson responds with: Im also worried about the West! If we got our act together, we could be a light to those countries.

China and Russia are capitalising on our corruption at the moment. Its bolstering the Russian regime in particular, and the Chinese regime to some degree.

Western corruption, in this context, is our foolish demolition of our own traditions. There are many people in Russia, Hungary, Poland who are looking at whats happening in the more liberal West and saying no, were not doing that here, and they might be erring too much in the opposite direction. These things are always subject to debate, which is the whole purpose of freedom of speech, by the way. But again, we look to ourselves first.

Looking to oneself, whether as a nation or as individuals, forms a significant part of Petersons philosophy: If we are better at being what we could be, then the alternative would look less attractive. Thats a good doctrine for life, isnt it?

This self-reflection and self-criticism also plays a crucial role towards building bridges and crossing divides. That, and judicious praise of ones opponent where its due, as he likes to make a point of doing, whether lauding US Presidents Joe Bidens Bipartisan Infrastructure Law on Twitter and braving vitriol, or travelling to Washington DC to bring together politicians across the aisle, as he is scheduled to do in January.

The proper idea, he says, drawing again on his background as a psychologist, is to look at the benevolence and the capacity for atrocity that characterises you. Because if you dont see that within you, as the responsibility you have in relation to ethical struggle and in relation to conducting an ethical life, then you will absolutely see it in someone else, because it absolutely exists and has to find its place.

Can this self-awareness, or even guilt which the Left has been extremely good at weaponising be channelled to achieve something positive? It must, says Peterson: Anyone with any sense who has any privilege has guilt about it. We know perfectly well that we are the undeserving beneficiaries in some sense of what our culture and our parents have arbitrarily bestowed upon us, where arbitrary means not through our own efforts.

One must then try to live a life that justifies those advantages. You take the burden of the catastrophe of history on to yourself and you take that seriously. And so then you try to act like a noble and outstanding person, moving forward. If you dont do that youll suffer for it. Because we have a conscience and it will take us to task.

Here is the original post:
Jordan Peterson: 'If you can't say what you think, soon you won't be able to think' - Telegraph.co.uk

Saturday Night Live blasted Dr. Anthony Fauci and Chris and Andrew Cuomo this weekend in a skit showing how the holidays will have to be different this year amid the omicron variant.

Fauci , played by Kate McKinnon, explains to the audience that members of the CDC will act out scenarios to demonstrate how to behave during holiday travel and events. The first scenario is a man who wishes to eat Christmas dinner at a restaurant but has lost his vaccination card.

JORDAN PETERSON SAYS HE WAS LIED TO: 'I'LL GET THE VACCINE IF YOU F***ING LEAVE ME ALONE. AND DID THAT WORK? NO'

"You mean you lost the little 1-inch piece of cardboard they gave you?" a waitress questions the man. "Then you are banished from society. Have fun living in the woods."

Another scenario is of a little girl who wants to sit on Santa's lap and ask him for Christmas presents, but Santa has had some strange side effects from the vaccine.

"Sorry, you can't sit on my lap anymore," Santa says to the girl. "Thanks to the vaccine, my testicles have ballooned in size ... they're as big as grapes now."

Fauci quickly cuts the scene, saying "that's just a conspiracy theory, and I am concerned about that particular man."

The next scenario features the Cuomo brothers, who say they are both unemployed due to COVID-19.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

"Hello, I am disgraced New York Governor Andrew Cuomo," one of the comedians says.

"And I am disgraced former CNN host Chris Cuomo," the other says. "And we both lost our jobs, because of COVID."

Read the original:
WATCH: SNL mocks Fauci, Cuomo brothers, and COVID 'conspiracy theories' - Washington Examiner

Photos supplied

There are five hopefuls to fill the District 13 Utah House seat to be vacated by Rep. Paul Ray. They are, clockwise from top left, Karen Peterson, Erik Craythorne, Jordan Peterson, Beverly Macfarlane and William Swank. A winner is to be selected on Dec. 18, 2021.

WEST POINT Five hopefuls are interested in finishing Rep. Paul Rays term as the District 13 representative to the Utah House, including a mayor, a city council member and a staffer in the administration of Gov. Spencer Cox.

Ray, a Clearfield Republican, is to step down as a state rep on Dec. 15 after 10 terms to take over as assistant director of legislative affairs in the Utah Department of Human Services. The Davis County Republican Party has launched efforts to find a replacement, and five candidates have come forward, interested in filling out his term.

They are West Point Mayor Erik Craythorne; Beverly Macfarlane, a member of the Sunset City Council and a former mayor there; Karen Peterson, director of legislative affairs for Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson; Jordan Peterson, who runs Interim HealthCare in Layton; and William Swank, a recent retiree.

The deadline to file to run was Wednesday and the 70 or so Republican Party delegates representing District 13 will make a pick among the five candidates at a special election scheduled for Dec. 18 at West Point Junior High School. The winner, whose name will go to Cox for formal appointment, will fill out the rest of Rays current term, through the end of 2022.

District 13 sits in northern Davis County and covers portions of Clearfield, West Point, Sunset and Clinton, though the boundaries will shift next year due to redistricting.

Photo supplied, Utah Department of Human Services

Utah Rep. Paul Ray, a Clearfield Republican, has been picked to take over as assistant director of legislative affairs for the Utah Department of Human Services starting Dec. 16, 2021.

Since the GOP delegates make the selection, Craythorne said they would be the likely focus of campaigning by the candidates. The District 13 seat comes up for election next year, and voters next November will make the pick on who fills the two-year 2023-2024 term, a separate process.

Here are a few details about the candidates to fill out Rays term:

Erik Craythorne: Craythorne is finishing up as mayor of West Point. Hes served in the post for 13 years and his current term goes through the end of the year. He didnt seek reelection last November.

Northern Davis County has had great leadership in Salt Lake City over the years, Craythorne said, and he wants to continue to provide that strong leadership.

He helps run Craythorne Construction, a family-owned business, and served seven years on the West Point City Council prior to serving as mayor.

Jordan Peterson: Peterson, seeking public office for the first time, is chief executive officer of Interim Healthcare, which provides home health care services in Davis and Weber counties. Hes from Clinton.

He was drawn into the contest, in part, by what he sees as excessive divisiveness in politics. Bring decorum and civility here, he said, stating one of his missions.

William Swank: Swank, from Sunset, recently retired from a civilian post with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the retailer on military bases.

He couldnt run for public office before because of his job with AAFES, but now he can. Now I thought Id get involved. I think I can bring an everyday mans view to the Legislature, he said.

He unsuccessfully ran for a Utah House seat while living in Midvale about 25 years ago. This is his first bid for public office since then.

Karen Peterson: Peterson, from Clinton, previously served on the Clinton City Council but stepped down from the post at the end of 2020 to take the post in the Cox administration.

She has also served as an adjunct professor at Southern Utah University and as an education policy advisor to former Gov. Gary Herbert, according to SUU.

She couldnt immediately be reached for comment.

Beverly Macfarlane: Macfarlane served a term as mayor of Sunset and opted not to seek a second term in 2017 in order to run for a seat on the Davis County Commission instead.

She lost in the 2018 elections for a commission post but subsequently won election to the Sunset City Council, where she currently serves. She also vied unsuccessfully for a county commission seat in 2016.

Prior to being mayor, Macfarlane worked for 29 years for thestate of Utah, serving as a contract analyst, among other responsibilities.

She couldnt immediately be reached for comment.

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See more here:
Utah House race to fill District 13 seat draws five hopefuls - Standard-Examiner