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Donald Trump Once Said He Would Eliminate America's $19 Trillion in Debt. The Total Is Now Approaching $50 Trillion. (July 2026)
finance.yahoo.com

... Trump promised to eliminate $19 trillion in national debt by 2024; instead it has nearly doubled to $39 trillion and is approaching $50 trillion. ...

In April 2016, Donald Trump told The Washington Post he could eliminate the nation's then-more-than-$19 trillion national debt "over a period of eight years."

Most economists called the claim implausible, noting it could require pulling more than $2 trillion a year out of a roughly $4 trillion annual budget.

Trump's argument rested on renegotiated trade deals, particularly with China, generating the growth needed to service the balance. Economists countered that a trade war would instead be crippling to the U.S. economy. ...




__________
#45 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-08-21 08:07 PM
So you're saying they'll have one any day now?
Any day ...

Where did I say that? Isn't that what IAEA was monitoring against, and the Obama's agreement with Iran was about?

Just like Syria had an undeclared nuclear and chemical WMD program, that has been at least twice destroyed by Israel:
apnews.com - UN watchdog excavates suspected Syrian nuclear site

en.wikipedia.org - Operation Orchard / Outside the Box

en.wikipedia.org - Syria and weapons of mass destruction

|------- "We're talking about a few tons of nuclear material that could be put to bad use and Syria has decided to open up this site to the inspectors of the IAEA," Grossi said. "This material will be accounted for and will be put within the international safeguard system." -------|


#47 | Posted by pumpkinhead at 2026-08-21 08:13 PM
CutiePie is a Zionist operative.

That's a good one, when you have no real arguments - just declare someone Zionist or Nazi or... Stops discussion and declares a "win" right there. Congrats!


#46 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-08-21 08:10 PM
How many ships per day pass through the Strait now? Yer up.

1. If you'd read till the end of my post before jumping to post this, you would've had the answer to that question.

2. What does this question have at all to do with my post re your inane comparison of closing Hormuz being "more potent force" than having nuclear weapon?

If you'd read the post and links I provided, you'd know it simply isn't true. If you can't come to terms with it, that's OK, it will be factually useful to other people here, who can learn from it.

Or you'll just keep changing the goal posts, like some here do repeatedly?

3. If you'd actually read the post, you would see the history of threats of closing Hormuz long precedes current situation... refuting your earlier post that "Trump has taught them" anything.

Are you reading posts and links at all, or just keep repeating the same thing because you [want to] believe it, despite the facts presented? A lot of that is going around here, and even more so recently than before.


I had been wondering how long before this current alias would show up.

What does "show up" mean? I post when I have time and can contribute, not non-stop like some paid Putin's / Russia-financed and CRINK trolls here, who tell you only what you want to hear.

Don't get all hot and bothered just because your "current alias" can't handle being refuted on repeated obvious inanity you posted. I thought you've said before you're here to learn, yet here you are, spinning into ad hominem.

And my "current alias" have had several conversations on the stupid subject of "aliases" with your "current alias" years ago - your "current alias" should try this stupidity with someone else... better yet, tell your "current alias" to discard it.
__________

Can Trump fix the national debt? Republican senators, many investors and even Elon Musk are skeptical (2025)
www.pbs.org

... President Donald Trump faces the challenge of convincing Republican senators, global investors, voters and even Elon Musk that he won't bury the federal government in debt with his multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package.

The response so far from financial markets has been skeptical as Trump seems unable to trim deficits as promised. ...

"All of this rhetoric about cutting trillions of dollars of spending has come to nothing " and the tax bill codifies that," said Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think tank. "There is a level of concern about the competence of Congress and this administration and that makes adding a whole bunch of money to the deficit riskier."

The White House has viciously lashed out at anyone who has voiced concern about the debt snowballing under Trump, even though it did exactly that in his first term after his 2017 tax cuts.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt opened her briefing Thursday by saying she wanted "to debunk some false claims" about his tax cuts. ...

Council chair Stephen Miran told reporters that when the growth being forecast by the White House is coupled with expected revenues from tariffs, the expected budget deficits will fall. The tax cuts will increase the supply of money for investment, the supply of workers and the supply of domestically produced goods -- all of which, by Miran's logic, would cause faster growth without creating new inflationary pressures.

"I do want to assure everyone that the deficit is a very significant concern for this administration," Miran said.

White House budget director Russell Vought told reporters the idea that the bill is "in any way harmful to debt and deficits is fundamentally untrue." ...

[emphasis mine]

www.scientificamerican.com

"A new technique for analyzing modern genetic data suggests that prehumans survived in a group of only 1,280 individuals."

Everyone is very closely related. Countries didn't destroy others. These are all family squabbles

Another from the Austin Lounge Lizards ...

Austin Lounge Lizards - Jesus Loves Me (But He Can't Stand You) (1991)
www.youtube.com

Lyrics excerpt ...

madmusic.com

...
I know you smoke, I know you drink that brew,
I just can't abide a sinner like you.
God can't either, that's why I know it's true,
That Jesus loves me but he can't stand you.

I'm going straight to heaven, boys, when I die,
'cause I've crossed every T and I've dotted every I
Why, my preacher tells me I'm god's kind of guy,
That's why Jesus loves me, but you're gonna fry.

God loves all his children, by gum,
That doesn't mean he won't incinerate some,
Can't you feel those hot flames licking you?

I'm raising my kids in a righteous way,
So don't be sending your kids to my house to play,
Yours will grow up stoned, left leaning and gay,
I know - Jesus told me on the phone today.

Jesus loves me, this I know
And he told me where you're gonna go,
There's room for your kind down below
Whoa, whoa, whoa

Jesus loves me, he loves me real good.

I know he does.

He called me up on the phone today and told me how much he loves me.

He said, "Son, I love you."

He speaks English pretty well, considering it's a second language for him.

You can talk to him, too, you know.

I've got a 900- number in Tulsa you can call him at, I do it all the time. He'll be glad to hear from you. I talk to him everyday.

Jesus love me, but he can't stand you.
...




__________
#4 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-08-18 03:14 AM
So, Iran is now saying publicly something that Pres Trump has taught them...

Trump didn't "teach" Iran anything about Straight of Hormuz they didn't already know, if you knew the history of the region, e,g,, so-called "Tanker War" happened as part of wider 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war - en.wikipedia.org

And was known long before that:

www.history.com - The Strait of Hormuz: A Timeline of Tensions | The narrow Persian Gulf waterway has been a contested choke point for centuries.

|------- 1507: Portugal Captures the Strait of Hormuz
1951: The British Blockade the Strait to Pressure Iran
1984: The 'Tanker War'
2012: More Sanctions Prompt Iranian Threats
2015-2024: Tanker Seizures and Attacks
...

Iran's ambitions for nuclear weapons were born during the Iran-Iraq War, when the Iranian regime found itself increasingly isolated on the international stage. In the 2000s, Iran's contested nuclear weapons program became the target of increasingly harsh economic sanctions from the U.S. and its European allies.

In 2008, Iran threatened to seal off the Strait of Hormuz if sanctions weren't lifted, a move that U.S. authorities said would amount to an act of war. When the European Union announced a total embargo on Iranian oil in 2012, the Iranian regime once again promised to close the Strait of Hormuz, a move that would disrupt the flow of oil exports from Persian Gulf nations.

... In 2008, Iran threatened to seal off the Strait of Hormuz if sanctions weren't lifted ... U.S., France and Britain sent aircraft carriers and warships through the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran didn't make good on its threat.

"There have been standoffs like this since the Iranian Revolution when the regime came into power. Iran's slogan from the very beginning was 'death to America' and 'death to Israel'..."
-------|


The Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz may be a more potent force to face the world than Iran possessing a nuclear bomb.

You've been trying to make this apples-to-chairs comparison for a while - only a little over a month ago it was explained that these are disparate issues, with entirely different goals, purposes, permanence / timeline and geopolitical effects on the region - one is only temporary, borne of desperation (the only 'weapon' they currently have) and not sustainable, as the affected countries are already partially bypassing and building out permanent bypass pipelines and routes.

drudge.com - #26: Now Iran may be starting to realize that control of the Strait is a better way to get global attention than having a nuke. -- see the explanation re why it's nonsensical and the links about what Iran's "good neighbors" are doing to remove any dependence on shipping through Hormuz and Bab al Mandab Strait... at which point Iran will be left without any leverage (they don't have "control") over shipping routes and can't ship oil and goods themselves, hurting only their own economy.

IOW, Hormuz is a double-edged sword.

Besides that, there are verified reports of US Navy escorting some tankers through (similar to Operation Earnest Will in 1987-88), near the coast of Oman - depending on source, anywhere from 3M to 8M barrels are flowing out... though both numbers are far less than ~ 20M pre-closure and the insurance on these is much higher, thus still affecting the price of oil futures.
__________

Another view ...

As demand for Meta AI glasses explodes, it's harder to avoid creepy recordings
arstechnica.com

... Ars looks at Zuckoff, the latest free app detecting Meta AI glasses amid privacy backlash. ...

A fun tune ...

Austin Lounge Lizards - A Case of Coors Beer (19910
www.youtube.com

Lyrics excerpt ...

Not surprisingly, lyrics do not seem to be available ...


OK, another link with a different take ...

tvtropes.org

... The Austin Lounge Lizards are a satirical folk/country/bluegrass band based out of Austin, Texas. The band consists of founding members Hank Card, Tom Pittman, and Conrad Deisler, along with Darcie Deaville (2008) and Bruce Jones (2010).

The band is best known for highly literate, sharply pointed lyrics that poke fun at politics, love, religion and the culture in general. ...


Yeah, that's a pretty good assessment ...

All this talk of gigabit and stuff...

When I first went online on a public data network (Telenet's X.25 network in 1979), my dial-up modem communicated at the breath-taking speed of 300bps.

Yes, 300bps. (that's not a typo)


Telenet
en.wikipedia.org

... Telenet was an American commercial packet-switched network which went into service in August 16, 1975.[1][2] It was the first FCC-licensed public data network in the United States.[3]

Various commercial and government interests paid monthly fees for dedicated lines connecting their computers and local networks to this backbone network.

Free public dialup access to Telenet, for those who wished to access these systems, was provided in hundreds of cities throughout the United States. ...



@#3 ... Only 30% of its customers are in the US. ...

Currently.

But, from the Starlink website, there appear to be ambitions. ...

starlink.com

... Starlink V5, built for reliable home internet

The next generation Starlink Kit is designed to deliver reliable, high-speed home internet. Starlink V5 has a smaller form factor and lightweight design with greater power efficiency than the Starlink V4 Kit.

With speeds up to 375+ Mbps, Starlink V5 delivers seamless connectivity for streaming, video calling, gaming and more.

Currently available in select areas. As production ramps, Starlink V5 will be available in additional areas. ...



@#7

Reflecting Pool peeling likely caused by application flaws, experts say
www.seattletimes.com

... First, the light blue epoxy is applied as a base coat. Then, the dark blue is added as a durable top layer.

On May 3, workers applied the dark blue coating across a rectangular section of the pool.

The next day, they applied the same coating to an adjacent area, producing a visible seam. This is one of the places where the coating failed.

More than a week later, on May 12, multiple sections had been sealed. The new coating failed in at least three places.

By May 15, several more sections were completed toward the east end of the pool. That coating failed in three more places.

In five of the spots, the dark blue Pipeliner 5000 coating had peeled off to reveal more of the same material. Experts said this appears consistent with an adhesion failure caused by an overlap of the dark blue over a dried layer of the same material at the seams. For any overlapping Pipeliner 5000 to adhere, the underlying layer would need to still be wet or, if not, steps would need to be taken to prepare the surface.

Pipeliner 5000 dries within four hours, according to technical documents, depending on temperature and humidity. The Post confirmed that in each of the five spots, five hours or more had elapsed between when adjacent sections were sprayed.

At a sixth spot The Post identified, the dark blue Pipeliner 5000 had peeled back to reveal the light blue Rhino 406 primer. The Pipeliner 5000 should be applied within 24 hours of the primer, according to technical specifications. Photos and a video of the renovation process showed that, at this location, it was applied more than 24 hours after the primer, which experts said made it less likely that the two materials bonded properly.

At the seventh spot, both the dark blue coating and light blue epoxy primer underneath had peeled away, leaving the concrete exposed. This was one of three failure points that occurred on top of visible expansion joints built across the concrete basin " which experts said would also strain the coating. The width of the perimeter expansion joint referenced by the Interior spokesperson is not clear from visuals, but at least one failure point appeared directly on the pool's edge.

When applying the product, the goal should be to have the coating be "as monolithic as possible" and to lay down as much material at one time as possible, said Vito Mariano, president of waterproofing company Basecrete Technologies. "Anytime you have a stop [and] go, you're going to open yourself up to a problem that might occur," he said. ...


@#1 ... The engineer noted that the "top layer of liner has peeled," adding that it is "very thin and will not impact the strength of the liner." The person explained in the email that the "contractor stated that the peeled area was overspray' from spraying the perimeter joint with polyurea," according to the Justice Department. ....

From an article I have cited previously ...

Why is the paint peeling off the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool? An investigation (June 22, 2026)
www.scientificamerican.com

... Poor preparation and a failure to properly apply the coating may be just a few of the reasons why the Reflecting Pool's new paint job appears to be peeling off

President Donald Trump ordered the pool's renovation in April, and that order included painting its floor and walls blue. Yet within weeks of the work's completion, photographs and videos of floating chunks of a cerulean material that appears to have detached from the pool's walls have gone viral. This material is polyurea coating"a fast-curing and durable surface membrane that can seal in water and is often used to coat swimming pools.

We spoke to engineering and pool experts to find out what could be going wrong at the beleaguered monument. ...

Another key factor would have been how the pool's walls and floor were prepared before they were painted "American flag blue" during the renovation. The cost of that renovation, originally estimated at less than $2 million, has since ballooned to almost $15 million.

"It's actually a really specific process to add a coating like this to any basin," Auerhahn says.

When applying coats of polyurea, workers need to make sure they paint on a new coat within 24 hours, or less, of the last layer, depending on the specific type of the substance being used. That ensures the polyurea layers adhere to one another and form a solid mass, blocking water from seeping through. ...

[emphasis mine]


I purposely wrote out my own thoughts on why progressives are winning before reading the article. Now that I've read it, I see that there is much overlap, so I'll just leave it as is:

1. Trump has seriously damaged nearly every American institution and ideal, as well as America's international standing. Establishment Democrats have been far too weak in responding. Many people see this going on every day and are fed up with it.
2. Trump aside, both the Republicans and the establishment Democrats have shown they'd rather stay in power than rock the boat. The wealth gap continues to grow.
3. Boomers are in or close to retirement and are enjoying greater wealth than previous generations. Not only that, but many boomers grew up in households where the income of only one parent was enough to sustain a decent lifestyle, including a house and a car or two, college for the kids and a more reasonable bottom line on healthcare. Young people face a less rosy picture, as the costs of housing, groceries, education and healthcare have all soared. Good-paying jobs are also harder to find. Younger people feel bitter toward most folks over 40 and don't want to vote for them anymore.
4. The COVID pandemic had a long-term impact on the workplace. It allowed millions of people to discover work from home, and most of them preferred not to go back to the office when the pandemic faded. For better or for worse, loyalty to one's employer declined. Even outside the work-from-home crowd, the traditional mindset of doing whatever the boss or company tells you to do has slipped dramatically. There's more to life than work. This changing view aligns better with progressives.
5. Younger and more progressive voters are increasingly wary of the United States' support for Israel because of Netanyahu's brutal response in Gaza and Lebanon. AIPAC funding is not working in your favor if you're trying to win the progressive vote.

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