Wingate

Total world debt is now $346,000,000,000,000. There are maybe 8.5 billion humans, including children and non-working elderly. Total debt per human being is thus about $41,000 per person, working or not. I'm going to guess that isn't sustainable.

That might be your country, but in the US, the vast majority of migrants are gainfully employed. They work hard and are not part of the Epstein Class. Perhaps not so surprisingly, most pay a higher rate of income tax than US billionaires. Also, this silly claim that undocumented migrants vote is absurd. Perhaps you'll put that 137 IQ (sic) to work and find solid data on undocumented workers voting.

Here's how to twist reality and technically not lie: US Trade Rep Jamieson Greer did the Sunday tal show circuit claiming "No tariff agreements have been pulled". What he did not mention is that few, if any of Trump's claimed "tariff deals" were ever signed. The EU announced yesterday that they will vote Monday to halt ratification of the US-EU trade agreement. In other words, there never was a deal, so of course no deal could have been pulled. India was to send a delegation to DC this week to discuss a trade deal (no deal yet either), but they have now cancelled in the wake of Trump's tantrum.

Of which there are no actual firm commitments. And Trump has claimed his tariffs will generate $trillions in revenues, even saying it would obviate the need for income taxes. BTW, did you know 40% of current US imports are parts and pieces that go into US final products. These imports are things like screws and bolts and other items that are essentially commodities and have next to zero margin. It makes no sense to manufacture these in the US, though making little screws and bolts all day every day is probably right up the alley of the poorly educated MAGA Class. John Deere noted in their annual report that these tariffs on low margin components that go into their final product will bite into their corporate earnings by $1.2 billion.

Maybe it's like one of those Trinidad fishing boats that wandered too close to Venezeula and double tapped by the psychopath Hegseth? Can Denmark really take that chance? Maybe an Exocet missile or two could stop the potential threat. Wait! Trump would use that as another Gulf of Tonkin incident and then invade Greenland.

Tuesday's SOTU might be funny, as traditionally the justices of the Supreme Court sit in the front row. The whining crybaby we call Trump not only claimed two of his appointed justices (Barrett, Gorsuch) are under the influence of a foreign power (Russia Russia Russia?), but that they are "a disgrace to our nation", "fools and lapdogs to the RINOs and radical left Democrats", and "I think it's an embarrassment to their families, if you want to know the truth". Cameras are going to be fixated on Barrett and Gorsuch. Also amusing might be how much revenue Trump will claim the tariffs generated (the over/under is $17,000,000,000,000). I suspect the speech will be an hour or more of Trump trying to tell everyone how great we all should think he is, insecure little think-skinned child he is. I doubt Fox will do instant fact checking, but non State Media probably will.....if their quants and analysts can keep up with what will undoubtedly be a tsunami of lies and fantasies. Things he surely will include will be those 8 wars, real or imagined, he claims to have stopped, even the real ones that are ongoing. It would be a kick if he brought up his stopping of the Rwandan Genocide of 1994---and especially if the sycophant Republicans stand and applaud that fantasy. I'd look for a half dozen lying claims of "greatest economy ever" as well as a few "nobody has ever done more for the country than me me me". I bet he also demonstrates the New New Math, where he somehow found a way to lower drug prices by 6000%. Many people are saying nobody else could have done that. Though it would bring the house down, I do not expect him to bring up sharks circling sinking electric boats or Arnold Palmer's junk.

Kind of a meaningless comment, no doubt numbers pulled out of...well...you know from where. What income figure constitutes "low"? Where is the supporting evidence of "90%"? The US imports $3.2 trillion of goods per year. Add 15% to the price of a good many of those imports. Note what stocks rose in celebration after the Supreme Court ruled against Trump....places where middle and low income Americans shop, like Costco and Walmart. Now it's all back on, at least for 150 days. Those price increases will be used by Dem candidates in debates and ads as the midterms approach ("My opponent wants you to pay more for everything you buy....he only cares about the Epstein Class, not hard-working Americans"). When polls show 60% of Americans agree with the Supreme Court's decision, that suggests 60% of folks are not going to like the fact Trump is going around the law....again. That sounds like a possible majority to sweep the House and Senate, and neuter the demented clown once and for all.

Remind me what Comey's crime was? Letitia James? Elisa Slotkin? Mark Kelly? John Brennan? John Bolton?

In a decent country with a real AG, such an allegation would at least be further investigated. I don't think you are so naive, though I could be wrong, to think that the current gaggle of Carnival People and sycophants in Trump's dictatorship would investigate, even if Putin supplied a video of Trump raping a 12 year old Ivanka look-alike in a Moscow hotel room.

No minor, at the time of her assault, filed any report nor were any interviewed 4 times by the FBI. Trump owns that ignominious record.

It might surprise you to learn the DoJ has hundreds of millions, perhaps billions of files. There isn't anyone in DoJ scanning all these files just looking for things on Trump. Note also that the FBI interviewed the accuser in 2019. Remember who was President then? Finally, until Trump, the DoJ was independent and not driven by the wishes and insecurities of a President out for revenge. Today's DoJ is Trump's personal attack dog. Funny how Trump had Bondi go after Letitia over a $700 bit of money her mortgage specifically allowed her to receive, but Trump pardoned a guy who laundered money for the terrorist group Hamas (Binance CEO) as well as a fraudster who stole tens of millions from "investors". The first pardoned guy does business with Trump's World Liberty Financial and the second is a major Republican donor. Also funny how Trump boasts about blowing fishing boats out of the water that---even if they carried drugs---couldn't even carry enough to fill the needs of Donny, Jr, and could not possibly make it all the way to Florida, but Trump pardoned a guy convicted of running 400 tonnes of cocaine into the US.

No, Trump is in a class by himself of being the ultimate sleazeball scumbag. He has at least 25 women accusing him of inappropriate sexual behavior. He is a civilly convicted sex offender, whom the presiding judge said "he committed rape". He has at least two associations in total Epstein material where he is accused of rape, and a second in another document store where he was accused of getting oral sex from a minor. He is on tape talking about how he "can grab them by the pussy". He admitted walking in on young teen beauty pageant contestants who were naked. He most likely had an one shot affair with Stormy Daniels, while his 3rd wife was recovering from childbirth. He is a serial philanderer, dating Marla Maples while still married to Ivana. Nobody else comes close.

Well, yours is certainly a high value comment. I suppose you believe Trump was the first "Christian" born without original sin. Pure as the driven snow.

Very childish post, even for you. A new low. Hunter Hess was asked a question and answered honestly and thoughtfully. That takes courage, something Trump and, I suspect you, lack. Plus, coming in 10th in a world of 8.5 billion people is better than you will ever do in anything. At some point, your mother might even suggest you grow the <deleted> up.

Thailand is just another stop in an adult life spent in a host of countries. I have zero interest in Buddhism, whether at the wholesale level or retail level (where it is NOT a philosophy, but a "please give me" belief system, like every other faith), the temples are okay but not as appealing as the temples of India or the astonishing carpentry and joinery of the temples in Japan, the food is outstanding, the lifestyle pleasantly laid back, but admittedly the women put it over the top. I love the cultural concept of "sanuk", and find Thai women hellbent on expressing it. That all makes this current stop fun. Culturally, I find India far more interesting and the country much more varied (Himalayas, deserts, jungles, beaches). I built a large collection of antique, hand woven tapestries while living there, and they adorn the walls of my residences now. Food is also great, and I grew fond of Bollywood dance numbers (incredible use of percussion). In Japan I love the pride in everything they do, and the official acknowledgement of excellence in the title of National Treasure. I accumulated a bundle of hand tools, like chisels and saws and wood planes, in Japan that are of incredible quality. They are likely beyond my skill level as a craftsmen, but it makes the hobby more fun just appreciating the quality of the tools.

Had Trump acted like a man after the Supreme Court decision, rather than a petulant child, he might have saved a flip in the Senate in the midterms. Now, he blew it. In any debate, or in any TV commercial, the Dem candidate merely has to say, "My opponent wants YOU to pay more for everything you buy. He wants to make your life even more difficult. Trump also showed yet again that he is math challenged, when he claimed his tariffs would bring in $17-18 trillion dollars. US Imports---all imports, not just the tariffed ones---are about $3.2 trillion. A 15% tariff isn't going to bring in $17-18 while Trump, or probably even Trump, Jr., are above ground. Also, consumers now know who actually pays the tariffs: the consumer.

The coverup by the supposed Dept of Justice continues unabated. A girl accused Trump of forcing her to perform oral sex on him, after an introduction in the 1980s from Trump's best friend, convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The underage girl bit Trump's penis, and he reportedly punched her in the head. In the LINKED Article, it says, "Justice Department records indicate that the FBI spoke to this woman not once but at least four separate times..." A journalist uncovered the records in a separate database, and the document was not currently included in the Epstein files the DoJ is compelled by law to release. Had it been removed by the DoJ? It seems conveniently unlikely that particular document would just go missing. Also in the article, "The FBI recorded the first interview on August 9, 2019 — “the day before Epstein was found dead in his jail cell,”" Isn't THAT ^ curious....or wildly coincidental. One document that does appear in the files is an FBI report of an interview with someone who claims both Trump and Epstein raped her. Rep Ted Lieu noted this document during the bizarre House Hearing with AG Bondi. The woman who claimed the rape was found in Kiefer, Oklahoma with her head blown clean off by shotgun blasts. Yahoo NewsWoman Who ‘Credibly Accused’ Trump of Sex With a Minor Re...Accusations by a woman who "credibly accused Donald Trump of having sex with a minor he met through Jeffrey Epstein," were reportedly removed from the files.

It is safer to draw a cartoon of the Prophet than to show evidence of a possible Trump crime.

Trump has been barking for 9 years about "Russia Russia Russia" and "The Russian Hoax", yet within ten minutes of the SC decision, he spoke in his presser about "foreign influence" on SC judges. He claimed to know what foreigners are influencing the judges, and called them "some real sleazeballs". The Foreigner Hoax? The Sleazeball Hoax?

Russia Russia Russia What a coincidence! This is something the Dem House can investigate once they retake control. They might also wonder where Kristi Noem, who works on a GS salary, got the dosh for that $50K watch she wore in the originally blocked 60 Minutes CECOT video piece. Also, here's the cabin she had installed on her private Boeing 737 Max, which she reportedly shares with Undersecretary Corey Lewandowski. "Undersecretary" indeed!

I suspect Trump is torn this weekend, between petulance and maybe trying to think slightly longer term. I'm not sure he anticipated this tariff ruling with his stacked SC, so as a means to distract from Epstein, I think he would have attacked Iran this weekend. His petulant nature, after losing the SC decision, might still have him showing his spite by attacking Iran, even though the tariff ruling will keep EPstein on Page 2 at least until Tuesday. The US now has the largest military force in the Gulf since just before the Iraq invasions, so he's primed to play armchair warrior. Unless the action is extremely limited in scope, the US will lose personnel. The US could even lose a carrier to Iraqi surface-to-surface missiles. Besides being a tragedy, that would not play well at home or in the polls. (No doubt if we attack Iran, Trump will walk past a Isfahan or Qum carpet seller in Beverly Hills and claim that "bravery" should earn him a Congressional Medal of Honor.) OTOH, Trump may save Iran until Autumn, as he will need an excuse like "national emergency" to call off the midterms, forgetting that we had midterms and a Presidential election during WWII.

I like the Bill Maher interpretation, that Trump is servicing two men at the same time.

If Trump had more brains and less ego, he could have gotten his tariffs way back in January 2025, when he had a lot more political capital. He could have gone to Congress and asked them to do what they have the legal authority to do, which is implement tariffs. Instead, he had to show off that he was some sort of monarch and do what the Constitution says are powers of the Legislative Branch. So he ended up getting b!tch slapped by the Supreme Court and reminded that there are three co-equal branches of government, each with powers granted to them under the Constitution. Because of his tumbling popularity, the Epstein files, his fascist ICE policy, and the fact Republicans look as if they'll take a whipping in November, that political capital is gone. Trump is almost a lame duck, and when the Repubs lose the House, and maybe the Senate, in November, Trump will be the lamest duck there is. People will be saying nobody has ever seen a duck so lame.

Pretty good sarcasm there! Insightful knowledge and Trump are about as far apart as Earth and the limits of what the Webb telescope can observe.

People who know what they're talking about, which is to say NOT Trump nor his Carnival People Administration, know the tariffs are a mistake. Kent Smetters, faculty director of the Penn Wharton Budget Model, notes that "40% of imports are not final goods destined for store shelves, but intermediate inputs used by U.S. companies to manufacture their own products. Consequently, tariffs act as a tax on American producers, raising their costs and making them less competitive globally." Also, many of these inputs are low value added, almost commodity items like screws and bolts and metal strips. It makes no sense to manufacture items with such thin margins domestically. The firm Deere has named tariffs as a major cost item, and project it to hit $1.2 billion against its profits in 2026. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-tariffs-dirty-tax-38-145000117.html