Presto

Burns, not rot.

Sixty years ago my father had something similar happen to him. He was driving behind a truck on the motorway, an object fell off, passed through the middle of the windscreen (fortunately!) and bedded itself in the rear seats. It was part of the suspension of the truck that broke and fell off. No dash cam!

First: deranged minds don't think like that. Second: that stuff about 'Wokeist' has no basis in reality. Dutch reality.

Yes, I noticed that too. Admirable job! He's not necessarily a terrorist, he seemed quite off his rocker by the account of Litecia. And now I read he was known by the police.

A video (nu.nl) of how the knifeman was taken down. Litecia in the green shirt. As you can see many people involved in this citizens arrest. Beelden tonen hoe verdachte steekpartij Rotterdam wordt overmeesterd https://www.nu.nl/311385/video/beelden-tonen-hoe-verdachte-steekpartij-rotterdam-wordt-overmeesterd.html (via @NUnl)

You don't know what you're talking about. Litecia is a personal trainer, he was working with a customer (1) outside, close to the river. And he did knock the knifeman out with a squat bar, in 'Remastered', under the bridge.

Curaçao origin probably.

'The attacker was subdued by Renil Renato David Litecia, a sports coach ...' To offset the usual islamophobia and hatred of others, I like to notice that Litecia is a true hero. Thirty years ago I lived very close to the Erasmusbrug, Rotterdam is a very multicultural city. I miss it.

So, Trump wrote a book? Now I've heard it all! That guy can hardly read, is incapable of telling something truthful if his life depended on it, but I guess the gullible Americans will lap it up.

That reminds me of a famous dialogue in Police Squad ...

First inflation rises, fuelled (at least in part) by the trillions of borrowed money pumped into the economy by Biden. Then the Fed steps in and raises interest rates, from the extremely low level it was. Than people get angry, first because it hurts their insatiable credit card use, and second because it hurts mortgages. Make a comparison between mortgage interest in America and Western Europe, and you'll see the difference.

All fine with me, my points were, that despite the cheering about Biden, with regard to the national debt, there is no difference with Trump. We could have a discussion about how all that borrowed is spend of course, and I could go into a diatribe about the Infrastructure bill. But I won't. Plus, it doesn't seem to bother Americans that they're paying 900 billion this year on interest, about the same as the defense budget. That interest sum is only rising, at some point American will wake up and ask themselves: for what? Interest? Nothing tangible? How long this situation can go on, I don't know. Common sense tells me, not long, but common sense doesn't matter here I guess.

The thing about those downgrades is that they are for a large part unnecessary. They are in part, caused by silly political processes like the debt ceiling and funding the government. Processes unique to America, and politicians from whatever side have never expressed a willingness to get something sensible in place. I guess they love the annual circus, and maybe it gives them a sense of power and competence.

I've occasionally thought about how much tax would I, or anyone else, be willing to accept. And I mean income tax and VAT. 50%? Maybe that's a psychological limit?

You should read this article. There's no difference between Trump and Biden with regard to borrowing and adding to the national debt. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobhaber/2024/08/21/americas-currency-crisis-declining-global-confidence-in-the-dollar/

It's debt ratings are endangered. S&P downgraded treasuries about 10 years ago, Fitch did it last year. You should look up the yield of government bonds by country.

The very stable genius keeps repeating that tariffs are paid by the country exporting goods to the US. And, as the polls show, half of American voters believe that nonsense. It says a lot about America.

Remarkably, neither party has shown much interest in the national debt, the past decades. And that includes Biden, who can't achieve a balanced budget even in a booming economy. National debt to GDP is about 130% I believe, and no end in sight. Annual interest is 900 billion in 2024, apparently not a problem for the American taxpayer. Note that 130% won't allow a country to become an EU member ...

What makes you think conflicts of interest would be a problem for a Trump administration? Grift is the goal, and having Musk there would be excellent for grifting.

Chinese substandard products, to be replaced with quality products, manufactured in Thailand? That would be a novel development, for sure! Revolutionary ...

Imo, Musk is using his billions, and X, to push the country in a far right, fascist direction. He doesn't care about money lost, he had enough. And he's not the only billionaire doing that.

Elon Musk and free speech! Have you considered a career in stand up comedy?

Oh yes, that one too! And of course: this man came up to me, big, strong man, tears in his eyes, and he said: Sir! Sir, thank you, thank you so much! 😂 Trump has a great repertoire of those stories, but it seems he keeps repeating himself. He needs new material!

Is Trump talking policy? I thought he was mostly talking about razzias for mass deportation, how many times he has to flush the toilet, something incomprehensible about batteries and sharks and of course Hannibal Lector. Anything you'd like to add?

Don't expect too much from people like that. Don't set the bar too high.