Trump’s Golden Dome? More Like His Golden Bog With Wings

[Lewie London]

Clock this madness, lads. Trump’s only gone and announced his latest load of shiny golden manure: a “Golden Dome” missile defense system. Sounds less like national security and more like a geezer’s knock-off vape shop in Slough. You half expect him to throw in a free doner kebab with every Patriot missile. He reckons this golden umbrella’s gonna save the Yanks from “next-generation threats.” What, like truth? Sanity? Basic governance? Rule of law? Maybe even democracy?

 

And guess who’s been tapped to run this sci-fi farce? Some geezer from the bloody Space Force. Thought that was merely a p*sstake from a Ricky Gervais sketch. Now it’s apparently the backbone of Trump’s war plan. What next? Buzz Lightyear as Defence Secretary? Elon Musk supplying Mars lasers? It’s like Star Wars meets QVC: “Act now and get two golden domes for the price of one Mar-a-Largo cheeseburger, plus a free Trump golf course umbrella!”

 

And now he’s bangin’ on about how this golden dome fantasy’s only gonna cost a cheeky $25 billion to kick off, tucked nice and quiet into his “One Big Beautiful Bill”, which, let’s be honest, sounds like something you’d name a dodgy geezer who does VAT scams out the back of a kebab van. But here’s the rub lads, the Congressional Budget Office’s piped up sayin’ the real cost could balloon to over $500 billion just for the space bits. Half a trillion quid so Trump can play Buck Rogers with taxpayer cash while tellin’ us it’s a bargain. Mate, for that money I want the dome to make me tea, give me a rub and a tug, and time-travel me back to when leaders weren’t absolute fruitcakes.
 

And would you believe it, Canada’s stickin’ its polite little nose in now. Their defence minister’s pipin’ up sayin’ it’s in their “national interest.” Course it is, mate. Who wouldn’t wanna sit under a massive overpriced American umbrella built by the same crew that gave us exploding toilets and $300 army spanners? In a few years we’ll all be under Trump’s dome, drinkin’ radioactive rainwater and listenin’ to Kid Rock play the national anthem through a megaphone while Kanye twerks to the beat.

 

But let’s not get twisted, this ain’t about defence. This is Trump doin’ what he always does best: buildin’ big tacky monuments to his own ego while tellin’ working people to eat dirt. You remember the wall? How’s that concrete catastrophe workin’ out? Bloke couldn’t even patch a small hole in one of his Chinese made MAGA red-caps, now he wants to wrap the world in a giant gold colander like it’s a bloody Christmas turkey.

 

So while Donny plays galactic dictator with the US defence budget, the rest of the normal world is tryin’ to figure out if it can still afford a tin of beans that ain’t been tariffed to death. And meanwhile, real crises like healthcare and the maddening cost of housing in America still all get swept under the golden rug. Priorities, innit.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy33n484x0o

[Captain Flack]

Flame post removed

[SunnyinBangrak]

4 hours ago, Lewie London said:

So while Donny

Donny Osmond? Donny Darko? If you need special rules and treatment you are likely on the wrong side of an issue. 

[BLMFem]

33 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

Donny Osmond? Donny Darko? If you need special rules and treatment you are likely on the wrong side of an issue. 

Tell it to the laptop.

[jas007]

SpaceX, Palantir, and Anduril?  

 

Palantir is already partnered with Anduril, I believe, and Palantir more or less has a monopoly in its niche, so I'd look for them to be involved.  It all fits together, and I can't imagine too much competition, given the capabilities those companies possess.

 

So, I'm thinking Palantir will likely be making me more $$$$.

 

Not financial advice, just an observation.  Do your own research. 

[fondue zoo]

I have some friends in related tech fields, they say it's probably doable, but won't work and if it did kind of work and was somehow compromised...

 

 

They have to stop watching Marvel movies for ideas.

 

 

[metisdead]

Posts using derogatory and toxic nicknames or intentional misspelling of people’s names will be removed. If you don’t want your post to be removed, spell people’s names correctly.

[Lacessit]

Reagan conceived Star Wars to bankrupt the Soviets in a space race. It succeeded, because the command economy of the Soviet Union was sclerotic.

 

If Trump thinks he will do the same with the Chinese, he is in for a big surprise. China's economy is far more dynamic.

[jas007]

24 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Reagan conceived Star Wars to bankrupt the Soviets in a space race. It succeeded, because the command economy of the Soviet Union was sclerotic.

 

If Trump thinks he will do the same with the Chinese, he is in for a big surprise. China's economy is far more dynamic.

I think you miss the point.  It's not necessarily about economics, but even if it were, China's economy is in big trouble, despite what all the propaganda spin doctors want people to think.  

 

More importantly.  technology evolves and there's no telling how quickly it will evolve over the next ten years or so.  For all we know, the US may possess weapons the likes of which the world has never seen.  Perhaps some are operational now, or in a late stage of development. Not just science fiction hardware, but the real thing. Second, AI will advance at an exponential rate, faster than many people seem to think.  And that technology is the key, in any event.  Not the hardware.  Surveillance, identifying targets, synthesizing data.  Without that capability, you have nothing.  

[Lacessit]

13 minutes ago, jas007 said:

I think you miss the point.  It's not necessarily about economics, but even if it were, China's economy is in big trouble, despite what all the propaganda spin doctors want people to think.  

 

More importantly.  technology evolves and there's no telling how quickly it will evolve over the next ten years or so.  For all we know, the US may possess weapons the likes of which the world has never seen.  Perhaps some are operational now, or in a late stage of development. Not just science fiction hardware, but the real thing. Second, AI will advance at an exponential rate, faster than many people seem to think.  And that technology is the key, in any event.  Not the hardware.  Surveillance, identifying targets, synthesizing data.  Without that capability, you have nothing.  

Both economies are in trouble.

 

You seem to be discounting the ability of the Chinese to develop their own weapons technologies. Due to their obsession with secrecy, no-one knows whether they are ahead or behind.

 

[lamyai3]

10 hours ago, Lewie London said:

Trump’s only gone and announced his latest load of shiny golden manure: a “Golden Dome” missile defense system.

Given his history you'd have thought he'd have tried to avoid "golden" metaphors. This one brings to mind a giant anti missile sprinkler system filled with Russian pee... 

[MicroB]

21 minutes ago, jas007 said:

I think you miss the point.  It's not necessarily about economics, but even if it were, China's economy is in big trouble, despite what all the propaganda spin doctors want people to think.  

 

More importantly.  technology evolves and there's no telling how quickly it will evolve over the next ten years or so.  For all we know, the US may possess weapons the likes of which the world has never seen.  Perhaps some are operational now, or in a late stage of development. Not just science fiction hardware, but the real thing. Second, AI will advance at an exponential rate, faster than many people seem to think.  And that technology is the key, in any event.  Not the hardware.  Surveillance, identifying targets, synthesizing data.  Without that capability, you have nothing.  

 

 

For all we know, the China may possess weapons the likes of which the world has never seen.

 

Iron Dome costs $50m per battery, plus other costs. 10 batteries cover Israel. To get the same coverage in the US requires 4500+ type system, so I can see where the estimates of $250-500 billion are coming from. That requires a doubling of the defence budget.

 

Its all Hot Air. The world knows it. Just like his supposed brilliant deal making powers. Smoke screen.

 

He bangs on about how broke America is, how its got no money, because everyone took from it, Can't have it both ways.

[MicroB]

5 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Both economies are in trouble.

 

You seem to be discounting the ability of the Chinese to develop their own weapons technologies. Due to their obsession with secrecy, no-one knows whether they are ahead or behind.

 

 

Or not ahead or behind, but if they think laterally. Maybe they'll win a war before its started.

[Lacessit]

1 minute ago, MicroB said:

 

Or not ahead or behind, but if they think laterally. Maybe they'll win a war before its started.

Trump lost a trade war with the Chinese in his first term.

 

Why he thinks he can win another, from a weaker position this time around, is outside my sphere of comprehension.

[jas007]

3 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Both economies are in trouble.

 

You seem to be discounting the ability of the Chinese to develop their own weapons technologies. Due to their obsession with secrecy, no-one knows whether they are ahead or behind.

 

Both economies are in trouble. to be sure, but the US has the staying power, at least for the next 5-10 years.

 

As for the Chinese and their weapons technologies?  Again, that's not the point. Other factors are involved.

 

Remember Reagan and Star Wars?  One of his proposals shortly after announcing the  program was that he would be willing to offer the same technology to Russia and perhaps to others. He did that for a number of reasons. First, to demonstrate that nuclear weapons would be obsolete. What's the point, if everyone has a defense against them?  Second, he was trying to lead the way towards diplomacy and peace.  And that happens when nations disarm.  Why maintain a nuclear arsenal if it's useless? 

 

And I think there's another angle. If the US did proceed and the US did develop a unilateral advantage, that would compromise any deterrent the Soviets might possess as the result of their nuclear arsenal.  So there would be that factor to consider as well. No more Mutually Assured Destruction?  A destabilizing element? Or an incentive to peace? 

 

As we know, none of the plans ever panned out entirely, but much research and development was accomplished, so there were some winners.  

[jas007]

8 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Trump lost a trade war with the Chinese in his first term.

 

Why he thinks he can win another, from a weaker position this time around, is outside my sphere of comprehension.

He's trying again, but with more determination and a better team.  And with an economy that can outlast China.

 

I'm not sure he'll be successful, but perhaps both sides will compromise and life will go on.  That's pretty much what has to happen.