At the time the digital debt clock was installed in 1989, the US national debt stood at just $2.7 trillion. Even then, the clock itself, invented by Seymour Durst, was a reminder to the fiscal planners of a growing concern. The prevailing confidence in the country's capability to surmount such debt was so high that spaces it allocated for the projected digits needed could not be surpassed. It was unimaginable. Today however, it is a fully grown creature that threatens the entire planet. The clock has been derailed because the size of the national debt exceeded the space allotted for all the digits to accurately record it. Durst's limited imagination miscalculated the insatiable appetite of the government to splurge on borrowed money.
President George Bush goes on national television to say that the crisis was "deeply unsettling" for Americans. That could be the understatement of the year. Why he excluded the rest of the globe is perhaps due to the limits of his imagination. Stock markets worldwide are going crazy, rising then dropping in a
confused stupor. Traders and brokers are losing their minds, their shirts and their pants trading in an unpredictable and uncontrollable situation. Iceland has gone bankrupt, and trading had to be suspended in several bourses globally. Japan's biggest insurance firm Yamato Life is already dead. Burial announcements to follow.
Wall Street's value has gone down by 20% in the past 10 trading days. Yet President
Bush says "we are a prosperous nation with immense resources and a wide range of tools at our disposal". Does anyone listen to him? Will anyone believe him? Perhaps his shadow will. Not even his body language suggests he believes it himself. The $700 billion bailout isn't working, confidence has not been restored, and the national debt could rise to $11 trillion due to the bailout. Perhaps the belief that America's resources are inexhaustible should be re-thought. The truth could be that all these immensity is just hype because if it's there, why has it not been harnessed? Sarah Palin suggests extracting the oil in Alaska will answer the energy problem - a gross miscalculation or outright imbecility - because even if it is all taken out, it would last only 18 months.
The G-7 Finance Ministers are to meet in Washington later to find a solution to the global crisis, because nothing is working, and those tried earlier are apparently failing. What tools the US has at its disposal only President Bush knows. How he knows it will work or whether it can be operable is unbelievable based on his established (in)credibility and brain capacity. Meanwhile, John McSame is in another time zone, addressing his audience as "my fellow prisoners". He is confused about which war he is facing or perhaps is at war with his memory. America and the world could be collapsing all around him but he would still be focused on Barack Obama's terrorist association, which is flimsy at best, a canard at worst.
The best news of the week is that according to Douglas Durst, son of the deceased
inventor of the digital debt clock, the structure would be replaced early next year and will be made lengthier to accomodate 1 quadrillion dollars. At least, the US government can rack up $989 trillion more debts and it would still be recorded. That is, if there's any government left to be held accountable. Everyone could be talking Mandarin or Fookienese by then.
Haaaarrrwwwwwwk...Twooooooooph...Ting!
President George Bush goes on national television to say that the crisis was "deeply unsettling" for Americans. That could be the understatement of the year. Why he excluded the rest of the globe is perhaps due to the limits of his imagination. Stock markets worldwide are going crazy, rising then dropping in a
confused stupor. Traders and brokers are losing their minds, their shirts and their pants trading in an unpredictable and uncontrollable situation. Iceland has gone bankrupt, and trading had to be suspended in several bourses globally. Japan's biggest insurance firm Yamato Life is already dead. Burial announcements to follow.Wall Street's value has gone down by 20% in the past 10 trading days. Yet President
Bush says "we are a prosperous nation with immense resources and a wide range of tools at our disposal". Does anyone listen to him? Will anyone believe him? Perhaps his shadow will. Not even his body language suggests he believes it himself. The $700 billion bailout isn't working, confidence has not been restored, and the national debt could rise to $11 trillion due to the bailout. Perhaps the belief that America's resources are inexhaustible should be re-thought. The truth could be that all these immensity is just hype because if it's there, why has it not been harnessed? Sarah Palin suggests extracting the oil in Alaska will answer the energy problem - a gross miscalculation or outright imbecility - because even if it is all taken out, it would last only 18 months.
The G-7 Finance Ministers are to meet in Washington later to find a solution to the global crisis, because nothing is working, and those tried earlier are apparently failing. What tools the US has at its disposal only President Bush knows. How he knows it will work or whether it can be operable is unbelievable based on his established (in)credibility and brain capacity. Meanwhile, John McSame is in another time zone, addressing his audience as "my fellow prisoners". He is confused about which war he is facing or perhaps is at war with his memory. America and the world could be collapsing all around him but he would still be focused on Barack Obama's terrorist association, which is flimsy at best, a canard at worst.
The best news of the week is that according to Douglas Durst, son of the deceased
inventor of the digital debt clock, the structure would be replaced early next year and will be made lengthier to accomodate 1 quadrillion dollars. At least, the US government can rack up $989 trillion more debts and it would still be recorded. That is, if there's any government left to be held accountable. Everyone could be talking Mandarin or Fookienese by then.Haaaarrrwwwwwwk...Twooooooooph...Ting!
