XPost: alt.politics, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1
XPost: alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2yalpnuy> dailykos.com

America: Dysfunction, Decline, and Despair ..

Enormous energy is spent maintaining appearances. Some people do this
out of sheer necessity or survival; others dissociate or look away
from the truth, and many simply don't know what else to do. The result
is a disorienting landscape in which collapse and routine coexist -
where dysfunction is absorbed into daily life ..

The distance between illusion and reality has widened so dramatically
that it now requires massive effort - and widespread denial - to
maintain the fantasy that America still functions .. America clings
tightly to its illusions, but most people feel the reality pressing in
on them ..

Read more <https://tinyurl.com/2yalpnuy>

...

The American decline goes on steadyly, irreversibly.

<https://tinyurl.com/2d78g7sg>

.. Crime, corruption, and cultural decay ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.politics, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1
XPost: alt.politics

<https://archive.is/PuCxw> medium.com/wall-street-gradient

.. The U.S. dollar .. belief is fraying .. It's a slap in the face to
the very myth America has exported to the world .. Gradual fading of
the dollar's dominance .. isn't the result of a single administration's
bad policy. It's the outcome of a generational illusion .. America's
fiscal policy has drifted into magical thinking ..

What changed? Interest rates .. Now rates are rising, debt servicing
costs are exploding, and the illusion is cracking .. It's systemic ..
America finds itself in a game it no longer controls ..

Americans Aren't Ready for Decline .. Military strength, economic
might, global trust .. That era is ending .. The question isn't whether
the dollar will decline - it's whether we'll adapt ..

...

If Americans don't adapt then life, God will adapt them compulsorily.

Things aren't good for America, and it will be getting worse.

<https://tinyurl.com/2yalpnuy>

America: Dysfunction, Decline, and Despair ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://archive.is/rqh4V> ft.com

Donald Trump's landmark tax bill will add $2.4tn to the US debt
by 2034 .. The "big beautiful bill" would drive up budget deficits
over the coming decade .. Elon Musk attacked the bill as a
"disgusting abomination", arguing that it would undo much of the
cost-cutting work of his so-called Department of Government
Efficiency. The figures will fuel a fight .. Democrats .. slam the
legislation. "This bill has gone from bad to worse," ..

...

So let the American debt be more big and er.. beautiful.

It's like an inveterate alcoholic or drug addict, - it's certainly
time to stop it, but they say not ready right now, let's continue
a little longer, - and then finalization is predictable.

<https://archive.is/PuCxw>

Americans Aren't Ready for Decline ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh

"Oleg Smirnov" <[email protected]> wrote in news:101ukd2$2889k$1 @os.motzarella.org:

<https://archive.is/rqh4V> ft.com

Donald Trump's landmark tax bill will add $2.4tn to the US debt
by 2034 .. The "big beautiful bill" would drive up budget deficits
over the coming decade .. Elon Musk attacked the bill as a
"disgusting abomination", arguing that it would undo much of the
cost-cutting work of his so-called Department of Government
Efficiency. The figures will fuel a fight .. Democrats .. slam the legislation. "This bill has gone from bad to worse," ..

...

So let the American debt be more big and er.. beautiful.

It's like an inveterate alcoholic or drug addict, - it's certainly
time to stop it, but they say not ready right now, let's continue
a little longer, - and then finalization is predictable.

<https://archive.is/PuCxw>

Americans Aren't Ready for Decline ..

"I�m the king of debt. I�m great with debt.
Nobody knows debt better than me. I�ve made
a fortune by using debt, and if things don�t
work out I renegotiate the debt. I mean,
that�s a smart thing, not a stupid thing."
Donald Trump, June 2016
https://tinyurl.com/2bsnx66t

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1

Mitchell Holman, <news:[email protected]>

"Oleg Smirnov" <[email protected]> wrote in news:101ukd2$2889k$1

<https://archive.is/rqh4V> ft.com

Donald Trump's landmark tax bill will add $2.4tn to the US debt
by 2034 .. The "big beautiful bill" would drive up budget deficits
over the coming decade .. Elon Musk attacked the bill as a
"disgusting abomination", arguing that it would undo much of the
cost-cutting work of his so-called Department of Government
Efficiency. The figures will fuel a fight .. Democrats .. slam the
legislation. "This bill has gone from bad to worse," ..

...

So let the American debt be more big and er.. beautiful.

It's like an inveterate alcoholic or drug addict, - it's certainly
time to stop it, but they say not ready right now, let's continue
a little longer, - and then finalization is predictable.

"I'm the king of debt. I'm great with debt.
Nobody knows debt better than me. I've made
a fortune by using debt, and if things don't
work out I renegotiate the debt. I mean,
that's a smart thing, not a stupid thing."
Donald Trump, June 2016
https://tinyurl.com/2bsnx66t

The debt addiction is a common-American issue.
A Democrats' POTUS would have increased the debt in the same way,
and then the right-wingers would blame him the same way the left
blames Trump now. The US is a nation of evil where hypocrisy is
the main value so that all claims/blames are feigned/ritualistic.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1

"Oleg Smirnov" <[email protected]> wrote in news:101v3tg$2c5lq$1 @os.motzarella.org:

Mitchell Holman, <news:[email protected]>

"Oleg Smirnov" <[email protected]> wrote in news:101ukd2$2889k$1

<https://archive.is/rqh4V> ft.com

Donald Trump's landmark tax bill will add $2.4tn to the US debt
by 2034 .. The "big beautiful bill" would drive up budget deficits
over the coming decade .. Elon Musk attacked the bill as a
"disgusting abomination", arguing that it would undo much of the
cost-cutting work of his so-called Department of Government
Efficiency. The figures will fuel a fight .. Democrats .. slam the
legislation. "This bill has gone from bad to worse," ..

...

So let the American debt be more big and er.. beautiful.

It's like an inveterate alcoholic or drug addict, - it's certainly
time to stop it, but they say not ready right now, let's continue
a little longer, - and then finalization is predictable.

"I'm the king of debt. I'm great with debt.
Nobody knows debt better than me. I've made
a fortune by using debt, and if things don't
work out I renegotiate the debt. I mean,
that's a smart thing, not a stupid thing."
Donald Trump, June 2016
https://tinyurl.com/2bsnx66t

The debt addiction is a common-American issue.
A Democrats' POTUS would have increased the debt in the same way,
and then the right-wingers would blame him the same way the left
blames Trump now. The US is a nation of evil where hypocrisy is
the main value so that all claims/blames are feigned/ritualistic.

Clinton reduced the deficit,
Obama reduced the deficit,
Biden reduced the deficit, even
Bush had years where he reduced
the deficit.

Only Trump consistently raised
the deficit every year he was in
office.



Federal deficit, in trillions:

2016.............0,584

2017.............0,665

2018.............0,779

2019.............0,983

2020.............3,132

2021.............$2.78

2022.............$1.38

2023.............$1.69

2024.............$1.83

https://tinyurl.com/4dj7952s

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1

On 6/6/2025 11:29 AM, Mitchell Holman wrote:

"Oleg Smirnov" <[email protected]> wrote in news:101v3tg$2c5lq$1 @os.motzarella.org:

Mitchell Holman, <news:[email protected]>

"Oleg Smirnov" <[email protected]> wrote in news:101ukd2$2889k$1

<https://archive.is/rqh4V> ft.com

Donald Trump's landmark tax bill will add $2.4tn to the US debt
by 2034 .. The "big beautiful bill" would drive up budget deficits
over the coming decade .. Elon Musk attacked the bill as a
"disgusting abomination", arguing that it would undo much of the
cost-cutting work of his so-called Department of Government
Efficiency. The figures will fuel a fight .. Democrats .. slam the
legislation. "This bill has gone from bad to worse," ..

...

So let the American debt be more big and er.. beautiful.

It's like an inveterate alcoholic or drug addict, - it's certainly
time to stop it, but they say not ready right now, let's continue
a little longer, - and then finalization is predictable.

"I'm the king of debt. I'm great with debt.
Nobody knows debt better than me. I've made
a fortune by using debt, and if things don't
work out I renegotiate the debt. I mean,
that's a smart thing, not a stupid thing."
Donald Trump, June 2016
https://tinyurl.com/2bsnx66t

The debt addiction is a common-American issue.
A Democrats' POTUS would have increased the debt in the same way,
and then the right-wingers would blame him the same way the left
blames Trump now. The US is a nation of evil where hypocrisy is
the main value so that all claims/blames are feigned/ritualistic.

Clinton reduced the deficit,

Clinton very briefly *eliminated* the deficit at the end of his term. It didn't endure.

Obama reduced the deficit,
Biden reduced the deficit, even
Bush had years where he reduced
the deficit.

Only Trump consistently raised
the deficit every year he was in
office.

Federal deficit, in trillions:

2016.............0,584

2017.............0,665

2018.............0,779

2019.............0,983

2020.............3,132

2021.............$2.78

2022.............$1.38

2023.............$1.69

2024.............$1.83

https://tinyurl.com/4dj7952s

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1

Mitchell Holman, <news:[email protected]>

"Oleg Smirnov" <[email protected]> wrote in news:101v3tg$2c5lq$1

<https://archive.is/rqh4V> ft.com

Donald Trump's landmark tax bill will add $2.4tn to the US debt
by 2034 .. The "big beautiful bill" would drive up budget deficits
over the coming decade .. Elon Musk attacked the bill

"I'm the king of debt. I'm great with debt.
Nobody knows debt better than me. I've made
a fortune by using debt, and if things don't
work out I renegotiate the debt. I mean,
that's a smart thing, not a stupid thing."
Donald Trump, June 2016
https://tinyurl.com/2bsnx66t

The debt addiction is a common-American issue.
A Democrats' POTUS would have increased the debt in the same way,
and then the right-wingers would blame him the same way the left
blames Trump now. The US is a nation of evil where hypocrisy is
the main value so that all claims/blames are feigned/ritualistic.

Clinton reduced the deficit,
Obama reduced the deficit,
Biden reduced the deficit, even
Bush had years where he reduced
the deficit.

Only Trump consistently raised
the deficit every year he was in
office.

Federal deficit, in trillions:

2016.............0,584
2017.............0,665
2018.............0,779
2019.............0,983
2020.............3,132
2021.............$2.78
2022.............$1.38
2023.............$1.69
2024.............$1.83

https://tinyurl.com/4dj7952s

Debt by US President

Clinton.... +29%
Obama...... +64%
Biden...... +31%

W. Bush.... +73%
H.W. Bush.. +42%
Trump-1.... +39%

<https://tinyurl.com/28z5gk34>

Within your male(R)-female(D) partisanship there's a
clear pattern: when a party holds power, it's willing
to increase the debt, otherwise it shows more concern
about the debt. Such a role-playing game, essentially.
As there is no domestic political mechanism to stop
the growth of debt, it means foreign powers will stop
it for you someday.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.politics, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1
XPost: alt.politics

Oh WOW ! Oleg is back ! Managed to get his tongue out
of Vlad's ass long enough to post something ! :-)

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

c186282, <news:[email protected]>

Oh WOW ! Oleg is back ! Managed to get his tongue out
of Vlad's ass long enough to post something ! :-)

Your irreversible dementia is visibly in progress.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2y6w7p7y> dailykos.com

America .. Its famous Declaration of Independence, which claimed
that all men are created equal, excluded women, Black men (who only
counted as three-fifths of a person), Native Americans, and any
white man without land. Equality? Hardly. From the beginning, this
nation has been fed illusions - carefully crafted stories designed
to obscure deeper realities .. An enduring triad of control has
always underpinned this dysfunction: the political elite, the
corporate elite, and the wealthy elite. Their success has not come
from solving collective problems but from manipulating the masses ..
Again and again, the public has been encouraged - or forced - to
accept the abnormal as normal. This takes effort ..

...

Indeed, the masses are silly, they are interested mostly in what
the elite's manipulation makes interesting for them, whereas only a
few can assess reality on their own.

But as life in the US relatively deteriorates, maintenance of the
Stockholm syndrome for the manipulatable populace becomes harder, it
manifests itself in despair and "loss of trust" etc.

<https://tinyurl.com/2yalpnuy>

America: Dysfunction, Decline, and Despair ..

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2a5vgxyg> dailykos.com

"America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly
binds herself to be false to the future." .. Liberty, as imagined
by the founders, was not a freedom .. from the beginning, this
liberty was conditional .. America's founding myth placed freedom
within liberty - an idealized, universal freedom that, in practice,
was an illusion. "The land of the free" - except it wasn't ..
African slavery and Indigenous erasure ..

We would do better to ask not when unfreedom ended but how it
endures: in wealth inequality, childhood poverty, low-wage labor,
homelessness, voter suppression, mass incarceration, systemic
racism in education and healthcare, the addiction crisis, the
exploitation of undocumented workers, and the continued erasure of
Indigenous sovereignty and Black history, and now, Diversity,
Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) ..

America's true founding lies not in liberty but in slavery and
stolen land. The Revolution did not dismantle colonialism - it
rebranded it .. The founding lie - that America is the land of the
free - became so deeply woven into the nation's conscience that
even glaring contradictions were dismissed ..

...

American history is short and simple - not so rich in variety of
events within its context. It was successful for some time, manly
because of a favorable combination of external factors. Now it
is time to face a growing multitude of accumulated inner issues.
Given the simplistic historical experience, based on falsehoods
from the very start, it's natural the US ideologues are infected
with an unhealthy "messianic" zeal. The effort to impose their
flawed hypocrisy on the world is surely doomed to fail. Question
is, how much evil it can bring to the rest of the world before
this formation of evil settles down to normality.

<https://archive.is/lngOI>

.. Decline of America Through Satellite Imagery ..

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2m3ynrde> timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Baba Vanga predictions that shook the world: She foresaw 9/11,
ISIS, and Obama .. Baba Vanga predictions that came true ..
The Election of Barack Obama (2008):
Baba Vanga is said to have foreseen that the 44th U.S. President
would be African-American. She also allegedly warned that he
would be the last U.S. president - though this part of the
prophecy did not come true ..

...

It's a common mistake to think the part of the prophecy did not
come true. Rather, Obama was the last president of "true" U.S.
The Obama presidency produced such an update to the U.S. that
the post-Obama U.S. is considered significantly different from
what it was before. The pre-Obama U.S. no longer exists, but
there is now somewhat new order of things. It is no coincidence
that many in the U.S. saw Obama as Messiah.

By the way, "Baba" is not a part of name, it's a title.

<https://tinyurl.com/24k2e9zc>

The American ruling class has been caught off guard ..

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/24jxqeoo> hamptonthink.org

If you live in the United States and feel like everything is caving
in around you, like you are being attacked and fleeced from every
angle, like you can't breathe, like you can't ever seem to catch a
break despite doing everything seemingly right, like you are on the
verge of a mental-health crisis and/or homelessness, your feelings
are justified. We are living in the middle of widespread societal
breakdown. We are witnessing the erosion of an empire .. The collapse
of the United States is not just happening on a whim. There are very
clear, systemic reasons for it ..

Read more <https://tinyurl.com/24jxqeoo>

<https://tinyurl.com/247b5dcb>

.. To leave the country and live overseas ..

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2cnnygv5> project-syndicate.org

.. US Treasury Yields Are Rising .. Above all, rising bond yields
reflect a profound loss of confidence in US economic policymaking
.. Concerns over the sustainability of US fiscal policy have been
building for years .. America's unsustainable fiscal trajectory
threatens the government's ability to fund core entitlement
programs such as Social Security and Medicare .. These trends raise
fundamental questions about the dollar's future .. and Treasuries'
status .. Investors are increasingly turning to alternative stores
of wealth .. All of this spells trouble for the US economy ..

...

<https://archive.is/PuCxw>

.. Rates are rising, debt servicing costs are exploding ..

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/25yafl8j> moneyandbanking.co.th

June 11, 2568 .. Asia's shift to less reliance on the US dollar
is accelerating .. Although the dollar remains the main currency
in the world's international reserves, its share of holdings has
fallen from more than 70% in 2543 to 57.8% in 2567. This year,
the dollar has also been heavily sold off .. Market sentiment is
beginning to change. Investors and policymakers are increasingly
aware that the dollar can be used as a tool of trade pressure or
even an economic weapon .. Individuals and businesses are
starting to convert dollar deposits back into local currencies,
and large investors are increasingly hedging their currency risk
.. BRICS countries such as China and India are also accelerating
the establishment of their own payment systems to reduce
reliance on SWIFT ..

The decline in dollar holdings has been slow but steady ..

...

The decline of America has been slow but steady.

<https://archive.is/PuCxw>

.. The U.S. dollar .. belief is fraying ..

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XPost: alt.politics, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1
XPost: alt.politics

Pay NO attention to Oleg - Vlad has his dick way up
his inferior distended asshole ...

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2yolktyf> reuters.com

.. U.S. debt default .. never say never ..

"The United States of America is never going to default, that is
never going to happen," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
on June 1 .. Bessent's comment was intended to reassure market ..
But the very fact that Bessent thought it necessary to reassure
prospective Treasury bond buyers on this point probably gave them
pause .. The mistaken belief in a spotless U.S. credit record is
unsurprising given widespread misconceptions about sovereign debt
.. With U.S. debt to GDP above 120% and rising, the notion of a
default can no longer be dismissed with a derisive laugh .. And
speaking of what to expect, if fiscal matters ever do get to the
point where the U.S. actually does default on its debt, you can be
sure that whoever is Treasury Secretary will insist, right up to
the end .. ".. it will not happen .." ..

...

Holders of any Ponzi scheme always deny that it will end some day.
They also tend to express especial confidence at the final stage.
But the scheme ends some day nevertheless.

<https://tinyurl.com/24qt5ors>

.. Skyrocketing debt, and a complete lack of accountability ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics

On 2025-06-06 18:29:07 +0000, Mitchell Holman said:

"Oleg Smirnov" <[email protected]> wrote in news:101v3tg$2c5lq$1 @os.motzarella.org:

Mitchell Holman, <news:[email protected]>

"Oleg Smirnov" <[email protected]> wrote in news:101ukd2$2889k$1

<https://archive.is/rqh4V> ft.com

Donald Trump's landmark tax bill will add $2.4tn to the US debt
by 2034 .. The "big beautiful bill" would drive up budget deficits
over the coming decade .. Elon Musk attacked the bill as a
"disgusting abomination", arguing that it would undo much of the
cost-cutting work of his so-called Department of Government
Efficiency. The figures will fuel a fight .. Democrats .. slam the
legislation. "This bill has gone from bad to worse," ..

...

So let the American debt be more big and er.. beautiful.

It's like an inveterate alcoholic or drug addict, - it's certainly
time to stop it, but they say not ready right now, let's continue
a little longer, - and then finalization is predictable.

"I'm the king of debt. I'm great with debt.
Nobody knows debt better than me. I've made
a fortune by using debt, and if things don't
work out I renegotiate the debt. I mean,
that's a smart thing, not a stupid thing."
Donald Trump, June 2016
https://tinyurl.com/2bsnx66t

The debt addiction is a common-American issue.
A Democrats' POTUS would have increased the debt in the same way,
and then the right-wingers would blame him the same way the left
blames Trump now. The US is a nation of evil where hypocrisy is
the main value so that all claims/blames are feigned/ritualistic.

Clinton reduced the deficit,
Obama reduced the deficit,
Biden reduced the deficit, even
Bush had years where he reduced
the deficit.

Only Trump consistently raised
the deficit every year he was in
office.

Federal deficit, in trillions:

2016.............0,584

2017.............0,665

2018.............0,779

2019.............0,983

2020.............3,132

2021.............$2.78

2022.............$1.38

2023.............$1.69

2024.............$1.83

https://tinyurl.com/4dj7952s

The first step in overcoming any dependency is to admit you have a
problem and Republicans refuse to admit we have a revenue problem.

Tax cut (Reagan) after tax cut (W. Bush) after tax cut (Trump 45) after
tax cut (Trump 47) is going to solve the chronic debt problem... "just
see for yourself in 10 years!"

We're going on 45 years now and this miracle cure still hasn't happened.

It won't end until whoring for votes with tax cuts (80% for billionaires/millionaires/corporations - 20% for everyone else but
Republicans don't like to emphasize that) doesn't work anymore.


(BTW what's this "alt.russian.z1" shit Oleg, do you have a lot of fans
over there?)

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2xmf62ao> unherd.com

Nine-tenths of American children born in 1940 would, as adults,
earn more in real dollars than their parents. That number falls to
50% for kids born in 1980 .. Social mobility in modern America is
harder than at any time since 1850 - and this trend holds across
the Western world. Those born poor remain so, while the upper class
maintain their station. Yet, the gap is most distinct in America
.. Today, the poor are born in that station - and stay there ..

...

<https://tinyurl.com/2yx2ncva>

The American dream is .. paying off debt

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2ddkmsfw> cbsnews.com

The U.S. spends $1 trillion a year to service its debt ..
The Republicans' "big beautiful" budget package is uniting
everyone from Elon Musk to Wall Street over an issue that
experts say could pose a threat to the nation's long-term
fiscal stability: the rising cost of servicing the U.S.
government's growing mountain of debt .. The nation now
spends more on interest payments than it does on defense ..
Those costs could rise even more under the Republican tax
and spending bill ..

...

<https://archive.is/9WK5O>

.. 'Reckoning Is Coming' for US Debt ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://archive.is/vdnUU> indiatimes.com

The hidden job crisis: 25% of Americans are functionally unemployed
and it's worse than it sounds .. The Ludwig Institute says the 'true' unemployment rate is much higher .. The "true" rate of unemployment
in the US in April was 24.3% .. "We are facing a job market where
nearly one-in-four workers are functionally unemployed, and current
trends show little sign of improvement," .. The institute's metric,
called the True Rate of Unemployment (TRU), redefines what it means
to be employed, and unlike the Bureau of Labour Statistics, which
counts a person as employed even if they worked as little as one hour
in a two-week period, TRU focuses on whether that work is actually
sustainable ..

...

<https://tinyurl.com/2yalpnuy>

America: Dysfunction, Decline, and Despair ..

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/26ohzumq> businesstoday.in

Multiple whistleblowers have raised serious safety concerns ..

Sam Salehpour: A Boeing engineer .. has alleged that sections of
the Dreamliner's fuselage were improperly fastened together ..
According to Salehpour, he observed workers "jumping like Tarzan"
on plane parts to force alignment .. He claims his warnings were
dismissed and that he was instructed "to shut up."

John Barnett: A former quality control engineer, had previously
flagged similar issues. Barnett alleged that under production
pressure, workers were installing substandard parts on the assembly
line and that he had identified defects in the aircraft's oxygen
systems ..

Richard Cuevas: A mechanic employed by Strom, a contractor for
Spirit Aerosystems - Boeing's manufacturing partner - reported
witnessing improper drilling of holes in the forward pressure
bulkheads of 787 aircraft at Spirit's Wichita, Kansas, facility
in 2023. He submitted a complaint to both Boeing and Spirit in
October 2023, citing "substandard manufacturing and maintenance
processes," and was terminated several months later.

These accounts are among a growing number of whistleblower
complaints .. Since a January 2024 incident in which a door plug
detached from a 737 Max during flight, over a dozen whistleblowers
have come forward. One reported that Boeing attempted to conceal
defective or noncompliant parts from regulators ..

The FAA .. audit revealed multiple issues .. including a disconnect
between management and frontline employees and widespread fear of
retaliation for reporting safety concerns.

<https://tinyurl.com/2677xy8b>

Boeing's reputation is in free fall ..

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/3kza3rw8> investmentexecutive.com

The credit rating outlook for North American companies is being
downgraded by Fitch Ratings amid declining growth expectations .. Outlook
for U.S. GDP growth, inflation and consumer spending have all degraded ..

...

<https://tinyurl.com/2ddkmsfw>

The U.S. spends $1 trillion a year to service its debt ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/224gyyz5> counterpunch.org

.. the American Empire's Age of Discord ..

What a ridiculous world we live in. As Musk and Trump traded insults
online, the streets of Los Angeles were exploding in a different way,
with mass protests and riots .. These flashpoints are symptoms of
something much larger: a structural crisis within a collapsing U.S.
empire ..

Over the past two decades, one crisis after another has confirmed
Turchin's model - revealing the feedback loops of inequality,
instability, and conflict in real time. Below is a brief chronology of America's unravelling, showing how elite overproduction, popular
immiseration, and other stressors have intensified since the 2000s,
bringing us to the current Age of Discord .. That imperial project has
started to undermine the very society it was built upon ..

Read more <https://tinyurl.com/224gyyz5>

<https://tinyurl.com/2xmf62ao>

.. Today, the poor are born in that station - and stay there ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2y5g6lr3> hillsdale.edu

American Citizenship and Its Decline

Today, the constitutional rule of citizens in America is threatened
by a new form of government, unaccountable to the people, in which
power is held by a ruling class that seeks to transform our society.
In this eight-lecture course, students will examine .. the grave
challenges American citizenship faces today. Topics covered in this
course include: the erosion of the middle class, the disappearance
of sovereign borders, the rise of tribalism, the growth of the deep
state, the modern assaults on the Constitution, and the emergence of
a new form of global government.

...

The American decline has already begun to be taught in colleges.

<https://archive.is/vdnUU>

.. 25% of Americans are functionally unemployed ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

Governor Swill, <news:[email protected]>

On Thu, 12 Jun 2025 03:18:12 -0400, c186282 <[email protected]> wrote:

Pay NO attention to Oleg - Vlad has his dick way up
his inferior distended asshole ...

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhlwPOrccww>

--
Democrats look a lot like Republicans these days. <https://www.flickr.com/photos/jocke66/4561715144>

8647!

<https://archive.is/QzwHS>

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

It looked like the Israel's assault on Iran is not what the Trump
admin wanted very much. Rubio was immidiately rushing to declare
that it's an Israel's unilateral action and the US isn't involved.
Such kinds of statements from top US officials would not be taken
seriously. Israeli natural interest is to keep the US involved, of
course, and the Israeli lobby in the US is able to ensure it. The
Trump admin could not stay aside, even if it really wanted so.

However, soon after the Israeli first attacks, which effect seemed
devastating for Iran, Trump hurried to jump into "winners vagon"
and essentially undermined out what Rubio had said initially. Btw,
Rubio looks somewhat strangely in the Trump team, in previous years
he used to be a frantic neocon-leaning hawk, but now he leans more
to balanced/circumspect approach, and this shift looks suspicious.
Anyway, the "unilateral" Israel is no longer the case, given also
the reports that the US military was well-involved while shooting
down the flying objects sent by Iran towards Israel in retaliation.

Meahwhile, by now, it's still uncertain whether Israel will emerge
as the clear winner from this clash. Iran has retaliated, and while
the Iran's counterattacks were notably less bloody-disruptive, many
analysts say that the damage to Israel is tangible as well. Further
prospects for these developments are unclear.

What is more clear, it's the fact the US increasingly finds itself
in the position of the meme dog has been wagged by her [many] tails,
which is in odds with the proclamed MAGA aspiration.

The basic issue seems to be so that if you want mutually exclusive
things at the same time, then it's for sure that you won't get all
what you want.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2a9htvzt> sbcgold.com

.. the US Dollar Falling Right Now ..

The dollar has tumbled to multi-year lows .. This decline bucks the
historical trend of a strong US dollar during trade tensions,
suggesting that something might be structurally different this
time. Now, a growing number of trusted economists and major
financial institutions are warning of the greenback's foundational
weakness and the country's bleak future as an investing haven ..
Instead of flowing to the dollar, investors redirected investments
to other currencies .. The Euro spiked over 5% to reach a three-year
record .. As capital flows out of the dollar and into other assets,
both the USD and the broader dollar-based investment ecosystem can
be strained.

<https://tinyurl.com/2xhg3b2u>

Bloodshed and Revolution in Coming Debt Collapse

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

"Oleg Smirnov" <[email protected]> wrote in news:102jtic$770t$1
@os.motzarella.org:

<https://tinyurl.com/2a9htvzt> sbcgold.com

.. the US Dollar Falling Right Now ..

The dollar has tumbled to multi-year lows .. This decline bucks the historical trend of a strong US dollar during trade tensions,
suggesting that something might be structurally different this
time. Now, a growing number of trusted economists and major
financial institutions are warning of the greenback's foundational
weakness and the country's bleak future as an investing haven ..
Instead of flowing to the dollar, investors redirected investments
to other currencies .. The Euro spiked over 5% to reach a three-year
record .. As capital flows out of the dollar and into other assets,
both the USD and the broader dollar-based investment ecosystem can
be strained.

<https://tinyurl.com/2xhg3b2u>

Bloodshed and Revolution in Coming Debt Collapse

America in decline..........

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2avnymj5> travelandtourworld.com

US Sees Over Fifteen Percent Drop in European Arrivals ..
US is experiencing a drastic fall in European tourist visits, down
by more than fifteen percent .. This precipitous decline not only
indicates broad disapprobation of the U.S. .. but also exposes the
country's economy to substantial risks ..

...

America is all wrapper, with little substance. Regular America is
pretty same "plastic-fantastic" everywhere, and it's pretty dull.
While special tourist sites/attractions are too vulgar.

Simply nothing to see there.

<https://tinyurl.com/2yalpnuy>

Enormous energy is spent maintaining appearances ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/24ze2p4c> aterraeredonda.com.br

French historian reveals .. Now that the defeat of the West seems
certain, it has become much more difficult for me to explain in the
short term the process of the West's dislocation, even though I am
able to predict in the long term the continuation of American
decline .. What we are experiencing is .. a displacement of the
beliefs that have organized Western social life for several decades
.. I have a very negative medium and long-term view of the United
States. What we are experiencing today is only the beginning of the
fall of the United States and we must prepare ourselves to see much
more dramatic things .. The United States was a huge historical
success before sinking into its current debacle ..

Read more <https://tinyurl.com/24ze2p4c> (difficult reading)

<https://tinyurl.com/224gyyz5>

.. the American Empire's Age of Discord ..

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://archive.is/5qWRz> ft.com

.. US consumers cut costs .. US consumers are paring back their
vacation plans and delaying travel bookings .. Prices for airline
tickets and hotel accommodation also dropped .. US consumers across
all income levels cut their spending on lodging and airlines ..
The decline is a further blow to the US tourism industry ..

Economists warned that slowing travel demand was a sign that ..
American consumer resilience was beginning to falter. "Travel has
always been one of the best early indicators of a turn in the economy ..

<https://tinyurl.com/2avnymj5>

US Sees Over Fifteen Percent Drop in European Arrivals ..

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/29p8sng2> upworthy.com

Since The Great Recession, many people have felt that the vibes are
off in America, and polls and research back those feelings. Right
around 2012, when smartphones became ubiquitous, there was a
considerable rise in the number of people who felt that America was
on the wrong track .. There was also a big spike in mental illness.

So what happened in 2012? ..

...

The concept is so that populace felt OK when all were living within
small bubbles of their local delusions. But development of social
communication allowed regular sheep to perceive reality on a broader
scale, that gave rise to growing pessimism. Question is, whether one
should blame the broader reality or the communication developments.

<https://tinyurl.com/2yalpnuy>

America: Dysfunction, Decline, and Despair ..

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2agpsjqj> unherd.com

The West is all tactics. The East is mostly strategy .. Just look at
the history of US military intervention since World War II. Each of
them had their short-term rationale, even Iraq. But has it made the
US safer? Has it made the world safer? Has it brought democracy? Has
anyone become more civilized as a result? ..

Israel's strike against Iran is a classic case of a trade-off where
a short-term tactical maneuver is bought at the expense of a weaker
strategic position in the long run ..

Lack of strategic thinking plays an important part in the decline of
the West .. Our sanctions, our bans, our wars and proxy-wars have had
the opposite effect of what we intended ..

I lost respect for virtually every single Russia or China expert in
prominent think-tanks because they kept on misjudging .. Officials in
the US State Department .. got bad advice from macroeconomists ..
Economists, State Department officials and journalists live in a space
of mutually reinforced misjudgments ..

...

The Euroscum lament the Atlanticist effort *to coerce* China and
Russia, others whom they dislike is ineffective / fruitless. But the scribbler's laments are essentially illogical. If this "lack of
strategic thinking" does indeed occur then it means these shoddy
strategists are civilizationally inferior, and so it undermines the
common "western" Nazi-like agenda to coerce others on the pretext of
spreading civilization.

Modern civilization implies more solution by means of cooperation and respectful discussion rather than coercion. The Atlanticist scum seek
to combine their savage baser instincts with declaration of superior civilizeness. Thus the very Atlanticism turns out in fact incompatible
with the modern civilization.

Neither Russia nor China ever expressed any desire to subjugate "the
western civilization". The Western scum feel unhappy of the fact
they cannot subjugate Russia or China, and because of that they seek
to attribute various kinds of "evil intentions" to whom they can not
subjugate. This approach is natural for low-civilized people (and the
"evil intentions" they attribute to others are mostly projections of
their own savage baser instincts).

<https://archive.is/0Z8fv>

.. The West's Defeat .. American leadership is failing ..

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2ambbj8u> renewablematter.eu

The Collapse of "American Exceptionalism" ..
The 'great nation of the future' now looks longingly
to a muddled and dead past, trapped in an impasse ..

...

One more observation of the American decline.

Things aren't good, and it will be getting worse.

<https://tinyurl.com/2y5g6lr3>

American Citizenship and Its Decline

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/25ar9nod> indiatimes.com

China has increased its exports to countries like India .. Analysis
reveals a notable transformation in China's export patterns for May
2025, showing a considerable reduction in goods sent to the United
States. This trade reorientation demonstrates the swift adjustment
of global supply networks amidst increasing geopolitical and economic
strains .. The significant reduction in US trade is being balanced
by enhanced exports to other territories ..

...

China seems to be capable to rather painlessly rearrange its export
flows, which once again points to the fact that the US share in the
world economy is no longer critical.

Regular Americans' pocket will feel then lesser cheap imports.

<https://tinyurl.com/25yafl8j>

.. Asia's shift to less reliance on the US dollar is accelerating ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2249fwd4> fpif.org

Labubu's Rise Mirrors Declining Faith in US Leadership

For decades, the United States has held a dominant geopolitical
position, its soft power .. Yet, in recent days, a subtle but
significant rebalancing has been underway. While the U.S. image
faces a discernible decline .. China's popularity appears to be
quietly, yet steadily, on the rise ..

Consider Labubu .. Its surge in popularity .. speaks to a
burgeoning Chinese soft power that operates outside the traditional state-driven narratives .. Labubu's success, in essence, is a
microcosm of a broader trend .. Chinese social media platforms like
TikTok have become global phenomena, reshaping entertainment and
communication .. Chinese fashion and design are increasingly
influencing global trends ..

Beijing has actively supported this cultural push ..

...

Lubaba <https://is.gd/sRSQip> is also nice, Western trends no more.

<https://tinyurl.com/246evaug>

The End of "The World" as we've known it ..

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

"Oleg Smirnov" <[email protected]> wrote in news:102rq48$2dl0b$1 @os.motzarella.org:

<https://tinyurl.com/25ar9nod> indiatimes.com

China has increased its exports to countries like India .. Analysis
reveals a notable transformation in China's export patterns for May
2025, showing a considerable reduction in goods sent to the United
States. This trade reorientation demonstrates the swift adjustment
of global supply networks amidst increasing geopolitical and economic
strains .. The significant reduction in US trade is being balanced
by enhanced exports to other territories ..

...

China seems to be capable to rather painlessly rearrange its export
flows, which once again points to the fact that the US share in the
world economy is no longer critical.

Regular Americans' pocket will feel then lesser cheap imports.

<https://tinyurl.com/25yafl8j>

.. Asia's shift to less reliance on the US dollar is accelerating ..

Trump floods the market with cheap
imports (Trump Bibles, Trump watches,
Trump suits, Trump banners, Trump
sneakers) while he campaigns against
cheap imports.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/4h9pxh88> nyupress.org

How American Decline Caused a Crime Wave ..

America is in decline. You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it.
When that decline began is debatable, but few would honestly say
things are "going well" right now. There are many ways of capturing
this decline .. As Americans lost hope in the future, some citizens
coped with self-destructive behaviors like drinking .. using drugs ..

Read more <https://tinyurl.com/4h9pxh88>

...

Yet one more observation of the American steady decline.

Things aren't good, and it will be getting worse.

<https://tinyurl.com/bdh56ndr>

The U.S. Dollar Continues To Decline

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/3rvyt2a3> minutemirror.com.pk

China President warns U.S. of inevitable decline ..

Chinese President Xi Jinping has delivered a pointed message
to the global community, emphasizing that the international
order is capable of progressing without the dominance of the
United States. In a strongly worded statement, President Xi
warned that America risks following in the footsteps of former
global empires if it continues to assume its role as an
irreplaceable superpower in global politics and economics ..

...

The Pakistani suggest the US to behave.

<https://archive.is/qPVyT>

.. The World Doesn't Need America to Keep Spinning ..

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/ycsp4f54> zerohedge.com

Chinese Automakers Target Using 100% Domestic Made Chips ..

Not only is China starting to dominate the auto market throughout
the world, now they're seeking to do it using exclusively home-
grown chips .. These efforts are part of Beijing's push for
semiconductor self-reliance amid growing U.S.-China tech tensions
.. Supply chain localization is accelerating across the board ..

<https://tinyurl.com/4fd6kk2a>

Foreign central banks are shrinking US asset exposure

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/22orgrmp> spiked-online.com

The losers and lunatics battling it out to lead the Democrats
This rogues' gallery .. A recent poll found that Ocasio-Cortez
.. is most likely to be considered the 'face' of the Democratic
Party, followed by Bernie Sanders and foul-mouthed .. Jasmine
Crockett. This sounds like a potential dream team... Democrats
pose as upholding 'fundamental values' .. Essentially, this
means forsaking public safety and defending criminals and
violent protesters .. The reigning queen of upwards failure is
Kamala Harris .. No one epitomises the Democrats' governance
failures more than Gavin Newsom .. Crime, drug use and homeless-
ness have all sky-rocketed under Newsom ..

The Democrats need to find some success stories, and show they
can govern, not just lash out at Trump. Yet the importance of
good governance seems foreign to most national Democrats. The
blue states are failing economically, overrun with crime and
driving people away ..

...

Noises from the English island.

<https://tinyurl.com/2yalpnuy>

America: Dysfunction, Decline, and Despair ..

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2swrzs5n> npr.org

.. U.S. drug overdose deaths rise again ..

For the first time in more than a year, street drug deaths appear
to be rising across the U.S. according to a new report .. The latest
available data .. shows fatal overdoses over the previous 12-month
period increased .. "America is still in the middle of an incredibly
deadly addiction and overdose crisis," ..

<https://archive.is/izZyz>

.. The Opioid Crisis Is Here to Stay for Years ..

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://archive.is/c2UYK> news.yahoo.com

The ugly truth behind America's 'hero' image

America has long projected a misleading image of itself as a nation
built on the rule of law, a defender of human rights, committed to
equality regardless of race or creed, and ethically and morally
responsible for upholding human dignity and justice. However, its
history and current global engagements contradict these lofty claims ..

America's image as a beacon of justice and liberty was amplified by
Hollywood, which played a key role in indoctrinating global audiences
with the myth of American heroism. Films glorified American values,
portraying the country as the global defender of justice, democracy,
and human dignity - the ultimate force of good triumphing over evil ..

America has often used the pretext of "spreading democracy" to
justify its hegemonic ambitions. It carried out overt and covert
military operations .. all under the guise of helping the oppressed ..
Its real aim, however, was to exploit these nations' resources by
installing puppet governments willing to serve American interests ..
America has long engaged in clandestine operations, proxy wars, and
direct military interventions in pursuit of its hegemonic agenda ..

In essence, America stands as a nation unto itself - cruel, self-
serving, and relentlessly focused on exploiting and dominating the
world .. The Ugly, Cruel, and Heinous Americans ..

...

Vision from Malaysia.

Trump seems to have been somewhat seduced by the neo-neocon dream
of squashing Iran to restore the American Triumphalism, but in the
present day situation it does not seem really realistic.

<https://tinyurl.com/23xta6uy>

Unipolar Delusions ..

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/23gt7tbg> zerohedge.com

Nations Pull Gold from U.S. as War Looms and Debt Spirals

As global confidence in the U.S. collapses, a quiet financial
shift is accelerating and it centers around gold .. The
alarming trend of nations pulling their gold reserves out of
the U.S. and rushing to increase physical holdings. Germany
wants over 1,200 tons of its gold back from New York. China is
buying 80 tons a month. Even domestic lawmakers are demanding
a full audit of Fort Knox .. This isn't just policy - it's a
paradigm shift. Gold is re-emerging as the only asset without
counterparty risk ..

<https://tinyurl.com/2a9htvzt>

.. the US Dollar Falling Right Now ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://archive.is/coJWQ> medium.com/@katherine12

.. Why This Time Really Is Different ..

Because the world of zero rates is gone. And in its place? A
fiscal regime where the cost of serving debt may soon outpace
America's power to lead, defend and grow ..

For years, America seemed immune to fiscal gravity. But that
illusion is fading. The "boy who cried wolf" finally sees the
wolf and this time, it's inside the house ..

Read more <https://archive.is/coJWQ>

<https://tinyurl.com/2yolktyf>

.. U.S. debt default .. never say never ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/22ed92cr> scmp.com

New world order: Greater China, Russia and Israel, but smaller US

There was a prescient headline in The Onion, the satirical
publication, which read: "CIA uncovers Chinese plot to just sit
back and enjoy collapse of United States." And a photo caption
said: "CPC president Xi Jinping actively engaged in the aggressive
observation of American decay." .. It's even truer today ..

...

Soullessly cynical vision from Hong Kong outlet.

<https://tinyurl.com/3rvyt2a3>

China President warns U.S. of inevitable decline ..

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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/23jx45b5> independent.org

Rising U.S. Debt: What Will Be The End Game?
The more indebted we get, the more we will see poverty, inflation
and service decline. The debate is over just how much ..

We are seeing a slow decay in economic dynamism and living
standards, as manifested in a weakening currency, higher government
costs and worse services .. The consequences are getting harder to
ignore .. The longer the country waits to solve the problem, the
worse the effects, and the more painful the fixes will be ..

...

American decline is steady, irreversible.

<https://tinyurl.com/26qyh2gb>

Decline and fall of a rotten empire

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2adzgndz> conflingo.no

Italian Defence Minister Questions NATO's Continued Relevance

Italy's Defence Minister, Guido Crosetto, has publicly expressed
doubts about the ongoing necessity of the alliance .. Crosetto stated,
"NATO no longer has a reason to exist." ..

<https://tinyurl.com/24v98ca5> aa.com.tr

"The US and the EU are no longer the center of the world," he added ..

...

Noises from Italy.

<https://tinyurl.com/28764p3a>

After America: Redefining global leadership ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2a98rsef> jamestown.org

The PRC is now Latin America's second-largest trading partner after
the United States .. Many are attracted to its promises of greater
trade and investment .. The PRC is likely to make deeper inroads
into Latin America in the coming years .. The PRC's has cultivated
a close relationship with Brazil, which ranks first in the region ..
Xi argued .. to join hands with the rest of the Global South to
firmly defend developing countries' interests and push the global
governance system in a "more just and reasonable direction" ..
Beijing's desire to promote a more multipolar global order is a
direct challenge to the United States and the liberal international institutions .. International finance .. An important measure of
the PRC's success in Latin America is the near ubiquity in the
region of the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative .. in defiance of
U.S. opposition .. Most U.S. [malicious] efforts in this vein have
not borne fruit ..

...

<https://tinyurl.com/295q9tkd>

When one new ship slides down the slipway of an American
shipyard, dozens of new ships are being launched from China's
shipyards on the other side of the Pacific ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/253b6rvs> businessinsider.com

I moved from the US to Thailand .. I don't feel guilty ..
I moved to Thailand for a cheaper cost of living .. My wife
and I chose Thailand, where we can live well .. still have
access to Western conveniences .. We can also get affordable
medical care .. As we've left the US behind, I feel good ..
I don't feel the stress and guilt .. and I don't feel like a
failure for prioritizing my goals and desires .. We have
permanently relocated out of the US and have no plans to
return. I don't feel any shame or guilt about that .. I wake
up every day in Thailand feeling incredibly happy that we
made the move .. have a better quality of life ..

...

Things will be getting worse in America.

The most smart are leaving it for better quality of life.

<https://tinyurl.com/23jx45b5>

.. We will see poverty, inflation and service decline ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2ywzygsf> rutherford.org

.. America is still stealing from its own people to fund a global
empire. In 2025 alone, the U.S. has launched airstrikes in Yemen ..
deployed greater numbers of troops and multiple aircraft carriers
to the Middle East, and edged closer to direct war with Iran in
support of Israel's escalating conflict. Each of these "new"
fronts has been sold to the public as national defense .. This
isn't about national defense. This is empire maintenance. It's
about preserving a military-industrial complex that profits from
endless war, global policing, and foreign occupations - while the
nation's infrastructure rots and its people are neglected ..
These wars abroad aren't making America - or the rest of the world
- any safer, are certainly not making America great again, and are
undeniably digging the U.S. deeper into debt ..

...

<https://tinyurl.com/29aneozd>

The last days of American power ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

In contrast to the Trump's triumphal pomposity, Iran's message by
now is that the American bombing of their sites caused no serious
damage. They say only surface facilities were [some bit] damaged
while the underground ones remain intact. Moreover, even if they
were really damaged then it wouldn't affect their nuclear-related
stuff because it was prudently evacuated elsewhere shortly before
the expected American attack <https://t.me/sepah_pasdaran/165638>

Whether it's true or a face-saving narrative seeking to downplay
real damage, - it's up to competent experts to decide. The IAEA
has <https://tinyurl.com/2ymp8ekl> said there's no radiation leak
seen after the American bombing. Indian news report that "Fordow
Fuel Enrichment Plant .. seemed to have suffered minimal damage ..
as claimed by multiple agencies .. Trump .. stated the sites <have
been completely and totally obliterated,> but evidence so far
suggests Fordow is mostly intact." <https://tinyurl.com/28ecojcm>
So, for an outside observer, it's all not yet crystal clear.

Meanwhile from the purely logical perspective, there's an amusing
corollary from the both Israeli-American and Iranian conflicting
narratives: after the American bombing, the *nuclear threat from
Iran* can no longer be on the agenda, since Trump has said (and
Israel has agreed) that it's been totally obliterated, while Iran
was always claiming their nuclear program is peaceful. Hence, by
now there's no nuclear threat, - no matter who is/was lying. Eh?

Nonetheless, Iran has gotten now legitimate reasons to hit the US
and any American military assets anywhere in retaliation. Strikes
on Israel are going on, this morning three dozen Iranian missiles
were reported again. It looks like there will propobably be more
escalation.

Things aren't good, and it will be getting worse.

It looked like the Israel's assault on Iran is not what the Trump
admin wanted very much. Rubio was immidiately rushing to declare
that it's an Israel's unilateral action and the US isn't involved.
Such kinds of statements from top US officials would not be taken
seriously. Israeli natural interest is to keep the US involved, of
course, and the Israeli lobby in the US is able to ensure it. The
Trump admin could not stay aside, even if it really wanted so.

However, soon after the Israeli first attacks, which effect seemed devastating for Iran, Trump hurried to jump into "winners vagon"
and essentially undermined out what Rubio had said initially. Btw,
Rubio looks somewhat strangely in the Trump team, in previous years
he used to be a frantic neocon-leaning hawk, but now he leans more
to balanced/circumspect approach, and this shift looks suspicious.
Anyway, the "unilateral" Israel is no longer the case, given also
the reports that the US military was well-involved while shooting
down the flying objects sent by Iran towards Israel in retaliation.

Meahwhile, by now, it's still uncertain whether Israel will emerge
as the clear winner from this clash. Iran has retaliated, and while
the Iran's counterattacks were notably less bloody-disruptive, many
analysts say that the damage to Israel is tangible as well. Further
prospects for these developments are unclear.

What is more clear, it's the fact the US increasingly finds itself
in the position of the meme dog has been wagged by her [many] tails,
which is in odds with the proclamed MAGA aspiration.

The basic issue seems to be so that if you want mutually exclusive
things at the same time, then it's for sure that you won't get all
what you want.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/25g82628> thedailyscrumnews.com

For decades, the U.S. relied on a foreign policy and trade model
built on coercion cloaked in diplomacy .. Sanctions .. Tariffs, aid
cuts, or military pressure .. American businesses profited off the
back of this global architecture - cheap labor abroad, unchallenged
dominance of the dollar .. But that model is breaking ..

America didn't lose the world's goodwill overnight. This decline
has been decades in the making .. Today, countries are choosing
regional trade blocs, bilateral deals, and emerging powers over
American markets .. They're building alternative financial systems,
bypassing the dollar, .. outside U.S. influence ..

America's belligerent tone and erratic policies have accelerated
that shift .. Take Africa, where U.S. influence is crumbling in real
time .. Look at Latin America .. American companies are losing
access, influence, and relevance .. The world is telling America
something loud and clear: we're good without you ..

...

<https://archive.is/c2UYK>

The ugly truth behind America's 'hero' image

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/23z86lov> johnmenadue.com

The inevitable decay of hegemony ..

Crass .. Crude boastfulness is central to the American way and ego in
almost all walks of life from entertainment, politics, media, finance
and even sports. To most of the world it reflects the immature culture
of an isolated and brash young settler nation that, as it got wealthy
via colonisation of the bounty of the land of the original Native
Americans, normalised its unfettered arrogance .. And produced today's
rogue state run by supremacists supported by a large majority ..

American products, and the culture that sells them, are losing their
appeal as the world .. What was once irresistible now feels
unsustainable, increasingly replaceable, and crass to the rest of the
world. The world has now finally woken up to the realities of .. the
so-called US-led rules-based world order ..

While other nations have their .. issues .. none can match the shameless American promotion of itself .. This article seeks to draw attention
to its unrivalled and unabashed export of crassness to the world ..

...

Asian thinker explains why the U.S. is a nation of evil.

<https://tinyurl.com/2df8brwl>

American empire is on the decline

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/26yqbw6t> workandmoney.com

.. Middle Class Has Declined ..

Once seen as the economic anchor of the United States, the middle
class has gradually lost ground over the past five decades .. The
distribution of that wealth has shifted dramatically by hollowing
out the core income group that once defined the nation's prosperity
.. In 1971, 61% of Americans lived in middle-class households ..
That number had dropped to 51% by 2023. Meanwhile, upper-income
households grew .. A clear sign of wealth concentration among the
highest earners .. Inequality .. continues to deepen .. While
income levels have gone up on paper, purchasing power hasn't kept
pace. Rising costs in housing, healthcare, education, and childcare
have left middle-class families with less breathing room. For many,
what once felt stable now feels like survival .. In 1970, the middle
class held 62% of U.S. household income .. 2022, and their share had
fallen to 43%. That 19-point drop wasn't absorbed by lower-income
groups - it mostly went to the upper class ..

<https://tinyurl.com/24k2e9zc>

.. The huge growth of the debt ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2xzg6rmm> supercarblondie.com

New car sales in America are an age-old indicator of economic
performance .. Sadly, however, ownership of brand-new cars is on a
steep downward trajectory. New car sales hit their peak in 2016 ..
Since then, new car sales have hit a steep, steep decline .. So why
have sales figures for new cars fallen off a cliff, then?

...

<https://tinyurl.com/2cwva86c>

US Economic Outlook Remains Dark ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/238lyfq5> thecatholicherald.com

American capitalism is overpowering, even obnoxious. It drowns out
Gregorian chant with podcast ads and TikTok loops. It replaces
theological depth with dopamine hits. And slowly, a different form
of liturgy takes hold. / Apple Stores are the new cathedrals - white,
sterile, aspirational. Communion is no longer bread and wine, but
content and convenience. Instead of the homily, we get corporate
emails and marketing campaigns - cold, calculated and written by
teams with KPIs, not convictions. / Instead of monks, we get gig
workers and "creators" peddling "merch" and product codes, praying
not for grace but for reach. And instead of the Sabbath, we get Prime
Day - a hyper-engineered ritual of panic-buying and ill-advised
indulgence. There is no stillness, no mystery, just sales funnels
and shipping deadlines.

We haven't stopped worshipping - we've just changed gods. The altar
is digital. The incense is data. And the sacrament is whatever's
"hot" on social media. The sacred has been replaced not with nothing,
but with everything - loud, monetised and disposable. And the tragedy
is that this new faith offers no salvation. Only subscriptions ..

<https://tinyurl.com/2yazkhb2>

.. the USA is currently a picture of chaos and crisis ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

Whether it's true or a face-saving narrative seeking to downplay
real damage, - it's up to competent experts to decide. The IAEA
has <https://tinyurl.com/2ymp8ekl> said there's no radiation leak
seen after the American bombing. Indian news report that "Fordow
Fuel Enrichment Plant .. seemed to have suffered minimal damage ..
as claimed by multiple agencies .. Trump .. stated the sites <have
been completely and totally obliterated,> but evidence so far
suggests Fordow is mostly intact." <https://tinyurl.com/28ecojcm>
So, for an outside observer, it's all not yet crystal clear.

Trump started sounding insecure in his TS posts when busily
insisting that "obliteration is an accurate term". In turn, the
pro-Democrats American MSM picked the "skeptical narrative" up,
e.g. the NYT issued <https://archive.is/NlmVl> a piece telling
that while the Fordo site indeed has been damaged, it turns out
that "Iran may have been preparing it for a strike" and "Iran
had moved equipment, including uranium, from the site". In turn
Trump was responding with a stream of denunciations of fake news
makers who had lied and totally misrepresented the facts etc.

There's absolutely no doubt the American MSM would promote fake
news obscenely misrepresenting facts if only they find it
appropriate within their agenda. But on the other hand, the MSM
were not the primary driver of this narrative. If one reads
misc & various analysts and experts aside from the American MSM,
including as pro-Israeli as pro-Iranian ones, the prevailing
assessment among them is that the effect of the American bombing
was not nearly as obliterating as it appears from the victorious
Trump's statements.

If it's really so, then it means Israel turns out to be a loser
in strategic sense. The "regime" in Iran stands in place, no
regime change happened. Their nuclear program will likely be
continued. Now they will continue it without observation from
the IAEA, as the Iranians [reasonably] suspect the IAEA helped
the Israeli identify their scientists who were then assassinated
by Israel. The situation hasn't become safer.

Meanwhile from the purely logical perspective, there's an amusing
corollary from the both Israeli-American and Iranian conflicting
narratives: after the American bombing, the *nuclear threat from
Iran* can no longer be on the agenda, since Trump has said (and
Israel has agreed) that it's been totally obliterated, while Iran
was always claiming their nuclear program is peaceful. Hence, by
now there's no nuclear threat, - no matter who you believe. Eh?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/24cq4aov> dw.com

US economy fares worse than estimated in first quarter

The US economy contracted more than previously estimated
in the first three months this year .. Real gross domestic
product fell by 0.5% ..

<https://archive.is/vdnUU>

.. 25% of Americans are functionally unemployed ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/4xkdcr8t> unherd.com

Americans are seeing ghosts / The paranormal industry is booming

Some suggest it's a multibillion-dollar enterprise in America alone
.. Tens of millions of Americans spend more than $300 million
annually to visit haunted sites .. Surveys suggest that nearly two
thirds of Americans hold supernatural beliefs .. Those who believe
they have encountered a spirit are faced with a mystery: why does
the scientific establishment dismiss the existence of something
that seems self-evident to a majority of Americans? .. Science is
either a poor tool to understand the universe, or that mainstream
scientists are engaged in a massive cover-up ..

<https://tinyurl.com/2yalpnuy>

America: Dysfunction, Decline, and Despair ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/2xw29bru> zerohedge.com

.. European Intel Says Uranium Stockpile Was Moved ..

Meanwhile, the international debate over just where Iran's enriched
uranium stockpile is now located (if it's not destroyed) continues
to intensify, despite the Trump denials .. Financial Times reports in
a strangely worded headline ("Iran moved uranium from Fordow before
US strikes, EU capitals believe" ..

...

ZeroHedge (usually pro-Trumpian, counter-Dems outlet).

Whether it's true or a face-saving narrative seeking to downplay
real damage, - it's up to competent experts to decide. The IAEA
has <https://tinyurl.com/2ymp8ekl> said there's no radiation leak
seen after the American bombing. Indian news report that "Fordow
Fuel Enrichment Plant .. seemed to have suffered minimal damage ..
as claimed by multiple agencies .. Trump .. stated the sites <have
been completely and totally obliterated,> but evidence so far
suggests Fordow is mostly intact." <https://tinyurl.com/28ecojcm>
So, for an outside observer, it's all not yet crystal clear.

Trump started sounding insecure in his TS posts when busily
insisting that "obliteration is an accurate term". In turn, the
pro-Democrats American MSM picked the "skeptical narrative" up,
e.g. the NYT issued <https://archive.is/NlmVl> a piece telling
that while the Fordo site indeed has been damaged, it turns out
that "Iran may have been preparing it for a strike" and "Iran
had moved equipment, including uranium, from the site". In turn
Trump was responding with a stream of denunciations of fake news
makers who had lied and totally misrepresented the facts etc.

There's absolutely no doubt the American MSM would promote fake
news obscenely misrepresenting facts if only they find it
appropriate within their agenda. But on the other hand, the MSM
were not the primary driver of this narrative. If one reads
misc & various analysts and experts aside from the American MSM,
including as pro-Israeli as pro-Iranian ones, the prevailing
assessment among them is that the effect of the American bombing
was not nearly as obliterating as it appears from the victorious
Trump's statements.

If it's really so, then it means Israel turns out to be a loser
in strategic sense. The "regime" in Iran stands in place, no
regime change happened. Their nuclear program will likely be
continued. Now they will continue it without observation from
the IAEA, as the Iranians [reasonably] suspect the IAEA helped
the Israeli identify their scientists who were then assassinated
by Israel. The situation hasn't become safer.

Meanwhile from the purely logical perspective, there's an amusing
corollary from the both Israeli-American and Iranian conflicting
narratives: after the American bombing, the *nuclear threat from
Iran* can no longer be on the agenda, since Trump has said (and
Israel has agreed) that it's been totally obliterated, while Iran
was always claiming their nuclear program is peaceful. Hence, by
now there's no nuclear threat, - no matter who you believe. Eh?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/22m85ppo> countercurrents.org

There's more to the Dark Enlightenment than authoritarianism and
racism. One stream, populated especially by Thiel and other tech
bros, has an eschatology of sorts. This theology of the Earth's end-
times holds that elite humans will eventually (perhaps even
surprisingly soon) achieve eternal life through physical communion
with machines, greatly augmenting their capacities through
artificial intelligence. That's important to them because they've
given up on the Earth. This planet is already too small and used
up to sustain human life for long, they feel. Hence, our human
destiny is instead to rule the stars. This is the theology
underlying Elon Musk's hunger for Mars. Anything that stands in the
way of such a destiny must and shall be swept away on the tide of a
tech bros future ..

How should defenders of democracy respond to the coming reality ..?

<https://tinyurl.com/2yalpnuy>

America: Dysfunction, Decline, and Despair ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://archive.is/qFZvW> independent.ie

Irish people planning a trip to the US should scrub their phones,
WhatsApps and social media for bad jokes about America if they
want to avoid interrogation, a leading immigration lawyer says ..
"Jokes are a really big one .. "Many" of her Irish clients have
experienced problems at border security over jokes discovered
within their phone, messaging apps or social media feeds ..
Wiping your own online history devices completely, can also raise
red flags with border security. "You will probably then be called
into a back room and they will start asking, 'why don't you have
a regular phone?' So wiping your entire digital history in and of
itself could be problematic," ..

Yesterday the US embassy in Dublin said that people applying for a
wide variety of non-immigrant visas must now change their privacy
settings on all social media accounts to "public" so that US
authorities can trawl through the traveller's posts and comments
to check whether "admissibility" to America is desirable ..

...

America is a bad joke, a really big one.

<https://tinyurl.com/mu8yrvcd>

A shocking decline in Americans' confidence in aviation

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/27ph7p2s> aa.com.tr

Trump says he dropped all work on sanction relief for Iran after
Khamenei's statement .. Khamenei on Wednesday vowed to attack US bases
in the region if Washington renewed strikes. "The Islamic Republic
slapped America in the face. It attacked one of the important American
bases in the region," Khamenei said. Trump said Khamenei, as a man of
great faith, is not supposed to lie. "Why would the so-called "Supreme
Leader," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, of the war torn Country of Iran, say
so blatantly and foolishly that he won the War with Israel, when he
knows his statement is a lie, it is not so," he said ..

...

Sounds like a quarrel in a kindergarten.

The [art of the] deal didn't seem to go according to the plan.

Whether it's true or a face-saving narrative seeking to downplay
real damage, - it's up to competent experts to decide. The IAEA
has <https://tinyurl.com/2ymp8ekl> said there's no radiation leak
seen after the American bombing. Indian news report that "Fordow
Fuel Enrichment Plant .. seemed to have suffered minimal damage ..
as claimed by multiple agencies .. Trump .. stated the sites <have
been completely and totally obliterated,> but evidence so far
suggests Fordow is mostly intact." <https://tinyurl.com/28ecojcm>
So, for an outside observer, it's all not yet crystal clear.

Trump started sounding insecure in his TS posts when busily
insisting that "obliteration is an accurate term". In turn, the
pro-Democrats American MSM picked the "skeptical narrative" up,
e.g. the NYT issued <https://archive.is/NlmVl> a piece telling
that while the Fordo site indeed has been damaged, it turns out
that "Iran may have been preparing it for a strike" and "Iran
had moved equipment, including uranium, from the site". In turn
Trump was responding with a stream of denunciations of fake news
makers who had lied and totally misrepresented the facts etc.

There's absolutely no doubt the American MSM would promote fake
news obscenely misrepresenting facts if only they find it
appropriate within their agenda. But on the other hand, the MSM
were not the primary driver of this narrative. If one reads
misc & various analysts and experts aside from the American MSM,
including as pro-Israeli as pro-Iranian ones, the prevailing
assessment among them is that the effect of the American bombing
was not nearly as obliterating as it appears from the victorious
Trump's statements.

If it's really so, then it means Israel turns out to be a loser
in strategic sense. The "regime" in Iran stands in place, no
regime change happened. Their nuclear program will likely be
continued. Now they will continue it without observation from
the IAEA, as the Iranians [reasonably] suspect the IAEA helped
the Israeli identify their scientists who were then assassinated
by Israel. The situation hasn't become safer.

Meanwhile from the purely logical perspective, there's an amusing
corollary from the both Israeli-American and Iranian conflicting
narratives: after the American bombing, the *nuclear threat from
Iran* can no longer be on the agenda, since Trump has said (and
Israel has agreed) that it's been totally obliterated, while Iran
was always claiming their nuclear program is peaceful. Hence, by
now there's no nuclear threat, - no matter who you believe. Eh?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/23txmn2x> libertarianinstitute.org

After Israel launched its aggressive war against Iran, Tel Aviv's
supply of interceptors quickly dwindled. Within five days of the
start of the war, multiple outlets reported Tel Aviv was nearly
out of Arrow-3 interceptors and only had supplies to run the Iron
Dome air defense system for less than two weeks.

By the end of the short war, Israel was forced to ration its
deployment of interceptors .. Trump noted that "Iran hit Israel
hard." Throughout the 12-day conflict, the US aided Israel in
shooting down incoming Iranian missiles. The assistance put a
strain on the Navy's supply of interceptors. Adm. James Kilby,
the acting chief of naval operations, said while the US had enough
SM-3 interceptors, they were being used "at an alarming rate" to
defend Israel. The SM-3 can cost between $10 million and $30
million for a single missile.

<https://tinyurl.com/27ph7p2s> aa.com.tr

Trump says he dropped all work on sanction relief for Iran after
Khamenei's statement .. Khamenei on Wednesday vowed to attack US bases
in the region if Washington renewed strikes. "The Islamic Republic
slapped America in the face. It attacked one of the important American
bases in the region," Khamenei said. Trump said Khamenei, as a man of
great faith, is not supposed to lie. "Why would the so-called "Supreme Leader," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, of the war torn Country of Iran, say
so blatantly and foolishly that he won the War with Israel, when he
knows his statement is a lie, it is not so," he said ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/ysfqyyre> townhall.com

.. China Is Engineering America's Energy Surrender ..

China is slowly steering the U.S. toward energy slavery ..
Chinese-aligned entities have coopted climate lobbying and
research in the U.S. Worse yet, this campaign of sabotage
is abetted by a low profile effort to influence American
judges, greasing the way for junk climate change lawsuits
that will bankrupt American energy providers .. America
will functionally become a Chinese vassal. China dominates ..

...

Good.

<https://tinyurl.com/3rvyt2a3>

China President warns U.S. of inevitable decline ..

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.russian.z1, alt.politics

<https://tinyurl.com/25jelwg4> singjupost.com

.. The Economics of Collapsing Empires ..

.. The people in the declining empire deny that that is happening.
It is often and for example, here in the United States right now,
unthinkable for millions of people, whatever else they may agree
or disagree on, the collapse of the American empire doesn't arise
.. It is a taboo topic .. And the second thing that's very common
is the effort made by the declining empire to postpone or delay its
further decline ..

.. The Department of Education, the infrastructure building
departments of all kinds. This is not affordable. This is said it's
not affordable given the fact that we have priorities which include
military .. Result, economize on every social program there is and
that includes health, education, you name it, it's all being cut
back .. And so, yes, everything you say is not being contextualized
as a problem of a declining empire. No, no, no. The taboo against
that means it's never explained in those terms. It is instead
explained as the specific requirements of the historical moment ..
One of the things that makes the attack on Iran useful is that it
reinforces the military dangers and the military requirements of
the moment. It will be pointed to, to shut up anybody who questions
the amount of money being shifted to the military and away from the infrastructure and from what people need.

It will be the number one political effort of the Democratic Party
in the next 18 months to the next election. It will be a relentless
effort to suggest that we could be militarily safe and do the
social programs .. That's it. There is no positive program. There is
no social analysis. It's, you got a choice between bad and worse ..

<https://tinyurl.com/23jx45b5>

Rising U.S. Debt: What Will Be The End Game?

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<https://tinyurl.com/2c6d3hxs> thesun.my

.. Conceptual bifurcation within the US, now increasingly visible
even to the most unscrupulous observers .. These bombings expose
not only Israeli aggression but also the extent to which Washington
has become operationally fragmented. But perhaps the most revealing
element is not the gap between Trump's rhetoric and reality but the
possibility that this gap is intentional .. His declarations of
peace are routinely followed by orchestrated escalation .. The
deeper message is strategic: that America cannot guarantee anything
because it cannot even govern itself ..

Across the Global South, Nato is viewed increasingly as a relic ..
Across Latin America, Africa and Asia, new coalitions are forming
around infrastructure, energy resilience, digital sovereignty and
climate action .. From South Africa to Indonesia, Pakistan to Latin
America, solidarity with Iran stems not from ideology but from memory.
It comes from a shared experience of being coerced, demonised,
dehumanised and denied narrative parity ..

...

Vision from Malaysia

<https://tinyurl.com/23mpx7j3>

.. Iran Challenged Israel, Shamed the Gulf, and Shook the US ..

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<https://tinyurl.com/27ddchvz> paulkrugman.substack.com

.. Republicans appear highly likely to pass legislation that
combines big tax cuts for the rich with savage cuts to programs
that help lower-income Americans, including Medicaid and SNAP
(food stamps). Loss of health insurance coverage won't be the
only source of mass misery from this legislation, but it's the
biggest and easiest to illustrate .. Once the Senate gets done
with it, the plan might be even worse ..

Basically, we're talking about undoing all the progress America
has made in expanding health insurance. And as I said, many
independent analysts believe it could be substantially worse.
Remember, this isn't happening to save money .. It's happening
because our government has been taken over by fanatics ..

<https://tinyurl.com/24ncm24c>

.. Silent collapse in the American heartland ..

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<https://tinyurl.com/2683ezuw> fingerlakes1.com

'We're Flying Blind': U.S. Hurricane Forecasting in Crisis ..

As the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season intensifies, forecasters
are raising urgent alarms: they are losing the tools they rely
on to predict deadly storms. Budget cuts and agency infighting
have triggered a historic collapse in America's hurricane
monitoring capabilities, threatening the accuracy of forecasts
at a time when climate-driven storms are growing stronger and
more erratic ..

...

Israel and Iran first, the hurricanes later.

<https://tinyurl.com/2afpg346>

The Faces of American Oligarchy

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<https://tinyurl.com/2btxtp89> patrioticmillionaires.org

Life in America is already extremely expensive for most, but if
Trump isn't stopped, it may just become entirely unaffordable
altogether .. While .. prices aren't rising nearly as fast as
they were three years ago, the reality is that they aren't
falling and are still unacceptably high to consumers. In all,
prices are 23.7% more expensive than they were in February 2020
.. The .. eggs .. are still 109.6% more expensive than they were
five years ago .. Prices for essentials like housing and food
rose faster than wages ..

Finally, another often overlooked way to get a sense of how
Americans' wallets are faring is to look at how much debt
they're lugging around. We looked, and it's not pretty.
Americans' debt on everything from credit cards, mortgages, and
student loans now stands at a record $18.04 trillion. Credit
card debit is particularly worrisome: it's risen 51% since 2021
and is also at a record high of $1.21 trillion. And credit card
delinquencies? Roughly 12% of Americans carry credit card debt
that is thirty days delinquent ..

<https://tinyurl.com/24564yfc>

The American Dream is officially over

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<https://tinyurl.com/27krwnr7> indiatimes.com

Musk takes on Trump again ..
Elon Musk on Saturday reinforced his criticism of US President
Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill, warning that the legislation,
pushed urgently by Republican senators, would destroy millions
of jobs in America and cause harm to the country .. "The latest
Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and
cause immense strategic harm to our country! Utterly insane and
destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while
severely damaging industries of the future," he said ..

...

<https://tinyurl.com/2249fwd4>

Labubu's Rise Mirrors Declining Faith in US Leadership

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<https://tinyurl.com/2bqsd4ys> coinfomania.com

China Challenges US Dominance ..

.. China's growing presence in Pacific Islands .. China
invests in Southeast Asia and the Pacific through
infrastructure and healthcare projects .. China also promotes
its digital yuan (e-CNY) to increase its influence in
Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. Cross-border payment
trials using the digital yuan are underway .. China is
accelerating efforts to create financial systems independent
of Western control. The Cross-Border Interbank Payment System
(CIPS) is expanding, with foreign banks adopting it ..

...

Good.

<https://tinyurl.com/ysfqyyre>

.. China Is Engineering America's Energy Surrender ..

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<https://tinyurl.com/22n3w5fv> policycircle.org

BRICS summit to put local currencies at the heart of trade

When the BRICS leaders assemble in Rio de Janeiro on 6-7 July, they
will confront a global economy in flux. Over the last fortnight the
dollar index has slipped to a three-year low, breaking below key
technical supports and signalling the prospect of yet deeper losses
.. Settlement in national currencies tops the BRICS summit agenda ..

Two data points reveal how rapidly the ground is shifting beneath
the dollar. First, official figures show that foreign direct
investment into the United States covered barely a tenth of its
current-account shortfall in the latest quarter, despite headline
pledges of multi-trillion-dollar inflows. Second, global investors
are no longer instinctively running to Treasuries in times of
turmoil ..

A decisive push toward routine settlement in rupees, reais,
renminbi, roubles and rand at the BRICS summit will diversify
reserve portfolios, deepen regional capital markets and, crucially,
equip smaller economies with a buffer against the weaponisation of
finance.

<https://tinyurl.com/2y3af99w>

Dedollarization: How the West boosts China's yuan

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<https://tinyurl.com/2cncypsa> watcher.guru

Global Money Flees the US ..

A recent report by a prominent Indian financial entity, Union
Bank, has delivered a stark reality check about the declining
US dollar. The report stated how the US dollar is currently
plummeting as the rising trend of shifting capital from US
assets continues to gain pace. This development has led the
investors to pivot their interests towards alternative assets,
making the dollar more volatile than ever. This trend is also
signaling the rising de-dollarization shift, showcasing the
global trust and faith declining in the American currency ..

<https://tinyurl.com/2xz8dmg2>

The dollar's downward spiral ..

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<https://tinyurl.com/2732rtgr> fxstreet.com

The US Dollar (USD) continues to slide, posting its worst first-
semester performance in nearly forty years .. Unstable trade
policy, worsening fiscal imbalances and declining foreign demand
for assets denominated in US Dollars are now weighing heavily on
the US currency .. The current sequence of a falling US Dollar
is unprecedented in its scale and speed .. The movement ..
reflects a broader recomposition of global capital flows ..

...

<https://tinyurl.com/2c3394np>

The more the debt continues to grow .. the greater the pain ..

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<https://tinyurl.com/2xt2fn9y> abcnews.go.com

National pride is declining in America ..

Only 36% of Democrats say they're "extremely" or "very" proud
to be American, according to a new Gallup poll, reflecting a
dramatic decline in national pride that's also clear among
young people. The findings are a stark illustration of how many
.. Americans have felt less of a sense of pride in their country
over the past decade .. Only about 4 in 10 U.S. adults who are
part of Generation Z .. expressed a high level of pride in
being American .. That's compared with about 6 in 10 Millennials
.. "Each generation is less patriotic than the prior generation ..

...

Nothing to be proud of.

<https://archive.is/pxIQg>

The Pathetic Fall of America

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