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National Debt Clock Overflowed, Extended By a Digit

Posted by timothy on from the but-don't-worry-balanced-budget's-a-crazy-idea dept.

hackingbear writes "The National Debt Counter, erected in 1989 when the US debt was 'merely' a tiny $2.7 trillion, has been moving so much that it recently ran out of digits to display the ballooning figure: $10,150,603,734,720, or roughly $10.2 trillion, as of Saturday afternoon. To accommodate the extra '1,' the clock was hacked: the '1' from "$10.2" has been moved left to the LCD square once occupied solely by the digital dollar sign. A non-digital, improvised dollar sign has been pasted next to the '1.' It will be replaced in 2009 with a new clock able to track debt up to a quadrillion dollars, which is a '1' followed by 15 zeros. That should be good enough for a few more months at least, I believe." Adds reader MarkusQ, "I know Dick Cheney has assured us that 'Deficits don't matter' but I can't help wondering if we should be fixing the problem rather than the sign."

5 of 696 comments (clear)

  1. Signed Binary FTW by MBCook · · Score: 5, Funny

    The largest bit became a one? It overflowed?

    So now it's negative?

    We're rich! So that's how we were going to pay for the bail-out, SS, medicare, medicaid...

    --
    Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
  2. Re:Analog it by NFN_NLN · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why don't they just make it an analog clock? The hands could simply spin around faster and faster as the situation worsens, which would be much more amusing. The numbers are fairly meaningless anyway.

    George W. Bush is that you?

  3. he supports the terrorists by dirk · · Score: 5, Funny

    Adds reader MarkusQ, "I know Dick Cheney has assured us that 'Deficits don't matter' [CC] but I can't help wondering if we should be fixing the problem rather than the sign."

    Why does this guy hate America so much?

    --

    "Information wants to be expensive" - Stewart Brand, the same guy who said "Information wants to be free"
  4. Re:Cheney is right.... by PachmanP · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, but when the debters include China, where does that rule lead you?

    Wondering if a Rottweiler can beat 100 angry weaner dogs?

    --
    You're thinking small. Why miniaturize the laser, when we could instead enlarge the sharks? -John Searle
  5. Re:Analog it by William+Robinson · · Score: 5, Funny

    George W. Bush is that you?

    Must be. In the right part of his brain nothing is left and in the left part of his brain nothing is right!!!

    --
    hilarious