beautifulthailand99

I did that a few times back in the day, as Thai ATM's don't spit the card out automatically at the end of the transaction. Maybe have "ATM" tattooed on your hand that does the business ? Reminds me of this.......

A friend of the wife's 70-year-old brother has shot and wounded (but not seriously) another guy in an argument. They got him out of police detention by lodging a chanote for land against a bail bond that I understand was 100k. There is talk now about what will happen and how much would be required by all involved to make this problem disappear. Any thoughts ?

If my memory serves me right, the Wagner Group has 450 Russian ex French Foreign Legion vets working for them and even more Ukrainians left to join the Ukraine forces. They bring battle hardened NATO strength training and are some of the best. These Brits look like some pathetic malcontents that are employed for propaganda purposes rather than any military skills they probably don't have. If they don't die in Russia, then I'm not sure why wasting money on incarcerating them at huge public expense would serve if they ever come back. Wagner is the ultimate mercenary army - full of psychopathic soldiers who love war and get to share in some of the treasure they plunder for their bosses, and it looks like they have survived the offing of their founder and CiC. Who can forget his expletive filmed rant against Shoigiu and Gerasimov that was a step on the way to him getting his just desserts. Russia is indeed a mafia state but there's only room for one Godfather. ‘We were brothers in the Legion. Now we fight each other in Ukraine’ Men who once stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the French Foreign Legion have found themselves on opposite sides after the Russian invasion, writes Anthony Loyd in Kyiv https://archive.is/KJjBm

Talking about Truth Social The Don's latest video - American Fascism - a clown Mussolini - the American dream turned in on itself. https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/112165952111436577

It was a turn of phrase, not a statement of fact in this instance. This is ZAKA https://zakaworld.org/about-zaka/

This video will be zapped quicker than I can say IDF lies - but it is true nevertheless. The whole documentary is well worth a watch.

Notorious Islamophobe and admirer of Tommy Robinson Douglas Murray has entered the chat. There are 1.9 billion Muslims worldwide, 25% of the world's population and 15.7million Jews of which 80 % identify as Zionist which leaves 12 million. Good luck with those odds. The founding Zionists should probably have listened to the British and gone to Uganda, rather than Israel. Where they would probably now haves some amazing Singapore on steroids and live in peace. But they didn't like the lions, apparently.

There's a scary psychopathic vibe about this fella.

Yawn - reminds me, I need my second cup of coffee. Anyway, as my late dad who fought in WW2 never forgot, the soviets saved our asses as much as the Yanks and lost 20 million as opposed to 400k for the US. Never forget. But it looks like you already have.

3 million dead in SE Asia because the US couldn't accept national self-determination for Vietnam. Forgive me if I don't see the US as some sort of John Wayne good vs evil drama, which you obviously do. And that means you have lost the moral high ground to opine about war crimes, as have any other supporters. Sorry about that.

China has rescued Russia whilst Europe has effectively sanctioned itself and put a severe brake on the German industrial base which is vital to support the Eurozone. Of course this means that Russia is effectively a vassal state of China, but I don't think Putin cares about the optics, just the fact that it has saved his ass. Chinese know how will also be useful in supporting and developing Russia's crumbling infrastructure, and they will no doubt take future contracts in lieu of cash if they can trust them, which is a big if. Globalisation and the buoyant world economies that benefited from global cooperation are now effectively dead, and dark times loom ahead with advanced economies drowning in debt and welfare entitlements and a pressing need for huge rearmaments where elected leaders will need to persuade reluctant electorates for guns not butter. Good luck with that. And Trump is coming - never forget that. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/02/23/sanctions-treasury-russia-economy/?utm_source=reddit.com But Russia’s most important help comes from China. Two-way trade between the countries last year topped $240 billion, a record high, up from $147 billion before the war, according to Chinese customs data. Chinese companies are filling the gaps left in Russian supply lines with shipments of lathes, self-propelled mechanical shovels and machines that manufacture semiconductors, according to economist Heli Simola of the Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies. India is now buying 1.9 million barrels per day from Russia, up from almost nothing in 2021, according to the International Energy Agency. China is buying more, 2.3 million barrels, but was a significant customer before the war. “He has enough money to support the economy and to support the military,” said economist Elina Ribakova, vice president for foreign policy at the Kyiv School of Economics. “This can continue for a long time.”

I've done a bit of due diligence on this Professor. He's very big in the stock market, connections with hedge funds, private equity and the like. Meaning, his is big on big US capital. It's common knowledge that JP Morgan, BlackRock amongst others are part of the feeding frenzy for business come the peace. I suspect he's shilling his book. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/ukraine-reconstruction-bank-guided-by-blackrock-jpmorgan-ready-action-this-year-2024-01-16/ The stat that stick out for me was he claims that it costs $40 to extract every barrel of oil, and they are losing money on each one when the figure is closer to $10, and he includes taxes and revenues to the state as costs not benefits. Very sneaky. And these 3 respected financial journals disagree with the thrust of his polemic. He sounds like a maverick outlier like Professor Mearscheimer. It's not to say that it is probably in difficult waters, it undoubtedly is, but then the whole world is. This work was led by my colleague Catherine Wolfram, who was the deputy assistant secretary for climate and energy at Treasury. Russian oil has a very low marginal cost to produce. To the best of our knowledge, the marginal cost of producing oil in Russia is around $5 to $10 per barrel. When you take into account some of the more marginal wells, then maybe it’s closer to $20. The Russian government then collects various royalties and taxes that they impose on their producers, and we know that for budget-planning purposes they would usually target a break-even price of around $40 per barrel. https://www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2023/how-the-oil-price-cap-balances-pain-for-russia-with-protecting-us-consumers He's also closely connected with Zelenskiy who spoke at his conference, which doesn't make him wrong but means he is certainly not impartial. https://worth.com/worthy100/jeffrey-sonnenfeld/ According to him, he and CELI are now higher on the Kremlin’s sanctioned individuals list than Mitch McConnell. But his work has also garnered attention from other governments. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, members of the British cabinet, as well as reps from the International Monetary Fund have all requested meetings with CELI and access to its data. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was so impressed by CELI’s work that he agreed to speak without a prepared script at Sonnenfeld’s CEO summit in July 2022. The Economist Few other central banks have been as tough. Yet Russia still seems to be heading for a “soft landing”, in which inflation slows without crushing the economy. The performance of the economy is now in line with its pre-invasion trend; gdp grew in real terms by more than 3% last year (see chart 2). Unemployment remains at a record low. And there is little evidence of corporate distress; indeed, the rate of business closures recently hit an eight-year low. https://archive.is/NyKJP Financial Times On Tuesday, the IMF appeared to concur with Russia’s president. The IMF revised its own GDP growth forecast for Russia to 2.6 per cent this year, a 1.5 percentage point rise over what it had predicted last October. The Russian economy’s resilience has stunned many economists who had believed the initial round of sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago could cause a catastrophic contraction. https://archive.is/DX0dG Bloomberg Saleha Mohsin: Bloomberg has reported that Russia actually managed to import over $1 billion worth of American and European microchips last year, for use in war technology. That’s because the chips went through neighbor countries—so they weren’t blocked by sanctions. That would require additional export controls. But Treasury’s Lyngaas says it’s not so simple. Just because the Russian economy is growing does not mean that all GDP growth is created equal. https://archive.is/e0CMU

My decision not to move to Thailand and live out my remaining years there which is eminent doable and affordable is doubly validated when read posts like this. Stuck inside your condo/house with AC and air purifiers blasting counting patterns on tiles is a thing, but not my thing. Are you on drugs ? On the other hand 8k porn becomes an option there is that.

Terrible if true, and it comes from the UN, so I hope that the UN smearers realise that the UN as a body is worth supporting and defending for the excellent work they do in so many areas.

A couple of years ago Ukrainians flags were everywhere in London now you hardly see one (Palestinian flags though - I drove through Tower Hamlets yesterday, and they were literally on every lamppost) nor do my friends and family ever bring the war up and if I do they eye roll and barely tolerate a rant, but they were animated as to where's Kate. They do care though about the cost of living crisis, increasing insecurity and interest rates and folks are angrier collectively as I have ever seen in my life.

Maybe these Ukrainians should see their supporters here and see if they will step up to the plate. I see Zelenskiy has sacked another long term ally with no reason given, but he did diss the Chinese. https://www.politico.eu/article/zelenskyy-yanks-outspoken-security-council-boss-appoints-spy-chief-in-his-stead/ Danilov’s firing came after he expressively criticized Chinese Special Representative for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui, as well as a Chinese peace initiative, on air during a Ukrainian national telethon. “As for Li Hui, I want to remind everyone: No one will decide our fate but us,” Danilov said on March 19. “I don’t understand who can trade our territories, our lands like that. Because some Hui, I’m sorry, or whatever his last name is, or someone else think they should decide it.”

We have reached the situation of beyond terrible now for those claiming everyone is well-fed Channel 4 has a harrowing video of a skeletal youth in this report and descriptions of utter horror of mass starvation. There's no off-ramp for Israel here, they have guaranteed their insecurity for the near to distant future. Those that say October 7th was the most terrible day in their history are quite right, and the blowback has contributed to the worst in Palestinian history. There's no turning the clock back, and both sides will live in utter hatred for each other, with all the ramifications that that implies. What is different this time is the world has turned against Israel, with even their friends shuddering at their Amelekian rage. Netanyahu has single-handedly destroyed their future.

You are assuming logic and reason would underpin any actions. I think we are far long gone from that, maybe we are even at peak human. China never wanted this war or any kinetic war really but having happened it is trading it accordingly. I know little about the fall of the Roman Empire and why it collapsed, but my guess it was hollowed out by decadence within and the barbarians at the gate where animal spirits prevail. Sound familiar ? I very much like your posts btw good to get some informed kickback rather than abuse.

Why did the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand start WW1? After many decades of relative stability post WW2 (but not generally in the developing world they have had it pretty miserable) that period is coming to an end. Professor Niall Ferguson (who incidentally says we should be all in with Russia!) has made powerful arguments that the greatest moment of the British Empire when it was at it's greatest was 1937 not 1837 as you would think and WW2 and the rise of independence movements from colonial lowers finished it off. He says civilisations are like an ant hill, incredibly complex, seemingly robust in design and function but can be knocked over with a simple kick. The freedoms we have in the west are also our weaknesses the mass of the populace want a continuation of the benefits that have been used to and when thy find them wanting supporting Ukraine won't be top of their agendas. That and endless war. If the prospect of Trump in power again isn't a sign of the canary in the coal mine dying, then I don't know what is. Finally, humans seem to have a perpetual, almost unbreakable cycle of hugely destructive wars baked into the evolutionary advancement into the future. Poking the Bear is never a good idea, as many before have found to their cost. The Russian's appetite for misery far outweighs our capacity for pain, so better a messy peace now than much worse down the line. It's just so sad that Ukraine (and Russia) has had to suffer so much and for so long, but it was all so predictable. The world is a tinderbox soaked in petrol time to stop throwing matches around. Oh, and nukes, I forgot about that - the long shadow hanging over all of this.

I don't know is the honest first answer, but a lot of countries are queuing up to join it. It's not beyond the wits of the world's largest manufacturing country China coupled with the world's largest land mass and reserves of natural resources Russia to build something with others that is different too and an alternative to the US centric world financial system. And one that doesn't lecture members on human rights or democracy. Meyer Lansky after all, the mob's accountant was largely responsible for the mafia's rise to power in the US in the 20th century. The majority of the countries of the world are little more than mafia states when all is said and done, but it doesn't mean they can't be successful in economic terms. The only other things that pops up in my mind is Dubai has become some major hub for all this dirty money to wash through and oil the wheels of this alternative financial universe. One that Iran and Russia are making increasing use of. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/03/10/washington-needs-to-do-something-about-the-uaes-dirty-money/ Turns out reading that article that the UAE has bought off Washington in various forms whilst cosying up to Putin with a state visit like no other. A lot of geopolitical posturing is just that dig deeper, and there are invisible red lines over which nation states don't wish to cross. You might have gathered from my posts, I generally don't trust authority or their weasel messaging. As a first stab Chat GPT says this. Which is basically eff all.

Trump Media shares have soared 50% on the launch on the NASDAQ - Teflon Don wins again ! https://www.ft.com/content/99f713a5-71fa-4a28-b1ee-5b6f8998887e

China started selling US treasury bonds rabidly two years ago. They went from 2 trillion to less than 600 million now. I expect them to sell all out within 2024. Money's going home or to gold and other fungibles. There is an increasingly important BRICS Central Bank headquartered in Shanghai which is very much a work in progress. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Development_Bank

European electorates have no idea what their leaders are subscribing too in making Russia an increasing adversary or the financial fallouts that will chip away at their baked in entitlements in terms of social welfare, pensions and healthcare. We are heading for a great reckoning, probably followed by a Great Depression and war and currency debauchment. Popular unrest has only just begun, and it's going to get pretty ugly. An alternative financial universe is unfolding before our eyes, and the days when the dollar or the Euro for that matter could dictate the terms are on the way out. Trump Media has just soared 50% on the NASDAQ for instance WTAF - my belief is what has been outlined will never happen. Too many have to agree, and there are too many severe downside risks to get agreement, and Trump is coming. No one can triangulate that madness.

Not surprisingly, the young now for the most part don't want to fight in a failing war, and who can blame them. An estimated 700k draft age men have fled the country indeed I met one and recounted his tale here a few weeks ago. https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-faces-an-acute-manpower-shortage-with-young-men-dodging-the-draft/ Prolonged time on the frontlines is also drawing bitter complaints from battle-weary Ukrainian combatants demanding to be demobilized or rotated out with lengthy recuperation time. Their relatives want the same thing: On Sunday, dozens of families of frontline soldiers crowded into Kyiv’s Maidan Square to demand their husbands, fathers and boyfriends be relieved from combat, arguing they’ve done their bit and now must be demobilized or given considerable rest and relaxation. But that can’t happen until more Ukrainians sign up and are trained.

Those polls if correct though show little difference between the militants and the civilians, they are all the bad guys then, and how do you deal with that in the future ? Business as usual after ceasefire doesn't cut it. Not by a long chalk.