impulse

Then starting in 2030, the AI will replace 100,000 workers a year, with robots.

You would have a hard time convincing me that a $500, 5KW Honda generator is more efficient than a late model $30,000 ICE. The auto companies have spent $billions to get their engines more efficient to meet CAFE (and int'l) requirements. The Honda (or Polo) gensets? Not so much. As long as they don't billow smoke, customers have no clue how efficient they may (or may not) be.

Good info. In the USA, if the sticker is $30,000, the dealer will try to add $1,000 for prep, another $500 for delivery (even if it's already on their lot), plus sales tax, etc. etc. They advertise one price, but the price you pay can be $$thousands more, depending on negotiating skill, popularity, and availability.

Responding to the OPs lament, I found the same phenomena at the IT shops when I was in Bangkok last week. The hawkers of 2nd hand computers were trying to sell them at prices that were equal to, or even greater than the new computers that benchmarked the same performance. My formerly top of the line I7 laptop from 9 years ago cost me 35,000 baht the year after it was unseated by the next generation. Today, I can buy an I3 laptop that specs out better for 11,000 baht. So I chuckle when I see a hawker trying to sell a dinosaur like mine for more than that. The same is happening now in EV's. Tech is better, manufacturing is more efficient. But eventually, the lower limits will be reached because of all the steel, plastic, aluminum, glass and other components. That's not bad news for EVs. Just a lesson in the costs of being an early adopter. Like the guys who rushed in to buy solar panels at $2 a watt. Nowadays, it's more like $0.25 a watt, or 40" flat screens for $4,000 USD. It's just learning lumps. I'm looking forward to seeing the markets that spring up around vehicles that are their own electrical supply (portable coffee shop?), and recovering semi-used batteries for alternate power projects (Power walls for solar?) Thailand's got some great ingenuity, evidenced by all the engine swaps keeping 50 year old classic cars running. Not to mention dirt cheap labor. There will be fortunes made by those who see the opportunities.

God forbid we get rescued by a bunch of white guys not dressed in drag...

Just bought a great cuppa at the Exhibition Center across the street from me in China. Try this with an ICEV... I wish I'd gotten a better shot of his backroom setup. I was impressed.

So the authorities in the OP are claiming that lack of communication is a problem... "I just spoke to Elon," Trump told supporters, captured on video in Valdosta, Georgia, a small town of 55,000 impacted by Helene, about three and a half hours south of Atlanta. "We want to get Starlink hooked up because they have no communication whatsoever and Elon will always come through," Trump said, adding "We are going to try and get the Starlink in there as soon as possible." https://cybernews.com/news/trump-musk-starlink-emergency-internet-hurricane-helene-victims/ Biden and Harris are probably out looking for coffee cans and string.

They left out the x.

The Ukes are occupying parts of Russia like the Pro-Palestinian protestors occupied campus quads. The difference being that cops aren't allowed to kill protestors when it's time to get rid of them.

It may be the law. But if that law was enforced, no traffic would ever move here... It's the red lights that convey right of way, not the zebra crossings.

Companies die all the time. Wouldn't it be a kick in the nuts for a family to sign their land over to the gub'ment as proposed, then the lease holder quits paying after 6 months? Not only does the family not get the rent payments. They also don't own the land any more. The only way I can see that work is to require a lease payment up front, at least equal to the value of the land. Or a clause that the land reverts to the family, if the lease payments stop before the value of the land is recovered. Or possibly buying insurance, against lease payments ending. That would be yet another can of gub'ment worms.

Check out the recent SNL skit on the subject. I'd post a link, but they're blocked where I am.

That attitude is what lost Hillary 2016. It's typical of the Dems. They ooze contempt for the very people that make modern life possible.

Off topic, I know. I was at an Ice Cream Machinery trade show in China this week, and this one piqued my interest. Not a model that I'd go for, but the concept is of interest. Portable electricity, to run an ice cream freezer, a coffee truck, etc. Probably not enough portable juice to run a pizza truck all day, but... I spoke to the guy (in broken English) and he said the truck will power the freezer all day, with plenty of power to cross town to get home at the end of the day. I can see this genre changing the street vendor landscape. His company (Hiron) made the freezers, not the truck, which is a Wuling Brand. (Pretty good history) It's one of their micro-vans. I'd hope they also make bigger platforms.

Watch a YouBoob with Judge Joe Brown... Who knew her back in the day. Before the MSM sanitized her origin story.

You mean the ones that keep the electricity on, the water flowing, the streets paved, the fire engines running, and all the other services the educated people enjoy?

It's like that old (pre-interwebs) rumor that McDonalds used earthworms for their hamburgers. Until someone pointed out how much more expensive earthworms were than ground beef. There's a lot of reasons to hate on Mickey D's. Earthworms aren't one of them. There's valid reasons to hate on some street food, too.

I hope the OP wasn't the victim of one of these insidious plots: Right-wing Twitter troll convicted of interfering in 2016 election through deceptive vote-by-text meme. https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/right-wing-twitter-troll-convicted-of-interfering-in-2016-election-through-deceptive-vote-by-text-meme/ That phone number led to a real line, and the thousands who followed the instructions did not immediately receive error messages. That is just sad...

After 24 years of living in Asia, I tend to worry more about ultra processed food and the stuff they put in it back home to keep it from going off for extended periods and from causing rumble tummy. I think we need to occasionally exercise our natural immunity to bugs and adversity, or our systems become too weak. And all the emulsifiers, additives, and preservatives "back home" cannot be good for living organisms like our guts. This past year, between 3/4 of my time in China and 1/4 in Thailand (where I love street food), I have had the rumble tummy once. Worst symptom was "fecal urgency". Hell, I got that from eating Olestra potato chips back in the day... I suspect that if my family came to visit from back home, they'd be in the can for days before they acclimatized. Their systems are weak. Edit: That said, I pop a couple of albendazole every 6 months or so to kill whatever parasites I may be harboring. Liver flukes and liver cancer scare me... The rumble tummy seems more cathartic, flushing the system. I always feel better (and lighter) afterwards.

Out of curiosity, when a car is listed at 1 million baht, what's the total, including tax, title, license, dealer prop, delivery, loan origination fees, etc. (Leave out loan interest, just the origination fees) I used 1 million to keep the math simple...

I wonder what percentage of Thai auto loans come from formal sources, and how many come from loan sharks?

Bad news. My Black, Asian, Hispanic and Middle Eastern neighbors would fight tooth and nail to keep artificially low priced housing from being built in our neighborhood. It has nothing to do with skin color, and everything to do with the culture of accomplishment (vs entitlements), property values, and crime rates.

The signs I saw were for "Passport Inspection". Where they confirm your Non-Immigrant visa if you're planning on staying awhile.

How do you tell one from the other? If he actually identifies as a woman, what's the moustache about? If I got caught skulking around in a lady's restroom, claiming that I'm trans would be my go-to response. Might even buy me enough time to get away before any consequences. An an aside, do you have any data to support that factual claim?

Gosh I wonder if this may be tempering her zeal for "newcomers"? Since Trump's election in 2016, Hispanic support for Dems has fallen by 10% and their support of the Repubs has almost doubled. The Dems see that they can no longer count on the newcomers' support... https://dailycaller.com/2024/09/29/steve-kornacki-drops-bombshell-hispanic-vote-democratic-party/ Add in the Dems' losses among Black voters and as close as 2020 was, this is devastating news for the Dems.