impulse

In both of those cases, the price of gold may go up, but the value stays the same. By definition, one oz of gold is worth one oz of gold. It's the currencies that fluctuate. My point is that you need to have a standard measure to compare currencies to each other. The standard that's been used for millennia is a troy ounce of gold. Going back to my original statement, if a USD buys 35x as much gold as a THB, that establishes the relative value of THB vs USD. Any variation from that in the exchange rate represents an arbitrage opportunity that algorithms all over the world look for. Just like they look for arbitrage opportunities in pork bellies and bushels of wheat and Bbls of oil and MMBTU of gas, or JPY or RMB. If the THB goes up against the USD, you can't claim it's getting stronger. Just that it's stronger than the USD. They may both be tanking, just one faster than the other.

Does the price of gold go up and down, or does the value of the currency go up and down? I contend that the value of gold is set in stone. And the value of currency is what goes up and down. And has for thousands of years. That's why I refer to gold as a sturdy commodity (my terminology, I'm sure economists have a better description). It's not like a bushel of wheat that may go up and down depending on the weather, or a pork belly that may be affected by swine flu, or a pound of lithium that depends on vagaries in market demand for EVs. You get the gist...

Someone please set my little pinhead straight. I contend that the only way to gage the strength of a given currency is to compare how much of a sturdy commodity (like gold) it will buy. If a USD buys 35x as much gold as a THB, that's the relative value, even if the "exchange rate" is something different. And if the THB buys less gold than it did a year ago, it's losing value, maybe more and maybe less than the USD. They may both be tanking, so calling one "strong" isn't really accurate. Of course, that's my engineering bent, and not a financial bent. Where is that wrong?

I imagine that's also what it takes to make a girl receptive to sex with an old geezer. Reading the story (and neglecting her bruises), I wonder how many geezers tuned in here have been close to being in the same situation when their S/T Tinder date with a fake ID shows up pre-inebriated, or excuses herself to powder her nose when she sees what she's in for, and takes some ketamine to ease the sting. I'm not excusing any abuse, if that's what happened. But it could happen to a lot of guys I know that like 'em just over the legal age.

How is the price of gold in Thai shops?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And how long did Biden have to undo any Trump policy before Putin attacked? Like he undid all those border security policies that Trump implemented. Took him less than a week... Crimea's on Obama/Biden. Donbass is on Biden/Harris. Crickets under Trump.

I always wonder what kind of dope people are smoking when they miss the fact that Putin took Crimea under Obama's watch and Donbass under Biden's. Then, they blame Trump. If history repeats, Putin will probably take Kiev if Kamala's elected.

What visa type? I thought Chamchuri was a One Stop, only for visas/WPs tied to the BOI. But I've been wrong before. And things do change.

I wonder if they piss tested the customer in the photo to see if that's where the ecstasy is going?

You can believe that if you want. But the history I was taught as a kid in the '60s and coming of age in the '70s included a lot of information about black figures and their contributions. If I sat down for an hour, I could probably list 100 significant black historical figures and their contributions. And that's 50 years after my school career. But the reality is that western history has mostly been driven by old white guys. That's just a fact. Call me skeptical, but I'm forecasting a "black history curriculum " heavy on perpetuating the victim narrative. Which is exactly what Sowell and Freeman are warning about in JonnyF's post. Perpetuating.

Your best bet in Bangkok is to haul it over to Ban Mo electronics market near Chinatown. There's blocks and blocks of guys repairing electronic and audio stuff. On this map, the Ban Mo Center would be a good start, but all over north of that is great.

They have a clinic in Bangkok, been there several times and had deliveries without a problem too. My reluctance to order it online isn't related at all to MedConsult. It's based on the occasional Thai stories of spoofed websites, cops raiding and finding fake stuff, and organized groups cheating online customers. I do my healthcare at Bumrungrad and Samitivej, and though I have confidence in buying at either one in person, I'd still be reluctant to order from them online. No telling whether the product that leaves their pharmacy is what I'd receive after it's been through delivery channels. Especially with such a high markup, (a $2 fake selling for $400...) and doubly so because I'd be injecting it into myself. But I realize that's just my opinion and others, even smart people, may disagree.

How'za bout you teach kids to read, to do math, the discipline to stick to a budget, and to do the work required to get a decent job to get along (and even ahead) in today's world? Then when the kids can pass grade level math and reading, you can go into electives. Just imagine the backlash if they offered a class in White history, or more contemporaneously, Jewish history.

There are a few shops in the indoor malls around Chatuchak that deal in higher end used watches. There's always a few serious looking buyers going through their goodies when I pass by. I don't know what their process is (purchase and resale, consignment, etc), but they must get them from someone. I'd start at the red building right outside the Kampheng Phet (sp?) MRT station. It's an amazing collection of antiques, collectibles and artwork. The old JJ Mall and MixT are pretty impressive, too. (Though I don't remember specifically watch shops, because I'm not in the market). Either one is well worth a visit, especially if you haven't been there since Covid.

So, which is it?

Maybe they fired up the water pushing boats?

What would be the downside to buying the battery pack and inverter now, then buy the solar panels when the budget permits? Charge the batteries when the power's good, and use them automatically when the voltage sags... Probably wouldn't even need a full bank of batteries for a couple of hours of sag. Kinda like a bridge between a small UPS and a full solar system, knowing that the panels will be coming later if he eventually wants to get off the grid. I love my Uni-T UT71E recording voltmeter for watching the voltage variations throughout the day. In the OP's case, seeing the time of the sags could help the PEA find the culprit. They're a little spendy (around $200) and there is a learning curve, but great info. I plot the data up on Excel (that's the learning curve).

I buy tramadol at Boots with no prescription. 100mg tablets, up to 2 packs of 10 each at a time. They ask to see my passport and take down my name in a notebook each time. I don't know where that information goes. I buy tramadol in a lot of Chinatown pharmacies, 50mg x 10 pieces. Some limit it to 2 packs at a time, some 5 packs at a time. Some ask for my name on a piece of paper, none ask to see my passport. Some don't carry it at all. Obviously, YMMV. But if it's available at Boots pharmacies, it can't be too illegal. BTW, it's not for me. A friend of mine has cancer.

Being a sucker for a redemption story, I wish him well. If he's sincere. And if he leaves the ball and chain in Cali. Edit: Part of that is in honor of his Mom.

I'm all for raising the top marginal tax rate for individuals making (for example) over $1 million a year. I'm also in favor of treating capital gains the same as the peons' income. But raising corporate income taxes without implementing international agreements regarding minimum tax rates would just push more corporations to move their "income" to lower tax countries and play games with transfer pricing, licensing agreements and consulting agreements. All they have to do is move their income to Ireland, by transfer price games, "licensing" their patents they sold to their Irish subsidiary, and pay their 2 Irish employees the rest of their profits for consulting fees. We had a subsidiary in Ireland that served no purpose other than shifting profits to them and pay (I think) 3% tax on those profits instead of the US tax rate. And Ireland is just one example.

I wonder how many push ups and sit-ups you'd have to do to achieve the same result? And how much you could pay yourself per sit-up... Assuming, of course, you're using Ozempic for weight loss. Personally, I wouldn't trust an online source in Thailand to save 10% or so. Just too much of a risk for someone in the delivery chain to cheat. But that's based on zero experience with MedConsult.

It'll be interesting to see what level of detail they require on applying. Do you need a flight number and hotel reservation before applying? Because it would be a kick in the nuts to pay $2000 (non-refundable) for a flight and another $1000 for a hotel reservation, then be denied, or have the system go haywire for 2 or 3 days and miss your flight. Also, for border bouncers, will they allow applying from a IP address within Thailand? And a lot of guys I know haven't owned (or needed) a printer in years. Hopefully, it'll all work out seamlessly. But we'll see.

I'm going to hold off judgement until they implement the system and we see how well it works. But I wouldn't dismiss the possibility that the auto gates are quicker today simply because so few people are using them, and they may gum up when they're inundated. My happen. May not. We'll just have to see.

I wonder how many votes Harris lost with that warmonger's endorsement?

It's hard to justify $2,000 in airfare, $50 a night in a hotel and 48-60 hours R/T in travel time for an American to save on dental in Thailand. And if you're already in Thailand on holiday, who wants to spend a couple of days of precious (in the USA) vacation time in a waiting room? Maybe Europeans, who can take monthlong vacations, but if I ever took a month off from a US company, they'd figure out they don't need me anyway... Saving half a million USD, like I would have saved on my bypass surgery had I been uninsured, throws out excellent numbers. Dental, not so much.