mrwebb8825

Or another (parting?) "Ma &Pa Kettle" moment with "Chucky". https://youtu.be/zEjRkGVyNsY

The most reliable "Bus App" in BKK is every Thai person that lives in BKK and rides the buses daily. Other than that it's all hit and miss except for "routine" routes/buses.

OK, to your point and apparent misunderstanding: Oligarch - noun: oligarch; plural noun: oligarchs 1. a ruler in an oligarchy. (noun: oligarchy; plural noun: oligarchies) a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution. a country governed by an oligarchy. "the English aristocratic oligarchy of the 19th century" 2. a very rich business leader with a great deal of political influence (particularly with reference to individuals who benefited from the privatization of state-run industries after the collapse of the Soviet Union). Who are the 7 oligarchs? The most influential oligarchs from the Yeltsin era include Roman Abramovich, Boris Berezovsky, Vladimir Gusinsky, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Vladimir Potanin, Alexander Smolensky and Vladimir Vinogradov. Pursuing this further takes to a narrowed searc of just the US and we find: Is the United States an oligarchy? Several commentators and scholars have suggested that the United States demonstrates characteristics of an oligarchy, particularly in relation to the concentration of wealth and political influence among a small elite, as exemplified by the list of top (political party) donors.So, Who's on "The List": https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/biggest-donors?cycle=2024&view=fc Go look; of the top 25, 17 are (R), 6 are (D) and 2 are pole riders (donated both ways - like betting black and red on a roulette wheel I guess) Oddly absent from the top 25 are George Soroes, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Oprah Winfrey, (who, it turned out only takes money to promote Dems), Taylor Swift (closed out recent tour a billionaire) So, are rich people running the country? DUH! Problem is, they control the dissemination of public information to the average "Joe". The "Shake-Up" that occurred in this last election is that the young folks produced their own platforms and completely turned off MSM. The campaign managers from both sides hit these platforms from polar opposite angles. The Dems tried to buy their way in with brain-dead entertainers even lying about why Beyonce' showed up. The Reps became influencers. Go figure. 😁 Hope this clears things up for you.

CNN is an EXclusive reporting source -

I do: $100,000 in 1953 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as $1,181,621.72 in 2024 That's just the starting salary - doesn't include personal wealth. https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1953?amount=100000 ETA: remember I said 'rich' people being presidents. Voters not so much: Burgess, Director, Bureau of the Cen- sus, Department of Commerce. The median income of men with money incomes in 1953 was estimated at $3,200, about $100 or 4 percent greater in in 1952. The median income of women was estimated at about $1,200 in both years.

Every president in history, save 1 has been rich, you're just confused by the terms we use in America comrade.

Yes, next question. They charge Farang prices in Farangland also. (when was the last time you got a free house, free money, free insurance, etc in your home country?) Thailand is just more open about it.

On a side note more on topic: Ballsy move to pledge 320% of your net worth.

I'd say hide-and-watch on this 1. Trump's smart enough to add a 51% American Ownership clause. It would be a REALLY nice start IF they combined the amazing robotics tech from Japan, equipped with AI that could sample/scan soil, ground water and surface water and produce, non-partisan, non-political, non-everything but factual data about contaminates, impurities, 'tired soil' (over farmed, improper crop rotation), sources and mandatory solutions. That Farm Package congress is trying to pass by attaching it to the budget ($428B would cover our 51% and then some). Anyway, $100B AND full access to ALL tech and data from Son and $428B with full access to all tech and data from our government (after proper vetting). There are 100 ghost towns just in the wide open prairie of the US. Land is $100 an acre. Could build the manufacturing and research facilities right where they're going to be used.

Really? That started a few years earlier by Harry Truman (D): Harry Truman was among the poorest U.S. presidents, with a net worth considerably less than $1 million. His financial situation contributed to the doubling of the presidential salary to $100,000 in 1949. In addition, the presidential pension was created in 1958 when Truman was again experiencing financial difficulties. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_United_States_by_net_worth

Well, I'd "Link" you to American TV but don't think it'll work. I was simply stating (TTBOMM) what I watched yesterday compared to what I get when Googling those same stories 24hrs later. This is not a 'conspiracy theory', just a statement of fact and a curiosity of what you all see overseas on your news channels. I like a variety so I can compared the way stories are reported - it's bizarre to say the least - 1 I watch here is called "Fox Live" (yea, I can feel the eye rolls from here). This has nothing to do with their other shows. This is actual live cam and mic at all the meetings of various government officials so instead of waiting for a reporter's version of what was said and what it means according to them, I get it straight from the horses mouth. I also watch News Nation, ABC, NBC, CBS, Bloomberg but none of the "Sore Losers" (draw your own conclusion on who they are) This Must be the DEMS

A few other things that may or may not have made the news cycle you watch: Pennsylvania caught and arrested Dem election official faking votes for Harris. (this was on TV yesterday - googling it today and you can't find it.) 1 confirmed case of bird flu in Louisiana - CA Gov Newsom declares state of emergency over bird flu. Googling this gets interesting results - some calling a "Proactive State of Emergency" and claiming it's wiping out dairy cows and making people fall ill while a separate search just on BF and it says this is the 1st ever case in the US. The mayor of San Diego, CA and his counsel passed a "Law" forbidding law enforcement from helping ICE. The sheriff said, "screw you" to the mayor. Liz Cheney may soon occupy a cell next to or in place of the J6ers for witness tampering - Googling this now (less than 24hrs later) and all you can find are articles on how "The Revenge Machine" has started, targeting this poor, underappreciated champion of democracy when, in reality, she's always hated President Trump and threw all in with the panel, even to the point of breaking laws and NOW she has No Air-cover - they were ALL fired by the voters. In a wonderfully clever move, the Dems have moved "Shifty Schiff" from the house to the senate with hopes of a last minute pardon. The Biden Legacy is going to be "Steal til you get caught then just pardon everyone".

Can I get some Blu Cheese dressing for this word salad? 😁

OK, so there's a difference in the USPS and the UKPS. With the USPS we can just sign up for the scanned covers of each piece of expected mail which is sent to my email daily (unless there is no mail) for free. The USPS will also forward overseas. IF you're going to use a pay service, why not just have them send it directly to you?

OK, so the 'helpful suggestion' part, rent the house and instruct the post office to 'temp' forward only your mail to Thailand.

I stopped here to reread this a couple of times while scratching my head. Why wouldn't you want the mail to just go directly to your friend? It can't be the 'inconvenience' thing since you're willing to pay to have, yet another company to 'inconvenience' your friend...?

When you recover from your kool-aid overdose, read through this interesting piece: We're here to help you with the big words. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/01/29/how-america-changed-during-donald-trumps-presidency/ ETA: This was just from his 1st term as the 1st president in history to be elected with 0 experience in politics.

You watch, they'll all just vanish OR the eastern seaboard will vanish.

I disagree on the whole of this line of thinking, to whit: The worst thing a decision-maker can do is to not drill down deep on ALL the people around him that "Came with the job". Ex: https://cha.house.gov/2024/9/transcripts-show-president-trump-s-directives-to-pentagon-leadership-to-keep-january-6-safe-were-deliberately-ignored And as for Trump 2.0: This man entered into the most tight-knit secrete club and took the top job in the club in Nov 2016 and made it official Jan. 2017 without totally knowing he had crossed a secrete line. (Trump BETA - Upgraded to 1.0 in 2 years) He found himself being publicly attacked by "The Machine" on the world stage for pretty much the first time in his life. Prior to throwing his hat in the ring for President, he was a real-estate executive that took over the company and expanded it's marketing to "Goods and Services", "Entertainment" and finally "Reality Star". Like him or not, he had created himself as a "Known World Brand". (< this fact alone should resonate with the "Average Man" similar to Coke and McDonald's) This looked more like a corporate takeover because that was his expertise. Only this time it was the largest corporation in the world. There were, no doubt, lengthy discussions with family, friends, peers and lawyers that started back in 2008 and steadily increased in frequency and seriousness. He had a Great time in his very 1st public debate for President in the 2015 Primary's. By the time he entered the White House for the very 1st time as POTUS the career politicians were mostly in 1 of 2 lines; Suckups and Nevertrumpers. And so, reality TV meets MSM. Kool-Aid pumps on high. (Funniest Headline: (paraphrased - old age) "NY Landlord Evicts Black Family After Christmas...") Now, 8 tears later and about 1,000,000,000% "More Learned" is appointing people he trusts NOT to stab him in the back from day 1, not really Yes-Men". Currently our "President" is enjoying his basement and signing anything put in front of him, our VP quit (unofficially), our outgoing, failure of a SoS Blinken jumps on a plane unannounced and flew to Iraq for a secrete meeting on the "Spoils of Syria" to try and get "Promises" in place at the 11th hr. I could go on and on and on about the mess being created in the last 30 days before President Trump takes office but I WILL sell you a "<deleted>BeGone" political survivors kit for just 1 Bitcoin.

It also shows how the "Establishment" thinks and how sick and tired the other 96% are of corporate BS. The guy's salary was $10m a year and a large chunk of that came from the bonuses they (the CEOs and board members) paid themselves from the Bush/Obama bailout. It was the classic leftist nutters running the government from behind the curtain that agreed to pay insurance companies a 300% increase in premiums to accept all who apply. The insurance companies then consolidated into conglomerates and only gave the bare minimum of coverage BUT offered to "Upgrade" you for a small additional fee. (see the bottom of the letter) Campaigned on free "everything under the sun" while working on charging people who own their homes around 45% on your property that you already paid tax on (plus yrly to the state (Depending) because now it's worth more than you bought it for.

Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve. Sadly has died back in Aug 2021

OK...so, to divert from the pissing contest: For all that don't actually know the end details of the current healthcare system in the states, this is how it breaks down (IME) My mom has healthcare insurance from medicare A&B as well as her private Non-Obamacare healthcare insurance. She pays around $500 USD per month for all. I moved back here 2 yrs ago to take care of her. My only income upon arrival was my SS so I contacted the healthcare.gov site and was immediately bombarded with insurance companies all vying to "Give" me healthcare insurance, for free. 🤔 Here's a bill: This was followed by this eye opening letter a few months later: You can see by the bill that the insurance companies are collecting nearly $2000 "bounty" on every swinging dick they can sign-up, the younger the better but they take all comers w/o an exam, with preexisting conditions, nothing matters as long as they can classify you as "poor" and sign you up. The part of the letter I found most interesting is the "tax" threat and the follow-up phone call explaning the provided coverage wasn't any better than Medicare Part A anyway. (you automatically get that free when you turn 65 for those unfamiliar with the real peculiarities of being an American. (meaning born here,not just watched it on TEEVEE) Enjoy

This could be a new Thai Tour - "Sex on the Beach: Where to drink it, view it and indulge in it" tour. 😁

I recently went to see the PT dept at the VA and they gave me 1 of those electric muscle stimulation gadgets and the doctor told me putting the electrodes on my abs not only helps my stomach muscles tighten but also improves poop flow. Fixed me right up. Haven't pooped rocks since.

True. That was during Obama's "Apology" term after giving Putin the green light. (search Obama Hot Mic) Zelinsky was still beating his meat on pianos while dancing in heels. Ah Yes, those sneaky, highly skilled "Ninjaskis".