Fore Man

30 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

What you ignore is that the US is not just the cities. To elect the president simply by a majority is to make the heartland of America subject to the tyranny of one side probably forever, and that would surely lead to civil war.

The founding fathers no doubt foresaw such an eventuality and acted to prevent it.

Precisely...

12 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Perhaps you should do some research before believing such .......................

The electoral college was set up precisely to counter the popular vote. The clever men could see a day when the loony lefties that inhabit the cities would outnumber ALL the citizens in the rest of the country, and be able to vote in presidents that supported their agenda. They took sensible precautions to prevent such.

Anyway, it can't be changed without amending the constitution, and the rest of the country will not allow that.

Well said!  You have well described the framers' intent in a succinct manner and avoided all the confusing legalese I've seen elsewhere. Thanks. 

Its a sad incident, but perhaps Jeremy et al learned something from it. Fame and fortune must be tempered with humility and responsibility too.

A friend of mine, a college professor and military history author living in the US, asked me why I bother to devote time on the TVF in the face of baiting, inflammatory and extremist posters. Here was my response:

"It goes to show that we indeed have the full range of human beings living over here.  The vast majority are decent, tolerant guys, but there will always be those deranged souls, fueled by sundry bad habits and rife with unchecked anger and dementia. Thailand is a Third World country but its generally livable and accepting culture has always attracted the dregs of American and European societies...true losers in every sense...and these sods are all swimming together at the bottom of the sewers here.  Compromise, congeniality, and gentility are unknown to them. Unfortunately, they all have their cheap cell phones or can easily visit Internet cafes to vent their unchecked misery and spew hate on the rest of us.  But every once in awhile, we get absolute gems of well thought-out ideas, carefully reasoned comments or useful information that keep me returning to the Forum."

Good riddance.  I don't mind an intellectual debate, but when some smug, self-infatuated pedant can't be 'agreeable in his disagreement' (as a professor once admonished my grad class), it's time to yank him off the dais. Can't we at least be gentlemen?  After all, we...collectively, those who are Americans or supporters from afar...are all lumped into these difficult times together.  It was a huge stretch for many to vote for DJT, but let the man prove himself.  He won this fair and square. If he can't pull it off, public opinion or impeachment will surely follow. That's the way we do things in a democratic republic. 

1 hour ago, JHolmesJr said:

Supporters of crooked hillary have to shoulder a lot of the blame.

 

The Donald clearly said Im a winner, I win….and everyone laughed. They underestimated the guy and started talking nonsense about his business record.

 

Well, he won.

 

He might not have if crooked hillary wasn't so reviled as a corrupt candidate with no policies that stood out.

 

Trump laid out some basic principles which he will now try to fulfil based on political realities…all candidates make promises that don't always execute exactly as presented.

 

Sadly, a lot of republicans went full anti Trump and now they cant be trusted to hold office in his administration…so he has to pick from a slightly more limited pool.

 

That guy Rubio might have been useful but he ruled himself out with his irrational venom towards trump….many others same same.

 

Check out this recent news...says quite a lot about what was going on in Hillary's camp:

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/ed-klein-bill-clinton-hillary-clinton-james-comey/2016/11/15/id/759037/

The framers of the US Constitution chose to add the additional safeguard of the Electoral College to prevent the possibility that a demagogue could emerge who could sway the minds of a large bloc of the populace...whose potential popular vote could alter what the founders considered to be the prevailing American ethos. They understood that the Union was a sum of the different states, and each state should carry equal weight in choosing a president.  A demagogue could overwhelm the popular vote but in doing so, be restricted to an unrepresentative swath of the nation while the remainder of their fellow citizens were not mesmerized by that candidate's chicanery and rhetoric. 

The creation of the College has stood the test of time since 1804.  In many ways, the framer's prescience so long ago was brilliant. In 2016, Trump has been reviled as a demagogue by the leftists and entitlement grabbers, but it's rather quixotic that he won the Electoral vote as well as nearly matching Clinton in the popular vote.  It looks very much now like it was the long-time prevaricator Hillary Clinton who was the real demagogue all along, all too willing to continue our slide into the socialist abyss ushered in under Obama.  

Perhaps Mr. Trump is not the neo-Nazi that so many of you have vehemently painted him to be, often using inflammatory remarks in this forum.  Please give the man a chance, he might just cause you naysayers to eat your own words.  

13 hours ago, sgtsabai said:

Now we have people that think they know who needs, what counseling? I'd say anybody that supported or supports the orange fascist needs counseling.

 

Doing what, playing golf....lol? I have a good life, thank you very much. My public behavior  is the same as here, no keyboard warrior. I know the world, know the politics, know the pigs and know the racists that populate this forum. I was raised with their ilk. Funny how I don't encounter these racist, bigoted comments from 99.9% of the expats I talk with. BTW,  aside from being an USMC Sgt Vietnam Vet, I was a cop, stick that one up where the sun doesn't shine. Yep emotional trauma, you have to be human to have just a little bit. Leaves a lot of posters out. Rage, Rage against the dying of democracy.

 

How in hell does a human being think that taking a fellow Vietnam USMC Veteran to the Wall is a symptom of emotional trauma? Oh I know, never been there, never done that. <deleted> right? Maybe even an officer, wow I'm impressed, NOT!

 

I met real military at the US Marine Corps Birthday Ball in Vientiane last week, don't think some of the posters here would qualify. I'll be going back to party with the guys, most of you are definitely not only not invited but not welcome.

 

The orange monster is no populist, just a con man that some fools believed. Wanna' buy some snake oil...lol.

 

I hope the protests against a fascist never stop until he and his cabal are driven out of not only office but into GitMo.

Yawn...

47 minutes ago, Diplomatico said:

 

  Have you considered professional counseling for dealing with your issues?  Wow.

No kidding.  Some serious emotional trauma there. I spent my first career in uniform but this kind of behavior on a public forum is something new and rather ugly. Here guys need to get a life.

46 minutes ago, sgtsabai said:

Bullshit! Nobody gets "paid" to protest the fascist orange monster. Real people and real patriots do. Just another right wingnut fantasy and lie. Every hear of COINTELPRO? The pigs pay people to cause mayhem. Shut the country down, keep it shut down until a human being is elected president.

Your definitely smoking something...there is an underground, paid system in place to place violence-prone activists to heighten the generally peacegul street protests.

First, I need to state that I'm not (yet, anyway) enamored by Trump and abhor the Clintons and all they stand for. I'm sorry, but I've reached my quota of professorial pedantry stemming from you. Unless you have decades of political experience and advanced degrees in socionomics and poly-sci, who are you to pontificate with such vehemence on a fairly-elected president?  I see that you're a very prolific poster with strong opinions on just about everything, but your chain of vitriolic rants against DJT is not only repetive in theme, but growing to be quite tiresome as well.  I like to use TV to learn about the different viewpoints on comtemporary issues confronting us, but not be blasted with continuous tirades from a single member who hogs the topic and who apparently can't brook any dissent. Enough already...get a life please; it actually exists outside of TV land. 

Grabbed this from CNN, who recent biased reporting I grew to dislike, but with this snippet, I have to agree:   

"For these outbursts you can thank 50 years of piss-poor education in American civics, the devolution of our constitutional order in the face of a Progressive onslaught against its institutions, the hyperventilating, lying, unscrupulous press (and their willing accomplices in the NeverTrump right), and a handful of other factors I am probably forgetting right now but all contributing to this result: When significant numbers of people hysterically believe the country just elected Hitler, what do you expect?"

...this thread demonstrates just how polarized and galvanized  people are against their political foes running for POTUS. Everyone, and I mean everyone has his or her well-meaning theory on why so-and-so if elected will destroy America. Guess what, folks?  It's all out of your hands now. Half of the populace will be dismayed and shocked on Election Day. And thereafter we can spin up new threads damning the new president and his or her actions. Trust me, even if your beloved favorite wins office, you'll still bellyache later on that you got cheated.  There are no upsides to this election and all Americans will be affected in negative ways...some more than others. 

My two cents:

One of the scarier endgame scenarios is that during the period before the inauguration, faced with an ever-widening polarization in America's society. the president could declare a national emergency as the POTUS, requiring no congressional approval.  He could them rule the nation under martial law as he deems fit until the various options available under his authority as well as the Constitution, particularly Article 12, could be examined and decisions reached on how to proceed with a successor. 

While this is unlikely, the specter of a lame duck president who refuses to relinquish the reins, especially to his political and personal anthithesis, could emerge as a real possibility. Trump has made it potently clear that he supports indicting Obama and Clinton and pressing for jail terms without parole. It would be foolhardy for these two left-leaning Democratic liberals to ignore that threat. 

Yeah, it' been placed on the top surface of an ornament concrete railing that runs around our pool.  No argument as to the identity or relative grade of the granite, as I'm no expert, but it's held up perfectly over the past 8 years and really sets off the railing nicely. We chose it and our tiler installed it. It wasn't intended to astonish anybody, but to endure and beautify. 

Yes, after doing some Web research, I have to conclude it is indeed a harmless kukri. But I learned that it is often confused with the banded krait. Thanks anyway for your helpful posting. 

Thanks; our maid said it was a ngu pao...a krait and my wife's brother said the same in a separate conversation. They were quite alarmed at seeing it...even dead.  I hope you're right!  We obviously must look for all the siblings and mom too.  About five years ago, our former maid trapped a young krait that had climbed up one of our AC water condensation outlet pipes that terminated at our carport floor.  It was perched on the grill of the indoor blower unit, trying to figure out its next move...likely a six foot drop onto our living room sofa!  It was about 18-inches long and had markings exactly the same to this latest one. That snake back then definitely was a pit viper as well. This tiny one today...9-inches in length...had drowned and after we retrieved it, was left out in the sun all day so it's head was perhaps bloated somewhat. It's head was also too small to discern if it had pits or retractable fangs. Perhaps they were not developed yet. Anyway, the best snake is a...

...a baby snake found in lying at the bottom of our pool in Mae Rim. The gardeners cut or lawn yesterday and may have impelled the critter to seek refuge.  No signs of its patents or siblings...yet.

You raise good points, Acharn; I hadn't considered the aspect that you bring up of becoming bedridden or severely restricted in my mobility.  But it's another plus for living off ATM withdrawals and credit cards. 

3 hours ago, maewang99 said:

the thread is still going? put Social Security to the side, it might not be over the threshold for some of us even if it is today if fx rates continue to normalize.  just look at the story this morning about CLMV's ditching the dollar... etc..... there is no difference between a public sector pension (or old style pension) that gives the retiree a "regular" monthly payment.... and a withdrawal of funds from a 401K or IRA account because the old style pension is not just a payment for earnings on fund assets... it's a payment.. a payout... so... while more and more folks are gonna be relying on defined contribution plans not SS or old style pensions.  if you make "regular" withdrawals from a defined contribution plan, i.e. an IRA.... that is not any different from an old style pension.  IRA's are defined in the US law as a retirement pension scheme. the passive income an IRA makes is not the only amount you get to withdraw, in fact, you must withdraw amounts but on a tax year basis... not monthly.  so I guess... I have to... that if you regularly withdraw from your IRA that is a receipt of money... and more than merely complies with both the US and Thai law and regulations.  notwithstanding any other sources of income.. i.e. Social Security or old style pensions... which are fixed usually... but in US dollars... not Thai Baht and that is something to think about. an IRA is not fixed... but it can be "regular".  and we get to swear to that. but this is Thailand.... so I wanted to survey what really goes on.. looks like the same ol same ol.

I'd like to clarify how I obtain & determine my annual, and thus monthly income derived from an IRA. I have reached the age of 70 and one half, which means for IRS purposes that I am required to take an annual required minimum distribution (RMD).  That RMD is calculated by my bank based on an IRS table that divides my previous EOY balance by my predicted life expectancy. My wife's age, who is younger than me, factors into my RMD.  In our case, the divisor of the RMD equation is 33.4,  and that resulting amount is how much I must withdraw this year.  I elected to have it paid in quarterly, identical installments.  The RMD gets recalculated every year, based on the account's EOY balance. I simply use this figure in calculating my total income for use in the Consulate affidavit. Pretty simple, no need to get overly technical and neither the Consulate nor Immigration have ever asked for proof or a breakdown.   I think many TV members agonize too much on this topic.  Best to keep things simple.  I'm sure the Thais are not interested in conducting more than a superficial probe into your individual situations. But you've got to be prepared if they should ask. 

I've waded through all the posts on this topic but find that I have a different way of receiving and spending money in the Kingdom.  Yes, like many I have multiple income streams derived from military retirement, VA disability, private company pension, SS and my IRA minimum required distribution.  But...we exist here fully by: 1) making periodic ATM withdrawals from our US checking account (at a favorable foreign exchange rate and with refunds paid for exorbitant ATM fees charged by Thai banks), and 2) buying groceries and other items of local expense using a US credit card.  We use the ATM money to defray cash expenses on the local economy where our credit card cannot be used. We haven't felt the need to open a Thai bank account and in my 12 years spent here, never felt any compulsion to do so.  But I agree with other posters...it is in your favor to take along copies of all banking and pension documents to prove yourself. I used to hoard my ATM slips too, but no longer go to that extreme because nobody ever asked for them and I can show the withdrawals on my US banking statement.

I walked in yesterday to fulfill the 90-day reporting requirement. Due to a nagging back injury, I used the paid service to take care of it for me (THB 300; drop off new TM47 & passport; pay money; return 30-minutes later). The office had only one other customer when I arrived at 12:30 PM. They friendly lady asked me to fill in only that portion of the new form pertaining to my Thai wife's identity, our address and her own phone number. Nothing else, no photo, and a piece of cake. It seemed obvious to me that they were a bit ashamed in asking me to do this, but it wasn't a big deal. There's no need to get all lathered up over this admittedly dumb requirement.

I was issued a chipped ATM/debit card by my US bank months ago. It has worked fine ever since in all but two bank system ATMs in Thailand: Bangkok Bank & Krungthai. I haven't retested it with either bank, but have tried many times in their various ATMs around Chiang Mai and it's never worked yet. Hopefully, these two banks have finally upgraded their machines and firmware to accept chip technology embedded on other bank cards.

...and perhaps the prescient Han ethic majority want to out-breed their minority Muslims to prevent what is now taking shape in Europe and Canada.

The answer is really rather simple; not acceptable really, but it's the truth. I too was astonished at the total lack of consideration for other drivers on the roads here after moving from the States in 2004. One day a few months after arriving, I spoke to the teenage son of a good friend, a chap who was a college student in Australia and home visiting his Thai mother/American father for a holiday period. He listened to my rant and opined "it's an easy question to answer: Thai people are "me first" drivers. They mostly have no thought for other drivers in the roads and are only intent on their own business out there. They do not receive driver education in the school system either, and adopt what we consider to be rude habits, inculcated from the earliest memories of how their fathers and uncles acted when driving a motorcycle or car.

So it's not that the Thai are rude, inconsiderate people, it's just that they are lousy drivers. Once they are out of their cars and off their cycles, they are great, friendly people. I would advise any foreigner here to quit bellyaching about Thai driver behavior and just focus on your own safety...driving as defensively as you can. You can get mad, as I certainly have in my earlier days here, and it will do nothing to change Thai motorist behavior. We are guests here, with little rights afforded us, and it would be best not to find yourself the cause of an accident...or found at fault in an incident even if legally you did nothing wrong. There is still a mindset among many in Thailand that an accident never would have happened if an involved foreigner had never set foot on this country in the first place. And there is a propensity for the wealthier party to pay damages regardless of fault. Be very mindful and careful out there. Many Thais carry firearms in their cars and have shown a willingness to use them in the heat of a road rage incident.