jas007

Funny story for anyone interested: Almost three years ago, I was stuck in the USA because of COVID, but travel restrictions to Thailand were finally lifted, my lease was just about up, and I wanted out of there ASAP. I was in a rented condo and had purchased some things. A couch, coffee table, dining table and chairs, a nice recliner, a big TV., a computer desk, etc. I sold my stereo equipment - that was easy, because I buy good stuff in the first place. But no one wanted the other stuff in the apartment, even for free. My friends there had enough of their own junk, I guess. Stuff I paid over $8,000 for I couldn't give away. I ended up calling 1-800-GOTJUNK. They came to haul away the stuff and it cost me $680. When it came time to pay, they had one of those payment apps on an IPAD. In addition to the $680 charge, there was a button for a tip. Not thinking, I pressed 10% almost automatically. So I paid a $68 tip to give the people $8000 with of like-new stuff.

So you think I've been brainwashed? Possible, I guess, but I seem to be doing fairly well for a brainwashed person. Over ten years ago, I explained to one of my old friends what was going on in the world of politics and why. I told him what investments to buy and which to avoid. But he was brainwashed by some ANTIFA propaganda and told me I was crazy. Fast forward 10 years and everything I told him turned out to be true. Every single thing. I've now been "cancelled." Last I heard he was dying of lung cancer from cigarettes I told him to stop 50 years ago.

Propaganda. Brainwashing. It really does work well, and you need look no further than some of the posters here for proof positive. For years, mainstream media in the Western nations have been publishing the same drivel. They are all bought and paid for. Feed people enough nonsense and they'll eventually accept it as the truth. And to this day, it continues. Fortunately, alternative news sources have become available. The mainstream media no longer has a monopoly. The Great and Powerful OZ has been exposed.

Sure. There will be uncertainty for a while. That's part and parcel of the process. Businesses don't know what to do. Totally understandable. But I think this will all be over long before a halt in spending by some companies causes a fatal problem for the economy. Take a look at what happened during COVID. They shut everything down for two years or more. The entire country on lockdown, more or less. The Fed printed money, people spent money, and everyone lived to tell the tale. The Fed can do that again, if necessary. A stupid thing to do, maybe, but they can do it, for sure. It'll take a while for the resulting inflation to kick in, and in the meantime, this tariff nonsense will be solved with a deal.

"Robots, technical advances, increased costs for American companies. " I didn't miss anything. Sure, manufacturers may face difficulties, but that's more of a long term complication. And certainly, China isn't the only country manufacturing tools for industry. In fact, in the world of high precision CNC machines, they lag behind significantly. Less than 10% of the high end CNC machines in use in China are actually made in China. The rest are imported from Japan, Europe, and the USA. Take a look, sometime, at the typical CNC machine shop operating in the USA. The percentage of CNC machines made in China is relatively low. China is not known for making machines capable of high-end precision machine work. Such equipment is made in the USA, Switzerland, Japan, and Germany, primarily. Chinese machines are used primarily for low to mid range applications not requiring great accuracy. As I've said, even in China they primarily use CNC machines imported from Japan, Europe, and the USA for high-end work. The bottom line: a trade embargo won't bring US manufacturing to a screeching halt. Not by a long shot.

I don't have too many friends in the US right now. They seem to be dead. As for family? There aren't too many of them that I regularly communicate with, but the closest family members will be doing fine, regardless. At least so long as there Is a United States of America. I'm pretty sure many people don't know what's about to hit them.They've been brainwashed and they believe the propaganda. Already., they're starting to blame Trump, as if it's his fault the word's Central Banks flooded the world with trillions of dollars during COVID and after. Every day they go about their business as usual, actually believing it's all Trump's fault and that it's his tariff policies that are causing all their problems. I'm sure inflation there is starting to bite, though. High prices for groceries, especially. And going forward, it'll only get worse. It's going to be a mess. Worse, perhaps, than the Great Depression.

We shall see. I only hope Trump doesn't fold too soon. He really doesn't have to, and China is his one big concern. Nor re-election, certainly. Just China.

In the US, the tipping thing is getting to be too much. Even at fast food type restaurants, they have a payment screen with a number of tipping options listed. 10%, 15%, 20%, and so on. There's also a an option for "no tip," but at a food place, you wonder what'll happen the next time you order food from that same place. Anyway, it doesn't seem right when all you're doing is paying for some food to go.

I'm not worried about Trump in the least. What I am worried about, though, is that some of the systems he may establish, like a CBDC, could fall into the hands of the authoritarian far left, if the country is every stupid enough to elect those people again. Those are the fascist dictator types, not Trump. And they almost succeeded. Maybe next time, they will. And it's not far fetched. That type of control could mean slavery. A world of slaves, ruled by an elite class. Remember the COVID plandemic.? A digital passport showing a COVID jab for every human being, with exceptions, of course. Congress, drug company employees, etc. That was the plan. Couple that kind of control with the death of the dollar and a new CBDC and you have trouble. They'll be able to control what you spend, where you spend it, and when. They'll be able to control your every movement. And if you don't toe the party line? No money for you! No food. No nothing. The technology is there now. All they have to do is turn it on. Hopefully, I won't be around to see what happens when they do , but I'm afraid that's where the world is headed.

China has been around for thousands of years and I'm sure it will continue to exist for thousands more. What may fall apart is its current government Government's come and go all the time, right? The civilization remains, but with a new government.

I'm not from the UK, but I'm pretty sure this problem is going to get a lot worse in the coming months and years as inflation picks up, worldwide. There's too much debt in the world and, for the central banks of the world, the way out is inflation. Money printing. More and more money printing. What happens to these Brits if they return home? Will they again receive the current rate in the UK? Or are they stuck forever with a frozen pension? And let's say they do go back for a year or so, what happens then if they return to Thailand? Frozen at the new rate, or do they revert to what it was when they first retired to Thailand?

I'm well aware of where all my "junk" was made. Everything currently on my desk was made in China, with the exception, perhaps, of the Clorets Mini-Mints, and I'm not even sure about those. But keep in mind, no one needs to go out and buy a new phone or a new computer today, tomorrow or even this year. I keep my equipment updated, for sure, but that's a personal choice and I can afford it. In the US, I have a friend that has been using the same MacBook Air since 2014. No one needs new stuff on a regular basis. And so you may think China has n advantage, but they don't. really, over the short to intermediate term. This situation will unfold quicker than that.

That's all very nice. But so what? This discussion is about the political and economic collapse of China. And, unfortunately for Xi, that may well happen long before any of these technical advantages and other "advantages" make any difference. Robots, technical advances, increased costs for American companies. All are significant, long term, but before "long term" happens, Xi will be finished or will agree to aa deal. China has a big and prosperous middle class. They've done well over the past decades. And you can bet that they won't sit idly by as their source of income dries up as Chinese factories close down, one by one. The Chinese manufacturing capacity is huge. Large enough to supply the entire world with capacity to spare. But even before this tariff war with the US, the Chinese economy was in trouble. Their real estate market has collapsed. Mortgage lenders and banks are either on life support or have closed. Factories were already underutilized and closing. The shutdown COVID had taken its toll. And now, a tariff war? LOL We're already seeing some weakening. China has lowered its tariffs on some sectors. And despite the propaganda, you can bet Chinese negotiators are talking to American negotiators. Unless you believe in the tooth fairy and other such nonsense, you have to believe that negotiations are ongoing. Remember, the world will be unable to function without trade between the USA and China. And so a deal will happen, Sooner, rather than later, in my opinion. It won't take long.

Apple can and will move their manufacturing to another country. Aren't they already in the process of doing that? To India, to the USA, maybe elsewhere. I'm not sure what portion of China's total manufacturing capacity is for the USA, but both directly and indirectly, without the US consumer they're in big big trouble. Trump won't be folding on China anytime soon.

China doesn't have that long to wait. Without the American consumer to buy their junk, Xi will soon find out that he's not so popular any more. It really is that simple. Without the American consumer, China will fall apart, sooner rather than later.

Where was Zelenskyy in 2014? Anyway, Trump isn't my "leader." He is, however, the current US President.

My main point is that if you closely examine what you eat on a daily basis, you may well find that you're eating sugar or some foods that are equally bad in terms of how your metabolism functions. Maybe you should try to find a good dietician or a doctor that specializes in what they call functional medicine. it can't possibly hurt.

They say the USA has the best congress money can buy, and I'm sure there's some truth to that, especially those people that have been serving for years. Supposedly, DOGE has uncovered a paper trail for all the records people thought were deleted. War kickbacks, fake payments for this and that. Billions and billions of dollars. The truth will come out. Term limits might be a good idea for both the Senate and the House. That might cut down on some of the corruption. As for "new blood" in politics? How can it get much worse than it already is? In any event, the Democrats need to get their act together in terms of formulating and selling their policies. "Get Trump" isn't a policy. And the issues they did try to cram down everyone's throat were so far out in left field that Trump had an easy win.

You may think you don't eat much sugar, but you probably do. It's in everything, or so it seems, and if it's not sugar, it's high fructose corn syrup, or modern processed flour which is almost instantly converted in the body to act like sugar. Look at the labels on the food you eat. You might be surprised. Do you drink orange juice? For all practical purposes, you might as well be drinking sugar. I'm not sure what's banned in Thailand and what isn't. I do know that, in Europe, for example, much of the food made in America isn't even allowed for various reasons.

I'm not making any moral judgments about right and wrong. I'm just explaining how the world works. The USA is as guilty of this type of behavior as any other country. And in this case, Trump realizes the futility of trying to be the world's policeman. As for who "started" the Ukraine war? We all know that story. The Neocons, Victoria Nuland, the 2014 overthrow of a democratically elected government by way of Neocon meddling, etc. That's their typical mode of operation. Do you need a list? I don't like it any more than you do, but I'm not the one in charge. I haven't been running the show for the past 75 years.

Theoretically, you shouldn't be eating anything for at least a few hours before bed. It's hard to say, though, what you're going through and why. Are you addicted to sugar? Have you tried cutting it out altogether, along with processed food, ultra-processed food, high fructose corn syrup, seed oils, and so on? Have you ever tried a carnivore diet? They say if you're used to sugar and then cut it out, the "hunger" you experience the next few days is just your body craving the sugar it's addicted to. But after a few days, the cravings diminish.

I'll skip all the details, but one time I went to KBank to update my bankbook and get the letter for immigration, and the girl at the bank somehow didn't notice that the bank's computer still had the day before's date. So when they updated my bankbook, it didn't show that day's date. Any, apparently, immigration wanted a copy of the bankbook updated that very day, so I had to go back to the bank and get it fixed. I spent way too much time going back and forth that day.

The "final analysis" of how the world and its countries came to be. In case you haven't noticed, that's the way it works. How many examples do you need? Practically no country on earth wasn't formed by way of some conflict. That's history.

How do you know he won't? Once a war gets started in earnest, there's no telling what will happen. And surely, you must understand why Russia needs a buffer zone. Part of its strategic defense system lies within easy striking distance of any missiles placed in Eastern Ukraine. Hence the sensitivity over NATO, especially after the cancellation of the intermediate range missile nuclear forces (INF) treaty by Trump during his first term. He got some bad advice on that, obviously, but it's all now history. Ukraine is in Russia's back yard and within the Russian sphere of influence. No different than if Russia or China would amass missiles and armies in Tijuana or Juarez, Mexico. The USA wouldn't put up with that for more than a few minutes. It wouldn't even be allowed to happen. So, telling me to "grow some" is telling me that I shouldn't care about the future of humanity. I do, and Im sure about 8 billion other people would agree with me. Crimea is now part of Russia, once again. And parts of the Donbas are now also part of Russia. Territorial nation states have been at war just about forever. That's the way territories are gained and lost. That's the way existing countries have been formed. That's reality. International law is all well and good, but in the final analysis, it doesn't much matter.

How do you know he won't? Once a war gets started in earnest, there's no telling what will happen. And surely, you must understand why Russia needs a buffer zone. Part of its strategic defense system lies within easy striking distance of any missiles placed in Eastern Ukraine. Hence the sensitivity over NATO, especially after the cancellation of the intermediate range missile nuclear forces (INF) treaty by Trump during his first term. He got some bad advice on that, obviously, but it's all now history. Ukraine is in Russia's back yard and within the Russian sphere of influence. No different than if Russia or China would amass missiles and armies in Tijuana or Juarez, Mexico. The USA wouldn't put up with that for more than a few minutes. It wouldn't even be allowed to happen. So, telling me to "grow some" is telling me that I shouldn't care about the future of humanity. I do, and Im sure about 8 billion other people would agree with me. Crimea is now part of Russia, once again. And parts of the Donbas are now also part of Russia. Territorial nation states have been at war just about forever. That's the way territories are gained and lost. That's the way existing countries have been formed. That's reality. International law is all well and good, but in the final analysis, it doesn't much matter.