jas007

Supposedly, it was the mothers who were deported, and they chose to take their children with them. So it's not the way they try to make it seem.

It's just one more example of a pattern and practice of destabilizing countries for the purpose of exploiting the resulting chaos. I could make you a long list of examples. Perhaps the USA should respect democracy and the voice of the people in some of these countries? Or is that simply being naive? US Imperialisn is alive and well, I'm afraid. What's the usual goal? Resources? Preserving the US dollar as a world reserve currency? Economic exploitation? In the case of Ukraine, I think Blackrock already has contracts in place to buy up much of the valuable farmland and mineral resources. The war isn't even over and they're already salivating.

Not only was Nuland's phone call about installing a new leader in Ukraine recorded, she openly admitted it was her at a subsequent press conference. Did she call the recording quality "pretty good"? Something like that. Anyway, it's no big secret how things transpired in 2014. It was a typical CIA operation. Call it a "garbage bizarre far right wind conspiracy theory" if you want, but all you're doing is exhibiting the extent to which you've been brainwashed.

Here's some good advice: pay no attention to any advice you read here. No one here has a crystal ball, and no one here can tell you what the situation will be in two years. If you want to retire in Thailand someday, just keep planning and reading what you can. There's a good chance nothing will have changed from today.

Blame social media. They need viewers and clicks on their websites. Some of them are harmless enough, but sometimes, they cross the line. Once upon a time, YouTube didm't exist. The world was better back then.

She already has access. But she seems to live in an alternate universe and wouldn't understand the value right now. She's not even 30 years old and doesn't understand. She has a good job with an internet startup and lots of money. But no sense. Some of the artwork in that container needs to go to Sotheby's or Christie's in NYC for auction. Somewhere in all that junk, there's a hardware wallet with some Bitcoins. I won't be around to find out what happens, eventually, and maybe that's a good thing. In a few hundred million years the earth will be burned to a crisp anyway, as the sun expands. Did you ever see a simulated picture of the Milky Way, with and without Planet Earth?

History is replete with people who were ostrasized or burned at the stake for their views. Views that later turned out to be right on the money. Try looking up some of the people burned at the stake or ostracized by the Catholic Church in the middle ages. The earth revolving around the sun? Blasphemy! Anyway, I wouldn't be so eager to criticize Trump.

I still have stuff in storage in the US. The largest POD storage container they make, filled. Maybe I'll be back there someday. Maybe not. In that case, my brother's little girl can fool with it. In the meantime, it's costing me $219 a month. I can't sell the stuff though, as it's too valuable.

I'm sure that's true. Professionals. And don't forget the scam artists. They'll answer an ad and pretend they're "out of town" and can't pick up the item immediately, but they want to buy whatever you're selling, no questions asked. They'll even send you the money and you can refund any excess, once shipping charges are calculated. Every single one of those guys is a scam artist.

I suppose I could have found someone if I had bothered to look, but, as I said, I wanted out of there ASAP. Another time, when I was in the same city, I needed to get rid of some junk and a car. For the junk, I found someone on Craigslist who was looking for "donations for charity." I'm sure that was a scam, but I didn't care. Some people showed up and I gave them everything they could manage to take, for free. As for the car? I put an ad on Craigslist. I sold a car worth thousands for less than $1000. Ten seconds after I posted the ad, my inbox was filled with offers. I must have had 50 responses in one minute. I sold the car to the first guy whose response I opened . They couldn't get to my place quick enough. I was out of there that same day.

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.