jas007

It's probably a mistake to try to make much sense of what goes on in the Middle East. I gave up long ago. As for Trump's support of Israel? Blame Rubio and the Neocons. Blame the Israeli lobby, which apparently controls US foreign policy. Unfortunately for us all, it's not the Ukraine situation that will likely end civilization, it will be the situation in the Middle East. Perhaps Trump has made a deal with Putin about Iran and its nuclear program? Putin gets his way in Ukraine ad the USA can bomb Iran into submission. A win for Putin and a win for Trump. Just speculation on my part, but it sort of makes sense. Peace in the world, for a change.

I'm not sure what more I can tell you about Trump, the US economy, and the US dollar. If you're old enough to be collecting Social Security, you're surely old enough to have lived through what has been done to the value of your US dollar over the years. Or were you living on another planet beginning in 1971, when Nixon closed the gold window? How much did your parents pay for their house? What about the family car? Or the groceries your mom used to buy? Have you ever seen a brand new $3000 car? Or a house that only cost $25,000? Did you ever buy gasoline for 49 cents a gallon? How about education? Ivy League tuition was only around $3000 a year. I remember seeing a new Toyota Corolla in a Toyota showroom in 1973. The bare bones cost? $1399.00. I could go on, but I'm sure you lived through the destruction of the US dollar, just like everyone else in America. And yes, wages have risen over the years, but they haven't kept up with inflation. Even the official figures, which everyone knows are garbage, will tell you that dollar holders were losers, over time. Inflation. That's the culprit. Not Trump. Not Musk. And that's the problem, in a nutshell. Will you continue to receive your US dollars? Sure. They can print those up, no problem. But, and this is a big but, what will you be able to buy with those dollars, going forward? Why are you so eager to label Trump as some sort of Demon? Trump and his team are trying to keep the banksters and the fraud artists from stealing any more of the value of your dollars. The billionaires don't need to make more money. They're already sitting on top of the world. They're trying to save what's left of America. You should probably hope they're successful.

Does anyone know which six buildings have been declared uninhabitable? Someone must know. I think my days of thinking about living in Bangkok are officially over. At least not in any high rise.

Financially, Trump now has some room to maneuver, at least for the rest of this fiscal year. Remember, the tax cuts he wants are part of a plan. In Trump's mind, they don't exist in a vacuum. Will Trump's plan work? Who knows? Reagan tried the tax cut thing and the thought was, originally, that with less revenue, the government would have no choice but to cut spending. "Starve the beast," I think someone called the plan. Well, it didn't work and Reagan himself quickly changed his tune and wanted to raise taxes. But the tax cuts were politically popular and so they stayed. And so did the government spending spree, fueled by debt. The spending spree has been going on for decades. Debt, debt, and more debt. When Reagan took office, the government debt was 800 billion. Something like that. Today, trillions and counting. All that debt is inflationary, and is tantamount to a cruel tax on the people who can least afford it. The poor and the middle class. And you think that should continue? You think Trump wants to "destroy" the economy? You have it backwards. What would he want to do that? Why would any American want to do that? Someone scared you with nonsense and propaganda and now you think the Trump team is your enemy. One way or another, business as usual can't continue. Maybe the debt market will collapse and that will be the end of everything you know as "normal." Or, maybe Trump will have some success and we can all live out normal lives with some degree of comfort. Either way, there's some trouble dead ahead.

I disagree about Trump wanting to "destroy" the US economy. He may well mess things up, but so far he hasn't been in office long enough this term to do much of anything that would be damaging, long term. I think he means well, as does Musk. To be sure, there are those embedded within the government that want him to fail. They want him to fail and they seemingly want the country to fail. However well meaning they may be, the country simply can't live on debt, debt, and more debt. It would be nice if that was the case, but it just doesn't work. It never has in history, and it never will. It's not a long term solution. In any event, consider the alternative. Harris was your only other option, and that would have meant the destruction of the USA, for sure. That was the goal and they almost accomplished it, but for Trump. Perhaps there's some hope. I have my doubts about the eventual outcome, but it's not like I can do anything about it.

That may well happen, eventually. But it's not going g to happen today, tomorrow, or next year, or even within the next decade. It's not going to turn on a dime. In any event, where is it written that it's necessary for the USA to have the world's "reserve currency"? That's the source of the much of the USA's current wealth, but the privilege has been abused for decades and that can mean trouble. Papering over the debt problem with more paper debt is not the answer. But that's what has been happening for decades, and that's what passes for a solution in the minds of many economists. "Trump is crazy." "Trump is an amateur." "Trump doesn't know what he's doing." Just read through this forum and that's what many people seem to think. Get rid of Trump and everything will be OK. Only in fantasyland. In reality, the debt market could collapse at any time. Or can the Fed continue to keep it under control? No one here would want to find out what happens which the "everything bubble" collapses. I think Trump would like to bring manufacturing back to America. Return well paying jobs to America and turn the country into a country that actually produces things. Once upon a time, that used to be the case, right? Why is it not that way now? Simple. The Globalists wanted a New World Order, the billionaires wanted to line their pockets with even more money, and they saw an opportunity to rob the middle class by the exploiting cheap labor available outside America. And they got away with it. Nixon opened the door to China and the rest is history. Unfortunately, all of the value that used to reside in the middle class is now debt and the debt market is unable to handle much more. Business as usual is no longer an option. And yet I don't hear a thing from the Lefties about how to fix the problem. They would have everyone believe that the only problem is Donald J. Trump. The Lefties don't say much else because they have no solution. It's truly crazy.

So far, just a much needed correction in the stock market. The real crash, if/when it happens, will be in the debt market. Watch the 10 year bonds.

Self service check outs? Like what Walmart I the USA currently has? That's been going on for a while. You check yourself out at the register. Scan an item and put it on your bag. They know what the item you supposedly just scanned is supposed to weigh. So, if you scan a lemon and you then put a watermelon in your bag, that won't fly. I've gone through that process a few times. At certain times of the day, that's about the only way you can check out at Walmart. Fun fact: one time, I forgot to scan entirely a can of coffee I had in my cart. I didn't realize that I got it for free until I got home. I didn't scan it and they didn't weigh it.

They say that when the Indian Ocean fault let lose and caused the Tsunami in that part of the world 20 years ago (a 9.9 Quake), that quake released only about 1/2 of the pent up movement that is expected, at some point, along that fault line. I think about that every time I'm planning a trip down there. With my luck, I'd be there at exactly the wrong time. I still go, though. WTF. I ride on planes.

One of the first things I learned after law school. "Let the sleeping dog lie." In other words, for these purposes, the Tax Treaty addressed the issue. Leave it alone.

I gave up trying. When the time comes, I just drop my passport off at my agent and pick it up a day later. 100 baht.

I have that situation and I'm not going to. The DTA addresses not only Social Security, but government pensions, which are taxable ONLY in the country of origin. Bring into Thailand less that what you receive from those sources, why would you file? My opinion. only. Not advice.

If it really was 7.7, that's a big deal. Are there known faults in that area? Let's hope that wasn't a warm up for something even bigger.

I'm sitting here at Wongamat Beach and, unless I'm crazy, I didn't feel a thing. I've lived in California, so I've been through a few earthquakes. Usually, it's no big deal. A few things shaken up and then it's over. I remember 1989 and the big earthquake up in San Francisco, but at the time, I was at a strip club with a friend in San Diego. We didn't feel anything. The kinds of earthquakes they usually had in San Diego were no big deal. In Japan, the building codes are such that earthquakes are expected. In Thailand, I'm not so sure. I guess I'll keep my fingers crossed.

This guy has a pretty good handle on the current political struggle in the USA and around the world. It's worth a listen.

What if it's not digital glasses and what if it's not a phone? I was just thinking about this issue because I thought I lost my wallet along with my ATM cards, my credit cards, etc. Fortunately, I didn't but for a while I was mad because I needed to carry that thing around in the first place. There has to be an easier way. They already have eyeball scans and facial recognition, so those would solve the ATM issue and the building entry issue, for anyone who has to deal with that. Trying to buy something? Use your eyeballs and let them scan your retina. Isn't Bezos already doing something like that at some of the Whole Food stores? He was also working on some sort of a shopping cart that kept track of what you put into it. No noeed to check out. Just bag your groceries and leave. That leaves trying to call or text someone. Maybe if all the account recognition problems were dealt with in the cloud, everyone would just need a cheap throwaway device for when they're out and about? Of course, all this would come with a massive invasion of privacy and a loss of individual control. You would no longer have control over your money, how you spend your money, of even if you can spend your money. And they would have a record of all your communications.

I haven't kept up. What's unattractive about Nevada and Florida? No state income tax in either state, so that's a plus.

How many have actually been kicked out? There's a limit to what the room can hold, I'm sure, and some effort has been made to include people from the "non-traditional" press. Bloggers and so on. If anyone repeatedly asks the same question and expects to receive the answer they're looking for to prove their point, maybe they are a waste of space. As I recall, during the Biden administration, there were members of the press who were NEVER called on. They were allowed to be there and they wanted to ask questions, but the Press Secretary refused to address them. I guess she didn't want hard questions that weren't scripted. I think the current Press Secretary is doing a little better, in terms of "Free Speech."

Any expat needing a US address that would be sufficient as a real US address would look into South Dakota. Maybe it's still possible to set something up there. The residency requirements are minimal. I remember reading about this when I was thinking about living in Mexico and registering a car in the USA. Long story. Anyway, it used to be possible to obtain a South Dakota Driver's license and have a South Dakota address and residency, after spending only one night in the State of South Dakota. It's sort of a cottage industry there, catering to digital nomads. Some people make money and the State of South Dakota collects fees for licenses and whatnot.

How much of Gaza is left, at this point?

I don't know about the "best in Thailand," but I've had a few that were pretty good. PrimeBurger in Pattaya at Central Festival, and a place called Craftburger, I think, on Sukhumvit Soi 11, in Bangkok. Of course, with a grill and the right ingredients, I could make something really good. CraftBurger: PrimeBurger:

I didn't "think" much about it, actually. In my mind, there was only one issue: Free Speech. The Democrats had devolved to a point where they seemed to think was OK to spread their nonsense propaganda around the world while at the same time censoring, controlling and cancelling anyone they could possibley reach who didn't agree with their insane agenda. To me, that was crazy. Once you lose Free Speech, you lose everything. And for what it's worth, I didn't bother to vote. I knew Trump would win. Harris? LOL. There was no way. Only in the delusional minds of some people, and delusions don't count for much when they tally up the vote.

I've been trying to eat "healthy" these days, but it isn't easy. No sugar, no high fructose corn syrup, no seed oils, no processed food, no ultra processed food, etc. Take away all the unhealthy food and there isn't much left. So, I buy grass fed beef and cage free eggs and eat those a lot. I can cook that at home and that's what I usually have for breakfast Also, the right green leafy veggies, and some fruits, in moderation. So, I usually skip the Thai food carts and it costs me more money to eat. On the occasions when I do eat out, I try to keep it healthy. And once in a while, I just eat whatever I want. Yesterday afternoon, I had a pizza from a local place. 220 baht. That seemed reasonable to me. It wasn't the biggest pizza you could imagine, but it was good for one person. For what it's worth, I'm at Wongamat Beach, which is mostly loaded with tourists, so the restaurants around here aren't exactly cheap. I'm from the USA, though, and I've never really adjusted to the real Thai economy. If I eat a meal and it's 350 baht or less, I don't feel like I'm being ripped off.

They're probably just keeping up with real prices. The official "inflation" numbers are BS. Everybody knows that. Ever hear or the "Big Mac Index"? From The Economist magazine. I haven't looked at it lately, but the general idea is that a Big Mac is a Big Mac anywhere in the world, and they list Big Mac prices around the world with a US dollar benchmark. The result is the PPP or "Purchasing Power Parity." How is the local currency doing, in terms of value, against the US dollar?

The US dollar isn't going anywhere anytime soon, but, what value will it have, going forward? I'm sure that most people reading this have seen the value of the dollar pretty much destroyed during their lifetimes. And, that trend will likely continue. Nothing goes in a straight line and there will be fluctuations along the way, but my advice is to not save up too many US dollars in an effort to get rich. That would be an exercise in futility. What to do? Diversify. Have some dollars to "buy the dip" when the stock market tanks. Maybe buy some gold and hold it yourself. Maybe buy some silver. Once the real estate market crashes (which is only a matter of time), certain real estate might be a good investment. As for changing dollars into other currencies? All around the world, central banks are dealing with debt problems and would like to lower interest rates to spur economic development. The USA doesn't have a monopoly in that regard. I think I saw a story just yesterday about Thailand and its desire to lower rates. They aren't the only country playing that game. The impact of Trump's economic agenda remains to be seen. No country ever got rich trying to borrow their way to prosperity. Maybe the USA will become more of a producer and less of a consumer of junk made elsewhere in the world. As for BRICS and the alternate monetary system they're trying to set up? Whatever happens, that system won't be a threat to the US dollar anytime soon. Trillions of dollars change hands around the world on a daily basis. The only place that can currently happen: The USA. Wall Street. Perhaps years from now things will be different. For now, do the best with what you have.