jas007

Medicare is run by the government. It's a political animal and would go broke in short order if it had to raise rates at a level consistent with costs. But it's politically popular, or at least it has been, and so it has continued and expanded in scope, like everything else the government gets involved in. Its presence enables the rest of the system to continue on its course. It's a parasitic symbiotic relationship of sorts.

I think that guy ended up in prison on an unrelated charge. He may be out now. They had a nickname for him, but it escapes me now. Anyway, the entire healthcare industry, including the drug companies, the doctors, the insurance companies, and everyone else employed in that system, is today nothing but a "business." They run it like any other business. It and the military industrial complex. Both operate as ruthless capitalists. Both have hundreds of lobbyists in DC, and both make the illegal drug cartels look like a bunch of amateurs. Sick or injured? If you're not insured, then "sorry, you didn't pay for "protection." Otherwise, you may just live to see another day. And, just as the health care industry would collapse without sick people, so too would the military complex collapse without a continual state of war. And so if they can't find one somewhere, they manufacture one. It's been that way for years.

Evil insurer tales, for sure. That's how they play the game these days, or so it seems. Don't think, though, if this was in fact a grievance murder, that the people who would do such a thing are worried about right and wrong. They're past that point. Someone paid for insurance and didn't get it. Or, they had a loved one who died as the result of a denial of care. For them, the "system" didn't work. So they hired Luca Brasi for "justice."

The original article characterizes the proposed move as "unprecedented" for good reason. It would be stupid and could eventually be ruled unconstitutional, I believe, given the circumstances. Of course, there's some precedent and the courts have ruled that such power is basically unlimited. Still, the courts are political these days, so who knows? Perhaps Biden has some advisors that will set him straight. The political fallout could be enormous.

Quite the contrary. It's working exactly as planned for the big insurance companies. After all, remember where the money comes from. America seems to have the best congress that money can buy and insurance companies have good lobbyists with lots of money to throw around. Anyone who has ever worked in DC will be happy to tell you stories about lobbyists. They're everywhere. Even at congressional staff nights on the town, there's always some guy there with a nice credit card to pay for everything. It happens every day.

You should be able to designate a beneficiary for the accounts right on the brokerage sites. If you want a back up will, that's fine, but it might not be necesary, depending on your circumstances.

Most of Trump's nominations will likely be confirmed. I don'r see a problem with them, except for the Neocons. A good way to start WW III if he actually listens to any of them. Maybe they're just there for show. Listen to Trump because God only knows what the Neocons have in mind. Great for negotiations. Still, even if Trump gets his cabinet, he's got a mess on his hands. Musk and Ramaswamy want to cut two trillion dollars. A nice goal, but there isn't really two trillion dollars to cut, unless they cut into the military budget and Medicare/Medicaid in a big way. And I'm afraid the public isn't prepared for the financial meltdown that's in store. But there's no real alternative. The banking system can't handle much more debt, the country owes 34 trillion dollars, and the situation is rapidly deteriorating and unsustainable. Trump won't be running for reelection, so he won't be much bothered by the polls.

Do you have an iPhone? If so, you have a wallet on the phone. It comes with a Cash card to which you can add money. When you set it all up, you designate a bank for transferring money in and out of the card. Perhaps you can set it up with your Mastercard bank if that's what you have, then transfer money onto the cash card from the bank. At that point, the cash card becomes a Visa debit card loaded with however much money you added to it.

A few years ago, a friend asked for my advice on a crypto to pour some gambling money into. I told him XRP, which, at the time was trading at around 25 cents. Unfortunately, I didn't take my own advice. I'm not recommending it now, but I've seen some pretty wild projections on the possibility of price appreciation from here.

It's not always just stray dogs. One time, I was walking down the boardwalk on Jomtien Beech along an area where they had a lot of umbrellas set up for tourists, which is pretty much all of it. Anyway, I was walking along as usual one day and an angry pit bull came at me from the beach. He didn't seem happy. The owner was there and fortunately happened to be watching. He yelled "no" and the dog actually stopped. I was lucky.

For whatever reason, I have been in the habit of waking up at 4AM. Recently, though, I'm experimenting a little. I go to bed when I'm tired and wake up whenever I wake up. Usually, I'm still up at 4AM, although sometimes I don't wake up until 6AM. Anyway, sleep is more important than many people realize. Getting eight hours of sleep one way or another is crucial. If for whatever reason I don't get the full eight hours at night, I end up taking a nap during the day. Yesterday, I guess I was sleepy. While I was laying around the pool, I fell asleep for about an hour. I wasn't trying to, it just happened. Last night I slept better, at least according to my sleep tracker, which showed 100% recovery.

Ribeye steak and two eggs. A navel orange. Two cups of coffee.

Unless this year is different, some of the island resorts will be really crowded between Dec 15 and Jan 15. Even in Pattaya, some of the hotels can be fully booked. Still, I spent some time yesterday looking for an escape of sorts. So far, I've resisted the temptation. I'm already in an ocean-front condo with a nice pool, Central Pattaya is a short Bolt ride away, and I can do anything I want. I might just wait until January. Christmas is nice, but just another excuse for a party.

I wouldn't get too worked up about any of this until the dust settles. There are all sorts of tax treaties to be considered, as well, and I'm sure the real estate industry will chime in.

It certainly could. That's real money people will have to pay.

I guess the question is that is considered "income" in Thailand? Any gain from whatever source is income? In some countries, there's a difference between earrings from wages and long term capital gain, for example. Taxed at different rates, or perhaps not at all, depending.. Or what about inheritance funds? I can't believe that any money simply transferred into Thailand is automatically "income" for purposes of Thai Taxation.

So they automatically assume any money remitted into Thailand is income earned that tax year, even if it wasn't?

California has an extensive "Wince Country." The weather is just right, apparently. There's a funny movie about it called "Sideways."

For sure. When I lived in Northern Virginia, A Vietnamese girl used to cut my hair. I'd go once a month or so. Over time, she told me all about coming to America with her mother as a refugee. Apparently, they didn't have much when they came, but they didn't let that stop them. The mother worked, and the kid slowly grew up in that environment the Vietnamese community there.. She and her mother saved every penny they could and finally got to the point where they could put down some money on a townhouse. She said it was all the money they had In the world. They were scared, but they did it anyway. Fast forward 10 years or so and the girl learned how to cut hair. When I knew her, she was working at a salon in DC near K street and was always booked solid six days a week, all day long. She was probably making $100 an hour. And she had a mini real estate empire going. I guess the housing bubble helped with that venture. I also knew a Korean guy that lived in Virginia. He grew up in Korea but somehow his family moved to America when he was in grade school. His father worked in an auto factory, but he eventually went to law school ands is now a federal judge. San Diego also had an entire area of Vietnamese refugees. Same type of stories. I'm sure most of the kids that came over are doing just fine at this point. I've also met other immigrants that came to America and did extremely well. Engineers, doctors, lawyers, etc. People from India, Pakistan, Ukraine, Russia, Romania. They all came with nothing, and yet they made it work.

A lot of people these days look for places they can live and work remotely that don't break the bank. Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Bali, Vietnam, maybe some European cities. All you need is a nice little condo or house, cheap rent, and good internet. Ands good food, of course.

It's probably a combination of factors, including diet and genetics. Three of my grandparents are from Italy. One from Rome, one from Calabria. and one from Sicily. My Mon's mom was English, French, and German. According to 23 and me, it shows my genetics as only 39% Italian. The rest from all over Europe and the Middle East, including the Mediterranean areas. Somehow, even Finland is in there. Anyway, the Mediteranian diet surely helps with longevity. All the old guys in my family were never ones to stay away from alcohol, and all of them lived to the late 80s or more. One, well past 100.

I was born in upstate New York. I've lived all over the US, including NYC, the DC area, and California. I've also lived in middle America. Granted, I haven't spent much time recently exploring the cities you mention, but in general, I'd say homeless people living in tents would probably be inclined to gravitate towards cities with a milder climate, such as Southern California. That's not always true, though. Maybe they just don't know any better?

I don't know what goes on at AA, but what I've found from the times I've quit altogether is this: If you know you should stop for whatever reason, quitting is easy. Just adjust your mindset. You don't have to quit for "forever." When you wake up in the morning, your only thought is that you're not going to have any alcohol TODAY. Just don't have any. Nexxt day, same thing. Don't think about it, just do it. Do that for a week of so and you'll begin to forget about it. You have to put your body in motion, so to speak, and the proper mindset shows up at a later date. It's not unlike trying to quit cigarettes. I finally managed to do that 50 years ago. Presently, I just drink some wine once in a while. That's it. That works for me. My main concern s my health. I've gotten this far in life with no major medical problems, and I'd like to keep it that way.

That about sums it up. No one is necessarily going to give you anything, but if you're willing to be flexible and look for opportunities, they are there.

It doesn't have to be awful. Everything is there if a person wants to work and has talent. Today's American kids were all sold the fantasy that is they had a college "degree" they could simply leave college and step into the American Dream. When they find out no one is hiring, they drop out, or a lot of them do. Some adapt and start their own businesses. Others work three jobs and save what money they can to invest of start their own businesses. Anyway, if you take a look at the average yearly incomes for the various ethnic groups in America, you'll see that Asians outperform Caucasians. My guess is that the Asians are successful because they work harder. The people you see on You/Tube living in tents are there of their own choosing. Or, perhaps, they have drug problems or mental issues. Mostly, you see these problems in the big cities on the East or West Coast. Expensive areas.