jas007

Until recently, if I was responding to a post and there were new replies to the same topic, a little black pop-up would appear at the bottom of the screen which I could click on and have the new replies added to the chain of posts. But recently, that little black pop up has been overlaid with an ad trying to make me click on some link that I will NEVER click on. Is that some short of a new way to make my life difficult? If so, it's not working. And it never will.

I'm not sure what your point is, but many people can certainly save some or all of their Social Security benefits, not necessarily because they are "too high," but because they have other sources of income. I didn't need any of my Social Security benefits before the recent changes made under The Social Security Fairness Act, and I certainly won't need any portion of the increased monthly payments I'll receive under that Act. Every penny goes into an investment of some kind. And, if I've played my cards right, I'll never need any of that money for the rest of my life. I'm well aware that many people need every single penny of their monthly benefits. They are elderly and it's their only source of income. There's no way they won't be in a world of hurt going forward. I think Trump knows this too, as he's pushing for the current continuing resolution to allow the government to continue operating for another year, during which time he can continue to operate without a threat of government shutdown. He knows that will be very much unpopular, once reality hits what's left of the "middle class" voters. It's not going to be pretty. Anyway, it's a hard jb, but there may be no other choice. Stop the waste fraud and abuse or we no longer have America. Will all this roil the bond market? Possible. Will the Fed continue to buy it all, despite the dollar's melt down? They've said as much. No one knows how this will all turn out, but at least Trump will try to do the right thing, I think.

I'm not sure what your point is, but many people can certainly save some or all of their Social Security benefits, not necessarily because they are "too high," but because they have other sources of income. I didn't need any of my Social Security benefits before the recent changes made under The Social Security Fairness Act, and I certainly won't need any portion of the increased monthly payments I'll receive under that Act. Every penny goes into an investment of some kind. And, if I've played my cards right, I'll never need any of that money for the rest of my life. I'm well aware that many people need every single penny of their monthly benefits. They are elderly and it's their only source of income. There's no way they won't be in a world of hurt going forward. I think Trump knows this too, as he's pushing for the current continuing resolution to allow the government to continue operating for another year, during which time he can continue to operate without a threat of government shutdown. He knows that will be very much unpopular, once reality hits what's left of the "middle class" voters. It's not going to be pretty. Anyway, it's a hard jb, but there may be no other choice. Stop the waste fraud and abuse or we no longer have America. Will all this roil the bond market? Possible. Will the Fed continue to buy it all, despite the dollar's melt down? They've said as much. No one knows how this will all turn out, but at least Trump will try to do the right thing, I think.

I'm not sure what your point is, but many people can certainly save some or all of their Social Security benefits, not necessarily because they are "too high," but because they have other sources of income. I didn't need any of my Social Security benefits before the recent changes made under The Social Security Fairness Act, and I certainly won't need any portion of the increased monthly payments I'll receive under that Act. Every penny goes into an investment of some kind. And, if I've played my cards right, I'll never need any of that money for the rest of my life. I'm well aware that many people need every single penny of their monthly benefits. They are elderly and it's their only source of income. There's no way they won't be in a world of hurt going forward. I think Trump knows this too, as he's pushing for the current continuing resolution to allow the government to continue operating for another year, during which time he can continue to operate without a threat of government shutdown. He knows that will be very much unpopular, once reality hits what's left of the "middle class" voters. It's not going to be pretty. Anyway, it's a hard jb, but there may be no other choice. Stop the waste fraud and abuse or we no longer have America. Will all this roil the bond market? Possible. Will the Fed continue to buy it all, despite the dollar's melt down? They've said as much. No one knows how this will all turn out, but at least Trump will try to do the right thing, I think.

AllI can say is that you can bet that not only does Starlink remain active, Ukraine will continue to have access to Palantir and the services it provides. If you knew anything about Dr. Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir, you'd know that. He and Musk have kept Ukraine from collapsing entirely. One time someone asked Karp how Palantir was doing in Ukraine. His reply: "Ask the Russians." Well, the Russians may know, but Trump is the one that will make the deal to end the war, and his top priority is to stop the killing. He'll deal with the Russians and rearrange the world geopolitical landscape if that means achieving his goal of making a deal.

In other words, you know I have a valid point and your only retort is to call it "stupid." I could educate you about how simple of a fix it was to send out those checks, but why? You don't really want to understand anything. Understanding might just upend your world view.

You don't need experience to flip a switch, and that's likely what happened. They were told to pay the people who were owed money. Flip a switch and the checks go out to all the easy cases. Anyone suggesting that was not always the case doesn't know anything about the system.

What part of the English language don't you understand.? Commercial satellite imagery is one thing, Access to Starlink is something else again. To be sure, there may be some tangential connection between the availability of certain commercial satellite imagery and Palantir's ability to provide services via Starlink, but they really are two separate issues. I read the article you linked. Nothing in it suggests access to Starlink has been compromised. You can bet it hasn't.

I'm not sure about treason, but there was certainly an effort at sandbagging the process to extort more employees and/or a larger administrative budget. The "Ex Head" suggested the process of processing payments under the Social Security Fairness Act might take a year or more, inasmuch as no funding was provided to process the payments. And then they became an "Ex-Head." Whatever happened, I was owed some money under that program, and received it the other day. I guess someone flipped a switch and automated the process. Of course, that was always possible. It's not rocket science. Anyone who knows how databases work knows how to sort files.

Notice it's the "Ex" head of Social Security. They're now an Ex Head for good reason.

Well, NATO is surely dead at this point. As for Japan and the Japanese Yen? You can't be serious. To be sure, Japan has been willing to produce an unending river of a failing fiat currency, and in quantities that have been unrivaled. And for that, the currency continues to weaken. Fortunately, a worthless Fiat currency is hardly the answer the world needs right now. But it's totally understandable why the Globalists might think so. They want everyone to believe in the Big Lie. As for Trump and the world's distrust of any treaty the US might enter into? Of course. Trump is a realist and was elected to make America Great Again. He's following through with that promise. If that means abrogating treaties and rearranging the geopolitical world, then so be it.

"At Risk"? Can you comprehend English? That's just someone's BS way of scaring people. Starlink access remains, along with Palantir's targeting systems.

I've had similar thoughts. Even Musk will tell you they're not certain if they will succeed. Nothing is certain. Trump may well be the Captain of a sinking ship. I thought that, the other day, when he was in his office signing executive orders. We had all better home, though, that he is successful in turning things around, as the current crop of so-called "Democrats" have no plan. Their only "plan" is to destroy America and everything it stands for. It's all part of a Globalist scheme orchestrated by the likes of Klaus Schwab at the WEF and Bill Gates.

Did they really? I don't think so. Do you know who Alex Karp is? Palantir's CEO and a staunch supporter of Ukraine and the USA. Musk has continued to maintain that he will never allow Ukraine's access to Starlink to be to be cut off. Access to commercial satellite imagery is a different issue entirely. There may be some overlap, but I think Starlink access remains, along with Palantir targeting availability.

Isn't this irrelevant? From what I understand, Ukraine has access to Musk's Starlink system, and targeting operations are continuing by way of Palantir's system. As such, Ukraine continues to have access to the best defensive intelligence the world has to offer. Why would they need government-purchased commercial satellite imagery? Why would they need pictures that are inferior to what they currently have on a real time basis?

Let''s just say the Crypto Reserve seems to have been established for some reason. Trump likely didn't make that move for the heck of it. There may well be a plan afoot to introduce a digital currency that will be used to pay off the US bondholders in full. And that can only happen with Crypto Reserves that have greatly appreciated. Personally, I don't much care what happens to the value of the US dollar. Except for a small amount I keep in a little fund, my US Dollar income is immediately invested in assets I think stand an excellent chance of coming out ahead in this game. Stocks, Crypto, gold, silver. In any event, they say the US Dollar's reserve currency status likely has four or five more years to run as the world will demand it, at least for that long, in any event. Right now I'm 73 and in excellent health, so there's that factor, for me. I think I'll be insulated for at least that much longer. And if I'm right, I'll stay that way for many more years because of my holdings.

I read everything I can from every source I can and at this point I'm not sure anyone really has a grasp on how this will play out. Some people think we're on the brink of an inflationary depression that will pretty much wipe out everyone, even those who think they're insulated. The dollar may have a few years left, but in the end, it'll be virtually worthless. However, no one, other than certain members of the Trump team, seem to have grasped the significance of the US Strategic Crypto Reserve, or whatever it's called. Let's assume The US establishes such a reserve, that that reserve includes Bitcoin and others, including XRP. Over time, and as the US dollar becomes increasingly worthless, the value of the Crypto reserves should increase, correct? Russia has already said the they would take payment in XRP for their oil and gas, to evade and sanctions imposed by the central banks. Let's assume that works. The US pays off its national debt with the now much more valuable Crypto reserves and life goes on. The holders of US bonds lose, those with real assets and Cryptos win. Anyway, the world may be headed in that direction. So, buy some Cryptos, including XRP. And having some gold and silver might not be such a bad idea, either.

How about this idea? Rather than going through the hassle of opening up a new bank account just for my electric bill, what about buying a pre-paid debit card from Bangkok Bank? I think they sell those, and if there is the ability to manage and use the account online, and possibly reload the card from time to time, I could use that to scan the QR code on my monthly bill a copy of which I receive from by email from my condo. No real bank account is involved, but the problem is solved. Does that make sense?

That what they say, although as I've said, they're been there and done that with the old Soviet Union. Keeping that together almost bankrupted them, and they won't make that mistake again. In any event, Trump realizes the war is over. He's looking forward and wants the killing to stop. Too many young men on both sides ate being slaughtered for no good reason. Killing millions more won't change anything.

I guess opening a second account just to pay the electric bill would be a solution. I'm trying to keep this simple. It's too and I can't somehow just pay the electric bill six months in advance.

I need some good suggestions on how I might pay my Pattaya electric bill online, without the actual paper bill. Every month, my condo emails me a copy of the paper bill, which includes the barcode from the paper bill. I'd like to be able to pay this bill somehow, by just using this barcode. Perhaps at a 7-11? I have money in a Thai Bank account, but I don't want this account accessible online. Anyway, if I could solve this problem, I could take off for a few months at a time without actually being in Pattaya.

Putin has said repeatedly that he's not going to stop the war until there's an agreed deal, but that once a deal is reached, hostilities will cease that very minute. Russia has had a hard time fighting this war, and it's hardly conceivable that it might pose any kind of real threat to the rest of Europe. The Soviet Union just about went bankrupt trying to hold the old regime together. They won't repeat that mistake. Anyone suggesting otherwise is brainwashed. And that's unfortunate. WWIII would pretty much mean the end of the world as we know it..

This Macron character needs a reality check, I'm afraid. And if I were living in Paris right now, I'd be questioning that choice. For Russia, France would become an existential threat. His idea would not be tolerated.

We all get old, although I sometimes question whether time really exists. Certain instances in my life seem like they just happened yesterday. And maybe they did? Space/Time. Maybe Einstein was wrong.

I don't know for sure. No one does. But I have my suspicions. In any event, from here and for now, I'm just a detached observer. I can see what's happening, and baring a global thermonuclear war, I'm nothing more than an observer. That gives me a lot of power and insight. I don't have to crate to anyone's agenda, and it gives me clarity. If I'm wrong, I'll come back here and admit it. It' all very flexible.