jas007

You can absolutely bet that this escalation isn't really about Ukraine "winning" the war. There are ulterior motives. The Deep State will do anything to keep Trump from becoming president again. Anyway, perhaps Putin will show some restraint. None of this nonsense is necessary and Trump will surely find a way to end the fighting.

I'm pretty sure it's not that simple. These are precision weapons that require satellite use and addition infrastructure as part of the targeting process. Ukraine doesn't control any of that.

I've seen a few of Sabbatical's travel videos. They're pretty good. They're not political at all. Mostly, a guy that shows up in a new place and wants an adventure. He travels all over the world. I don't know what happened in Russia, but if he's out of there, that's that. Usually, the Russian YouTube travel videos are interesting. I follow a few Russian girls. All things considered, Russia looks like a nice place.

I'm 73 and retired from the USA. I haver Medicare A and B, and I pay the Part B premium from my Social Security Check. Maybe around $175 a month. That insurance is only good in the US. I also have BCBS (Geo Blue) here in Thailand based on prior federal employment. My share cost me around $375 a month, with the government picking up the remainder of the monthly premium. I think their share is around $750 a month. These rates will all increase in January. My share will then be about $424 a month. So, in total, one way or the other, my health insurance will cost almost $1500 USD a month. That's 50,000 baht plus. It's very good insurance, though. The inpatient GeoBlue in-patient hospital benefits are UNLIMITED. And that policy works all over the world. Fortunately for the insurance companies, I never really use the policies. I had one in-patient hospital stay recently in Bangkok for eye surgery. 471.00 baht. Otherwise, that's about it, other than cataract surgery back in the USA about eight years ago. Mostly, I don't think about any of this. And if I didn't have insurance, I would just self insure. I'm in good health, so far, and I try to stay that way.

Partisan people? I chalk it up to the fact that what used to be the Democratic Party turned into a bunch of extreme left wing idiots. They pushed a little too far. They pushed their extreme agenda in everyone's face and people woke up. They didn't have much choice. Other people were trying to take away their rights. Their right to free speech, their right to bear arms, their 4th Amendment rights, etc. And part of the left wing agenda was to stir the pot. Stir up trouble. Divide and conquer. Keep people conflicted and fighting each other while their country was being stolen by unelected globalists. And it worked, to a point. But the peeole finally saw through the propaganda. The left could no longer control the narrative. The legacy media was dying and the truth trickled out. Thank Elon Musk if you ever get the chance. The same thing is beginning to happen around the world. Europe. Japan. Australia, China. Slowly, people wake up and that's the end of the globalist agenda..

Peace deal between Russia and Ukraine? You can bet with almost 100% certainty that that will happen sooner rather than later. Trump wants it for sure, and Ukraine has already lost the war, in any event. It's over. If Ukraine wants to retain what's left of their country, they'll take the hint and make a deal. The only fly in the ointment would be the new Neocons Trump seems to have chosen to run US foreign policy. A big mistake, but nothing I can control. Anyway, we can only hope those people don't drag the US into a continuing war in Ukraine that can't be won.

Sounds like it might have been a good video!

Back in the US, I had a cable modem provider that capped my monthly usage at too gb before charging extra for each 10gb. Anyway, I had my TV on streaming TV or other services probably 12 hours a day. Sometimes I exceeded the 100 gb level. But another time, in another city with another provider, I was just using my phone as a hotspot and was streaming through that . I used gigabytes like you wouldn't believe. It was costing me big $$$. I'm not sure what the difference was.

I'm not going to read this entire thread but there's a lot of chatter on the internet about a "secret" Tump has about the election, including something about the Brunson case.

The seems weird. I'm not from the UK, but from the USA. Usually, when stuff is shipped from Amazon, Amazon takes care of the customs problem. One time, I didn't ever receive an item, bit it wasn't because of customs. And Amazon refunded my money.

Not if you also have a 30 year lease that's recorded. I guess ideally all this could be negotiated as part of the initial lease structure. Or, leave yourself an option to amend at a later date.

Don't misunderstand me. I enjoyed most of the jobs I've had. Good co-workers, for the most part, and the jobs were easy. Going to work was fun. But the work was nothing I ever had a passion for. Some people are lucky, and actually have that. Art, music, design, architecture.. They start from an early age and are able to be superstars in their field. I guess I rebelled against "the system" at an early age. I went through the motions, to be sure, but only as much as necessary. It all seemed so ridiculous. Years of schooling during which you're expected to pick a career. You're supposed to fight a niche, get a job, and not buck the system. That's no fun. Necessary, sometimes, but not necessarily rewarding.

They say that Trump may well dissolve both houses and make all of his Cabinet picks via recess appointments. The uproar about Gaetz as AG should be fun to watch, in any event. I kind of like the guy.

To follow up: if the original lessor (Thai person who owns the land) wanted to at some later date negotiate a sale of the house structure separate from the land, wouldn't that be possible?

Maybe he said "bought" in a broad sense. You can "buy" a 30 year lease, right? I see properties advertised like that sometimes. Someone buys a land lease with an existing structure, then at some later date wants to sell the lease. So it's advertised as a land lease sale with X number of years remaining. My only question is if the house can be separated from the land lease once the lease is a done deal.

Isn't there some way you can do a long term land lease for the land, and somehow buy the actual house as a separate transaction? To th original poster: I'd just hire a rental agency and turn it all over to them. They'd get a small cut of the monthly rent.

Some people confused? If so, you probably haven't seen many divorce cases gone crazy. The OP doesn't say where he's from or even if he has any assets anywhere in the world. Maybe he's penniless and will remain penniless until the day he dies. But maybe not. Some people have various assets that can be seized, including pensions. It's better to assume the worst. Maybe the OP is from the USA, for example. Fifty states and 50 different jurisdictions. Fifty sets of laws. Maybe he leaves Thailand and goes back to the USA. He moves to a state with draconian divorce laws and resumes his life. Years later, a crazy woman somehow shows up in America and tracks him down. She finds an attorney who will take the case just to make money, and she spins a tale of woe about promises made by the OP while they were married. She alleges that she was "tricked" into signing certain documents in Thailand, and things escalate from there. The judge in the case is a mean feminist who wants to see that the woman gets "what she's entitled to." Anyway, at that point, anything can happen. Even if the woman has no real case, by that time the OP has spent $$$$ on an attorney. Maybe lots of money. And once these things start, they can go on forever. Believe it or not, that's just a simplified version of what can happen. I've seen cases that start out overseas, supposedly end with a divorce overseas, and yet pop up again in the USA, sometimes spanning multiple jurisdictions there. Don't think it can't happen. Probably not, but you never know. As I said, if it were me, I'd pay a little bit of money to a Thai lawyer and see that it's done right.

Were you guys married in Thailand and was the marriage recorded? Or was it just a "traditional' marriage? There seem to be a number of considerations. I'm not going to play lawyer on here, but if it were me, I'd consult a Thai attorney familiar with both Thai and International law and applicable treaties. I'd have an agreement drawn up wherein all parties agree to the division of assets, if any. Have that agreement recorded. Remember, the world is a big place with many legal jurisdictions. Anything can happen.

I didn't mean to imply that these groups are from any particular country. Germans, Russians..... they could be from anywhere.

My "purpose" has always been to have fun. Play around. School or work....? Just inconvenient disruptions to get money. I'm sure some people think I'me crazy, but that's OK. What they think doesn't matter.

DEI is silly. What's wrong with meritocracy? If you're the most qualified candidate, then so be it, whatever the race or sexual orientation. Otherwise, nope. If you take a long flight and you have a choice of two planes, which plane would you fly on? One assembled and worked on by DEI mechanics who are possibly incapable of doing the job they were hired to do, flown by DEI pilots and crew members? Or would you opt for travel on a plane that was assembled, maintained, and flown by pilots and staff that have demonstrated the ability to do the job they were hired for?

For me, everything goes smoothly so long as I don't waste any time thinking about my age and how "old" I'm supposed to be. What good would that do me? So, for all intents and purposes, I'm 25. My only problem is that I still feel like I'm supposed to be doing something. But I don't have to be anywhere and I don't have to do anything. I guess my "purpose" is trying to have fun.

For me, a similar annoyance: Entire families that stop in the middle of a crowded sidewalk for a protracted family meeting. They don't seem to care who is trying to walk past them. They just stand there like it's your problem.

Just to clarify a few things: If a person receives Title II Social Security Disability (those are benefits based on a person's work record), that person can continue to receive those benefits if living outside the USA, so long as the benefits are not being sent to a country on a small list of countries to which the Treasury will not remit money. If the residence abroad continues for more than six months, then the benefits can usually be continued with the filing of some additional paperwork.

For some of us, 1977 really does almost seem like yesterday. Like you could reach out and touch it.