jas007

Political life and death? One thing is for sure. The country is about to see some massive disruptions. Government workers losing their jobs. Mass deportations. It probably needs to happen, though. The status quo was not sustainable. It's better to make some changes sooner, rather than later.

Do away with hate speech? That's just an underhanded way to say they want to do away with free speech. There are already laws on the books to control certain kinds of speech.

What bothers me somewhat is that we still don't know where Bitcoin came from. Who really created it? Why?

The reality is this: for all practical purposes, the voters had two choices. Harris or Trump. And the voters had four years to see exactly what the Dems and the Deep State were capable of. Four years the Dems can't run away from. Trying to do away with free speech. Limiting the 2nd Amendment. Weaponizing law enforcement and the judicial system. Destroying the middle class with inflation. I could go on all day. Fortunately, the voters still have a choice and they said enough of that nonsense. So, for many, Trump didn't have to convince anyone of anything. All he had to do was be anyone except Harris.

My point was that everyone who actually accomplished moving out of the country is lucky. Most people have too many complications.

Moving abroad is not so simple, really. Easy to sit around and think about it, and yet it's something else again to actually do it. Selling real estate, selling cars, selling all your "junk." Maintaining a storage POD if there are things you want to keep. Bank account issues. Taxation issues. Medical considerations for some people.

A few years back I was looking into moving to Europe somewhere. Then I started looking into the various tax laws and I sort of stopped thinking about it. And at this time, much of Europe looks like a mess, at least in some of the big cities. Maybe they'll clean up the mess sooner, rather than later?

My implication was that I'd buy more after an extreme pullback, but at the same time, my gut feeling would remain. Sometimes, you just have to say WTF. And yes, I do understand blockchain and Bitcoin. We'll see about the Fed. Can Trump do that?

If you want to see a nice chart., take a look at PLTR. Commercial customers are piling in and the military will be adopting AI throughout. It's just the beginning. Well spent money for the government and a leg up businesses using the software in a challenging economic climate.

My gut feeling tells me it's worthless. I have some, though, but I bought it along with some other cryptos years ago. Would I buy some now? No. Maybe on an extreme pullback.

Can you do wi-fi calling? Or some sort of messaging?

If there are no banking apps or other financial apps on the phone, then you need to shut down your Apple ID as a next step. If they can somehow access that, you might have trouble. Otherwise, you can only lose your phone. In the grand scheme of things, no big deal. Make sure the phone isn't with you. One time, I thought I lost my Apple Watch. So I marked it s lost. I was going all over Pattaya and it was with me all the time. I finally figured that out the next day when I found it in my pocket. Long story.

Assuming, arguendo, that Trump's tariffs will cost the consumer. Have you considered the alternative?

You seem to assume that's all anyone thinks about. Really? Last weekend, I was in Bangkok for a few days and watched some of the cabe channels in my hotel. On one of the European channels, someone was interviewing Putin. And according to Putin, Trump is just another Deep State character. No one with any sense cares.

MAGA? Non MAGA? Do you really think most people care? I have yet to meet anyone in Thailand that cares. Maybe on this forum, but that's about it.

I live in an area with all sorts of Russians. They're everywhere. And I'm pretty sure they don't sit around all day thinking about Putin. Some of them seem to be here permanently, some just come for three or four months at a time. I don't speak Russian, but many of the Russians know rudimentary English. Some are fluent in English. Anyway, without exception, every single one of them has been nice to me. Very nice and polite. Of course, these are probably upper class Russians. After all, they can afford to not work, get on a plane to Thailand, and book a high end condo for months at a time.

Age? Everyone is different. Some people are old, in bad physical shape, and demented at age 75. Some earlier than that. Some people live past 100 in perfect control of their minds. When he was 80, my father was still going over to the local country club every day to try to pick up girls. He never stopped being like that. When he was in his 50s, he married some cute little blond girl that was 25. I think that was marriage number three. On my mom's side of the family, almost everyone lived into their upper 80s and 90s, with one living to 106. And when he died, he was still 100%, mentally. Anyway, if you listen to Trump, he's nowhere near senile. Quite the opposite.

Yes, there is a "Deep State." That's just a term, of course, but the existence is real. When you're there, you don't get a "Deep State" identity card. You probably get a so-called "dog tag" to wear around your neck. Ever have one of those? They know when you come. They know when you go. They know where you are. And you know they know all that and you don't care. If you're that far into the system, they need you. You don't need them. Give them what they want and you can do anything you want. It's a sweet deal. I could sit here all night and tell you stories about things you would never believe. I don't believe most of it myself, but for the fact that I was there and I saw. Anyway, for me, that's all ancient history, but since then , not much has changed, I'm sure.

I've never seen Biden so happy and so remarkably cogent. It's like he was freed from a cage. Funny.

To be honest, I've never even looked into the LTR visas. I always just use the "O" extension of stay visa extension based on retirement. That always works. I've done it several times now, over the last 18 years. It doesn't get much simpler. Put at least 800,000 baht in a Thai bank and leave it there. When you show up in Thailand and want to extend your stay, it's just a matter of a little paperwork. I enter on a 30 day stamp, I extend that at Immigration, and then I can apply for the extension of stay based on retirement. At that point, I just need an application form and a letter from the bank along with an updated copy of my bank book. Anyway, I don't have a crystal ball. If your LTR visa has already been approved, why not?

We've all heard it all before. It's not a rumor, though. Just so you realize that. Maybe it matters to you. Mathematically, the status quo must adapt. Unless you think mathematics is a rumor that doesn't matter. In terms of my personal finances, I'm currently operating on the theory that I don't care. Like it or not, I'm 73 years old. I'm all-in the market. Mainly tech stocks, at least in my USA accounts, but for about $23 in my checking account. My checking accounts are free, so I can run them down to zero if I want. I might have a bit more in a few other accounts and enough money in my Thai bank to maintain my retirement extension of stay. With any luck, I'll drop dead before the financial system collapses. And currently, the results are fantastic. In my primary brokerage account, I'm up 168% YTD. Every day when I turn on my computer, I see more new money than I could ever spend here in Thailand. A lot of that increase happened in just the last few months. And if the market collapses? So what? I'll get dividends from my oil stocks. At least that's the plan. Does that make sense?

If I knew that, I could become a trillionaire. I really and truly hope that the status quo continues for the foreseeable future. The collapse of the dollar and a disruption of the Western banking system would be problematic, no? And yet how does the system continue to operate without constant change? Without adapting? Systems adapt or they die. Maybe the change is gradual. Usually, world reserve currencies don't vanish, they just fade away. The world has had any number of reserve currencies, right? For example, the British Pound is still around. We now live in a multi-polar world. And yet the Central Banks of the Western world don't like that. They've all but monopolized the world's finances for decades, and they'd like to continue that monopoly. Monopolies are a good thing to have.

I actually don't need it, it just seems tempting. I already have a newer MacBook Air with the M3 chip, and two IPad Pros. I'll probably wait for a few weeks to see what kind of bugs turn up, if any.

Probably not, unfortunately. They've had a setback, that's all. Or perhaps, I should say the "Great Reset" has been postponed. It has been in the planning stage for years, but the new political system will put a damper on their plans.

It would be nice if you were correct. Unfortunately. just because something hasn't happened doesn't mean it can't. Remember what Hemingway said about bankruptcy?