jas007

Maybe I'm going crazy, but I seem to have a hard time lately finding movies to watch that aren't totally stupid. Ditto for some of the TV series. Every once in a while, I find a true gem, but that's not too often. This one is good: True Romance, from 1993. If you haven't seen it, watch it. I can't seem to post a link that works. Also good: Dusk til Dawn, by Tarantino

There has been a shift in public awareness, to be sure, but I think the "perps" are just getting started. They may never be held to account. They're already supposedly working on mRNA treatments that spread from person to person. They're trying to treat the food supply. I stopped thinking about it all because there's not much I can do but stay as far away as possible, stay healthy, get lots of sunshine and Vitamin D, and make sure my immune system is working well.

Anyone who bothers to do a little research can, at this point, find the "truth." One of the reasons I left the USA. I guess that's all I can say.

I sometimes forget, not everyone was alive back in the 50s and 60s. I can still remember seeing the Beatles when they first appeared on the Ed Sullivan show. February 1964. Anyway, just about every kid alive back then bought every Beatles album. I have a crazy memory, I think. No matter what the rock song, that sound is associated in my mind with a particular time and place, but for no particular reason. Play "Magical Mystery Tour" and my mind returns to one cold winter night driving through the snow and ice in a car that wasn't warmed up yet on a street not far from my mom's house. A random playlist takes me on a journey through different times and places. Anyway, I always liked the White album.

That's already happening, right? In slow motion. No need to default, just print more and more money. I guess that's what BRICS is all about. Didn't Trump say something about paying off the debt with a cryptocurrency of some sort? Remember the trillion dollar coin idea? They could make up 35 or 36 of those, deposit them, and then pay off all the bondholders.

Tariffs and tax cuts probably won't reduce inflation. And if Trump wants to increase military spending and if Social Security is off the table, then I think he's got a problem. Between interest on the debt, the military, and non-discretionary spending, what's left? Take a look, sometime, at a piechart of the federal spending. That should settle the argument. Take interest on the debt, military spending, and Social Security and Medicare off the table and see what's left. Not much. And the interest rate on the debt is increasing faster and faster. Entire agencies could be abolished, and maybe that would help a little. No one would even notice except for the people who work at those places. Musk and Ramaswamy think they can identify government waste. And they probably can, using software like Palantir, which is already in use by the CIA and in some of the newer military systems. Let's assume they can identify the waste and fraud with a government-wide adoption of an AI platform.. Then what? People used to defrauding the government won't be happy. Neither will all the people receiving kickbacks and political donations. And pretty much of the entire DC area population leeches off the government, one way or another. So there'll be a massive backlash. That's why Trump is such a danger to the establishment. He threatens the flow of corruption money. And some people might actually have to get real jobs. One additional problem is already beginning to show up: bond market vigilantes. The Fed may be able to control the Fed funds rate and the short end of the yield curve, but they can't control the bond market, a market that dwarfs the stock market and backstops much of the world's financial system. An increasingly larger federal debt probably won't be tolerated much longer. I don't have a solution. The political system is broken.

For me, the second half of the year was better than the first half. I was dealing with an eye issue, but finally had surgery at the end of June. With that problem solved, my health has been fine. Financially, I've been doing great, as some of my stocks really took off beginning in July, so that's been fun to watch. Eye popping returns. The election cycle in the US was also fun to watch. It ended well, fortunately. The big challenge in 2025 will be somehow stopping all the wars started by the warmongers. Those need to be stopped ASAP or none of us may live to see 2026. I try to be optimistic, but that's becoming more and more difficult, given some of Trump's cabinet picks. Anyway, it will be interesting to see how many trillions actually get cut from the budget. Whatever happens, people in the USA should expect more inflation.

The trend dates back years and was shortsighted, in retrospect, but was just what the Globalists wanted. The big multinational companies cashed in on the cheap overseas labor, and in the process eroded the USA manufacturing base, setting the stage for the borrow and spend binge that has now reached its endpoint. Enter the authoritarian New World Order where we all eat bugs, own nothing, and will be happy. Or so they thought. Fortunately, Trump arrived. With any luck, he can reverse the trend or at least set it back for years.

It's difficult to find consumer products made in the USA. But there are some. Benchmark Audio and McIntosh Audio, both made in New York State.. Magnepan speakers, from Minnesota.. Some of the small electronic parts may be sorted internationally. Those are just a few examples. Where do they make Wrangler jeans? Lee jeans? I think one of those companies still manufactures in the USA. Ditto for some of the car tire companies. Of course, they make some wines in the USA, as well as some hard liquor. The US still has somewhat of a manufacturing base, especially to supply the auto industry. For example, I have two cousins who have a manufacturing facility in New York State. They employ hundreds of people and have customers all over the world. Mainly in the USA, though.

Yep. It's a Iong story, but I thought I had a diabetes problem, so I want on a carnivore diet. I went from around 81 kilos down to 69 kilos, whatever that is in pounds. I'm 5'10" or 5'11". Anyway, if you cut out the carbs, your body will eventually turn to stored fat. You can burn through that in no time.

It's not just Thailand. It's happening all over the developed world. Have you seen the beach pictures of the USA in the 70s with not a fat person in sight? For contrast they'l post a picture of people at the beach in 2024. The difference is astounding. Of course, it's the food industry and the drug industry. They make money from fat, unhealthy people.

That's not typical, but it can happen. Usually, if they can't find a driver, your order will be cancelled after about 20 minutes. Or sometimes, a driver will accept the order but will be delivering multiple orders on the same delivery, and it'll take a long time. Part of it may depend on which restaurant you order from. Some seem to have drivers waiting around. Others, maybe not. Just a while ago, I ordered from Robin Hood. As soon as I submitted the order, I got a message back."Your order is in the kitchen." So they had someone sitting around waiting for an order. I think it was finally delivered about 45 minutes later.

OK. I'll mark my calendar. Part of me hopes Trump actually puts his plans in place. But the other part of me knows those plans will be blocked, one way or the pother, and that's the real danger. As I've said, business as usual is not a solution, so you had better hope Trump succeeds. And I'm not parroting Fox rhetoric. I don't usually even watch it, except once in a while when snippets appear on YouTube. I do, however, have a pretty good grip on politics and economics and the big macro picture.

Do you really believe all that? How does robbing "those who can least afford it" fix the economic system? The billionaires don't need tax breaks, and even if you took all their money, nothing would be "fixed." The system is broken and has been broken for a long time. There's no free lunch. The simple fact is this: the country cannot continue to operate on a "business as usual" track. Borrow and spend is not the answer. Deficits do matter. The country is over 35 trillion dollars in debt. Interest rates are rising and the debt is going exponential. Something has to change. More taxes are not the answer. One of two things needs to happen, long term: the country must spend less than it produces, or, it needs to produce more than it spends. All those jobs that the globalists were so eager to export need to come back to America. The's part of what Trump is trying to do with tariffs. Perhaps some of hose jobs will return. Or would you rather see America, the newest Third World country? Currently, much of the current government spending is non-discretionary. Social Security and Medicare, for example. I should probably just stop. Some people are too brainwashed by Democrat talking points to understand.

I'm willing to bet the damage may have already been done. If there's a crash coming, it's already baked into the cake, so to speak. As for Trump and his economic policies? They might just help. Or, in a worst case scenario, they can't hurt, as the damage has been done. It took forty years, but the country is now on the verge of bankruptcy. Blame both political parties. Blame the Fed. Blame Nixon and the fact that the gold window was closed in 1971. I don't however, see a complete shutdown of the system. It can be fixed. My current operating assumption is that everything will be OK for those who can ride out the next year or two, assuming the war mongers don't end the world with a global thermonuclear war.

Sure. I was just responding to the assertion that "Billions being pumped into all these AI companies and none of them are making any money." Anyway, everyone should know how the markets work. They go up, they go down. The business cycle is always there. So, when there's a draw down in the markets, there will be opportunities. The people who will be hurt in the coming months are those who are highly leveraged and who are playing with money they can't really afford to lose. Or people who are playing with money they might need six months from now.

It really does look like Trump won't be worried about inflation, and that will be a big problem for a lot of people who already can't make ends meet. Tax cuts and tariffs may well equal more money printing and more inflation. Perhaps a recession will damper some of the inflation? And AI will, over time, make for cheaper products. I think people will just have to wait and see what happens. Don't forget the bond market vigilantes.

Palantir is making money. Tesla is making money. And they've both been making me lots of money. And while Tesla is is viewed mainly as a car company, a large portion of its current valuation is premised on its future in robotics and Full Scale Driving, both of which will come to fruition sooner rather than later and both of which are plays on AI. At this point, you might as well view Tesla as an AI company that happens to make cars. As for Palantir? Some say it's not technically an AI company, and that's fine. but let's just say its software will be crucial to any company moving into the AI space. Ditto for the plans to streamline the government. Trump will be in office in a few weeks, and you can bet the D.O.G.E. people will make every effort to streamline the government and the military, in particular, using software developed by Palantir. It's just a matter of time. And that's why we're seeing the crazy Palantir valuations. Anyway, the AI thing is in its very early stages and can't be stopped. Companies that don't adopt it will be losers. It's just that simple. So, sooner or later, the AI industry will begin generate profits for more of these companies. Not all will go out of business. Is the market currently over-extended? Sure. Everyone knows that. But artificial intelligence isn't the the same as the dot.com thing. We all know how that ended for some companies. And yet some did survive. Amazon, for example.

In partial agreement, but I think the whole Trump thing adds a new dimension that might just change the typical course of events. Of course, Trump probably won't be able to accomplish all that he's promised. Politics doesn't work that way ands congress is already balking at some of his proposals. Plus, Biden has deliberately created stumbling blocks on his way out the door. Bottom line: even if Trump is only partially successful, people looking for a near term stock market crash might be disappointed. If Trump gets his tax cuts, is able to cut unnecessary spending, abolish worthless agencies, and cut back on the regulatory environment, business might just boom for a few years, at least. The consumer will be hurt, but in Trump's mind, that's a necessary part of the process. The country cannot afford business as usual and he has a mandate for change. I won't speculate about Canada, Greenland, ands Trump's stated desire to reacquire the. Panama Canal and I'm also assuming the warmongers won't succeed in their desire to incite WW III.

I still remember that year. For the Christmas holiday I was either going to go to Phuket or go and visit my father for a few weeks. For some reason, I decided to go visit my father. And that's probably the only reason I'm alive today. The hotel I usually stay at, The Tropica Bungalow, was more or less wiped off the face of the earth that day,

I'm in Pattaya and I recently had my air conditioner serviced. Three guys showed up and worked for 2 1/2 hours. They took the whole thing apart and cleaned everything. Total cost: 2200 baht. That's about $65 US dollars. In the USA, it could have cost 10X as much.

America? It can be a great place, but it can also be terrible, depending. Earlier today, for kicks, I did some USA real estate research. The real estate market has yet to crash. Current prices are insanity. And even if someone gave you a house, it would still be a money pit. Rising property taxes in many areas. Rising insurance rates. And then there's the maintenance and all the other costs associated with living in America, which usually requires a car, auto insurance, and high prices for just about everything else these days, including food. Not a good scenario for the typical retiree. In Thailand, my total overhead is so cheap it almost qualifies as pocket change. My other money stays in America, for the most part, and I invest it. And I can leave here any time I want. No major obstacles. I'm good right here, but I don't "hate" America. Maybe the new president can put it back on the right course.

The first thing I'd do would be to talk to a doctor. A specialist.

Anyone remember Soi Eric? That could be a fun place, and they had a good Italian restaurant at the back of the complex.

Whatever kind of speakers you have, the manufacturer probably has some stands custom made for those speakers. Why not check their website and see? Maybe if they do, they'll have specifications or a template. I'm sure I've seen speaker stands online custom made for different brands and models.