jas007

Yes, I live in Thailand, and yes, I've experienced power outages and internet outages. But everyone knows those are just temporary glitches. Small localized outages. Just the other day, my internet went out. It was fine on my phone, but the 5G in my condo wouldn't work. I finally just turned off the computer and went to lay around the pool. By the time I got back, everything was working again. One time in Phuket, the power was out for the better part of a day. But they told everyone that was going to happen, in advance. They were doing some work on the electricity in the area. In America, that kind of thing doesn't happen, but for a natural disaster or a grid failure. Hurricanes, tornados, floods. All understandable. But sometimes, it's more widespread and can mean trouble. Anyone remember the 1977 blackouts on the East Coast? Lightning hit a power station somewhere and a cascading effect shut down a large section of the power grid. It was a mess.

When you talk about marriage, you're talking about a contract. And in most cultures and for most purposes, that contract never expires. It's a lifetime contract. Let's suppose I don't have a problem with the concept of marriage, as such, I just object to the terms of the contract. Let's further suppose that I might be OK with a contract that expires after five years, let's say, with an option to renew if both sides are agreeable. Get married and see what happens. It the contract is not renewed, that's it. Over. Done. Finished. As if it never happened, for purposes of the legal system. Not unlike a longterm apartment lease that the landlord doesn't want to renew. In the case of a renewable contract, I'd be fine with the concept of marriage. My problem is with the legal system and its enforcement mechanisms. My guess is that you wouldn't like a short term marriage contract. You rolled the dice and won, and you want to lord that over everyone else as if you had a crystal ball and would always have been able to choose correctly. Don't kid yourself.

To be sure. There's lots of blame to go around. Different legal systems. Different cultures. In any event, I was at work one day and had a moment of clarity. There was no way I would ever trust my freedom to chance. No way I would ever turn my life over to a legal system that was rigged. If that meant never being married in this lifetime, then so be it. And here I am, almost 50 years later and I don't regret it at all.

You're probably right about that, I hope. But it is a very real possibility. Have you ever been in an area that had a power blackout? One minute, everyone is in the grocery store, ready to check out. And then, nothing works. And so you leave your groceries in the cart and drive home. And on the way home, no traffic lights. And when you get home, no electricity. No nothing. That happened to me one time. Fortunately, the situation resolved after a few hours, but what if it hadn't? No one was really prepared.

Fine. I'm pretty sure, though, you haven't seen what I've seen. What kind of childhood did you have? How many times did your father lose half of everything he owned in a divorce settlement? How many divorce cases have you looked at? The legal files? The reality of what happens when two people decide they hate each other. Maybe you dodged the bullet. Misogyny? Not really. Just someone who recognized a broken system early on. I won't go into too much detail, but in one of my very first jobs after law school, that's all I dealt with every day. Divorced people. Divorced people who hated each other. One time I counted the file cabinets. 75 file cabinets filled with divorce paperwork. And every six months, half of those file cabinets had to be emptied out and the contents placed in storage, simply to make room for all the new cases. For me, it was just a job. They paid me money, I did the job, and at the end of the day, I went home. But I did notice what was happening to men, primarily. They were up against a rigged system. And for them, there was no escape. One time, I sent a guy a letter about his divorce, and when he received it, he went into his back yard and blew his brains out. I could sit here all day and tell you crazy stories, just from my own person experience. One of my friends was once handling a simple divorce case. The man was not from the USA and didn't want to comply with a court order giving his wife custody pf his kids. He wanted to take his kids back to the Middle East. What did he do? He killed them all. Wife and two kids. Problem solved? If your life turned out OK, great. You dodged a bullet. But I'm sure if it had turned out otherwise, you'd be one of the first people to complain.

I understand. You may be right, but I think I have a point as well. Extreme maybe, but possible. Do you take medicine? Do you need anything made of plastic? Do you consume anything that was transported to your place? Where does your pension come from and how is it paid? What if your Thai bank account was worthless and could no longer be accessed? People seem to think they can disconnect from an irrelevant grid while the grid continues to function, providing them with banking services, medicines, and other of life's necessities. We saw how that played out in America, during COVID. People with office jobs stayed home and played around online, collecting their stimulus money and paychecks. And yet some people continued to work, collecting the garbage, driving the trucks, keeping the power grid operational, picking the crops, and so on. Everyone pretended that wasn't happening, but those people were there, keeping the world from collapsing. Many of them illegals who had np real choice.

Maybe, but it's probably the other way around.

I must be one of the only people here to have never fallen for the marriage trap. I almost did, about 24 years ago, but I came to my sense before it was too late.

And what do you do for money? How do you pay whatever bills you have? Let's assume that, beginning in a few hours, you had no access to the internet, no access to ATMs, and no one would be depositing any money into your accounts ever again, especially from any source in America or any source reliant on Central Bank functionality. Maybe you could barter with the neighbors. Maybe trade a few of your chickens for some rice or whatever. And you had to go to bed when there sun went down, because there is no electric grid and no electricity. Unless of course, you have some sort of solar electric supply, but even that requires batteries that can hold a charge and occasionally need replacement. Could you handle all that?

I understand what you're saying. Self sufficient countries. But the world is now global, and it might not be so easy to go back. Sure, globalism can be rolled back somewhat, but that's about it. Whether you know it or not, you're still dependent upon it. There are some parts of the planet that have indigenous populations with no prior contact to civilization. They might as well be living in the Stone Age. But that's not you.

Any dog can snap and turn into a wild animal at the blink of an eye, ready to kill. The only question is, how much damage they can do. I once had a crazy cocker spaniel. 99% of the time, he was OK. But he was also certifiably nuts and could turn into a little monster that would kill you if he could. He was banned from any place I ever took him. Groomers, kennels, etc. Anyway, pit bulls really can kill. And they do, on occasion. They might as well be a dangerous explosive, ready to explode. The people who think they're nice dogs and whatever problems exist are the fault of the owner? They haven't been around to see what happens when the explosive device detonates.

I just looked at the list. Looks like a joke to me.

Believe me or not. If I come across the information again, I'll post it. If not, don't believe me. I don't care. Sooner or later though, you'll find out.

I don't think it's an either/or situation. For example, Trump may well think he's thinking for himself, but maybe that's not entirely true. Perhaps he's just a "useful idiot" as the saying goes, being manipulated by the machine? Some people think that, I'm sure. Anyway, the larger discussion here is about artificial intelligence, its progression, the advent of Quantum computers that actually work, and the significance of Quantum entanglement, etc. Einstein called the supposed theory of Quantum entanglement "spooky." He understood the concept, but he couldn't explain it. At the time, Quantum computers didn't exist to investigate. In 1935, a physicist named Schrödinger came up with a thought experiment. Anyone that's interested should look that up. It's important. Also interesting is the "Double Slit" experiment from 1801. Anyway, the world now has Quantum computers that can reliably analyze data and can prove some of the earlier theories. And apparently, the universe can spawn intelligence independently of any human interaction. Or perhaps, that intelligence is always there and we're ll just receptors.

Unfortunately, there's probably no good halfway solution. It would be nice if there was, but how would that work? Electric, water, petrol, fresh organic fruits and vegetables? Where do you think all that stuff would come from? How would it be manufactured and transported? And what about all the people who could no longer afford to live without a first world economy and its industrialized agricultural production? In the USA, those people are already living on borrowed time and borrowed money, and the country is still functional, more or less. But it's slowly slipping away from them. Take away the existing structure and all hell would break loose. Whatever "prepping" anyone did wouldn't be enough. It would be Mad Mex on steroids. Even for the people living in Thailand, out in the sticks and away from the rat race. They, too, would be affected. What would they use for money? How would they protect it?

I'm not sure anyone really knows the extent of it. And that may be a good thing. Perhaps it's best if the illusion persists. A big security blanket for everyone. For example, many many people think they own gold. But do they really, or do they just hold some paper promise? So long as everyone believes in the promises made, then the gold market will continue to function. Otherwise, maybe not. For sure, they have some idea about the extent of the notational value of existing derrivative contracts and gross values, but the world has yet to find out how it all plays out in the event of a systemic meltdown.

In there grand scheme of things, Trump will be but a footnote. Moreover, nobody cares about Moodys and their political stunt. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand the current Western banking system, the widespread use of fiat currencies, and the fact that countries using fiat currencies are bankrupt, but for their real assets. The exception to that general rule is the USA and its ability to issue the world reserve currency. The existing system needs US dollars to function, and that equates to value. So while the USA may be "bankrupt," that state of affairs can continue for the foreseeable future, and long after Trump is gone from the scene.

What's AN? I think it was a real person doing that, not AN, whatever that is. Probably one of the moderators. And you can believe whatever you want about my credibility, but if you doubt what I'm saying, go look it up yourself, if your brain is capable of independent comprehension.

Many people were brainwashed by the COVID propaganda. And in the USA and for some people, wearing a mask was a political statement. You instantly became a member of an"elite" group of know-it-alls. And you can guess who they voted for. I was there during COVID, but fortunately, no one could make me do anything. I wasn't working. I kept a mask in my car for my daily trip to the grocery store, not because I was paranoid, but to make the grocery store people happy. I could put on a mask for the 10 minutes I spent in the store. Many restaurants were closed for a time. Even the guy who cut my hair closed his shop. But later in 2020, things began to open back up. Many restaurants opened. To enter those places, you needed a mask, at least until you sat down to eat. It was hilarious. As if the virus magically disappeared as soon as you were seated. Here's a picture inside a Twin Peaks restaurant, taken in September of 2020. See the Blue taped X's on some of the tables? That was their solution to the virus problem. Every other table had a big X on it. You couldn't sit there. I think you sit at the bar, though. They also did away with menus you could hold in your hand. Instead, they had QR codes on the table, and you were supposed to pull up the menu from the code and look at it on your phone.

Currently, chatbots like Musk's operate on Large Language Models. They process, react to, and regurgitate the stimuli they've been trained on. They cannot yet "think." But don't assume there's no connection between the "virtual world" and the "real world." Look into some of the current research into quantum entanglement. Quantum computers have now demonstrated the existence of a reproducible intelligence that arises or perhaps exists independently of any observer. Perhaps the universe itself has intelligence. Human beings are simply receptors of a cosmic consciousness. My apologies if this explanation misses the mark.

I think the significance is twofold: A repudiation of the Neocons and Globalists and their agendas, and a recognition of the importance of the coming AI revolution. Trump is turning the page of world history. It's a new world.

No. No. No. "Facts." What are those? Don't forget the foundation. "Large Language Model." The sum total of everything the AI is trained on. And if the training material is just superstition or whatever passes for the "truth" among a brainwashed population of people posting nonsense on the internet, guess what comes out? Superstition. Or regurgitated propaganda. "Facts" are irrelevant, unless, of course, the prevailing consensus would agree. Example: 2 + 2 = 4. Not many people would argue with that result. So, Elon may be furious about his Grok AI, but it's not the fault of the Grok. It's the fault of the garbage that's already out there, floating around online and passing for the "truth."

Years ago, I read about the possibility of quantum computers someday being able to break the encryption. So they've known about the possibility for years. What they didn't realize, I think, is. the speed at which technology would evolve. I'm not sure what the answer is. That's one of the reasons I don't really trust Bitcoin.

Twenty years ago, I was in a bar in Phuket in the middle of the day, having a cold beer and chilling out in the air conditioning.There weren't too many customers. A few seats away from where I was sitting, some guy got up and left, leaving some change for a tip. A few seconds later, two girls were fighting over what couldn't have been more than 80 baht or so. It was mayhem. The girls weren't just arguing. It was a real brawl. And before it was over, they had torn up the entire back of the bar. Throwing chairs, knocking over tables. It was crazy. All over a few baht.

99.9999% of the people don't realize what's coming or why it's a game changer. It can't be stopped, and it will be the biggest technological advance ever. And it's happening now. I don't pretend to be a know-it-all about this subject, but I see the importance and I vaguely understand the process. The Saudis rolled out the Red Carpet for Trump for a reason.They aren't stupid, and they currently have the cheapest energy available on Planet Earth. They see a path out of the oil business and they're taking it. And why not? Remember, the only limit to AI is available energy. The AI will be free. The energy is the limiting factor. Personally, I'm "only in it for the money," at this point. How to make some easy money and ride the wave? My apologies to Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. I've been pumping money into the Quantum computing sector. Some people seem to think the usefulness of that technology is decades away, but, maybe not. My guess is that it's here now. But as usual, Wall Street is asleep at the switch. If that's not an opportunity, I'm not sure what is. For anyone who doesn't understand the power of Quantum computing, go do some research. A Quantum computer can solve a problem that would take traditional computers trillions and trillions of years to solve, and the Quantum computer can do it in a few minutes. Imagine putting that kind of power to work.