John Drake

One good thing to come out of the blanket tariffs fiasco: apparently, it has gotten rid of Elon Musk

He folded. He always folds. This entire blanket tariff fiasco is just a repeat on a larger scale of the failure Trump made with the tariffs/soybean deal with China in his first term. Although just like this time, he manipulated the market every time it dipped with "optimism" leaked to the press about a "soybeans deal" that pumped it up for about a year. Trump is grotesque in every part of his being. An 80 year old man trying to take the country and the world out with him.

How is Trump folding on tariffs before there is even one "deal" going to: Reshore jobs (imagine you started the process to build a factory in the US on Trump's tariff promises a month ago and now you get this), because this fold up will mainly shift jobs to places such as Southeast Asia and Mexico. Make tariffs equal out (the tariffs he imposed, he said, only equalized things, unless . . . he was lying) Stop Chinese transshipments in places like Southeast Asia, where the tariffs promised to make sure that didn't happen, unless . . . he was lying. Strengthen the dollar, as he promised to tariff any country like BRICS that threatened to undermine the dollar as a reserve currency, unless . . . he was lying.

What bilateral FTA does Thailand have with the US?

This is funny stuff. They can't believe all this gibberish talk is going to reduce their tariffs, can they?

Bangkok ought to create a foreigners only ghetto in Bangkok. Restrict the digital nomads and alcoholics to the area and see if it helps return things to livable conditions.

Thought the idea was to cut the budget through eliminating fraud and waste. So why the $300 billion increase for the Pentagon? Need scrap excess generals and admirals, close military country clubs, double fine and punish defense contractors caught inflating accounts and entering false budgetary entries. And audit the Pentagon until it all comes clean. Get rid of outdated weapons systems or pass them on to Ukraine or the Philippines.

Avoid import duties on cheese at Foodland. They have local cheddar and mozzarella. The Euros might not like it, but it's good enough for me. I do wish I could get some great US made Velveeta tariff free.

So it's really the EU that is destroying Nato. Remember, in 1949 the assertion was that the alliance was intended to "Keep the Americans in, the Russians out, and the Germans down." It Looks like the EU has just about erased all three of those goals.

I rarely spend as much s 40,000 each month. Don't need to.

Why keep bothering with Thailand when the Philippines is a better place for the US to do business. https://www.stripes.com/theaters/asia_pacific/2025-04-07/philippines-f16-fighter-jet-sale-17394393.html

Might be a good time to import American engineers and architectural firms to oversee and partner with large infrastructure projects. The Chinese ones don't seem to be working out all that well.

Can these really be repaired adequately?

Good. This is one area where I agree with Trump and his supporters. There need to be mass deportations. The country was invaded under Biden. I've seen figures of between 6.5 million and 14 million brought into the country. You cannot have 6.5 million court cases, much less 14 million. Plus mass deportations act as inducement for illegals to leave on their own before they're caught and sent to El Salvador.

This feature of the tariffs was explained the other day. According to a Trump spokesman, they were trying to avoid the possibility anywhere on the globe that China especially could engage in a transshipment loophole. So they tariffed everywhere. I don't know how legitimate the argument is, but at least it was an intentional policy decision.

Musk foolishly placed his money on Tesla being dominant in China. The Chinese bought his cars initially, then stole his technology, and now have him boxed in. He'll do anything to remain in Xi's good graces. Elon does well with rockets and space technology. He should focus on that and shut the hell up about everything else.

The majority are not obese. The closest you are to being correct is if you break it down in terms of race. Almost but not quite 50 percent of American blacks are obese. They are followed by hispanics, whites, and then asians.

Could have bought F16s. That would have helped.

I support Ukraine, although I believe US material, money, and supplies should almost all be going to the Far East. But here is what I don't like. Europe expects the US to support them against Russia. But the French, Germans, and British have already said they "don't want to be dragged into a US conflict with China" and, in fact are pursuing trade deals with China? Why is this always a one-way street? If allies are really allies, it doesn't mean they cut a deal with each other's primary enemy. Trump, to his shame, is doing that with Russia. But Europe has been doing so with China for years and years, with no sign of ever intending to inconvenience themselves at all.

I am surprised that Trump's so-called Napoleon quote on X hasn't received more attention. Just to remind, this is the quote: "He who saves his Country does not violate any Law." https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-stokes-alarm-view-presidential-power-apparent-napoleon/story?id=118898574

His stated desire for a cheap dollar will have an effect on expats. I only hope the inflation that results will be good for my SSA COLA.

How about Grok, which is superior to every other competitor. It's not even close.

Wild Don Trump is scaring the bejeebers out of everyone. Including me.

I asked about this in another forum topic yesterday. This article still seems sort of vague about the particulars.

I don't know what it is about the Shinawatras. But they seem to attract both natural and fiscal calamities. Floods and earthquakes. Economic mismanagement and budgetary emergencies. Currency crises. I don't see how the baht isn't at 40 to the US dollar.