John Drake

No doubt Trump is doing considerable damage to this alliance. And don't discount what damage the alternative will be. There are calls to buy European at the moment. But just wait once all these national European firms clear the field for themselves. They'll turn on each other, as they usually do, because the Germans and the French will try to manipulate things solely for their benefit. Remember what the Germans did to exploit the PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain) during the Sovereign Debt Crisis.

Look up The Night of the Sparrows, part of Mao's Four Pests Campaign. The Chinese tried to eradicate the sparrow because they feared that it ate their grain. According to Wikipedia: "Sparrow nests were destroyed, eggs were broken, and chicks were killed. Millions of people organized into groups, and hit noisy pots and pans to prevent sparrows from resting in their nests, with the goal of causing them to drop dead from exhaustion. In addition to these tactics, citizens also simply shot the birds down from the sky with slings or guns. The campaign depleted the sparrow population, pushing it to near extinction within China." As a result, the insects that the sparrows helped control ended up getting out of hand and enhancing crop and ecological damage.

Didn't Sweden just sell a bunch of fighters to Thailand? We all know that once something gets into Thailand, it also goes straight to China. That's why the US refused to give Thailand F35s and only wanted to allow them to have relatively safely controlled avionics in updated F16s. China will end up with all the information on vulnerabilities of Swedish jets before most of the European customers ever get delivery.

The US kicked Turkey out of the F35 program years ago. Just recently the Turks were trying to get back in. But they were not part of the program anyway. https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/foreign-policy/1261246/f-35-window-opens-again-for-turkey/

And this is why the British are going to lose and see their country colonized.

I wonder if they think, "well, that takes care of that, now about those American companies and their data centers . . . ."

Human rights with Thai characteristics.

The names will leak out. And before they do, there will be speculation that will widen the scope. Things will look even worse. And there will be follow up actions, I believe. Tariffs incoming.

Is being a "football fan" an occupation or identity? Is this usual in the UK?

Something else may be at work. Xi just might be calling some of his people home. It has been part of China's foreign policy to seed other countries with Chinese immigrants as a sort of beachhead for industrial sabotage and technology theft. In the US, recently, several tenured and entrenched Chinese professors have resigned from their American university jobs to return to China to work. The final face-off over Taiwan may be a year or less away from happening. China is shifting to a war economy and needs its brains at home, while its agents and operative remain embedded. Mass tourism of Chinese tourists all across Asia is a problem in this scenario. Xi probably doesn't want mass panic during an armed conflict causing them to rush back home and overwhelm airports and shipping terminals, which will be needed to focus on military matters.

This is an excellent point! Chinese infrastructure and building expansion is all relatively brand new. Things look like shiny and attractive when their new. The difficulty, as everyone in Asia knows, is maintenance. The Japanese are excellent at it. I think the Koreans do well, too. But how will China do over the next twenty years as repair and replace becomes more heavily required than putting up new railways, apartments, office buildings and airports?

I've not dealt with Chinese mass tourism. But I have dealt with Chinese individuals and Chinese graduate students (aged 25 to 49) in Thailand. And I like them. They are a disciplined high IQ people. And they do not exhibit the entitlement my American and European students constantly displayed when I worked in the US and Germany. OTOH I do despise Xi and China's government. But before we blame them too much, we ought to look at the people who gave them the key to the cookie jar, the Clintons and the Bushes in the US. I imagine there is an equal set of European profiteers who sold out their countries to the Chinese, too.

How many European countries will now work side deals to ignore this EU action and try to get a trade advantage for themselves?

Rubio just noticed Thailand. That means others in the administration involved with tariffs and investigating companies helping China evade sanctions will take notice too.

A couple of days ago the report was that Chinese by the millions were coming.

The point is you cannot use MySocialSecurity to change your bank account as of 29 March, when phone service is disallowed for that purpose. That's because when you click on the link, it goes to a "contact us" link, which gives you the 1-800 number.

Many others won't be in the clear. And there are always reasons that may come up that require you to change your bank and thus bank account. If that happens, you're out of luck. And Elon could not care less.

Mission accomplished.

Except that's not what is happening. Read the Grok message I included above. Even if you have ID.me or Login.gov, once you sign into MySocialSecurity, it directs you to a 1-800 number. And the 1-800 number will not work after 29 March. That means after that date you will need to make an appointment with your nearest SSA office to appear in person. If you're in Thailand, that means going to Manila.

And if you lose access to them??? I know ID.me's 2fa is sending a code to your phone. What if you lose the phone? Or the phone number? Login.gov, which I also have, uses google authenticator, which is also on your phone. It does give 10 backup codes, but those can go away with a hard drive failure, unless you're backing them up over several devices. And while you're doing this, imagine some person with no internet savvy or experience at all being put through this because Elon thought it was a good idea.

Until you lose access to your 2FA

six mental disorders.

20 pages for this one. minimum.

FWIW I asked Grok about this problem. Here is the reply: That’s frustrating—and it exposes the exact snag you’re facing. You’ve got an ID.me account and can log into my Social Security, which should theoretically make this smooth, but the system’s still kicking you back to the Manila phone line for direct deposit changes. As of right now, March 13, 2025, that’s how it’s set up: the SSA’s online portal isn’t fully equipped to handle direct deposit updates independently for everyone, especially overseas users like you. It’s redirecting you to call the Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) in Manila (+63-2-5301-6200), which, come March 29, 2025, won’t be an option for this anymore once Musk’s DOGE-driven phone cut kicks in. This is a classic gap—SSA’s pushing “online only” in theory, but their own site isn’t fully there yet, and they’re yanking the phone lifeline before the digital bridge is solid. I double-checked via web searches and X posts today: users abroad are reporting the same loop—log in, click to change direct deposit, get told to call. The SSA’s own site (ssa.gov) confirms direct deposit changes for existing beneficiaries often still require phone or in-person action, despite the my Social Security hype. Posts on X are griping about this too—one user called it “a half-baked pivot” since the online system’s inconsistent across regions. So, post-March 29, your options shrink. Manila’s phone line (Tuesdays/Thursdays, 8:00 AM–11:00 AM) won’t handle this anymore. You could try emailing [email protected] to ask about online alternatives, but don’t hold your breath—they’re swamped, and X chatter suggests responses are slow. In-person in Manila’s still technically on the table (appointment required), but that’s a trek from Thailand. Mailing forms (like the SF-1199A for direct deposit) to the U.S. Embassy in Manila might work—address is 1201 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita, Manila, Philippines 0930—but it’s a gamble with international post, and you’d need to confirm with Manila first. This does smell like Musk’s efficiency drive indirectly kneecapping you—cutting phone access before the online system’s ready for expats. Can you test the portal again closer to the cutoff, see if they patch it? Or is a Manila trip even remotely doable if it comes to that?

Well, I logged in to see just what could go wrong. I used my ID.me account to access My Social Security. Under the link where you go to change your direct deposit information, it tells you to "contact us." Under that link, it tells you to call them using the 1-800 number, which will no longer be available on 29 March or, for those of us living outside the US, to see the embassy services, which for those of us in Thailand, of course, directs us to email or telephone Manila. So will we still be able to telephone Manila or email them after 29 March?