Thomas J

2 hours ago, Sheryl said:

OP early management is ntoi surgery and with thsi having apparently occurred just once after heavy use of the hand you shopuld start with conservatiev management which is:

Thank You Sheryl,

I had the nerve test done some years ago when I experienced Carpal Tunnel.  At that time the Dr. said I had Carpal Tunnel but not Ulnar even though I experienced occasionally some numbness in the little finger and ring finger.  I have not experienced that in some years until yesterday when I was digging.  It was more pronounced yesterday than I have experienced in the past.  I started on Ibuprofen but the tingling though less severe today is still noticeable.  I am not looking to immediately rush into surgery but rather do some pre-emptive research in the event that my condition does not go away or worsens.  

Some years ago I had Carpal Tunnel release surgery on my left hand.  Now after digging yesterday i have continual tingle in the left hand ring and pinkie finger.  I suspect it is Ulnar Nerve Entrapment given my history with carpal tunnel nerve in the same hand.  Has anyone in Pattaya gone to a hospital to have a procedure done.  How did it go, and what was the cost? 

40 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

The US is not a first world country.

Well given it has the world largest economy.  Ranks 6th in income per capita.  Ranks second in net worth per adult.  What do you use to rank 1st world versus 3rd world. 

1. Luxembourg - $52,493
2. Norway - $51,489
3. Sweden - $50,514
4. Australia- $46,555
5. Denmark - $44,360
6. United States - $43,585
7. Canada - $41,280
8. South Korea - $40,861
9. Kuwait - $40,854
10. Netherlands - $39,584
    
     

I was told that you could perform household chores but you could not do any work even unpaid if it took a job potentially away from a Thai person.  Though it seems reasonable that you can do chores around your home.  If you strictly followed that you could not do anything that  potentially took a job away from a Thai you could not even clean your toilet, cook a meal, or wash your dishes.  

Show this picture to your wife and tell her you can't take a job away from a Thai.  I suspect the wall won't need to be repainted. 

On 2/5/2021 at 6:21 AM, J Town said:

ust repeating the same wasted words jumbled up in a different order.

let me ask you.  You live in Thailand.  I am from the USA a first world country but to enter Thailand I have to be 1. Over 50 years old, 2. Show I have no criminal background  3. Have to prove I have the financial resources to live here  4. Have to have health insurance so I do not run up a bill and not pay  5. I can not vote, I can not buy a single family residence, 7. I have to report my location every 90 days.  8. I can not work here. 9. I certainly am not entitled to any government assistance program and I doubt if I had non Thai children they would get free schooling. 

Compare that to the USA. 

Why is it that you have no problem with a third world country protecting itself by imposing standards for entry but seem to have no problem with a first world country having any standards for who enters the country and not only can live there but also is now entitled to benefits.  

The USA needs immigrants.  There is a shortage of people in the medical profession, nursing profession, welders, plumbers, pipefitters, computer programmers, engineers.  

Why should the USA have to accept every indigent who wishes to come and not be selective in terms of who it "invites" to live there. 

Calling these people immigrants is like calling a person who breaks into your home an "undocumented guest." 

https://cis.org/Report/63-NonCitizen-Households-Access-Welfare-Programs



 

On 2/5/2021 at 12:24 PM, johnnybangkok said:

financial meltdown thanks again to another GOP government.

The world went into a financial meltdown because of the disaster in housing.  Specifically people were given mortgage loans despite not having the credit worthiness to support them.  It was a DEMOCRAT not a Republican agenda.  The Democrats headed by Maxine Waters and Christopher Dodd pressured the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac government underwriters to lower their underwriting standards so THAT EVERYONE COULD OWN A HOME.  

Those lousy loans were then repackaged and sold as Mortgage Back Securities with the "implicit" backing of the agency.  Banks, insurance companies, and governmental units bought those "investments" which then the value of plummeted when those borrowers could not repay.  The mortgages were foreclosed on putting distressed properties on the market further depressing values and causing more people who owed more than their houses to be worth stopped paying.  Mortgage lenders do not hold on to the mortgages they make.  The package them and sell them in the secondary market.  I am a former bank executive.  Banks, and mortgage companies serve only as an intermediary.  They make mortgages based on the underwriting standards of the eventual underwriter who they sell the mortgage to.  The banks and mortgage companies were held to be the villains however they were given standards by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac  for which mortgages they would buy.  The banks and mortgage companies responded.  Since the government would buy any piece of junk mortgage they were making they had no risk and the number of Sub Prime mortgages exploded.  Those standards for buying a mortgage are set by the government agencies and they were pressured to make mortgages available to everyone.  17 times Republican called for tighter control but were rebuffed by Democrats.   See Youtube of defense by Maxine Waters and Barney Frank.  The final segment shows Bill Clinton even saying that Democrats blocked Republican efforts to tighten regulation. 

 https://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/faults-community-reinvestment-act-cra-mortgage-defaults/

https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/11_origins_crisis_baily_litan.pdf

3 hours ago, Sujo said:

But trump has so many failed businesses he cannot even do that right.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/01/upshot/we-ran-out-of-words-to-describe-how-good-the-jobs-numbers-are.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiswoodhill/2012/08/01/obama-wins-the-gold-for-worst-economic-recovery-ever/?sh=2ba57d423ca2

https://www.hudson.org/research/12714-economic-growth-by-president

3 minutes ago, bunnydrops said:

CEO compensation has grown 940% since 1978Typical worker compensation has risen only 12% during that time

Yes and your point being?  In capitalistic system those people who have skills get rewarded.  If it was that easy to be a CEO of a fortune 500 company then instead of complaining that typical worker should strive to become one of them.  I have no idea why liberals always pick on business people and the money they earn through using their brains, and the employment they bring to the economy but have no problem that George Clooney makes $275 million a year just by "looking good" and acting.  or Kayne West made $170 million dollars last year or worst yet Kayne's soon to be ex wife Kim Kardashian has zero talent but somehow parlayed that into a net worth of $900 million dollars.  How many people do these people employ, how many jobs in the USA are they responsible for, how does their success or failure impact the lives of others.  The answer is if companies fail lives are destroyed.  If George Clooney does not earn a dime it impacts only him. 

2 hours ago, johnnybangkok said:

I'm not really sure what your point is here. All the individuals you mentioned did a much better job of running the country than the businessman Trump ever did.

To try and equate running the country to running a business is just plainly wrong as both Clinton and Obama (and Biden by association) did a hell of a lot better with the economy than Trump ever did.

That is your biased opinion.  The New York Times a truly liberal newspaper saw it differently.  Granted Covid kicked the <deleted> out of the US economy but it did the same world wide.  As for Obama.  He had the weakest recovery in history.  He is the ONLY PRESIDENT IN HISTORY to never have a meager 3% annual growth rate even once and his final quarter in office had the economy at a virtual stall at 1.9% GDP growth.  

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/01/upshot/we-ran-out-of-words-to-describe-how-good-the-jobs-numbers-are.html

5 hours ago, J Town said:

You don't live there, you don't know. What a bunch of wasted words.

How much would you like to wager if I posted an advertisement at $100 per hour I would get flooded with applicants.  The point is, no you can not hire Americans to work for slave wages.  That is why they target illegals since they know they are illegal and will work for a pittance.  So long as that continues they will continue to exploit them.  It would be no different if GM said it couldn't hire assembly line workers for $5.00 per hour so it imports them from Honduras.  That is not the way the system is suppose to work.  And for all of you liberals who decry the income disparity, the more people flooded to fill the jobs that don't require an education or a skill trade, the lower those wages remain.  So you are helping the illegals and hurting the unskilled US Citizen by not allowing his/her wages to rise since there is always another illegal willing to work for less. 

9 minutes ago, placeholder said:

he fact that Trump inherited about half a billion dollars plus multiple bailouts from his father has nothing to do with his "success"? 

None of that has anything to do with the fact that Biden, Obama, and Clinton all have ZERO business experience. He still had far far far more financial success and business experience than the three of them combined. 

1 hour ago, placeholder said:

Since 1952, corporate profits as a share of the economy have risen dramatically (from 5.5 percent to 8.5 percent), while corporate tax revenues as a share of the economy have plummeted (from 5.9 percent to just 1.9 percent)

And so what does that have to do with the price of tea in China.  Which part of Corporations don't pay tax don't you get.  A tax is a cost of doing business.  They have to pass it along.  Just like any other expense.  If that was not true, then why not just have corporations pay all the income tax burdens and the individuals none.   Companies making money is not a bad thing.  It is a good thing.  A company that is profitable wants to expand and it has the resources to do it.  Rob them of that by taxes both the incentive to expand is diminished plus they now lack the money paid in taxes to pay for any expansion.  Here is a simple income/expense statement.  Please tell me which of the expenses as a business owner I CAN JUST IGNORE AND NOT PASS ALONG.  I either pass those costs along or my profits are diminished.   You seem to be of the illusion that somehow corporations just "eat" the taxes and there is no impact on pricing.  As previously mentioned, the USA does not operate in a vacuum.  If a USA company has to compete with a foreign one with lower tax rates it is at a huge competitive disadvantage.  Like it or not, the best thing for any country is to encourage businesses to locate within its border have low tax rates and encourage job creation.  People working have money, they pay taxes and buy things.  Corporations starved of income don't come, don't expand, don't hire people. Worst of all outcomes. 

2 minutes ago, Sujo said:

Then blame the employers, not the employees.

I do blame the employers.  However, terming them "employees" is a falsehood also.  They are ILLEGALS.  They are no different than the Cambodians who come into Thailand because the conditions here are better.  The employers could not continue to exploit these people if the politicians were not complicit in facilitating illegals into the country.  You do not need a wall to keep them out.  You do just what Thailand and many other countries does.  You can not function in the country easily as an illegal.  You can not rent a hotel room, can not lease a home, can not open a bank account, can not get a drivers license, can not purchase a car or motorcycle, can not transfer any money etc.  

As mentioned, it is a great deal for the employers but the other social costs are passed on to the taxpayers.  The social costs are not just in dollars.  The flooding of school systems with children who can not speak English impairs the learning of U.S. students.  The flooding of illegals who made their living in Mexico, and Central America selling drugs brings that trade with them.  

The USA once before in the 17th and 18th century "imported" cheap labor.  We are still paying the price for doing that. 

54 minutes ago, J Town said:

. They are necessary cuz no one else will do the work.

J.Town 

That is just an outright falsehood.  I challenge her to post for the work at $100 per hour and I would bet my entire net worth that she would be flooded with USA applicants to perform the work.  You counter, well of course at $100 but she can't pay $100 per hour.  So the truth is, that employers can not find U.S. workers to perform certain tasks at the employers WANT TO PAY.  You will not get U.S. workers to toil in the fields at $5 per hour.  But if you paid $10, $12 or $15 dollars you would eventually reach a level where US workers would perform those tasks.  That is the way the system is suppose to work.  I might like to hire nurses in a hospital at $5.00 per hour but certainly I could not find them.  That is no excuse to then allow floodgates of illegal nurses from the Philippines who are willing to do so. While those workers are "cheap" for the meat packers and farmers they are hardly cheap for society.  The cost to educate a child in middle school and high school is approximately $12,000 per year.  With 3 children those "cheap" workers cost the other taxpayers $36,000 per year to say nothing of the other social services expenses they create. If a business any business needs workers it first must pay a wage high enough to attract the worker(s), if that is not affordable they automate, If they can't automate, they should import from countries where the products can be produced more cheaply.  That is why Pineapples are grown in the Philippines and not so much in Hawaii any longer.  You import the product from countries with the workers, not the workers into the country.  The USA does that with textiles, electronics, furniture, and a multitude of other products where they can be more efficiently produced.  

 

1 hour ago, J Town said:

You're either not a US citizen, not old enough to remember,  or just don't understand how America's foundation is in helping those in need around the world.

Those people CAME LEGALLY.  Do the same today. 

On 2/3/2021 at 10:38 AM, NorthernRyland said:

Not even the middle class but people that are so desperate they need to enter illegally.

You are correct,  44% of all illegals  don't have the equivalent of a high school education.  Only 25% of illegals can speak English fluently.  Just how do people think this impacts the education of US citizens.  You flood the schools with children who need extra attention and slow the classroom education down because the children brought to the USA illegally are handicapped in terms of previous education and English comprehension. 

On 2/1/2021 at 8:19 AM, bunnydrops said:

I think Biden should make a counter offer and limit the the people that receive payouts. The rich do not need it. I am for most of the rest.

The 600 billion from the Republicans is an insult from the party that gave 1.3 trillion over 10 years permanent tax break to corps.

In terms of "need" that is a founding principal of Communism. Karl Marx  the Communist Manifesto.  Somehow being equal isn't good enough.  Those that produce, save, invest, and are thrifty don't need it.  Those that potentially that don't produce, save, invest or are foolish with their money "need it"  So you incentify  the behaviors that are bad and punish those that are prudent.  Try that with your own children and see how it works out. 

With respect to corporate tax breaks.  I don't know why people are of the opinion that they can shift the burden of taxes to corporations and it does not show up in the prices they pay.  If a business lets say a gasoline distributor gets a price increase of 5 cents per gallon, do you really believe they just absorb it and don't pass it on.  If the cost to truck their gasoline goes up, you think they don't have to pass that along.  Corporations don't pay taxes, they write the checks from the money they receive from their customers.  Additionally, whether the corporate tax is 15%, 25% or 50%  corporate income is taxed twice.  If I own 10% of a company's stock and that company is charged $1 million in taxes, I am in effect paying that $100,000 in taxes.  When the company distributes their earnings to me in the form of a dividend, THE SAME INCOME IS TAXED AGAIN.  I now pay tax on my dividend income.  You also have to remember, if you have two companies one based in the USA and one in Switzerland and they both make watches.  The company in the USA is taxed at 21% on its income, while the Swiss only 8.5%.  The Swiss company can undercut the USA company on prices taking jobs away from Americans.  High taxes are an incentive to leave the USA, not expand, or not locate in the USA to begin with.  If you don't believe that, just look at the flood of companies fleeing California.  They aren't heading to New York.  They are relocating in Texas.  Companies have to do that in order to match the cost structure of their competitors. 

5 hours ago, Jeffr2 said:

Change is desperately need.  The political system is broken and congress is worthless.  Time to take the money out of it.  And install term limits.  2 terms and you're out.

While I agree change is desperately needed I am not certain term limits would just not change the monkeys in the cage.  Consider there are term limits for president.  What has that brought the USA.  Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, and now Biden.  Hardly the best and brightest.  Only GW Bush, and Trump ever were engaged in activities outside of the government and GW only to a limited extent. At present, government does not attract the best and brightest talent.  It does attract those who either seeking glamour, power or enriching themselves through influence peddling.

In business you intensify performance.  Management that achieves goals and objectives get bonuses and promotions.  Management that fails gets fired. Right now the incentive in office is to get re-elected and parlay your influence into money either in the form of selling influence or later becoming a lobbyist.  Until somehow the interests of the elected officials are tied to the betterment of the American people they will continue to operate in their own self interest.  Term limits I am afraid would be just changing the deck chairs on the Titanic. 

On 2/1/2021 at 4:53 PM, johnnybangkok said:

And yes it is hypocritical of the GOP to question the money when they backed so much tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.

First of it corporations don't pay taxes.  Their customers do.  As a person who owned 4 different business a tax is an expense.  It is no different than rent, wages, utilities, insurance, or any other expense.  So whatever "tax" is paid by the corporation gets added to the cost of the goods or services the corporation is providing.  When you go to a store here in Thailand do you pay the VAT.  No, the company is the one who sends the VAT to the government.  But you say, no it is added on my bill.  You think that is any different with an income tax, or property tax that the corporation has to write the check for.  They wrote the check but you paid for it. 

Secondly,  here is a graph of "who pays taxes"  The vast majority of the federal income tax is paid by the upper 10% of wage earners.  Now when you hear that they received the lions share of the tax cut yes that is true but that is because they pay the lions share of the taxes. 47% of U.S. tax filers pay zero.  You can't cut taxes for someone who doesn't pay any.  The bottom tax groups got a larger percentage of the tax cuts but since their income is lower the total dollar amount is also lower.  Note the bottom 50% pay only 3.4 % of the Federal Income taxes.  So even if you cut them by 100% it would still be small. 

https://money.cnn.com/2009/09/30/pf/taxes/who_pays_taxes/index.htm

https://www.kiplinger.com/article/taxes/t054-c000-s001-how-you-rank-as-a-taxpayer.html

1 hour ago, CLW said:

I see a pattern here. Some idiot comes up with these numbers and gets a pat on the back from his boss, the estimations are being ridiculed and forgotten, three weeks later same loop...

Actually what it is used for is that no matter what the number actually turns out to be, the officials can point to the date when they predicted that number and run a headline that they accurately forecasted it. 

9 hours ago, Olivie said:

They started to understand that no tourists will come to quarantine in Thailand. It took time but they finally get it.

After gathering all the best minds, spending millions of baht analyzing all the solutions, government determines the logical course of action to attract back tourists.  Of course that was they last choice after they tried and implemented every other conceivable option that had no chance.