cdemundo

Why?

As I said: Disregarding feelings about Musk and about any other posters on AN, So I won't respond to your baffling response.

"Paying out hundreds of billions of USD in fraudulent payments needs to end. " No one would argue against your point. The thing is there doesn't seem to be any evidence of this. The problem with Musk with respect to the electoral third rail is that he doesn't care as he is not an elected official.

Thank you for your pontifications. I would disagree with this one " The easiest thing to do is to restrict or reduce social security benefits for non residents". There are a relatively small number of non-residents receiving benefits: " more than 760,000 people receive Social Security benefits while living abroad" each year out of about 51,772,000 receiving benefits. So you are advocating going after a minority who you probably see as vulnerable rather than looking to actually solve the funding problem. The easiest and most effective would be to remove this limit: "there is a limit on the amount of your earnings that is taxable by Social Security. This amount is known as the “maximum taxable earnings” and changes each year." This limit, essentially a kickback to high income individuals, is unjustifiable and would actually result in a significant addition to the Social Security fund. Your snobbish attitude is so apparent, referring to the " the trailer park and age 50-60 group", one can't really take your opinions seriously.

You've got a point but it seems like nobody else's engineers do as much as his. Again, not to argue but to sincerely ask: How did Tesla leapfrog over all the established carmakers to become competitive in electric cars? Japanese and American car makers should have been old hands at the biz yet Tesla got in there. Musk is certainly a bit of an oddball but he's also got a bit of the Midas Touch.

I'm surprised. I was expecting "I did too! I did too read a book!!".

Disregarding feelings about Musk and about any other posters on AN, I have a deep, sincere, heartfelt attachment to my Social Security Retirement payment. I starting paying into the fund at age 14 and now I expect to get my benefits as promised. Although I know that not everyone who joins in these discussion about US politics collects Social Security benefits (some of the most active are apparently old hens from New Zealand) in my opinion many would do well to put politics aside and focus on what is really important and significant in human life. Money. Don't let anyone muck with the benefit that I funded through payroll deductions for my whole working life. If Jesus, Buddha, and Jerry Garcia were on a committee that was trying to get at my Social Security I would still feel the same way. This is not personal or political. It's about the money.

You reveal your shallowness, not that of Thailand.

A lot of young people who have been attending international schools speak a very high level of English with accents that are indistinguishable from native speakers. Government school students not so much sadly.

Interesting differences depending on who you ask: "According to the WHO, US has the lowest rate of alcohol dependence with only 1.92 per cent. Below are the top countries in the world with the high rate of alcohol use disorder in males: Russia (16.29%) Hungary (15.29%) Lithuania (13.35%) South Korea (13.10%) Latvia (11.54%) Belarus (11.43%) Estonia (11.09%) Niue (10.58%) Colombia (10.33%) Thailand (10.18%)" https://www.abbeycarefoundation.com/alcohol/alcoholism-by-country-statistics/ Russia, Hungary, South Korea and the Baltics seem to be consensus winners. USA? Reports differ widely.

Great addition to the discussion. BRB, some kids are on my lawn.

Note to self: Sad emojis bug this poster. Good to know.

Oh, he was a "successful body builder". That changes everything.

"Guys who go to Pattaya 20 times can't even pronounce the word." And they post a video to prove it. "The average person is an idiot." And half are of course dumber than average. Of course the implication of the Dunning-Kreuger effect is that a person can be an idiot and not know it. In spite of what AN posters might think, it could be you (not me of course). Watch to see how long before somebody takes my final remark literally.

Looking forward to the Village People's Kenndy Center residency. No one knows class like Trump.

Your concern for local businesses is touching.

That is true but it does nothing to answer why they elected Trump.

Or without the October attacks. Again, can anyone tell me what the purpose of those attacks was? What result was Hamas after?

Yes, I think that is obvious.

"Can't wait till he hopefully audits the Pentagon. They've admitted losing trillions in the past. Would be nice to know just how much is unaccounted for." That is the important one simply because it is by far the biggest portion of the discretionary budget. The discretionary budget does not include expenditures that are required by law and these can be changed.

Right, it only restricts "off premises" sale. Sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption elsewhere.

When you skip the "huge corporate behemoths" are you "stickin' it to the man" or "lettin' your freak flag fly"? As Patrick Henry said: "Give me a small locally owned ethically sourced coffee shop or give me death!" they have so many benefits. Even still I'm gonna buy coffee I like when and where it's convenient for me. Sometimes that will be Starbuck's.

"Latte Lorne" or the Bonanza Latte named after Lorne Green.

I guess that is a functional description of a kettle. What was that thing called again?