Walker88

Really? Then why do banks and other lenders even ask anyone to fill out a loan application? Why not just say "Give me a $billion, please". Loan applications contain a statement right where the potential borrower signs that reads along the lines of "Under penalty of law the statements made on this application are true to the best of my knowledge". It seems you didn't even bother to read the court transcript and see how wildly overvalued trump claimed his properties are worth. In a three day period he valued one asset at one value AND 20 times higher (for different reasons). That's not "subjective", it's fraud. Also, a self-claimed superstar developer really ought to know his 10,900 sf apt isn't 33,000 sf. That, too, is fraud. The victims are banks who received a lower interest than the actual risk would have dictated, and bank shareholders saw less income and likely not as high of a stock price.

No lenders will loan him that kind of money? Could it be the six bankruptcies that has lenders hesitant? Maybe all the lawyers and subcontractors he's stiffed? Lenders couldn't find $455 million of unencumbered assets to use as collateral? I'm beginning to think maybe he's no more a billionaire than he's 6'3", 235 lbs, has a 33,000 sf apartment, and is like...really really smart. I fear soon we'll hear injecting Lysol doesn't cure Covid! Is trump like Christopher Hitchens once said about another conman, that trump is so full of BS that if you gave him an enema, you could bury him in a matchbox? Perhaps Mohammed bin Salman has his own polling agency and sees trump behind Biden, so the bloated one has no more influence to peddle? Elon? Elon? Are you there for me? Jeff Yass? Don't you want Tiktok? I can give it to you. Ken Griffin? I'll keep carried interest.

No lenders will loan him that kind of money? Could it be the six bankruptcies that has lenders hesitant? Maybe all the lawyers and subcontractors he's stiffed? Lenders couldn't find $455 million of unencumbered assets to use as collateral? I'm beginning to think maybe he's no more a billionaire than he's 6'3", 235 lbs, has a 33,000 sf apartment, and is like...really really smart. I fear soon we'll hear injecting Lysol doesn't cure Covid! Is trump like Christopher Hitchens once said about another conman, that trump is so full of BS that if you gave him an enema, you could bury him in a matchbox? Perhaps Mohammed bin Salman has his own polling agency and sees trump behind Biden, so the bloated one has no more influence to peddle? Elon? Elon? Are you there for me? Jeff Yass? Don't you want Tiktok? I can give it to you. Ken Griffin? I'll keep carried interest.

While your statement is largely true, and is true for people who know Thailand very well, it is not true everywhere. You did say 'in any country'. Have you ever been to Dagestan? Syria? Afghanistan? There are times when an unwillingness to use violence or escape and evade would result in your death. Sometimes a shake down is a shoot down and a robbery, even by a police officer. Some parts of the world ain't pretty. Perhaps these two had never been to Thailand. They didn't know how pleasant and helpful most Thai police officers are. Whatever the circumstances (we do not know everything), if a cop draws his weapon and brandishes it, many people are going to take that as a threat, especially if one is unfamiliar with the country they are in. Of course it is best to try to diffuse the situation, but fear brings out lots of responses that vary person to person. Those of us who know Thailand would behave quite differently from the start, which might include carrying a valid license and not speeding. Of course, sometimes one is stopped for a simple shakedown, as I noted happened to me in an earlier post. Best to just smile and pay the tribute. No matter the actual circumstances, I suspect these two are proper effed.

I suspect where these two truly violated the law is that they were engaged in a business restricted to Thais, which is orchestrating shady deals where non-Thais can skirt the law and acquire property. There are plenty of Thai accounting firms who 'introduce' property agents to foreigners whom they suspect have money, in order to facilitate a purchase. In the instance in this thread, it seem to be foreigners doing that. No good. Own a business that has capital and makes a decent profit, and the offers will come your way. Obviously they are best avoided, whether the broker is Thai or foreign. Don't forget the rules: Thais can own any property they want in most any country in the world. They can even own Premiere League football clubs. Non-Thais, however, cannot own land in Thailand, nor a home, save for a condo in certain approved developments.

If one has been in Thailand for a while, or visited many times, one is likely to have had 'meetings' with Thai police. I have had at least 5; in only one was I driving. Always always always...Be Nice! ---in a taxi coming back from playing golf...cop pulls the taxi over...female taxi driver hands over her license with a folded 500 baht note under it...cop waved the taxi off, keeping the 500 baht ---twice pulled over in a taxi during Covid near Asoke in BKK. It was well before curfew and I was wearing a mask...asked to get out and empty my pockets, which I did...cop asked where I was going, and I told him home...finished ---was driving from near Lampang back to BKK....police checkpoint...cops walked up to each car asking for 200 baht from everyone...I had a Diplomatic Passport and Dip ID back then, which I handed to the cop...he made a face, then said "Go!" ---in a taxi going from Maesai to Chiangrai airport....there are two checkpoints on that 60 km route...my taxi was stopped, large officer climbed in the back next to me, turned his head toward me, staring into my face from maybe 6 inches away....asked if he could open my bags...told him he was welcome...he stared for another ten seconds into my eyes...smiled, climbed out and said "Have good day you"

No matter what the "true story" is, it's probably a good idea not to be the next Caucasian foreign male to be pulled over by Thai police. I suspect the blood is running hot for a while among some of the boys in brown.

Interesting that so many Aussie bogans are trumpflakes.

For once I actually agree with trump. 1) He will lose to Biden 2) Like in 2021, trump will call his goobers to DC for the certification, will try to get a permit to hold a rally (Likely Mayor Bowser will deny it), and will encourage his goobers to go attack police and the Capitol again. The difference this time is the National Guard will be called in to deal with the terrorists, and it's possible some Liberal Kyle Rittenhouse types will show up with their AR-15s to "help the police". Expect thousands of trumpian terrorists to be Babbittized. trump will then face whatever court dates he delayed, likely be convicted and sentenced to jail, where he will spend the rest of his miserable life.

I know you have next to no understanding of economics, Sparky, which is why you boasted of a 5000 baht trading score as if it was Soros shorting cable, but consider: The US economy is booming, especially for folks who are well educated and have marketable skills. Sadly, that rules out the vast majority of trumpflakes, whom the modern world is leaving behind. Darwinism never stops, and it's selecting out trumpers. UE is at 3.6% vs the 6.8% trump left in his wake. The trump Recession ended and growth is the best since the late 1990s. More jobs in Biden's first 3 years than ever (trump is the first POTUS since Herbert Hoover to leave office with fewer Americans working than when he entered), 800,000 new manufacturing jobs, chip plants now under construction, infrastructure being repaired and rebuilt. Only trump is standing in the way of immigration reform, as he needs an election issue. Yes, I've noted all of those things before, but they hardly add up to "worst ever", except to the irrational or those who lost the Birth Lottery.

trump does what Bill Maher calls the "Two Man Jerk-off" What a loser trump is!

I thought you were a peacenik, Sparky. Seems you support loser trump and his bloodbath.

Those who attacked the Capitol, at trump's prompting, on 6 Jan 2021 were terrorists, nothing less. "Biden has done what they feared" = ended the trump Recession, got the unemployment rate down from trump's 6.8% to 3.5%, oversaw the creation of more jobs in his first 3 years than ever (15 million), oversaw the creation of 800,000 new manufacturing jobs, got the Chips Act passed which is resulting in the first new US chip plants in decades, is actually rebuilding infrastructure (vs trump's all talk, no action). I can see why trumpers would fear success. The modern US economy requires education and skills most trumpers lack. trumpers want a free ride, collecting their SSDI and SNAP while binge watching Netflix. The top employer in those slacker Red States, like KY, TN, WV and MI is SSDI. It seems those States plus Ohio spend their SNAP money on fentanyl, as those States have the highest OD rates. Like their morbidly obese crybaby messiah, snowflake trumpers will engage in terror again, when trump loses in November. Heaven forbid they would get some better education, acquire some actual skills, and be able to compete in the 21 Century world. Oh...and lose some flab.

While the US economy is absolutely booming under Biden, with 15 million new jobs created under his watch, 800,000 new manufacturing jobs, the Chips Act resulting in construction of the first new domestic chip plants in decades, and the infrastructure being repaired even in States and areas where Republicans are taking credit for the Bill they voted against….there is a bifurcation in US society. Not everyone is capable of benefiting. People with marketable skills and talents, plus a willingness to work hard, are the major beneficiaries of the Biden Boom. Sadly, the poorly educated and unskilled, which is to say the people who are trump’s bread and butter, and whom he says he loves, are being left behind as the world and technology move ahead of their abilities. They are better suited to a 19th Century economy than a 21st Century one. Perhaps some can be retrained and re-educated, but many cannot. Silk purses cannot be made of sow’s ears. The social commentator Jordan Petersen has presentations available on YouTube (one appeared on this Forum a while back), where he opines on places people fit in an economy based on their intellectual level, and there are folks who just can’t compete, if real skills and talents are required. These also would be the same people most virulent in their complaints about immigration and the border, because it is new migrants, documented or not, whose entry level jobs displace the domestic unskilled and poorly educated, which is to say trump supporters. Sure, some will be helped by the Infrastructure Bill, as much of that requires physical labor, but there isn't a place for all of them. AI is only going to make things worse and leave more of the lesser skilled angry. Those with skills, talents and above average intellect---the kind of people who can compete and add value in the modern world---are enjoying under Biden the best times since the late 1990s under Clinton. For others, the world is obviating them. They are obsolete. They grasp on to Trumpian false promises and lies, however, because without false hopes they would have no hope at all. What the US cannot do is let the laggards decide the future, because most other nations will move forward, not purposely slow down, so as to not leave the least talented behind.

So putin's heinous invasion of Ukraine is Biden's fault? That's some pretzel (il)logic there. I suspect trump would have shared intel with putin to help him with the invasion. But let's play this pretzel logic game.... Las Vegas, Parkland, Sutherland Springs, Thousand Oaks, El Paso, Dayton, Tree of Life Synagogue, Santa Fe, & Virginia Beach mass shootings all occurred during trump's tenure. Oh, and Covid happened during trump's watch, as did the Recession of 2020 and the unemployment surge to 6.8%. Sparky/kiinok/uttrdit/Dolf says trump would save money by not aiding Ukraine, but I'm not sure trump is so good at saving, as he ran up new National Debt of $8,400,000,000,000 in just 4 years (https://thehill.com/business/4426965-trump-added-8-4-trillion-to-the-national-debt-analysis/) And then there's golf trump did when he wasn't calling into Fox or wolfing down KFC buckets. The total figure has a wide range, as GAO calculates a much higher cost-per-hour to operate Air Force 1 than many of the non-governmental entities who estimated the cost. Even Snopes has the golf cheat up to $141 million by mid 2020, which is more money than Obama spent on all his and his family's travel and R&R time in 8 years. If the GAO or Pentagon figures obtained by Judicial Watch are used, the number is doubled or tripled for trump's golf. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/278-years-golf/ https://www.newsweek.com/trump-golf-102-million-report-1432550 Need I say more?

You mean do one of those trumpian "perfect phone calls"? Perhaps with your international diplomatic expertise and geopolitical savvy, you could outline what Biden should say. Do a little role playing, Sparky. Guess how putin would respond. Best you just keep walking into Thai parks imagining beautiful young Thai women are hitting on you.

Ironically, perhaps, these "tax reductions" are going to result in the increase in prices of higher priced wines, because their actual value was never declared accurately. From the article: "All importers are now required to re-register every label with the excise department, and this time around, the customs and excise will determine the wine value." The tax always had the greatest impact on cheap wines, like those sold at 7-11 or Wine Connection. Even moderately priced wines were under declared, as was the # of bottles imported (thus spreading even the modest tax across a greater number of bottles). The under declaration started at pretty low levels, at maybe 1500 baht wholesale. I have found wines at Bangkok restaurants offered at a lower price than I can buy retail at a wine shop in the US (example, Fattoria le Pupille Saffredi)...and the wines at the restaurants are not *Chinese copies, but the real thing. With this tax 'reduction', mixed with Customs doing a simply online check as to what, for example, a 2016 Sassicaia actually costs, prices for better quality wines may well rise. The reductions are more likely to be seen at places like Wine Connection or big retail department stores like Makro or Big-C. *Chinese firms produce lots of fakes. I used to see these in shops in Yangon. Sometimes they don't quite get the labels right. It could be a minor error, such as leaving out a letter, or it could be really bad, such as Shat-oh Raffeet Rofschigh (just joking, but some are truly bad, as is the wine)

The end of the world must be upon us, as I find myself in full agreement with a couple of folks with whom I'm forever at odds. Best we all get our affairs in order, as the sun must be about to explode or the comet Kahoutek is back bigger and better than its first pass. It's easy to see...scrolling through the comments...who are the misogynists and Incels on this Forum, likely to be the proverbial "old, fat, bald farang". Anyone who has been in Thailand a while has seen slimeballs engaging in that type of behavior: foreigners behaving badly and assuming all Thai women are just playthings for the "superior" foreigner. In my business I have many Thai female staff. Almost every one of them has experienced this sort of nonsense from foreign men. They've been groped, been asked "How much short time?" even when out shopping in Siam Paragon or Terminal 21. It is not surprising why so many Thai women have a negative impression of foreign men....and that's all foreign men, not only Westerners.

The candidate briefings are pretty basic....just big picture stuff to give the candidate a chance to mull over major issues. Former DCI John Brennan, who has given several of these briefings in the past, said that they are one step below a New York Times' investigative piece. Nothing will be given trump that he can boast about or try to monetize. He already thinks he knows everything and claims he can solve any issue in an afternoon, such as he said about Ukraine. Of course he also said he would replace Obamacare with the best healthcare plan ever and that Mexico would pay for his wall and that Infrastructure Week is next week and that Alabama was "Sharpied" into the path of Hurricane Dorian and that he won the election in 2020.......

It may not mean much to you, but the scum tried to overthrow the govt, they beat 140 police officers, sh!t on the floor of the Capitol and rubbed it on the walls, and wanted to hang the Vice President. Disproportionate sentences? BS. Execution would be too good for them. THAT^ isn't protest; it's Sedition, a capital crime. Every last one of them should have been shot. When trump loses in November, if they try that again, they will be shot.

Women, ah, women sense my power, and seek the life essence….I do not avoid women, Mandrake GG, but I do deny them my essence

This story didn't age as well as Biden has. In the SC Hur Hearing yesterday, much was laid bare. From one of the transcripts, but which Hur left out in the report, is how Hur remarked that Biden had a "photographic mind". Also, despite claims on Fever Swamp Media about Biden forgetting when his son Bo died, that is false. Biden remembered it exactly, as a loving father would. It's right there in the transcript. No need to deflect to trump yet, and ask things like I wonder if donny know's Eric's birthday? LOL Another point: there is now insight into what documents Biden had. It seems he had his hand written notes of his time as VP, and the DoJ acknowledged that precedent was set by none other than Ronald Reagan, who also kept notes and took them when he left the WH. The DoJ had ruled back in the 1980s that Reagan was entitled to those, and therefore he committed no crime. Now, same same for Biden. Now trump can be brought up. Classified documents labeled TS. SCI, SAP, Codeword, SITK, HCS and RD are not personal notes in a diary, such as what Reagan and Biden had. Not even close. trump stole things to which he had no right. How will the Right Wing Fever Swamps spin this?

Adm Collin Green, who resigned under trump as commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command, including the SEALS, probably was disliked by trump because he was trying to clean up the ranks of bad guys and restore the SEAL’s image after it was sullied by charges of war crimes, murder, drug use and sexual assault. Given trump’s history and now conviction of fraud and sexual assault, I think it can be assumed the SEALs you claim support trump are the ones who engaged in those illegal acts. True patriotic SEALs know trump is a traitor to everything for which the US stands.

trumpers who buy into trump's silly defense of his theft of TS, SCI, SAP, Codeword, SITK, HCS and RD documents and putting US national security at risk, ought to clamor for full publication of every last document the country club owner and wedding planner took to his home. Let all the Congressmen who back trump come out in favor of publication. Heck, they can even create Moroccan-leather bound collections and send them to putin, Xi, the mullahs of Iran, and whoever replaced the Flying Ginsu-minced Ayman al-Zawahiri of al Qaeda. Since many here think "it's time to close the intel agencies", let's do that, too. Do we really need to know if a terrorist attack is coming or what the intentions and capabilities of hostile nations are? But let's not stop there. No, baby steps just doesn't cut it. Let's close the entire Dept of Defense and save $800 billion plus a year. Turn the Pentagon into a retirement home for retired 4 stars. Turn the guns into plowshares. Do we really think anybody is going to attack the US when all those blubber butt trumpers have their AR-15s at home? Haven't guys like putin and Xi seen how high trumpers scored on Call of Duty? Hey, and let's bulldoze Arlington National and let some "RE genius" like trump turn it into a mixed use shopping and condo development. That cemetery is just full of "suckers and losers" anyway, as trump has described the fallen. Oh, and stop paying pensions to retired DoD types, like a certain someone claiming to be "former USN". Make him go get a real job, and stop living off the US Taxpayers' sweaty brows.

Candidates get a briefing, but it is pretty basic. They are given nothing that would lend insight into 'sources and methods'. Former DCI John Brennan, who has given such briefings to Party candidates, said last week on TV that, "It's one step lower than a detailed NYT's investigative piece". The intel community and DoD knows trump's proclivities. Even when POTUS, DCI Haspel avoided giving him too much detail, knowing he had a big mouth and liked to show off, as he did with Lavrov and Kislyak in the Oval Office. Those with a need to know---such as Gen Mattis and Gen Milley---got the full scope of intel and analysis.