Leveraged

22 hours ago, Bool289 said:

I think I’ll rent another home and split the rigs 50-50 between here and another place as I don’t want too many eyebrows getting raised, I wrapped one of my racks in silver foil recently and the neighbours must think I’m building a spaceship to go to the moon (which I am hoping the crypto will)

 

thanks for the advice

Maybe do a cost-benefit analysis of buying a quiet diesel generator with a high duty cycle. 

8 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

It is also about attempting to stop the collapse of an over stretched under funded health care system. Also the human resources (doctors/ nurse/researchers/biologists/pathologists) have all been under unceasing strain for nearly two years.

Vaccinations, alleviate the strain on ICU beds and ventilation requirements. 

I dont have much sympathy for the doctors and nurses doing their jobs. Everyone has been suffering one way or the other, and if we still need to worry about hospital strain after most people have been vaccinated, then that draws into question just how effective these "safe and effective" Vaccinations are. This isnt taking away from the vaccinations, its just a simple statement of fact. Its going to be hard to defend all this when even the vaccinations aren't getting us back to normal. 

One thing that is 100% sure tho: nobody is stopping this virus. 

34 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

That funding was intended to help understand how the virus might jump species to humans. It was not any kind of weapon developed by the Chines to attack themselves or anybody else. That research is completely justified and necessary. I have little doubt that similar research is conducted in other countries. Chine is just the obvious place because of the history of viruses jumping from bats to humans in that country. There was nothing sinister or ill intended about that research and assertions to the contrary are nothing more than China bashing conspiracy theories.

Why did Fauci (and all his bootlickers) lie about it? They could have just said the above, but they lied. 

Thats the issue people have with Fauci and the media and the everyone else. Fauci has lied multiple times to the public, yet you aren't allowed to question his highness or you're a conspiracy theorist. One thing is certain, in the US, the powers that be have no issue lying to the populace as long as they believe the lie helps the greater good, but in doing so, and getting caught, they just fuel more distrust. If they lie about this, what else are they lying about. 

6 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

Gain of function research is twisted by the fake news media. And conspiracy theorists love it.

Yet its there, in the news, that fauci did appear to lie to congress and there was, in fact, funding for gain of function. This is no longer a conspiracy theory. 

8 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

1 hour ago, 4MyEgo said:

I believe Fauci has lost a lot of credibility of late with the NIH confirming that grants were given for Game of Function research whereas Fauci said he didn't provide funds for Game of Function, not to mention what transpired in 2017 after Obama put a stop on it in 2014, don't need to explain myself on that I believe ?

 

https://news.yahoo.com/nih-admits-funding-gain-function-125103852.html

 

https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/who-we-are/nih-director/statements/nih-lifts-funding-pause-gain-function-research

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A conspiracy some love.

How is it a conspiracy when there are credible links posted and its been circulating for days now across the news media? 

14 minutes ago, charliechoc said:

12% is nothing when you take into account the HUGE returns on just holding either bitcoin or ethereum, for example, in a hardware wallet and selling yrs down the track. eg 500% returns in 1 yr in pure gains from price appreciation. Its madness to lockaway ANY crypto for such piddly returns 6.5 to 12%. Just think about this.... You can lose your money when its locked away!!!!

12% is a massive return for people who already have money. Id sell my soul to the devil and retire tomorrow for a guaranteed 12% return on investment capital. $500k invested, generating 12% gives you an income of $60k per year with zero market volatility. Those kind of guaranteed rates are unheard of and the complete opposite of piddly. 

18 hours ago, grin said:

It would be a bonus if it included the required COVID coverage but they can always buy a separate Thai policy for that.

I always get the AXA Sawatdee Policy when coming back in to Thailand. Its not just for covid, its accident and sickness including covid 19, and also covers for asymptomatic hospitalization (which is guaranteed to happen should a person fail their covid test)

https://www.axa.co.th/en/axa-sawasdee-thailand-travel-insurance

The devil is in the details and pre-existing conditions are probably excluded, but its a decent enough policy that should cover the bases. 

There has been a 21 day rule on and off ever since they had different quarantine options. 7-10 day, sandbox, etc. It was there to stop people from circumventing the unapproved country list, otherwise people would just fly to an approved country, then apply for entry immediately from the approved country. 

Ive been doing a variation of this for a while now, and you don't need to be physically present in the approved country for 21 days as long as you've never traveled to an unapproved country while you've been away. 

53 minutes ago, placeholder said:

I asked the same question in the thai visa, work permit, etc. forum and there the consensus was that it need to be within 72 hours of when the test was taken not when the results were issued.

This is the correct answer. Regardless of wether one leg of your journey may or may not allow it to be from the date the certificate was issued doesn't really matter because by and large the generally accepted rule is the swab itself needs to be taken no more than 72 hours prior to departure. That same covid test is not just used to enter thailand, its used for the airlines as well. Just because thailand may allow an odd situation, doesn't mean the airlines will. 

End of the day as long as the swab itself is taken no more than 72 hours prior to departure, youll be good and dont need to worry

2 minutes ago, HiSoLowSoNoSo said:

I would like to visit my house in Trat, but in the rules it says only Koh Chang area, very unclear, how many days do I have to stay in Koh Chang until I can visit Trat town?

You could do 1 day in Bangkok (assuming youre coming from an approved country) and then go right on to Trat. 

2 hours ago, charliechoc said:

Actually, on a related note, I cant believe all the investors staking their ethereum with various exchanges and companies. For such a small return with huge risk I think its really stupid.

6.5% for ETH and 12% for Stablecoins is not a small return. Buying and holding or buying and selling coins is only a small part of how people make money with crypto, although its true you dont want to get caught holding the bag during a selloff. 

I would dump every asset I could find/liquidate/sell/scrape together and borrow and invest it in something that safely guarantees 12%, but thats totally impossible, so people take the gamble with crypto staking. 

Just now, nchuckle said:

MOST insurers would class that scenario as ‘quarantine' (because that’s what it is) as there’s no personal medical necessity. Quarantine costs in the arrival or returning home country are specifically excluded. 

AXA Sawatdee policy explicitly states that they cover for this, and you won't be in quarantine, youll be staying in the hospital, not a hotel room. I have my usual health insurance though my employer and also carry the AXA policy when entering thailand for the first month until I get past all the stupid covid tests they require and im clear of the government leash. 

11 minutes ago, alexlm said:

Or is it not the passport country but where you have stayed for 14 days?

It is not the passport country but the country where you have been staying for the last 21 days. 

Yeah one thing nobody mentioned is you should get the Wifi + Cellular option if you EVER think you might want to install a SIM Card and use the Personal Hotspot option to broadcast a wifi signal to your other devices. 

Another thing is that you dont need to buy more memory, you can just buy an external hard drive for it. I use a solid state external drive. That said, if you want to use the external drive that you use with the iPad on a windows computer, then you need to have it formatted in a certain file type. In other words, you cant use an external drive you use for a Windows PC on your iPad. There are ways around this, but its slightly more complicated. If you dont plan to do any of this, it doesn't matter, but food for thought. 

Dont listen to the haters. Apple products are great and reliable. 

4 hours ago, KhunLA said:

I don't notice much difference in 1080 HD / 2K / 4K. 

I notice it, very much so. Anyone using Netflix, Amazon Prime, PS5, or anything that has the capability to output in 4K, its well worth it. 

I think you'd actually struggle to find a dumb TV. 

3 minutes ago, wpcoe said:

Business today (including banking) is being run by a generation (generations?) of people with no sense of long-term loyalty.  Or, long-term anything.  They eschew pensions because they want to port their 401k as they flit from employer to employer.  They (for whatever reason*) place no priority on seniority or longevity.  If it suits the moment (short-term) they will abandon an employer, customer, bank, whatever, in a heartbeat.  It's all about now.  (And, all about me, of course.) Those of us who would think that 33 years of loyalty to an institution meant anything positive are almost laughably out of date.  </end rant from cynical, aging Boomer>

Im a younger person (borderline) and I dont think youll find anyone who'd rather have a 401k vs a decent pension, but the job market nowadays has dictated that, not employees. 

Same with banks. The days of knowing who you are and getting perks & credit are completely dead. Youre nothing more than a number and thats it. They couldn't care less if they lose your business. 

Thats just how todays world is. You've always got to continually shop around wether it be employment, banking, retirement, technology. If you coast for even a year youll start losing out and fall behind. 

Just now, Neeranam said:

Did Coinbase steal your money?

No, but I 100% thought I was going to lose it.  They locked me out of around $75k worth of bitcoin for 8 months while giving me the run around the whole time with verifications and demands and questions then not answering emails. Couldn't exchange, couldn't withdraw, couldn't do anything, just locked my account and wouldnt ever tell me why or what happened because of their "security protocols". Finally out of the blue they decided I was allowed to have my money and I took it out. I still have the bitcoin in storage and thats the extent of my crypto holdings. Way to risky to have any serious amount of money with these people. 

At least with the stock market I can gamble with the same amount of risk and reward potential but on a platform thats insured and secure. 

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

I bought my wife a gold chain yesterday using my crypto. com  card. They charged me 3% but I get that back in CRO tokens. 

Yeah Ive got the Jade/Indigo card as well, staked. Id like to upgrade but I dont have the nuts (risk tolerance). Coinbase screwed me around years ago quite badly and ive never quite gotten over it. Id like to go harder with crypto ($100k plus) but the exchanges themselves are just too risky. If you cold store your coins then you lose alot of earning potential from staking and if you stake coins or stable coins you risk alot of nonsense with all these websites. 

So I stay in ETF's and "gamble" with a small portion of my portfolio in crypto and stock options. 

So far to be honest i haven't really beaten simple long term ETF investments with neither crypto nor options. 

I use crypto . com for everything nowadays. Staking, Debit Card, "Cash Back" rewards. 

But as a side note, for a 'currency' that claims to be 'decentralized' the exchanges sure do make it hard/costly/risky. 

Ill be another person who is satisfied with Charles Schwab. Schwab One account and Brokerage Account, never an issue. 

Best combo to date for me is Schwab checking combined with Wise . com multi currency account with their prepaid mastercard debit card. Cool thing about wise is they allow you to use WhatsApp for 2FA, so no need to fuss around with SIM cards or phone numbers while traveling. Best exchange rates, spend in local currency. 

I dealt with insufferable banks in the US for WAAAAAY too long before I got with the program and updated. 

29 minutes ago, The Cipher said:

You are correct. I'm double vaccinated and generally encourage everyone to get vaccinated as well, but this hysteria has dragged on for waaaay too long with no defined end conditions.

The part that gets me is that the "end conditions" keep changing by the month while at the same time the requirements keep getting more and more strict. Its like people in power (and their minion supporters) think that they are the puppet masters and we are all the puppets to be led around. 

Get vaccinated and get over it. Someone immunocompromised or high risk? Get vaccinated and maintain personal safety, but otherwise, life goes on.