Cameroni

Exactly right. It is Burmese gangs that target the festivals. Absolutely disgraceful people, you need to be aware and look around. You will see these groups of concentrated Burmese following farang around. I really hope I catch one in the act one day.

Shades of the 1930s, public confidence in democratic parties plummeting, strong man leaders emerging, economic warfare looming. Didn't Japan go to war because the US imposed an oil embargo crippling the Japanese economy? Germany rearming, Britain and France too. A nascent economic and military power in Asia, China this time. Plu ca change c'est la meme chose.

We all remember when the British equivalent of the Fed thought they could outplay the markets during the ERM crisis, when Trump's current economic advisor Scott Bessent was part of Soros' team that put together a bet that broke the Bank of England. Possibly that was the beginning of the end for Britain, now terrified foreign debtors will not help finance their lifestyle anymore. The American situation is different, because the American economy is vastly greater than Britain's, and the American market will always be a magnetic attraction for export nations. However, I wonder if the Fed could also make a major blunder like the British did. Hopefully not. But QE has contributed to inflation and it is highly doubtful the Fed officials foresaw this. To have Powell in charge now, who famously advised inflation was a temporary phenomenon and nothing to worry about, does not fill you with confidence..

You do not understand what is happening, Trump WANTS the dollar to fall. Stock markets fluctuate it's not a big issue. The fact that Trump is right that manufacutring has to be revitalised is not affected by market fluctuations.

Greenspan was a disaster on many levels. Clinton did make that mistake of passing a law that forced banks to give loans to people who could not afford to pay them back. An obvious error borne from ideology, DEI led to the subprime mortgage crisis. The bankers were not locked up because at the time the loans were repackaged they were not bad loans. It was the borrowers who defaulted who made them bad loans. Indeed manufacturing has to be revitalised in the US. Trump is right.

The Fed's Quantitative Easing was responsible for inflation. That is the case. Bankers, economists and experts disagree with your view that QE does not lead to inflation: "My research compares the reported inflationary effects of QE and conventional monetary policy across 82 previous studies for the euro area, UK and US. This comparison shows that the reported inflationary effects of QE are two to four times higher than those of conventional monetary policy in the UK and US, but not in the euro area (see charts below). The result that QE generates more inflation than conventional monetary policy is therefore a general finding of academic research." As this research shows that QE generates more inflation than conventional monetary policy, any explanation of the recent inflation surge should therefore consider QE as a possible factor. https://www.thebanker.com/content/dd5946ac-33f5-518f-af14-a148e24127c7 Clearly, the Fed's QE is the underlying cause of inflation, which was exarcebated by Covid and Ukraine. Even if a cursory examination of inflation figures appears to show that inflation was not rampant prior to Covid, academic research clearly shows that QE does lead to higher inflation.

The fact that you claim the Chinese destruction of apartments is "propaganda" clearly shows you are in denial and in the dark. If you had read his link the fact check said it was "true", and of course, it is true that China has stupidly overproduced housing which stands empty. The Ghost cities are real. Chinese house prices are falling. This is all real, even if you want to close your eyes to it, it is still there. It was a massive mistake by the Chinese to overproduce housing to this degree, but they can't help themselves, overproduction seems to be in their DNA. A very stupid thing to do, house prices are falling in China. Equally your claim that ASEAN countries are not terrified of a tsunami of Chinese products coming their way, now that the US is closed for them, I am afraid it's not "in my head", I saw an interview with an Indonesian trade minister. A Thai official said similar things. This Chinese tendency to overproduce has already resulted in China dumping products cheaply in these countries. In fact China has destroyed the Indonesian garment industry with its cut price avalanche of cheap fabrics. So tariffs on China may well be on the card in the ASEAN region fairly soon. China has not just lost 400 billion USD of American market, the EU has slapped tariffs on China. So have Turkey, Brazil, Indonesia and many others. The reason being China's dumping of underpriced prodcuts in those markets. The overproduction is becoming a problem for China that is larger than the US. I take your point about prices being lower in China in some regions that is of course so, though I was in Shanghai and it wasn't exactly cheap. But yes, money will go further in many other Chinese regions, I am sure you're right on that. But you cannot deny there is a clear structural inequality in the Chinese population, there are giant swathes of dirt poor peasant populations in China who live in a poverty we cannot imagine in the West. The peasants JD Vance spoke off, the migrant labourers, they are real. Fair point, the true ramifications of Chinese women refusing to have children will take some time to manifest, but even now the lower domestic demand indicates that already the growth of the aging population is having some effect.This is not a unique problem in the world of course, but let's not pretend it doesn't afflict China as well. America will win this trade war. Yes, China has done very well in trade so far, but its overproduction has destroyed many domestic markets, particularly in Asia. Nobody wants to cut trade with China completely, however, many countries, not just the US, but many others, including the EU, Turkey, Brazil, Indonesia, want to limit trade with China, due to dumping practices by the Chinese. The Americans don't just reign supreme in chips, in pharmaceuticals too, six of the top ten companies are American, including the very largest ones. In consumer electronics and software too the US dominate. Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft are the highest-valued companies in the world at the end of 2024. Dominance of US corporations continues: 62 of the 100 most expensive companies in the world are based in the USA. "The latest analysis of market capitalization of companies, conducted by the auditing and consulting firm EY Switzerland, shows that despite strong geopolitical tensions and a subdued global economy, the stock market value of the 100 most expensive publicly traded companies in the world increased by 25 percent over the past year....Clearly leading in this area are companies from the USA: Of the 24 technology companies in the top 100, 18 are headquartered in the USA. Overall, US companies dominate the ranking – at the end of 2024, 62 US corporations are in the list of the highest-valued companies in the world. Of the ten most expensive companies, nine are headquartered in the USA. https://www.ey.com/en_ch/newsroom/2025/01/us-corporations-dominate-global-stock-markets-europe-and-asia-lag-far-behind This is despite China doing so well. The riches of the USA are beyond anything the Chinese have achieved. America will win this trade war.

To be fair modern porn is exceptionally good these days, this was bound to happen.

Fish and chips looks interesting.

The counter argument would be the American car success stories in Europe, the Ford Mondeo, the Ford Fiesta and many others sold rather well in Europe. if the car is good it will sell, provided the price is right. European consumers are much like any other, if a good car can be bought at a low price, they don't mind buying Romanian or Korean cars. The problem is that the American cars so far were not very competitive in Europe, barring the exceptions that sold well. I personally drove a Cadillac and have to say it is a very fine car and I am surprised Cadillacs do not sell well in Europe. I understand what you're saying about VAT, but I do think it is seen as an unwelcome complication and barrier to doing busines in Europe by many American companies. Since the US do not have this.

Very much.

Well, things are looking up already in that case.

So they don't have cake? Not even apple pie? Not gonna lie, I'm a little disappointed.

Do they have cake? Now don't go googling a photo of the world's best cake and pass it off as Mad Dog Cake. Don't do me dirty.

Yes, indeed. That is probably why a lot of these "finding" trips are immersions in new cultures, long trips, you set up a scenario that challenges you and gives you new experiences. A new relationship perhaps.

That's what I thought, because it looked nothing like the REAL photos of pizzas on the Mad Dog website. Good work.

That looks really good actually. Almost like at L'antica pizzera da Michele in London..

See! This is the first step. Bravo! Now walk a thousand miles.

I think the fact that they refuse to do so tells us all we need to know. Thankfully, being the world class internet sleuth that I am, managed to track down RECENT photos of the Pizza offering: I have to say it's hard to say what looks worse the fake crab meat pizza or the shrimp pizza, then again the crust on all of them looks suspiciiously like a frankfurter.

I did! You think to become this charming, loveable, well adjusted poster you see before you every day didn't take work? No, it was hard work! You have to fight your demons every day. There is no perfection. Every day a new the battle begins. Lazy? You failed again. Do what has to be done. You work on yourself every single day. If you don't, you change for the worse. You become one of these spiteful, weak, lurkers who lurk in threads to post sad emojis. But if you can find the discipline to work on doing what has to be done, you can, maybe, become like me. But the first step is to look in the mirror, and see what a wretched cauldron of snakes you really are. Jealousy, covetousness, wrath, pride, all of it, it is there if you look hard enough. Some people never look of course, and think they are perfect, when they are very much not. These people we call living in a false reality. That's the worst really.. To be honest with yourself, to look at the world as it really is. This is a hard pill to swallow. And even harder to sweeten. But it can be done.

Everyone knows. Batlady's expeditions are well documented. She hunted in caves near Nanning, the capital of Guangxi. There are many other caves filled with bats in Chind mind you. Shi-tou Cave, on the outskirts of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, is another place where Batlady hunted. "In any case, Shi says, “wildlife trade and consumption are only part of problem.” In late 2016 pigs across four farms in Qingyuan County in Guangdong—60 miles from the site where the SARS outbreak originated—suffered from acute vomiting and diarrhea, and nearly 25,000 of the animals died. Local veterinarians could not detect any known pathogen and called Shi for help. The cause of the illness—swine acute diarrhea syndrome (SADS)—turned out to be a virus whose genomic sequence was 98 percent identical to that of a coronavirus found in horseshoe bats in a nearby cave." https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-chinas-bat-woman-hunted-down-viruses-from-sars-to-the-new-coronavirus1/

So let me get this staight, the staff are surly 40 somethings with kids. The place reeks of cannabis. And the food looks mediocre at best, with only the breakfasts being any good? Sounds like a great place.

The thing is you don't really find out who you are, until you are faced with certain events in your life that reveal your true nature. It can take a whole lifetime to find out who you really are. As it is only in these defining events that you really reveal your true self.

Just now on the internets. The pizzas look awful and the sandwiches don't look much better.

Powell, the financial genius who told us "Oh inflation is just a temporary phenomeneon, nothing to worry about, no biggie".. Trump would have fired him a long time ago if Scott hadn't advised him that the markets would really not like that. There must be better men to lead the Fed than this.