Jingthing

Watching this space.

In my opinion, it would be prudent to change your address with the SSA to your Thai address if you start automatic monthly deposits to a Thai bank. Why? Well, it's obvious if you're doing that you live in Thailand. You're technically required to notify SSA of address changes so even if not immediately flagged in my opinion the issue would likely come up later. Trying to avoid that letter is not a valid excuse. The letter though being sent late this year for suspicious reasons is really not that big a deal if you're living at an address that receives mail in Thailand.

He sounds very well qualified and competent. How very unusual for a Trump regime appointee!

Trumpist talking points. No credibility.

That isn't the point really. The Thai government WILL be getting its pounds of flesh out of the weed trade, one way or another. They seem to be going to the no recreational / medical model farce. My proposal is MUCH BETTER for both the weed business and for consumers. As said the government is going to find a way to milk it regardless.

It wasn't decriminalzed. It was LEGALIZED.

The doctor thing and "recreational" vs. "medical" are total farces. What I would like to see is effective regulation of safety (as far as toxic chemical use) and truth in advertising for the products along with a reasonable level of taxation on all cannabis sales including online. The taxation would easily pay for any social problems related to cannabis and much much more.

Trump doing something right? On what planet?

When he speaks or "truths" 99 percent plus chance he's lying. But maga seems to like it that way.

Sorry, but I did make a mistake. The crackdown on changes is actually about when you want to change your DIRECT DEPOSIT information rather than change of address. So probably OK with changes of addresses. I have no problem owning up to errors if I discover them, Expats should be very confident about the direction of their direct deposits though and that is an actual policy change. Social Security Administration to require in-person identity checks | AP News www.apnews.com/article/social-security-fraud-waste-doge-elon-musk-212e3089951f731fd3f83443e104b315 About DOGE instigated firings. Not done by normal legislation: DOGE Orders Layoffs at Social Security, Plans to Gut IT Team as Website Continually Breaks: Report www.gizmodo.com/doge-orders-layoffs-at-social-security-plans-to-gut-it-team-as-website-continually-breaks-report-2000585252 Another issue with DOGE is the widely help suspicion that data about citizens was copied to be potentially used for commercial and political purposes by Elon Musk as they came into agencies with NO OVERSIGHT whatsoever. Like I said -- LAWLESS.

It's absurd to blame weed on this. It's obviously about a conflict between an adult guardian and teens. The conflict could have been about cleaning his room. Would you blame rooms then?

The Trump regime is lawless. DOGE went in and effected MASS FIRINGS without any legislation passed. If you choose to live in a fantasy land that the US still has a normal government, be my guest.

I just had another absolutely scrumptious delivery from Spirt of India yesterday. Chicken dum biryani (mostly chicken on the bone) wonderfully spiced, smooth melt in your mouth dal tadka, and plain nan. Raita and pickles included. Enough food for two meals.

They changed the rules on changing addresses. Made it harder. I don't know all the details. In some cases, people are being required to visit physical offices. It's naive of you to think that DOGE was just a "recommending" committee. They came into agencies smashed things up with mass firings, etc. Almost definitely the delayed "proof of life" letter was part of the damage that they did. Many US expats need to send the money directly to a Thai bank every month to use the 65k baht a month income method for their annual retirement extensions.

To clarify, the disgusting cutoff supposedly done behind Trump's back by radical maga man Hegseth was a cut off of aid already approved and funded in the previous Biden administration. Not new stuff. It's outrageous and arguably unconstitutional to cut that off as it was fully approved before. So the Trump regime may be sending already approved stuff with already approved funding, but the real question going forward is if the Trump regime with it's obedient yes men in congress will EVER approve NEW SPENDING for Ukraine aid. That seems very, very doubtful. POSSIBLY, they might approve sales of new equipment though. That's better than nothing.

Yes. If SS has your foreign address, it makes no difference at all where you send the benefits. You will still be subject to the "proof of life" annual letter. That is exactly my situation (Thai address with SS, send benefits to US account.) Given the DOGE "reforms" yes changes of address will be more problematic now. They say the goal is screen out "fraud" but that's a lie when the obvious goal is to create hoops that will deprive many people of deserved benefits because that's how they can save money for the tax cuts for the wealthiest. Many expats lie and tell SS they live in the US when they don't. In such cases, obviously they are exempt from the letter. There may or may not be conseqeunces if SS ever discovers that An advantage of falsely stating US residence is what you can then sign up for a Medicare Advantage plan that will cover acute emergencies abroad. For Medicare Advantage you must have a US zip code address and your SS and Medicare addresses must match. Have fun.

The check is in the mail and I won't rum in your couch SSA style!

If I was filthy rich, I don't know if it I would even bother to visit Thailand again. I would value health, safety, and what enhances longevity more, and that's definitely not Thailand. I would likely go for a "Nomad Capitalist" style owning different homes in different countries. As I love live English language theater, either New York or London for one port. Not sure about other places. I don't really like rich snobs so living among them wouldn't be so good. There are places I haven't explored yet like Japan.

Then you really don't get out much if you've never seen a crowded Indian restaurant in Thailand. By competition I meant it's totally absurd to assert that Thai curries are "better" than Indian curries or vice versa. They are just different. Within them there are different levels of quality and personal preferences. Personally if I was forced to only have one, it would be Indian though.

Tin foil hattery.

One criminally corrupt man ruining a great country is not very funny.

I did.

Again no decent American can possibly support Trump. From Ty Cobb. Not a lefty. Ty Cobb, Former member of the Trump legal team speaks out. Good writing, clear perspective. [Trump} is worse than anyone in our history in my experience and opinion. As people seem to have forgotten, I was very critical of Biden and despite knowing him and his family well, I spent 4 years writing about his cognitive decline and weak foreign policy. He had competent advisors though including very decent men as AG and head of the FBI. While you could fairly question their effectiveness you couldn’t doubt their character. Trump has real contempt for the country, appoints wholly unqualified people to key positions and just kicked 12 million people off Medicaid, eliminated child food support and killed worldwide healthcare efforts monitoring pandemic producing diseases including Ebola (among countless other dangerous things). His tariffs, like his bibles, crypto and extortion of colleges and media companies and his efforts to rewrite history, are purely personal, corrupt and have zero policy based support. They are just exercises in the power he craves so intensely. He has and will continue to damage our economy and the world’s, and our culture, until and unless he is stopped. Fortunately, the courts have shut down his Constitutional overreach in over 180 cases—96% of the cases he has brought or defended in the last six months—but without Congress, which has been neutered by its collective cowardice, the tide cannot turn completely. We are more vulnerable economically and on national security than ever before in history as he and Hegseth have rendered the military unprepared by eliminating the majority of its most experienced and enlightened leaders. Healthcare is in the toilet under RFK JR and many diseases are or soon will be on the rise due to the elimination of vaccines and the defunding of the sciences which made our energy, environment and healthcare the envy of the world. And, finally his Bible and crypto grifts to name a few are pure greed. His net worth is up over $3 billion since taking office 6 months ago. No one has ever seen corruption at this level by a President. Most of these actions have been pure exercises in power and greed and have no guiding principle beyond self interest and vengeance. Competence, leadership, science, and the rule of law which historically distinguished us from petty dictatorships have all been abandoned or curtailed to serve his ego and narcissism. His narcissism is so real and so extreme it dominates and is at the heart of everything he does and always has been. We can only hope the norms he has broken and the damage already done to us economically and to our stature in the world (where we have gone from the beacon of liberty to isolated bully in just months) can be restored perhaps in a generation and that the damage yet to come will be less severe but the country is in real trouble and sadly the weakest among us will feel it the worst. Moreover, the cognitive decline we saw in Biden is very real with Trump as well. His us versus them approach to Americans has been more divisive than any prior President. Just yesterday he announced how much he “hates” all Democrats. “Hate” worked for Hitler, briefly, but no one considers it a leadership trait. His racism is palpable. The country needs new leaders with character and I don’t care if they are Republicans or Democrats, never have. Just want someone honest, principled, intelligent and compassionate who can unite us. Trump in my experience is none of those things. This is what I believe and why I am engaged. I could of course be tilting at windmills but don’t really have much choice if I want to sleep at night given the stakes as I see them.

"Leftists" like Liz Cheney? The truth is that all decent Americans that ever paid attention in civics or history classes oppose Trump.

I resemble that remark and I've also met Indian restaurant owners who do their own deliveries to hotels. Without too much stereotyping I think it's fair to say that many Indians are very resourceful and flexible when it comes to running businesses.