WDSmart

Trump and Musk have NEVER been "darlings of the left." Trump has never been, and Musk, at least for me, ruined his reputation when he threw a temper tantrum about how his efforts to save the kids trapped in a tunnel here in Thailand were not used. I don't remember WHY they were not used, but Musk took it as an insult. He and most multi-billionaires have never been in my "darling" category. They all seem to be egomaniacal, selfish, capitalistic, narcissists to me.

Your response above is exactly what I'm talking about. I do agree with everything you've said above about China. I do not believe that in the West (USA, primarily), the priorities are HSE (Heath, Safety, Environment ), quality, and cost, in that order. That's the way it should be, but I think even now, and most certainly during the Trump administration, the priorities will be completely reversed: cost (profit), quality (as low as possible to decrease costs and increase profits, and HSE (will be last on the list and only be considered if everything else is going well, and maybe not even then. And even if everything you say above about China and other countries is true, we (the West/USA) should not use that as an excuse to reduce, reorder, or ignore our priorities in the order they should be.

I agree with what you say above, but that only means we should try very hard to reach agreements and consensuses with other countries on how to deal with this growing crisis. And, even if other countries don't follow the rules, we should. We should set an example, even if it is not beneficial to our economy.

No, the USA voters were either conned by the "nazi fascist hitler luvin Trump," or came out from under the rocks they've been hiding. And yes, I'm trying to figure out which explanation can be applied to the majority of them, but I'm afraid, for now, I'll have to assume that a very large percentage of my fellow countrymen are the types with whom I do not care to associate.

What countries are they trying to take over? Isreal is trying to drive all Palestinians out of their territories granted to them by the UN in 1947, such as Gaza and the parts of the West Bank. They've been doing this for many years now.

Israel is attempting to drive all Palestinians out of their land in Gaza and the West Bank so they can take it over and have the entire area as part of Israel. They've done this before and keep doing it. For over a year now, I've been suggesting a Two-State Solution based on the original. UN land grants of 1947. I predict Trump will totally back Isreal and Palestinians either be allowed to be killed or divine out, or allowed to stay as second-class type citizens with almost no rights and protection.

Snd you know that how? I don't "know" that, but that is my opinion of them based on how they talk and act, at least from what I've seen online. I've never met and talked with either one of them, and frankly, I don't care to.

I do have fear. I believe Trump will "restore peace" by backing aggressive countries like Russia, North Korea, China, and Israel in their attempts to take over other countries. I believe Trump will completely disrupt the USA and many other countries by halting progress on common efforts, such as the effort to address the human causes of Climate Change, and even dismantling all achievements we've been able to have so far under Obama and Biden.

No one cares. Oh, I care. What I mean is Musk and Trump don't care about anyone else but themselves.

You are going to Liverpool, England, and are not knowledgeable about the rules in the USA. A president can only pardon someone (or himself, although that's never been done before) of FEDERAL charges, not STATE charges. Two of his four indictments are state charges, one in New York and one in Georgia. The STATE charges cannot be pardoned.

He deported himself already. I said "deported to," not "deported from." What I meant was to have him deported to Thailand from whatever country he is now in. Maybe we could say "imported." 😄

Yes, I agree with you. I think Biden said he would not pardon Hunter because he thought he would be found not guilty or, if found guilty, would face fines, not prison.

Find him, have him deported to Thailand, and lock him up!

I'm a far-left liberal and a strong progressive. I wouldn't join Elon Musk on anything.

As a far-left liberal, I say "No!" to pardons for either Hunter Biden or Donald Trump.

Yes, I understand all that, but some of us just don't have 800K that we can keep in a bank. I used to do that, but recently, my balance dipped below the 800K threshold, so I've gone with the 65K or more monthly deposits. My monthly Social Security pension is about 90K, and it is deposited in my USA bank account. So, I have no problem meeting the 65K minimum, even if I have to use some of those funds out of my USA bank account for other things. But, yes, it does cost me a little more in money transfer fees, but that's the price I have to pay to stay in Thailand with less than 800K in the bank unless I want to go with a one-year extension based on Marriage, which requires a lot more paperwork. I'd rather pay $50 a month or so in transfer fees rather than go through all that hassle of gathering up the Marriage paperwork.

My Immigration here in Phetchabun does not require 800K in your account if you meet the 65K monthly deposits. This is backed up by the information online: How to Get a 1-Year Extension of Non-Immigrant (O) Visa in Thailand? | Strictly Thailand

I have most recently been on a Type O visa and have gotten a one-year extension based on Retirement with 800K in the bank. Last year, my balance dipped below 800K, so I thought I would have to switch to a Marriage one-year extension, which takes a lot more paperwork. When I talked it over with my local Immigrations, they suggested I look at a Monthly Deposits extension. For that, you have to show you make monthly deposits into your Thai bank account for more than THB 67K (I think this is the amount). I transfer my USA Social Security monthly payments to my Thai bank account every month, so I easily qualified. Long story short... Last week, I went down and got a one-year extension based on my Retirement using monthly deposits. Just a suggestion for you to check out...

I am now 78 and have had an enlarged prostate for about ten years. When I first went to a doctor here in Thailand, he wanted me to take tests, which would require the scraping of tissue from my prostate, to see if it was cancerous and, if it was, have it removed. I asked several of my long-time friends who were doctors in the USA about this, and they all said that even if I had prostate cancer, it would grow at a very slow rate. So, at my age, at the time, I should not have any problems with that cancer for the next 20 years or so. Therefore, unless I started having more severe problems, they discouraged me from having any scraping tests and especially from having my prostate removed. So far, so good. I have to get up twice or sometimes three times every night to urinate, but other than that, my prostate (and PSA levels) have not gotten worse.

Lock him up!

Trump's challenge is not balancing anything but his own policies and actions.

Lock him up!

I, who identifies as a far-left liberal, do not "hate peace and prosperity." As far as peace is concerned, we'll all see what kind of "peace" the Trump administration achieves over the next four years. I don't think we'll see any, but if we do, it will be a "peace" brought about by forcing some countries and peoples to accept conditions that are "surrender" and actually "victories" for those now attacking them. And prosperity? I'm all for that as long as it is prosperity for everyone, not just the wealthy, and not just for a small set of countries. Prosperity, like peace above, is often brought about at the cost of others. That is not acceptable to me.

They do so, as they also have in the USA, either because they've been duped by false information or because they actually have some of the same selfish values their executioners have out of a desire for revenge on the supposed and delusional "deep state."

No, I don't, but up in the mountains where I live, we don't sterilize our male dogs. We think they need all the testosterone they can get to survive up here. We do sterilize our female dogs, which helps in two ways. It, of course, prevents them from having puppies but also reduces the fighting among the male dogs trying for dominance over them. But both our males and females do chew on things when they get a chance.