MeaMaximaCulpa

Who is the arbiter of BS? Confirmation bias, cognitive dissonance, "trust the science" are but three issues to contend with. Start with an open mind. Good luck! 😀

Nothing else even comes close to the mother of all problems facing the US: Slowing the growth of the national debt and eventually reducing it to a sustainable level. Can and will Trump do that? I don't know. Probably not, but I hope I am wrong. Can anyone else do it? Same answer as above. Any other issue is just noise in comparison.

Your loss, I don't really care

Thanks, I appreciate your response. I do not have any accurate figures, but having followed this situation for many years, my impression and opinion is that the number is huge, somewhere in the several of tens of thousands. During my time there (1990s), what was most in the news was the inter-tribal, black-on-black killings. They were horribly bestial, with bodies hacked to pieces or “necklaced”. I lost several of my factory workers to these senseless killings. There are 8 or 9 “officially recognized” tribes in South Africa, and many of them hate each others’ guts. So this goes far deeper than skin colour. Take the time to watch the video I posted, also the one by Katie Hopkins posted by @merck (I know she may be too much for some with her flippant sarcasm, but in this one she is very serious and not out for cheap points). Better yet, find articles and videos from sources you trust, because it is in the nature of documentaries to only show one side of an issue, and they are usually very persuasive. My impression is that killings of white farmers happen on an “industrial scale” is not a controversial issue, but the South African government will of course tone down the seriousness and numbers to fit their narrative. And to add insult to injury, the moral underpinnings of the taking back white owned land and redistributing it to blacks have not exactly yielded stellar results. Neither in Zimbabwe nor in South Africa. In many cases the land was used as rewards for supporters of the government, people already wealthy who had no idea how to farm, and the end result being massively reduced output and starvation as a result. Sad but true. From breadbasket to basket case. I came to this discussion mostly driven by my close connections to South Africa, and not so much to discuss Trump, but being an avid fanboy and proud of that, I will make a couple of comments around that too while I’m here anyway. Firstly I was impressed with your long post regarding tariffs and China, a bit off-topic as such in this particular thread, but with lots of facts, details and substance. More of this please! Now I cannot speak for Trump nor read his mind, but I would venture to guess he would mostly agree with your situational description of China having risen to dominate manufacturing and more and more also the science and technology underpinning this. How did this happen? With good help from US and other companies out to save money by moving their operations to China. And also by the CCPs policy of stealing intellectual property and copying. But that is water under the bridge now. As I understand it, tariffs is Trump’s preferred tool to break this vicious circle and bring manufacturing and R&D back to the US. And that is why he initially goes very hard and deep, to get attention, scare and sometimes (economically) force companies back to the US. And also to level out very unfair trade protections from trading partners. During negotiations positions will be adjusted and an equilibrium will usually be found, hopefully with very few/low tariffs, to let market forces decide. It is a very risky game to play, and only time will tell if it will work. And will it be enough to counter China going forward, who knows? Perhaps the US has already fallen too far, much like Europe, the latter really is a basket case at this stage, beyond saving in my opinion. Very sad indeed. Finally in closing, I am really shocked to see the abject hatred of Trump coming from many posters here, totally dominating their opinions and blocking for a constructive discussion. Often based on nothing but emotions. I do not agree with all Trump does or says, and of course he also lies. Allow me a bit of "whataboutism": Show me any politician who doesn’t lie. But I will go out on a limb and say that in my opinion Trump engages mostly in hyperbole (and ad hominem and other not-so-nice tactics as well), but more often than not is he not outright lying, but actually “directionally correct”. No, I cannot give stats or evidence of this, just my “informed fanboy opinion”. So there!

I usually don’t get involved in the political threads on the forum, but I must admit I am drawn to them like a moth to a flame or to the proverbial slow motion train wreck. For shock and entertainment. But I will make an exception today, because the above comment I saw from @spidermike007 just cannot go unanswered. This also includes a lot of his “mates”, but I shall not bother to name them here, we all know who they are by now, as do they of course. Either they are pure trolls, they participate in the inane “post-count competition”, or they are just grossly uninformed, willfully or otherwise. On the flip side, there are also many well informed commenters here. We don’t have always to agree, but we should discuss issues and facts. So when faced with a serious and complex subject like what is going on in South Africa, the best you can come up with is a sad little attack on Trump, and a very unfunny “joke” about the price of his suit. Really? Really? Pathetic. Have you ever even been to South Africa? Have you studied the background and history? Anything at all? Do you even care? This will be a bit long, but hopefully worth reading if you care about the world around you. It is a parallel to the Russia/Ukraine debacle, where I am met with “Russia attacked, so nothing more to discuss”. Well a lot actually, because history and context matters. A lot. But just for the record: I am NOT condoning apartheid, nor am I a Putin apologist. So just don’t bother to go there. I am not claiming to be an expert, but I did spend five years living and working there (in Pinetown, outside Durban), and travelled extensively around the country, talking to people everywhere, from all walks of life, including my own employees and people in squatter camps and “black townships”. Man did they have tales to tell. South Africa was a great country, with great natural resources, geography, infrastructure, climate, people and a promising future. I wish I could write “is”, but I am not sure if the situation can be turned around before it is too late, before we have “Zimbabwe V2.0”. I still hope to be proven wrong! I was there in the 1990s, during the time that Madiba (Mandela) was released from prison, the first free election held, and the setting up of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It was a time of amazing energy, hope, and good will. The highly troubled peoples finally seemed to have some sense of a common purpose and vision of better times to come. And with a stellar statesman like Madiba at the helm, what could possibly go wrong? Well, too much was resting on Madiba’s shoulders, and when he died, things started to unravel. I shall not bore you with details, read up for yourself if you care. But the short story is that without competent and strong leadership infighting, corruption, greed and hatred started to get the upper hand. There are many articles and videos on the interweb to study, one I found interesting and scary was Lauren Southern’s “Farmlands” (from 2018): I can promise you the situation has not improved in the 7 years since then. We also now have the collapse of Eskom (national electricity utility), where it is so run into the ground that it can no longer provide stable power to consumers and businesses. I remember hearing about the government of Zambia reaching out to the white Afrikaaner farmers (from South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe) and inviting them to settle in Zambia. They got cheap/free farmland to help move agriculture forward to modern standards so Zambia could feed its people. A very smart move indeed, because these people know how to farm! I will not engage in a mudslinging contest, and therefore not answer any responses unless they are showing genuine interest and curiosity, and is contributing to a better understanding of the issue. Then I’m all yours!

I have a yellow book and a pink card. Yellow book issuance was like pulling teeth, ended up with several rounds when they asked more and more irrelevant info, also about my long deceased parents. This is done for one simple and obvious reason, which I resisted and in the end they gave in, exhausted. The pink card was quite easy in comparison. Yellow book for me is only accepted at immigration as proof of address. NOT at Land Transport Department (Pattaya), there it is a hard no, tried several times over the years. Even an agent I use as hand-holder there said the same, yellow book not accepted. So I have to go to immigration, use the yellow book to get a CoR, which I then take to LTD. Circular anyone? But still, always someone saying I'm wrong, they use it there, and I must dress wrongly or be drunk or obnoxious in some way. Yeah, right. Same with the pink card, it is never accepted in any bank I try it, neither in any hotel. Again, I look and act normal. So unless you have opened your account based on your pink card, why would counter staff accept anything less than your passport? Nothing but downside for them and no upside. I am not saying these dissenting voices are outright lying, but I find it hard to understand that for them it is so easy and convenient, but for me it is close to impossible? Anyway, this is just my experience and opinion, and I am not picking a fight, just trying to understand. But after 28 years here, I should know better I guess, and just suck it up.

You can either ask the local revenue office for a tax ID like @mahjongguy stated, or if you have the pink ID card and not already have a tax ID, your ID number from the pink crd is your tax ID number. More and more banks are asking for these things now, my bank in Norway pesters me annually about FATCA/CRS (look it up), and my Thai banks asks for my Norwegian tax ID/social security number. So like it or not, soon they will know everything about you, and exchange that information across international borders.

FWIW I still use a TM-30 from 2017 at Jomtien Immigration, and it is always accepted without comment. I live at the same address and I am on a retirement extension. I have been abroad many times over the years, and also travelled locally and stayed in several hotels here. Never a problem. But as always, YMMW...

From what I can understand, it is more the individual doctor and less the hospital you should look for. That being said, it is probably a higher density of excellent doctors at Bumrungrad than at some of the cheaper hospitals. But since a knee replacement is of critical importance, go for the best you can afford. Imagine the potential pain and misery for years to come if you compromise to save some money.

Never?

Nobody on here can diagnose your memory issues, but I believe as a general rule, a low carb/keto diet will be helpful for brain health and memory/dementia issues. Many now call Alzheimer's for diabetes type 3, claiming it is (among other possible causes) a metabolic disease. Insulin resistance in the brain causes poor uptake of glucose to fuel the brain, but on a keto diet ketones are produced from fat to take over glucose's role in the body and brain (well ±30% of the brain must have glucose, but the rest thrives on ketones). Ketones do not require insulin, so one can bypass the insulin resistance. You can also bypass insulin if you do some intense workouts, look it up (non-insulin dependent uptake of glucose). As for diet specifics others have given you some (mostly) good ideas already. But general rule is Fat 75%, protein 20% and carbs 5%. Then you can adjust to taste. Just be aware that there is a phenomenon called "physiological insulin resistance" or glucose sparing state, as opposed to pathological insulin resistance. The former is not dangerous, but it usually happens on a very low carb diet, where you rely on the liver to make the small amount of glucose the body never can do without (parts of the brain, optic nerve, red blood cells plus some more areas). So the cells are made temporarily insulin resistant to give the vital parts the glucose they need. Eating some carbs for a day or two will quickly turn off this mechanism, so it may be a good idea to cycle in some carbs now and then. How will you know you have succeeded? Two ways: 1) Get a ketone meter, similar to a glucose meter. This may be difficult to buy in Thailand, also via the internet (e.g. Amazon will not ship it here), so you will have to have a friend ship it to you or trans-ship it via a third party (FDA approval rules I believe). I have one (Keto-Mojo) and it works very well. Together with a glucose meter (I use Accdu-Chek Guide, very good) one can track accurately the progression to keto nirvana, also nice to have if you do some prolonged fasts (3-4 days) every now and then. 2) You will just know! After a "fat-adaptation phase" of 2-4 weeks you will not be hungry much, cravings go away, energy returns, brain fog lifts and mood is much better than on a carb heavy diet. Weight loss should also be quite easy. The adaptation phase may be hard, and there you will need some self control. Many give up just before they arrive in fat-burning mode, so stick with it!

Perhaps talk with your dentist if ceramic inlays may be a better option for big fillings?

I had my amalgam fillings removed around 30 years ago, and replaced with polymer fillings and in some cases ceramic inlays (for bigger areas on the chewing surfaces). My dentist back then in South Africa (RIP (the country, not the dentist)) did a very good job of preparation for safe removal both for him and me. In addition to things already mentioned in this thread, to avoid any drilling residue entering the throat and swallowed he put a rubber "coffer dam" tightly around the tooth and covering everything else. I didn't have any specific symptoms of mercury poisoning, but did this as a precautionary measure, since it is usually old, partly broken or eroded fillings that can eventually leach out mercury. I also didn't have any adverse effects of the removal, nor did I feel any better for that matter. My blood mercury is stable and low now and back then. Some will say "let sleeping dogs lie", since the risk of extraction vs the benefits may be hard to calculate. The mercury in amalgam is usually very tightly bonded, and unlikely to cause any harm (except to the dentist who used to work in this environment all day, every day). I can see that side of things, same as with a root canal treatment. I would prefer extraction and implant before a root canal, but if you already have a root canal that has been done by a good dentist and is not causing problems, it may be better to let it stay. But there is a risk that anaerobic bacteria can build up, and eventually leach out and get into your bloodstream. And these bacteria can be very dangerous to the heart especially. But again, the very process of drilling into this "can of worms" may help to spread the bacteria. Like a biopsy for cancer detection. Very useful, but may in some cases help to spread the cancer. So doomed if you do, doomed if you don't...

I usually don't comment in this section, but I enjoy the entertainment value. The above post was way to big to bother commenting on, but one sentence stood out to me: "... the days of imperialism are long since dead". Are they? Really? You (and I) might wish that to be true, but last time I checked, many of the left/liberals/... keep saying that they KNOW what Putin wants. And that is to re-create the Soviet Union and invade Europe (exactly HOW they know this is a bit unclear to me, and likewise how Putin would go about doing this isn't obvious with his limited resources and economy). And China, well we can observe that they are on all continents, busy investing/buying up ports, land and building big things with thick strings attached. But they also flex some military muscles, so far mainly in the South China Sea, but also elsewhere. Feel free to disagree, I don't really care. I just had to point it out, that's all.

2nd hand black Lotus Turbo Esprit, bought at Hendon Way Motors in London way back. I don't have a pic handy, but the one below looks the same. 2.2 liter turbo, double overhead cams, double Delorto carburetors, it felt like sitting in a go-cart with poor to no visibility other that straight ahead. <deleted>ty build quality, but fun to drive and it turned some heads. It had KUW 777 in the reg. number and was registered first time 25 December. The dealer said it was a prince from Kuwait that bought it as a Christmas pressie to his g/f or wife. I dunno if that is true or not, but it is a good story nevertheless. James Bond used a white version in a 007 movie in the Italian alps, and had a trendy ski-rack fitted. So James and I are buddies 🙂.