spidermike007

Well Zelensky is obviously being a bit more thoughtful about the process this time around, and I can't imagine that he's actually looking forward to negotiations when his country is not being allowed to participate, being one of the two parties of this ongoing war! I'm very proud of Zelensky mouthing off to Trump and giving him an earful. Many around the world think that he made Trump and Vance look very foolish and that he deliberately baited them. Telling it like it is, and speaking truth to power. But as we know it didn't go too well, however I do not think Zelensky ever wanted that, as the mineral deal was a terrible deal for you his nation. There's no doubt right now that Trump's talk of sanctions against Russia are simply something that he got permission from Putin, in order to do well in advance, and something that's just simply for the sake of the cameras and his political base, as he's looking like an absolute goon to the extent that he bows down to Russia, and pays fealty to the Russian King. I don't expect much to come out of these negotiations, and I'm hopeful the NATO gets more deeply involved in the support of Ukraine against the serial killing genocidal dictator. My heart goes out to him for having to apologize to Trump, I can only imagine what it would be like to apologize to such an undignified, and ignorant circus clown.

I know I'm ignoring the basic rules of your post, but I would not want to be born today. I would not want to bring a child into the world today, and I cannot understand anybody's desire to bring a child into the world at this present time. I completely understand and relate to why birth rates are declining. I think not having a child today is one of the smartest decisions an individual can make. Who would want to bring a child into this world right now, and why?

The pox is currently operating in Washington DC, to maximum effect.

Yes, absolutely. None of this hurts me as I really don't take it all that seriously. I'm having fun with it. Trump is an outstanding target and he sets himself up for derision and criticism with his constant nonsense, and his ridiculous policies. One always has to speak truth to power, and I will not stop till he's gone, and believe me he will be gone soon enough.

Exactly. And perhaps the best explanation yet for all the chaos created by the current creep, who pretends to be in charge.

My Chinese navy? That is a good one. I despise the CCP. They are truly heinous, and if we really knew their intentions we would be very scared.

There is no question in my mind that Russia, China, North Korea, and the Saudis are thanking their lucky stars that Trump got elected, knowing how weak he is, how feeble his mind is, how little he knows about geopolitics and globalization, how easily bought he is, how corrupted his heart and soul are, and how co-opted he is by toxic powers and mindless nonsense.

I think there is no question that we stopped evolving as a species 30 or 40 years ago, and we have been devolving ever since. We are not going in the right direction on the vast majority of levels.

With many people, once they got attached to a theory, it was hard to get them detached. They’d screen out unhelpful facts, invent favorable ones, and ignore contradictions in their own claims. Look at those Sandy Hook, multiple fraud convictions, and Jan. 6th truthers, babbling about false flags and crisis actors and all the rest. When people were motivated enough to believe something, they were going to believe it no matter what. There was no such thing as a bridge too far.

As well he should, the US deserves to be punished for its lack of loyalty to trusted allies and neighbors. Let the Trump inspired destruction and retribution begin.

There's no reason for me to provide any proof, that would be a waste of time. For anyone who has an interest in getting to the truth of the story there's plenty of testimony online of people who have actually been locked up in those cells, and are familiar with the materials that are used and all the steps that are taken to prevent someone from being able to commit suicide. Also use your common sense, Epsteins bunk was 2 ft off the ground and the sheets were made of a fabric that resembles tissue paper, and the cameras were conveniently disabled during that entire period. Work it out yourself. 0% chance of suicide. Same applies to Kenney Lay. Remember him? Chief of Enron. Good friend of Cheney. He died months before his trial, and there was a little known law on the books that allowed his wife to keep the entire fortune. How convenient. Things like that just don't happen in real life.

There's no question that he's a major coward, he would never have the guts to fight a true battle, or do something dangerous. Not only that but he's a derelict, he's a delinquent, he's a felon, he's a lifetime career criminal, he's somewhat of a dimwit, he is a hater, and a racist, he is highly misogynistic, he's a terrible negotiator, and a fraud, and he's a horrific leader. And it seems like he's hellbent upon bringing chaos down upon the US and world economies. Which makes him very dangerous too. Overall he's a stain on the face and the history of America.

Sometimes I am very thankful that I'm fairly normal, and that I am able to find stimulation in things that are relatively healthy and not particularly perverse. Some people, I guess it just takes a lot to get them going. Lifestyles of the bizarre and twisted.

Many of us agree that the country needed change and it is quite obvious that the Democratic party was broken. The big question, is Trump the change that we needed? Is Trump the man that he says he is? Is Trump the man that his supporters think he is? Is Trump sincere about the well-being of the nation and its people? Will Trump put the well-being of the nation above himself? Will he destroy alliances and will he coddle dictators? Will he golf less than 150 times a year on the nation's dime? Well his tariffs absolutely gut the US economy, cause high unemployment, and a dramatic increase in inflation? All that remains to be seen. Saint Donald. Total revisionist history, a complete reformation of his entire career, and a total erasure of his past crimes, moral terpitude, and a total and complete willingness to overlook a lifetime of moral bankruptcy. I do have some friends that will come right out and say the man is a butthead, he's an idiot, and he's an absolute clown, but I like many of his policies. Those are the Republicans I admire. With many people, once they got attached to a theory, it was hard to get them detached. They’d screen out unhelpful facts, invent favorable ones, and ignore contradictions in their own claims. Look at those Sandy Hook, multiple fraud convictions, and Jan. 6th truthers, babbling about false flags and crisis actors and all the rest. When people were motivated enough to believe something, they were going to believe it no matter what. There was no such thing as a bridge too far.

If anybody questioned Trump's sanity prior to the election, I think the last six weeks have made it abundantly clear that the man is completely unhinged, has horrific policy, is being poorly advised, is not intelligent at all, and knows nothing about globalization, tariffs, nor the global economy. He seems hellbent on absolutely gutting the US economy, and perhaps taking the world down with it. He and the crazy superfreak Musk are both very dangerous.

In general Filipinas eat a horrific diet, and that could be at least one of the causes of their odorific presence.

I would love to see all politicians required to wear the last one. All the time.

I left Samui 10 years ago, and though I go back to visit occasionally I'm incredibly thankful to no longer be living there, for a dozen good reasons. The same applies to Phuket, other than the Andaman it is more or less a boring and over crowded, over priced wasteland.

From what I understand the teachers have very little tolerance of being questioned, which would point toward very low self-esteem and very little faith in their own level of knowledge. I read a study a few years back where they gave Math teachers at the high school the same test that the students get at the end of the term, and there was an 87% failure rate amongst the teachers! Curiosity is one of the greatest human qualities and it not only advances the mind, but a young person can learn so much with a healthy state of curiosity, that state of mind seems to be stifled here at every turn and it feels as if the elite and this spectacularly toxic government discourage curiosity. When I was in school curiosity was encouraged, and questioning the teacher was encouraged. It only leads to bad things, curiosity leads to knowledge, curiosity leads to questioning the status quo, curiosity leads to advancing the mind, and a greater level of intelligence. All things that the elites and the educational system here do their level best to prevent from happening.

Oh it's definitely about femininity, you may have had the bad fortune to have run into some bad women, but I've had the great fortune to run into some great women here, and I live with one on a day-to-day basis, who is masterful at manifesting her femininity, and it is so incredibly appealing. She is delightful. Of course it takes money to support a woman anywhere in the world. No exception here.

I was in Phuket last year and the island is now one big garbage heap, people seem to keep on traveling to Phuket but it was such a pale shadow of what it was when I was last there 10 years ago. It was absolutely overflowing with low end Malaysians, Arabs, Indians and especially the spectacularly unpleasant Russians, no thanks I never need to go back. The traffic was an abomination, everything was overpriced, Bangla Road was utterly horrific with barely an attractive woman in sight, and the entire place just reeked. No wonder Phuket is having so many problems.

Well we certainly know that Jeffrey Epstein DID NOT commit suicide, there's about a zero percent chance that that actually happened. So perhaps this guy was getting ready to spill the beans?

What a rich topic where does one even begin to make that comparison? I think a large part of the equation is the erosion of femininity in the West. It has gotten so bad, that masculinity is now considered toxic. This is an existential threat to civilization, no doubt. It is me-too, and uber-feminism that have been the real nuclear bomb to relationships and a woman's ability to express herself, have sex freely, date normally, manifest the incredible dignity within femininity, and relate to men, in a healthy manner. It seems to contribute to an extremely unfulfilled female gender, and has resulted in making life very difficult for most men in the West. After Covid, things are even worse than before. A real life Zombieland. Thankfully, little of that toxic nonsense has reached the shores of Thailand. Women here seem to intuitively know how powerful their innate femininity is, and they use it to the fullest. I am very thankful for that. I think many have simply rejected alot of mind numbingly wrong headed Western notions, that women are saddled with. I think many of them feel why would I want to give up that which gives me the greatest deal of power over men? And that which makes me the most attractive. The most important aspect of this, that most Western women cannot see, nor understand, is that most Asian women are very comfortable manifesting the dignity and beauty within femininity. And most Western women are scared to death of their own femininity, and it diminishes them to no end. For most men, that femininity, and the way Thai women wear it, is incredibly appealing, and a hugely refreshing change from what many men have become used to, and have learned to tolerate. Yikes!

I keep wondering about these tariffs, which rarely ever make sense especially when they're done in such a haphazard manner as the way Trump is attempting to impose them, and when they're imposed upon Canada and Mexico which are two of our biggest trading partners. It would appear that Wall Street and the car manufacturers are getting his ear and letting him know that his tariffs on Mexico and Canada could be a potential disaster. Hence the continuous Interruption of the tariffs and his bizarre cycle of "they are on today, and they're off tomorrow". I think it's becoming increasingly more obvious with his "cycle insanity" that Trump could be looking to destroy the US economy, intentionally. There are few other reasons why, and there are few other explanations. This is not about protecting American jobs. That is a smoke screen, a false flag, as this will lead to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of lost jobs in the US and worldwide. So, why he would want to destroy the American economy is open to interpretation, whether or not he's following the dictates of the deep state (which have no party affiliation, it's just about power) or some other agenda that he has, but there's no question in my mind, he is looking to destroy the US economy, and that makes him an extremely dangerous man.

I think it's becoming increasingly more obvious with his "cycle insanity" that Trump is looking to destroy the US economy. There is no other explanation. Why he wants to destroy the American economy is open to interpretation, whether or not he's following the dictates of the deep state, or some other agenda that he has, to enable a total reset, but there's no question he is looking to destroy the US economy and that makes him an extremely dangerous man. His tariffs, and his continued threat of tariffs, and his continued on again off again policy is extremely damaging for companies looking to invest in infrastructure, distribution and nanufacturing. He has no understanding whatsoever of globalization, none. It’s a total mess. As the Ford Motor chief executive Jim Farley courageously (compared to other chief executives) pointed out, “Let’s be real honest: Long term, a 25 percent tariff across the Mexico and Canada borders would blow a hole in the U.S. industry that we’ve never seen.” So, either Trump wants to blow that hole, or he’s bluffing, or he is clueless. If it is the latter, Trump is going to get a crash course in the hard realities of the global economy as it really is — not how he imagines it. Ecosystems? Listen a bit to Beinhocker, who is also the executive director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School. In the real world, he argues, “There is no such thing as the American economy anymore that you can identify in any real, tangible way. There’s just this accounting fiction that we call U.S. G.D.P.” To be sure, he says, “There are American interests in the economy. There are American workers. There are American consumers. There are firms based in America. But there is no American economy in that isolated sense.” The old days, he added, “where you made wine and I made cheese, and you had everything you needed to make wine and I had everything I needed to make cheese and so we traded with each other — which made us both better off, as Adam Smith taught — those days are long gone.” Except in Trump’s head. Instead, there is a global web of commercial, manufacturing, services and trading “ecosystems,” explains Beinhocker. “There is an automobile ecosystem. There’s an A.I. ecosystem. There’s a smartphone ecosystem. There’s a drug development ecosystem. There is the chip-making ecosystem.” And the people, parts and knowledge that make up those ecosystems all move back and forth across many economies. As NPR noted in a recent story about the auto industry, “carmakers have built a vast, complicated supply chain that spans North America, with parts crossing back and forth across borders throughout the auto manufacturing process. … Some parts cross borders multiple times — like, say, a wire that is manufactured in the U.S., sent to Mexico to be bundled into a group of wires, and then back to the U.S. for installation into a bigger piece of a car, like a seat.” Trump just waves off all of this. He told reporters that the U.S. is not reliant on Canada. “We don’t need them to make our cars,” he said. Actually, we do. And thank goodness for that. It not only enables us to make cars cheaper, but also better. All that a Model T did was get you from point to point faster than a horse, but today’s cars offer you heating and cooling and entertainment from the internet and satellites. They will navigate for you and even drive for you — and they’re much safer. When we can combine more complex knowledge and complex parts to solve complex problems, our quality of life soars. But here’s the catch. You cannot make complex stuff alone anymore. It’s too complex. And if you are not part of these ecosystems, your country will not thrive.” And trust is the essential ingredient that makes these ecosystems work and grow, Beinhocker adds. Trust acts as both glue and grease. It glues together bonds of cooperation, while at the same time it greases the flows of people, products, capital and ideas from one country to the next. Remove trust and the ecosystems start to collapse. Trust, though, is built by good rules and healthy relationships, and Trump is trampling on both. The result: If he goes down this road, Trump will make America and the world poorer. Mr. President, do your homework.