spidermike007

Well of course there was some risk, but will you at least be courageous enough to admit that working in an air conditioned office on the base doing press releases, was far less dangerous than the guys who were taking live incoming rounds, and trying to stay alive on roads that were planted with IEDs? Can you do that?

The best way to pawn a refrigerator is to carry it on your motorbike to the pawn shop.

It's particularly sad and bordering on pathetic when somebody makes up an issue in order to defend their political leader, and show fealty to him. 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 his policies. Those are the Republicans I admire. I'm a Centrist Dem, but I had no problem criticizing Biden, Obama, and Clinton when they were president, if I didn't agree with their policies. Very, very few Republicans seem to have that capacity these days. Such obedience to an ideology. Yikes.

I totally agree and the same applies to Vance, who spent 6 months working in an air conditioned office writing press releases, not exactly what I would call dangerous or courageous.

We are seeing more of these silly inane and juvenile threads on this forum lately, all for the sake of defending a politician who is a complete failure in life, has put forth ridiculous and extreme policies, and seems hellnent on destroying the world economy. The correct title of the article should be "the US under its current leader hates democracy, and is striving to become authoritarian". The EU is wonderful, I give them tremendous credit for pushing back against the US, and each and every nation has a responsibility to just say no to the morally bankrupt orange creep. Such a sad post, such a pathetic attempt to defend an indefensible man.

Ukrainians, Georgians, and Chechens. Tens of thousands of them. Forgotten already, huh?

I absolutely love Mexico, it's people, it's culture, it's food, it's history and so much more. However I do find the security issue to be a concern, I don't like living anywhere where I have to be looking over my shoulders. I don't like the cartels at all. And I much prefer the Thai police over the Mexican police as the Thai cops pretty much leave me alone and if I need to I can just buy them. That's a bit more difficult in Mexico, or should I say it cost a lot more. In general the cost of living in Mexico is quite a bit higher than here, and in general I prefer Thai women over Mexican women on a lot of levels, so I'll stick with Thailand. I really love it here.

When the time comes I will be absolutely thrilled to die here. I love Thailand, and I plan on staying here for the rest of my life. I also plan on being cremated that's an easy deal here, and if my family wants to fly over for a ceremony that's on them. I'm not all that concerned about it, I'll already be gone. I have zero fear of death.

Some have suggested that the ideal would be to find a great Philippine woman and live here in Thailand with her but there are Visa issues to contend with for her and the cultural issues might end up being a problem for her if she chose to live here. Philippine women can be quite special on a lot of levels, their English is often better and they have more of a western mindset, however the Christianity can really get in the way. The other consideration is the family, of course that's always a consideration both here and there, but overall I would pick a Thai woman. I think they have a lighter spirit, I find many to be very beautiful, and they tend to be more trim. The last consideration is where you would want to live. I much prefer Thailand and consider most of the Philippines to be like one giant Tijuana, just an enormous ghetto.

Perhaps because Putin is a serial killing despot? He seems to love executing women and children. As far as Russia goes what can one say about Putin and the Kremlin? Corrupt beyond that the wildest reaches of any imagination, morally bankrupt serial killers, state sanctioned sports doping programs, a parasite nation, to a staggering degree. However, China does not wear their power lightly. With China it is a one way street. Ever tried to sell an item and send it to China? Nearly impossible. All imports are govt. controlled. It is all about exporting anything and everything they can and very selective importing. A highly controlled market with thousands of companies getting govt. subsidies. They don't believe in a level playing field, nor playing fair. Closer ties to China are not a good idea. They are up to no good. Their intentions are heinous. Their desire for power and dominnance knows no bounds. They cannot and should not be trusted. They are NOT a reliable ally, and are not a good or trustworthy world power. They are only one step above Russia, on the trust scale. Worldwide slavery, and organ harvesting? No thanks Xi. However, it does scare me to think of which nation may take the place of the US, when the time comes. As we know right now the US is not a dependable ally, with the Goomba leading the country, but this shall pass too. It definitely will not be Russia (they are relatively insignificant economically), and I sure hope it will not be China, as they are not exactly a beacon of morality, and have been substantially more of a bully on the world stage, and do not wear their power lightly. Also, in my opinion, the government there is significantly more morally bankrupt than the US. And that is saying alot. But the Russian and the Chinese people for the most part are fairly rude, but the Russians are significantly nastier and less pleasant to be around.

Your post comes across as being quite naive, in a sense that there are a very limited number of factories that use entirely AI and robots. Most factories still use manual labor, likely the vast majority of them. And the US companies simply cannot afford those factories and the labor, and that is why those companies manufacture overseas. It's really just a very silly meme that Trump likes to use and the people with an education the people who have studied the issue knows that's all it is. A small percentage of overseas manufacturing can be brought back to the US, likely we'll under 10%.

It really makes you wonder what these guys were thinking. I know that desperation for money can cause people to do some really stupid things but how could they possibly presume that this quantity would not be found, with all the scanning equipment that's available today? And you wonder now that they were found if their families will pay a price for their lack of success? The last thing I wonder is what will the penalty for something like this be, and is it possible that the bosses have arrangements with Thai officials?

According to an attorney that I've spoken with there is no tax law in effect yet, and there are no taxing requirements on foreigners as of now. This law has not even passed legislation and it could possibly be a big nothing burger.

Chairman Don. The dunce. The weasel, the man with no understanding of globalization or the extreme damage that tariffs cause

Musk is a total social misfit, and is not wearing his wealth, nor his power lightly. Musk appears to have extremist tendencies. I am hoping he goes on one of his Mars missions, but we all know he does not have nearly enough courage for something like that. I have respect for his achievements, but zero respect for the small man. He's a completely ridiculous man, the more wealthy he's become the more obnoxious he's become, the more arrogant he's become, the more self-righteous and the more insufferable. Trump made a tremendous mistake by giving him more power than he already had, and time will reveal what a tragic decision that was. Boycott Tesla, don't buy anything that he is associated with, knock him off his pedestal, bring him back down to earth, try to knock some sense into his absolutely foolish head, and take some pride in doing the right thing and helping America. Musk is despised like never before, and aligning himself with Trump will likely be the stupidest thing he's ever done from a business point of view.

Absolutely false, the reality is that there are millions of jobs in the US that Americans have no interest in doing, the vast majority of Americans have no interest in washing dishes, working in fast food restaurants, doing menial landscape jobs, picking fruit and so many other jobs like working in a meat packing facility. You cannot find Americans for those jobs. America needs immigrants just as much as Thailand needs immigrants. Silly slogans never have the slightest impact on truth, nor reality. They only work on gullible voters.

Anyone who takes financial advice from Trump is somewhat moronic, the man cannot be relied upon on any level and his business acumen is not great. Never forget, the vast majority of his fortune was acquired through theft, grifting, and scams, in addition to money stolen from small contractors and money acquired through major bankruptcies. Though on a certain level it is counterintuitive, it seems like when the markets slump so does crypto, and Trump is absolutely decimating the worldwide economy at this point in time, with his stunningly stupid policies.

I think the number will be far higher than 5%. I wouldn't doubt if it was closer to 50% . Everybody that I talk to is absolutely livid with the US at this point. There are very few people outside of his MAGA crowd that support his actions, and Trump seems to be going out of his way to make an enemy out of the entire planet. What he doesn't understand, which is not surprising considering his extremely limited intellectual power, is that by spurning long held alliances he is isolating the US and diminishing their influence to a dramatic degree. As an American, I think the world should just say no to America and to Disaster Don.

Thailand is definitely on the wrong side of history on this one and the morally bankrupted administration made the wrong decision and bowed down and took the knee to Xi. China is hated worldwide, for good reason. It’s a lesson Xi has signally failed to absorb over Xinjiang. A detailed, independent US report recently confirmed that his regime has repeatedly breached the UN genocide convention in its horrific mistreatment of Uighurs. Yet still Beijing persists in issuing grotesque statements flatly denying filmed and documented evidence of gross abuse. Its lies would be funny if they were not so egregious. Simultaneously, it traduces independent, fact-based journalism – and whinges mightily when Britain’s ambassador stresses its importance. This sorry crew of party hacks and throwbacks must wake up. Polls show that China’s international standing is plummeting. Feelings of animosity and enmity grow. The ever more sophisticated, connected global audience scrutinising its daily actions is not so easily bamboozled as, say, its rural masses, held in check by starvation wages, propaganda and fear. If Xi wants the respect traditionally afforded a great power, he must act responsibly in crises such as Myanmar, come clean on crimes in Xinjiang and Tibet, stop bullying the neighbours, and cease spewing silly lies as if he can somehow create an alternative reality.

There is nothing surprising nor is there anything shocking about this claim, it's highly accurate. The RTP at it's inception seems to have been created with a status quo from the government. We will NOT pay you a living wage, but you have a franchise, and the limit of your income is based solely on your own creativity and initiative, and you will always be protected. Is that not the case? This does not just apply to Phuket nor does it apply just to foreigners, although foreigners do seem to be targeted in certain tourist areas. This applies to the RTP Nationwide and it certainly applies to the Thai people just as much as it does foreigners they are barely law enforcement agents and they spend a lot of their time and effort simply collecting revenue.

If you are asking that question, and if I have to answer that, you have not done your homework, and you would not be receptive, nor open minded enough for the debate.

Canada just announced that in response to Trump's trade war and betrayal of a neighbor and trusted ally, they are going to restrict access through British Columbia to and from Alaska, and they're going to start taxing US trucks going back and forth. It's a wonderful idea, and it's a great way to punish America for its absolute staggering level of stupidity. Let's go Canada!!

Canada just announced that in response to Trump's trade war and betrayal of a neighbor and trusted ally, they are going to restrict access through British Columbia to and from Alaska, and they're going to start taxing US trucks going back and forth. It's a wonderful idea, and it's a great way to punish America for its absolute staggering level of stupidity.

I wouldn't qualify as Trump only picks nominees from the absolute bottom of the barrel, who get down on their knees and grovel with absolute fealty toward their King. So I would be automatically disqualified since I don't take the knee.

I have never spent any real time in Australia so I can't speak to the issues that you describe, but as an American I can say that the quality of life has declined to such a dramatic degree and the cost of living has skyrocketed to such an extent in the US, that living in Thailand is superior on almost every level. Especially for those of us who have a limited income the quality of life is so much higher here, from my point of view. The attitude of the people, the attitude of the women, and so many other factors. Unless you own a home in the US that's free and clear you're pretty much screwed, in bigger cities small apartments start at $2,000 a month. Here, for 10,000 baht in many areas you can get a nice apartment or home.