blazes

It really is not possible to comment on the sheer monumental madness this kind of observation conjures up.

All well, until inflation catches up with tourists all over the world and airfares become unaffordable. If I have to choose between Thailand (and all its remaining obstacles regarding visas) and Mexico, which has practically nothing obstructing the way of tourists for six whole months, which country am I going to visit when the rain and snow come along?

So, if (like you) I advocate for LAWYERS (rather than plumbers) being worthy of $300 per hour, considerations of Weimar inflation will not arise???? "Fascinating" comment on the class situation in the USA today!!

Dude, it should be the other way round: do lawyers deserve to pocket $300 per hour (an abysmally low estimate of what it costs to hire a lawyer these days) for a job that scarcely challenges anyone who's got a reasonably decent brain? And to answer your rhetorical question: yes, the labouring classes do indeed deserve $90 to $300 per hour for doing the $hitty jobs they do. How would you like to spend most of your working life on your knees as a plumber, only to retire early because your knees can't take it any longer?

As a Canadian, I would willingly pay an extra 10 baht on everything in exchange for 6 months of sunshine and heat between November and April...... But I sure wish those taxes on wine were lowered...

Best to take advantage of US$ strength in the next 12 months or so. As long as Powell raises rates, all will be well for those of us who want a weaker baht. But when US rates level off or (worse) float back down as Wall Street cries out for help, so will the exchange rate dollar/baht return to unfavourable (for us expats). Question is: does Powell have the balls to firmly overcome the present negative rates? US 10 yr at ~3.15. Inflation at 8.1%

Not sure about this hair-cut thing. I can well imagine my (much) younger self being distracted during a school examination by the long hair of a Thai beauty.

No doubt Yankee airlines will swiftly copy from Seattle, San Fran and LA.

This is an interesting meander through the maze of American non-thinking about important stuff in their "democracy", but is horrendously shocking in the way it concludes with a neo-Nazi call for the "disassembling" of one of the major parties in American history and modern reality. It beggars all comprehension that, outside totalitarian states like Hitler's Germany or Stalin's Soviet Union, anyone committed to democracy and openness of thought would call for the disbanding of a political party in a democracy.

Too bad. There's probably a whole raft of intelligent people on this thread insisting that Trump should go to jail. What surprises me is the solemn (if naïve) belief shown by many on here that sending DT to jail would somehow - what?- heal the nation's wounds? provide grim satisfaction? And somehow the system would be cleaned up and we could all sleep well at nights? I'd hazard a guess that locking him up (but not Mrs Clinton??) would move the country one step nearer anarchy, if not intermittent revolutionary skirmishes.

Ah, SUIT???? !!! I was really confused there for a moment. But see how versatile the English language is: just add one little letter (e) to a word and you have my imagination rev into overdrive. There I was trying to imagine what it meant (but of course the man is rich admittedly) to provide a (???) hotel suite for your teen sweetheart. Silly me.

I never said or intimated that I was a Trumpist. I happen to believe that it matters very little who becomes (or became) the POTUS, because that person does not actually run the show (as Eisenhower warned us in 1960, regarding the military/industrial complex). As you can see at present, the likes of Raytheon and other armament manufacturers are profiting hugely from the weapons that the present administration are lobbing over to Ukraine at considerable cost to the American taxpayer.

This cosy analysis is really quite breathtaking in its naive assumption that ANY of the people mentioned above are worthy of the trust of the American people, especially the Clinton woman, whose contempt for the American people [the undesirables] is well documented.

I see no reference to wine, a commodity without which one's life is sadly reduced....

Having got rid of Bernie (the only candidate worthy of the office of President) the Dems then "managed" the coronation of Biden and attempted to glue it all together by nominating a V-P who was both black/Asian and a woman, the same woman who confronted Biden in the primaries by drawing attention (she who was brought up in French Canada with well-heeled parents) to the fact that she was that "little girl on the bus" - a comment aimed directly at Biden for his support of "busing" (with the implication that his stance on busing was "racist"). Happy families. But once the V-P was in office, the Dems hastened to make sure she did nothing at all significant during her time in office. If Biden, against all odds, chooses (or is in a position to choose) to run for office in 2024, the Dems will ensure that Kamala is not the V-P choice (she will be encouraged to find work elsewhere). I am in short surprised that Democrats were not outraged by the way Sanders was treated (unless of course the party big-wigs promised him a post in the Cabinet to shut him up).

Axelrod, a buffoon who climbed up to "adviser" position under Obama and has been riding on that connection ever since. Famous on CNN for always stating, in an interminable mumble, example after example of the bleeding obvious. I seem to recall that he even conned the UK Labour Party into hiring him into some kind of tiresome advisory role. If Biden depends on Axelrod for advice, he is in even greater trouble than he obviously already is.....

Putin has guaranteed grain for Africa. https://www.modernghana.com/news/1163191/russias-grain-freeze-causes-famine-in-africa.html

The 19 million may be a bit more "realistic" than TAT, but it's still pie in the sky. (Tbf, all forecasting, all over the world, is pie in the sky, or, more accurately, something equivalent to life in a casino.) Remember in those far-off days of last year how all the Ph.D economist experts were telling us that inflation was only going to be "transitory"? 555555

Don't be fooled, indeed. "Hate groups" have become merely organizations or people with whom a different group disagrees. The LGB Allliance was formed in opposition to the Stonewall group that seeks to encourage "transitions" in children. So (natch) the Stonewallers would call the Alliance a "hate group". It would not be surprising if, soon, contributors to Asean News threads start accusing each other of "hate speech" when they disagree on the latest hot topic. I offer this Wiki link below, not because it is "better" than your Twitter reference, but because it shows how tiresome and hateful this transition "debate" has become. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGB_Alliance

Yes, power and virtue signalling (which of course is another expression of the urge to power). As a hetero male (sorry, Alphabeteers), I gain a lot of pleasure from the insurrection of the feminists against the trans men and their weird and vicious insistence on taking part in female sports' events. 3 cheers for J.K. Rowling....

Well, USA did not "abandon" Afghanistan (Vietnam etc etc) until they ....er...abandoned Afghanistan (Vietnam etc etc).....

To discourage others. However, there's not much evidence from our criminal classes that 25 years in clink will be enough to dissuade you from a life of crime.

The really sad thing about this incredible charade is the sight of people lying not only to the American people, but TO THEMSELVES. To be able to participate in this show trial (welcome, Ghost of Stalin) you would HAVE to be lying to yourself.

I don't have a problem with gays marrying or whatever, but I do wish they would stop referring to their spouses as either husband or wife. It causes unnecessary (but probably deliberate) confusion as one does a double-take. (What's wrong with "partner"?)

How nice to have a visit from the guys who gave us Afghanistan and are (apparently, if we are to believe the Big Guy) ready to give us Taiwan.....