Anyone else "dislike" the brave new world and want to get off?

[BritManToo]

11 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Here you go from the very same forum. Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify etc all gone if the internet goes away, but the radio will carry on regardless.

LOL.

https://aseannow.com/topic/1243548-internet-slowdown/

 

Let's hope electricity doesn't go away, your radio won't work without it.

 

PS. My home automation hasn't slowed down but 'OK Google' did get a bit stupid yesterday according to my 10yo son.

Edited December 24, 2021 by BritManToo

[thaibeachlovers]

10 hours ago, ozimoron said:

If you're referring to me I'm very willing to have a discussion provided that it includes substantiation for any claims made in the discussion.  As far as off topic is concerned the title is so vague that it invokes Orwell and probably encompasses unspoken agendas and propaganda but I'm happy to leave it at that.

I never posted anything about the "deep state" but you attempt to drag the thread down the 1984 rabbit hole.

Completely off topic.

My rant was just what it said, no more and no less, and those that wish to imply it has hidden meanings can go start their own thread.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

Let's hope electricity doesn't go away, your radio won't work without it.

I have a radio that works on batteries ( of which I have a backup supply ) and I'm pretty sure the radio station has a generator. Radio is, I believe, the fall back communication from government in the event of some national catastrophe. Tv would probably be the first thing to go away, but radio will likely survive. How many have a portable tv that works on batteries?

[thaibeachlovers]

18 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Why not include alcohol as well?

Why not close all fast food places?

They are probably working on that.

[BritManToo]

3 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I have a radio that works on batteries ( of which I have a backup supply ) and I'm pretty sure the radio station has a generator. Radio is, I believe, the fall back communication from government in the event of some national catastrophe. Tv would probably be the first thing to go away, but radio will likely survive. How many have a portable tv that works on batteries?

How much fuel do you think they keep?

How many spare batteries do you keep?

 

In the case of an EMP or Mass Coronal Ejection all the radios will be fried.

You're supposed to keep a spare radio wrapped in tinfoil in your basement.

Edited December 24, 2021 by BritManToo

[thaibeachlovers]

18 hours ago, sirineou said:

Ok so I did some research on the subject and it appears that you are correct. 

" Anyone born after 2008 (14 year old now)will not be able to buy cigarettes or tobacco products in their lifetime,  under a law expected to be enacted next year."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-59589775

  A good thing IMO . It should eliminate or at the very least drastically reduce this very nasty addiction. 

"The proposed legislation, which is expected to become law next year, would leave current smokers free to continue buying cigarettes. "

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/09/world/asia/new-zealand-smoking-ban.html#:~:text=New Zealand unveiled a plan,free to continue buying cigarettes.

so the current crop of smokers will be eliminated thru attrition. 

   They got me early , when I did not know any better , and it was not easy getting out of them, but I have not smocked a cigarette for about 35 years (65 now) . I wish they had done something like that when I was a kid.  

I am impressed , Way to go New Zeeland !!

You are impressed by totalitarianism? No one asked the NZ public if that was what they wanted.

I've never smoked and never will- hate people blowing their foul airborne waste into my space, but people have smoked for hundreds of years, and it's less dangerous than alcohol, so why tobacco? Can't be the health factor when they are apparently in favour of legalising cannabis smoking.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 12/23/2021 at 3:33 AM, BangkokReady said:

It takes some effort and gone are the days when you could channel hop and find a few things you wanted to watch, but it can be enjoyable once you find your niche.

Indeed it takes time, and that time is more than I'm willing to take for media. It's not like I'd give up TVF for the new, so it would be more time wasted that I can use far better actually doing things instead. Even the time on TVF is more than I should use. 

I sometimes wonder how so many have so much time to spend on "social media". Do they not have lives away from the screen?

[mikebike]

On 12/22/2021 at 1:56 PM, new2here said:

what i wonder is what is it going to take in order for society as a whole, to get back closer to what was reality pre-covid

This is what I don't get.

 

Why and how would things ever go "back". Thats not how time and societies work.

 

It doesn't need an event like covid, but it seems to have flummoxed people.

 

The 1930s were never gonna be the roaring 20s again.

 

The 70s were never gonna be the 60s and we will not see another "summer of love".

 

Things ALWAYS change and even sans covid the 2020s were never going to be a time before.

 

Wondering if and/or when things are going "back" seems an entirely wasteful and fruitless endeavour.

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

On 12/23/2021 at 11:12 AM, SAFETY FIRST said:

If you're depressed, sell up, toss the job in, get out of your horrible environment. 

 

I'm not depressed, I'm PO.

I'm retired and not physically capable of doing a proper job 8 hours a day. Old age is a <deleted>! Takes me twice as long to do anything as it did 10 years ago.

My environment is probably no worse than anywhere else in this country.

I'd love to go back and live in Lek Hotel in Pattaya, eat those breakfast buffets, watch pretty girls, live the dream, but Government won't give me pension in LOS, and I don't have enough savings to live in LOS till I go up the chimney. Had I been able to get pension in LOS I'd never have left in the first place.

Like you say, money is the key, but I still have enough while living in NZ ( they do give me pension in NZ ) so not going to get off just yet.

[mikebike]

On 12/23/2021 at 5:22 AM, SAFETY FIRST said:

People have changed. 

People have been the same since there were people.

 

What changes is culture and society and the way they are organized. People react to these changes in ways which may be unfamiliar, and casual friends become unbearable.

 

But no, people don't change.

[BritManToo]

14 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I sometimes wonder how so many have so much time to spend on "social media". Do they not have lives away from the screen?

As a retired person social media helps fill the 16hrs of spare time I have every day.

I'm typing this while my Google nest is playing Heavy Metal for me (OK Google play heavy metal).

I liked "The Halo Effect" by Shadowminds that just played.

It's better than radio as I can ask it to play whatever genre I'm in the mood for.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

As a retired person social media helps fill the 16hrs of spare time I have every day.

I'm typing this while my Google nest is playing Heavy Metal for me (OK Google play heavy metal).

I liked "The Halo Effect" by Shadowminds that just played.

It's better than radio as I can ask it to play whatever genre I'm in the mood for.

If you really have 16 hours of spare time I envy you, as I need another 16 hours a day to do everything I want to, and still have enough time to spend on the forum. Every minute on here is a minute I could be doing something that is not getting done because I'm on here. Pity it's so addictive.

[Tippaporn]

3 hours ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

In my opinion philosophy can get in the way of reality and do gooders can do good.

Ayn Rand had good things to say but in her free market world  there is no equality between a large corporation selling an addictive product and a 15 year old kid.

You might hark back to 1970 when movie and sports stars were free to advertise smoking, where governments didn't force companies to tell the truth on smoking, or provide a counter argument to the health effects or help people quit.  

That changed. The do gooders then went further by hiding cigarettes on shop counters and had clear packaging with horrible images, taking away the power of Marlboro red or Benson and Hedges gold. Taxes were increased. All a bit controversial but the outcome was a huge decrease in smoking. 

Banning may be a step to far but I have a theory that smoking is simply not that appealing like other drugs, and ongoing use is more about addiction than pleasure, and it is a poison that won't be missed. Could be wrong. 

You might say next will be fatty food etc  but I think there is still some common sense and the freedom of the ballot box will do the trick. 

These arguments can apply to covid too but I won't go there. 

There's a lot to unpack with what you've just written, Fat.  Not wanting the smaller details to distract from the underpinning issue, which gives birth to all the variations of a belief's manifestations, wouldn't you agree that underneath so many of these types of questions what we are really questioning is free will?  The ability of and the right for a person to choose, for himself, despite perceived good or ill outcomes?

 

And further, how it all works with all individuals together making free choices for themselves where the choice of one can seemingly impinge upon the choice of another?

 

Would you agree that we are dealing with the basic issue of free will here?

[BritManToo]

Just now, thaibeachlovers said:

If you really have 16 hours of spare time I envy you, as I need another 16 hours a day to do everything I want to, and still have enough time to spend on the forum. Every minute on here is a minute I could be doing something that is not getting done because I'm on here. Pity it's so addictive.

Well I'm happily typing here while listening to heavy metal and thinking about getting sausages out of the freezer for breakfast. The actual stuff I need to do for living doesn't seem to take much time at all, not sure what you need to do. This weeks big project is fitting a new bathroom door (gets delivered tomorrow), doubt that'll take more than an hour, two at the most.

[Berkshire]

13 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I'm not depressed, I'm PO.

I'm retired and not physically capable of doing a proper job 8 hours a day. Old age is a <deleted>! Takes me twice as long to do anything as it did 10 years ago.

My environment is probably no worse than anywhere else in this country.

I'd love to go back and live in Lek Hotel in Pattaya, eat those breakfast buffets, watch pretty girls, live the dream, but Government won't give me pension in LOS, and I don't have enough savings to live in LOS till I go up the chimney. Had I been able to get pension in LOS I'd never have left in the first place.

Like you say, money is the key, but I still have enough while living in NZ ( they do give me pension in NZ ) so not going to get off just yet.

I may have missed where you're at, but it can't be the USA.  Americans can live anywhere with their pension/SS. 

[thaibeachlovers]

19 minutes ago, mikebike said:

This is what I don't get.

 

Why and how would things ever go "back". Thats not how time and societies work.

 

It doesn't need an event like covid, but it seems to have flummoxed people.

 

The 1930s were never gonna be the roaring 20s again.

 

The 70s were never gonna be the 60s and we will not see another "summer of love".

 

Things ALWAYS change and even sans covid the 2020s were never going to be a time before.

 

Wondering if and/or when things are going "back" seems an entirely wasteful and fruitless endeavour.

 

 

So true and why I mock the climate warriors that claim that if we all drive electric cars and use solar panels and windmills we will return to some earthly paradise. IMO they have no way of knowing if they change climate that it'll go back to what it was before.

For all they know it could end up worse than the future they fear.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

Well I'm happily typing here while listening to heavy metal and thinking about getting sausages out of the freezer for breakfast. The actual stuff I need to do for living doesn't seem to take much time at all, not sure what you need to do. This weeks big project is fitting a new bathroom door (gets delivered tomorrow), doubt that'll take more than an hour, two at the most.

While I'm not going to give details, I have several projects underway that will take the rest of my life to work on, and probably never get completed, but I'll be dead so won't care. Keeps me busy though, which is a good thing as when I have time to think I get really PO at the world as it became.

[seedy]

10 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

 Pity it's so addictive.

I was addicted to Drugs and Alcohol for most of my young life.

The answer - QUIT

It ain't easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is

[thaibeachlovers]

5 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

I may have missed where you're at, but it can't be the USA.  Americans can live anywhere with their pension/SS. 

You did miss it. I'm in NZ and I was denied pension overseas due to a bureaucratic regulation that isn't published on the pension website and which I never knew existed till I attempted to get pension in LOS. No wonder I'm PO at the world. The only thing between me and living in LOS is a stupid bureaucratic regulation that applies to very few people.

Douglas Adams ( Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ) had the best idea of what to do with bureaucrats.

[seedy]

11 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Well I'm happily typing here while listening to heavy metal

 

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, seedy said:

 

I doubt AC DC is heavy metal, as I like their music.

Best heard played very loudly at  Lucky Star #2 bar on Walking Street while looking at the passing parade.

[seedy]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, said, yeah, it's alright, we're doin' fine
Yeah, it's alright, we're doin' fine, fine, fine
 

Edited December 24, 2021 by seedy

[BritManToo]

Just now, thaibeachlovers said:

I doubt AC DC is heavy metal, as I like their music.

Best heard played very loudly at  Lucky Star #2 bar on Walking Street while looking at the passing parade.

This

 

[Tippaporn]

Heavy metal ultimately leads to heavy metal poisoning.  Seems some here are showing signs of advanced poisoning.  Heavy metal should be banned.  Everyone should, and even better, must agree.  We have to save the children.  And we have to save you for your own good.

 

Join my movement to outlaw heavy metal at HeavyMetalSucks.  Come and make your vote count!  Protect everyone!!  Protect the World!!  Protect the Universe!!  It's the only one we've got!!

 

Edited December 24, 2021 by Tippaporn

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, seedy said:

I was addicted to Drugs and Alcohol for most of my young life.

The answer - QUIT

It ain't easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is

Giving up alcohol was easy compared to giving up TVF. Every time I think I'm out I get sucked back in.

[Gsxrnz]

54 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

You did miss it. I'm in NZ and I was denied pension overseas due to a bureaucratic regulation that isn't published on the pension website and which I never knew existed till I attempted to get pension in LOS. No wonder I'm PO at the world. The only thing between me and living in LOS is a stupid bureaucratic regulation that applies to very few people.

Douglas Adams ( Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ) had the best idea of what to do with bureaucrats.

Mate, the NZ government are among the most progressive (read regressive) in the world.  It's a toss up between NZ and Oz. The basic trouble is that both NZ and Aussie governments have historically been extremely functional and effective, and we've trusted them too  much because of that.  

 

One of my favorite novels is Nevil Shute's "In the Wet".  Shute was no fan of socialism and in this book written in 1953, he forecasts a Commonwealth voting system in the future 80's that recognized the danger of the rule of the oppressive and self-centred mob. 

 

The Commonwealth countries had modernized their democracies beyond the one man one vote system to a multiple vote (a potential but unattainable seven), where votes are earned based upon life achievements. This on the assumption that those who had put more into the development of themselves and society should have a greater say in the running of that society - both as voters and as politicians.

 

The potential seven votes are earned by such things as education, raising a family, serving the country, creating wealth and employment etc., so that someone such as a small business owner who had stayed married for 15 years and raised two kids would have three votes.  The alcoholic divorced dockyard worker on the dole only had one vote.

 

My rough description above sounds like elitism, but in the context that Shute wrote the novel, the concept has a great deal of merit.  Well worth a read for any citizen of the Commonwealth.

[Fat is a type of crazy]

31 minutes ago, Tippaporn said:

There's a lot to unpack with what you've just written, Fat.  Not wanting the smaller details to distract from the underpinning issue, which gives birth to all the variations of a belief's manifestations, wouldn't you agree that underneath so many of these types of questions what we are really questioning is free will?  The ability of and the right for a person to choose, for himself, despite perceived good or ill outcomes?

 

And further, how it all works with all individuals together making free choices for themselves where the choice of one can seemingly impinge upon the choice of another?

 

Would you agree that we are dealing with the basic issue of free will here?

Last post on this I promise. 

Do you concur that corporations limited free will by their long reach, and by bamboozling youth, to make smoking seem good and sexy. Probably. 

Getting rid of packaging say, and adding grisly images,  could be seen as a step too far on corporation's rights but I like the fact that someone says 'Corporations are using free speech and free will arguments as a cynical weapon to sell an addictive poison to our youth and we are going to fight back. Joe Camel is banned but you can sell them in a white box with a horrifying picture '. 

Banning smoking is a step too far I guess.  It's not going to kill you in the short term, or have terrible consequences for society, except a higher health care bill. 
Limiting free will and free markets is not ideal but inaction based on philosophical purity can have bad consequences due to there not being a level playing field between rich and poor and corporations and individuals. Sometimes government bodies can actually help society become fairer and healthier and better.

Disclaimer: I am a bureaucrat. 

 

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

Sometimes government bodies can actually help society become fairer and healthier and better.

I can't think of one instance when they did though.

[Gsxrnz]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I'm not depressed, I'm PO.

I'm retired and not physically capable of doing a proper job 8 hours a day. Old age is a <deleted>! Takes me twice as long to do anything as it did 10 years ago.

My environment is probably no worse than anywhere else in this country.

I'd love to go back and live in Lek Hotel in Pattaya, eat those breakfast buffets, watch pretty girls, live the dream, but Government won't give me pension in LOS, and I don't have enough savings to live in LOS till I go up the chimney. Had I been able to get pension in LOS I'd never have left in the first place.

Like you say, money is the key, but I still have enough while living in NZ ( they do give me pension in NZ ) so not going to get off just yet.

$15M on the Chrissy Lotto draw tomorrow.  

[overherebc]

Why do so many people nowadays seem to love

NOISE.!!!