[QUIZ] 10 September - World Currencies Past and Present
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Community Coffee Shop Seeks Cyclists After Accidental THB 22,150 Payment for THB 221 Coffee
Wow! Lucky my Bones enjoy the 7/11 fifteen baht sachet thingies.🙃😘 -
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A Trump Hater is a Traitor
Hatred or adulation of public figures is best avoided. They may be right. They may be wrong. But one needs to understand what brought them to prominence. Before pre-judging the issues. What issues are they claiming to confront? Are these problems real, or invented (deliberately fostered maybe)? Are the solutions proposed practicable, in the circumstances? Are the solutions being applied in a manner likely to produce positive results. ------------------ My present, admittedly tendentious, views :- 1. The United States is facing a very large, and snowballing problem of over-indebtedness. Brought about by its issuing the global reserve currency, the US dollar. This has resulted in the long-term postponement of the negative effects that would have been quickly felt if its local currency had not also been the world's reserve currency, in the form of US Treasuries; the partial possession of which by foreign trading partners means loans from abroad. Borrowing can promote economic development, but research suggests that when annual borrowing reaches about 90% of GDP, returns on loans break even, and beyond that point GDP fails to increase proportionately to increased borrowing. US Government debt to GDP is currently about 130%, and considerably higher if one includes corporate and private debt. And, with much higher interest rates than in the recent past, the debt will grow even if the budget were balanced (which is far from the case). 2. The rush towards economic globalisation, with the lowering and even abandonment of protective measures such as tariffs, has failed to take into account large differences between more developed and less developed nations, in wages and other costs such as taxes and social and environmental protections. Resulting in the hollowing out in more developed nations of manufacturing and even some service industries. Including loss of career opportunities. I.e. a social impact guaranteed to produce resentment. 3. There has been a growing economic divide between the ultra-wealthy and their coterie of policy-promoters on the one hand and the bulk of the population on the other. The former has generally benefitted from economic crises which have left the general population more impoverished. The explanation: there has been inflation over the years well in excess of the official c.p.i. numbers of around 2%. Government "money-printing" goes mainly to the big commercial banks who loan it out at very low interest to their major clients. The latter have little need for extra consumer goods, and so invest it, for example, in the stock market and real estate, causing prices in those sectors to boom way beyond what is normal based upon anticipated annual returns upon investment. [That the mega-wealthy have more recently been migrating from the quoted sectors to precious metals, notably gold, various major currencies, bitcoin, and certain specific stock-market sectors, could be useful to know. They have private sources of financial information] ------------------------ The foregoing are, in my estimation, some of the major issues that Trump claims he will resolve. Can he do it? No desire to pre-judge the results. But he seems to have got off to a bad start. Instead of reducing the budget, as desperately needed, he has increased spending. To a degree that makes Musk's savings look like peanuts. His antagonistic nature has led him to further raise the Pentagon's bloated military spending. He is inconsistent in his pronouncements, seems to have no clear strategy for achieving what he seeks other than confrontation with all and everyone, including countries hitherto closely allied to the U.S. His brashness is repugnant to many foreigners, although it may be appreciated by some Americans. Diplomacy is certainly not his forte. If his predecessors set the US dollar on a downward spiral by using it as a foreign policy tool, he has accelerated its fall. But then he says he wishes to see it devalued in order to reduce imports and promote exports (from factories that have yet to be built). Threatening to invade other countries on the grounds of self-interest is an argument that can be used by others. But perhaps he has in mind Obama's "Americans are a special people." [not subject to international law and such like constraints] -
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What Movies or TV shows are you watching (2025)
For anyone who hasn't seen it, The World of Suzie Wong is on YouTube for free. -
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Trump Teases Macron with Marriage Advice After Viral 'Shove' Incident
Trump is actually not that vindictive of his enemies considering what globalists are trying to turn the world into, he doesnt take it too seriously -
273
Things you like about Thailand
99% luck. She was managing a small hotel we were using for business guests .... I was struck by her exotic looks and wicked sense of humour. I think the fact I was not looking for a partner helped. Made me appear more self confident than I normally would be around a beautiful woman, and the Thai work culture helped too ... as the team was running around looking after the 'boss', which created the false illusion of 'power'. Age gap is 20 years ... she was late 20's when we met. -
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