8 hours ago, chocolat steve said:

The Federal Reserve wants you broke. The insinuation is that saving is not good for the economy. In no healthy economy is it ever a bad thing not to save. The Japanese are culturally a nation of savers. Their economy took off in the 80s while they were notorious savers. Germans are culturally savers as well comparatively. 4th biggest economy. 

Savers avoid debt. Avoiding debt is obviously good. Had more Americans and corporations avoided debt in the run up to 2008, we wouldn't have had the great recession. Germany is teetering on recession as a nation and some of their industries are technically in a recession but they are well placed to deal with it. Americans and more importantly corporations since they are employers need to take on 'smart' debt, such as borrowing to invest in new factories or upgrading, etc, instead of borrowing to prop up stock prices. 

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/m-h-star-kellye-nakahara-035423887.html

How Millennials Could Make the Fed's Job Harder

A young generation of aggressive savers could leave central bankers with less room to cut interest rates, which they have long done to boost growth in times of economic trouble.

To leave the workforce early, millennials would need to build up massive retirement funds and consume less in the process. That hit to demand could slow growth and force rates to drop ever lower to entice spending. And if today’s workers actually managed to retire young, it would exacerbate the situation by shrinking the labor force, further weighing on the economy’s potential.

There is so much wrong with this that I'm simply going to ask you revisit your assumptions.

Nah fuck it.  Okay a millennial retires early - he doesn't have a fucking retirement fund.  He's just a bum living on the street.

You seem to think millenials will solve everything - the reality is they don't give a flying fuck, what with being so disenchanted and all.  Most of them don't even bother to vote - they fail to see the point. 

Also central bankers will just start printing money.  I'll restate that - they'll start printing more money.  And those businesses too big to fail, you will be paying for them one way or another - whether through you or your children. 

Go ahead and actually take some goddamned responsibility yourself.  Phone a senator and demand a meeting.  If it's denied mock him. And if he does see you make the point that you will hold him personally responsible for not acting on your entirely responsible beliefs. 

But whatever you do - please don't rely on this mythical new generation to solve everything for you.  If anything they are looking up to people like you to provide leadership.  Take a deep breath, well up the courage and just go out and get it done. 

I was literally funding the expansion of our rubber farm project with words and pictures and tinkering with this app where you could easily write the kind of Kpop bubblegum style music the Koreans like.  I made a number of modifications to the app, well basically redesigned it as a custom one to be used for my exclusive studio.  I thought they tend to saturate the soundscape with their endless singing.  I mean for christ's sake sometimes you need a break  So I put in a lot of silent kind of breaks.  It was because I thought they sounded like they were kind of just whining all the time.  Of course I wouldn't know how to do that, my good friend Muff Richardson on my request sprang into action and in a couple of days it was there.  All ten songs delivered suspiciously quickly.  All done in a kind of fevered dream, a marathon session of 20 hours I hardly even remember drinking all those 3L bottles of Piss, whoops I mean Cass.  And the girls were really happy I came through for them, and my wife was like see I told you so, bless her.  Although she did insist accompanying me when ever I went to work for them. 

It was very cold evening in Korea, and my wife's sister introduced us to the Kpop group 2Ne1.  I didn't know them.  We ate at a restaurant and I asked whether they knew the Backstreet boys.  They did and kind of knew what that comparison meant.  I said I'll write you guys a song, in fact I wrote 10 songs and I think they used four.  Initially they were very cold on the idea, but my wife was like you'd be mad if you pass this up.  My writing was kind of permeating society and it was nothing to me to write ten songs in a day at my peak, often big hits.

My favourite was this song called 'I hate you'.  Initially I wanted to write it as 'I despise you'.  But I thought they would found it hard to pronounce, also most Koreans wouldn't understand it.  The line 'I'm fine living without you', was a kind of nod to how much independent Korean women are.  I find it a little bit rich myself (which speaks volumes about me) so I littered the song with all kind of veiled references. 

The song 'I don't care' I was kind of taking the piss, but I knew it would be a hit. 

The 'I don't care' part was basically because I literally didn't care.  The 'sometimes you have to act like you don't care, that's the only way they'll learn';  well that was just good advise really. 

16 minutes ago, chocolat steve said:

2000. The Democrats hate America so I'm voting for Bush. Support him. 2008. The Democrats are bad So I'm voting for McCain Support him 2012. The Democrats are bad. I'm voting for Romney. Support him. 2016. Bush, McCain and Romney say Trump is bad. Oh, they are part of the establishment. Support Trump. 

Obama allegedly putting kids in changes (Not true but suppose it was). 2008 to 2016. Don't say a thing about it if it happened. 2018. Trump puts kids in cages. "Obama built the cages!", which means you supported it when Obama supposedly did it. No verbiage it would be wrong if Obama did. It was always supported. So to gaslight you into not saying anything, "Obama built them" to force acceptance of little kids dragged from parents, no contact, in their own feces some of them, physically and sexually abused. Just one of many, many different violations of any humane person's conscience. 

If someone said the Dems are corrupt, I'd agree. If I answer, ,"then what" and the answer is the Republican party, then you would have to show me that the Republicans do not engage in the same thing. If you can't you are saying my poison is better than their poison. 

If you are saying both parties are corrupt in their own way and there is some deep state, and we need a person that is not part of it, then that person can not be a new type of poison. He can not be worse and self serving. Its akin to a German in 1933 saying the Weimar Republic is corrupt, and so is the Social Democratic Party (2nd in voting), so support the Nazis. 

 

Have you actually been to Iraq, or for that matter Afghanistan?  Did you actually witness patriot missiles being fired?  Did you personally see the tanks rolling in from Saudi Arabia?  Did you see the captain as he ordered in all those bombing sorties on civilian targets?.  And for that matter were you on one of the Aircraft carriers supposedly carrying out this operation.  Were you there when Bush in bomber jacket announced mission accomplished?  Did you witness all those atrocities as American cowboys gunned down all those women and children listening to their heavy metal music in their APCs?  And if you did, did you notice how the American leadership dealt with it by covering it up?

If you weren't there, then it never happened.  Stop listening to all this fake news.  The shareef don't like it, rock the Casbah.  Lol, it's not kosher. 

2 hours ago, cavanami said:

WTF???

 

I'm genuinely curious about this, but are you simple minded?  A fancy word for mentally retarded.  It would be kinder then calling you a cruel selfish prick for instance.  I don't want to say this, I really wish you wouldn't make me say this, but you appear to be a combination of both.  If you ever set foot out of America don't be surprised by the way people treat you.  Obviously being a member of this forum, you've made some kind of incursion into Thailand. 

Thai people don't universally despise Americans, it's more subtle then that.  The moment you open your mouth they will catch you out.  You will be treated with the scorn that most pathetic posters on Stickman's website complained about. 

I was taught to treat people much like I expected to be treated when I was barely two years old.  It's not really a difficult concept to understand - unless you suffer a kind of retardation. 

Posting some cheap contemptible propaganda with no comment.  I mean - why do you do it?  If it is such an important thing you wish to share with the community at least have the decency to kind of give a brief description, a bit of text explaining why it's so important, where you might think they got it wrong etc. 

Well, well it turns out the woman is going to sue the airline and the passenger for among other things whiplash and mental anguish. 

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/american-airlines-passenger-whose-seat-was-punched-by-irate-man-says-he-needs-to-be-prosecuted/news-story/943dc2c1bc691e77c6c48579afd79a29

When I forwarded this to my friend Muff Richardson he sprang into action.  I do not approve of anything of what Muff did, indeed I reproved him for it!  Through some wizardry I don't know how he did it, but he had obtained all her passwords, her search history all her private correspondence bank account details etc., including incriminating emails where she was talking to a friend about suing an airline by provoking another passenger.  

  He then forwarded the information to the airline, the FBI and the passenger.  And Muff, being Muff, forwarded all this correspondence to her. 

Of course I condemn all of Muff's actions.  His only response to me was 'all done'.  When I replied what's done, he just posted me a picture of some blueberry pancakes, and immediately knew just what this meant. 

I do remember one of the conversations:

Her: Good morning how are you?  I crack open two tins of Angkor, rethink and open another two

Panadol: Well I'm great never felt more chipper. 

Her: So you don't remember last night?  Go and look at your back.  I check in the mirror and sure enough there is an inflamed bruise, most likely from a high heeled shoe.

Panadol: Nothing to write home about, how would this concern you? 

Her: So you really don't care?  Yet you ask questions of people when you already know the answer.

Panadol: Well, so what?

Her: You're already five steps ahead of them.

Panadol: More like ten steps but thanks for the compliment. 

Her: So why do you do it?

Panadol: Well I not as sophisticated as you might think, I'm just a simple guy really. 

Her: We will meet one day, I promise you that. 

Panadol: Yeah yeah yeah. I'm shaking in my boots - I mean my thongs. 

Phone hangs up.  Two hours later phone rings again.

Her: Sorry I am a bit of bitch.

Panadol: not at all, I enjoy these little tete-a-tete's

I kind of found my match - we mocked each other relentlessly.  I was just killing time in Cambodia so it became a very welcome distraction.  There was this moment where it became clear we really liked each other.  A very rare thing to find a friend from such a different background. 

Initially all she saw of me as someone exploiting people.  The more she learnt about me the more she gravitated to me.  She'd ask my I advise, I'd ask hers and it was brilliant.

Initially I had no idea if I slept with her but I undoubtedly did.  It was an amazing night of acrobatic like sex.  She was insatiable, I'd go to sleep and wake up to her riding my morning glory. 

Bit off- topic here Cav, and this is advise is mostly for myself - kind of  a working journal if you please.  What women want is a man they can proudly say to their friends and family that is my man, and I'm proud of him.  They can instinctively recognize when some guy is a piece of lying shit, in fact like a shark in the water they can sniff it out from miles away. 

I think that's why we talk about Karma.  You can be a horrible person and put up a respectable shopfront.  But you'll always be found out in the end.  And for what?  Surely these corrosive beliefs are kind of bad for you health.  I mean why not genuinely care for people?  If you love a woman you want to see her confidence grow.  By being a lying sack of shit and ignorant to throw into the bargain, what can you ever reasonably hope to gain?  Perhaps you might enrich yourself, but that won't console you, all you end up doing is viciously chasing your tail. 

I don't mean this in a bad way.  But I really do pity you.  You could easily reform yourself if you wanted (the ability seems to be there), but it appears beyond you.  And if I didn't care, I wouldn't be saying this to you.  I'm genuinely concerned for you. 

4 hours ago, cavanami said:

Politics and the economy...I'm not betting the ranch on either one!

Dig via the internet enough and you can prove about anything you might want to.

Which is why I read the literature.  Want to know what the bankers think?  Go read their trade journals.  It can be inscrutable at first, but I quickly learned the codes.  Just a small matter of applying some intellect to it.  Which, LOL, appears in short supply at the moment. 

58 minutes ago, Coss said:

You're slipping, elsewhere, you are 6' 6" Nordic blonde god.  I'm guessing, not likely to blend with all the 5' 1" teak coloured khmers....

The thing is I don't pretend.  I'm serious.  I don't care wherever you come from.  Most Khmer's are incredibly flattered that I would even consider talking to them.  Also for reasons I won't share here, you can conceal your identity very effectively.  Okay I'll give you a clue. Know a cop.  I mean you do sound a little bit naive going on like this.   

Wrote the lyrics too.  A girl begged me to stay saying that even if I didn't love her, she would accept it if pretended to love her.  So I wrote the lyrics for 'Lovefool'. Sent it to my cousin Nina, and was rather astonished to hear it on the radio, my very words being widely circulated basically verbatim.  'Desperately pondered' is an obvious panadolism as is 'reason won't preach a solution'.  The lost in confusion part was kind or a sly dig at her preoccupation with attempting to appeal to a wider market  I was in Sweden at the time so I appeared in the video. 

I know I'm a kind of a mysterious person. 

Nina is my cousin.  If anyone is interested I'm the one on the desert island sending the message in the bottle. 

Also if anyone cares, I'm highly embarrassed about how people look at my physical presence, my general bearing and make assumptions.  A white supremacist would probably glorify me if I didn't eviscerate his beliefs first. 

When my wife and I were developing the rubber plantations.  We were buying up real estate left right and center.  I was working in Australia, flying to Thailand almost every fortnight.  My wife is extremely competent, but as a team we kind of become invincible. 

On a 'sabbatical' I'd often travel to Cambodia where a Mr Chen would renew your visa for a trivial fee.  I'd usually get a local sim card and put it in my phone.  A person started to call me, often rousing me from my sleep rather hangover.  It was unusual, they seemed to genuinely care how I was and it was like an old friend making contact with you.  Before anyone starts saying it was an obvious scam, it wasn't  If you did try to scam me, I'd would respond with a counter blow so fierce you wouldn't want to scam anyone ever again.

This person continued to call me like they were kind of checking up on me.  She started to ask me where I was last night.  It was a good question, I genuinely didn't know where the hell I was last night, but I told her I seem intact.  I started to talk to her in my fledgling Khmer and she would mock my words, mimicking my poor attempt then saying what I should have said.  I don't know about you, but I've never picked up a language so fast when this kind of technique is used.  I tried to combat it by mocking her Thai and English. 

Unlikely as it sounds, we became very good friends.  Even though I didn't know her name, and it wouldn't do to ask her after all the time had passed.  She'd call me and I'd confide all kinds of things to her. 

A chilling text came through - the police are investigating you.  I went to the police HQ, and asked why they were investigating me.  It turns out I'd been witnessed in Laos conversing with the head of a drug cartel.  He was in Phnom Penh when I ran in to him again, and of course I said hello to the guy.  I mean of course I didn't know about the drugs, he just looked like a successful business man - obviously intelligent and someone worth cultivating. 

My frequent travel was a red flag apparently.  Also they were highly suspicious of my uncanny ability to blend in with the local population, adopting their customs, speaking their language.  In fact they were highly affronted by it!  I mean I thought that was a bit much.  However they did accept they were wrong in a rather grudging manner.  They put a tail on me, which I thought was ridiculous.  I bought my tail lunch and we had a very enlightening and friendly chat.

What I didn't expect was I was being monitored in - well I'll say no more. 

The lady that was talking to me on the phone became perhaps one of my best friends.  Incredibly smart, she would challenge me, and I her.  We'd both mock each other, teach each other, laugh at something we both shared.  And like a true friend she warned me.  And I never did learn her name.  Being a Cambodian sim and the phone lost I can never contact her again.

I don't really understand how memory works.  I was staying at this five star hotel and the receptionist was this extremely beautiful lady.  She had this rash on her legs.  I went to the pharmacy and bought the medical cream.  I put it in a gift wrapped box advising her that it's just a rash, don't let it worry you, put this on at nighttime before you sleep and it will be gone in a few days.  For some reason I left my phone number - I suppose if she had any questions.  

I do miss her.  I often wonder how she's faring.  Try to do little acts of kindness.  I suppose I've lived a particularly chaotic life, exotic even - okay I admit I enjoy perplexing people, not exactly a desirable trait.  Perplexing a corrupt foreign official is like a bonus point.  Confounding them in their own language is kind of the cherry on top.

41 minutes ago, buffalo_bill said:

Mr Sandwich I am now full of red wine and got to sleep, awfully sorry. I promise to come back on your comment by tomorrow. Point is: people desire to be lead by persons who appear to be strong. Cavanami for example thinks Trump is a great leader while he is virtually a piece of crap ( Trump). But he believes in him. 09:21 PM German time , got to sleep now. Tired and dizzy.

Okay goodnight.  I'm not sure about the forum rules.  I know my English gives you headaches, being a third language I use antiquated words, drop prepositions and tend to rely on a kind of idiosyncratic style I kind of developed for myself as I took up the language. I suppose I should be flattered, I've developed a characteristic style of writing English that is recognizable.  Kind of like yeah, Panadol definitely wrote that.  I do cringe, because there are so many areas where I need to improve my English.  Frankly I'm a bit ashamed that I haven't made more progress.

Anyhow, my German is a bit rusty but if you'd like to talk in German I'd be happy to do that. 

18 minutes ago, buffalo_bill said:

I am going to build the BuBi library. To cover a larger number of donators from the Evangelists end I shall call it BuBi´s Christian Bookstore . Via satellite TV I occasionally watch US based stations where a well dressed idiot talks to a crowd of mentally displaced believers about God. And at the very end requests a  donation for a Lear Jet. Ti fly to heaven I think.

I'm on board, praise Jesus!  We'll continually predict the end of the world, then revise it again and again.  Of course my price is a personal Lear Jet, and a handsome percentage of the proceeds.  But I will be personally responsible for writing all the propaganda that won't trouble me in the slightest.  I would personally hire a well dressed idiot and train him, much like a monkey to extort money from the gullible. 

My first request though is to not  call it a Christian bookstore.  Just off the top of my head, why not call it something like the 'Infinite wisdom of our Lord'?  Just a working title, so let me know what you think. 

1 hour ago, buffalo_bill said:

Gentlemen, looking at Bernie I doubt that enough people would vote for somebody looking like an old buffer who dreams of the United Socialist States of America or heaven knows what. Biden looks a bit worn out to my opinion and this man Butti????  would never make it anyway I guess. But now there is Bloomberg who called  Trump a man who even lies about the spray that makes his face yellow. Great, this is exactly what the Donald needs.  He might shoot everything dead by his money but which is far better than making vulgarity a program like the Donald. They are attacking him for his probably racist activities when he was ruling NY but that exactly might also get him votes elsewhere. I put my money on him.

In the meantime : are there any confirmed news about Virginia´s coal industry booming due to President Trumps endless efforts in favour of the working classes? Did the agricultural sector recover from the consequences of Donald´s trade dispute? I read a very interesting interview with the boss of former Massey Ferguson; due to import tariffs on his China-built machinery they had to move the production out of China into , yes , Brazil. Congratulation . Many of their domestic US customers disappeared as buyers because they are bankrupt. US public debts now at 22 trillion, great.

 

                                      

Bernie might look like a Muppet, but it's undeniable that he cares about people.  He's known for being the 'king of amendments'.  He managed to include an amendment that pushed through $100 million for community health centers and that is one of only hundreds of his accomplishments.  He's a very savvy politician, he knows you can't change the world by fiat, you just persist and chip away at it, knowing that his opponents are impatient.  People criticize him as being some communist monster.  His vision for America is ambitious, but it's hardly an untried an unproven system he is proposing.  As an intelligent person he recognizes the benefits of the Nordic countries.  There are very powerful invested people that will do almost anything to make sure that will never happen in America.  It's kind of rather intellectually lazy to tar and feather him with this supposed commie propaganda.  

Okay Steve, I don't think we're acting in cross purposes here.  I find your posts very insightful, and if I question them, I'm more coming from the place that I want to learn more about how you understand the situation. 

The federal debt is only of concern if it's being spent on useless corrupt projects like border walls.  Unfortunately most people don't understand that federal debt is not the same as household debt.  For example if the US borrowed $300 billion and built an efficient high speed rail network like China is doing, it would boost productivity and most likely be a highly profitable business.  It could pay the money back in 10 years and be left with a profitable business owned by the American public, and not to mention a giant nudge to the country's prestige (take that China).  The rusting factories in bankrupt Detroit could be retooled and refurbished and employ thousands of people.  And that is just one project I'm plucking out of thin air.  Getting a German company to provide the expertise (which would ensure success), and perhaps throwing a small bone to Boeing who are completely fucked right now might  make accepting European expertise slightly more palatable for the Americans. 

There seems to be a growing despair that isn't really based on reality.  Everything the Republicans are trying to do is being hugely pushed back on.  The only thing they've achieved is the tax cut for the rich and whittling away at as many regulations as they can.  All highly predicted and completely expected.  Their failures to do anything else are very encouraging.

It's true that there's been a slow process of whittling away rights, stagnating income etc.  Don't forget the Democrats are very much to blame for this as well.  But what is also true is that given the political will, all of this can easily be reversed, and then improved.  Take Obamacare.  The reason that the Republicans couldn't destroy is because there was enough time for people to become used to it and appreciate it.  What that shows is you can't easily walk back these popular policies.  If the political will is there, well the foundation is there as well - you can build on that and know that anybody who even sends up a trial balloon saying they want to modify it any fashion for the worse is committing a version of political suicide.  This is readily apparent with the British NHS.  If you attempt to fuck with that you are out the fucking door quick smart - virtually noone would tolerate it. 

What I'm trying to say is that improvements that make important differences to people's lives are almost impossible to reverse in a democracy.  Fox news can cry endlessly about Obamacare, but if you are a recipient of it and it's improved your life - that's when people stand up and notice and will tell Fox news to fuck right off.  I mean it wasn't rhetoric, the Republicans genuinely wanted to yank people off life saving dialysis machines for Christ's sake. 

5 hours ago, chocolat steve said:

The issue I am sensing is that if someone making 100k is living month to month then the whole study is wrong? Or if a person making 100k is month to month its not the economy but them? I'm not sure what the issue is, frankly. It's one of a long list of articles that talk about the economy not being as good as advertised. 

I get what you're saying the average American salary is about $50,000.  Let's keep these numbers round.  After tax, you're looking at $40k. 

An average American individual will spend say $5000 on health coverage and $5000 on deductibles.  Add on a 20% co-insurance say $3000.

So all of a sudden you're down from $50k to $27k in the pocket.  Leaving you roughly $500 a week to pay for everything else, accommodation, utilities, groceries etc.  I agree, this is a pretty tough ask, not impossible.

Now what a lot of Americans will do is take that $50k contract to the bank and get a $10k credit card.  They'll max it out buying iPhones, the very latest flat screen tv's etc.  The minimum repayment for that will typically be 2% so about $50/week and their balance will have $40 a week added to it.  As you can tell at this rate they're never going to pay the money back, they'll mostly just be paying interest or what you might call a usury penalty.  Added to the fact that lending practices are so lax.  The next iteration of the iPhone will need a new credit card.  Average American credit card debt is about $20,000.  So most perhaps have at least two cards, most likely three. 

So back to $500 a week.  After credit card repayment you've say got $400 a week (we're talking average American).  All of a sudden that $50k job doesn't sound so rich after all does it?

But wait, there's more.  The average American will have a $30k automobile debt, and if they went to college a $50k student debt. 

This is beginning to sound really depressing isn't it?  Will medical costs rising so fast and incomes stagnating it's getting worse. 

Compare this to a civilized country that takes care of everyone.  Our medical insurance costs are already taken from the taxes we pay.  A $50k Australian is automatically $13k richer then his American counterpart.  We do have student debt, buy it's only ever repayable once you earning over a certain amount and a modest amount is taken - interestingly you have to earn over $50k before you ever repay a cent. 

Anyhow I kind of went off on a tangent there.  Now if you are getting $100k, I know it's not a simple as this, but you getting roughly twice what the average American earns.  Let's say for simplicity's sake that we just take the $400 a week the $50k earns and just double it - $800 a week.  Already that sounds a hell of a lot more comfortable doesn't it?   Not ideal, but surely you can manage on that.  $800 a week and living from pay to pay does seem a bit preposterous.  I suppose if you're living in Manhattan it probably would, but of course the average American doesn't live in Manhattan.  It does seem like a click bait article.  

Now what if you are earning below the average, say $25k.  As you can imagine from the extremely simplified analysis above you are going to be really struggling.  Possibly not eating for a day or two until you next get paid.  Bracketing in people on $100k is trivializing these people's problems, and quite frankly is insulting to the intelligence. 

4 hours ago, chocolat steve said:

It's a legitimate article. End of story. It covers a wide income group. 100k isn't the only group but if you if you make 100k in SF you are broke. Point is millions of Americans are living from paycheck to paycheck and anyone can say live below your means. Easy when its not you. There are all kinds of circumstances. Overall, Trump's great economy isn't great. Most jobs aren't enough to live more than month to month. This article is in line with the 40 percent having no more than 400 dollars stat as well. 

The facts don't care about our feelings. 

I do get your point.  I try to bear in mind that I don't have to worry much about money myself but a lot of people do.  I have to say I can't really imagine having to go a week without money.  It sounds bloody horrible. 

Although I don't stint myself or my family, not by a long shot, however we don't borrow money unless it's overwhelmingly clear that the investment will pay off.  Consumerism is the new religion as they say.  People making shrines of flat screen tv's, having to have to always have the latest iPhone, kind of perplexes me. 

There is a kind of blindness to all this; yes facts don't care about our feelings, but our feelings most definitely care about the facts.  However the goddamn economy is going it's undoubtedly due to Obama policies.  Economic policies take years to take effect, the fact that moments after Trump was elected he was crowing about the economy just goes to show how ignorant most people are - including the pundits and so called economic geniuses.  

It's true - people are struggling, but it's extremely unhelpful to exaggerate the problem.  And worse it trivializes the poor people that do deserve our concern and the reforms that any decent, wealthy society should provide.  

When I got married to my Thai fiance it was an overly extravagant affair.  My wife's family are very well off and well, hundreds of people turned up.  It was a happy occasion, you know the type of thing, the monks chanting, the white string binding us together and I could tell my fiance was ecstatic by all the attention.  My wife is extremely generous when she goes to a wedding she often gives all the money she's got.  So when her time came around people were equally generous.  Being a foreigner earning so much money as you can imagine I was made rather uncomfortable by all this. 

There was this young guy I'd had drinks with over the years - he drank the crudest liquor and was clearly alcoholic but he was determined to share the little he had with me.  For some perverse reason I'd given him a bottle of Laphroaig whiskey - a very fine single malt whiskey that costs about $100.  My wife was furious.  But he turned up to the wedding and gave me 1000 baht.  My heart broke.  God knows how he managed to make the money.  But what could I do?  It would be an incredible insult to return it to him. 

I managed to get him a job at one of our rubber plantations.  He was extremely unreliable, but when he could work, he worked really hard.  He died not long after.

This did change me.  Often when you display kindness to people, you might not think it but it really can change them.  I know I can be completely unkind and arrogant and all that.  I can be a complete and utter prick really.  I suppose it's good to become self-aware about this. 

4 hours ago, cavanami said:

a BS headline designed to trigger a false response!

No way 1/3, total BS!!!

If you buy in to this, you are a complete idiot!!!

I agree with you here Cav.  It's highly questionable.  I wish the media wouldn't publish stories like this, it just demeans everyone.  I know wages have stagnated and Americans out of pocket expenses have increased, but to say one third are living at least some of the time without money, even while living on a $100,000 dollar paycheck or more really staggers belief, and makes a mockery of the people who are in poverty and doing it tough. 

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/woman-airplane-seat-recline-trnd/index.html

A man repeatedly pushed her seat after she reclined it.  It was only a two hour flight and because the man was sitting in the last row he was unable to recline his own seat.  That was when the woman caused such a stink, like one of those portaloos at a musical festival, that she was repeatedly warned she would be asked to leave the plane - which is quite a drastic measure as it must have been about 30,000 feet in the air at that point.  The air hostess apologized to the man and gave him a complimentary rum. 

The woman took her complaint to social media, where her whining went nuclear.  She claimed she had to see a doctor, get x-rays take time off work and had horrible headaches for a week.  Her mental anguish was intolerable.  The social media reaction was universal, her behaviour was denounced as incredibly selfish, to trying to extort money from the airline. 

I'm fairly tall well I guess average for a Scandanavian, so I usually pay a bit extra for an emergency row exit seat.  But often traveling in Asia the check in hostess usually sizes me up and puts me there anyway.  But some of the time I end up in a seat like the aforementioned gentlemen.  I don't mind if it's a long flight if someone reclines their seat, it does make me uncomfortable because it presses against my knees.  I'll usually explain to the person, that I'm not being rude, if your seat gets nudged it's just that it's pressing quite heavily on my knees.  Often they'll raise their seat. 

But on a two hour flight, I simply won't tolerate it.  I'll still warn them your seat might get nudged but I must admit I do nudge quite violently while saying something like 'Oh I'm so terribly sorry the weight of your chair is causing my legs to spasm'.  And then the real mind games begin.

At this stage I definitely do not want them to raise their seat.  I strive to torment them in a purer way, than say using physical force or obviously more contrived psychological pressure.  It's something I tend to meditate on.  You can drive someway crazy like this, and after all they are a captive audience.  The two hour flight will seem to stretch into millennia for them whilst I amuse myself.  And they will think bloody hard before reclining their seat again, such is the mental trauma inflicted.  Reflecting on how easily you can shape the vicissitudes of some rude strangers life, I often think what a serendipitous occurrence it is these airlines installing reclining seats like this - I mean airline travel is a bit boring really, you need something to amuse you after all.  

6 hours ago, chocolat steve said:

The sky is falling...the sky is falling...haha...yeah, I have been sounding the alarm and it may not seem like it.This video will probably be ignored like Cav's video and that's fine. However, there are a few things that will make the next crash a depression. 1. The 2008 crash was a housing bubble. This economy has a half dozen bubbles over a trillion dollars in a country with a 5 trillion dollar budget. Each bubble is 20 percent of the economy. 2. Interest rates are at their lowest. Cutting interest rates is the biggest weapon the federal reserve has to reduce the severity of a crash. We pretty much cut the interest rate in half after 2008 and what that did was it made loans for cars, homes, credit cards cheaper and gave people and incentive to spend. That tool is gone now. I predict we will have zero percent rates or a shade over zero maybe a quarter of a percent and it won't do any good to anyone but the super rich who can borrow money basically for free and buy up cheap assets. The average consumer will be fucked. 3. Trump has placed cronies on the various agencies that oversee the economy. Not just the Fed, but the SEC, and other regulatory agencies The video talks about it a little. Trump has placed people who will let the banks do whatever they want. The credit reporting agencies can do what ever they want. Basically, he has made the bubble bigger. 4. We have no plan. China to their credit know they will face a massive recession or depression and are doing things behind the scene. They are buying gold at unprecedented rate. So is Putin. America has no plan. We are not preparing for how we are going to deal with it. The only plan America has is how its going to quell civil unrest via the Patriot's Act, FEMA, National Guard, FISA warrants and probably suspending habeas corpus laws. That'5. s if things get bad enough and I think it will. I can easily see far right militia groups ramping up domestic terrorism exponentially to the point it will be normalized. They will start with public symbols and individuals. Federal or state buildings and offices, maybe a politician, Wall Street exec, etc. But as far we will do, if it happens under Trump's watch we will bail out the big boys again and that will spark fringe left wing people and some fringe right wing but the far right will be split over Trump. If it happens under a Democratic president if he or she wins this year the banks will not be bailed out. Massive welfare to the massive and the value of your dollar will go down. That loaf of bread will cost 3 dollars, that dozen eggs will be 4 or 5 dollars. That gallon of milk 4 or 5 dollars. A lighter version of post WW1 Germany. 

The solution? Well, its coming anyway. 12 years of so called economic expansion is never seen before in our history. I would argue its not expansion but a weak recovery for a variety of reasons, blame to Obama (he shouldn't have bailed out the banks, but the people who had bad mortgages instead) but also a lot of blame on the GOP for not approving anything that would work so that Obama would fail. Such as the infrastructure bill which was a no brainer. McConnell famously bragging he told Obama he would not work with him on anything was possibly the most traitorous act by a Senator since McCarthy. 

What we need but will never happen is a managed downturn. Instead of waiting for market forces to implode the economy where you have very little power to fight it, we manage a downturn ourselves. It's inevitable. A crash that is, so lets make the bubble smaller. It's like a person with massive credit card bills, car loans, mortgage, student loans, and can barely make the minimum payment and then losing his job and it all implodes but rather anticipates that and starts now in cutting back spending, working with the banks on his loans. Consolidating some perhaps where he will have a lower monthly payment but instead of a 7 year pay off its now 10 or 12 years. He may have to negotiate returning the house to the bank and move into a smaller place or work out a deal with relatives back at his parents, or whatever. He may give up his car, voluntary repossession but take Uber or get a used car that is much older but will be free and clear. When he loses his job, the unemployment cSheck may actually cover his reduced bills. 

America should do the same. Cutting military spending is a no brainer. Specifically overseas bases. Huge financial drain. I do not in any way shape or form want a cut to the VA areas that help vets. Plan infrastructure projects in anticipation of a crash. FDR did this as well. Actually regulate the banks. Stop them from making the bubble bigger. Get into their books and start reducing the toxic assets now. The federal reserve start buying gold. Not increasing the national debt is a no brainer as well. Push for the G8 and G20 meetings to be mainly about reducing the exposure of a global recession/depression and what areas countries can work together to that end. Plan any bailouts now by working with economists on a 'what if' scenario. My preference is how to bail out the consumer. 

 

Thanks Steve for the video, I will watch, but I just want to make a few comments that came to mind reading your insightful post. 

Most savvy people on Wall Street know about the impending cash, they are furiously making hay while the sun is shining and buying up foreign real estate in places like Canada and New Zealand as an escape plan. 

The feds won't bother with reducing interest rates, they don't really have much scope to do it.  Quantitative Easing or printing money will be their go to solution.  That means any cash in your bank will reduce in value fast.   Remember when they were doing that after 2008 when there was all that talk about 'green shoots' in the economy?  Just a load of bullshit.

The Chinese have been busily hoovering up all the gold it can buy for at least a decade now.  There has been a currency war ongoing for quite a while now - it's mostly not talked about - you have to go to the kind of journals that bankers read to really learn about it.  I've often speculated China will create a new currency backed by gold.  Most likely when the next global economic crisis hits.  It would instantly become the most sought after currency in the world displacing the US hegemony.  Commodities like oil and hog futures would now be priced in renminbi.  If you don't have any reserves of renminbi, well you're shit out of luck. 

The oligarchs backing Trump aren't particularly worried.  Their only concern is that they don't want to invoke a revolution by taking it too quickly.  No, they're slowly boiling the frog. 

They openly want shanty towns in America.  It's written in their own literature produced by their so-called 'think tanks'.  Yes it will start off with Americans downsizing, as you say perhaps moving into more affordable property in a less affluent area.  That even sounds reasonable doesn't it (everyone has to tighten their belt in an economic crisis you might think to yourself)?  Remember boil the frog slowly.  Dismantling public services, imposing a system where you pay for everything, you name it - want to take your kids to the public park, expect to pay an entry fee.  Basically anything you need to live will be intercepted by a tax.  An economic crisis will be a brilliant catalyst for this project.

And as an oligarch, being cashed up you get to buy everything at fire-sale prices. You can really go to town and consolidate your wealth. 

I had a Bulmers cider with my steak and eggs in Udon the other day.  I've been trying to cut down on the grog.  Usually I'll take it with a pint of Scotch.  I should have stuck with the scotch, the Bulmers was so laden with sulphides and preservative I instantly regretted it.  Not since India where before I learnt how to tap that oily film off a beer have I felt so ill.  

Biden's manner of approaching young women, often children, creepily from behind and massaging the shoulders and sniffing their hair, or going for a peck on the cheek or one on the mouth.  Well I'm certainly at a loss to explain it.  Because there is no explanation.  If it had happened only a couple times it wouldn't be so bad, but it seems to be a regular thing (there are dozens of examples of this on the net). 

I think it's mostly harmless, some weird kind of fetish or something.  But ask yourself, would you let your own daughter be fondled sniffed and kissed like that?  If he visited my daughter's school I would make sure she stayed at home.  In fact I wouldn't let Biden within a country mile of my daughter.  And I wouldn't be shy explaining it to her.