The Open Thread is a place for open discussion among my readers. Post anything you feel like sharing! From now on, the Open Thread will no longer be monthly. Instead, there will be a new Open Thread whenever it is adequate. The stage is yours. Go ahead! Note that there is also an Open Thread on Aaron S. Elias’s site.
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Ok, I’ll throw the first one:
Aaron, knowing where you come from, what do you make of the elections in Bavaria? In spite of the positive spin that some leftist journalists (The Economist, Der Spiegel) have been putting on the gains of the Greens, the advances of the FW and AfD look more noteworthy in my opinion. Thoughts?
I would have liked to see the AfD make even bigger gains. It’s a start. The gains of the Green Party are indeed noteworthy. It goes to show what happens if your teachers are lefties and you hand out German passports quickly. Comparisons to how the Democrats buy their voters in the US are more than apt.
I looks like the Greens have mostly been poaching voters from the carcass of a disintegrating SPD, so I dont think they could possibly grow much further. This could be their ceiling, the best case scenario.
The majority of the electorate still went solidly to the right. Good for Bavaria
Strauss used to call the Greens a watermelon party. Green on the outside, red on the inside.
How right he was, good old Franz Josef Strauss.
40+ years ago he warned us about the cultural Marxism. He was right:
https://youtu.be/Ffo_wFf7aC8?t=139
Strauss was a fantastic politician. My lefty teachers did not speak well of him. To them, he was roughly at the level of Hitler.
I just saw this on instagram and it cracked me up 🤣
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpSghBQAyo0/
Hitler’s plans included the “Lebensraumerweiterung” to the east.
If you look what both Nato and EU have been doing over the last decade, then well…
And who benefits most from EU and the Euro? That’s right, Germany.
The upcoming election in Hessen looks interesting too… Greens have almost caught up to the SPD… stay tuned.
@Yarara
Hessen is fucked. This will be a leftist green dipshit festival. AfD will be a blip on the radar. My hope is with Eastern Germany.
@Yarara, on a related note, what are your thoughts on the upcoming Brazilian election and what do you think of Jair Bolsonaro?
Bolsonaro is the local manifestation of the same global trends that lead to Trump in the USA and to the revival of the political right in Europe – namely the disintegration of establishment parties that have long dominated politics. He is not being called the “Brazilian Trump” for nothing.
While I tend to hold anti-leftis positions, some of his proposals and statements on the campaign trail have been genuinely unsettling, but that is expected during a campaign. He is an (allegedly) anti-system candidate. The progressive establishment in media and academia is predictably freaking out.
Some of the factors that led to Trumps election are mirrored in Brazil as well – general disappointment with the established parties and career politicians, especially the leftist PT that has dominated Brazilian politics for the last decades. The Lava Jato corruption process has pretty much stained the entire political class in Brazil in the eyes of the voters, regardless of party colors.
Add to that an unrelenting wave of insecurity, due to the collapse of the longstanding truce between criminal gangs Comando Vermelho and Primeiro Comando de Capital (plus other splinter groups), more and more voters are understandingly fed up with it and looking for a law and order hardliner, which Bolsonaro has promised to be.
Other than law and order, and his backing from the armed forces, his signals on economic policy have shown some contradictions, so it is premature to speculate until he starts appointing ministers. His proposed minister of economy is a liberal who plans wide ranging pro-market reforms, but he is sure to meet a lot of pushback.
Keep in mind Brazil has 27 ministries to fill, and a lot of those positions are likely to be given to allied factions, since he will not have a majority in congress he will need to build a broad coalition to govern (his party represents only 10% of representatives and 5% of senators in the brazilian congress).
Thanks Yarara. The congressional setup part was very helpful indeed.
Bolsonaro is leading as of right now…
Short video detailing how Twitch.com caters to sluts and punishes male streamers for minute offenses.
https://youtu.be/bvFfAWFrAQI
Singaporean woman with 3 kids, all from different fathers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SprfCQ83a1c
The 1st she had while still a teen, the 2nd and 3rd she had while married. She’s still married to her second husband (with whom she had her 3rd kid). FYI, unwed mothers in Singapore don’t qualify for the government’s Baby Bonus cash gift of $8,000 as the government wants to promote parenthood within marriage. They also don’t get to enjoy the parenthood tax rebate.
Hi Sleazy Gal
How much % is the parenthood tax rebate?
I assume it applies on income?
Thanks for elaborating a bit.
It’s not given as a % but you get to deduct $5,000-20,000 per kid off your taxable income with the exact amount dependent on your child’s birth order. So $5,000 for the 1st kid, $10,000 for the 2nd, and $20,000 for the 3rd and any subsequent children. Here’s a link that also has information on other forms of support: https://www.heybaby.sg/having-and-raising-children/tax-reliefs-rebate-for-parents
The consensus about how to deal with women in this blog seems to present an interesting dichotomy. That is the dichotomy of Sluts vs. Whores. Sluts are seemingly only available to high quality males while whores are a better choice available to everyone. There is, of course, just about as numerous whores as there are sluts. So how do you suggest that all those sluts find high quality males of whom there are not too many. Are those women who can’t have high quality males since they too aren’t high quality destined to live alone or settle with what they can get?
Am I right is saying the above?
@ben; Where else do you think that one can live the high life you can live in Thailand?
Don@ Depends on your budget and personal wishes. You can live the high life in South East Asia if you have a few hundred k. Or in Monaco for about a hundred million. There are very nice places around the globe. It all depends on your personal situation. I can live like a king in Thailand. But i wouldn’t impress anyone in Monaco. That’s beyond my budget. And the culture in monaco isn’t my style anyway. The only way to know is by travelling to some places. The only reason i travelled to thailand the first time, was because my trip to South Africa got cancelled. So i tried Thailand for a change. Didn’t know anything about Thailand. Just random pick after my travel agency recommended it. And i felt right home. Maybe you could try other Asian countries? Vietnam? It’s hard to say. Wherever you feel best and is within your budget. What are you looking for? Do you just want a big house? Do you want to club? What about taste in women? Do you seek isolation or city life? Is language a issue?
@ben; That’s an interesting take on the question. Thanks. I’ll have to do some more pondering and also more traveling. I went to Thailand (Bangkok) recently again and, I didn’t like it anymore. Everyone there has the I am so busy look to their face. I don’t know how to explain it otherwise but what I know is, that look is very annoying to look at all day. Thanks anyway.
I don’t understand how anybody could chose to live in Bankgkok. Dirty, polluted and it stinks.
For how long have they had tourism down there? 20+ years? You tell me they can’t fix their fucking sewerage system so doesn’t stink like a horde of gypsies took a shit every 150 metres?
Add the humidity in summer and the tourists from the middle east with their women looking like black sacks of potatoes and you really got yourself a third world shithole.
Bangkok is a huge city. There are nice parts. And total shithole parts. I wouldn’t stay in bangkok for long. Thailand has many places that are much nicer. Bangkok nightlife can be fun for a weekend. But i never stay longer than one or two days. And i’m mostly located in the business district. Outside bangkok i don’t care much about luxury. But in bangkok i only stay at 5 star hotels. And i always have a personal driver that brings me where i have to go. I don’t really walk the streets on my own there. I mostly like the rooftop bars. And cruising the river has been a fun experience. There are also some highclass gentleman clubs in bangkok worth a visit. Otherwise not really a place to stay long-term.
Now I need a travel cities list. First of all I don’t want to learn a whole another language. I speak a few already. I prefer cities with high tech amenities. Escorting should be legal and cheap to buy. Given the chance, I would like a big house than a small one. Being close to night clubs doesn’t hurt. Budget is somewhat large. I am willing and have time to travel to four cities. Please be kind enough to nominate cities.
@Don and @Ben:
I’ve never been to Thailand…is Chiang Mai a liveable and a better place compared to Bangkok or Phuket?
Regarding @Don’s question about nominated cities… for legal hookers, what about the red light in Amsterdam? Not sure if that’s cheap though… for affordable living, how about Warsaw or Wroclaw (in Poland)?
White men have the highest sexual market value:
https://youtu.be/SPnCle-Rgz0
Brazilian, Argentinian, African, Asian girls are attracted to white guys, even if they are 3 or 4/10 in looks. Some girls want citizen card, or good life. You can be a looser, but in 3rd world country you are a king if you are white.
Thanks for posting this. Also, to you other guys reading this: If you haven’t check out the YouTube channel that published that video (“FACEandLMS”). This is high-quality content that may help you getting a healthy dose of reality when it comes to dating women.
I might be commenting prematurely because I havent had time to watch it yet, but may I point out that population in Argentina is pretty white compared to Latam generally, so being white here is not such a big advantage. It may give you a slight edge, but certainly does NOT make up for being low on the looks scale.
tagthesponsor.com
@Aaron et al, what are your thoughts on tag the sponsor a website where instagram whores are exposed for the whores they are.
what answers do you expect?
Oldest profession in the world.
Move on, nothing to see here.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=62rfLjnPxKE
OK-ish interview with Taleb on the fragility of today’s system. As usual very little actionable advice on how to protect your portfolio. Still interesting.
Re the stock protection, between the lines he wants you to allocate money to Universa. For complinace reasons he can’t advertize it directly on TV obv.
Hoping somebody can chime in, but what is the deal with someone who motormouths? I’ve had several people close to me in my life who just rant on and on jumping from topic to topic. It’s worse when they’re stubborn and close-minded, not letting you get a word in edge wise and never presenting a proper non-biased argument for their claims.
I ask because I recently had such an encounter and had a really difficult time coping with the situation. All the constant talking drained me, and the fact that it did seemed to anger the motormouth in question. Suddenly, I was the asshole, though I had barely spoken a word.
In short, I’ve concluded that I don’t care for people that ramble. And I’m certain there must be some kind of defect present within them. But strangely, I’ve been drawn to these types at serveral points in my life. And oddly enough, neither of the three motormouths who come to mind could stand each other for long.
So, I’ve been thinking about it for a bit and have concluded that the people in my life who have displayed the rambling characteristic have either been narcissistic (two out of the three of the them), or sociopathic (the third one).
I think those people just love to hear themselves talk. They do not care about you beyond the fact that you serve as their audience. It may just so happen that “something has come up” or that you recall something you need to attend to in order to get away from them. There is little value in keeping such people around.
Thanks for the reply, Aaron. And I would now have to agree with your advice. It’s very much a lose/win scenario. I can’t help but feel irritated and drained after such encounters, while I imagine the other party is energized from them.
I think there is also a subconscious power play at work, i.e. they know that they are wasting your time, reducing you to a mere prop. If you are wondering how to get out of such a situation, it’s quite easy. There are people who ignore all cues, so at one point you just cut them off. In the case of repeat offenders, just walk off, or hang up the phone, depending on the situation.
Interesting what you mention about the subconcious power play. I also agree that there is power play involved, but my initial take on it was different. It was as if they thought that the mere act of being able to talk over me and control the conversation was dominating. These types are also very good at shit talking contests. And yes, they may be able to out extravert me, but I’m the one doing better financially, creatively and ultimately living the better lifestyle at this point. They are ironically wasting their time and potential by consistently running their mouths at people non-stop.
And yes, they seem to either be oblivious to or just completely ignore social cues. Mainly the ones where you’re showing a lack of enthusiasm in the conversation i.e. staring into space, tapping or drumming, sighing, looking around for exits. They seemingly pride themselves on being sociable yet are actually very anti-social.