Baht Simpson

What sort of strategic security risk is Greenland anyway? From Russia? Canada is nearer Russia as is the U.S. If it's security that's the problem then sell the land that doesn't have massive natural resources to the U.S. so the Greenlanders retain the wealth and charge the U.S. for stationing security forces there. A win-win situation. Greenland then could join the EU and have their security forces there too. 🙂 Put that to Trump to test whether he's serious about doing it for the benefit of all.

Has there ever been an instance of a nation selling the whole country for a few million dollars? I'm not talking about the Alaska or Texas situations where land is released but a whole country. Why on earth would any nation do that? Why would wonderful patriots (sic) want them to do that?

Well said.

Regarding yourself it's because as a foreigner living in Thailand you have no vote therefore no say in the matter. It's taxation without representation. I live in Thailand and pay tax in the U.K. yet I at least retain voting rights. I could say, why should I contribute towards U.K. education, police, infrastructure, defense, social services, NHS etc. when I have no benefit from any of them? The simple answer is because that's the law. You (or I) don't get to pick and choose what you pay taxes for. If you think for prejudicial reasons that transgender people shouldn't get treatment that increases health outcomes then that's a shame.

Yeah, via Mercury. 🙂

The trouble I've found is that I can understand Thai to a certain degree but speaking it I find much harder. I also have a partner who speaks good English as do some of his friends which makes it less of a necessity. I'm learning more day by day but as I'm getting older it's harder to retain the information. Also, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. When I do try to converse in Thai the response is usually that they think that I'm fluent and expect me to respond with unlimited conversation. And I really don't want everyone to know I speak Thai because they'll all try to spark up conversations, which will be tiresome. I'd rather increase my knowledge slowly and understand more first. It's probably dumb not knowing anything but a little gets you by most of the time.

No doubt you could but that's not what I did. The excerpt I posted was a simple search on Google. "Is homosexuality a mental illness?" If you do the same you will get that AI overview which lists extracts from articles that you can read by scrolling down.

Acceptance of everyone regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation should be taught as part of a subject. It's basic humanity. Part of that is teaching that bullying or harassing is unnaceptable and that includes harrassing children who have same-sex parents. You'll always have kids who bully but you don't accept it, you teach them that they mustn't. You don't give in to them.

Not a fan of facts eh?

That's the reason schools try to teach kids that bigotry and homophobia are unacceptable. Or would you rather it's all kept quiet and the kid hides who his parents are so he doesn't get beat up?

Same old tired tropes. You really should be doing better.

Or u could just tell me. I'm not going to blind buy something and find it smells like a badgers arse. 😀

So what is the attraction of the Mennen Deodorant?

And it's not just the fragrance. I managed to get a UK version of OS in a white china bottle with the red splash cap. These days it comes in a plastic bottle with an atomizer. I seem to remember the original had a grey cap with an off-white bottle and a different, larger ship. Less than 500b. You cant go wrong for that retro vibe. The formulation has changed over the years. To my olfactories (sic) it's very similar but not as strong, probably altered to suit more modern tastes.

I bought a bottle of the after shave recently and it brought back lots of memories. It's certainly retro but fine after shaving. It's nice to smell these old fragrances again. Old Spice certainly attracted the ladies, so much so that their slogan was something like, if your father hadn't worn it, you wouldn't be here.

⁸ I think it's more that Jeremy Corbyn wanted pensions unfrozen and Starmer doesn't. They know which side their bread is buttered on. Not a chance in hell now as they try to claw back some of the wasted money.

Secede means withdraw from. You can't secede to something. The U.K. cannot secede from anything, although each member country could theoretically cede from the Union, subject to a change in the constitution. Perhaps you mean succumb. 🙂

Once again, my post wasn't about the rights and wrongs of this issue but the one-sided reporting.

Yes, but just make sure you don't binge drink the four days, which is just as bad.

Precisely.

That's not what I was talking about. I wasn't justifying or condemning the actions by the NHS. My post was about fairness in reporting the issue and people's knee-jerk reactions without full knowledge of the circumstances of what happened. I would have thought that was clear.

Well, aren't you a lovely human being? Advocating violence eh?

It would've been nice to have heard Rose's side of the story for balance. I'm sure it was discussed at the hearing but for some reason The Telegraph omitted to mention it. I wonder why? I cannot comment on the veracity of the accusations, nor can anyone here as we don't know the full facts. That won't stop the usual transphobic comments as we've seen. The usual procedure if intimidation is used in the workplace is to give the person a written warning. Was that done? Has the defendant been subject to bullying or intimidation and is responding? The defendant was given the ok to use the changing room. Regardless of anyone's views on transgender, Rose has done nothing wrong by using it. The case is not being brought against her but against the NHS who authorized her use of the changing room. Yet this article sets out to demonize her as the villain, as do the posters here. If intimidation has occurred from either side then there are workplace mechanisms for dealing with this. But that has nothing to do with with the supposed sexual harassment case.

Angela Rayner criticized the frozen pensions as unfair when she was just an MP a few years ago but since she's been in office the issue hasn't been mentioned.

As amusing as this thread is might I interject? What Musk did was the Bellamy Salute, which was used in the USA until 1942, when it was re-codified. "On June 22, 1942, at the urging of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Congress passed Public Law 77-623, which codified the etiquette used to display and pledge allegiance to the flag. This included the use of a palm-out salute, specifically that the pledge "be rendered by standing with the right hand over the heart; extending the right hand, palm upward, toward the flag at the words 'to the flag' and holding this position until the end, when the hand drops to the side." Congress did not discuss or take into account the controversy over use of the salute. Congress later amended the code on December 22, 1942, when it passed Public Law 77-829, stating among other changes, that the pledge "be rendered by standing with the right hand over the heart." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellamy_salute It appears that the salute was commonly used to pledge allegiance but at the outbreak of WWII in the U.S. it was thought too similar to a fascist salute. It was suggested the right hand over the heart was sufficient, which is used today. Now, whether Musk knew this and is deliberately trying to bring it back or not is a moot point on which I cannot comment.