theblether

The bottom line is that Trump is not yet the President. The next Congress will have more Trump loyalists. JD Vance is the one to watch.

Interesting to see people cracking up about normal American politics. It's far from the first time bills had to be adjusted and subjected to a re-vote. So the answer to the question is "bipartisan." Bipartisan bills, who knew such a thing existed, eh? .

There's deep irritation at the Chinese putting Thais out of business. This is a relatively recent development and will cause ( has caused ) a backlash. Some farangs are being caught in the net but the real target is the Chinese.

Also note this excellent fact check by Reuters. Contrary to the idiotic brigade two things are clear. 1. Musk said "if it includes a 40% pay raise. 2. The bill did include reference to the 40% pay raise, pointing out the childish freeze on Congressional pay. Link: https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/bipartisan-stopgap-spending-bill-did-not-include-40-pay-raise-congress-2024-12-20/

They can be and it has already happened. This is one of the reasons why AI is ringing alarm bells. However Iin this case Grok AI functioned in a straightforward way by reading and bullet pointing the published report. Also, note the excessive reaction to Musk tweeting 40%. I didn't quote that figure as I knew it was wrong. How did I know? The AI bullet point had revealed the actual pay raise and Musk hadn't seen it. So his own AI proved him wrong. Also note how people are ranting about that single mistake by Musk when the real scandal in the bill was Congressional immunity from FBI investigation for criminal activity. Do any sane American want to grant immunity to their politicians?

Assange directly undermined national security. I didn't have a strong opinion on his fate as I could see why people supported him. Equally government officials should be free to have internal discussions without fear of exposure. A prime example was the Enigma decoder. Would Assange have told the Germans that the Allies had cracked the code?

You've called that wrong. It wasn't AI that came up with the figure. Investigate further and feel free to report back.

Mike Johnson needs to answer for trying to give Congress immunity from investigation. It was a wild inclusion in the bill, utterly scandalous and he should resign for that alone.

For me, it's the P'Diddy trial which is certain to be politicized. Every day sees some new scandalous story and if there is much truth to it then the real victims will have their stories swamped. The trial starts in May. I might have to switch off social media for a while if it's as bad as I think it will be.

Utter nonsense. The Democrats are in control today. The true lemmings are people like you that object to being informed where your money is spent. Shameful and quite frankly, stupid.

Head for Chiang Saen for the Saturday night riverside market. Chill out and watch the lights of Laos' casinos, eat on the steps next to the river. Give yourself a treat and go to the Opium Museum just out of town ( there's two ). The one out of town is well worth a visit. Its past the Golden Triangle viewing on the left hand side heading to Mae Sai.

I have a rented house there - been in that village back and forth since 2014, house rented since 2017. I'm currently in Hua Hin, need to head back to Scotland soon due to an illness in the family. What's your thoughts on Fang? It gets bypassed ( literally ) by everyone. To me it's a great place to base yourself with access to Mae Ai, Tha Ton, Doe Mae Salong all within striking distance. Fang also has a good nightlife scene. Doi Lang is well worth a visit too - I'm on that mountain a couple of times every year at the restaurant which overlooks Myanmar. Great place.

Don't tell him about Phrao!!!!

The spending bill was reduced to bullet points by Grok AI. I have no doubt that DOGE will submit every government budget it can to AI inspection. On top of that private individuals, DOGE volunteers and organisations such as Judicial Watch will be all over the spending plans like a rash. The only genuine - and to be fair - necessary objection - would be spending related to national security issues. We can't be having the Chinese know about secretly funded weapons programs. These are the types of black holes that the "deep state" can burrow into.

Phone the embassy. Get the passport issue sorted out first. Everything else will follow. You do want to minimise the time spent in IDC, there is no benefit to spending excess time behind bars. The process in IDC can be clinical, they have seen and heard it all before. So the gold standard here is to achieve what Philip said, arrive at an international airport, pay the fine, and leave. It all starts with a passport, call the embassy today.