impulse

Most of the airports I've used in China do a cursory security check to get into the airport then a more thorough check to get into the departure gates. The cursory check to even enter the airport varies by the airports. Some just swab for explosives. Others x-ray bags and do a pat down, just to enter the airport.

It's not 1939 and Putin isn't waging a war to annihilate subhumans to make room for the Master Race. In fact, one could look at GDP data and argue that the Ukes will actually do better under Russia. The ones in Crimea did.

True. But that's hardly an endorsement of their safety benefits. Especially the BigC 99 baht plastic jobbers.

They kinda look like eazy bake solar powered ovens.

It's okay when the good guys do it.

Dang, man. Don't jinx it. Or you may get caught up in one tomorrow. And it'll be on the one day you don't have your helmet.

If I used a flagfall taxi from my apartment to the office, it would have been a 15-30 minute ride, depending on the light at Sukhumvit. I tried it. Scooter taxis got me there in about 2 minutes, because they could make a wonky turn that a car can't. I also tried walking, but that was even dodgier because there's no sidewalk for half of the 1km route.

Judging by a lot of the get ups I've seen in the immigration queue, I suspect a lot of airlines just wing it when it comes to a dress code.

I think the tipping point was when over half the days in a calendar year were celebrated for some LGBTQ++ milestone or another. Even my gay friends were appalled. It made them all look bad.

That's why I said in the OP, "no wrong answers". Get what you're happy with. If you're happy with the latest 75K baht trifold, more power to you. Same if you're pleased with the 3K baht generic. Lots of discussion here about photo capabilities, compatibility, speed, OS, etc. But nothing that would convince me to spend more than I spent on my low end Samsung A05s. That's because of the way I use it. Not because the additional features wouldn't appeal to others who use their phone differently. The one feature I may pay more for on my next phone is waterproofing. I've lost 1-1/2 phones when they got wet. Once when I hopped in and another when I fell in with my phone in my pocket. I salvaged one, but the other was toast. Still not a bad record given that I've been through quite a few phones over the years. Mostly set aside when something newer and zoomier caught my eye. I could always rationalize why I needed to upgrade. In hindsight, I realize I was usually rationalizing. That's okay by me.

So you'd carry an expensive helmet around with you all day to protect your skull for the 3 minutes you'd be on a scooter taxi for that last mile? Not me.

You'll be back. You can't help yourself.

But they're making the same empty promises. Vote for us and you'll get free stuff. Like student loan forgiveness. And slavery reparations. And we'll take the money from zillionaires, not the average voters. But they don't. They raise taxes and impose costs on Joe Lunchpail. Then they hop on their private jets and go onto the next rally to make more empty promises to sock it to the billionaires. On an aside, did you notice that the US trade deficit last month was cut by about half?

Another good story. And I'd stick to it.

Sure. That's what's happening if you believe the MSM. Or, you can believe that they're cutting waste and fraud and there will actually be more money for the intended recipients of the programs.

Except that the Biden years were the bestest ever for billionaires. Prove me wrong.

Some folks love hearing all the promises of free stuff. Free stuff that rarely materializes, but they keep promising, one election cycle after another. As it turns out, nothing worthwhile is free. Someone has to pay for it. And eventually, you run out of OPM.

Sure. Accidental. That's a good story and I'd stick to it. Why's the guy on the left wearing a bulletproof vest?

Off topic, I know... Here's some eye candy from the Vintage Vespa shop on the river in Bangkok's Chinatown. In the immortal words of Jody Foster in Nell. "Want"

That's probably the most profound thing I've read all day here on AN.

I'm supporting the kids dying on both sides. Ukes and Russkies. Dying over borders that haven't moved in over 2 years and lots of dead bodies. It's time for the dying to stop and the rebuilding to begin. Long past time.

I'm pretty sure that every state in the Union has $12T worth of rare earths. But it would cost $15T to extract them. They're not really rare. Just expensive to dig up. But, I digress. I hope Trump puts Graham on the front lines if he foments a shooting war. By special decree if need be.

By show of hands, who really believes they were coming for just 2 years? That's not enough time to get them registered to vote Blue...

Will the cars be forced to stop at the local tailors for a look-see?

Stephen Miller nailed it in response to a CNN hack: MILLER: When you say, ‘Do we believe that district court judges rubber stamp each action?’ There is a premise that is built into that that is absurd. The President is the sole head of the executive branch. He’s the only officer in the entire government that’s elected by the entire American people. Democracy cannot function…In fact, democracy does not exist at all if each action the president takes has to be approved by individually approved by 700 district court judges? That’s democracy? So if there’s 15 communist crazy judges on the court, that each of them as a team working together, can block and freeze each and every executive action. Joe Biden was allowed to by this same court system to import 20 million illegal foreigners into this country.