impulse

Narcissism and racism may be related at some physical level, and may share a few traits, and perhaps causes. But they're nowhere near the same thing.

Nope, hatred based on skin color or ethnicity is a defect. I made no judgment about its desirability. Just that it's a "normal" state and has been for most of history and across most of the world. (Including Thailand) That doesn't mean it's good. Edit: BTW, hatred is a strong word. Most racism is lower key.

When I got back to the USA after many years of living overseas, I was astounded that pretty much every TV ad featured a mixed race or gay couple. Given the low percentage they actually represent in society, I considered it pandering.

You're confusing normal with desirable.

Sure they do. Racists of all stripes. Just like anti-Semitic used to mean you don't like Jews. Today, it's also thrown at anyone who disagrees with any Israeli policy, no matter how harmful to Jewish people. Woke used to be related to race. It's been co-opted by SJW's for every cause. There's another example. Social justice. Just doesn't mean the same thing today.

I'd be a lot more interested in his flight records so we'd know who was on the airplane and the island at the same time as underage girls. Just 'cause the knew the guy, flew on his jet, or spent time on the island doesn't mean they participated (or even necessarily knew about) despicable behavior. Oh, and the CCTV tapes. Because you just know the guy was getting the goods on his guests.

That's what it used to mean. That's been co-opted, part of that "changing the meaning of words".

Gotta wonder how many of those Malaysians walked across the border, did a little shopping and walked back, same day. And did that 52 times, once a week... Not so much tourist money in that.

They may be able to marry, or register a Thai marriage. But she's still on a tourist visa.

Be nice to get home for a few days, but then I imagine it'll be right back to the meat grinder...

What really surprised me is the amount that the fries and drink added. I recall (maybe faulty memory) when you'd pay like $2 for a burger or $2.50-2.75 for a combo. Certainly not 2x. But I also remember Mickey-D double meat hamburgers for $0.99. It was a special, but seemed to last for a long time.

Not to be a downer, or wish this on anyone, but if you are married and you feel it going south on you, are you better off living in Thailand or the USA when the divorce happens? I've heard horror stories of foreign wives (not just Thai) that get involved in support groups whose entire purpose seems to be to pick their husband's bones as clean as possible when they decide it's over. Happened to a couple of guys I knew with Filipino wives. Met them while stationed in the Phils, and to listen to them after the fact, they're convinced the Green Card, citizenship, then a lucrative divorce was the plan all along. Edit: BTW, when I looked at them and then looked at their gorgeous wives, I scratched my head and wondered...

I'd contend that a political survey cannot ever be truly random, just by the fact that some segment of the population won't respond to a survey. They'll hang up. And that segment is probably more likely to be on one side or the other. Some segment of the population doesn't even have a phone, and that segment is probably skewed to one side. Some will lie, and they're probably skewed to one side. And there's probably a lot of skewing factors I'm not even thinking about, and many others that are used deliberately. But it's not about the size of the survey. It's about the randomness. I think they can get it random enough for practical purposes, and account for factors that need to be considered. If they want to. For that, you have to count on the reputation and history of the surveying entity.

My bad. I Googled "Big Mac set", and didn't pay enough attention. Especially dumb because they don't call it a "set" in the USA. It's a meal.

I'm not sure of the accuracy, but here's a scary report. https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2024/01/02/japan-coast-guard-plane-crash-graphics/72083108007/

Remind me... How many Israelis and Palestinians were killed under Trumps term? How many Russkies and Ukes were dying? What was the nuclear threat level? How many illegals violated US sovereignty the year before he handed over the reins? Would you rather have peace and border security under a narcissist, or war all over the world and millions of illegals costing billions (trillions?) in tax money under a 2 faced lying politician? You can judge a guy based on the words coming out of his mouth, or based on the results. I know which I'd choose.

From the link: The lawsuit also claimed that since security forces were reportedly aware of the development of an unusual security situation on the night of October 6th and the early morning hours of the 7th, participants were still not sent home from the event. "It is incomprehensible," the court wrote, "how the defendants did not order the party to be dispersed immediately." Despite the threat of terrorist infiltration, the party was still not dispersed nor did the security response/equipment match the extremity of the situation. Almost seems like someone wanted it to happen.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/20/mcdonalds-big-mac-prices-state-by-state.html My home state of Texas, it's $4.39 That's 151 baht. Congrats on reaching the 800K.

I'd move to another city where I didn't have to deal with toxic relatives. If she comes along, great. If not, that's all you need to know. Otherwise, you'll be miserable for the rest of your marriage.

FWIW: FLASHBACK: Lawyer For Epstein’s Victims Says Trump Was The Only Powerful Figure Who Helped Him With Investigation “The only thing that I can say about President Trump is that he is the only person who in 2009, when I served a lot of subpoenas against a lot of people … he is the only person that picked up the phone and said, ‘let’s just talk, I’ll give ya as much time as you want, I’ll tell ya what you need to know,'” Bradley explained. “And [Trump] was very helpful in the information that he gave, and gave no indication whatsoever that he was involved in anything untoward whatsoever,” Bradley continued. “But [he] had good information, that checked out, and that helped us, and that we didn’t have to take a deposition of him.” Trump has previously said he had a “falling out” with Epstein some 15 years ago, but never elaborated. Later reports, some involving Bradley, alleged that Trump kicked Epstein out of Mar-A-Lago and permanently banned him from the resort because Epstein “sexually assaulted an underage girl at the club.” https://dailycaller.com/2024/01/02/brad-edwards-jeffrey-epstein-victim-attorney-donald-trump-mar-a-lago/

Great job digging up stuff from 2015 and 2016. I was an anti-Trumper in 2015 and 2016. I used to refer to The Donald as a "despicable human being" Not any more. (Still flawed...) He's not the threat to democracy. I guess you missed the part where the recent survey showed 9% of Dems and 34% of Independent voters have lost confidence in election integrity. Significant increases from a poll done 2 years ago. That's tens of millions of voters who voted Biden in 2020.

Old habits die hard.

Great contempt for voters... That very attitude on the part of the Dems is garnering all kind of support for the other side, and from demographics they used to take for granted. Am I happy that my vote can be offset by the vote of a KKK member who dropped out of the 5th grade? Of course not. But that's the way it works. By deliberate design. One person, one vote. No matter how stupid I may think they are.

You mean like the Wisconsin Supreme Court's finding that the ballot boxes installed by a unilateral decision from one election official were illegal? The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled drop boxes are illegal under Wisconsin law, in a 4-3 decision issued in July 2022.37 Wisconsin Election Commissioner Meagan Wolfe unilaterally declared ballot drop boxes could be used to vote in 2020 elections, even though “WEC’s commissioners never voted to adopt this memo.” Because I don't think that's within the definition of "debunked". Pretty much the opposite. As indicated above, that's from P12.

You're confusing debunked with squelched. 32 pages with links to hours of reading and many hours of videos and you've determined that it was all debunked within 10 minutes of me posting the link? Lack of curiosity is not a virtue. Unless you're a Dem. Just out of my own curiosity, what part of the Wisconsin's use of illegal ballot boxes that were later found to be illegal by the Wisconsin Supreme Court was debunked? (That's on p12). Because I'm not seeing where the US Supreme Court overturned the WSC. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/08/politics/wisconsin-ballot-drop-boxes-supreme-court/index.html