Emdog

I'm US citizen & I get that this is UK, but one aspect I highly regard is the ideal (not often realised enough) "Equal protection under law" None of this "voluntary" BS, everyone follow British laws, full stop... does the child in a divorce have "voluntary" choice? I think not. One law for all and if you don't like it, go somewhere like Afganistan

As Senator S.I. Hayakawa notably said back when Panama Canal was returned to .... "Panama!": "It's our canal. We stole it fair and square." Imbecilic and lacking follow thru thinking to assume US can just take back the canal with no repercussions...

Yesterday was giving a virtual tour of Jomtien beach to friend in Oregon by way of google street view.... I did talk about the multiple ways the name of this burg is spelled..... he did point out at one spot it did say "Chom Thian" yet was a street sign right next to the read the more common "Jomtien"... "Although these signs showcase Thailand's rich cultural heritage..." no it doesn't, not at all... these absurd sweeping are almost amusing...

not this man of mystery, I hope...

The incarceration rate for foreign-born adults is 297 per 100,000 in the population, compared to 813 per 100,000 for U.S.-born adults. How about that? Watch Fox much, yes? "According to the American Community Survey (ACS), immigrants paid $382.9 billion in federal taxes and $196.3 billion in state and local taxes in 2022. Undocumented immigrants, using Individual Tax Identification Numbers (ITIN) numbers, paid $59.4 billion in federal and $13.6 billion in state and local taxes in 2022. Undocumented immigrants also paid $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes, $6.4 billion in Medicare taxes, and $1.8 billion in unemployment insurance in 2022, programs for which they are ineligible." All those taxes paid, with no coverage and/or no refunds....

"The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) set its sights on affluent tourists, primarily professionals earning over US$60,000 (2.05 million baht) annually." "Highlights · Real median household income was $80,610 in 2023, a 4.0 percent increase from the 2022 estimate of $77,540 (Figure 1 and Table A-1)." USA stats from Census... https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2024/demo/p60-282.html Putting out a red carpet doesn't matter if underneath are potholes, open sewers and above are signs and who knows what to bang your head on.

Is this what is called an "infomercial"? There is no story worth reporting here. Oh, and yes we can have change... but change can take many forms... for better and for worse. The current state of Republican hijinks points to change for the worse IMO

Too many condos built that overload the subpar infrastructure.... roads may have been adequate 20 years ago, but now... Love those signs in front of construction sites "EIA approved".... just what (supposedly) do they look into regarding "environmental impacte" or is the sign that says "yes we've paid the appropriate officials".... was it 10 years ago or so that the alarm was rung that there was not adequate water for this town? This is at least the third butchering of Jomtien Beach Road and each time they somehow found a way to make worse than before.... a few years back they tried the one way traffic scheme.... did that last a week? There seems to be not a shred of competence or public service in the death grip rulers of this neck of Thailand

As we have seen time and again, certain individuals and organizations would sell their mother if they could make some cash from the deal

Whales are intelligent and self aware which is more than I can say for some posters.... I suppose it boils down to what is the cut off line for killing and eating a different species than your own. Far too many people... use them for a protein source

I'm surprised we haven't seen any apologies from the MAGA folks here and admission they were hoodwinked..... It does take a mature adult to admit when they have been wrong and even moreso when they have been duped

The number of shops that sell this sort of equipment is only exceeded by the number of 7/11's.... just a rough estimate mind you

The owner of the jet ski is mostly to blame. Gee... renting out a jet ski at night to a guy who probably has zero experience with one.... do jet skis have running lights? Sounds like they don't.... "Nobody is dumb enough to jet ski at night"...? And then there is the danger factor to folks who might be out for a swim... getting run over by a jet ski with no warning for either the driver or the swimmer.

"In a dramatic twist straight out of a legal thriller,.... Twist? What twist? Some grifter claiming he is innocent? "Not one single victim" may get traction: nope thousands of victims...

She should announce she will happily spend twice as much time in the slammer as Thaksin!

"Bangkok braces for current affairs as power outages hit home" There have been some exceeding lame attempts at humorous headlines lately (AI?).... but this one takes the cake

File this under "Statements of the obvious"

".. jasmine rice thrives under Thailand's drier conditions, particularly in the Northeast and North. However, its unique qualities come with yields of just 350-400 kilograms per rai,..." So they want to replace quality with quantity And colored rice perceived luxury item. Here's a hint trendy money bags: your tongue doesn't taste colors. Seems bad rice, like money, drives out good

I wonder how high the balcony rails are on that hotel.... Thailand is notorious for rails that are more like fulcrums...

"Despite this October surge, the export figures for the first ten months of the year show an overall decline of 15.8%, totaling 776,362 units." ah, something factual

Decision makers in Thailand seem to lack any moral compass, and have for a long time. remember back in 2015? "By forcibly sending back at least 90 Uighurs, Thailand has violated international law. In China they can face serious abuses including torture and disappearance." https://www.reuters.com/article/world/thailand-sends-nearly-100-uighur-migrants-back-to-china-idUSKCN0PJ0E1/ and what did Thailand get in return for it's lapdog behavior? Erawan shrine was bombed and 20 people killed. Payback? I would think so. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Bangkok_bombing There are no powerless people

What are you going to do? Do the right thing, regardless of culture. What is this inane attack on " Euroville or FOX-Amerika."? or the lame "this is not your country" crapola. You think molesting minors is okay by stepfathers? Is that what you do? Teacher didn't know what to do? Ask the police what to do. Not rocket science. I was a teacher in America (learn how to spell it). We were required by law to report any signs of child abuse. We would do it regardless, but legal requirement takes some heat off of individual reporting. Get fired.... for what? Protecting children goes with the territory of being a teacher.

Really? So not joining would be giving license to any sort of crime against humanity... The Nuremberg trials of Nazis after WW2.... gee, would they have been let go if they said "Sorry, we didn't sign on to trials of us for the horrible things we did: you must let us go."

"A fool (or dead drunk) and his money are soon parted" I hate to blame the victim, but jeez.. getting blotto with 40k on ya... late at night. Hasn't got the brains he should have been born with

well, it balanced out because their behaviors didn't "disrupt societal norms." As my mom would say "par for the course"