Emdog

The subject is immigrants, crime rates and are they animals... not race. You are "moving the goal posts" it seems to me. Play your racist card if you want. Texas, California, Arizona, etc were all Mexican before US took those lands (Gee, maybe all those Spanish names were just coincidence?). Or... Asian Americans have lower crime rate than whites, so kick the whites out.... here is article from Cato Institute, well known right wing Republican foundation (not NYT or other outlet you might accuse of "liberal bias"). Plenty of other sources out there. Cato makes no breakdown by race.... " In 2018, the illegal immigrant criminal conviction rate was 782 per 100,000 illegal immigrants, 535 per 100,000 legal immigrants, and 1,422 per 100,000 native‐born Americans (Double illegal rates... me). The illegal immigrant criminal conviction rate was 45 percent below that of native‐born Americans in Texas." My underlining, etc. Texas is the only state that keeps this sort of data, in case you don't want to read full article. https://www.cato.org/blog/new-research-illegal-immigration-crime-0

Seems another example of "confirmation bias": people hearing what they want to believe, so don't fact check and ignore blatant warnings Same thing happened with source Bush 2 and company beleived to justify invasion of Iraq.... dude was a drunk and German intellignece said he was unreliable and not to be believed.... but he said what they wanted to hear, too.

"Wasit revealed that nearly 700 people borrowed money from Teeranan, and he gave her over 10 million baht." He lost 10 million, not 38. He HOPED to get the 38 by being a loan shark. I have zero sympathy for this guy

Am I to understand that amulet selling is a stepping stone to illegal gun sales, drug use and abuse, etc?

"....arrested many illegal foreign workers from neighboring countries in the Pattaya area." Any Russians? nah, "since we're not neighbors, let's be friends..." Chinese? Indians? or only countries that are poorer than Thailand.... yes, of course

"Ignite Thai Tourism!" Plenty of tourists and posters here have burned, so maybe Thailand already on fire? Scams, misrepresentation of gender, reservations don't match descriptions, hair raising transportation, wiring.... hey "Ya been burnt!" as Seth Meyers would put it

Whew, only affects children so being a geezer I've nothing to worry about! "Thailand grapples annually with dire air pollution levels,..." "Grapple" to me implies some sort of tussle, struggle, effort.... I haven't seen any serious efforts made to lower pollution here. I like to check daily levels in Bangkok and Pattaya. As often as not numbers are higher for Pattaya... more to pollution than just vehicles I reckon

They don't need to protest "we will not be replaced". Don't worry: if I have some worthless thing, I just dispose of it but surely don't replace it. Same goes for them

Give briefings, just don't include anything on paper. He seems to have a problem with the printed word.....

"...cleverly concealed within clothes drying racks and sent from the United States." I question just how clever that is.... who the heck has ever sent clothes drying racks from the US, or any other country, to Thailand? They are not that hard to find here, and certainly cheaper...

"The seventh level of Paradise is Dar us Salam. Dar us Salam means “home of peace and safety”, adobe of well-being." (googled that). It is month of Ramadam, so appropriate to use Islamic references...

"Under the draft, vendors must register, with strict income thresholds ensuring assistance for those truly in need." Does this mean that if you have low income from stall, probably due to awful product no one wants to buy, you can have a stall. But once you serve up some quality item that 'sells like pancakes' & you're making a decent living, it's time to be put out of business... Regarding quality of street food: I've been living here for 23 years straight, started visits in 82. I don't get sick from street food. KFC is another matter. Be prudent on who you buy from: it's all right in front of you; use your eyes and judgement.

Not a slur, he fits the definition. It's fine to disparage when it fits. Similar in ways to 'hawks" and "doves" as it describes one's outlook and behavior. Here is how Webster puts it: "Un·cle Tom ˌəŋ-kəl-ˈtäm. 1. disparaging : a Black person who is overeager to win the approval of whites (as by obsequious behavior or uncritical acceptance of white values and goals) 2. disparaging : a person who is overly subservient to or cooperative with authority.

Fairly common excuse given when some Republican knob says some outrageous racist Nazi sentiment, but it doesn't fly. Good satire is recognized as such (see Swift) and same goes for irony. Most statements are just ugly and stupid BTW this uncle Tom is the dude Trump called "Martin Luther King on steroids"... irony? satire? I think not

I used scotch tape if I tore my comic books as a kid. Seemed to work just fine. Unless the books are made from handiwrap, I suppose tape should work just as well

Ever try push starting an automatic? No can do. Not as frequently needed as back when I was a young shaver, however....

God created the devil too

Perhaps main function of lifeguards is to retrieve bodies of the drowned. My experience over the years of observing them is that they spend their time together in groups of 4-5, looking at smart phones, rarely looking towards the sea. Keeping a vigilant watch towards the sea doesn't seem to be in job description

I can't tell you how much safer I feel now that this hardened criminal has been nabbed!

"...financial sector is set to benefit from an additional public holiday" If one additional day benefits financial sector, why stop there? Think of the economic growth if additional holiday lasted a week ("holiweek"?)! But why stop there? A month would be gangbusters growth!!!

Need to go back to end of WW2: NATO was formed to stand up against USSR taking control of lands soviet armed forces went thru while beating Germany. They didn't withdraw, didn't allow self rule unlike return to self government in Western Europe. Now Putin is complaining because formerly neutral countries Sweden and Finland realize hoping Putin will honor treaties is just a pipe dream so for own survival join NATO. If Putin hadn't illegally invaded and grabbed sovereign Ukraine territory, those countries would no doubt still be neutral. Ukraine should have kept a few nukes, rather than trusting Russia to honor treaty guaranteeing Ukraine's borders.

and do tell us/me how a rainbow flag is going to "raise awareness and engender students with compassion and understanding of gay issues". Makes as much sense as saying US flag in classroom teaches about Constitution and westward expansion. I think not. The rainbow flag as a symbol says too much and at the same time says too little. If teacher wants to teach about compassion and understanding of gay issues, fine, do so... all for it. A good teacher presents these sorts of issues in a neutral way, so as to guide students to use their own minds and critical thinking. Goal of teaching is HOW to think, not WHAT to think. The "pride" flag is merely a statement of "this is our turf", as is with most flags. Yes, of course gay people have been oppressed in the west for at least several hundred years (thank you so much, Abrahamic religions). They should be treated equally. But "pride"? What for? I am a heterosexual, but I see no need to be "proud" of that. I don't care who you have sex with as long as they are of age, consent, and are not barnyard animals. And like bowel movements, I don't need to hear about it.

I am a "liberal" and in this case agree there is no good reason to put up a gay pride flag in a classroom. Is there such a thing as a "straight pride" flag? If there were, should that also be put up? And how about an "Asexual Pride" (Not incel) pride? US and state flag only. If student wants to wear a button, fine, no problem.

Claim: Hunter Biden used his "Biden brand" to secure lucrative deals. He also asked "How about Jared Kushner? He got a $2 billion "investment" from Saudis, given by MBS over protests by Saudi investment board due to Jared's "inexperience". Jared got that big payout due to Trump family connections, his sweet performances favoring Saudis in so many fields. He put in his government job time and got a big payday after Trump got the boot

How about a map showing storm patterns? Could eliminate 90% of the jaw flapping and confusion. Sorry, but many of us have yet to memorize all the names and locations of Thai provinces...