animalmagic

Totally agree, but note that I said, 'use what they found for leverage and control.' It is hard to fully understand the continued unwavering support of some legislators for 45 without considering the possibility of outside influence on their desperate measures to cover for him.

It would be in Russia's interest to hack both the Dem and Rep servers and use whatever they found for leverage and control.

Interesting that you quote a 'news' source that has paid an out of court settlement to Majed Khalil, developer of Smartmatic software, paid 12M USD to a Fox Producer, 787M USD to Dominion voting machines and is subject to a lawsuit of 2.7B USD from Smartmatic. All for telling lies?

I don't see any reason why Russia would have ONLY hacked Democratic computer servers!

No point in establishing an erotic centre as most men won't be able to find it!

They call people names in order to dehumanise them and make them easier to hate and abuse. You can see the result of this in the extreme with the Nazi death camps where everyday people with families carried out some of the most inhumane acts on other humans. A result of many years of vile propaganda identifying jews, homosexuals, gypsies and others as untermensch that were not worthy of compassion or respect. Those guards were then later described as monsters in order that 'normal' people could distance themselves from the 'monstrous' actions of their fellow humans Even now the MAGA types first resort is to call a person or group by a name in order to make it easier for their followers to hate and abuse them. Sadly, we never seem to learn. Christopher Browning describes it well in his book - Ordinary Men is the true story of Reserve Police Battalion 101 of the German Order Police, which was responsible for mass shootings as well as roundups of Jewish people for deportation to Nazi death camps in Poland in 1942. Browning argues that most of the men of RPB 101 were not fanatical Nazis but ordinary middle-aged, working-class men who committed these atrocities out of a mixture of motives, including the group dynamics of conformity, deference to authority, role adaptation, and the altering of moral norms to justify their actions. Very quickly three groups emerged within the battalion: a core of eager killers, a plurality who carried out their duties reliably but without initiative, and a small minority who evaded participation in the acts of killing without diminishing the murderous efficiency of the battalion whatsoever. While the book discusses a specific reserve unit during World War II, the general argument Browning makes is that most people are susceptible to the pressure of a group setting and committing actions they would never do of their own volition.

Last year would have been nice, but the continuing investigative process and disclosures of further wrongdoing serves an excellent purpose in helping to educate those on the fence and willing to listen to reason; and identifying the depth and breadth of the corrupt associates and their actions. I think Trump 20..24 is best viewed as a sentencing guideline rather than an election slogan.

Same interior designer?

Interesting! Pattaya changing from a boom boom town to just a boom town. I suppose less is more?

To the best of my understanding smaller doses of cyanide are not fatal but can cause many problems including heart failure. Looks like the murderess (sorry, accused) did not follow all safety protocols when handling the poison and may have been suffering from milder levels of poisoning which could have affected the fetus through the blood.

But his predecessor might have a prison named after him?

When have good questions ever changed the idiocy of politics and diplomacy?

Do you think Blinken may have told Biden what Xi had said at the meeting before Bidens comment at the fundraiser?

Not a problem, I stop drinking every time I breathe!

I take your point. I don't think (hope not anyway) Immigration would query a retirement visa in the way I mentioned. As a holder of an APEC Business Travel Card, which is a pre-approved multiple entry for stays up to 90 days for a 5-year period, I was recently told I need to get a 'long stay (marriage or retirement) visa to keep coming back. Quite sad that the airport lot can ignore the actions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that issued the pre-approval in the first place.

By the same logic, why does he need to be a tourist to continue getting the tourist visa exempt entry? Would the Immigration officer at the airport be able to question his 'retirement' status as he is obviously travelling overseas to work and is not retired? I am not criticising your posts, simply pointing out the irony of the situation.

He may or may not be a tourist, but he's definitely not retired!

You may be waiting a while. I think Artificial Intelligence will reach self awareness before the MAGA faithful

"the head of a dating app for conservatives" an absolute gold mine for 'others' to exploit. I wonder who else gets the data?

And the bible?

Totally agree. I'm surprised E. Jean Caroll is not on the list. But she's probably on the next list with that Scottish guy who blocked the development of the golf course.

I would agree. She also kept telling me she wasn't being rude or impolite whilst being rude and impolite! But she was the only officer available in the provided channels, and female I.O.'s in the general channels in the recent past have always been polite and helpful. The last one, pre collection of new ABTC card, asked how long I intended to stay. I pointed out my travel history pre-covid using the ABTC and said I have another trip scheduled soon so will either get 30 or 60 day extension, or another marriage or retirement extension to cover the period until I go to HK to pick up my ABTC. She simply smiled and noted that I obviously understood the options and would let me sort it out. The ABTC is to facilitate legitimate business activities of residents of APEC; 'good guys in bad guys out?'

I can vouch for the fact that the discretion of the I.O. is a concern. Prior to Covid travel restrictions I used an APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) for all my travel around Asia for 3 years. This card is similar in effect to a pre-approved Visa for all APEC countries and allows visa free entry to all jurisdictions with length of stay in Thailand pre-approved for 90 days. During Covid I first used the extensions before changing to a Retirement then Marriage extension of stay. Now that the travel restrictions have lifted, I have renewed my ABTC and have since arrived from HK and Malaysia. On the first occasion there was no problem, and I was granted 90 days on arrival on 21 April before leaving on 7th May and returning on 12th April. On this occasion the I.O. was very unhelpful and did not at first want to give 90 days. She eventually relented and warned me I should get a retirement visa before entering something in the computer. Quite strange that an I.O. can unilaterally ignore the decision of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs that granted me unlimited entries of 90 days for a 5 year period. Stranger still is her advice to get a retirement visa when the ABTC is for the purpose of doing business throughout Asia! I can get the retirement visa but want to avoid the hassle and unnecessary expense, and I can get a marriage visa, but my wife does not like being interrogated by Immigration; we have been married for over 20 years. Very disgruntled but do not want to stick my head too far above the parapet. I am considering approaching the I.O. Main Office at the airport when I travel to the Philippines in June. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I'm not sure Trump would agree with that comment!

Who knows what Putin wants or will consider doing. He's staring at defeat in Ukraine and at home so he's cornered and desperate. He's been throwing threats of nuclear attack for the last few months. Nuking westminster abbey during the coronation may have been his final revenge.