JCauto

22 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

Sorry... opening day did not ignite the hate and vitriol that you are looking for... instead it had the court vacate about 80% of the charges.

I think you should know by now that whatever "facts" the ex-President spouts are unlikely to be rooted in veracity. This is completely untrue.

He is referring to 80% of the charges relating to things that occurred prior to the statute of limitations expiring. Unfortunately (for him), however, if those actions were tied to subsequent ones, then it's not relevant and the charges stand. Also the Judge notes that a reoccurrence of the crime that had expired restarts the statute of limitations. So he's got two different hurdles he needs to get over to have those charges dismissed, and there will still be 20% of the charges remaining afterwards regardless. One should also note that the presiding Judge has also ruled that those 80% of the charges are NOT dismissed. So you have to appeal to get that situation changed.

Glad I was able to clear that up for you.

43 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

There are a number of "creeps" who have made it into the Whitehouse...current one not excepted!  Who would vote for them?

When the biggest creep is the alternative, one votes for a lesser creep? One would think having a non-creep might be a better choice if offered, but few if any of those can run the political gauntlet and emerge on the other side unscathed regardless of their origin or political belief. It appears that having principles is no longer a beneficial position for politicians.

Guessing there's not going to be a release of the no-doubt world-class high-integrity statistical survey and study that came to these conclusions. After all, when it is described in such amorphous terms as "Medical professionals...have noticed a rise in health issues, particularly among children, resulting from recreational cannabis use, reported Bangkok Post." That's about as meaningless as could be.

2 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

Demographics are working against Ukraine. A possible related example would be Finland vs USSR in world war 2. The Finns put up a valiant resistance but in the end needed Germany to help them.

 

Ukraine is the same. They will simply run out of men faster than Russia. Particularly if they want to go on the offensive to recapture their lost territory.  For their faults, Russians are very tenacious and stubborn on the defensive, as Ukraine is finding out with this years failed spring campaign.  So no, they cannot regain what they had before the war unless NATO jumps in. And turning a regional conflict into a global one is a tragedy that need not happen. The risks are too great. 

 

Military aid is useless without troops to use it, troops who are trained to use it properly. No time to train, no time to ship everything they want. Best result will be a stalemate. 

Odd argument. The Finns fought the Russians in the Winter War in 1939 and then settled the dispute by ceding 9% of its territory in 1940 with limited assistance from any allies other than Estonian refugees and the Swedes. The Finns and Germans started cooperating before the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa to invade Russia, but this was primarily an offensive operation where the Finns were able to achieve their objectives to recover the territory they had lost and some additional land from Russia. The Finnish front was mostly quiet through June 1944, but then the Russian counter-offensive was able to recover the land and an armistice was eventually settled in September 1944 on the 1940 lines that became the final territorial boundaries. This was not what Finland wanted, but was a compromise that enabled them to continue their independent existence.

So the Finns were able to maintain their territory (although with the significant loss of Karelia) by fighting for it with some material and economic support from allies, but the fighting was done mostly by the Finns. They had to concede territory to maintain their independence from a hostile and much larger neighbour but were able to build leverage through their resistance that allowed them to maintain their identity and the vast majority of their territory when the war ended. This is also probably the likeliest result for Ukraine - an eventual agreement to settle on the pre-war lines where Russia keeps the Crimean peninsula.
 

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

What on earth are you on about? Perhaps you could address the quotation given by Hanaguma without trying to denigrate the person who said it. That's a unwarranted deflection.

IMO it's entirely relevant given history of US supporting people that later become enemies.

Your libertarian concepts extend to policing other people's conversations? Bit odd if you ask me.

When someone raises a quotation of interest, describes the speaker as being "wise" and asks us to discuss, it is reasonable to ask "who said this and why should we pay attention to it?" as a first query when it isn't obvious whom we are talking about or that they're well known to be "wise" in society's view. If this had been said by Einstein or Bertie Russell, we'd already understand that it was a wise old head who had said it. I hadn't heard of this person (although of course it's quite a common name) before, and it seems he's not that widely known hence I wished to understand what makes his knowledge authoritative or worthy of interest. That is relevant to the conversation. Otherwise I could simply counterpoint by saying "a wise man said this" when it was in fact me who said it or my drinking buddies or anyone else under the sun.

Did I denigrate the person? Please point out to me where that was.

 

2 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

Dave Smith, from his libertarian podcast "Part of the Problem".

Thanks. What exactly has qualified Mr. Smith as "wise"? Has he a body of writing or research that has achieved any level of significance or has been widely referenced? What is his expertise and qualifications?

Not saying he isn't, but that usually these are the things that "wise" people have that demonstrate their knowledge and understanding.

20 minutes ago, Nickcage49 said:

This guy is a mess.

 

Billy Carter lives again.

Billy didn't commit felonies did he? He was just trying to graft a legit business for being in proximity to his famous bro. Billy Beer! 

5 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Just another idiot.

Maybe he watched too many videos of the Just Stop Oil idiots. 

Or January 6.

Just wanted to note that the best prevention for dengue fever is also the simplest - don't get bit. How can you do this though?

First, removing areas where mozzies breed or fogging is utterly useless, especially in a wet season as moist as this one. They're going to find an infinite number of places to breed.

My advice based on 30+ years of residence and 0 times contracting dengue is quite simple - wear socks, long pants and long-sleeved shirts in the late afternoon and early evening. If you really can't stand the heat (and loose-fitting clothes aren't hot), then at least wear the socks. The ankles are where these little bastards love to bite and they WILL get you if you've no socks on.

17 hours ago, RanongCat said:

This is a recurring issue that now has expanded across the  world. In Thailand at this time of the rain season it becomes an urgent issue because the  mosquito responsible for carrying it  enjoys nice fresh water to produce offspring very rapidly. That plastic  bag under a bush, an discarded  plastic container etc etc that can contain water for a bout 2 days is an incubation site !

That sneaky rapid skinny  mosquito is your potentially mortal enemy. Dengue mozzie.

The big  fat  slow  one  that provide satisfaction  is squishing and blood staining  your skin or sleeve? Potential  malaria , not dengue.  Wise up peoples !

True other than that last bit - the only places where malarial mosquitoes live is deep forest, no worries for anyone in any city, town or district where there's no protected areas.

The mathematics dictate that something like what happened in Samoa could happen again, hence they're being more cautious. In addition, there's no doubt some hay to be made by increasing the amount of freight cargo based on the results. They ought to ask for weight during booking.

24 minutes ago, LaosLover said:

Despite my reasonable and generous intentions, I have wandered into a love spat between 2 retard trolls:

 

Pretend-Elon Musk and Pretend-Laos Expert with no facts.

LOL - I at least know how to get a visa and a train ticket! Speaking Lao helps, perhaps you ought to try that next time you grace us with your omniscient presence....

16 minutes ago, LaosLover said:

There is no such thing as a visa agent in Vientiane. I asked. 

 

How would this person make a living, given the tiny amount of people who want such services?

 

No agent to help you with your Thai visa either.

 

Only one travel agent in town to help you book the train. 

 

I just read a lot of pub bore, old hand poetry about romantic ghost towns (VT is seriously shut down) and sniffy waving away about mosquito abatement. He never caught dengue fever, therefore YOU are safe.

Oh dear. I seem to have offended you somehow, I assure you that wasn't my intention. However, I do happen to live in Vientiane so perhaps may be better informed?

If you'd like the number of a visa agent in Vientiane, why not ask? I'd happily give you two immediately - both of whom run quite successful businesses here providing services including running visas for expatriates (business, retirement, long-term residence) and also buying and delivering train tickets. That you are unaware of this and willing to state unequivocally that there are no such people in existence or that it could not possibly be viable given the market makes me think you're perhaps not as well informed as you claim to be. I haven't asked whether they do Thai visas, probably I should think.

One travel agent in town to help you book the train - again, LOL. I'll give you three others if you like.

"VT is seriously shut down" - what does this mean? Are the restaurants and bars I frequent figments of my imagination? As I noted, there's no real girly bar scene here, is that what you mean?

Is your claim that mosquito abatement is 100% effective and stops Dengue Fever in its tracks? They do it in Cambodia too, probably helps, doesn't completely eliminate it ever. Best is to avoid being bit, and the mozzie that transmits dengue is the black-and-white striped one that is active between around 4-7pm, hence my clothing suggestions. Seems to me that according to WHO Thailand is more problematic for dengue...

https://www.who.int/southeastasia/health-topics/dengue-and-severe-dengue

6 hours ago, SiSePuede419 said:

 

????????????????????????????????????

 

Seriously aside from your seriously stupid dream, I ate breakfast in Siem Reap everyday at a different restaurant.  Which were all dedicated to bringing their employees up out of poverty, support schools,etc.

One of these restaurants had a little factoid on the wall that only 3% of Cambodian kids achieve a minimum education standard.

 

How high are the walls on your pool villa going to be? ????

Oh look at you! What a marvelous person you are! You can tell by the way you look down on other people and brag about buying breakfast at some NGO project restaurant - no doubt you carefully inspected the books to ensure your dollars were completely helping the poor, not some scam. And the depth of your research speaks for itself - the words of the social scientists were written on the restaurant wall! Around 98% of statistics randomly written down as graffiti are completely made up including this! I'd make a bet with you that despite all of the lentils you've weaved into handicrafts to warm old Khmer grannies during the cold season that this fellow would contribute more to the economy in one season than you would in several years.

So what does this fellow's pool villa have to do with the kids' education?

 

7 minutes ago, Jenkins9039 said:

I lived in Dubai, it's not ideal for the kids with their nannies, the nannies need to be able to go back and forth without having too many issues...

 

that means neighbouring states for the year .

 

Singapore and Malaysia are ruled out due to the strict enforcement, Cambodia and Laos came up from some of my financial connections due to a number of reasons.

 

Then it comes to practicability. 

 

We shop, we eat, eating could just bring in a chef, shopping can dart back and forth or send for, lifestyle is mainly food.

You can get superb French and Italian food in Vientiane for a ridiculously cheap price. Lao food can be good, although lacking in comparison to the neighbours. But there's all sorts of restaurants that cater to all sorts of tastes, eating here is a delight.

There was another thread about just this topic the other day.