Cory1848

Both “ladyboys” and “trans women” are perfectly good words, each in their own context.

Exactly. Trump read the word "transgenic" and thought "transgender," without realizing they are two entirely different words with different meanings. (Or somebody patiently explained it to him, and he lied about it anyway, as you say.) What's depressing, though, is the number of people who will readily fall for this garbage.

Right -- it’s a perfectly good word, although I suppose it can be intended as an insult if the speaker is otherwise angry or hateful. I work as an editor so am tuned into offensive language: the word “ladyboy” *sounds* like it’s offensive but actually isn’t, whereas other words are offensive in all contexts and make the speaker sound like a boorish jerk. Plus, languages evolve; everyday words can become slurs over time, or slurs (like “queer”) can be “reclaimed” by their targets and brought back into common use. In any event, I’ve never seen any problems with the word “farang.”

That is very weird. I speak half-decent Thai, and I use the word farang all the time, whether speaking Thai or speaking English. My Thai friends, many of whom are educated professionals, all use the word as well; I’ve never had any indication that it’s in any way disrespectful. My neighbors call my house *baan farang*; some people in my girlfriend’s family call me *lung farang* (“Uncle White Guy”), entirely respectfully. The word apparently derives from the Persian, originally referring to the (European) Franks. (???)

You should definitely see a gastro doctor, as others here are advising. A hiatal hernia is when part of your stomach pushes up through the diaphragm; they’re often detectable by simple radiology, but to get the full picture you’d need an endoscopy. I had one (and felt no pain or discomfort at all from it), and had the preliminary work done at Chiang Mai Ram. Then I had the hernia repaired at Bumrungrad (Dr. Voranaddha Vacharathit, really great). Bumrungrad is relatively pricey, but I have insurance; failing that, I’m sure other hospitals can do the same procedure at lower cost; it’s pretty routine. But start with a general gastrointestinal doctor.

Exactly. Like the Kyle Reese character said in the first Terminator movie, "[the machines] decided our fate in a microsecond."

Dude, you’ve got it exactly backward. “Wokeism” -- which, boiled down to its essence, is simply the ability to see beyond one’s own nose -- places no requirements or obligations whatsoever on you; you can simply ignore it and move on with your life, which is not impeded in any way. If you want to believe that the world should function as if through the gauze of a spaghetti Western, as per your profile photo, nobody’s going to bother you about that! However, you’re the one who’s sobbing about “Wokeism,” or rather your own gross misinterpretation of what it’s about. Just let it go, man; if other people choose to move beyond Clint Eastwood, it’s not going to hurt you!

Really? So I guess the New Yorker cartoon is true after all: “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog!”

There is conclusive evidence that around 6 million Jewish people were murdered during the Holocaust; apart from Jewish records, the Nazis themselves (being Germans!) were precise about their record keeping. If you’re “not sure [you] believe the numbers,” that’s either your personal bias, or your reliance on bogus information, or your refusal to accept historical fact. As for your list of other “holocausts” through history in another post, these are all of course horrific in their own way and just as worthy of remembrance and historical accuracy; and as you point out, they happen with some frequency. However, in plain English, the word “Holocaust,” usually capped, refers to the German effort to exterminate European Jews during World War II. Just the same as the word “antisemitism,” in plain English, means hatred of Jewish people, not hatred of people who speak Semitic languages. Webster’s may provide various definitions of the word “holocaust,” but, as the English language has developed over the past several decades, it is commonly understood to refer to the Jewish Holocaust. One cannot place a value judgment on this use of the word, nor is it meant to diminish the horrific tragedy of other genocides; it’s purely a matter of semantics, of how English is spoken and understood.

All of the above. I’ve generally encountered this as a combination of antisemitism (irrational hatred of Jewish people) and a penchant for conspiracy theories (Jewish people systematically invented or exaggerated the Holocaust to gain political advantage). One of my favorites was a fellow who resorted to semantic trickery, saying that those Jews who died (not as many as history claims of course) were “killed” and not “murdered” during the war, turning it into a fog-of-war scenario. He was quite proud of himself at this neat solution that absolved the Nazis of any major wrongdoing. The Turks used (and often still use) a similar strategy in responding to the fact of their wholesale massacre of Armenians toward the end of the First World War.

Absolutely. People should be able to marry who they want. To think otherwise is heartless and medieval.

I imagine, an actual “deep state” might form on an ad hoc basis involving not only the military but elements of the courts, the intelligence community, some in the business community and media, some local and national politicians. The power exists to pull this off, but some pretty serious red lines would need to be crossed before such a thing would be considered (e.g., withdrawing from or undermining NATO). However, if such were to simply replace Trump’s oligarchy with another monied class (even one that was not insane) rather than leading to genuine social democracy, setting such a precedent would be fraught.

You’re probably right -- a recent NYT article quotes him admiring how “massive” Greenland is, and how that reason alone means it should be part of the US. I seem to remember when he first raised this issue during his first administration, he was looking at a map and saw Alaska on the left-hand side of the continent, then wondered what that big thing was on the right-hand side, and how owning it would balance things out somehow. I guess it’s just this sort of schoolboy idiocy that will direct US foreign policy for the next few years.

Reminds me of a joke. A child asks his parents, Why is there a Mother’s Day and a Father’s Day, but no Children’s Day? The parent answers, “EVERY day is Children’s Day!” To answer your question, maybe it’s because Black people started out in the US as pieces of personal property, didn’t get the vote (in the US South) until the 1960s, and still face systemic racism (which is what the legal field of critical race theory is all about). Have you ever gone out in public in Black skin? Didn’t think so. Short answer: For White folks in the US, EVERY space is safe space!

And tell me, just why is that. It’s important that a child is raised in a loving environment, and that can be provided by a same-sex couple just as effectively as by a couple that’s a man and woman.