richard_smith237

Oh please… how do you know ? from a Newsweek clickbait piece dressed up as science ??? “Nearly half of Gen Z haven’t had sex” sounds dramatic - until you realise it’s based on a single survey mash-up... It’s the usual lazy formula: - cherry-pick one stat - ignore conflicting studies - slap on a headline - farm outrage clicks .... And anyone swallowing it whole? they'll believe most rubbish fed them... “millennials killed X” headline - zero critical thinking, minimum attention required. Reality is boring: Gen Z just has different attitudes to sex - less casual, more cautious, more online. Not some dramatic “half are virgins” apocalypse - go to any Uni in the UK... and they're all at it like rabbits, just like we were at Uni (according to my nephews) - but it seems the change is not so dramatic - other than 'everything is on social media' so rumours travel fast and extra caution is required... but the same messing about, same hookups etc... In short: that article is just shaky data and a sensational headline - which generally equals rubbish. What you mention and how you mention it is exactly what boomer would say - Gen-x-ers are generally less judgemental about the younger generations... But, some gen-x-ers might be 60+ now - so entering grumpy-old-man territory. So... which are you.. Silent Gen (1928-1945) - Grew up during hardship and war - more reserved Boomer (1946–1964) - Post-WWII population boom Gen X (1965–1980) - The latchkey generation - more independent Millennials (1981–1996) - Came of age with the internet Generation Z (1997–2012) - Digital natives - social media era

I wouldn't interest you - I'm not an ethnic minority committing a crime so there's nothing to fill your confirmation bias.

Boom Shakalaka - so predictable !!! - in any 'Frenchman' thread... its a virtual guarantee that someone will concentrate on the ethnic origins of said frog...

Careful... you might get an unhinged response about living in a house !!!

That response made zero sense and had nothing to do with my post. Karen calling others Karens - weird. OK nutty fruitcake - up to you... Jump whenever you want.

Unhinged over-reaction - seems somewhat juxtaposed to your user name !!! .... Careful there Karen... stay away from those balconies....

Yes,so did i. You think this is bias ???

You know the answer. I don’t actually - and I don’t think anyone does. Democrats have taken military action before, so it’s not as simple as pretending one side always acts and the other never does. Whether they would have acted this time is genuinely unknowable. What is worth considering is the alternative scenario. If no action had been taken, there’s a plausible path - not guaranteed, but plausible - where within a decade Iran becomes nuclear-capable, develops longer-range delivery systems, and gains leverage over critical shipping routes like the Strait of Hormuz. That could mean higher global shipping costs, more instability, and a strong incentive for regional powers like Saudi Arabia or Turkey to pursue their own nuclear programmes. Of course, none of that is certain. But that’s exactly the point - decisions like this are made under uncertainty. And a lot of the criticism seems to ignore the downside risk of not acting, which could be just as consequential, if not more so. So rather than assuming bad faith or obvious answers, the more honest position is that both action and inaction carry serious risks - and in these discussions it seems people are choosing which risks they’re more willing to accept based on their political bias.

Ha ha,nice. I was talking about trump of course, Yes - I simply countered your bias.

When is something going to be done about what? You really need his point spelling out - there are seemingly a lot of suicides in these areas - investigation into whether this is disproportionate or not wouldn't go amiss - something 'done' ? - something could be done - for example: Vegas is engineered against 'jumpers' with most hotels not having balcony's or roof access etc. You were planning on completely wasting the charity's time? Unbelievable. If there’s no official audit, that’s a fair point to raise. In most discussions involving a suicide, there’s typically a follow-up comment after the initial report that provides a Samaritans support line. But if that line isn’t actually staffed at the time, then those offers of support amount to little more than empty words.

You could report this to Samaritans themselves - perhaps there was an oversight at the time you called. If they are promising 24-7 support, even though they are a charity their promises of support should not be empty.

That jumps around a lot.... You can’t say ‘nobody knows where this war is going’ and then confidently declare it’ll be another Iraq or Afghanistan - guesswork pretending to be insight - although given history a concerning possibility, one that could be driven by the very people criticising the administration - blame Trump and the administration for acting, then blame him when he stops acting enough. ...And the idea that a ‘surgical strike’ taking out someone like Ali Khamenei would neatly fix things is fantasy. That doesn’t end the system - if anything it risks making it more unstable or more hardline. That’s been the criticism already when Ali Khamenei was intially taken out - things don't change by removing a few individuals, the entire structure would have to change. They’ve already targeted senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps figures in the past - it didn’t fundamentally alter behaviour. Iran was still projecting force and launching missiles across the region well before this current escalation. Blaming everything on Donald Trump is lazy political bias. These tensions didn’t start with him and don’t end with him - this is decades-deep, structural geopolitics. The whole ‘US has won zero wars since WWII’ line is just selective nonsense. It’s cherry-picking failures while ignoring outcomes that don’t fit the narrative. ... And yes, the Strait of Hormuz is difficult - no one serious is saying it’s easy - but acting like it’s impossible or already lost is the same kind of overconfident doom talk as the rest of your post. 20% of the worlds oil supply, 25% of LNG, 15% of Global trade passes the straghts - thats not insignificant. Then there are less known factors, around 20–30% of the world’s helium supply comes from Qatar and thats stopped at the moment. Over the past decade there’s been consistent restraint shown towards Iran’s behaviour in the Strait of Hormuz. I’ve been working across the Middle East for years - the constant has always been the risk Iran poses to maritime traffic and regional stability. This didn’t suddenly appear. A decade ago it was already a concern - the situation now is partly the result of not dealing with it earlier. This isn’t just about nuclear capability, although that’s a key part of it - and it hasn’t been ‘debunked’. Iran enriching uranium to around 60% put it very close to weapons-grade. Combine that with its regional posture and repeated threats to disrupt or leverage the Strait of Hormuz, and you’ve got a strategic problem that goes well beyond one issue. If nuclear capability has been set back, that’s positive - but the knowledge doesn’t disappear. The material doesn’t disappear either. Hundreds of kilos of highly enriched uranium and the technical capability to rebuild enrichment infrastructure mean the risk remains. As for securing the Strait - that’s not just naval escorts. Control of key geography matters. Places like Qeshm Island sit right on top of that chokepoint - they have that Island houses the anti-ship missiles, the naval mine, the fast attack boats, drones and surveillance... Without controlling positions like that, the risk is not managed, nor eliminated. This will get worse before it gets better - troops will be required on the ground (Island of Qeshm) and that will give anti-Trumpers more fuel to criticise - or if he doesn't put troops in, he will be critiqued for not doing the job !! - negative bias overruling any other thought process. Bottom line: this isn’t some sudden, reckless detour - it’s the result of a long-building problem that was left to escalate. Donald Trump gets cast as the villain largely because of his image, and that distorts how people view the conflict. If a Democrat administration had taken the same action, would the same people be making the same criticisms? And would a Democrat administration have taken this action at all - or just kicked the Iran problem further down the road?

Not quite right - The Islamic Republic of Iran isn’t a ‘cult’ - it’s a brutal theocratic system run by a barbaric zealot, an extremist Ayatollah enforcing the doctrine of Velayat-e Faqih, supported by the Guardian Council - brutally enforcing its regime and committing domestic and regional atrocities.

Thats ok - its one of the few times your opinion aligns with the rest of us...

21-year-olds from the UK have no idea how to interact with the opposite sex they're only do it online so in the real flesh they have no idea what to do. Some properly amusing boomer takes on here - the usual lazy assumption and critiques of the younger generation... that they don't know how to interact with the opposite sex just because apps exist. Bit of a stretch - and seeps to paints the older lot as if they all had flawless game and some kind of golden era of seduction going on. Its more likely the guy just didn’t fancy bumping ugles with bit of brass that happened to be in the same bar as him - simple as that. It’s not like he passed up some once-in-a-lifetime chance with a mythical creature from another realm. Sometimes there’s no grand social decline and boomers are just seeing what the want to to make themselves feel better.

I guess it depends on the substance, but typically it is tasteless and you wouldn't know what hit ya until you wake up the next morning with a 4-day hangover. The common date rape drugs like Roofies/GBH/Ketamine are. Could be that the beer was spiked with something else that wasn't tasteless. I don't know - I'm not up to date on what the best drugs to spike someone are or what they taste like !!... Relaying personal experience - it could have been anything - but the very sudden change in taste of my beer put the spidey senses on full alert. They don't need to move. They "rent" the curb spots from the BiB. Those little pop-up-street-cart-bars 'come and go' - depending on the latest crackdowns and announcements - sometimes the streets are lively and a few of these little bars have popped up... another time there's nothing. It possibly depends upon who the local Police chief of the area is that year and what their instructions from above are.

Op. You haven't Mentioned which model of MacMini you have Checked with a different cable (HDMI or USB-C Cable) Checked with a different Monitor There may be nothing wrong with Mac itself - but you have to sort out the basics first.

My first hand experience at Chatuchak transport office was in the main based on direct question to official there. "Can I use pink ID".. Answer no. Need COR. Perhaps lost in translation. Fact is reports at various offices a COR is required. I'm aware Bang Chuk accept pink card. I was referring to the 'experience' you had with a USA guy two years ago !!... 🙊

Lol..what a ridiculous allegation, oh please , stick to the facts surely that's not too much to ask ...surely ! Do you hear lots of echoing when you try and think ???... .... I was relaying a personal experience ye dim numpty...

Jack - you really can't leave the door wide open like that... 👌🍆

so who do you think spiked it? a bar girl or one of your "mates"? they can't take your wallet in front of a bunch of people, so I don't get it. It was one of those mobile bars bars on a cart type contraptions - they set up shop randomly on a pavement - not fixed bar - they likely get moved along week to week with the BiB patrols. Something poured in to drink - maybe didn't get a chance to mix it in (so I tasted it) - possibly looking to get punter back to a hotel and rob him when he falls asleep etc. Or, maybe it was nothing - but something made the beer go from OK to a minute later tasting very bitter and nasty - I'd placed the beer behind by my back.

What IF... easing off the gas pedal is what places you into the line of fire ??.... its impossible to predict these things unless you can stop well out of the way.

I figured it would be standard for any expat these days to keep a copy of their Passport and all other key documents digitally ? All my key documents are stored in DropBox (and accessible from multiple devices). As far as needing the Passport for ID when travelling around or locally within Thailand - that somewhat different than needing a copy just in case it gets lost etc. In province (BKK) I never carry my Passport - it remains in the safe at home. Out of province, I always carry my Passport - it remains in a passport wallet locked in my bag - there if needed in an emergency.

And what questions would you have asked? And who would you have been asking? I think the last thing any grieving family would want is a feckless dullard asking questions.

Reckon I had my drink spiked once - Was at a late outdoor beer bar (well after hours) with a mate. Drunk and focused on conversation, I had my beer on the top behind me, took a drink and noticed a horrible acrid taste - reaction was to spit the beer out into the gutter immediately. Paid the bill and immediately left. I could have been mistaken - but a beer doesn't go from tasting normal on the first two 'swigs' to tasting bitter and acrid like that in the matter of a few mins. So - is getting a drink spiked common? - No, I don't thing so, but its also not unheard of either. How do you know 'what' people spike drinks with ??? - It could be just whatever 'cocktail' they got hold of, made or purchased earlier... it could be a mixture of things in a capsule thats tipped into the drink... One thing for sure - there is no SOP or specific recipe that criminals follow. Its also possible the young lad was on 'something' and whatever he was spike with (if spiked at all) interacted and compounded his problem. After reports he fell off his stool, its also possible he suffered a head injury that wasn't picked up on the initial visit - and he succumbed to his injury while sleeping off his evening - the cocktail of drugs part of the story could simply be a red-herring. From the UPDATE - with coroners results: He reportedly had Heroine and Cocaine in his system - that seems more like 'recreational' use that anything else - it takes only a only amount of Fentanyl to OD.