xylophone

On the topic of Melania........Tennis commentator and former pro Rennae Stubbs unleashed sharp criticism of Melania Trump following the poor reception of her self-titled 2026 documentary, which has struggled at the box office despite Amazon's massive investment. Stubbs, posting on social media, bluntly referred to the First Lady's past, stating "Melania Trump was a call girl" in reference to longstanding rumors about her modeling career and early life in New York, before questioning if people would accept such a background for their own daughters.

Good post @Spidermike, much of which I agree with and although in my youth I was a beer drinker, meeting friends at pubs and parties and occasionally getting "elephants trunk" (drunk), but having said that I never felt the need for alcohol and apart from a couple of stints in Libya where homebrewed "White lightning" was the tipple, I eased off beer in my late 20s and switched to red wine, which I still enjoy to this day. On that subject, I buy about 12 bottles at a time here in Thailand from importers/distributors and only drink "the good stuff". I always keep a stock of at least a dozen bottles of good red wine in my wine fridge/cooler and I won't touch any of the "fruit wine" because I reason that at my age I deserve good red wine! And I can't remember the last time I had a beer, although I do cringe when I see farangs sitting at bars here at 10:30 AM or thereabouts and in a way, I pity them. I have collected and studied wine since the early 70s and have been lucky enough to visit many vineyards in France, Australia and New Zealand and talk to and learn from the owners, however strangely enough my favourite red wine at the moment is from Lodi in California and is made from the Petite Sirah (a.k.a. Durif) grape although I am a great fan of the Appasimento wines from Italy. Getting back on track, I don't feel I need to give up my red wine drinking because I only drink it with my evening meal and then only three glasses or so and if offered a beer or wine during the daytime, I will politely decline the offer. I suppose I could use the term "everything in moderation" with respect to my alcohol intake, and as I truly enjoy the taste of a good red wine, there is nothing about beer that would tempt me to switch to it, so getting back to the title of the thread, I see no need to give up alcohol.

Have just watched a movie called, "Out of the Furnace" and it starred Woody Harrelson, as you've never seen him before, along with Christian Bale, Forest Whitaker and Zoe Saldana and it was an altogether different movie, different but interesting and good IMO. Casey Affleck also starred and although I don't usually like his acting, he was very good in this movie, which focused on him being a war veteran trying to find his way back in the USA and getting caught up in a hillbilly fight "ruse/scheme".

Hi, I did post some information regarding the catheters I use for ICC, but it disappeared somehow??? I buy mine from Lazada and they are made by Fuji Systems and cost about 800 baht but they can be used many times provided they are used correctly and sterilised accordingly, and because they are not hydrophilic, I have to use a lubricating/numbing gel with them called Xylocaine. I don't know if this helps you, however if you want to discuss it further or want more information, then please don't hesitate to get in touch. Good luck.

Just goes to show that he is batsh!t crazy but the MAGAs don't want to see it, so they don't! MAGA logic!!! LOL

Here is a copy of a court document filed in June 2016 and I have been unable to "Fact Check" it, so any feedback on it is welcome and I will delete it if it is untrue, or the Mods can. This document (www.justice.gov) is dated June 18, 2016 and is a statement from one of the victims of Trump/Epstein: – 14. I personally witnessed defendant Trump telling the plaintiff that she shouldn't ever say anything if she didn't want to disappear like the 12-year-old female xxxxx, and that he was capable of having her whole family killed. 15. After leaving the employment of Mr Epstein in the year 2000 I was personally threatened by Mr Epstein that I would be killed and my family killed as well if I ever disclosed any of the physical and sexual abuse of minor females but I have personally witnessed by Mr Epstein or any of his guests. 16. I am coming forward to swear to the truthfulness of the physical and sexual abuse that I personally witnessed of minor females at the hands of Mr Trump and Mr Epstein, including the plaintiff, during the time of my employment from the years of 1990 – 2004 for Mr Epstein. I swear to these facts under the penalty of perjury even though I fully understand that the life of myself and my family is now in grave danger. I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Dated: June 18, 2016.......... signed by Tiffany Doe (pseudonym)

I couldn't help myself, so I watched one of my favourite movies again, "The Big Short" and I still enjoyed it immensely. I have a particular interest in it because I was Chief Manager of Investments at a major New Zealand bank and I had built a suite of managed funds from $100,000 to just under $2 billion before I retired in 2005. Although the crash happened in 2007/8 I had already retired by then, and I recall that in 2003 my bank and others in NZ were approached by a major investment bank in the USA (whose name I have forgotten) about including some CDOs in our managed funds and we were invited to a presentation at a major hotel in Auckland to hear the presentation regarding CDO's which was very slick indeed, and trying to sell us on the fact that we should include them in our managed fund products because they would produce good and steady returns. I sat through the presentation with another investment manager, who was a bit of a whizzkid on investing and in things financial and after the presentation I asked him some pointed questions about how these functioned because the presentation didn't make it very clear, and it was quite obvious to me that the financial stability behind them was "suspect". His response was, "I really don't know as it's far too complicated" and on that note I decided against including them in our portfolio of managed funds and I'm so glad that I made that decision because we had none of these CDO's on our books when the crash happened and although I had retired when it did happen, I was so happy that I made the right decision.

More from those recently released files.......... BREAKING: Jeffrey Epstein says he saw Trump walking around in “his undies” at his house in a disgusting email to Steve Bannon about a woman he called “Kneepads!” The latest drop of files from the archpedophile Epstein contains some truly shocking exchanges, particularly with Trump’s former consigliere Steve Bannon. In one text thread, Epstein discusses Madeleine Westerhout, a Trump advisor from his first term that Trump was apparently having sexual relations with. EPSTEIN: Do you know Marianne , Donalds new friend ? Madelaine. Westerhut . Very funny BANNON: She is the receptionist-- good kid ; grundoon-- cam from rnc EPSTEIN: Kneepads. Doing Gods work BANNON: LMAO EPSTEIN: Hes much more calm, but the sight of him in the residence in his undies is hard to fathom . Ill give you details when I see you . The two things he dreads at the moment is that an email from his ex. Saying he has small dick. And his transcript. BANNON: The staying away from family over holidays huge tell EPSTEIN: Thats for Madeline “Grundoon” is a reference to the gibberish-speaking diapered groundhog from the comic strip Pogo. It is a favorite insult of Bannon’s to refer to his subordinates. Madeline would later resign in disgrace after getting drunk and leaking to the media that Trump didn’t want to be seen with his daughter Tiffany because she was overweight. These texts would heavily imply that Trump was visiting Epstein’s mansion and having sex with women or girls there while he was president the first time.

Two days ago I posted on a Health topic about the type of catheter I use for intermittent clean catheterisation, in order to help another poster and as suggested by Sheryl.......but that post has gone/disappeared?? Can you explain why that has happened?? Thanks, Xylophone

For those who may be interested in ancient history/the past, I have just watched a very entertaining and informative 58 minutes on BBC iPlayer, of the history between the Neanderthals and homo-sapiens, called "Last humans standing" and the surprise is that the humans they were referring to were actually Neanderthals who populated Europe and beyond, way before homo-sapiens arrived. I thought it was great and if anyone else is interested I would suggest they take a look as it is intriguing to say the least.

Watched the F1 motor racing movie "Rush" again and have never gotten tired of it as there are some great scenes in it.......it was available on BBC iPlayer.

More like afraid of what an idiot can do........although stopping a war that never was and stating: "During a July 4, 2019, "Salute to America" speech, Donald Trump inaccurately stated that the Continental Army "took over the airports" from the British during the 1770s Revolutionary War. He claimed, "Our Army manned the [air], it rammed the ramparts, it took over the airports, it did everything it had to do". Really was a stretch of his one remaing brain cell!!!

And can you teach us what "metics" are?? LoL

Came across this a short while ago, but not sure from where as have had a couple of computer crashes, but here it is and I think it is a perfect fit (or mirror) for the MAGAs....... 'I used to wonder how it was possible that Trump could have won in 2016 and then again in 2024, given how emotionally toxic, morally vacant, and psychologically mangled he is. I don’t wonder anymore. I think he won for that exact reason. He wasn’t a candidate. He was a mirror. If you were a racist, you found your guy. If you were a misogynist, you found your guy. If money was your only religion, you found your guy. If your heart was armored shut, you found your guy. If you mocked disabled people, you found your guy. If you hated intelligent people, you found your guy. If you were a rapist, you found your guy. If you enjoyed golden showers with Russian sex workers, you found your guy. If you’d done absolutely nothing to confront your emotional wreckage, you found your guy. If you were a serial cheater, you found your guy. If you were a perpetual bankrupt, you found your guy. If you stiffed honest workers, you found your guy. If you were a conman, you found your guy. If you mocked people’s appearances, you found your guy. If you longed for a toxic Daddy, you found your guy. If you were dissociated and disembodied, you found your guy. If you were unconscionable in every economic dealing, you found your guy. If you lied as naturally as breathing, you found your guy.. If you were a white supremacist, you found your guy. If your ego contained a hole so large not even the presidency could fill it, you found your guy. If you were a sociopath who cared not one molecule about other humans, you found your guy. If he had only two of these traits, he never would have won. He won because he had hundreds of them, and millions of people recognized themselves in at least one. This has never been about Trump. It has always been about the people who finally had their worst instincts validated. Trump didn’t create the cruelty, he licensed it. He handed out permission slips for hate. He is merely a symptom of a far deeper disease: collective toxicity. If there is one sentence that explains Trump’s power, it is this: “He says the things I’m thinking.” That’s the part that should chill the spine. Who knew that tens of millions of Americans were thinking such unconscionable things about their fellow citizens? Who knew how many white men felt so threatened by women and challenged by minorities that they were ready to torch democracy to feel big again? Who knew that after decades of apparent progress on race and gender, so many people were living in seething resentment, waiting for a demagogue to legitimize their worst selves and convert their bitterness into political power? Perhaps we were living in a fool’s paradise. We aren’t anymore."

Don't waste your time reading a book that wasn't written by trump and who had next to no input in it, and as others have said, trump has bankrupted Casinos (very hard to do) and just about every one of his "ventures" has failed........not a good role model Crossy!!

What a lot of old cobblers.......unles you are really talking about Enoch Powell. LOL

Bastard Yanks......

Probably practicing on E. Jean Carroll???? But she was awarded $5million for his "insertion" and she also said trump "didn't smell good"!!

Where is it available?? Thanks.

I watched a movie I had seen previously, called “Defiance” with Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber and it was a true story, or based on one about a band of Jews being hunted by the Germans after the German invasion of Belarus but they teamed up with a bunch of Russian partisans and hid in the woods for quite a few years. An enjoyable movie imo and have always liked Daniel Craig as well as Liev Schreiber, so that was a bonus. It was on BBC iPlayer so very easy to watch for me.

And there are MAGAs who say that trumpie never went on Epsteins jet, yet he first slept with Melania on the jet as she was one of the "escorts" on that flight, especially provided by Epstein for wealthy and influential contacts...... "Explosive tapes recorded by author Michael Wolff show Epstein claiming Trump liked to “f---” his friends’ wives and first slept with Melania on the “Lolita Express.” Perhaps she had to dress in childrens clothing to get him on board!

So in effect an illegal immigrant........what a shock!!!!!! Surely not.......trump wouldn't lie would he? Yeah right!!! PS. And plenty of other pics out there of her, and now the USA has a felon and rapist as a president, who is married to a former escort/nude model. What a mess!

So in effect an illegal immigrant........what a shock!!!!!!

Melania with one of her "clients"..........well worth an "Einstein Visa" LOL. And your answer is to be expected from a MAGA cultist who wouldn't know the truth even if it hit them in the face. Hardly the "catwalk" pose!!

Despite what she stated, Melania Trump never earned a university degree in architecture in fact she dropped out of college after her freshman year, according to her biographers. Still she claims to have a degree from the University of Slovenia. This is untrue. When she arrived in the USA she did nude modeling and there are photographs available on the internet to show this. It was also recorded that she was a close and intimate friend of Jeffrey Epstein. Melania then obtained what is called an Einstein visa which is usually reserved for a premier employment for individuals with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. It requires no job offer and offers a fast path to permanent residency, though it requires meeting at least 3 of 10 stringent criteria or a major award (e.g., Nobel Prize, Oscar). Melania then used a legal pathway that Trump and his advisors had repeatedly disparaged as "chain migration" to bring her parents to the United States. I don't want to go on any further because it's plainly obvious and easy to see, doing some research that Melania was given a US visa because of her relationship with Donald Trump, and certainly not because she was/had extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics.