mfd101

And what government anywhere in the world actually ever 'cut expenses' (ie reduced the budget for the next year to less than available revenue and stuck to it)? Hasn't happened in living memory. Too hard. The squeals - ignorant & hypocritical - from the great unwashed (previously complaining about their taxes) would be more than any politician could bear.

Saw Palmetto? Sold as 'Sametto' in Thailand. Available at every pharmacy.

Yes, early stage. Whence the need for fairly strict diet control (which I'm usually but not always reasonably good at).

I entirely agree. Saw palmetto (sold in Thailand as 'Sametto') certainly helps. And the change in diet as mentioned here is REALLY good. My personal experience (now age 75) is that if I'm strict on my diet as above - low low sugar is the key - then I have no problems and get up only once a night. But if I overindulge - my b/f likes to bring me chocolate or sweet cakes which I find hard to resist - then the next day I may have to piss every 15 or 20 minutes and up 3 times in the night. Then back to normal the following day. Can't help noticing - with this example and so many other health issues - how people get all caught up in the medical processes and drug taking, when quite simple changes in diet and physical exercise can cure and prevent a long list of ailments caused by 'modern living'.

The exception to your colour-coded theory of migration is Australia, which is 'green' because of the post-covid surge of migrants, currently running at over 500,000 p.a. instead of the norm of the last 20 years around 250,000 p.a. A significant number of these are tertiary students who later elect to stay and become skilled workers in a (mostly) booming economy. Australia is thus probably the only country on your map that is 'green' because of immigration rather than birthrates (which are the same low as those of other 'Western' countries).

The exception to your colour-coded theory of migration is Australia, which is 'green' because of the post-covid surge of migrants, currently running at over 500,000 p.a. instead of the norm of the last 20 years around 250,000 p.a. A significant number of these are tertiary students who later elect to stay and become skilled workers in a (mostly) booming economy. Australia is thus probably the only country on your map that is 'green' because of immigration rather than birthrates (which are the same low as those of other 'Western' countries).

The West's 'delusional fantasies' are standing up for the things we say we believe in - self-determination, freedom, democracy. If you're right about Putin's perceptions, how come he hasn't nuked Ukraine yet? or France? or the UK? or the US?

Supporting Ukraine's freedom and right to exist as an independent country is NOT the same thing as attacking Russia. Even if Putin tries to claim that it is.

Mmmm, so the nth-west basically ...

Fairly soon - as its population begins to shrink - Thailand (its people as a whole, led by an enlightened government) is going to have to transform its whole approach to life. Living behind high cultural, linguistic and legal barriers, shut off from the outside world, will no longer work. Change is already happening but very slowly and without explicit acknowledgement because of the dinosaur social arrangements. What Thais - and other Third World countries - will have to construct is immigration policies similar to those of 'Western' countries: importing skilled & high-tech workers to become citizens and drive a new economy with new population & cultural structures that reward work skills not birthright. But none of this can happen in a corrupt feudal state that regards all non-Thais as outsiders to be treated with suspicion and complex bureaucratic barriers.

Firing squad at dawn would be more effective.

BKK is famous for - or is becoming famous for - inferior infrastructure (roads, footpaths, personal safety ... ).

Farage is more interesting & amusing. And at least he's part of the C21st. R-M is just a ridiculous anachronism.

I see Rees-Mogg lost his seat. Oh dear! I am so sad. And Liz Ms Trust. Ha ha.

Mmmmm, well clearly the Tories deserved to lose. The future is yet to be revealed.

Have you ever observed the workers on roads & footpaths in Thailand? I doubt they have ever driven a motor vehicle in their lives. And, as I rediscover regularly with my peasant family here, lack of education of any kind does not help in imagining yourself in someone else's shoes.

Yes, and I must say - as a non-Usofan watching from afar - that Kamala's performance in the vid above looks pretty good: fluent, confident, capable. Compared to Biden's performance a few days ago, she looks like a serious contender for the top job, and possibly unbeatable if she's already the new President in situ come November.

Yes, like redoing the roads in rural Thailand, every year, after the monsoon has washed bits away. The annual funds to be shared out between bureaucrats & contractors ...

Oh dear! So how are we to organize and run our huge and hugely complex societies?

So why wasn't he tracked & extradited from wherever he's been hanging out (UK?) for the last 7 years? Seems that, as long as you have half a brain and never return to Thailand, you can get away with just about anything. Or perhaps the actual gravity of the crime didn't meet whatever the minimal level for extradition requires? or perhaps it just wasn't worth the (yawn) effort?

I suspect we won't know the answer till after the second 'debate' in September. But by then time will be running out for a new team.

Cheap. Good food at mind-bogglingly low prices in the rural provinces (2 nice brunches for 120฿ - would be at least 10 times more than that in Oz). Owning & running a motor vehicle 60% of Oz costs. Lots of nice people in the rural provinces. Different culture - slow, collectively organised at extended family level so keeps the problem individuals under control (mostly). Traditional, old-fashioned courtesy including to well-behaved Falangs. Kind & generous to people in trouble, including the dying. A feeling of continuity, away from the disruption & stress of the Western world's modernity. To spend my last years - leading, as my Oz friends laughingly tell me, a First World existence in the midst of the Third World - is a privilege I value greatly. No wish to return to Oz or even visit there any more.

Noone - including the individual concerned - can predict how anyone will perform in the top job in any organisation, large or small, public or private. The timid pussy of a deputy turns in to a raging tiger. The raging tiger of a career aspirant turns in to a timid incompetent ... We can all think of examples. Always fun to watch, but only from afar.

Noted, thanks. I agree. The key point is that the Oz federal government CSS issue is DIFFERENT from age pension matters. It is a particular issue arising from the long-closed superannuation CSS which was not taxed going in, so is now taxed coming out. And now complicated for me as a 'non-resident for tax purposes' in Oz. Which doesn't mean that I'm not taxed there; it means I'm taxed at a higher rate (32.5%) than age pensioners. There's also the difficulty that arises from first reading of article 19 of the DTA ['Government Service'] which seems to have a bob each way. Careful reading & rereading clarifies this: My CSS super is taxable ONLY in Oz [at the confiscatory rate of 32.5%] and will continue to be so & there's nothing I can do about it. I will nevertheless follow up with my Canberra accountants when I'm preparing inputs to my 23/24 tax return.

Yes, a classic problem for all governments in democracies: The People are nearsighted. (And - because of the constant need to get reelected - so, mostly, are their governments.)