jingjai9

According to some social critics the empire has already ended.

Good to know that there was none of this happening under the previous administration. Wait, what? Crime statistics show a decline in overall crime. Ah, right is all a conspiracy to cover up. Every American involved is corrupt and covering up the truth … I would venture to say that many of the crimes involving well armed, violent gangs go unreported. The statistics show less crime but this does not reflect reality.

Didn't Harris turn down a debate with Trump on FOX? I don't blame either candidate because neither CNN or FOX are impartial.

Murdoch, in his quest for money, has singlehandedly caused the great division and hatred of the left versus right in GB, USA and Australia. He has stirred it up and convinced the gullible that they have problems that they don’t. Created unnecessary fear. And made billions doing it. And unashamedly they also use the line “you can not trust the mainstream media” of which he is. You can not trust his version of mainstream media because all he cares about is clickbait. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Award winning journalist Matt Taibbi has written a great book on this topic, entitled, Hate Inc. It is widely acclaimed. It is a historical analysis of how the US media has changed through the years from 3 network news broadcasters, to cable news and onto social media and podcasting. Taibbi states that Fox's decision to broadcast conservative news was a business decision as stated in the opening of the post I have quoted.

Is the nationwide drought officially over? I have not seen any reports about the level of the reservoirs.

Does anyone know of a good transmission service in Muang Udon Thani? It is for a 2015 Nissan automatic transmission. Looking for an honest mechanic who has experience with transmissions. I find dealerships charge inflated prices. Anyone have a similar experience? Any good experiences to report. Thanks

Three things: The sewer smells The uneven footpaths The stress that comes with driving a vehicle on the streets in urban areas.

Yes, the politicians want to make sure they get their two cents in saying the US should be tough on terrorists so they have a sound byte for their campaigns. Why haven't any of the people suspected of terrorism been tried in a court of law? Why should the secretary of defense have any power in this situation? Is the American government not confident that a judge and jury could make a good decision? My fear is that once we allow anyone to be convicted outside of the judicial system, we are eroding the democratic process. If terrorists can be held in detention for many years, then who's next? No matter how heinous a crime a person has committed, once you deny anyone due process, we are in trouble. We go against the principles of democracy.

Do you have any clue why your Thai is troublesome for native speakers? You cannot simply assume it is due to pronunciation errors. It could be syntax or grammatical errors. Ask yourself this: Can I say: I learn a new word in Thai every day. I learned a new word yesterday. I am learning Thai every day. I should have learned more Thai when I was younger. Can I express events in the past, present or future fluently in Thai language? Can I express conditional situations in Thai, for example: If it rains tomorrow, I will use an umbrella. Do I know common prepositions of location such as: up down next to above over in back of in front of I would think if you do not know 80% of this, even with good pronunciation you would have communication issues.

I think there are too many generalizations in these posts. Judge people individually not as "Thais". Often, as I have seen it, the foreigner is eager to give money to in-laws in the beginning , then often grows weary as time goes by. Then he feels taken advantage of. Rule or exception? Foreigners marry rural Thai women and visit the wife's family without being fluent in Thai or say, Isaarn language. They are unable to express their feelings or engage in meaningful conversation. The Thai family is clueless about the wealth of their foreign in-law. The foreigner with the new Thai wife does not know the extent to which Thai men who have a good income are obligated to help the wife's family as well as their own family if the Thai man is in fact the highest wage earner in the family. The foreigner is not well-schooled in Thai customs or protocol. The foreigner is made to feel more like an object than a person by his wife's family or even his wife. The foreigner feels the Thai wife is on "their side" During visits to the village the foreigner appears aloof/and or bored in the eyes of the Thai family. The Thai woman and the foreign husband do not share the same values about obligations to family, child rearing or personal priorities. Put these in order from 1-3 by importance: obligation to family, obligation to spouse, saving for the future of the immediate family (excluding in-laws). The foreigner and Thai wife have had an engagement of at least two years prior to the marriage. The foreigner feels he can make his marriage successful because he is a little smarter than other farangs who encounter problems in their marriage, like dealing with step children, building a house in Thailand, Thai in-laws or money matters. The foreigner gets the feeling his wife's family has developed a sense of entitlement concerning money matters.

IDK I think the most troubling thing about this controversy over Fauci is that I do not know what to believe. There is perhaps too much information and this results in a severe case of cognitive dissonance. What is true about the cause of COVID and what informs your opinion? Who is credible? In this age of tribalism on the political front with misinformation and disinformation blanketing the Internet by both US political parties and perhaps hostile third parties - WHO KNOWS? I guess you could sum it up with one acronym - WTF? How do you develop and arrive at your opinion?

Civics is the study of rights and obligations a citizen has in a society. Civility is formal politeness and behavior. This is stressed in Thai schools.

Imagine how awkward it could be teaching students in the classroom in this attire.

When I went to school in the USA we were required to recite a prayer out loud either before or after the Pledge of Allegiance (I cannot recall which). Then in 1962 we switched to silent prayer. The USA definitely secularized in the past 50 years or so. The problem is that when they removed religious teaching and tried to make the schools more and more separate from the church, they never replaced the Christian values with anything. Students were not really learning ethics and morals. Couple this with the termination of the Hayes code (1966) which had governed the content of Hollywood movies since 1934. Many would argue the USA has gradually become morally bankrupt over the last half century. There is little double we need to teach civics and civility in public schools. The troublesome area however is imposing Christian teachings on the entire population as a requirement. I am not anti-Christian nor am I opposed to anyone's right to worship. Aren't there many similar values common to the major religions that could be culled in order to restore morality and ethics in education without a religious label?

Simply put, Joe is a typical American politician: me first the party second the people a distant third. If the Democrats do not get a hold of this, they may very well be a party to Trump's second term as president. Everyone will be watching Joe Biden through a microscope moving forward. We have to sit tight and tune in for the next chapter, "Will Joe be consumed by his vanity?"

Dear Novacova, For your information I have lived and worked in Udon nearly 20 years. Usually the police raid places when they receive a complaint locally. Several years ago a Karoake in Udon was closed down because a teacher in the Muang District saw one of her students in front of the bar.

I believe the use of towels during a message are for the benefit of the masseuse. When massaging the back or legs they get more traction and the customer will not feel any friction from the rubbing motion, especially it the customer wants a "strong massage."

The article does not mention the name or location of the bar - in the province or in Amphur Muang??????

Here is an excerpt from a news story than ran yesterday in ASEAN.Now: This is in reference to legalizing casinos. "However, the prospective downsides are concerning. Wichian warned of potential increases in underground economy activities, household debt, income inequality, and the social costs linked to gambling addiction." To counter these issues, he recommended strict regulations, rehabilitation programs for gambling addicts, and the allocation of revenues towards social and economic development initiatives by the government. Do you think the downsides to legalized gambling are worse for society than decriminalizing weed? The second paragraph above calls for remedies to mitigate the downside. The powers that be will get what they want. Same old same old. Even though this article is favorable for legalization of weed, NEVER underestimate the spin doctors.

Here is an excerpt from a news story than ran yesterday in ASEAN.Now: This is in reference to legalizing casinos. "However, the prospective downsides are concerning. Wichian warned of potential increases in underground economy activities, household debt, income inequality, and the social costs linked to gambling addiction." To counter these issues, he recommended strict regulations, rehabilitation programs for gambling addicts, and the allocation of revenues towards social and economic development initiatives by the government. Do you think the downsides to legalized gambling are worse for society than decriminalizing weed? The second paragraph above calls for remedies to mitigate the downside. The powers that be will get what they want. Same old same old. Even though this article is favorable for legalization of weed, NEVER underestimate the spin doctors.

Every year it becomes more evident The USA is run by the two parties, not rule of law. You could call Trump the "middle finger" of US politics as he has in the past pissed off both sides. So now he has taken the Republican party under his wing and is forcing the party's sycophants to get down on their knees and swear loyalty . Not until people can pull away from this duopoly, will there be even a kernel of hope for the future of US democracy. How about the Democrats? There are many videos one could view to recall how the Dems used legacy media outlets with their panels of "experts" to state the Hunter Biden affair was Russian disinformation. Now an FBI agent has testified under oath at the Hunter Biden trial about the laptop's authenticity. Could it have been the Dems were covering up a scandal before the 2020 election? The SCOTUS debacle is just one more manifestation of the duopoly wrestling for power.

This looks like a Thai massage. This time they are massaging the facts with one of those surveys that most often fit the narrative of the powers that be.

It is simply the latest iteration where the powers that be simply block any attempts to challenge their hegemony. Has the MVP ever really been able to move forward?

"The secrecy shrouding NROL-146 underscores the delicate balance between national security imperatives and the principles of democratic governance. While the need for vigilance against emerging threats is undeniable, so too is the imperative to uphold civil liberties and democratic values." This story is absolutely frightening. There are many journalists and social critics warning us that the Tech companies are colonizing the LEO (lower earth orbit and the GEO (Geostationary Earth Orbit). If Elon Musk is involved in a secret mission one can only imagine the power he has. Is this just one manifestation of the "secret government" that has been growing like a cancer on American democracy since the inception of the CIA in 1945 (then known as the OSS, Office of Strategic Services). Carl Sagan is calling from his grave, quoting from his book. "The Demon Haunted World" - “I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or Grand children's time .........when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the the people."