Hanaguma

I love the way lefties view this kind of thing. Even when a story is not true, it is still valid because it illustrates a GREATER truth... considering that in the entire WORLD, there have only been two documented cases of a 10 year old getting pregnant in the past 7 years. Yet one just pops up suddenly in the US, by amazing coincidence in a state with restrictive abortion laws, the same week the Supreme Court overturned Roe. It really stretches credulity to the breaking point.

I wonder at the motivation of the Thai government with the new visas. The cynical part of me says that the requirements were deliberately made impossible for the vast majority of either retirees or digital nomads to meet. But it gives the Thai immigration people the chance to say, "look, we are trying, but some people just don't measure up..." I mean, the whole point of being a nomad is that you ARENT tied to a company. Yet one of the criteria is to work for a major firm! They want the covid refugees who left Silicon Valley and retreated to Montana, not the man-bun hipster crowd who freelance. Plus the $80,000 income/pension requirement. How many people sport a pension like that- perhaps 2% of retirees? I suspect it is similar to what happened in Malaysia. The Malaysia My Second Home visa scheme just got retooled and the requirements were quadrupled. Monthly income requirement is now roughly USD $9,500, plus a fixed deposit of a cool quarter million bucks. Oh, and liquid assets of about $400,000. The rumor I heard is that, under the previous scheme, waaaaaaaaaaay too many Chinese were applying. So the system changed to prevent it. Malaysia, like Thailand, wanted to get "quality" retirees- meaning white folks with a few random Asians sprinked in. Didn't work out that way, so now we have the current mess.

True to an extent, but shipping by rail is far more dangerous than by pipeline. Also more costly in the long run. The new Keystone pipeline alone would have shipped at least 800k barrels per day. But it was held up for a decade by political <deleted>wittery, culminating in John Kerry's idiotic comments that the pipeline might make the US look bad in front of the environmentalists. A missed opportunity. And now with a President that is openly hostile to the fossil fuel industry, there is very little appetite and incentive for investors to put money into the industry.

Gee, if only there was a country next to the US that could provide oil. A fellow liberal democracy, with respect for human rights, with no compromising needed. A country with 170 BILLION barrels of proven oil reserves. Wouldnt it be a good idea to try and tap those reserves, perhaps with a.... pipeline perhaps? Nah...rather go hat in hand to the head hackers in the Middle East and beg them. Great national strategy.

Yeah, the reaction here in Japan is pretty much stunned silence. This kind of thing just doesn't happen here, and with an election 2 days away it is even more unbelievable. Abe was a good PM in my opinion, he was one of the few Japanese PMs who could hold his own at international meetings and didn't look like a junior accountant like so many of his predecessors.

Nah. Assange is more valuable. Hold out for the Marine as well. Two for one.

I have no problem with him being found guilty. But he WAS far overmatched. Floyd was a big strong dude- 6 foot 6, something like 240 pounds, built like an NFL linebacker. Chauvin was 5'9", maybe 170 pounds. Not even close, even without the chemical enhancements Floyd was enjoying. To me one of the bigger problems was the other 3 cops standing around and not doing anything when it was obvious Floyd was in distress. The Thin Blue Line in action.

I DID watch it. What part did I get wrong?

Of course not. But put it in perspective. According to the Washington Post’s database, polics killed 14 unarmed Black victims and 25 unarmed white victims in 2019. The number of unarmed Black shooting victims is down 63% from 2015, when the database began. There are about 7,300 Black homicide victims a year. The 14 unarmed victims in fatal police shootings would comprise only 0.2% of that total. That is what I mean by perspective.

Further, their very mission statement is premised on a lie, that Trayvon Martin's killer was a murderer who was set free. Not true. Hi did kill Trayvon, but it wasn't murder, as his trial proved. Their next big case, Michael Brown, was the same. All hype and no basis in reality. Instead of worrying about State violence against black people, they should worry about the biggest perpetrator of violence on African Americans- OTHER black people.

One of the founders spent $3 million to purchase 4 luxury homes. Plus $6 million to purchase a VERY nice home of 6500 square feet with donations to the BLMGNF.c But hey, at least you admit the organization exists. That is a step in the right direction...

Of course. That is why https://blacklivesmatter.com is not actually a website about an organization, complete with merchandise and social media profiles. And of course they don't really mean it when they say; "Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes."

According to NHK, he has passed away. The hospital was apparently waiting for his wife to arrive before making an official announcement. This is a shockingly rare occurence here. There are very few violent crimes- even in this one, the assassin used a hand-made firearm. Real guns are almost impossible to get. I wonder if it will change how politicians and even members of the Imperial Family go about their everyday business.

Oh, I see. "Whataboutary" is a synonym for "truth". Gotcha.

Truth hurts I guess. Kamala has a history of working under older men. Started early on and she got good at it. As for politics, she has never really been challenged on anything. As a female POC in California, nobody would dare put her to the test lest they be labeled as .........ist (pick your slur). Much as the Trump years were a success on many fronts, I don't want him to run again. Would LOVE to see DeSantis run, with perhaps Kristi Noem or Nikki Haley as VP. Youth, energy, ideas. Biden would be toast.

BLM was actually focussed on enriching themselves at the hands of gullible, guilty liberals. The founders are self-described "trained Marxists" who still somehow manage to acquire impressive real estate portfolios.

Sounds like a reasonable sentence. Chauvin was clearly out of his depth and worried about how to control a much larger, much stronger man who was obviously high on something.

Yeah, gotta wonder about the mentality here. You carry drugs into a virtual dictatorship, what did you expect was going to happen? Sorry but no sympathy here. If she is lucky, the Russians can appear "magnanimous" and just deport her. If not, a stretch in the Moscow Marriott awaits...

Fair answer, well put. Thank you. FWIW I agree that it did embolden him and is part of the reason for the current shambles. And to be honest, if the victim were a more democratic and free nation I would be more inclined towards helping them.

Uh, it looks to me like your graphs actually prove my point. Inflation in 2017 was 2.13%, 2018 was 2.44%, 2019 was 1.81%, 2020 was 1.23%. Unemployment? 2017 was 4.36%, 2018 was 3.9%, 2019 was 3.67%, 2020 was 8.31% (thanks Covid). And thanks to fracking and exploration, as you said in 2019 the US became an energy exporter. Biden OTOH is an enemy of the energy sector. That is what he promised in his election campaign and what he is doing. So I am really not sure what you think you are proving with your graphs, other than that I was right...

It is entertainment for me the same way it is for Democrats. All they want is to torpedo Trump '24 and keep the American people distracted going into the midterm elections. All their performative vituperation and angst is a big show put on for their friends in the media.

Iraq and Afghanistan were both total disasters. Not the kind of example I would use to justify excess military spending. Both left their regions worse off than before. If other countries want to join NATO, good for them. And also up to them. If you want to stop innocent loss of life, get Ukraine and Russia to the bargaining table and get them to hammer out an agreement. But keeping Ukraine propped up with weapons and gold will not encourage them to negotiate.

Of course invading is. So the war is Ukraine and Russia. But the US trying to kill Putin, or the Russians trying to kill Biden? A whole new ball game. You could expect an immediate and tragic escalation.

OK, good start. And to stop Putin, what are you willing to do? I think the whole farce in Ukraine has shown that Russian military power is not what everyone thought it was. Do you honestly think he will take a chance on attacking a NATO member state?

I am no "Trump loyalist". My preference is that he fade away from politics as fast as possible. He was good for the US and good for the economy while he was in office, but that is over now. My opinion, he should have taken the "L" and gone home. But that just isn't in his nature. About the only good he does is in still turning the left and the media into gibbering morons- it is quite entertaining.