Sir Dude

Thailand used to be a really good deal, but that started to change in like 2004 ish... after that it has slowly got worse and the screw has slowly tightened ever since then. It's still sort of okay compared to many places but it's not the deal it once was. Thailand is good to hang-out compared to many places, but it's a fail on many fronts for those who want to stay long term. I could go into why, but that would require a hundred page thread that most of you would know and confuse the newcomers.

The "conseratives" blew it by being liberal lite, and there hasn't been a real conserative party in the UK for like 30 years or so. The Tories (won't called them conseratives because they aren't) had 14 years to sort it out, but blew it through ignoring peoples' concerns and pandering to lefty BS... coming home to roost now. So many voters have become disillusioned with not just the Tories, but Liebour too, hence to surge in support for Reform. The UK is shot, so is the two party system... and don't even bother to mention the Illiberal Undemocrats as that would be a return to communism. The winds of change are blowing and the lefties are going to shed tears, through their own making, at upcoming elections in Europe... much blubbing there will be and heard on the moon it will.

Ironically enough, this is exactly why their fellow Arabs countries refuse to let any Palastinian refugees in... because they want Hamas contained in Gaza. If you look back through history, allowing Palatinians into your country is a really bad idea, look at Jordan and Lebanon, they did and it was a disaster for them... looking at Egypt too, completely refuses to let any of them in regardless of anything, and that should give a good lesson to all accepting or sympathizing with these nutjobs, even the Arabs don't want them because of the threat they pose. Learn the history.

I'm surprised anyone bothers to watch the BBC's left-wing propaganda nonsense anymore... shocking brainwashing BS.

Getting to the point now that you are only okay if you have a work permit on a non-immigrant visa and TIN number, plus pay and submit a tax form every year... other than that, it can't really get more opaque at the moment.

How about Starmer the spineless fool deploys troops on the streets of the UK... clearly needs it as it's turning into a war zone.

It is easy to see the deafening silence and absence from our far-lefty keyboard warriors who clearly choose to remain silent and ignore this issue as if it didn't happen. Your lack of condemnation on both these threads has been noted.

You could always just do the renewal legally. Can't really complain about changes if you are doing it the illegal cheap-Charlie way... you are at the mercy of the scamming agents and bent immigration officers.

Trump might just be doing his misdirection/brinksmanship negotiation on this one too, like with others before. He is threatening the worst senario to manipulate others to agreeing to what he wants... and his flamboyance and unpredictability helps him here, it's on purpose. For example, Trump has said he'll hang Ukraine out to dry, but maybe not if Ukraine promises to give the US $500 billion in rare earth metals in exchange for military and political support because China controls much of the world's supply of rare earth metals... always transactional. Maybe the US has no intention of abandoning Ukraine, but just wants something in return. Trump's deceptions are convincing, but no-one wants to risk it, and Trump can easily do what he says. ASlso, on this one, the icing on the cake is that Europe pulls its collective finger out of its arse regarding defence and steps up... which is also a big benefit to the US. Perhaps Trump isn't as stupid as some like to think... time will tell. Real principled negotiation ends up in a win-win situation, good for both sides.... when you try to do win-lose, that's called hard barginning, and often ends in no deal or lose-lose.

IMO, all religious zealotry that interjects into society or other peoples' lives is a mental illness of the instigator and should be removed quickly. Europe has enough of its home-grown nutcases to deal with... anyone from outside that turns up and doesn't behave should be instantly deported or given harsh labour in a penal colony or something. As an aside, I'm impressed this thread lasted 14 posts without Trump being mentioned... way to go folks.

The lefty-liberal politics is ironically giving rise to the one thing they don't through this socialist dogma and ideology... the resurgence of the right. The upcoming elections in many countries in Europe will deliver uncomfortable results for the leftist parties... and no-one to blame but themselves, people have had enough of being shown patronizing contempt on almost all topics, plus a desire to waterdown cultures and society's values for this amorphous blob of an existence. Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of humour... grab the popcorn on election day and watch the tears fall and hear the blubbing, as the winds of change are blowing in many places.

Nice cherry picking... you took 5 words out of context and tried to make it look good. How about you make an intelligent reply on the whole post... but I guess wise guys don't have the intellect for that?

This is a multilayered issue. I agree with Trump that the other members of NATO need to step up and pull their weight with defence spending, as the US has been doing the heavy lifting thus far... and the other members have sherked their responsibilities in favour of social programs. That was okay after the Cold War finished and was called "The Peace Dividend"... however, that time is clearly over as many bad actors are now getting more powerful and the world is becoming much more dangerous every day. Europe should take responsibility for its defence and it's folly to rely on others for this... peace through strength works. Europe has had 80 years since WW2 to get it's defencive act together and they have fail badly. On the other hand, the US cannot unilaterally decide everything in NATO, and Trump has mistakenly gone over the heads of all the US allies and just done a Neville Chamberlain appeasement job... that's not good, and dangerous, because if anyone thinks Putin will negotiate in good faith, then you are deluded. The Kremlin just sees a ceasefire or peace deal as a chance to reload and reprime itself for another go later. The only thing Putin respects is strength and the West isn't showing this at the moment, just tepid support for Ukraine at best. Europe needs to man-up and say to the US "Don't get involved, we'll deal with it on this one"... showing it has a spine. The previous status-quo is gone and changes on many fronts are coming. Whilst I agree with Trump on a fair few things, his Ukraine strategy is foolish... you can't appease dictators or awful regimes, got to front them up.

Generally, there 3 main problems after you get past the brainwashing nonsense of high school and the lack of anything meaningful in elementary school, and they are: 1. General cultural apathy towards the subject with classes that often are like 60 or more (rack em and stack em to save money)... so, managing them is an issue along with teachers not being able to "teach" in those sized classes, it's a lecture. Once you get over 25, then it's not really teaching anymore... but that's what you are paying for at expensive schools, the small classes (plus a few other things). 2. Getting students to participate, practice, do pair and group work, or actually to try. It's the attitude of "Let's just blend in with the herd rather that get singled out" or better to be mediocre and pass instead of inquisitive/ask questions and put you head up. There is a classroom culture of not asking questions... not good. 3. Students, young people, and just people in general (all over the world) are distracted by their electronic devices... scrolling through TikTok shorts or playing FIFA Soccer is much more interesting than listening to some old person talking about the zero conditional or present perfect continuous etc. The more advanced and immersive these devices and apps get, the more distracted people become, especially the young.

"Nurses" my backside, just hate-filled non-caucasians that have tricked their way into a Western country to spread their vileness. The Australian authorities should just kick them out.

I don't blame them really, as having a relationship/getting married/ having a family is fraught with problems/expenses and there are no government incentives to do it. I have talked to many young people and they see it as a trap.... with financial servitude attached. Good luck trying to convince them to play the game on this one.

China is in a lot more trouble than most think. China has a collasping demographic with far too many older people and not enough workers that earn and spend/consume, plus their economy is in major trouble and relying on manufacturing is a a risky strategy, hence why they are deserpate to change that. On top of all that, they are sinking in debt, much of it hidden in local government shadow debt. Beijing does growth differently to the rest of the world, it decides how much it will be and then tasks local government to meet its targets... trouble written all over it and it's not as if the figures are reliable, and most economist/China observers/think tanks agree that their figure are made-up BS. Add to that the youth movement about "Let it rot" etc. reflect the dissillionment of the young in the country as they simply can't get ahead, regardless of how hard they work... they are just exploited, and uni grduates are finding impossible to get the jobs they want. China is in horrible trouble and the CCP just lies about everything to cover it all up and pretend it's all fine... don't buy into the commie propaganda.

It's just too ludicrous to care about it much, but the menally ill should receive treatment and be recognised as having issues. There is no way that everyone else should be expected and forced to take part in their moronic fantasies though... that's why normal folk ridicule this nonsense.

Why aren't the IRA's atrocities being brought to book too? There are plenty of them too... or is it just the normal lefty nonsense BS that covers for their misdeeds?

Again, another example of Labour's ill-thought-out student union ideological class politics that will simply cost the taxpayer more in the long run, on top of crashing the economy as if that isn't enough. Starmer and his incompetent cabinet need to learned the idea of realpolitik on numerous topics. Labour have had 15 years to get a plan together and they have nothing to offer other than going back to the 70s... facepalm.

Okay, but therefore there's little point discussing such things... although, sometimes I'm a little surprised where some people think the center ground is.

Well, many would consider that one as subjective.

Only dumb-ass entitled moron people try this drug trafficing nonsense in such places... Bali isn't the far-lefty UK or other such place administered by deluded muppets. Most sensible countries consider class A drugs and theft/looting etc. as serious offences, and rightly so, as they undermine some of the fundamental rights to society (like the right to property and the protection of it, or public safety) that holds society together and enables organised crime. Once you no longer enforce these laws and let it go feral, then dystopian chaos ensues and society becomes ill. Why? Well, there is no point in doing anything normal or behaving in an accepted way if some oxygen thief can just rock up and take what they want with no consequences or just deal illegal substances openly... no point in working, respecting the law, having a family, saving for the future, paying taxes etc. etc. if the authorities won't protect you, the community, and your efforts. Everywhere that forgets this descends in a mess and the cure is often unpalatible, even if the results are stunning... for example, El Salvador, from the most dangerous country in the world to the safest in a matter of 6 months, because they let the rot go too far, and many places doing the same... but not places like Indonesia. You have to remember that places like Indonesia are Muslim countries and they take a very dim view of such things... even if their males constantly cross the border with places like Thailand to party and go to bars with women etc. because they can't do it at home.

I'm very happy to hear that, and look forward to you being a consistant bastion of impartiality and balance without any bias or prejudice.

Ahhh, did we goad you into a sensible position after your lackluster and tepid initial attempt. Also, resorting to personal insults shows you up and has bad optics... attack the content, not the poster.