John Drake

What? That 3 percent is on top of what has already occurred. Inflation is not down. It's still going up. It was 5.8 percent, then 8 percent, then 3.4 percent. And each of those percentage increases also include the base total of the previous increase.

Snippets, yes. The younger ones don't have the patience to watch even a five minute video. Less than a minute or they're outta there.

I did see a post on Twitter that claimed the UK government was counting on the beginning of soccer season to kill the protests. I don't know. When does soccer begin? Seems to me it's hardly ever stopped.

I do wonder how much influence the cable news networks still have. The average age of their (Fox, MSNBC, CNN) viewers I have seen put up on Twitter/X is 69 or 70. Nobody that old changes their minds. That means the true influence is elsewhere. And their must be an extensive system to support, whether it's Tik Tok, Instagram, X, Telegram, others of that nature. One thing I'm pretty sure of is that most of us on AN aren't seeing much of it. I see a fair amount on X. But even X is a minor player compared to the likes of Tik Tok.

These two political campaigns, Harris and Trump, have no resemblance to the campaigns I experienced over my lifetime. The press not only cheerleads for its favorite candidate. It not only covers up for its favorite candidate. But it now invents stories and pushes outright lies to help its favorite candidate. Everything is orchestrated.

Will that include people as well as merchandise?

Prayuth did a first rate job with Covid. Those of us here had much more freedom than those living in the West or in China. Fewer deaths, here, and a population that worked with the government in order to secure a relative degree of safety for the population. Not to mention the Chinese vaccines, which I'm so very happy I received instead of the mRNA injections.

I would never vote for Vance because of his position on abortion. I favor pro abortion laws. That said, the timidity and outright fearfulness that Harris seems determined to rest with is disconcerting. She needs to take live questions from people where she doesn't have scripted answers. I haven't seen any spontaneity from her or her campaign. Only the rage machine that is Tim Walz.

Hmmm. Reminds me of someone.

I wonder why Obama selected Walz over Shapiro?

Don't know if he's destroyed. At least, not yet. But the picture emerging of a man who exaggerates his (non) war record, military rank, sits back while his state's cities burn, gives driver's licenses to illegal aliens, has a problem with alcohol, and cannot control his anger, all that is something that makes for an ugly portrait. The more I learn of him, the more I distrust him.

And subsequent stop after that is watching their largest trade surplus, which is with the US, disappear and the country trading chickens to Russia oil.

I predict if Trump gets elected he will pull a "Trump Goes to China" spectacle and reverse everything he supposedly stood for in his first term with China. He'll betray not only his base but the entire country in an attempt to gain diplomatic "legitimacy."

I think Trump is just an older version of the same guy who messed up the first time. I remember his campaign: Quantitative Tightening, balanced budget, reshoring American manufacturing, scrapping the DREAMer legislation the first day in office, facing down China, and of course the Wall that became a Fence in a few places. Not only did he fail to do what was promised, he actually took positions the exact opposite of what he had campaigned on. His two legislative milestones? Tax cuts for billionaires and letting felons out of jail.

Mnuchin, Jay Powell, Fay Wray, Lighthizer, Jared, Ivanka, . Those are his long termers. Everyone else was in and out too quick to judge.

Those are characteristics I associate more with RFKjr. Plus RFKjr wants a strong dollar. I've given up on both the Democrats and Republicans.

It seems his statement was a classic case of projection.

I must admit it sounds like the sort of thing Trump would do. He's always trying to get everyone (and I mean everyone) to love him. Plus, as is well known, he is a terrible judge of character.

You charged me with "possible defamation." Of what or whom, I just can't tell. But certainly you realize that defamation in Thailand is criminal offense. I have no idea whether you thought I defamed Walz, you, or the military. Taken from the standpoint of the US, where this story originates, however, it is virtually impossible to defame politicians. That's part of being a public figure.

Please provide a source. I would be willing to retract my criticism if you can provide a link that supports your claim that the National Guard "debunked" the issue of Walz's rank. Because from what I can tell from this Newsweek story of 12 hours ago, the National Guard says just the opposite of what you claim.

That they know more about the situation than you do.

Yet you want to require some anonymous statement of military experience before people are allowed to criticize Walz's exaggerations and deception on his war record. Guess what. Any American citizen can criticize any American politician as much as they want. And unlike some other countries, America doesn't lock people up for social media posts that may hurt someone's feelings.

The two sergeants served in Iraq. They have direct knowledge of what occurred.

Walz appears to be a man who has/had an alcohol problem, who exaggerates his war record (or lack thereof), who lets his cities burn in the face of rioting, gives driver's licenses to illegal aliens, and who seems to have a problem controlling his anger.

Who are you to contradict the two army sageants who composed that letter? Are you even an American?