Lacessit

The Russian navy does not need Crimea to control its naval entry to the Black Sea. It can do that just as easily from the port of Novorosslyk. The Russian bear will not go back to sleep. The Russian demographic is collapsing, this is the Kremlin's last chance to push westward to natural land barriers. Putin's miscalculated invasion only succeeded in adding 1500 km of frontier with a new NATO country, Finland. The Finns have not forgotten how they were forced to cede Karelia in 1940. Russia has an existential crisis as bad as Ukraine. Appeasing it is just kicking the can down the road.

Checked my BP this morning, 105/55, pulse 59 bpm. No medication. What's your BMI?

There's no doubt Americans are unhealthy. 70% of them are either overweight or obese. IMO the healthier you are, the less medication you need. The Romans knew it over 2000 years ago, when they coined the phrase " A healthy mind in a healthy body". With diet and exercise, I reduced the 6 regular medications I used to take years ago to just one. I don't need anti-depressants, reflux medication, quinine ( cramps ), or ARB's any more. I still take tramadol opportunistically, for back pain twice a week. Unfortunately, Americans don't have a role model. Trump is obese, and his diet is terrible. Only his doctor knows how many meds he is on. RFK as a recovered heroin addict is not much of a role model either.

Why should I? The insults leveled at me by you lot are so boring and predictable. I'll start worrying when you guys can post irrefutable facts, and expand your vocabularies past 500 words.

In his last term, he played over 300 times. That's almost a year of golf out of four. On average, $800,000 per outing, to his properties. $240 million. Even the best pros don't earn that much in four years.

High carb, I don't eat them. Let me recommend pork rinds. Rich source of collagen, restores cartilage. It may help your back, after all that mop pushing.

IMO the Chinese are taking over Thailand without firing a shot. Northern Myanmar is already theirs. Every time I use my electric knife sharpener, I wonder if I am doing the right thing.

Australia provided $4.6 billion in aid in 2022. Based on population, we are actually more generous than you. I very much doubt Thailand could defend itself, too many chiefs and not enough Indians. The Thais are more expert at fence-sitting. Don't you feel deprived of your Second Amendment rights here? Or are you that rare person, a sensible American?

Quite correct, although the proles would probably squeal when they can't get cheap imports. You would also be introducing inefficiencies. Your steel industry would be making steel from the poorest grade of iron ore on the planet. You would be using expensive energy to produce aluminium. If you can feed, energize and defend yourself, why are you so paranoid?

The anesthesiologist is saying there is brain activity after the heart and breathing stops. Having had general anesthesia multiple times, it's a big fat nothing when I go under. The next thing I know, I am in the recovery room. Luckily, my only side effects are hunger and thirst. The OP does not say how long after the clinical death brain consciousness lasts. Is there a population from which statistics can be drawn , to say how long it takes on average for brain activity to cease entirely? I can't say if he is right or wrong, but it does appear to be wishful thinking.

How long do you think the US will have allies if it's going to slap tariffs on everyone? Canada is already forging trade ties with China and the EU. If you think Trump and Musk will be putting the money they save into SS and MC, you are delusional. Oligarchs line their own pockets.

So do I. There are a couple of other possibilities: (a) The tax office is uninterested in reported incomes below a certain threshold. Not worth the effort. (b) They have bigger fish to fry. This is Thailand. Like Immigration, rules and their application may vary between offices.

Isn't your village missing you?

It's already happening, obvious to anyone with more than two brain cells. You think DOGE is about saving money? It's about re-directing it.

And you will be licking up ants from the floor for protein, after your SS payments get cut because you are not spending them in the Hew Hess Hay.

According to life expectancy statistics, ashes fertilizing my GF's garden.

IME the Arabs I worked with spent more time trying to get out of work than it would have taken them to get the work done.

We have ginger nuts too, please keep up.

Trump paid $750 in tax in 2016 and 2017. Someone on $50,000 per year in America pays about $5900. No need to call you stupid, you do that out of your own mouth.

America is not Russia. There is only so much BS Twitter can pump out when COL is visibly rising, before it gets to the same credibility level as Truth Social.

What would you have paid?

I am quite well aware if someone is black, brown, brindle or white. I judge a person on how they interact with me. Treat me with respect, I return it. I have worked with a range of nationalities. The only ethnic group I have an antipathy towards is Arabs, based on my personal experiences with them.

It's pretty mild compared to gweiloh ( Chinese ) or gaijin ( Japanese ). Then there's the Russians, with chorny.

I have worked with both races, plus Japanese. As individuals, not the same deal. Your generalisation is more applicable to groups. Thais don't like Chinese because they haggle over price to the point of exhaustion. Shopkeepers detest them.

It must have changed from when I was there in the 90's. I saw some pretty raw racism then. Black people were less guarded with me, because I had an Australian accent.