Donga

Agree and same for me including time in Nigeria and Indonesia. But even my (hardly) Moslem mates in Oz are virulently anti-Isreal. Expect 99% of Moslems are anti-Israel and is why they don't condemn Hamas, Hezbollah. They're seen as militant freedom fighters after years of Israeli injustices. I can understand how people see Israeli moves in West Bank etc as injustices, but at same time can see why Conservatives thought they needed to be done, even if I don't agree with them. I just find it frustrating that Moslems don't seem to give much leeway for Israeli right to exist and quite merrily let the fundamentalists bang away. Then will occasionally exclaim that a terrorist act was so terrible. Notable silence after Oct 7 though.

A radical Islamist granted asylum? So sad. After Paris for the honeymoon a few years back, wifey wants to visit London as she's seen in so many film haha. I'm tempted to go in for a day, run around the Thames again but so many Brits have warned me that it is very dispiriting. Having lived there twice last century and visited many times since, last time 15 years ago, am torn. Younger folk might argue that I'm living in the past. I'd reply, you've got no idea how sweet that was. Immigration is fine and done great things for Australia, but been taken too far. Fortunately we've been more selective until recently, and our situation not as dire as some of the European countries. Moderate Moslems need to stop being tribal and more actively differentiate themselves from the hard core that now get in. They could start by chanting Free Palestine from Hamas.

"According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), they were permitted to stay only until February 2023. Soliman, a 45-year-old Egyptian national, filed for asylum a month after entering the country and listed his wife and children as dependents in Denver. He was granted a temporary work permit in March 2023, which expired this past March"

Illegal immigrants - try that out in most countries of the world. My wife can't understand why we had to go to so much trouble to arrange initial visas, then residency, when she hears about the carry on that goes on the "silly" countries. Overstaying visa stays is illegal. Why do so many people not understand that illegal immigration is ILLEGAL and therefore perpetrators, once located are required to go home. Except in Luvvie Land apparently, but no-one can tell me where it is. And why are people, who do understand, often portrayed in much of the media as being Far Right, or even right wing at all? Maybe cos they don't believe in Luvvie Land.

Two more words - illegal immigrants Wish we could all live in Luvvie land - land of rainbows, and plenty of everything for everyone, no crime, no religion, bit like world peace, which I support wholeheartedly. Must be so nice there but no-one can tell me where it is. Can you help? Or are you just going to perpetuate the naivety.

The ICJ is becoming increasingly irrelevant, like the UN and WHO - dangerous, unelected administrators.

A little simplistic - Catholicism not the only reason, but expect would be a considerable factor in a country like the Philippines. Thailand did get on top of HIV early on with ongoing reminders and expect prevalence would much lower. Sticking with HIV, it's Christian African countries with a fair share of Catholics like Lesotho, Botswana and South South Africa (with its troubled past in HIV denial) that lead the world in HIV prevalence per capita.

Divorced first wife after 2 children, mid 20s Second wife bore 12 children and passed away when my lady, the youngest was 10, Pa was 57 Third wife had one child, and she is a delight, now 73 In his prime Pa won the Yasothon rocket festival 5x in a row

So many negative and plain wrong understandings on this subject. Met my lady online and yes she was a mature massage therapist, admittedly at an up market hotel spa. She got into massage through proper training to provide for her two children, even though her ex helped to a small degree. After a few months I decided she was the one for me - honest as the day is long, practicing Buddhist and delightful Isaan family & values. She needed money to support her Pa and daughter in uni, not a lot and I was happy to oblige while I was tidying things up back home. I have never been hassled to support other family members (14 siblings) and I credit 98 year old Pa for largely creating the family culture of hard work and honesty. We married four years ago civilly and three years ago after Covid at the village with around 100 family members. Such a wonderful ceremony and feel blessed I met her after dating many ladies, usually much better educated but my lady was a no brainer, pretty much from our 2nd date. We now live half the time in Oz and other half in Thailand. Life is good.

Err it's taken a while and would not have happened on Kamala Harris's watch. The Ivy League universities need to get WDSmart eh. And obviously needed a little help.

Some sweeping statements and laden with bias. I'd love to see who was selected in the "poll of 154 historians" and the the credentials for "worst in history" first term. Fact is the economy in the first term was buoyant, and in a close race he paid for his outrageous Covid behaviours. Though in retrospect we know that apart from his magic sauces, he wasn't that far off beam, e.g. China's role, the destructive lockdowns. The USA has been steadily declining for decades with ever growing deficits, national debt, waistlines and social problems, particularly the more recent deaths and crime associated with fentanyl. This is apart from the unproductive woke craziness and undermining of Western civilisation in the universities and some media. The mental health of so many young people is very concerning as it is in much of Anglosphere. So who's going to sort it? Not the legal profession, who flourish with more rules and regulations that stymie productivity in so many ways. Things need to change, quickly and dramatically. Trump himself is a pain the arse in so many ways, which the media highlight constantly. Many old school Republicans worry about his behaviours and there's no shortage of economists predicting doom and gloom. Where were these folk in the last 20 years? USA has been a slow train wrecking and neither Democrats or Republicans have been facing up to it. The lower classes have been trashed, assets have continued to multiply for those with degrees such that now the top 10% own 88% of the wealth, 40% the remaining 12%, leaving half the country treading water water, renting and working to keep their head above water. They don't have any shares, so don't give a toss about the share market. So, what do you do? Trump in his hamfisted manner is about revolutionising the American economy and to an extent the world order, which has been undermined by UN, WHO and trade practices that have worked against the USA. China has been ruthless in blocking free trade where it suits them, subsiding industries to develop dominant positions, rearming at an alarming rate and bullying countries in the process. This is not sustainable. The tariffs aren't such a big deal as much as media squeal. Trump does listen to his advisors and has shown he can change course when he needs, e.g. when the bond market became jittery. At least the stock markets have been recovering of late. We don't know if his revolution will ultimately succeed, a recession isn't the end of the world if it comes about during the transition. We should hope that his passion for reduced warfare comes about, believe he genuinely sees this for what it is - tragic waste of lives and economic traction, let alone the US can't afford anymore Afghanistans. We have to recognise he is doing what he said he would, which in itself is a refreshing change. Illegal immigration has ground to a halt, the Europeans are having to increase their defense budgets, Ukraine and Gaza conflicts are slowly winding down, Iran is under significant pressure to pull back (why have they been allowed to get away with their horrid jihadist role for so long), and have to believe that at least some trade deals will be announced shortly. Trump is scary, and a pity he has such an ego and vindictive streak. That aside, his vision has merit and this term may be the last chance for the US to address the many woefully unproductive and unhealthy aspects of their society. Could be game over for the Western civilisation and all it's positive attributes (by all means, tell me the alternative) if this ends in tears. And I am not worried that Trump is trying to become a dictator, or totally trash the judiciary or universities, but drastic changes in outlook and processes are required. May well be way wrong and we'll see how the different indices and commentaries read in a few years.

That's a great list. Brings back memories and reinforces MSM reliance on fear to reduce the pace of their dwindling readership. What is very annoying is they never go back and say "oops, we got it wrong". Can also add the many Nostradamus doomsday prophecies, he was a busy fella. But daily climate change, end of the world reports (little exaggeration) takes the cake. I recall reading about 10 years ago, how all the MSM agreed to have a climate change story every day. It was a credible site, listed all the participants, about 50 of them from around the world including NYT, WP, LA Times, Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian, CNN, BBC, ABC. They were proud of undertaking their civic duty to ensure everyone understand the dire situation of the planet. The kiddies probably suffer the most.

A good sign of poor intellect. Such an inane response to a post you probably had trouble comprehending. Western politics is really very simple - Idealists tend to vote left wing and realists to the right. Swinging voters decide. And lately they're rejecting left wing parties that took their ideologies too far at the expense of their worker base. WSJ is kinda right wing, but like other NewsCorp media is capable of critiquing Conservatives and in this case, Trump. Rare to see NYT, CNN, WP, The Guardian, BBC, and all the other dying media be as objective. Just prattle to their diminishing herd, is funny to read them all regularly. Love Washington Post's Daily 7: Guaranteed 2 to 3 Trump shrills, could include an anti Musk or Hesgeth rant, always 1 climate doomsday story (like temperature record somewhere or really strong winds oooh), often a cute animal story (aw) or a sports grab and then a couple of real news items. Says a lot about their bolted on readers. You bang away BLMFem, and one day you might see there is a limit to ideologies, in the hard realities of this world.

Don't think you luvvies get it. Of course Trumps ratings will be lower - there is some pain in getting big things done. Things that both Dem and GOP Administrations have kicked down the road for way too long. For all the carping of the increasingly irrelevant MSM, much has already been achieved, which the likes of NYT and WP blithely ignore, just as they did Biden's health. Can you luvvies think of many? There are some big ones there. Because so much has to be done in a relatively short period of time, the US is having to take some medicine now - no relying on the timid status quo, ever increasing debt, waistlines and putrid anti-west, pro all sorts of silly ideologies. Let's review his ratings in two years as we might be well on the way to a much better US than last few decades.

While I a lot of sympathy for Ukrainians for what they've endured, I believe regaining Crimea is a lost cause. It has long been Russian then Soviet territory and was ceded to the Ukraine by the Soviets under Krushchef in1954 for political purposes, when Ukraine was a prominent member of the USSR. Never did the Soviets envisage that Ukraine would become independent. Over 80% of Crimea are Russian ethnics. Russian will not agree to any peace without keeping Crimea. As for the eastern parts of Ukraine, which also have large Russian ethnics, that also will be tough in the current situation. Russia now holds the much stronger cards, unless Europe can grow some, but probably too late for that.