Walker88

Not sure if the proper response here is plus ça change or 'there's nothing new under the sun'. There will always be dreamers who think they've finally found true love in a woman a few decades their junior. There will always be scheming women who see a mark and exploit his needs. Sometimes two people might even find each other and develop a real relationship, but I suspect the odds are skewed against such success. Age and cultural gaps are tough to bridge. Kudos to those who have made it happen. I do think Thai women can be quite endearing, but I go back to my standby Groucho Marx-ism: I'd never mate with a woman who would have me as a partner.

Degraded? Really? And you know that how, Rambo? Fake Alpha males like Hegseth and his (possibly) future boss have a Colonial/Imperialist mentality, where they fancy themselves superior to "s-hole" countries and cultures. Show me someone who calls himself a "warrior" and I'll put money down on a new war. To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. A guy who fancies himself a warrior is wont to send someone, perhaps himself (though not for the guy with bone spurs), into a conflict. The US will go to war with Iran in the next 4 years. Also, Hamas lost its leadership, but has as many of its own "warriors" as before 7 October, perhaps more. As former DCI and SecDef Robert Gates used to say when he was informed some terrorists had been taken out, "How many more did we create today?". More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the outbreak of the war. Likely that has led to the creation of tens of thousands more Hamas warriors. Does the new Administration have a plan to address that? To address Iran, which re-started it U235 enrichment and nuke program after 45 abrogated the JCPOA? Oh, and let's not forget Panama and Greenland. The soon-to-be POTUS never says anything he doesn't actually intend to do. Last time he had some sane and rational guardrails around him, such a Gen Mattis, SecDef Esper, Gen Milley and a few others who got in the way of his insanity. With Hegseth, Patel and others, he will not have any guardrails this time. Also, as soon as the Repubs halt assistance to Ukraine, Putin wins and his eyes will shift to Estonia, and maybe eastern Poland. China will see lack of US resolve and---as economic problems cause unrest in the Middle Kingdom---will move on Taiwan. By the way, anybody out there think Repubs like Lankford, Thune, Rubio, even McConnell and Graham, believe Hegseth is actually qualified to run an $840 billion entity with 3 million employees? Hegseth is an armchair warrior's view of a leader, besides being a drunk.

LOL No, fella, it's quite real. Sorry, but lots of people are significantly more wealthy than you. I wanted another place outside of the US, and searched for about 2 years. I saw the property I now own and instantly made an offer. Paid cash. I also wanted to do the renovation the right way, and spent some time finding the right artisans to do the work. While I enjoy it, and visit several times a year for a few weeks at a time, I take some satisfaction knowing I am helping to preserve not only history, but the incredible skill of the folks, long since dead and gone, who cut and shaped the oak timbers, gathered and fashioned the stones that make up its 3 foot thick walls, laid the floors, put in all the fireplaces, and made a structure that has lasted centuries. I am told the original church was destroyed during some religious unrest, but rebuilt ~550 years ago. Out buildings include a massive barn and a foundry, used to make all the fixtures and iron bars on the lower windows, as well as the coopering straps for wine casks. As I noted previously, the property was once a working winery, and the structure where the wine was aged still has giant oak casks. Some of the casks fell apart over the years, so the artisans doing renovation use some of the old oak for indoor structures and finishing work. That oak is incredibly hard and quite difficult to work. I insist on using only period materials (save for modern bathrooms and electricity, and a working kitchen), so pointing is done with limestone plaster and any painting uses natural ochres. When a floor needs replacing, I source reclaimed wood. Often in the evening, before sunset, I pour a glass of wine and stroll around the exterior, continually marveling at the work and toasting the folks who long ago built the structure. I've gotten papers from the local commune office that note owners and residents going back to the mid 1400s. Coming from a country where the oldest structures are maybe 200-250 years old, I have an appreciation for things that are much much older. People in my commune swear the structure is haunted, but in all the time I have stayed in it, often alone, not a peep from a ghost. Sometimes a piece of rock will fall from a wall in a nearby room, but as far as 'strange' noises, that's it. Sourcing furniture has also been fun, and like the building itself, I enjoy studying the workmanship long dead artisans could do with less-than-ideal tools. I have brothers and sisters, but I've yet to propagate my own gene pool, so either a sibling gets it, or the state can take it over. In the meantime, I get to enjoy it for the next few decades. And no, I'm not going to post any images. I prefer anonymity, especially since there's lots of crazy folks online. If it makes you feel better thinking this is all a fantasy, knock yourself silly. I don't give a flying eff what anyone thinks. Getting back on topic, Spain might consider that there are structures in their country the average Spaniard is not going to call home. Allowing foreigners to buy and renovate historical structures, without imposing a 100% tax on the buyer, benefits Spanish society as well as Spanish artisans.

Perhaps we have an expert in the Forum who can tell us how they would have withdrawn from Afghanistan. The folks who now run the country were in jail until 45 released 5000 Taliban prisoners. Most were battle-hardened jihadis, and quite likely they were involved in the airport attack. Had the withdrawal been protracted, both US soldiers and contractors would be targets in a turkey shoot. How many would all you MAGAs have been willing to sacrifice? When soldiers are in harm's way, invariably some get killed. Just like in Mali under 45. As for migrants, please post the numbers on illegal entrants under 45 vs under Biden. Even if things were done wrong, one of you MAGAs might explain why 45 called SotH Johnson to kill the Republican-written Border Bill, which Biden would have signed. 45 is a self-serving hypocrite, who cares more abouty re-election (to stay out of jail) than actual security. Remember he stole thousands of highly classified documents and kept them in his country club. He really cares about US security? Please, only idiots believe that. Biden brought NATO back together again to stop Putin's aggression in Ukraine. That was the right thing to do. Biden got a bipartisan infrastructure bill passed, rather than perpetually claim "Net week is Infrastructure Week". As for inflation, the combo of the R-led ta cut, endless deficits, and Covid created the kindling for that. Inflation is not brought down in a day, and requires many measures, including Fed policy. The US under Biden did better and was faster getting it down than any other nation...and inflation was worldwide. Under Biden, the US recovered from Covid, the Recession left behind by 45, and the 6.8% unemployment 45 left behind, quite quickly, growing from 2020 at 3 times the rate of the average G7 nation. Noting the damage from supply chain disruptions during Covid, Biden presided over the creation of 800,000 new manufacturing jobs in the US, plus breaking ground on the first new US chip plants in 40 years. As for energy, Biden did not send mixed messages; he took a realistic and long term approach that considered both fossil fuels and new tech (45's bestie Musk rather likes new tech, such as electric cars). The result was that the US now produces more energy than it consumes, and still has over 9000 approved drilling leases nobody has chosen to take. 45 was the first President since Hoover to leave office with fewer Americans working than when he entered; under Biden more jobs were created than under any President, and during his time the US saw more consecutive months of UE under 4% than any time in the last 64 years. All that is not bad for a man facing the onslaught of old age, and what Biden accomplished dwarfs anything 45 did. I do take exception to the student loan forgiveness, and would have preferred---if one is to do it at all---that it come with a requirement for public service. I also am critical of him pardoning his son. I understand a man who lost one son to cancer, and who has little time left, would want to do what he did, but I still do not approve. Bottom line is Biden inherited an absolute mess from 45, and he will leave with the economy still going gangbusters, the equity market still strong, the labor market overheating it's so strong, a rebuilt NATO, the Russian economy close to collapse, US infrastructure on the mend, and the US respected around the world, save for the fever swamps of MAGA-stan. I guarantee the next 4 years will be far worse.

MAGAs live in a fantasy world, where their messiah is more infallible than a Borgia pontiff. They attack any critic as if the critic is a Danish cartoonist drawing haram images. A cult is a cult is a cult. Just imagine if Kamala had 'done the right thing' and refused to certify the election, and Biden was intimately involved (according to his own appointed staff) with a fake elector scheme. Imagine if Antifa set up gallows next week in Lafayette Park and began chanting "Hang 47". 45 is guilty, only saved by endless delays, the pitty-appointment of Garland as AG, and a corrupt and captured Supreme Court. Just as egregious as 45's behavior re the election he knew full well he lost, is his theft of highly classified documents, for which ANYONE else who pulled that stunt would be jailed AWAITING trial, not the beneficiary of a clown judge hoping to get a seat on the Supreme Court. We will have a convicted felon as POTUS, who would have had many more convictions if actual justice had been served. That a plurality voted for him is an indication of what George Carlin said about the intellect of the average person. SO be it. Those of us who know better have schadenfreude to enjoy as 47's total incompetence and---my opinion---psychopathy wreak havoc on the United States. It's going to be social and economic mayhem on a scale never seen. MAGAs who disagree....just remember this post a year or two from now.

Not sure about Spain, but in Italy and France, 'outsiders' often buy old, historical properties in various states of disrepair, and then put in lots of funds---using local licensed artisans---to bring the property back to livable and historical standards. A few years ago I bought an 800 year old castle and have done govt-approved repairs that make it a landmark. I have slowly furnished it with antiques that match the feeling of the structure. The estate also has its own church, which has similarly been brought up to standard, plus buildings where wine was made and aged for hundreds of years. I have cared for the grounds and left a hundred acres of old growth forest untouched and open to locals who wish to hike or view the abundant wildlife. I have no heirs, so someday the property will be returned to the country. Spain ought to consider some outsider purchases as FDI.

I am reminded of the argument the soon-to-be #2 at DoJ made or influenced when arguing Presidential Immunity at the Supreme Court, and especially before the Circuit Court. POTUSs make morally difficult decisions in regards to actions that might be taken against individuals who represent a threat to the homeland. Usually such individuals are ten thousand miles away in the tribal areas of Pakistan or Afghanistan. 45's team argued that anything goes when one is sitting POTUS. Obviously Biden has more character than 45 or 45's legal team. As for the indictment and conclusion resulting from SC Smith's investigation, MAGAs will not read the report, nor care what witnesses, who were appointed members of 45's Administration, not "Dems", "Radical Leftists", "Marxists/Socialists", etc., testified under oath in front of the Grand Jury. All MAGAs do is repeat what they have heard in the fever swamps they inhabit and what their mendacious messiah says about "witchhunts". Scratch a MAGA find someone who is either willfully ignorant of American ideals, or else a traitor to those ideals. There is no other possibility, especially if they read SC Smith's report. Certainly MAGAs cannot use actual facts to argue otherwise, as the facts of the investigation are beyond doubt. All MAGAs have are false claims of "weaponization" or epithets for anyone engaging in blasphemy against their messiah. Legally questioning results of an election is okay. Engaging in fake elector schemes, fomenting a terrorist attack against the Capitol, pressuring the VP to break the law and sitting idle when watching terrorists on TV not only erecting gallows on Capitol grounds, but chanting "Hang Mike Pence". MAGAs, let me ask: If folks not enamored of 47 erect gallows on White House grounds or nearby in Lafayette Park, and begin chanting "Hang 47", you would be okay with that, call it free speech, and say it was really a "Lovefest" (as 45 described the Capitol attack). What I suspect is that if such an event occurred, 47 would run down into the WH bunker, as he did when a Code Pink protest of mostly 70+ women showed up on Pennsylvania Ave (and after which 45 said whoever leaked news of his abject cowardice Zeta-male behavior to the press should be executed for treason).

That whole Francis Bacon and his Scientific Method are just so 16th Century. Doctors and scientists...what do they know about anything? It's time we went back to bloodletting, leeches or stable geniuses who know that an injection of disinfectant cures Covid in a snap. Embrace ignorance. It's all the rage now, with RFK, Jr and his boss leading the way back to the Dark Ages.

What is this "disaster"? MAGAs are always barking about some disaster, but I can't seem to find it. I do know that in December 2020, before Biden-Harris took over, the US was suffering a Recession, 6.8% Unemployment, and was in the midst of a pandemic and a lockdown. 45 was the 1st POTUS since Hoover to leave office with fewer Americans employed than when he entered. To me, that all kind of sounds like a disaster. Today, the US has seen GDP growth since the end of 2020 that runs 3 times the average G7 nation, the US has been best at taming worldwide inflation, unemployment is ~4% and set the longest streak <4% in 64 years during Biden's term, the first new chip plants in 40 years are being built, the infrastructure is being fixed, prescription drug prices are down, and 800,000 new manufacturing jobs have arisen. The stock market---and everyone's 401K---has soared. In a true rarity, both Consumer Spending and Consumer Saving grew in 2024. If all that is a disaster, can we please get more! I understand not all boats have been lifted by the rising tide of the Biden Boom, but that isn't Joe's fault. The modern economy does require that folks bring talents and marketable skills to the table. Apparently, MAGAs are not in the demographic of talented or skilled, save for the billionaires wanting more tax breaks. Sorry you missed out. Maybe it's kind of courageous you admitted that. Maybe you can join the military and be on the front lines in the Battle of Greenland. Just a thought. The last 4 years have been an incredible wealth building opportunity, the best since the Clinton years. Batten down the hatches now, because the champion of American Carnage will be sitting his bloated fanny behind the Resolute Desk in a week. Woe is us.

Your money, eh? I guess you also make or made 8 figures a year? It's always guys who make maybe $100K a year who beef the loudest about "their tax dollars". They're not even a rounding error. I would prefer people do have something they owe society if society pays them, but the Welfare Mom meme is kind of overblown. I'm going to guess much more Federal money is wasted on all those MAGAs on SSDI in Red States. The top "employer" in KY, TN and WV is SSDI, and all three are Red States. Personally, I don't mind helping the less fortunate. I don't think I need another tax cut, nor do I think Elon is ever going to worry about his Nick Cannon-level of offspring getting their next meal. I think $400 billion is enough. He'll get by without having to play guitar in front of a subway entrance, hat in front. The last tax cut went almost exclusively to those who don't need the money, and the claim that corporate cuts would lead to domestic investment was a shibboleth. Because rates had been zero for years, no corp was starved for funds, so "repatriating overseas profits" was a Repub lie. Corps used the tax cut for stock buybacks and bonusing executives. Corporations are now debt heavy, which doesn't bode well if the economy slows, as it absolutely will do as the Biden Boom ends and the second coming leads to yet another Republican-created Recession.

47 is the polar opposite of Teddy Roosevelt ("Speak softly, but carry a big stick"). He's all hot air and silly hyperbole. Obama was more Teddy. He spoke softly with Iran, but carried a big stick, or Stuxnet. That put genuine fear in the mullahs (when their high speed centrifuges wobbled and exploded due to power fluctuations caused by the Stuxnet virus). That fear drove them to the negotiating table, resulting in the JCPOA and a total moratorium on nuke development, U235 enrichment, etc. 47 loves to claim credit for "crushing ISIS", but he did nothing, save for allow the policy put in motion by Obama to continue. 47 then subsequently abandoned the Kurds (not the first POTUS to do that), which resulted in lots of US allies getting wiped out. So unafraid are the mullahs of 47 that after he ordered the assassination of Gen Soleimani, Iran attacked US bases in Irbil. They subsequently restarted their U235 enrichment program (after 47 abrogated the JCPOA), upped their hacking of US databases as well as learning how to hack US drones (and passing that knowledge to China), and upped their support for Hezbollah and other Shi'a terror groups.

LOL. The US is once again the laughing stock of the world. They can all feel better about themselves, knowing that he will be a magnet for abject failure and lunacy, just like last time, only worse. I love when people try to parse his comments, claiming he's some sort of 3 dimensional chess player, and that he really means....blah blah blah. The fact is he's a clown, a willfully ignorant lazy bloated bozo, who has been a failure in life, save for his daddy's money and his Game Show, which made losers think he's some sort of great businessman. That's the guy who wanted to nuke hurricanes and inject people with disinfectant to cure Covid. He wasn't joking, as the devastation of Maria in Puerto Rico, and the millions of deaths that would result from Covid were not laughing matters. As for Europe and defense, I guess that should become like the US mil-ind complex and engage in massive cost overruns and fraud. THAT is how the US got such a massive defense budget. Seriously, if Germany builds another 10,000 tanks, that helps how? Most weapons nations build or buy sit unused, until they get mothballed and the next generation of massive cost overruns takes hold. As for Putin, I guess if Greenland is okay for the US< "Seward's Folly" must be okay for Russia. The US has never controlled Greenland, while Denmark has had it since 1380 AD. Oh, and maybe the Apache and Comanche and Seminoles and Navajos, etc. can use force to take back lands white Europeans took from them. Oh, and Syria and Lebanon? Anyone in those nations who is a jihadi type couldn't care less about 47. He couldn't dictate a Drag Queen Story Hour to them, much less any sort of policy or behavior. It's 2024. What's done is done, and the days of Colonialism, Imperialism, the 'white man's burden', etc., are over.

I'm so happy the Fire-Man-in-Chief ("You're fired!") is going to be taking over. I have no doubt "Nobody knows more about fires than me (47)". I am equally sure he has the "concept of a plan" to address fires in California, which might involved anything from sweeping forests to using nuclear weapons, as he wanted to do with Hurricane Maria. No doubt if he had been in charge, those fires would have been too scared to burn and 100mph Santa Ana winds---driven by that Chinese Hoax called "climate change"---would have stopped dead in their tracks. I'm going to guess his next grifting NFT will be him as a Fireman, or maybe Smokey the Bear. Astronaut, Fighter Pilot already....why not Fireman. Fahrenheit 47!

Gee, if there was only something like the JCPOA, a deal which had been 100% effective in shutting down Iran's nuke program, including smashing high speed centrifuges that are used to enrich U235, inspectors given anytime access to medical reactors and facilities, monitoring of imports that could be used for enrichment or bomb making, and filling enrichment reactors with cement, Iran (like Saddam after Gulf War I) would have given up its nuke program. 45 abrogated the JCPOA, and Iran immediately went back to U235 enrichment and nuke development. The JCPOA had two intents: one was to stop Iran's nuke program. The other was for succeeding Administrations to use it as a stepping stone for more negotiations with Iran, such as stopping support for Shi'a terror groups. The Obama Administration had put fear into the mullahs with the Stuxnet worm, which scared Iran enough to agree to the terms of the JCPOA. Obama also knew that the mullahs were aging, and the youth of Iran was favorably disposed toward the West and wanted to enjoy economic growth and more opportunity for a better---and secular---life. The policy of Obama took a long term view, and it was effective. All nuke development in Iran ceased (despite a misinformation campaign orchestrated by Netanyahu, where he released Iran nuke documents from the early 2000s, all of which had been obviated by the JCPOA.) The US and the world had taken three steps forward in trying to bring a more modern Iran into the family of nations. Under 45 and his Amateur Hour Administration, Iran took two steps backwards, and has gotten back in the nuke game.

Erased Podesta emails? Where did you get that, Mr. Flat Earth? Is there any conspiracy silliness you do not believe? Hey, if it gives you some sort of psychic joy to believe Hillary and Tom Hanks lead an international cabal of people who kidnap, rape, roast and eat babies, knock yourself silly buying into it. On the other hand, if you want to see someone who absolutely has contact with pedos, Google George Nader, Tim Nolan and Tevfik Arif. Here's something for you to ruminate over, if you're looking for pedos....

So how would your love muffin prevented all of this? Sweep the forests? Hold up his tiny hand to stop 100 mph winds? He ain't no god, but you cult members are so easily fooled that you think so. MAGAs get sillier and sillier by the day.

Come on, MAGAs. You can do better. Find some fake news about why fires and 100 mph Santa Ana winds are Gavin Newsom’s or Democrats’ fault. Here’s an idea….make up a Family Tree that shows Gov Newsom is a descendant of Prometheus. I bet 75% of MAGAs would believe that. I mean, you all believe a 6 time bankrupt, convicted felon, and civilly convicted sex offender, whose existing money comes from allowance and inheritance from daddy, a Game Show, and grifting golden sneakers and autographed bibles to the forlorn is a “successful businessman”. Hey, and how would your bloated messiah have prevented the fires? Maybe he would have nuked them, like he wanted to do to Hurricane Maria? Injected everyone with disinfectant? The guy's a stable genius, you know. He says so himself. I bet you're all still gobsmacked by the stable genius's ability to repeat "Man Woman Person Camera TV", a parlor trick that amazed doctors, according to 47 himself. LOL.

LOL ! Sure 'nough. He's a MASTER on the art of the deal. Or maybe he's just baiting his critics, which would make him a Master Baiter, right? You can fool some of the people all of the time. Abe knew MAGAs were in the future. So did H.L. Mencken. The guy who actually wrote the infamous book made up the personna MAGAs know as the Dealmaker. That writer has admitted it was all a ruse, all made up. Absent his dad's allowance, co-signing of every loan until dad passed, and the eventual inheritance of his actually successful father, 45 would be lucky to be pouring Slurpies at a 7-11 on a highway truckstop in Keokuk, Iowa. There's a reason the guy continues to grift...with golden sneakers, autographed bibles, threads from his Georgia booking suit, NFTs where he pretends he's a fighter pilot or astronaut, etc. It's because he squandered what dad handed him. If not for the Game Show and the PT Barnum-like skills of Mark Burnett, not only would 45 never have been POTUS, but he'd be dead broke. Six bankruptcies are proof of his "dealmaking" and business acumen. Stiffing subcontractors and fraud (for which he has been found guilty on numerous occasions, whether regarding bank and insurance fraud, or charity fraud) are his "Business Plan". Years ago---you can Google this---he had to have daddy go into one of his NJ casinos and buy $3.2 million in chips so sonny boy could make a payment on a New York loan from a bank, a loan that was guaranteed by personal assets. (NJ was primarily junk bonds, on which he defaulted and ultimately foisted his loss on to the US Taxpayer. In MAGAstan, sticking losses on to the taxpayer seems to constitute "dealmaking") As for no 'sane' people believing he really intends to take NATO member Denmark's Greenland via military force, apparently the leaders of Denmark are not sane, because they have taken exception to his silly mouth diarrhea. He's the dumb person's idea of a smart guy, a failure's idea of a success, and a loser's idea of a winner. Did he win in 2024? Sure. Of course both H.L. Mencken and George Carlin would know why. Those who don't know Mencken's famous quote re democracy can Google it. As for Carlin, he said: "Think of how dumb the average person is; then realize half the people are dumber than that." With a plurality, not an outright majority in 2024, Carlin's words ring true. For those of us lucky enough to be on the right side of the mean on the IQ Bell Curve, we have schadenfreude to enjoy over the next 4 years, as 47 absolutely will do what he does best: fail and blame others. In his bizarre Greenland/Panama/Canada presser, he also said "I'm inheriting a terrible economy". LOL. BIDEN inherited a Recession and 6.8% unemployment. 47 is inheriting a growing economy that is performing 3 times better than the average G7 nation since 2020, has low UE, and even just saw a massive surprise in data showing job openings are running at 8 million. BOTH savings and consumer spending rose in 2024, which is something historically seen more often in the 1960s. 47 is just trying to make excuses for the failure he knows deep down he will create. Here's an interesting video, no doubt sacrilege and blasphemy to those who worship the bloated one, where folks who have done actual research: MAGAs who could not benefit from the Biden Boom are not going to do any better under 47. Those with marketable skills and talents saw our net worth soar in the last 4 years. Those who diss Biden are really just admitting they lack what the modern tech economy requires.

It's not "like a religion"; it IS a religion. Just a few days ago, on the anniversary of the terrorist attack on the Capitol, lots of video was on the news showing his cult sporting flags with his name, kind of like the flags some nations have noting the name of their particular deity. Same same, and NOT different. Purely a captured cult. I bet you're feeling like a Danish cartoonist, who some cult members think committed heresy by criticizing their messiah. One little guy has posted 19 replies already, I guess trying to prove his fealty, as if his love muffin could even guy the guy exists. 47 has no decency and no compassion. Though I'm not a psychiatrist, many board certified psychiatrists have labelled the guy a psychopath. Certainly he's been in the public eye enough so that an accurate diagnosis can be made. Psychopaths have no empathy, no guilt, lie as easily as they breathe, and think rules do not apply to them. They are totally self-centered and self-absorbed, out solely for themselves, though they can fool the naive, gullible and forlorn.

another frequent thread-starter, put up a thread today that's maybe right up your alley. He asks if human existence has become just too complex to comprehend. I guess I have an advantage, as I studied lots of biology and zoology in my pre-med days, so I know the 'birds and the bees' are wont to do what birds and bees do. The sole purpose of life is more life, and as humans, we want to practice for game day as much as possible. Pattaya offers up that chance. Get in there and follow the prime directive, Bob. Practice makes perfect.

Without being too prurient, I believe his comment was a play on the homonym of the verb.

Every country and culture has its own peculiarities and idiosyncrasies. That's what makes being an expat fun. If one has lived in a variety of places, one just learns to go with the flow. Expect everywhere to be 'like home' or 'make sense' according to what you think makes sense, maybe means you should have stayed home. Once when living in Japan, I had this encounter at an electronic store.... I needed to replace an ink cartridge on a printer I had shipped from home. Cartridges have software, and at the time the only cartridges I could buy in Japan only worked with Japanese operating systems. The saleswoman suggested I just buy a Japanese printer. I wondered if my computer could communicate with a Japanese printer. She thought maybe not. So I took the ball and ran with it..... I said I guess I have to buy a Japanese operating system computer. She thought probably so. I asked her if the interface was in Japanese or English. Just Japanese, she said. I told her that as yet I could not read Kanji, though my hiragana and katakana were good. She said much is in Kanji. She thought maybe I could take a language course to learn Kanji. So I summed it up as a question: So I need to go take a Japanese language course, so that I can read the interface on a new computer I must buy, so I can link it to a Japanese printer I also must buy, so the Japanese ink cartridge will work, so I can print the document I need today? "Hai", she said. The Japanese are wont to be agreeable and not cause confusion. That is their style and their culture.

Though not the intent of the Fourm, this will become clickbait for the Moonbat Brigade, the conspiratorialists who think they are 'awake' and that their 'research' (aka, goal-seeking, confirmation bias) gives then a unique insight into the agency. Well, MK Ultra was real, but long before the Church Commission of 1978. EVERYTHING changed after 1978, especially as the Cold War wound down a decade later. Presentism has folks applying 2024 'morality' on to 1950s-1960s behavior. After WWII and through the major part of the arms race and the spread of communism, "liberties" were taken, just as a century or more earlier "liberties" were taken by Colonial/Imperial powers like the UK, Italy, France, the Netherlands, etc. All those folks responsible are dead and gone, but Colonialism doesn't elicit the same sort of conspiracy theories that clandestine and covert actions do. I think if folks really knew how hamstrung and leashed the agency is today, not only would all this conspiracy nonsense disappear, folks would be surprised. The restrictions on agency actions are quite strong. Also, there is no such thing as "rogue operations". That's Hollywood B-fare. EVERY covert action results from a Presidential Finding. EIT? That was Bush. So few career officers, save for Jose Rodriquez, wanted to get involved that contractors were hired to perform these "enhanced interrogation techniques". Even going back to the Bay of Pigs, the agency was tasked with coming up with options for Eisenhower. Options tend to run a spectrum, from plausible to bizarre and unlikely to succeed. Once presented, the President chooses which option. Eisenhower chose the Bay of Pigs, and Kennedy inherited it. In the 1980s, the White House under Reagan, driven by Ollie North, constructed Iran-Contra. The agency had some part, but it was secondary to Col North. Reagan was kind of a basket case already back then, so North had lots of power and authority. The agency comes under the Executive Branch. They do two things: tell POTUS what he should know, not what he wants to know. They also respond to POTUS' request for action, and give him options. POTUS then chooses, and signs a Finding. Sorry if reality disappoints. I guess those needing conspiracy can watch some B-fare movies for their fix and faux outrage.

"You can fool some of the people all of the time" When Abraham Lincoln said that, he must have had MAGAs in mind, because they sure get fooled easily. First, the eternally whining POTUS-elect, said yesterday he "is inheriting a terrible economy". Really? The clown passed on a Recession and 6.8% unemployment. He is inheriting a booming economy and low UE. Yesterday the equity market was surprised when data was released showing a much larger than expected number of job openings. THAT is how strong the economy 47 is inheriting is, but his goobers will believe his lies, not reality. Since 2020, the US has grown at 3 times the average G7 economy, and now sports lower inflation than most nations, The US produces more energy than it consumes. In 2024, both Consumer Spending and Consumer Savings grew, something more in line with the 1960s than the 2020s. It is the best of times, at least since the Clinton years, though admittedly the poorly educated MAGAs have been left out, as they lack the skills and talents to prosper in the modern economy. I hope you MAGAs are satisfied with the "Gulf of America", because prosperity is absolutely not in your future. The guy who couldn't make a business work where addicted people line up to hand you their money (casinos), and save for a Game Show spent his life flittering away his sizable inheritance, has no clue how to manage a $35 trillion economy. He blew it last time, when he had at least a couple of competent people around him, so absent the Steve Cohns, he is virtually guaranteed to fail. There is also a not-so-subtle change in the US, which MAGAs lack the intellect and insight to appreciate, or else they have fantasies and delusions about how their lives might become better under 47. The joke will be on them. As the US becomes Russia is almost every sense, save for its soon-to-be psychopathic leader lacks the intellect of his hero Putin, look who benefits the most: Oligarchs. Consider: Elon Musk put $250,000,000 into getting a convicted felon re-elected. Since the election, Musk's net worth has jumped $140,000,000,000. That's a 56,000% return on investment in 2 months. Eat your hearts out, Crypto Bros! Yesterday, META CEO Mark Zuckerberg, showing Girlyman fealty, announced his company would stop fact checking. That will save his company $5 billion. The guy had two reasons for doing that. One is that in numerous statements over the last few years, largely a result of FB previously banning 47 from it's site, Zuckerberg has been threatened with life in prison. The second reason is that cutting $5 billion in costs might juice company stock enough that Zuckerberg stands to see his net worth jump by $15-22 billion, if P/E stays the same. Funny thing....MAGAs, who suck up every utterance from their bloated messiah, love the term "Fake News". Consider reality: ACTUAL news and journalism is expensive. Sending reporters around the world, and then doing fact checking, costs money. There are, in actuality, precious few instances where legacy media has erred and produced something inaccurate or untrue. Usually, when an error is made, media corrects itself. Of course sometimes media lies and pays a price, such as Fox and its $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Machines. Actual "Fake News" is cheap, because anyone can make up anything. The POTUS-elect is an expert at creating Fake News, but as usual, he projects his own sins on to others. With META throwing in the towel and kissing the ring, Fake News is going to become even more prevalent, and this at a time when people increasingly get their news from hermetically sealed echo chambers, either places like Fox, or else places driven by algorithms whose goal is to manufacture outrage, as outrage=eyeballs + clicks=MONEY. Now for more Oligarchy...... Consider this: the richest 25 Americans pay an average tax rate of 6%. Their secretaries likely pay 4 times that. POTUS-elect wants to be accepted by the "cool kids" and people who were actually successful, so policy is geared toward oligarchy. One social media company---from which maybe 40% of Americans get their news---controls a massive percent of sm space. One search company controls 90% of all international searches. One online retailer controls more than half of worldwide online sales. Show fealty to the autocrat, and he'll not weaponize government against you. What will 47 do to better the lives of the MAGAs the modern world has left behind? As Edwin Starr sang, "Absolutely Nothin'", (say it again). Tariffs are going to help the average Walmart shopper? Hardly. Of course, if the incoming POTUS actually spends the $billions it will take to deport 11 million people, lots of strawberry-picking and janitorial jobs will open up, so MAGAs have that. Or maybe "patriotic MAGAs", like the terrorists who tried to hang the VP and overthrow democracy on 6 Jan 2021, can sign up for military escapades in Greenland and Panama. Lets see if their really have any testosterone. (I'll go with the Vikings and MS-13 over obese MAGAs.) I suspect there are a few multi millionaires on this Forum. I know one (me) and I know another (who has left the site after the election). Yes, we will benefit financially if taxes are cut. I'm immune to the stock market decline I see coming, so I'll gain in a relative sense, too. I'd prefer the economy not collapse, but I don't see any other possibility. If MAGAs think the Biden years were bad, they will soon be viewing them as the good old days. Yes, MAGAs, elections have consequences. I don't think you're going to like them. You MAGAs get disappointment; I get schadenfreude.

"sense of proportion and reality" MAGAs are just sooooooo good at that! Equate looting a pair of Nikes with trying to hang the Vice President and overthrow 250 years of American democracy and prevent the peaceful transfer of power. VP Harris, on Monday, gave an example of how adults and true patriots act. 47 is incapable of such mature and patriotic behavior, and had to get his ignorant goobers to do his wet work. The Chief of the law enforcement agency protecting the Capitol and other DC Federal buildings---a career officer, not a political appointee---commented yesterday about the promise 47 made re "pardoning" the 6 Jan terrorists: He asked "what kind of message" does it send to all, including law enforcement officers throughout the country, that violent assault on LE officers is okay ? I wonder if some LE officers will take it upon themselves to engage in some frontier justice and go after any of the felons released by 47? Perhaps the names and addresses of every one of those miscreant scumballs will be published online, allowing patriots who take exception to their violence to pay a visit.