Fat is a type of crazy

Take your point if done fairly though to take into account the range of personal circumstances e.g. homelessness, difficult personal circumstances between work, etc. I think the whole narrative of the press working for Biden has some truth but is exaggerated. I can remember the lead up to his last State of the Union - the focus of all the press was on Biden's mental acuity but then he did a really good job which took the pressure off for a while. There was no shortage of people asking questions and after the debate with Trump all bets were off. I am not saying he didn't have issues but this notion that he was totally brain dead and the press ignored it is overstated in my opinion. Trump has given reporters plenty of ammunition to question his mental state - just for totally different reasons - he's said and done a lot of weird stuff.

Used to be that the Is there a god thread was used a lot. Whenever anyone posted - even if months between posts - certain other posters who I don't see otherwise would come out of nowhere to give there 2 cents.

There is a clear fear and submissiveness to the dear leader a la Putin. How far Trump tries to take it remains to be seen .. but the fact that no one, or few, on his side speak about his crypto coin, the plane, the bypassing of laws on aspects of immigration, etc , doesn't auger well. But as of now he is no where near the Putin level of domination over his fellow men. Not sure he's got the wherewithal or smarts or focus to pull it off.

Was watching something about those crosses Donald Trump said were burial sites of white farmers, representing white genocide, to the South African president. They were in fact - as has been said - a commemoration in 2020 of people of all colors creeds and ethnicities who had been victims of rural violence. One bit of paper he handed the president was apparently about the Democratic Republic of Congo rather than South Africa. Who says that, in front of the world, without checking the background of what they are saying? I don't see it as dementia but extremely poor judgement brought on by arrogance such that he simply doesn't care as those around him give him free reign out of fear - and his supporters accept it or don't care as they'll say there is some truth, somewhere, in what he is saying. Similar to the Haitians eating cats and dogs in Ohio. Trump is Trump but his enablers and his supporters, who don't care about truth but care about the feel of what is said, are what is at bigger fault here. That includes many on this site .

Used to be a lot of time share touts in Phuket. Stop you on the street. One time I got a free week at a fancy hotel but then had to spend a fair few hours with this guy who was not thrilled when he worked out I was not gonna buy his terrible time share thing. Wouldn't bother now but fun to get a free week.

You ask a lot of questions. Big tariffs on the EU and Apple is a big deal. I guess the market thinks - who's next and what's next and is this idiot ever going to learn with all these random pronouncements.

Eggs is eggs. Let's be honest. Nothing he's done has likely impacted the cost of eggs either way. But tariffs will have a real effect on Targets prices.

Google told me: 27 per cent of students at Harvard are foreign students. 59 per cent of foreign students leave the USA after studies. To stay they need to work under specific conditions and then apparently need a business to sponsor them. They must of course be studying if they want to graduate. Opportunities to stay are limited - an employee would only sponsor you surely if you are highly valuable to them. Not sure if this is relevant though.

Part of universities and the young has always been protests. Harvard did their own review under a new leader and have looked to improve things for students who might no feel safe. Whatever the legalities of Noem's request for student information, making it so ALL existing foreign students would need to find a new university and stopping enrolments for 2026 financial year, seems a massive overreaction as usual. This disruption could have huge damaging implications for the reputation of American Universities and give the lucrative foreign student market reason to study elsewhere. Funding has already been cut to do research that can bring big $ to the USA and often benefit us all.

How much are wine coolers now. I seem to recall you used to buy them for 27 baht.

Do you support the big beautiful bill

Tariffs can play a role of course as I said but you have to look at the circumstances , the outcomes - I have no information to say Biden used them corruptly .. what I can say is there is a well documented history of corruption with tariffs and Trumps actions to date don't give me confidence his aims are purely altruistic .. The crypto alone is bizarre - I think one day all people may wake up .. even the Trump fans and say .. hey that was a step too far

Now if the leader in control was trustworthy and treated everything at arms length, rather than taking a personal interest and applying them seemingly randomly, there is the scope for tariffs not to be corrupt of course but ..

Yes Mr Jingthing posted a good summary from Fareed Zakaria explaining this. Google tariffs and corruption - it's quite interesting - many articles to peruse

Well tariffs are well known as being a quick and easy way to corruption. Look at countries fast tracking things Trump wants There's the plane. There's the crypto with many overseas investors who are now getting one on one meetings based on their investment which has made him huge gains There's the family following dad around the middle east following up on business deals I mean jeez Mike are you happy with all this?

But it's a bit selective is the point. White farmers at threat. Shut down the meeting and show some likely biased video - biased as it is a fairly contentious argument he is making. But visiting rich countries or talking to Putin - human rights issues - no need to discuss. Come on - be honest - have I got a point.

I am in Australia and yes most basics are more expensive here - prices have gone up a lot in the last year or two - but many things: wine, beer, chocolate, many nuts, many cereals, many dairy products are more expensive in Thailand. Those things are a significant part of what I buy so Thailand doesn't come out that far on top.

Fine - but be diplomatic and polite for long term relations - and he seems to have a narrow area of concern which is .. not surprising ..nice to see him bring up similar issues with other countries .. rich oil producing middle east countries perhaps

That type of post is so 2021. Woke is such a lazy descriptor. Someone cares about a social issue - tries to improve things - woke. Think about being more specific on an issue and saying what is happening right now that shows left of centre folk - other then students and a small minority on the fringe who are always a bit more extreme - are being so unreasonable and irrational or woke as you put it.

Aspects of the media and entertainment I watch such as Washington Week with the Atlantic, certain newspapers often considered by the right to be beyond the pale leftist, and say Bill Maher gave Trump some kudos for doing his own thing, not being a war monger, and trying new ways to find solutions in trouble spots around the world. The sucking up to the oil rich countries , the blatant self interest and corruption, the potential that he is being incredibly naive and misjudging the situation was addressed but there was a definitely a change in giving him some sort of credit. So find some less extreme media is a good start I think.

I'll believe it when I see it. But you don't have to get too excited - this is pretty clear cut - even avid Trump supporting Republicans are against this such as Josh Hawley due mainly to the cuts to Medicaid.

But they accept the result of the election .. unlike you cry babies on the right

True - one would hope they've upped there game - but I don't hear them described as partisan as some suggest - even if one party in their organisation has somewhat of a political background. Their own statement indicates it is a long term problem so now lets see Trump the great fixer fix it. Or not.

But don't be too cutesie about it - 2 good friends have it - it's very unpleasant and has lasted coming up for a week and still not gone - healthy people in their 40's.

But Dr Stillwagon says vaccines aren't needed. Come on guys. It's Dr Stillwagon.