Fat is a type of crazy

If only we could put JFK Junior in the Off the Beaten Track of Asean Now and leave him there. They should give him some funding and let him play with that and if it finds something all well and good but let the experts get on with planning for a safe USA and world. I mean he has some OK ideas about improving diet and concerns about big pharma but so much looks hopeful at best and highly reckless. Lets hope a huge health risk doesn't pop up with him at the helm.

It just seems such a clear cut example where there was a thing called measles which had various effects on the infected - sure - it wasn't the most deadly disease but caused significant concerns and good to get rid of - and along comes a vaccine and does that - apparently a huge drop between 1965 and 1968 and on going. It's hard to imagine what it is if not a disease spread from human to human that an effective vaccine can deal with. Of all the things to hang your hat on as a lie this seems an odd one.

OK lets hear how the measles vaccine once introduced in 1963 resulted in cases of measles being reduced so significantly between 1965 to 1968. No cutesie answers please.. objective tested studies if you are saying there is no such correlation.

Assuming I am not missing some joke 'should of' is ok and appropriate with some added punctuation, proper tense, and better spelling ... He should, of course, have stopped the car to pick up the bottle.

I find this argument far from compelling. Why can't you criticise the politics of a country you haven't lived in? Especially when their policies affect the world so significantly. Do you think your life in the US is so starkly different to mine in Australia - having a close family member live in the states and having visited a number of states there I would say it's as hard for a Washingtonian to understand an Alabaman than it is for an Australian to understand Americans in general. But this notion that it's laughable or comic relief for a non American to comment on America seems kind of silly.

Take it as good feedback about how you come across. She might be shallow but the issue of being Hi so or not might relate to how sociable, charming, and tuned in to the world you seem rather than only about money. Talking about exes on a first chat - even if asked - is not likely to lead to anything positive in how you are perceived. Fact is if that's on her mind - and not something you care about as is the case for most men - good to find out now.

Doesn't it all get a bit same same after a while. Like Paddy going around looking at the same sort of stuff. Is Paddy still a thing?

Bali is beautiful if you go to the right places ..tourists are widespread but the Kuta Legian bit is where it gets the bad reputation. Go to Bali - then Lombok and see a much more beautiful Kuta Beach and the spectacular Mt Rinjani and dark sand beaches in the north then go to Sumba and Komodo for the dragons and Flores for the picturesque forests and waters and portuguese influence then to Timor for a look and then to Darwin an hour by air and see Kakadu.

Not that easy to find in tourist areas but there are pockets here and there e.g. you can still have that old feeling in Koh Chang. Bungalows in the forest close to Lonely Beach, huts on the beach at Khlong Prou, and similar down near the end of the road. Cheap and peaceful. Reminded me a bit of my one and only trip to Koh Samui in 85 . I was surprised how nice Mai Khao beach in Phuket was a few weeks ago - natural beach and some inexpensive accommodation available if needed. The government will do what they need to to get the most money but can't complain when they let you in for 60 days as a tourist and easy to get a further 30.

You are one of the few on the fence - not sure about Trump - posters. You might like Jon Oliver's take on the tariffs from last night on youtube. Though he is a lefty it seemed to me a reasonably detailed telling of the story with a bit of comedy thrown in that might be good for someone who cannot decide whether Trump is playing 4 dimensional chess or he has handled the whole issue like a doofus.

I sense that the premise of your argument is that Trump knows what he is doing, that he is trustworthy, and that showing him weakness is an effective way to deal with him. You can see by what has happened that he is floundering on the whole issue of tariffs. My take is he has had this tariff dream for some decades and got so confident after the second election win that he could pull anything off - but not so.

This post does seem trollish like Mr Hotsun knows why. Some one treats them terribly and unfairly .. why didn't they cop it like a good little subservient nation - way to turn China from major pariah to minor hero.

Not a fan of Bessent or Ludnick but could be worse.. Rubio is what he is .. I'm talking Kennedy, Hegseth, Patel, Gabbard for a start, throw in McMahon given her role ..so many other positions .. start with Bongino.. removal of so many good people.. so much experience lost at the top and throughout a range of departments .. implications still to be felt Not everything bad as Maher said - aspects of immigration, some extreme gender and other stuff that was never a big deal in the scheme of things but fascinates and disturbs an obsessed Maga crowd, but lots and lots and lots of bad that has been discussed in numerous threads such as the tariff debacle that seemed to bore Maher but is a huge deal of course...

Stock market ups and downs can be nothing much or they can be a message saying - hey - it seems you are doing something really stupid - please change course. This was the latter.

If I recall you are from the hills east of Melbourne. Kookaburras and cockatoos is as noisy as it gets. I like living there. In Jomtiem where I am it's quiet too. Bit of building noise sometimes as they fill the foreshore with more condos.

You may have felt many dubious historical people were charming. In some ways it makes his appalling cabinet choices and the substance of many of his important decisions all the more confounding, cold, and dubious.

Sounds good to support climate change. Surely you concur there's better ways to do it than tanking the economy - poor economies are normally the worst polluters. To state the bleedin' obvious Trump has no good climate or environmental policies I know of and many outright bad policies so hopefully if you are American you are looking for alternatives.

My possible concern was that my first trip in 2024 was in late May so if I go in July it will be a total of 7 months and a week in Thailand in about 16 months - based on last year I might then go again for 2 months late in 2025 so could be pushing the boundaries. But I'll have the cash and return ticket so hopefully that lowers the risk a bit. Thanks.

The risk is watching a certain type of thing on youtube begets more of the same in your feed confirming your bias. Silly unfair tariffs making China popular and looking like a fighter. If you watch Bessant speak he looks like a deer in headlights who wants to say 'I didn't sign up for this'. That'll do. Could watch some mainstream stuff - its' not evil to be well regarded and have a real reputation for good work and to use fact checking despite what some say here.

Now reports of further resignations at the top end of the IRS . This represents something all Americans should be concerned about - the independence and, of course, legality of IRS decision making and the privacy and protection of taxpayer information. Lots of fears too that the IRS are becoming less able to do their day to day duty to ensure people pay their fair amount of tax with sackings and what not. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-irs-chief-quit-over-deal-share-data-with-immigration-officials-report-says-2025-04-08/

Good topic. Not sure why people take offence - as though prosperity and good and effective governance could destroy the culture. Might make the girls less likely to take on an older expat so there's that. The no 1 thing for me as an example of what's wrong is pollution. You lose faith in the people's sense of their nation if they wont fight hard as hell to have clean air and other forms such as the rubbish around the place. Shows they don't have faith in their own worth and ability to influence the powers that be.

Thanks. I did fly Jetstar and had a return ticket so it wasn't an issue.

I had to look that up - I don't apply for a visa and get 60 days with an option for a further 30. From Australia.

No worries. The topic is costs for expats and that is a cost for some that needs to be taken into account including effects of levies. You didn't seem to get why. You even made the effort to search for the levies so I thought I'd give you a fuller picture. Something to pass 5 minutes. I think you think being unpleasant and crass makes you cool by the way. It doesn't but each to their own.

When I arrived in Phuket on this trip on a 60 day tourist visa the immigration guy had a longer look at the passport than normal. I had 2 60 day trips in 2024 and this trip is 5 weeks. I would assume I will still be ok to say come back in July for another 2 months but I am wondering if there is a guide to when they'll say enough with the tourist visas and I need a different type. This is without needing to go to an embassy so potentially off topic.