Fat is a type of crazy

Overall good outcome that can help build reassurance in the American people's common sense not to go down the pro MAGA anti democratic rabbit hole. The fact that some dodgy and crazy MAGA candidates still got close to 50 per cent of the vote or won is still disappointing but I'll take the overall pro democratic outcome above what could have happened.

No one probably cares about you one way or the other. Everyone's got their own problems and niggly issues with each other. Do your job. Go up to someone and ask about their weekend. Bet you they'll be friendly and one battle won. Give each person the benefit of the doubt once. Ask for a small amount of money once. OK. Second time too soon. No.

Scottish humor - 1949 movie Whisky galore is a good example. Distrusting, passionate, conflicted, slow to trust you but then a lot of fun. A bit pessimistic. Trainspotting good example. Irish humour - a bit more open, fun, dry, focused, and sometimes a bit of a serious tone. That's my 2 cents as an Australian who saw it often through english eyes e.g. Ealing studios for Whisky Galore.

I know it can be tedious in the office but the first few months can be seen as a time to build a reputation as a friendly guy willing to join in with things. As a farang they may think you may wish to distance yourself or that you think you're special. Donate to the buddhist thing - 500 baht won't kill you - and it shows you want to be part of things. The thai lady may have been half joking but your serious reaction may have turned her off - why not bring a small block of chocolate the next day and say 'Enjoy' and smile. Gossip can be fun or a bore. See the funny side - take an interest in the office politics and relationships so you understand what's what. Most people want someone to listen and as a new person you are not expected to contribute. Over time you'll work out that some gossipers are tedious to everyone, or meanspirited, and some are actually fun. Long cut short some effort now might make it better and easier in the longer term to be yourself.

Boy that got nasty fast. Not sure how suggesting that if you haven't heard her words in some detail on a range of topics outside of a right wing mouthpiece, it might be worthwhile doing so, is insincere on my part. That is if I understand that turn of phrase. Had to google it. I find when people get rude they have run out of ideas. I have not said she is perfect or that I concur with all her ideas e.g. immigration. But to compare her intelligence to Boebert and the like indicates to me you haven't heard much from her directly. I like the fact that she speaks sincerely and with a bit of passion even if it gets her in trouble with the right - people do learn too.

Her electorate is in New York and New Yorkers may be left leaning but they have a good BS meter so you have to talk straight. She has some ideas that are a bit lefty, and being young she may give some phrases that Fox can highlight without context and make her look bad or woke, but seriously watch a longer interview with her and, though you may not agree with her conclusions, her ideas are thoughtful and often sensible and not crazy.

I'll let him speak for himself but the key words was she 'latched' on to him .. you know when you are doing your thing and someone who you don't find interesting attaches themselves to you, possibly to get a customer, and you don't want it and it becomes boring.

A guy just wants somewhere to have a drink and a laugh and you're distorting it and making it seem weird.

After 6 years of marriage with a much younger Thai lady I must admit it was nice to talk to people of my own age and have an actual conversation about stuff that was part of my world without running the risk of seeming boring or out of touch. But talking to young Thais can be fun too - no politics, no old music discussions, none of the same preconceived biases etc.

Strange lumping together there. You might not like Cheney and Schiff standing up about January 6 but surely you can see the logic behind it. Separate to the issue of taking steps to protect democracy, Cheney is stock standard Republican, a la father dick and not comparable to the crazy or more likely simply ignorance or cynicism that is Boebert. The rest of your list is a mix of some that could be defined as a tad woke - though if you hear AOC speak she is clearly intelligent and has interesting things to say, as compared to the dummies and crazies and hangers on, on the far Trumpy right - and others such as Newsome, Harris, Schumer, Whitmer, Pelosi and Biden. The latter are all stock standard Democrats who may have policies you don't like, and use a bit of political correct speak about working together and helping people and letting people do their thing that you may not like, but hardly crazy.

Some fair points, and though I am no expert, I do note there are significant limits for superannuation e.g. you can only salary sacrifice at $27500 a year - used to be much higher - they made it even tougher for that for public servants with a defined benefit scheme but that's a different story. There are limits too on post tax contributions. Yes funds in the fund pay the lower rate but you can't access it till you retire of course. Centrelink bought in rules to see through family trusts, and companies, to stop access to benefits including health care card, controlled by you or your associates. So you would need to trust the controller of that entity. There are many tax benefits of family trusts - the only justification is for farmers to pass the farm to the next generation but otherwise dodgy as hell - as you probably know Labour tried to do something in 2019 about that, and refund of franking credits, but the people spoke and Liberals won.

It's not so simple - the Republicans are not one voice - centrists, right wing, far right - so if they want something to get through they prefer to have a large majority to be sure they can get enough Republican votes. So if it's close it's not so easy - Democrats found that in the Senate with Joe Manchin and others causing difficulties. What's taking so long to count? That seems to be the Fox News narrative - sort of vaguely hinting to anomalies but having nothing much. New numbers in Arizona look good for Senate and Governor vote for democrats. Hobbs Kelly looking good. So sad for Kari Lake. Love it. She is so appalling. Though she still has a chance though.

Look at all the free stuff people get in Australia. I don't get a cracker. That's because there's more of the type of people that get the free stuff than people like me. So the system is working somewhat. Not sure what made you feel that way but the government does spend a lot of money on stuff that benefits a lot of people and, though the rich may get some benefits and concessions we don't hear about, they pay higher taxes and don't get much compared to the many who get the free stuff.

That's a big claim. I talked about feelings and you dismiss them as open to manipulation. But is your belief in spooky overlords based on much more than a feeling. A lesser claim might be that many people are motivated by money and power and conflicting forces, governments, media, large corporations impact what is seen. We can get manipulated but learn to trust some things more than others. Some people are trying to do good things and report the truth and put their reputations on the line to do so. Do you believe that or do you think everyone is flawed beyond redemption - either as an evil controller or a manipulated sheep. Those who give up on all government, media, etc can run the risk of giving up on human nature and fall to even more manipulative forces, authoritarians or the even more cynical, who tell the distrustful things they want to hear.

Come on Simon. You're a man of the world. Myanmar Laos Thailand Turkey Mauritius Don't believe the hype. Wake up.

There are some who may be a bit wokey. But most people feel stuff when they see people being treated badly and bullied or killed indiscriminately and would like to see it rectified. It can be a strength and to feel otherwise a weakness. If you feel nothing you might consider that something has gone amiss. In the case of Ukraine of course it has real life impacts on all our lives.

If you don't like reality turn to fantasy.

Based on the small sample of Republican voters here it looks like they are ready to dump Trump and go all in on De Santis. My guess is the democrats will retain the senate with Arizona looking good and I think the more scrutiny of Herschell Walker the better for the Democrats - both morally and intellectually. He's the perfect example of a dud candidate and if I was a Republican I would be embarrassed that he was picked to represent my interests.

I take your point but it's one thing if you simply don't post on the topic but it's a different kettle of fish if you do.

Fair enough but your posts do seem to lean away from supporting democracies and you seem loathe to criticise the likes of Putin. Just saying that you could appreciate the freedoms you have in New Zealand.

Not sure about UN but as an Australian Public Servant I can tell you perks are few and far between. Not even free tea and coffee or a biscuit these days. No time for Christmas lunch. Nice to get something a bit nice for once.

Kamala is deciding senate vote so worth her weight in gold

Watching a bit of fox today indicates they see it as a huge disappointment too. Strong outcome based on comparison to post World War 2 midterms. Saw 5 minutes on Tucker and he tried to spin it and blame media and hint at other stuff but he had nothing.

A little bit but obviously staff need to be in a good hotel with professional facilities, central with good communication, and decent security. If you are there for work you don't expect to be in a 500 baht room out of town.

In defence of Australia. Pro muslim? Maybe just not anti muslim. The one thing I'll concede it is hard to have a debate about immigration without someone pulling out the racist card but only by the small minority. Pro gay? I see no problem with that - do you think they are faking it or should hide? Transgender? If they do their thing who cares. There's a fair debate about medical treatment etc that is had in Australia and it has recently become easier to debate this. See Media Watch recently where they took the ABC to task on this. Who hates middle aged men - we are more likely to be invisible. Who believes there should not be prisons? No one. Some stuff is the young being young - no need to be concerned in my opinion.