Fat is a type of crazy

Like the show but I've been disagreeing with Bill Maher a bit lately. I agree with his overall sentiments on political correctness but I feel he is getting too cliched and even closed minded on some topics such as covid, the attitudes of young liberals and even this topic. He can sometimes use extreme examples to make fun of the left, and sometimes the right, that are not representative of their overall views. It's like the punchline is king. He gives obvious examples where costumes are of course fine. Call me old fashioned, but I do not think it is cute, fun or ironic for kids to dress as an appalling serial killer or as Hitler. Not saying ban it but having a line in the sand is sensible and not being a wowser.

Some 20 year old kid at Red Rooster, an Australian chicken take away shop, forgot to give you a napkin and it still irks you. Hotels are busy places and they can't constantly monitor patronage and adjust prices accordingly to maximise dollars. Hotel managers wouldn't have the time or inclination to be negotiating prices customer to customer, for short stays, like a market stall selling T Shirts. I must admit I have picked certain times to travel based on seasons - why not travel May or October where 2000 to 2500 baht a night gets you 5 star in Koh Chang and the weather's still pretty good rather than go in April or November. Too much sunshine not good for my complexion. Maybe you forgot about high season and that is what irks you.

Not stock tips but I point out that for people with Thai baht or in my case Australian dollars the US market doesn't look cheap - risen a fair bit lately and after taking into account exchange rate it is still fairly high. Over 2 years S&P nice in AUD and THB.

Cheap hotel beforehand. Probably every prebooking for November charged 800. They know how many bookings they have coming up. November less rain and more sunshine and customers. Gotta go up some time for high season. Harsh to criticise them just for doing what's normal. If found a better deal then all good.

Unfettered free speech is good. But does the means justify the ends. Twitterers do not have even power and with power comes responsibility. Twitter tried to deal with Trump by allowing him to tweet by putting warnings on the tweets that objectively were likely to be or factually were lies. But he kept on with it and we got January 6. They banned him. The powerful posting dumb conspiracy theories, i.e. ideas without proof, can do serious damage. See the damage lies on facebook did in Myanmar to the Rohinga people. If not google it. Just one example. Not easy solutions but just posing devil's advocate questions doesn't provide a solution either.

The cost of living is a bit bad. I remember there being more bogans before, i.e. the seventies as a kid, and the eighties and many bogans now are cashed up due to big pay for trades. Do you think bogans are depressed or cause depression in others. I am suspicious of culture. Aspects are nice for sure but when I hear the word culture I often think of something created by those in power to give wishes and dreams but not a good reality to those with no power. Surely much worse political and public servant parasites in Thailand.

I think other countries would be higher where they don't feel free to speak. Still not good that Australia is so high. I wonder what it is. Could be rural folk. Or kids on computers.

Off topic but Indonesia 77 and Thailand 80 are not particularly densely populated out of 195 countries. Indonesia is large being 15th biggest in the world.

Actually on my last trip it was the Queen's birthday weekend and there was a hellish queue to get to the ferry. Delays of 6 hours. Weren't sure what the other ferry would be like so the driver just took the wrong side of the road as others did and let us off at the front to make our own way .. We used to get a bus that went by Centrepoint but had a few bad experiences of cancelled boat rides or delays but looks like it is needed.

Not me and I live in Melbourne. Not into the nags. Day off work though so I no complain. Hope you pick a winner.

I take your point that competition is a good thing. My experience of many years as a tourist was the Centrepoint ferry was unreliable, a bit slow, and further to get to at both ends. Hopefully as tourism picks up someone will take it over and provide a good service that can compete.

Charming. People like to be free. Women are people and want to be free. Who'd have thought that when they got financial and emotional independence they would want something different than the likes of him. It makes sense. I find Thai men friendly though I have not built substantial relationships. The one guy I did become friendly with had fairly common interests and aspirations I suppose. Sometimes the more outgoing gregarious western men can unintentionally come across a bit aggressive and showoffy when they are looking to be affable. Thais are friendly but have a kind of gentleness or simplicity that doesn't always lend itself as well to that sort of approach. Sincerity will always win through.

Are you from Melbourne? I think so. Normally in the 20's at Christmas. Google says it hit 40 in 1907.

I think it’s easy to believe someone with a particular talent e.g. stockbroker, lion tamer, builder might be a d I c k but someone with style and a bit of cool and a street wiseness and artistry and the ability to communicate feelings and emotions, as he has a bit, and one might expect that such a person is not a total d I c k. That is why I think the jury has been out as to whether he is simply a d I c k or has mental issues or is simply eccentric. At this point though I think he pushed the goodwill he has banked up too far.

Some good songs. Many a person on this site has thought of Gold Digger in relation to their life in Thailand I imagine. I think few would take his ramblings seriously. It may have the effect of showing his fans that if one is talented in one area someone can still be a <deleted> in others.

They were fun in the early days. Maybe. Late last night. Sweet dreams. Then Neil Finn came and they got a bit more commercial but were still pretty good. Crowded House were not my cup of tea.

A sign of hope. 90000 people, predominately Pakistani and Indian, got together for a cricket match at the MCG in Melbourne last night for the World Cup. Not into cricket but a close game. Muslims and hindus in a small space. No problems just 90000 having a good time. Diwali celebrations through Melbourne too.

I did have apparent decision but then there were two apparents in two sentences. Good to see you can apparently see it's not a good situation

It doesn't take much to show the character of a man. Boy Ralf you take stuff seriously. Not face to face of course.

You are silly. They are there on google and youtube. I do not do your bidding.

Google 'gorilla enclosure pata zoo video' and you shall find them You might then like to google gorilla enclosure melbourne zoo video and compare.

You are making out my only reply is no. But modern technology allows us to see the conditions and we can get first hand accounts from others. I haven't paid to go to a zoo for some years and I would not pay to see this one. Your apparent conclusion that that makes my argument invalid indicates poor logic and reasoning. I noted that a major concern is that the gorilla is alone. Is seeing it going to make a second one magically appear. Compare videos of this zoo and western zoo gorilla enclosures and one may draw conclusions. Your decision that a gorilla held alone in these conditions is acceptable is not a decision with which I concur.

No but there's youtube and you can see the videos and compare them to videos of western zoos where there are clearly better conditions and the gorillas are not alone. The latter being an important aspect of the issue at hand.

Captitivity of gorillas may not be ideal in any circumstances but there are zoos and zoos. Gorillas at Melbourne Zoo in Australia have plenty of room. In March they introduced 'platform stations - complete with vertical tree trunks, a multi-platform swing structure and a hammock - have been carefully designed to allow the primates to climb, swing and play, creating new opportunities for exercise and exploration that encourage natural movement and behaviours.' The situation for this gorilla, alone and in relatively poor conditions, may be within Thai law but is it not reasonable for people to consider it is not appropriate.

Actually I think the answer may be gym. No talk. No this and that. You lift the weights or not. You find yourself through testing yourself. If no gym for a week the mind can wander and think too much. So along with other suggestions gym could be where one can find oneself or at least can help one to stop looking for something that might not be a thing.