Fat is a type of crazy

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The NZ government is so committed to solar power that they never talk about it to my knowledge, and I haven't seen any solar power plants being built. Far as I have been able to ascertain, solar panels are only for personal use and there are no subsidies for installing them.

According to the internet, repayment period before getting "free" energy can be as long as 20 years- will they still be working after 20 years?

I shouldn't think solar power is the most effective green power source for New Zealand - especially the south island . It isn't known as the land of the long white cloud for nothing

I went to a cafe the other day and they had free filtered water but it tasted like chlorine. Maybe a way to get you to buy drinks. 'Some thai hotels have the same thing. Not good. I don't generally need to buy water as Melbourne has one of the cleanest waters in the world. There's a little bit of fluoride but I don't want to get that debate started. I get sick of water in summer so I buy mineral water with some fizz for an exciting change of pace. Yes I have 8 a day even more on gym days. My girlfriend says it's 38 in Ubon so hard to imagine having less than 8 in Thailand if you go outside at all. 

1 hour ago, NCC1701A said:

You're a star-belly sneech, you **** like a leech
You want everyone to act like you
Kiss *** while you ***** so you can get rich
But your boss gets richer off you
Well, you'll work harder with a gun in your back
For a bowl of rice a day
Slave for soldiers till you starve
Then your head is skewered on a stake

Now you can go where people are one
Now you can go where they get things done
What you need, my son
What you need, my son

Is a holiday in Cambodia
Where people dress in black
A holiday in Cambodia
Where you'll kiss *** or crack

Didn't know that was the lyrics. Such terrible things happened at that time and bad memories for the old folk. I think Polpott should consider changing his name .. sure nothing is meant by it but there ain't nothing amusing or ironic using that name. 

9 hours ago, voulez vous said:

If I'm not mistaken there was a topic about covid. Mr Owl wanted to put his point ocross.

 

He got his latest two weeker for posting a link to a UK radio station.

 

A TV member complained (24 hours after the post) and that was that; holiday.

I didn't realise it took so little to get banned. I thought he must have been guilty of some high crime or misdemeanor.

I can't recall getting in a nasty debate with someone but I see them often enough. The reader can tell what's going on - that sometimes the 'winner' in a debate actually comes out looking like a loser because they appear pathetic for fighting back and forth over a minor issue. 

I have though had my share of dud posts. Luckily you don't get banned for that.   

I can remember around 2004 myself and my then girlfriend were staying in an apartment off Nanai 2. It was kind of cool because you could get to the town in a couple of minutes through a tip without going the long way around. There was a kind of shanty town next door where all the workers building Jung Ceylon stayed and at night they would sit around and have a beer.

Those were the days when Ocean Plaza was king - in some ways Patong seemed more fun without the big shopping centre.

My girlfriend arrived in Australia on the morning of 26 January 2004 - same time the tsunami hit Patong. 

I would think Jung Ceylon will bounce back - not like they're going to knock it down.

1 hour ago, Thomas J said:

So if the man had used a truck to run over people would you favor banning trucks.  If he had set the building on fire and people died would you favor banning fire? 

If guns are the problem you will need to explain to me, how Switzerland which has a 28% household firearms ownership rate has not had a single mass shooting since 2001 versus a 31% firearms ownership rate in the USA. 

While you are at it, give me an explanation for why Kennesaw Georgia which is a suburb of Atlanta has a crime rate 5 times lower than neighboring Atlanta.  Kennesaw has a law making it mandatory for each Kennesaw citizen to own a gun. 

If gun laws are "so effective" why is Mexico one of the highest homicide rates in the world.  Mexico has only 1 legal gun store run by the government and legally owning a gun takes months and requires extensive background checks. 

The USA tried to once ban alcohol.  How did that work out.  Alcohol flowed freely and the Mafia was enriched.  The USA has also had a "war on drugs" for decades.  How has that worked out.  The drug cartels have made billions and the USA has one of the world's worst drug problems.  So if "banning" is your answer it likely will be just as effective as Mexico and the USA's attempts to ban drugs. 

If Switzerland tells us anything about gun ownership it is not that the gun itself is the determining factor but the character of the people.  Chicago has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation but homicides abound there every day.  The cry is but yes, they import those guns from neighboring states with loose gun laws.  If that is true, why don't those neighboring states with loose gun laws have the homicide problem rather than Chicago if availability of guns is the cause of the homicides.

https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/MEX/mexico/murder-homicide-rate#:~:text=Mexico murder%2Fhomicide rate for,a 2.48% increase from 2014. 

https://www.macrotrends.net/cities/us/ga/kennesaw/crime-rate-statistics#:~:text=Violent crimes are defined in,a 9.25% increase from 2016.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/despite-mass-shootings-number-of-households-owning-guns-is-on-the-decline/

If some potential killer wants to kill lots of people it's not so easy to buy fertilizer and create a bomb..might not be too hard to get a truck but tricky to drive and you need a crowd to run into.. guns are easy to buy and use, and the stronger and faster the gun is to use, the more dangerous it is.

Sadly a factor too is that guns have always been held in reverence as a man's weapon, maybe even fun to use - further incentive for a deranged killer to do the deed. Killers can't be blamed on movies and video games but the latter  could possibly make it seem attractive and easy. Might not seem so cool to drive a moving truck into a crowd for some lunatic to make their swansong. 

A comparison to Mexico is not fair because Mexico is a corrupt third world country. The fact that there is only one legal gunshop does not mean much in a country partly controlled by drug cartels and other criminals.

Compare like with like. America and Australia. America lots of guns and lots of gun deaths. Australia few guns and few gun deaths.

If your argument is that guns are going to be bought and sold regardless, that doesn't mean the answer is to give up, but that law enforcement have to do their job. Seems to work in Australia.

I am not comfortable watching gay sex because I am not gay but have you ever looked into a mirror while you are making love to your thai girlfriend. It's probably not a pretty sight. Pretty thai girl with old age creeping up on her ..sweaty overweight guys going for it. So I think I am equal in my prejudice about watching people make love. 

My Beautiful Laundrette was part of that mid to late eighties golden age of independent cinema. I remember seeing this and Peter Greenaway movies etc. 

One of my favourite shows in the 90's was Queer as Folk - for once the Americans took something British and got it right. Good fun. Just look away if it got saucy. 

I've noticed that too.. sometimes I'd come back to get  a good price I'd seen before and it's gone up.. but if I search on a different device it's the cheaper price.

The prices can vary if you search first by a comparison website and then to the selling website rather than straight to the selling website. The first is cheaper even though I assume the selling website has to give the comparison website a commission.

Sometimes prices in Australia seem really cheap given poor exchange rate but maybe they get less customers from Australia so they keep it cheap.

This is bringing back memories of the before times when I used to actually see my girlfriend and travel in Thailand. Lucky you Pattaya Spotter. Sounds like fun.

My girlfriends into Buddhism in a big way - her main temple is in fact a Hindu temple in Bangkok - and she's never mentioned such things as a part of her beliefs.

I think in a free enterprise and social media world if such phenomenon did exist the proof would be out there..so put me in the denier category at this point. 

12 hours ago, khunPer said:

It's a cultural gap between Thais and elder farangs; I've seen many young farangs enjoying dinner at beach party restautrants with extremely loud music, but my mature farangs friends can't stand it and head for some other quiet place (me too, I also prefers soft real dinner music or no noise)...????

 

If Thais hate loud music the restaurants playing loud music would be empty, and soon stop playing it; it's business, so they just do what the customers want.

 

Reminds of a cute little Thai lady that said to me: "Khun Per, there are so much you don't understand about Thailand"...????

The soft dinner music can be a problem for me in the tourist areas.. there was one tape of bad covers of bad love songs from the 1970's that seemed to play in all the restaurants  and some hotels.. if not love songs just old shockers like Hotel California. I think most tourists would like some nice thai love songs or even some jaunty issan style music

The stairs thing wasn't a good look but I think it's due to ..the wind.. no, like all of us he tries to be younger than he is and tried to compensate too quickly for his initial stumble. He probably did so because of all the naysayers regarding his age. I hope he accepts his age and just takes it easy.

If the worst he is doing is  having a few trivial memory lapses like forgetting someone's name on the spur of the moment then to to me that's fine.  Who of us doesn't do that. When it comes to substantive issues I have seen no sign of mental deterioration and, though there are difficulties with immigration,  he is headed in a positive and sensible direction. 

20 hours ago, ICELANDMAN said:

If one were to compare the US political system to a dystopian society divided into distinct factions based on how many wars they have started, an interesting outcome rebuking conventional perceptions would have been observed.

It is not about the strong on defense, hawkish Republicans juxtaposed with peace-loving dovish Democrats anymore. Looking back at the past 118 years, there have been some 'divergents' — warmongering Democrats and amicable Republicans. However, more interestingly and surprising for the conventional-minded — the number of the XX century Democratic presidents who kept from starting wars is actually zero.

According to the research conducted by Sputnik, since the turn of the 20th century — out of 8 US presidents none have managed to stay away from initiating military aggression.

In turn, out of 12 Republican leaders, two — Warren Harding and Gerald Ford — have deviated from the generally accepted party reputation.

 

Yes you are right

and Harding and Ford each had less than a full term.. Harding not long after the horrors of world war 1 and Ford just after getting out of Vietnam 

36 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Once again I have to point out that faith is not the same as religion and believing in God does not necessarily make one religious.

Yes, one can be a good person and not believe in God, just as one can be religious and not be a good person, but faith is outside religion and being good or not.

IMO being religious does not change what one is, but believing in God does change one's outlook on life eg "I"do not end when my body dies.

This may have been discussed before but I feel that faith and being religious, as against being tied to a particular religion,  are fairly similar so I went to google. I guess faith can be solitary whereas being religious suggests being part of a group. You could be religious and just have your own religion and this is the same as faith. 

“Faith is personal and mysterious and individualistic and inexpressible and indefinable. Religion is merely the language that you can use to express what is fundamentally inexpressible, to define what is undefinable,”  says Reza Aslan.

You could say that you don't believe in one true path so faith is enough. But it could be that the decision not to follow a particular path is in itself a path and makes you religious - your own slightly vague religion. By definition if you believe in god then you believe there is a structure too it but you are just not sure what it is. So you are religious but you are just not sure how to define it in detail.  The statement 'There is a god' could be deemed religious as such.

12 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

Kids go through parent's divorces all the time. They are old enough to cope. I speak from experience.

Staying together for the children is no longer considered sound advice. If he's unhappy with his life, there is only one person that has the power to change that. Even if it all ends in tears, at least he tried. If he lives to regret the decision, then so be it. That's life.

I agree with you in a sense. If the marriage is terrible and he goes to Thailand with a different high paid job to support the kids that's one thing. But he seems to be saying he loves his wife and is just a bit bored and wants a bit of indulgence with no firm plan of how to support the family. Not good enough in my opinion. 

If this is sincere just remember everything is likely to get boring. If you do love your wife and kids, and it sounds like she is giving you some leeway, then maybe have part of your annual vacations in thailand. Most women wouldn't put up with it but maybe if your wife can put up with it then OK. 

You have to understand that the  days of saying throw everything away and start again are behind you. You have to commit to the best life for your kids. Face up to that.

Maybe changing to a lower pressure job might do the trick. It might seem hard to go to a lower pay but if it makes you happy, and you can support the family, and you'll be happier with the family and them with you then it may be best.

19 hours ago, mauGR1 said:

I appreciate your common sense.

When I talked about hate of religion,  or christianity,  I was being a bit provocative. 

In fact, apart from the choice of words,  I am quite in agreement with your post, there are still lots of people posing as Christians, while being not Christians at all.

I hope you'll not be offended if I consider you a believer, as you seem to be honestly searching for the truth. 

Thanks. Not sure what I believe though. It's an interesting thing to consider in itself. 

1 hour ago, mauGR1 said:

There would be no humanism without Jesus' message of love and freedom imho. 

Trying to be a better person should suffice,  there's no need to campaign for atheism, as it serves no purpose, apart from signaling your unjustified hate for other people's beliefs. 

I agree Jesus had a good message that few christians truly live by but I guess none of us are perfect. For what it is worth I find that lots of  christians and lots of atheists are good people. 

I don't think of atheists hating the religious. They  find themselves having to defend and build a case for their position. Less now than in the past. Try being atheist 100 years ago or 500 years ago.

Part of being a good person can be taking responsibility for yourself. Not relying on forgiveness of your sins. If you do bad you have to live with the consequences. Maybe that is really really hard because we all sin and it's a heavy weight to carry.

Atheists would feel hate can come from the religious and their reliance on the church and the good book to back up their arguments. 

I suppose religious people feel the opposite. They might feel atheists might take advantage of the unknowability of god to take cheap shots and be smart alecs.

By the sound of it the ATO would see you as a non resident of Australia and as you have no income sourced from Australia you should not have to lodge. If you google ATO Do I need to lodge a tax return Tool it'll take you to a tool that asks you a series of questions.  Some links take you to the Mygov site but there's one that takes you direct to the tool. 

If there's something tricky in your situation call the call centre and ask to be put through to someone who can help. There are people who's job is to just make that decision. But from what you said you should not need to lodge.

11 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

That my friend is a lie.

There are thousands of videos on Youtube and other streaming sites which show prior to about 2015 Biden was actually an excellent speaker. Fast witted, and not even the slightest whiff of a stutter. For decades and decades and decades, no trace of this lame stutter excuse for Biden's inability to speak. Why now? Are you admitting the obvious without realizing it?

 Putin would make him look a total fool, which is why Biden is running from the challenge. Note to Biden, next time you run your mouth off make sure you have the ability to back it up if you get called out. How embarrassing it is to see him unable to engage with other world leaders like this.

Boy you are making some big calls here. There are two points to what I said - one is that he is a bit elderly and one that he has suffered a stutter. I did not deny that he may have slowed down a bit due to age in recent years.

In addition he has a certain hesitancy in the way he speaks - it can make watching him a bit uncomfortable at times- but that comes from his former stutter - in his recent interview with George Stephanopolos he did stutter at one point.  So no lie thanks.

He was written off in the election campaign but did well, but not perfect,  in debates and has done well in countless interviews including the recent one above.

If someone is a bit slower it can be an asset in that they can give a more considered response. It is a pity you focus on superficialities instead of the content of what he says.

I don't think a murderous dictator could make anyone look like a fool in a debate. Biden is not like Trump who appeared to feel a kinship with his kind.

You did not dispute other things I said so it is good to see you concur.