Longwood50

I wish. I am considering taking lessons. With that said as mentioned here I usually can find someone who speaks some English. In Spain rarely, in Portugal never.

We took an extended holiday in Spain and Portugal a few years ago thinking it was a spot to consider retirement. I won't say we did an exhaustive research but our initial impression was that most of the residences were not single family homes but rather condo/apartment like. Also, virtually no one spoke English. As challenging as it is in Thailand you usually can find someone who speaks some English. I don't think I could learn Portuguese or Spanish fast enough to make the transition. Then again a significant portion of the USA you now need to speak Spanish in order to function. I lived in Houston for a period of time and certain regions of the city you could not do business in if you did not speak Spanish. Same with Miami.

So if a person robbed a bank but never spent any of the money then it is ok. What if the person was driving drunk but only for 11 days and then went sober does that exonerate him from prosecution if he was stopped. What if a man beats his wife but only for 11 days. The fact is the man broke the law. I find it hypocritical that those who call for stronger gun control laws now often are the same people who are saying Hunter getting a gun was no big deal. If you start down the road of who you will or won't prosecute and which laws on the books you will or won't take legal action against, you effectively are saying there are no laws. If it ok to own a gun while being addicted to a controlled substance then change the law don't say it does not matter and overlook it. That breeds contempt for all the laws.

She was the poster child for Democrat hypocrites. All of them including Biden, Clinton and Pelosi onced decried illegal immigration. Then suddenly they found it beneficial to their voter base and adopted policies to ensure re-election of Democrats irrespective of the damage done to the taxpayers of the USA from uncontrolled 'invasion" into the USA. A person who breaks into your home for shelter is not an "undocumented guest" neither are those who are entering through the southern borders completedly unvetted and with the expectation that the welfare programs of the USA will provide them a better standard of living than in their native countries. Paul Harvey said it best. It is out of misguided compassion that those in a lifeboat take on too many overloading it and everyone drowns. The USA comprises 4.23% of the worlds population. It simply can not be the pot of gold that takes in the other 95% hoping for a better life.

As children it was very typical to play "make believe" When someone has imaginary friends they are deemed schitzophrenic and medicated. But somehow if " I identify" as another gender that is not a mental disorder. I am sure if I said I identify as an Lion people would think I am crazy and I see precious little difference in a person who believes themself to be a gender other than defined by their chromosones than considering themselves to be a different animal than what is defined by their chromosones.

It appears this is like other posts I have done requesting specific information on a builder. I get stories not reccomendations. I am just wondering if someone knows or has used a builder they can reccomend. The fact some guy paid money and the builder ran off is not particularly helpful and is a story repeated many times in Thailand.

I have purchased a lot in Huay Yai and got an architect plan. Foolish me, I submitted the plans and autocad file to three different builders and the BOQ's are different in terms of the amount and pricing of the materials and labor. Now I can understand some variance but in some instances it is a 200% difference. 1. Does anyone know a "good builder" in Pattaya preferably English speaking 2. The quality of the materials is an unknown so does it make sense to find someone to build the skeleton of the home and then move on in steps to then get the builder to meet and pick out things like doors, windows, roof tiles, etc. When you try to compare BOQ's you get in some instances a price but in other instances things like wall switches, or sandstone that you have no idea what brand or type there is and it is way to much to try and tackle it all at one. - Would there be a huge downside to trying to finish out if the builder only built the skeleton of the home. 3. With each builder they are including their operating margin. That is fine and to be expected. However in some instances there are prices for things like doors, locks, pump, etc. Is it unreasonable to say to the builder, I get to pick those pay the price and you add your margin plus installation. Otherwise the builder has the incentive to try and charge you the highest price possible on the BOQ and then provide the lowest possible quality. I am just looking for someone honest, trustworthy, and straightforward. My experience to date is like trying to nail jello to a wall. Each time you try and get a straight answer from any of the builders on cost and what is includes they are trying to give a very vague answer. If anyone has built recently and had a good eperience and would care to share the name of their builder that would be greatly appreciated.

So let me get it straight. You believe just by chance that all of a sudden all of the world became focused on just 1 prosecutor and corruption. And his corruption was so great EU Commission, the IMF, the Dept of State and Joe Biden all concentrated just on this one man. Your further believe that this one person was the only corrupt individual in Ukraine that warranted attention and that it was just coincidental that this one prosecutor was the only prosecutor said to be going after Burisma. You ignore the testimony of the one person Devon Archer who testified that Hunter Biden was approached by Burisma Executive pleading for help from DC. Sorry, you are worse than the OJ Simpson Jury. First off it is WRONG of the USA to interfere with the governance of another sovereign nation irrespective of how moral it might be. Secondly, I don't believe in coincidences. It is possible to flip a coin 100 times and come out heads but unlikely. It is possible but unlikely that Shokin just happened to be the one that Biden targeted and he just happened to be the one targeting Burisma and Hunter Biden. You not only can't connect the dots. You deliberately shut your eyes to deny there are any dots.

I am saying that I find it difficult to believe that the EU Commission, the IMF, the Dept of State and Joe Biden would have all coincidentally focused on one low ranking prosecutor in Ukraine. Things don't happen by coincidence. It is not a coincidence that this same prosecutor was invetigating Bursima. It is not a coincidence that Devon Archer testified that Bursima officials approached Hunter Biden and asked if DC could help and then suddenly Biden uses coercian of witholding aid to Ukraine not to fire all the corrupt officials but just the one investigating Burisma where Hunter was getting huge amounts of money from. From your lack of ability to put the dots together there is little question that if you were in the possible jury pool for the OJ trial if I was Johnny Cochrane OJ's defense attorney I would want you now only on the jury but as the foreman of the Jury. You would have tried to sway the jury that despite OJ's blood, injured hand, bloody gloves, and DNA at or near the crime scene that you did not have a video and two eyewitnesses seeing her slashing her throat so the rest was purely circumstantial.

So let me understand the EU and the IMF along with the U.S. government focused on one person a prosecutor in Ukraine that just happened to be investigating Burisma. As said, you must still believe in the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.

Now you are concocting. Since there was no investigation how do you know there was no proof. The very fact that Shokin was investigating Burisma and Devon Archer "testified" that Burisma officials went to Hunter and asked for help from DC is more than sufficient evidence to show that Joe Biden's actions were not because he felt Shoking was not doing his job. It was because Shokin was investigating Burisma and Hunter. Out of all the low life characters in Ukraine Joe Biden happens to focus his singular attention on the one person Burisma has asked Hunter for help from DC.

I did not say it was. However irrespective it is wrong to use U.S. influence to coerce a foreign government. Shokin may have not been a good prosecutor. Hint Putin is not a nice man. It would be improper for the USA to take actions to have power groups in Russia overthrow him. No different than it is improper for the USA to say, I will 'bribe" you with loan guarantees if you do my bidding. Criticism of United States foreign policy Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Criticism_of_United_... The United States was criticized for manipulating the internal affairs of foreign nations, including Ukraine, Guatemala, Chile, Cuba, Colombia, various ...

Trump was impeached for illegally asking a foreign government to interfere in the 2020 elections. https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2019/12/politics/trump-ukraine-impeachment-inquiry-report-annotated/

You obviously do. I use some common sense try it sometime. No one hires Hunter Biden to wash his car let alone be on the board of an Oil and Gas company. No one gives Hunter Biden $1 billion dollars to invest because of his outstanding character and investment expertise.

Not according the Devon Archer who said Burisma approached Hunter for help to from DC. Irrespective does the term INTERFERENCE WITH A FOREIGN GOVERNMENT SOUND FAMILIAR. They impeached Trump for a non quid pro quo where he merely suggested that Ukraine investigate. That is far different than Biden on tape saying he demanded Shokin be fired otherwise he was witholding US loan guarantees. That is blatant interferendce and a clear quid pro quo. You can argue that Shokin was not a good guy and that may or may not be true however Neither Obama or Biden have any legal right to use U.S. influence to shape the actions of a foreign government. https://nypost.com/2023/08/04/viktor-shokin-was-threat-to-burisma-says-hunter-biden-partner-devon-archer/

Is there a part of interference with a foreign government you have difficulty in understanding. Trump was impeached just for making the suggestion of an investigation. Biden is on tape saying he demanded the resignation of Shokin as a condition to get $1 billion is USA aid. As I said, you have trouble with the thinking part.

Does the term interference with a foreign government mean anything to do. If you recall Trump faced impeachment just for suggesting that Ukraine investigate the activities at Burisma. And somehow you suggest that Obama had the right to tell Ukraine what do do relative to not investigating Burisma. I am not saying you are ignorant but its the thinking part that has you stumped.

And where do you get your information from that he was fired for different reasons. Also even if true, his actions as VP are not allowed. It is called interfering with the governance of a foreign country. You don't call another country and tell them to fire the guy or you don't get money. That is quid pro quo. Joe Biden ? Of course he had to fabricate a reason why he fired him You also omit the fact that Devon Archer Hunter Biden's partner testified that Burisma executives came to him and asked for help from DC They certainly were not talking about Daniel Craig. Now who has a reason to lie? Hunter Biden, Joe Biden or Devon Archer. I suggest it aint Devon Hunter Biden's business partner Devon Archer revealed that Ukrainian oil company Burisma used vague terms to demand he use his influence as the then-vice president's son for help. According to Archer, during a dinner with Burisma executives at the Four Seasons in Dubai in December 2015, Hunter said he would be able to get 'help from D.C.' in order to relieve some 'government pressure' on the company. ather, they used the 'amorphous' term: 'can we get help in D.C.?' 'The request -- you know, basically the request is like, can D.C. help?' said Archer. 'But there were not -- you know, I'm not going to -- there were not -- it wasn't like -- there weren't specific, you know, can the big guy help? It was -- it's always this amorphous, can we get help in D.C.?'

Now that is funny. I know this will come as a shock to you but I don't sit on the Senate Oversight committee so I did not get a copy of the evidence.

You are conjecturing. Neither you or I know what is on that laptop nor do we know what restrictions if any the New York Post and Guilliani have imposed on them. One way or another it is fact that Hunter Biden was put on the board of Burisma. It is fact that he got millions despite knowing nothing about Ukraine, or the oil and gas business. It is a fact he was widely known as a crack addict. It is a fact that Biden witheld US loan guarantees unless the prosecutor going after Burisma was fired. You must have been on the OJ jury if you think that was all innocent. Your assertion that somehow this is all jsut smoke and mirrors is ludicrous. I suspect you would have police stop a car driven by Hillary Clinton with a dead body in the trunk and a firearm with her fingerprints on it and say the evidence was only circumstantial.

The FBI used fraudulent and unlawfully obtained FISA warrants to go after Carter Page who was on the Trump campaign. The warrant gives two jumps meaning they can spy on anyone Page contacts and anyone that those people in turn contact. That gives them access to Trump and everyone Trump contacts. The DOJ went after General Flynn but did not go after Hillary Clinton who lied to the FBI. Interesting is that Comey is with the FBI and he have her the free pass and it was never questioned that he lacked the authority to do so. The FBI has the role of investigating and presenting evidence to the Dept of Justice. The Justice Dept has the role of deciding to or not to prosecute. But Comey exoneratted her. Mind you this is the same Comey who went after Martha Stewrt not for insider trading but lying to the FBI. They went after Michael Cohen Trump's lawyer why. They wanted to shakedown Cohen threatening him with additional crimes if he didn't assist in providing damaging information on Trump. All of this is political. Do I think Hunter is guilty yes. Do I think he would have been prosecuted for the gun charge if he was not the son of Joe Biden. NO. He did commit a crime but that offense is rarely if ever prosecuted.

I have no idea what evidence they have or what constraints have been put on them and neither do you. The Senate has however volumes of banking information showing 20 shell companies set up by Hunter. Some of the information concerning those companies and money movements "may" be on the laptop. However as said, to the best of my knowledge not all of the contents of the laptop have been divulged and those in possession of it "may" be under some legal constraints to release it. Did you ever hear of poisioning the jury pool. Hunter is being investigated for also income tax violations concerning his activities. I doubt seriously the IRS is doing that without some basis for their actions. This is from the House Oversight committee. So do I think there is smoke and very likely fire. They pointedly show how not just Hunter but up to 9 members of the Biden family benefited financially. I was born at night, not last night. There is no way Hunter Biden would garner any influence with a Ukrainian Oil company or Chinese government if not for peddling access to his father. You have a crack addicted loose cannon that any amount of due dilligence would show this is not a person trustworthy that you want to do business with. https://oversight.house.gov/release/comer-oversight-committee-has-uncovered-mounting-evidence-tying-joe-biden-to-family-business-schemes/

Yes, Just like I think that Hillary Clinton and the FBI planted the false dossier that was used to smear Trump. Just like Lisa Paige and Peter Stroz used their positions to get Trump. Just like Comey lied on FISA warrants to spy on Carter Page which gave him access to surveillance on Trump. Perhaps you believe USA politics is as pure as the driven snow but I don't. Going back even a few years to Herbert Hoover he kept dossiers on his enemies and Richard Nixon had his enemies list. Conversely, you have Comey who obtained and convicted Martha Stewart for lying to the FBI giving Clinton a pass on lying to the FBI and ignoring subpoenas and destroying the evidence under subpoenas. So yes the establishment is weaponsized to use against those who are your political opponents and as a defense to shield those they want from prosecution. You have Trump being impeached for suggesting that Ukraine look into the Hunter Biden and Burisma matter as political interference. You have Joe Biden on tape bragging he withheld a billion in US loan guarantees to Ukraine if they didn't fire the prosecutor going after Burisma where his son was receiving millions from and he was not even scolded for obviously interfering in the affairs of a foreign government.

Candide you obviously have read very little about the Hunter Biden laptop. The FBI has it and I understand at one time Guilliani and the Apple repair person retained copies of its hard drive. Devon Archer, Hunter Biden's business partner, gives testimony to Congress that then-VP Joe Biden was on more than 20 business calls with his son Republicans claim Archer's testimony added to evidence Joe was involved in Hunter's overseas deals that raked in millions from Ukraine, China and Romania Democrats claimed the phone calls were innocent and did not involve business Hunter and Burisma executives reportedly 'called D.C.' to discuss the firing of Ukrainian prosecutor https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12356923/Hunter-Bidens-business-partner-Devon-Archer-arrives-bombshell-testimony-Joes-involvement-shady-business-deals-DOJ-accused-trying-jail-talk.html So many of the things on the laptop were corroborated by Hunter Biden's own business parter. Though some of the items on laptop have been released to the best of my knowledge the entire contents of it have still not been made public. Now if you think that Hunter Biden was so gifted that a Ukranian oil and gas firm would pay him millions, that he was such a nice person that the wife of the Moscow mayor would send him $3 million and then coincidentally her family was omitted from the U.S. sanctions on Russian Oligarchs. That Hunters personal investment record was so outstanding that the Chinese would give him over a billion to invest. I have several bridges for sale around the world and you can make monthly payments to me if you want to buy them.