save the frogs

Trick question. If there's a Buddhist teaching that doesn't seem to make any sense, is it because you're too stupid to understand it or is it because it's bullcrap? Here is a Buddhist book I recommend to everyone. It's not written by a monk in a cave that has nothing to do all day except masturbate mentally and come up with flowery language. It's written by a humble taxi driver who is reflecting on his own life and trying to apply some basic Buddhist principles to his own life.

Haha, Orban. Never heard of him. I country. He went to the same grammar school as Bob.

He improved the standard of living of hordes of people over the past few decades. You need to stop obsessing over labels and terminology.

bob hasnt lost his edge

That's exactly the problem. No matter which side wins, half the country is angry. Here, I'll teach you a secret. Xi in China is there for life, right? Is that a "dictatorship"? You can put whatever name you want on it. But in some ways it's a good thing because it sometimes takes 40-50 years to make massive changes to a country. You can't do much in 4 years.

Hummin, Is it my imagination or are you becoming an angrier person? Coincides with you leaving Thailand? Maybe you need some Thai beaches, man.

No, that's only what is presented in the daily rags. But behind the scenes, it doesn't work that way. Not sure why they do that. Maybe they don't have much respect for the average voter so they just feed them bread and circuses. Again, I'm not sure any average person knows what Trump will do or what Harris would have done. But keep arguing if it makes you feel better. Also, if you put a gun to most people's heads, they wouldn't know where to begin on how to run a country.

he's a genius. he dumbs himself down so the Dems can understand what he's saying.

yes, you probably nailed it. hot young blonde western women are targets/ a highly sought after prize. these women should probably travel with men accompanying them, and even then in groups is better. but of course western feminism has brainwashed them that they can do anything alone and don't need men to protect them and then they venture into remote corrupt countries on their own. women probably shouldn't be traveling alone anywhere. so 30% of the blame to corrupt laos. 30% of the blame to the girls. and 30% of the blame to feminism.

it's because the place attracts hippies who drop out of the system and want to have an easy life.

the thread is not about pensions

based on many of the comments on AN, free speech should be banned.

yeah, he's throwing in a woman as part of the deal. LOL.

well, better late than never. some radical measures appear to be on the horizon. according to this prediction, self-driving cars may reduce the number of cars on the road by as much as 90%. https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/ex/sustainablecitiescollective/driverless-cars-urban-mobility-and-toronto-s-gardiner-expressway/1070806/

yeah but your user name is crass, no?

was there another thread on this topic? this video has some footage of the serial killer AM .

It's good to be king.

Yeah, good philosophical question that warrants a 500 page thread. Whatever you do, don't lose your mind.

fake news alert

Point #1: Does "democracy" truly exist or even mean anything? If political leaders needed to check in with the entire population every time they wanted to do sth, nothing would get done because everyone would be arguing about everything. There is a mostly benign form of control in most countries. Some better than others. Also, there are "think tanks" behind the scenes that you don't hear about in the daily news. Really, I think govts take advice from these think tanks. I don't think they just pull a bunch of decisions out their butt-holes, but neither do they check in with the average Joe, who knows very little about how to run a country. Point #2: Does absolute power by anyone truly exist? Will Trump really influence every aspect of your life as much as you think he will? Or are you being delusional? When you are a child, your parents are your dictators. If you had crappy parents, then the first part of your life is hard.. When you go to work, then your company/manager is the dictator. They don't constantly ask you what you think, if ever. You need to do what you're told to collect that paycheck. If you're lucky, they're decent people and a decent company. Some are worse than others. But if you don't like the rules, you need to look for another job. Or create your own, in which case you become the dictator and get to impose your rules on other people. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, because you cannot operate a company without rules. It just lends itself to abuse.

RFK Jr is anti-establishment in many ways. And even a conspiracy theorist. It's mind-blowing that someone like that reaches the upper ranks. Maybe the first time ever. If you're super duper pro-establishment and crap your pants when someone utters a non-mainstream view, then he's not for you. He's not for the squeamish or faint of heart. I just learned that he's an AIDS denialist. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/11/rfk-aids-hiv-hhs-donald-trump/

For prostate health, there is Saw Palmetto. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/saw-palmetto-benefits

I suggest looking at alternatives to Big Pharma pills, which you can mostly find on Iherb.com. But anything you take, you need to research potential side effects and HOW LONG you can take it safely. And some are more powerful than others. You may need to experiment. L-Theanine is one thing you can try.

The thing is ... what do you seek most ? Comfort? Because ... Pink Floyd man ... Comfortably NUMB. Too much comfort = too boring?

Human beings are mostly deluded about their reality. The govt is a (for the most part) benign system of control (not as democratic as it claims to be, but still mostly benign. For now, anyway. It can in the future descend into an evil dictatorship, but your complaints are laughable about the current state of affairs. Anyone who gets a decent education and works decently hard has a good to very high standard of living. Most people who struggle have drug issues or are extremely lazy. Most people screw up their own lives through their own mistakes. Like I did for a while. I don't blame govts for my bad times. As Elon Musk pointed out, a cell phone is a supercomputer in your pocket, but people don't appreciate the advances that society has made and enabled this tech to be available so cheaply. As one example of how people are deluded about their reality. THEY put cheap computers in your pocket and you're still complaining that they're an evil dictatorship. People don't appreciate much. One reason relationships fail as well. People start taking their partners for granted, etc ... Govt can't help you unless you screw your head on straight first. This endless bickering about political candidates is nonsense.