Jingthing

If I was filthy rich, I don't know if it I would even bother to visit Thailand again. I would value health, safety, and what enhances longevity more, and that's definitely not Thailand. I would likely go for a "Nomad Capitalist" style owning different homes in different countries. As I love live English language theater, either New York or London for one port. Not sure about other places. I don't really like rich snobs so living among them wouldn't be so good. There are places I haven't explored yet like Japan.

Then you really don't get out much if you've never seen a crowded Indian restaurant in Thailand. By competition I meant it's totally absurd to assert that Thai curries are "better" than Indian curries or vice versa. They are just different. Within them there are different levels of quality and personal preferences. Personally if I was forced to only have one, it would be Indian though.

Tin foil hattery.

One criminally corrupt man ruining a great country is not very funny.

I did.

Again no decent American can possibly support Trump. From Ty Cobb. Not a lefty. Ty Cobb, Former member of the Trump legal team speaks out. Good writing, clear perspective. [Trump} is worse than anyone in our history in my experience and opinion. As people seem to have forgotten, I was very critical of Biden and despite knowing him and his family well, I spent 4 years writing about his cognitive decline and weak foreign policy. He had competent advisors though including very decent men as AG and head of the FBI. While you could fairly question their effectiveness you couldn’t doubt their character. Trump has real contempt for the country, appoints wholly unqualified people to key positions and just kicked 12 million people off Medicaid, eliminated child food support and killed worldwide healthcare efforts monitoring pandemic producing diseases including Ebola (among countless other dangerous things). His tariffs, like his bibles, crypto and extortion of colleges and media companies and his efforts to rewrite history, are purely personal, corrupt and have zero policy based support. They are just exercises in the power he craves so intensely. He has and will continue to damage our economy and the world’s, and our culture, until and unless he is stopped. Fortunately, the courts have shut down his Constitutional overreach in over 180 cases—96% of the cases he has brought or defended in the last six months—but without Congress, which has been neutered by its collective cowardice, the tide cannot turn completely. We are more vulnerable economically and on national security than ever before in history as he and Hegseth have rendered the military unprepared by eliminating the majority of its most experienced and enlightened leaders. Healthcare is in the toilet under RFK JR and many diseases are or soon will be on the rise due to the elimination of vaccines and the defunding of the sciences which made our energy, environment and healthcare the envy of the world. And, finally his Bible and crypto grifts to name a few are pure greed. His net worth is up over $3 billion since taking office 6 months ago. No one has ever seen corruption at this level by a President. Most of these actions have been pure exercises in power and greed and have no guiding principle beyond self interest and vengeance. Competence, leadership, science, and the rule of law which historically distinguished us from petty dictatorships have all been abandoned or curtailed to serve his ego and narcissism. His narcissism is so real and so extreme it dominates and is at the heart of everything he does and always has been. We can only hope the norms he has broken and the damage already done to us economically and to our stature in the world (where we have gone from the beacon of liberty to isolated bully in just months) can be restored perhaps in a generation and that the damage yet to come will be less severe but the country is in real trouble and sadly the weakest among us will feel it the worst. Moreover, the cognitive decline we saw in Biden is very real with Trump as well. His us versus them approach to Americans has been more divisive than any prior President. Just yesterday he announced how much he “hates” all Democrats. “Hate” worked for Hitler, briefly, but no one considers it a leadership trait. His racism is palpable. The country needs new leaders with character and I don’t care if they are Republicans or Democrats, never have. Just want someone honest, principled, intelligent and compassionate who can unite us. Trump in my experience is none of those things. This is what I believe and why I am engaged. I could of course be tilting at windmills but don’t really have much choice if I want to sleep at night given the stakes as I see them.

"Leftists" like Liz Cheney? The truth is that all decent Americans that ever paid attention in civics or history classes oppose Trump.

I resemble that remark and I've also met Indian restaurant owners who do their own deliveries to hotels. Without too much stereotyping I think it's fair to say that many Indians are very resourceful and flexible when it comes to running businesses.

Another one out of Bangkok previously mentioned as having good food and I agree -- AMRITSR

You've got me wrong. I have very little faith in the current authoritarian demagogic bozos now in charge in Washington. But as far as this form, it isn't even close to where it would be logical to take any action. Keep in mind the standard is to do TWO MAILINGS. The first mailing yes appears to be late. But practically speaking the most logical time for there to be a need to take action is if the SECOND mailing doesn't arrive. The goal isn't to be an early bird. The goal is simply to avoid benefits cut off and there's plenty of time before that would come into play.

Carlson is beloved by the pro genocide of Ukraine Z Russian fascists. That's all you need to know. They can't believe their luck to have such useful idiots working for them.

Very little problem with that in Thailand. Worst case? Early 1980's first trip to Mexico (Puerto Vallarta). Probably from a dodgy street torta ahogada. Montezuma's revenge they call it. At the farmacia -- just say turista for a knowing look and meds. Limited problems on future Mexico trips though there was an unforgettable incident at a famous museum in Mexico City where the toilet exploded up into me when flushed. Did my best to dry off but it was hopeless, so ended up having to do a wet pants walk of shame past groups of Mexican schoolchildren.

Not stupid. It's way early to do anything except to wait for the form to arrive. An exception might be if you are unable to receive any mail for whatever reason.

Theoretically they could work in the US but haven't in recent history. There is nothing in the US constitution about a two party system. It's something that developed. Another reason that the two party system tends to make more sense in the US system. The US doesn't have a parliamentary system. Parties can't formally merge in the US congress.

The maga party is ruling on a thin margin. A third party won't be viable but if done cleverly they can be a power broker to spoil either of the two major parties. The democrats are in rebuild mode so I reckon the maga party is more worried about that than the democrats.

Agreed. Unfortunately. A good case study is how starting to use agents builds a kind of dependency. They may be the "easy" way out but there could be a price later.

I was recently blocked up for a few days (rare for me) and I read that as few as 3 bms weekly is still not technically constipation. I recently added something subtle that is working for me. A very small amount (1/2 a teaspoon) of psylium powder with breakfast and water. A typical starter dose is a teaspoon so that's a really small dose. For me 1/2 is enough. I also have been eating a few prunes with dinner for years.

Oils vs. ghee is not a simple black and white thing. It's not right to say oil is always bad. For south indian dishes coconut oil is about flavor as is mustard oil for Bangladeshi dishes. Yeah I believe oil in general is used to save money over ghee though on the other hand health issues or not eating ghee saturated dishes leaves a heavier feeling. Sometimes it is added as a topping/flavoring.

The maga cult celebrates the destructiveness, corruption, cruelty, and idiocy of their dear leader Trump as a badge of honor. It's more like a badge of horror.

Another case of how tastes are subjective. I did try that place several times but eventually felt I'm not a fan.

Westernized fast food is quite popular in India especially with their youth. I reckon they think obesity beats starvation. Not rational to skip an occasional Indian meal over that. Like a lot of things, there are usually more healthy choices on most menus.

Well, the dreaded massively unpopular big ugly bill has fully passed. So on top of the annual mandated cuts to Medicare, the barbaric cuts to Medicaid that will mean much less access to long term care for those who spend down, keep in mind that there were ALREADY lots of medical or medically related expenses not covered by Medicare. So the big ugly bill just adds (a lot) to that which does support my premise here that elders repatriating for Medicare has now become even less compelling. Perhaps the big ugly bill might be the straw that broke the camel's back for many of us in this regard. What Does Medicare Not Cover? Eight Things You Should Know

The last I heard weed was not legal for for foreigners in Uruguay. Which would definitely suck if being an expat there. I guess their motivation is not to become a weed tourism destination but really expats should be excepted.

The most important question at this point now that we have a criminally corrupt "president" acting as an autocratic dictator is whether there will be a REAL election in 28, or even in 26. No, this is NOT hyperbole. Their possible plan is already clear. Declare states of emergency in blue state areas, etc. at election time. You know Russia has elections but they haven't been real for a very long time.

More cult crapola.