Jingthing

What about him? He was released already in a prisoner exchange. He is not famous sports star. Not sure how his case supports a political white resentment insinuation.

I really don't know if Putin will take the deal or not. But if he does he loses a high profile propaganda pawn that may have more value to him never releases.

I started watching Ms. Pat and am finding it very funny. As you can see in the clip this BET network show is targeted towards a black audience.

Here is my take which I think is more objective than most. Russia does have very severe drug laws. She made a big mistake violating them whether she knew that before or not. The U.S. and Russia currently have extremely poor relations. There is a war between Russia and Ukraine created by Putin and the U.S. is the most significant military supporter of Ukraine. Any American arrested during this time in Russia is going to be potentially a politically charged case, especially a famous American. For a very long time she didn't receive very much support from the U.S. government. Why the delay? In my opinion it's not about her race or orientation but her GENDER. The WNBA doesn't rate compared to the NBA, star or not. Just imagine how it would have been different if a major MALE star had been arrested for the very same charges! But now the case finally has received a lot of attention in the U.S. It's NOT because she's black or lesbian, it's because of a very effective publicity effort by the WNBA to shame Biden and the State Department to desist from their blatant hypocrisy on this (WNBA vs. NBA). So now she has received a very harsh sentence. Is this only because she's a pawn and she is a pawn? Perhaps not. Russia does give such sentences. Should the U.S. trade Bout for her which it has been revealed is pretty much the absurdly high level Putin might accept to make this deal? That's a matter of opinion. I have said this before. In my opinion, NO. It's a bad precedent. Putin heads a terrorist government, to give up Bout is caving to terrorism. Sadly in war time there are martyrs and collarteral damage. But the US seems willing to go for this deal, but even then, even with Putin biting. you can't trust Putin as far as you can throw him, and the deal still might not happen. To add, a lot of the Trumpist / right wing personal attacks on Griner and opposition for the deal are based on racism, sexism, homophobia, and opposition to internal leftist BLM type protest. That's very unfortunate. Too bad they don't oppose it for better reasons! Brittney Griner Verdict: Conservatives, Like Trump, Side With Russia - Rolling Stone The WNBA star was sentenced to nearly a decade in Russia prison for smuggling narcotics after being caught with less than a gram of cannabis oil. Right-wing commentators are gloating

Define normal.

What's funny about that? If she has to serve that sentence her life is over.

Godspeed Nancy. Independence for Taiwan.

For Republicans scapegoating LGBT people (culture wars) is actually second only to the economy for their campaign strategy.

I think they are saying chanting Let's Go Brandon and scapegoatimg LGBT people will shrink inflation. Of course they've got nothing.

Big Lie. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/19/politics/donald-trump-big-lie-explainer/index.html The 5 key elements of Trump's Big Lie and how it came to be

Out of your league

Well as my Mama used to say if you don’t have anything nice to say, say the nasty stuff on anonymous internet forums. Weird that she knew about such things before they existed.

If Andrew gets wind of this thread, sorry about all the moronic posts about your appearance and questioning your masculinity. Totally uncalled for. He's not a big fan of Thailand as he strongly prefers KL Malaysia where he owns one of his homes. But he well understands Thailand remains a top choice for many in his audience. I doubt he would ever post here himself though. Lie down with dogs and all that.

I don't really care. Just making some points for discussion purposes. Arguably it's a good thing for current expats that Pattaya is under promoted to expats relative to what it offers.

Well too bad for them. They can continue to live in make believe landia if they want. Looked at from an international perspective its still a very good value for money.

Plus you can get by very well here using English only.

Nope. I made the point. Pattaya is underrated and undermentioned internationally when compared to the competition for high benefit budget priced expat destinations. It has become much more than only a place for sex tourism but that's why list makers shy away from mentioning it -- the sex tourism reputation.

Bangkok in that context is just a stock background photo. He didn't mention it. Only Pattaya was mentioned. Pattaya is without any doubt the very best option in Thailand for very many expats. Not all of course.

Oh geez drools, just take the compliment that Pattaya is an awesome place to expatriate to.

Careful or he might get the Nomad Dad to come after youse.

He's taken.

We'll take it. At 5:07. Note that of all the expat buckets in Thailand, he only mentions Pattaya. Does Pattaya get enough attention by the Retire Abroad / Expatriation Encouragement Media relative to it's actually great advantages? I think it doesn't, and I think we all know why that is. The sex reputation thing. As if they don't have sex workers in Mexico City. Mexico City residents angered by influx of Americans speaking English, gentrifying area: report (nypost.com)

Honest Indian appears to be regularly available now on the delivery apps. But wait. There is a problem. The menu is all vegetarian. I ordered an all veg meal from there and it was great, but I usually want some meat. Their tandoori chicken used to be particularly good. Weirdly even before they only had chicken, no lamb or fish. So unless they at least add chicken, on the hunt again for a most regular Indian place. Not sure I'm going to find that. As it stands I'm just mixing it up and not finding a holy grail.

The best of all possible housing worlds.

This is anecdotal but I think quite on point to this topic. There is an expat in Colombia that I've been in contact with for many years now. He fits the profile of the type of expat that I don't think can realistically repatriate now almost perfectly. Low social security check. About 1,200 a month and he doesn't pay for Part B. No savings or investments. He literally lives on his check in Colombia. If he needs a big purchase which for him might be a few hundred dollars up, he saves for it. His rent in Colombia is about 300 for very nice, modern, large places, in very desirable areas. Quite decent government supervised private health insurance costs him about 40 dollars a month. His politics are right wing. About four years ago he said something like, well I can always move back to the U.S. There are places in the U.S. where I can live a decent life on my income. Not the glamor places of course. My response was, yes, you can find such places but your quality of life is going to be radically degraded. Well, well, well, out of blue, without prompting, in response to inflation particularly housing inflation in the U.S. he said -- NO, moving back is impossible now. He wants to live in Colombia for the rest of his life. I hope he can do that. If he is pushed out of Colombia, he would be looking for a new Colombia, not the U.S.