SoCal1990

When I was a teenager I had a friend who used to go up to girls and say "So, how do you like me so far". Half of them were a bit confused and didn't know how to respond and the other half slept with him. Not sure it would have the same effect in Thailand though. A bit too cocky I think.

Thai women don't require clever pickup lines. Best straight forward approach after saying hello to her with a smile is: "I like you. Do you have a boyfriend?" If the woman isn't interested she will say she has one, even when she doesn't. Then no time wasted and an easy way out for her without creating an uncomfortable situation for either party. If she is interested then she will say she doesn't have one, regardless if she has one or not. And then you are in.

This issue is bigger than left or right.

Nothing is ever achieved by staying in a jail cell.

That is all true, but the US was still aiming for far more than that and didn't get it. Julian Assange had an appeal hearing scheduled for July 9-10, 2024. The hearing would have addressed the U.S. assurances regarding Assange’s freedom of expression protections under the First Amendment if he were to be extradited to the United States. The High Court in London had very recently granted Assange permission to appeal on the grounds that the U.S. has not adequately assured Assange that he would be protected under these rights. Therefore, reports indicate that Julian Assange’s release was simply expedited due to the forthcoming July court date where those First Amendment issues were expected to be aired out, addressed and challenged in a court of law. This court hearing in July was seen as a big potential challenge for the U.S. government, particularly regarding the implications for press freedom and the rights of journalists under the First Amendment and, thus the US didn't want that issue argued in a court of law in a high profile case like this. So it was a US government fear of bad optics that freed him. Thus, as a result, the U.S. quickly agreed to the plea deal that just led to Assange’s release.

Stay in jail in solitary confinement for the rest of your life or sign a piece of paper that says something that you don't agree with and you go free. No brainer isn't it?

They usually are pretty successful at capturing criminals overseas related to financial crimes like MBS and Ross Ulbright. They also got Ramon Abbas and Viktor Bout, but then traded the later for the basketball player.

I'll take that as a confirmation that you never worked for the FBI or the CIA.

The phrase the "USA always gets its man" is not really true, is it? Assange just walked a free man and they fought tooth and nail to get him for nearly a decade and failed. They also didn't get Snowden, who still lives a free man now and at the courtesy of one of the USA's greatest enemies. Yes, they got other high priority US targets like Bin Laden, "El Chapo" Guzmán, Noriega, Saddam Hussein and a few others in the past. But my point is they win some and lose some. Success depends on various factors, including international cooperation, legal frameworks, and the specific circumstances in each case and, thus they don't have the sweeping powers across the world that they would like the rest of the world to believe, which is that they can capture fugitives anywhere. This false belief seems to also have derived from the mindset of American exceptionalism. The belief that the United States is inherently different from other nations, often viewing itself as a beacon of freedom, democracy, and justice, but yet that also isn't really the case. And this ideology can extend as far as to the false belief that American institutions, including law enforcement and intelligence agencies, are uniquely capable and effective in always achieving their agendas. Outside of its borders, the USA is viewed very differently though, far more realistically and much more objectively. But inside the USA the brainwashing is sadly still very strong for many.

So glorious to finally see him freed!

Totally impossible to polish an <removed>:

Here are the unpleasant spewings we can expect from the sweaty <removed> based on past debates from 2016 and 2020: - Aggressive and confrontational - Unintellectual speech patterns - Childish use of inappropriate insults - Focus only on soundbites and avoid providing and substantive data - Evade giving any direct answers - Try to appeal to people’s emotions and populism rather than facts and figures - Ridiculous questioning of opponents legitimacy Did I leave anything out?

When exactly did normalcy fully disappear from American civil society and it turned into this dystopian republic of fools living in some bizarre and fake alternative reality? 🙄 If you can even make it through more than the first 7 minutes of this without throwing up then let me know.