thaibeachlovers

Two things. I was visiting or living in Thailand for over 3 decades and the honeymoon never ended. I guess one either loves it or should leave. No amount of official BS would have kept me away had I been able to get the pension there. In the end it was NZ official BS that made me leave. Two I wish my country was less welcoming to certain ethnic immigrants. If it was we might have a better country. I think Thailand is spot on not allowing rich farangs to buy land, else they might turn it into the same <deleted> <deleted> they left behind when they moved to LOS.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Never worldwide.

Did they die with covid or because of covid? It makes a difference. If they would have died anyway because of bad health they should not be counted, IMO. Where Sweden went wrong was that they did not isolate the vulnerable, but IMO they had it right otherwise.

If it looks like Biden might win I'm sure many will come out to stop him. The worst thing for Trump would be if he was regarded as a shoo in, as in that case many might not vote at all. I don't normally vote, but I made sure to vote against the last shower that claimed to be a government. I did not want them getting back in.

I assume you mean TDS.

Don't have to believe anything Trump says to want to get rid of Biden and Harris, and if it's Trump as the only opponent then Trump it must be. I don't think you anti Trumpers understand just how much ordinary Americans despise Washington and all that live in it.

Yup. Harris should start looking for other employment. IMO I doubt she has had time to hide a few million $ acquired while in congress, unlike her "boss".

While I don't know enough to comment on most of your post, does anyone think a Yale professor is going to support Russia? One might, as long as they don't mind losing their position. While there is much dissension in the US concerning the Gaza conflict, IMO it would be a brave man or woman to come out in support of Russia. Publishing something critical of Putin is far more likely to be met with support and secure one's future income. When it's from an independent analyst, not in the US, I might be more interested.

I only disagree with the Security Council having a veto. I recognise that the UN agencies do a needed job. Resolutions need to be approved by a super majority of the general assembly with no veto power by vested interests.

It's a bit far fetched to claim that any of us are "facilitating" anything about Gaza. I doubt Biden or netanyahu are getting updates from AN. I suppose he ran out of insults to be going on that tack, as if trying to make you feel guilty or something.

IMO israel has been waiting for an opportunity to opt out. Now they can go ahead and flatten Gaza and when the hostages get killed claim it's Hamas's fault for rejecting the US proposal.

Agree 100% about the hostages. I don't need to see any report. I've been seeing israeli war crimes being exposed on Al Jazeera for the past 5 months.

IMO it was set up to give other countries an illusion of participation, but keeping the power for those with the veto. The security council needs to be abolished, IMO, if the UN is to do what it is supposed to do.

I'd like to agree with you but IMO the reality is that israel will only evacuate the west bank under force, and I can't see any country willing to do so. It's not as though a large part of israelis want to give up the West Bank- they don't. I hate to say this, but IMO the only way for Gazans to save themselves is to become refugees, but they will never be allowed to return. Then of course it'll probably be the same for West Bank Palestinians. The end result will likely be a large Palestinian population living in Jordan and Lebanon, taking revenge on israelis every time an opportunity presents itself. Israelis only have themselves to blame for the forever war that will follow ethnic cleansing. They say revenge is best supped cold.

I haven't been on all the Phuket beaches, but the 4 I did go on were very average. Best beach on Samui ( Chaweng )was ruined by overbuilding and Lamai has horrible sand to walk on. Samet beaches suck IMO and I walked almost the entire island. The big beach on Chang is OK, but the other are not much. If you want great beaches that are easy to reach, Lanta is the place. No <deleted> long tails either. My favourite beaches were north east Phangan, but NOT either of the Thong Nai Pan beaches. Had Rin used to be the best beach in Thailand, but only before the FMP started. Hua Hin IMO doesn't even qualify as a beach as it vanishes at high tide. The beach where the palace is is super ordinary and was quite dirty when I walked on it

Not my experience. Perhaps you went wrong time of year.

Tao north of Phangan has rubbish beaches.

H H is too far north, Go south, down to where it's all miles of deserted beaches. I stayed at a guesthouse that had miles of unbuilt coastline either side. Bliss.

No, most of them are bad, actually bad. They just became too PC. These days I don't really watch Hollywood anymore. I watch Japanese and Korean movies and series.

What happened in 2005? I was watching a lot of great movies back then. Covid did ruin movies though. They are so bad now I haven't watched any in a cinema since Top Gun 2. The tickets are too expensive for what we get. I did watch Elvis on DVD though, and it was OK.

They got taken over by the woke. Now it's all about how great women are. They even took a childhood story I loved and ruined it ( Swallows and Amazons ) with nonsense about German spies and changed the characters into nasty kids. The 1974 version was way better.

What are you on about? I lived there and I certainly didn't hide inside all the time. Nor was I on mind altering drugs. Far as I know, porn is illegal in LOS and I'm sure they would know if you were watching it on the internet.

From the Alien planet of course.

I have that movie on DVD, and watch it from time to time. It's a great movie considering when it was made, so the special effects are not that good. My only complaint is that the guys hair is always perfect. They must have had a hairdresser on set between takes. Loved the robot. Actually, it's probably the first movie I ever watched, and I must have liked it so much I never forgot it ( like Old Yeller and The Wizard of Oz )