JAG

Tylenol, that is Paracetamol isn't It? But we have little choice but to use it if we live out "in the sticks"; you see there is no aspirin in the jungle because the parrots ate 'em all! I know it is not a very good joke, but in my defence Trump and Kennedy "quacking" about autism isn't either!

I wonder when Wikipedia will start referencing Asean Now as an authoritative source?

Yes I particularly reference her 1935 film "The Triumph of The Will". It is a powerful work, well made, a classic of it's time - albeit a ghastly topic. Worth watching if you are interested in the art of cinema, not acting or story telling but great directing. Real parallels, they leap off the screen!

They do appear to have an awful lot of clout don't they? Still it is nice to see (mature) students and the common people, traditionally umh, lacking an effective, coherent voice in the Thai political arena, rather coming to the fore! I look forward to them standing to be the people's choice, on a platform of transparent reform of Thailand, in the election in 3 1/2 months time! !🫣

Parallels, parallels, parallels. A martyr to eulogise, a massive rally culminating in a leaders speach surrounded by his acolytes, a youth movement, large banners on public buildings bearing the leaders image... Who will be MAGA's Leni Riefenstahl?

MAGA has created it's very own Horst Wessel!

But the box must be kept in a cell until the last day of his sentence!

If I were you @Tug I would regard that as something of a badge of honour!

I'm sorry, but I simply cannot accept that a noble public servant such as Mr Homan, of such standing in the annals of United States Law Enforcement, a man who radiates sincerity, compassion and love for all humanity, a man whose every act is predicated by an earnest desire for jusice and a rigid adherence to his country's constitution, a man through whose veins runs the very milk of human kindness, could in any way be implicated in such a shameful business! If it should be proven, then I shall rend my garments, and retire, amidst wailing and gnashing of teeth, to live the life of a hermit, deeply saddened and dissilusioned!

No doubt the immediate analysis of the recent conflict will show an urgent need for some significant procurement programmes to replace and update the Army's equipment. The very urgency will require the procurement process to be expedited, bypassing many of the frankly unnecessary and cumbersome processes which are designed to ensure that the money is transparently spent! There was a time when cross border trade with Cambodia ( particularly expensive timber hardwoods) was central to the interests of the Army's command. The current generation of leaders have other interests... He will send whoever the Army tells him to. After all, doing otherwise is what put the kybosh on his predecessor!

You have just answered your own question - or perhaps to be more accurate, given an illustration of the phenomenon you suggested for discussion!

50 years, was the desktop PC around in 1975?

We seemed to manage quite well before Trump came along. I dare say life will continue for most of us after he has gone!

I quoted the ITEP report because it was one of the first items thrown up by a Google search; said Google search threw up many, many references to, accounts of and explanations why undocumented migrants are often paying taxes. I think that you need to take into account that the bulk of these people are not slinking around the underbelly of US society but living normal lives, in paid employment and on conventional payrolls. Many of them are in the process of attempting to regularise their immigration status, which is why the various courts and immigration offices are such a happy hunting ground for ICE. One of the more bizarre features of the whole business is how Honan's ad hoc militias are actually disrupting those processes. That aside, my basic point remains, the undocumented migrant community in the USA is a very different matter to the young male "faux" asylum seekers who are swamping, and being allowed, almost perhaps encouraged to bypass the UK's immigration system, and unlike the USA's migrants are being being so generously funded and treated by our government!

I agree that it is strange - bizarre even but apparently they can and do. According to "Reuters Fact Check": "Besides U.S. citizens and nationals, noncitizens, who are lawfully present in the U.S. can obtain a Social Security Number, opens new tab (SSN), which is just one type of Taxpayer Identification Number, (TIN) that can be used to file taxes. Individuals who are ineligible for an SSN, such as immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally and not authorized to work, can apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) regardless of their immigration status, according to the IRS. An ITIN can only be used for federal tax purposes and does not grant work authorization, change immigration status or provide social security benefits, the IRS page says. Some undocumented workers obtain jobs by using fake or borrowed SSNs and pay into, opens new tab Social Security without receiving benefits. Undocumented immigrants paid nearly $97 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022, according to a July 2024 report, by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), which used data on taxpayers with ITINs to estimate tax revenue. The ITEP report said undocumented immigrants contributed $59.4 billion to the federal government, including payments for federal income tax and federal social insurance such as Social Security, Medicare and Unemployment Insurance. An estimated 8.7 million of the 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally in 2022 were of prime working age, according to a 2024 U.S. Department of Homeland Security report." $59.4 billion is quite a lot of tax money though. What they can't do, although they may "pay in" is claim any benefits.

No, I am English. I speak French, ( not bilingual but fluent), I have worked in France and with the French, and have a liking for the country, whilst of course respecting the tradition that they have been "best of enemies" for nearly 1200 years. Cultural nuances which I doubt most on the American right would understand! Pompous bastard aren't I

Candace Owens is American. The old "cheese eating surrender monkeys" epithet, whilst gratuitously offensive was much less insidious than these baseless, personal, and essentially politically motivated attacks. It may be a fact that President Macron chose to marry an older woman. One could of course ponder on another President who appears to favour significantly younger women! The previous case brought in France was overturned on appeal, not on the facts but because of "concerns" over freedom of speech. Natacha Rey, on whose behalf the courts found in favour of "freedom of speech" is such a passionate supporter of such freedoms that she is reported to have applied for asylum in Russia!

But will the Big Beautiful Ballroom ever be finished?

Save us from the diagnosees of self proclaimed online mental health experts!

There is a world of difference between returning these fake asylum seekers ( male, young, economic migrants) and the sort of racially profiling, family smashing, cruel distopian campaign against undocumented but otherwise often productive taxpaying and law-abiding members of society being mounted by Miller and Hogan.

So it's not only Trump who is talking gibberish!

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition...

What are you wittering on about? Please, I am intrigued, explain the link between airport security and the Catholic Church!

Which is precisely why I said "personally".

The ultimate in epitaphs!😃