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When I read about stopping monkey business at the border, I thought it was a clampdown on a customs scam or shakedown or something to do with dodgy immigration behaviour!

Just before we all go out to celebrate, I am dubious about such stories. If ISIS is only 25,000 strong (presumably between Syria and Iraq), as the newspaper report seems to state, why can't they be easily rubbed out by far superior forces? Yes, I have heard about the superior weaponry as compared with the Iraqi army but tanks and gun emplacements can be easily targeted by US air strikes.

Destroying dollar bills is only a sideshow. Even assuming the unverifiable $800 million was destroyed, they are still left with about $48,000 per man out of their budget of $1.2billion.

The key to destroying ISIS is to first deprive them of their resources, in this case their ability to make money. That includes destroying their ability to sell or even use oil and to cut their trade links. Second, to take the battle to them. Remember, this is not just any old terrorist organisation - this is a terror organisation with territory.

We have to remember that ISIS was not successful just on their own. They were helped by the Syrian terror government, the way the US and its allies behaved in Iraq, including allowing Iraq to be run by a Shia government that was very sectarian for a long time. Not to mention the original invasion of Iraq to find those mythical weapons of mass destruction.

Now the Obama administration is trying to destroy ISIS with some rhetoric, bombing their alleged cash stash, a quasi alliance with the dictator Assad and 500 special forces as trainers/mentors. Hmmmmm.......

I did not think that struggling to revive the country's economy was part of the Dear Leader's job description, as the article seems to imply. Certainly, his father never bothered about that, allowing huge numbers of his subjects to die of starvation and suffer malnutrition. Kim Jong Un does not seem to be deviating from the script except he has probably killed/incarcerated more top level officials than his dad in such a very short time.

This Convention is intended to cement the new Dear Leader's position and to draw a line under any of the alleged earlier attempts to slap controls on Kim junior or to topple him.

Such a touchy leader and a country prepared to devote police resources to stifling free speech rather than catching terrorists and criminals.

Why would anyone want to fly their airline or visit their country if this is the way they are prepared to behave towards foreigners

The last time I looked, there have yet to be any cases of foreigners in Thailand being kidnapped and then beheaded. Whereas in Philippines . . .

This reporter is not giving us some sort of "insider" account of the Thai sex scene. Instead, he is recycling what is obvious to anyone who walks down certain streets any evening in Thailand.

What he does not report, possibly because he does not know or because it is too difficult and maybe a bit dangerous, is that just as there is a sex scene that caters to foreign tourists, there are also places that cater to local men throughout Thailand where the conditions are far worse for the workers and where they are much more likely to find trafficked women and girls, addiction and gross abuse.

Funny that they still exist French junkies, thought they where an extinct breed.

In Western countries, the profile of addicts and users of all kinds has been getting older. And such users are less likely to accidentally overdose as they will be highly experienced.

It would appear that the folks who sold the heroin to the French ladies ratted them to the cops - the ethnic minorities grow and use opium and it always helps to keep the boys in brown happy so that they can continue to do so without fuss by informing on these hapless women. A win-win for all except the French ladies. And if anything it only goes to promote the growing of opium and therefore the supply of heroin.

If he is holding a UK passport then you can not describe him as a British Resident.All those Brits living abroad are not uk residents.I ain't going to explain the residency rules but you can get on HM's www

Actually this is not true. I have never held a British passport but I was resident in the UK for years.

Having a British passport means you are a British Subject. There is an anomaly whereby the then British government gave passports to Hong Kong residents when the lease ran out and they had to hand it back to China. Those passports did not entitle the holders to reside in the UK. However, the British guy does not exhibit any Chinese features - therefore British Subject.

Sorry your article should have read English resident, not English man.

Never in a million years is he an English man.

I hate to break this to you but he is a British man. He has a British passport - we cannot say he is a citizen because technically there are no British citizens as they are all subjects (because it is a monarchy!).

Generally speaking, Country A has no interest in income you earn in Country B as long as you are non-resident in Country A. You can of course be taxed in Country B unless you are resident there. I have no idea how Thailand treats income or other gains earned abroad by residents. You might want to check that.

You also need to be sure that you are truly non-resident in the UK, especially if you have a British passport - there are guidelines about the number of days you can stay in the UK in any one tax year if you wish to remain non-resident. It also helps to be able to prove residence in another country (such as a resident permit), should the British revenue come calling.

Internationally, many of the tax rules have been or will soon be tightened up - for instance, in the UK until very recently, non-resident (and non-domiciled) individuals did not have to pay capital gains on the sale of real estate. Now no more. And the British Government and other jurisdictions will make more of an effort to gather taxes on assets and profits that hitherto were taxed in other jurisdictions at lower rates. Some of the folks who make money on line in say Thailand but make profits/income in the UK may find greater scrutiny.

Just as with the money laundering rules, the new tax rules in a number of countries will probably make life more difficult for the small guys while the large companies get away with it. For instance, I moved country and my UK bank immediately wanted a large amount of information from me - this is to fulfil their responsibilities under the new money laundering laws. But if I had been a company with ownership that was far from transparent in one of those jurisdictions that are less onerous, no one would have asked a question about origin of funds or anything else.

Again, HM Government is waking up to at least some of this - apparently some of those very expensive properties in central London (where a 4 bed house will cost you $8million), have been bought up by companies with unknown beneficial ownership and there is the suspicion that some of the money involved is dirty (e.g. drug profits).

Danon reiterated that when the Palestinians end their "campaign of hate and violence," and teach respect for all people in their schools, "they will find a partner ready to work with them for the promise of peace."

This has been true for at least 70 years. Unfortunately, the Palestinians are not really interested in peace.

I don't know where you are from, Ulysses but lets imagine that your country or state was taken from your people and many of the inhabitants had to run to neighbouring countries where they had to stay for years as refugees (and still stay there). Would you and your people be happy with this?

Would you be happy with continued occupation, impoverishment, controls on movement etc? And when the occupying power continues to install "settlements" on your land, would that create in you a desire for peace?

When you have answered these questions, perhaps you might not be so quick to judge those who experience this every day.

PT4, the world of corporate human resources has lost out when it comes to you!

I think that your approach will work perfectly well if she never moves in with you 100% and especially if she is not at your level of education - in other words, it works quite well in the case of a country girl who does not earn much to begin with. Moving in will blur the distinction between your money and stuff and her money and stuff. And an educated woman will probably not want to be put on a salary.

I am guessing that eventually this girlfriend arrangement will eventually break down as even a country girl will want to settle down permanently and live together with someone. But if you are OK with that, that will work. It also has the benefit of not losing much of your stuff when the breakup eventually happens.

What happens if you don't do social media? Do they want access to your email? To this forum?

No insult is bad enough for the odious Turkish leader, who heads up on eof the most brutal nd repressive regimes in the world. Merkel's grovelling support for this monster is what one has come to expect from the German Chancellor who ditched her Communist credentials to become the ultimate capitalist lackey. She and Erdogan are two peas from the same poisonous pod.

Lets get the history correct - Merkel was never a communist. She, like a huge number of others, found themselves born in former East Germany. She saw the repression and this is what brought her into politics.

That said, I completely am against this use of a crazy law and to show my disgust, I will hereby insult Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany

Oh Merkel Merkel!

Talks like a turtle

She looks like a sealion

And walks like one too!

Thankfully, I don't live in a country with such an idiotic law as the Federal Republic of Germany and therefore I do not have to expect to waste the police and judicial authorities time in bringing me to "justice."

It is a very good idea to cut back on carbs as they are often understood as a major source of visceral fat.

However, there are concerns about cutting down too much on carbs - you can read about this on the web re Hodgkins Diet. For instance, certain kinds of meat can give rise to gout. Even if you have never had gout and even if you have had a low uric acid reading, you can still get gout. Some foods are surprisingly high in purine (for instance, soya/tofu!). You need to ensure you are getting other non-carb food, especially greens.

I have found that a basic zero sugar carb breakfast is a food idea, then keeping all carbs to as low as possible for the rest of the day. If there have to be some carbs, you should use the slowest carbs.

The main benefit for me of this diet is that it keeps appetite in check and I never get the need to binge.

So, let me see if I've got this right...Cosby, "America's Dad", who has, for decades, made millions off of his squeaky clean image as a moral purist, admitted to multiple affairs and to acquiring quaaludes for the purpose of drugging and molesting women, wants the documents that were made public, thus destroying a totally undeserved image from which he has undeservedly profited, hidden so that his lawyers can go into court and argue that the judge and jury shouldn't be allowed to look behind the curtain, so that the women he raped and molested can't hold him accountable...for doing the things he admitted to.

Seems legit.

Just before you sentence Cosby in the court of Traveler19491, he has never admitted to administering quaaludes to women without their knowledge. The drug was a well-known recreational drug back in the 70s and many men and women used it to enhance sexual enjoyment. To quote his lawyers:

"Just because Bill Cosby admitted he gave Quaaludes to a woman he was in a consensual sexual relationship with in the 1970s does not mean he gave other women the drugs "without their knowledge or consent" or "engaged in any non-consensual sex," his attorneys say in a new court filing.

If you don't mind, I would prefer to wait until the court's verdict. Remember the trial of Michael Jackson, when everyone had decided he was a child molester.

You cannot believe anything Obama says about Isis

After all he thinks they are Junior Varsity .

Thank god he will be out of office soon

But before you go out to celebrate, look at the next possible POTUS:

Hiliary - even better than Obama?

Sanders - better do your tax planning now as you will be definitely be paying a lot more of it.

Cruz - Hmmmm. Anyway he is unlikely to win.

And there is the other guy who never seemed to make an impression and I have forgotten his name.

Trump - Yes, we all understand the rage of many people who feel that the government has left them behind. But there would go the economy and the USA's place in the world.

The best bet might be if either the democrats or the republicans could not get a clear winner in the primaries and it becomes an open ballot at the conference. This might kick up some wildcards - apparently anyone can put their name into the hat as long as they are a party member (but please don't flame me if this is not correct - I have long become overwhelmed and completely bored with the morass that is the selection process with super-delegates and all the rest).

I am sure that there have to be at least 10,000 people in the USA who would make good presidential candidates. Then why are we stuck with such a lineup of numties? Something is definitely rotten in the process - dealing with power of the donors who dictate the candidate right from the get-go in the primary selection process by limiting their donations would be a start.

The least of the problems with Songran is foreign hippy (hipster?) types who have decides to go shirtless. I would be much more on the side of the authorities if they stopped the foreign idiots who think it is a great idea to pour freezing cold ice water over people, especially older folks who might have a heart condition along with the Thai idiots who think it is very funny to turn a hose on a person trying to drive a motorbike down a road with obstacles.

Consider yourself lucky that you did it in Thailand and not one of those Western countries where not only would your feet not hit the ground while they throw you in jail, even before you get out you would pay a hefty fine, pay damages in a civil suit to the victim (you can imagine the loss of earning due to her being afraid to show houses to single males again!), get put on the sex offender list, strong possibility of losing your job and difficulty getting another one because of criminal record, perhaps having to move house due to sex offender list rules (this apparently applies mainly to the USA where sex offenders cannot live within a certain distance from schools, playgrounds etc) and perhaps limits on your travel.

Your best advise is to find someone trustworthy, preferably an older calm Thai lady, who would be prepared to approach the real estate agent, convey your apologies and that you will never do it again. A little subtle negotiation by your go-between and you will find out what you will have to pay to stop this going further. The sooner you do this, the better as if you don't she may carry out her threat to go to immigration, tourist police and whoever else.

Yes, you will pay out. And you will have to pay the go-between, And you will pay more than a Thai as you are a foreigner and she has all the leverage. But if you think it is too much, leave Thailand and don't come back for a few years.

The trouble with ignoring it and moving to another location in Thailand is that a) she may find out anyway - do not underestimate the power of family and social networks (not Facebook but actually social networks) she may register the complaint with immigration and whoever else and they will catch you whenever you cross a frontier or go for a work permit/visa extension/retirement visa etc.

Stop sending nude selfies - it is the kind of thing that immature teenagers send to each other but as an adult in any country they can get you into big trouble. If you are bored, find a job or a hobby. And while you are at it, get a better attitude to women - you will have much more success taking a more respectful approach than by sending pics of your body parts! Who knows, with a different approach she might be cuddling up to you now rather than threatening you with the cops.

A man has been arrested in the USA under a warrant for not returning a rental video (remember those!) 14 years ago.

This is despite the business he rented the video from has long gone out of business.

For the full story, see the following link:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35899697

Who don't the car companies use their imagination? They could do a pastiche of what the culture minister wants and put the girls in an absolutely skin-tight sheer outfits that cover everything but yet reveal everything, if you know what I mean. That would get everyone talking and promote the car . . .

As an American who lived through that era, they are nothing alike. Our current threats are external and are well known to be real. Trump does not hate anyone, quite the opposite, he loves his country and wants to protect it.

Very few politicians actually voice hate for a people or a religious group in the USA. And Wallace did not voice hate against black people as such (although he may well have privately hated them) - instead he was proposing segregation.

In the same way, Trump is not talking about hating muslims but he wants to exclude them. And he may want to separate resident muslims off in some other way (sorry but I am not absolutely up to date with the swinging pendulum that is Trumps policy statements).

But all of this boils down to the same thing - identify a group as the "other" who we cannot in some way or for some reason live with and segregate them away from the mainstream so that they become easy to impoverish and disenfranchise.

In fact, it can be argued that in some parts of the USA this is already the case with the black community - especially in the case of traffic violations black people are much more likely to be treated "according to the letter of the law," lose their job because they have lost driving privileges, have to queue up for hours or travel to some far location for adjudication, too poor to get proper legal representation etc.

There is a way to deal with such nonsense - along the lines of "I am Spartacus" (remember the movie?), everyone declares themselves Muslim to the authorities. That would put an end to such surveillance nonsense!

I would have preferred to have been born 20 years later for the following reasons:

Healthcare and nutrition was much worse when I was a kid - I am several inches shorter than my younger siblings due to this. Mortality was much higher and there was nothing for people with chronic diseases.

People only bathed twice a week (showers were unknown - only baths). There was no central heating. Pollution was bad and I and my older brother had chronic chest infections. This was not helped by the fact that almost everyone smoked and passive smoking was the norm.

Education was wildly authoritarian. As a result I hated education until I reached thirty and went to college and did a degree.

Racism was the norm - sectarian attitudes were acceptable.

Criminal justice was bizarre and really bad - rape, child abuse (sexual and physical) and spousal abuse were seldom prosecuted. There was no contraception in my country and abortion was considered murder. Single mothers were incarcerated in the Magdalen Launderies and this was enforced by the police. Corruption was the norm in certain circles. Priests could sexually molest children and get away with it - if there was a complaint, it would be hushed up and the priest moved to another location to continue molesting children.

Women could not stay in their civil service job (and in some companies) if they got married. Gay people were prosecuted for any homosexual acts. Couples who lived together "in sin" could expect to lose their jobs and be shunned by the community and their families.

Yeah, it was really peachy! (Irony alert!)

In SE Asia, the vintage Vespas are often those made in India - there was some sort of deal with the parent company and I think the original style was made long after they changed the style in Italy. They are also smaller in size than the original Italian version. You might want to check this before you buy.