spidermike007

Just another reason why all nations should have higher standards when it comes to Muslim immigrants. They are the exception. There must be a burden of proof placed upon them to establish the fact that they don't have extremist beliefs, or 14th century beliefs. There has to be some level of assimilation to prevent these kind of atrocities from occurring on our soil. I also believe that families with Muslim daughters who are teenagers can start by proving that they have participated in a bikini contest, and for teenage boys they must show a burden of proof that they're not affiliated with any of the local madrasas. Something must be done to keep out the extremist super freaks. Their religion may work for them in Saudi, Kuwait, Yemen, Sudan or Somalia. That same ultra conservative fanatislcism, is not wanted, needed, nor desirable in Western nations. Only moderates need apply should be the policy.

The only way to survive here on the road, is to be patient, have eyes in the back of your head, drive with caution, and always, and I mean always watch out of the other guy. Chances are, he does not have much driving skill, nor patience, nor reason, nor common sense. You cannot be too careful on the road here. Especially considering that the toy police offer no traffic safety, prevention, enforcement of the law, or concern toward the prosecution of very reckless drivers. Those of us with driving skill, and a strong desire for not only survival, but the avoidance of terrible injury, are constantly scanning the road, in front of us, beside us, and behind us. There are an exceptionally high number of reckless fools on these roads, and it is the only way to preserve our lives, and those of our families, and friends, who may be driving with us, and depending on us. When I was growing up, we took drivers education courses. They showed us horrendous films, of semi trucks plowing into cars, and literally obliterating everything in their path. They also showed us graphic images of head on collisions. 120mph impacts. Even as a young kid, it made quite an impression. It was horrific, and it was hard to get those images out of your head afterwards. But, it left a lasting impression, and when I started driving, I understood it was serious business, and that it was a very dangerous thing to do. Also, I had the benefit of my lovely Mom, as my instructor. She spent countless hours in the car with me giving me tips, advice, and teaching me driving etiquette, courtesy and respect toward other drivers. That was priceless, and I doubt many Thai kids benefit from that kind of guidance. I see people driving here, with their families in the car, and doing things, and taking the kinds of risks no rational or sane person with common sense would do. What for? To gain one minute? Why take those risks? What is the logic? Often, when I am cruising along at 100kph, someone cuts right in front of me. Or someone comes out from the side road, right in front of me. I have to slam on my brakes, or change lanes to avoid him. I look in my rearview mirror, and there is nobody behind me. So, if he had waited two seconds, he would have had completely safe passage onto the highway. What gives? Where is the intelligence, caution, and prudence? Where is the common sense? What about just the survival instinct?

Is this intended as a serious question? It is fairly hard for me to relate to this post. I am not a rich man. But, I find the public hospitals here to be extremely fair, with their pricing. Even a visit to Bangkok Hospital, to see an orthopedic specialist, get some x-rays, and an exam costs me $60. At a private clinic in the US, probably $300-400. A visit to the emergency room of a hospital in the US, costs $2,000 and up. For an hour visit. In a public hospital here, that same visit is about 600 baht. They are charging so little to the Thai people, due to universal health care. And that is a very good thing for the people. They have to make up for it, to some extent with us. What is the issue with that? I am quite happy with the medical care here, and the associated costs. No complaints from me. A good friend of mine got in a bad motorcycle accident some time ago. He almost lost his leg. He got his first of 11 operations at Bangkok Hospital Samui. It costs him over a million baht. They wanted to do a second procedure. They quoted him 1.4 million baht. He decided to transfer to Bangkok. He was quoted 460,000 baht for the same procedure, at a top private hospital there. The surgeon told him that he worked at a public hospital too, and could do the same operation there, for alot less money. He told him he would get him a quote. In the interim, my friend called a buddy in San Diego, who is an orthopedic surgeon. Since my friend is a retired chiropractor, who knew all the terminology, and explained what he needed, and asked for the best price. His friend called him back, and quoted him $960,000, with cash discounts! The local surgeon got back to him, and told him he could do it for 46,000 baht. He transferred, and they did all the rest of his procedures. So, 1.4 million at Bangkok Hospital, 460,000 at the other private hospital in Bangkok (I think it was Vejthani Hospital), and 46,000 at the public hospital, with an excellent surgeon. VS. 33,000,000 baht in the US. Again, no complaints from this peanut gallery. Yes, medical care is a lot less expensive here then in the US.

Though I do expect the baht to dip, trade tensions are just a small part of the equation. The economy here is in tatters, and it is still suffering from 10 years of the Prayuth Decimation. The debt is higher than it's ever been, the banks are being very stingy with loans at this point because the default rates are so high, the new car market has stalled, property sales are very slow, and exports are dropping, so the problems are numerous. As if those problems weren't enough, though the tourist arrival numbers are high, the quality of tourists continues to drop, and the amount that the average tourist is spending continues to drop, so the total revenue being brought in from tourism is significantly less than it was pre-covid. I could go on. A message to the young PM. You might as well stop with the lies because nobody believes you anymore.

Kind of a silly question. Since the beginning of modern history men have been paying for sex. You always pay. One way or another. It is always either a front end deal, or a back end deal. Always. And many pay for discretion. The last thing in the world we need is all the problems that come with a mistress or an occasional lover. Even when a relationship is long term and one is deeply in love, the sex still gets old and boring. And many women just do not have an interest past a certain point in their lives. So, discretion is needed, and by paying you get thay. There are at least a dozen more valid reasons.

I suspect the same applies to his outrageous policies, the more he puts them out there, the more resistance he will get, hopefully from a significant majority of free thinking Republicans who voted for him.

I agree. But how much of that is due to Thaksin and how much of that is due to the changing world? In general I do feel that Thailand has been moving backwards for at least 20 years.

I have heard of guys getting into major trouble here, for being found with underage gals. As an American, the laws in the US apply to all US passport holders, worldwide. Often the Thai cop will demand 100,000 baht, if she is 17, or one million baht, if 16 or under. You do not have it? You are turned over. Many guys end up on planes with an assistant DA dispatched from DC, in handcuffs, facing federal statutory rape charges. Unless you have millions to throw at a lawyer, you are looking at 10 years in a federal pen. And you will be on the sex offender list the rest of your life. Many will dispute this. I have spoken to lawyers about it, and it is correct info. And the US government is over zealous about the underage thing. Not worth it. Always best to check if she looks really young. If she does not have ID, that is real trouble. Do not proceed. The law changed in 2003, when the PROTECT Act was enacted. Prior to that, sex with minors abroad was covered by Customs statutes, which required proof that the US citizen left the US with the intent of having sex with persons under the age of 18 - something that was very difficult to prove. (It's also worth noting that both Jerry Lee and Elvis married teenagers. Laws in the US are peculiar in that many states allow marriage to someone below the age of consent, as long as their parents agree.) Under the PROTECT Act, there is no need for the government to prove intent. If an American has sex with someone under age 18 while in a foreign country, that's a crime, period, even if that sex isn't against the law in the country where it took place.

I do have some friends that will come right out and say Trump is a butthead, he's an idiot, and he's an absolute clown, but I like his policies. Those are the Republicans I admire. Those who embrace truth over disinformation. With many people, once they got attached to a theory, it was hard to get them detached. They’d screen out unhelpful facts, invent favorable ones, and ignore contradictions in their own claims. Look at those Sandy Hook, multiple fraud convictions, and Jan. 6th truthers, babbling about false flags and crisis actors and all the rest. When people were motivated enough to believe something, they were going to believe it no matter what. There was no such thing as a bridge too far.

They won't be missed by most of us. Now, if only the same would happen with the Russians. They don't cower quite as easily. In terms of the government, it is safe to say the young PM has failed utterly. Is she doing anything at all, besides sipping vintage champagne at dinner parties?

That was satire. And I was referring to someone hauling a pickup truck or small truck full of goods.

She would not. But, we love traveling together and the government may just force us into a very fun lifestyle.

The Dems totally misjudged the extent to which pandering to the woke progressives turned off moderate voters. Bad mistake. Latinos are level headed people, and they just don't care about the gender issues that involve 0.04% of the population. I don't either. Most don't.

There is so much dirt on Trump, you could build a mountain with it. He is a master of disinformation, so he has been able to misdirected his followers into thinking he is not a criminal. The truth hurts, huh Don? Saint Donald. Total revisionist history, a complete reformation of his entire career, and a total erasure of his past crimes, moral terpitude, and a total and complete willingness to overlook a lifetime of moral bankruptcy among his devotees.

He is being ignored. He deserves this treatment. Musk is a clown. The new FBI director, Kash Patel, has told his agency employees to hold off on responding to an email from the Donald Trump administration asking them to list their accomplishments in the last week as the tech billionaire Elon Musk expands his crusade to slash the federal government’s size. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers had been given little more than 48 hours to explain what they achieved to the office of personnel management (OPM), sparking confusion across key agencies that included the US’s top law enforcement agency. But the FBI director – confirmed by the Senate on Thursday – undercut the request. According to ABC News, the agency was seeking additional guidance from the US justice department on next steps. “FBI personnel may have received an email from OPM requesting information,” Patel’s message read. “The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures. When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses.” And the Department of Defense reportedly told employees to pause responding to the OPM message. “The Department of Defense is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and will conduct any review in accordance with its own procedures,” the force’s undersecretary for personnel and readiness said in a message, CNN’s Natasha Bertrand reported on Sunday. “When and if required, the department will coordinate responses to the email you have received from OPM.”

You don't. And I'm not sure why anybody in their rational mind would, if given a choice. We all have to learn not to listen to nonsense, or bad advice.

I question who is the one that is lacking rational thinking, there is so much dirt on Trump you could build a mountain with it, and yet none of it has any effect. Think about the Access Hollywood tapes, think about his fraud conviction, think about the five bankruptcies, the five deferments from the Army, the 10-year friendship with Epstein, the guilty verdicts in court for sexual assault, and I could go on. You can choose to overlook all of that, but people overlooked Newton's theories even after he proved that gravity exists. Did thay change anything? You may think that I'm obsessed with Trump but from my point of view and the point of view of hundreds of millions of others, you guys are obsessed with trying to prove the innocence of a highly guilty man. That is a really tough job.

The most important tip to remember is that Thailand is not a foreign country, it is a distant planet! This way when you're searching for signs of common sense and reason you will be able to refer back to this point of view.

I have a Thai woman and we've already discussed this, if there ever comes a time for me to pay taxes here in Thailand we will be out of the country for more than 6 months a year. There is no way I will even pay a thousand baht in taxes here for the rest of my life.

No. I took the time to talk to 12 companies and that was the average estimate. LOL.

He was always above the law, there's very little record of him making any financial transactions. Hedge fund managers and investment managers typically have transaction records that are very transparent and available to all who want to investigate them. No such record is available for Epstein and many financial experts have commented on that. I wonder if the guy isn't just some sort of near fictitious character that was set up by a higher authority, to fulfill the needs of powerful degenerates. He went on to become a physics and maths teacher at a school in Manhattan, before being dismissed for “poor performance”. At this point he chose to go into banking, starting his career as a junior assistant to a floor trader. In 1981, he set up his own company aimed at helping people recover stolen money from fraudulent lawyers and brokers. In 1993, it was claimed he became involved in an fraudulent investing scam that brought in investors on false promises of return - but he avoided being charged for his involvement in the scheme. It remains a mystery as to how he achieved success so quickly at his company, but over the next two decades he struck multi-million-pound deals with some of the world’s wealthiest people and biggest financial institutions. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/jeffrey-epstein-how-make-money-b2473269.html

Absolutely, and it would be totally justified, as they're all bottom of the barrel picks with very, very little talent or capability. Exactly how Trump likes them.

Going public doesn't mean anything anymore with a guy like Trump, his supporters don't seem to mind his transgressions, and his criminal past doesn't seem to bother anyone either. Saint Donald. Total revisionist history, a complete reformation of his entire career, and a total erasure of his past crimes, moral terpitude, and a total and complete willingness to overlook a lifetime of moral bankruptcy.

I certainly don't see anything wrong with this it sounds like the RTP are actually doing their jobs. Reading signposts on a street when you're parking is just part of thriving and surviving in contemporary society, those that don't do it are subject to penalties. I like the tire boot a lot more than the fine because it results in a lot more hassle for the ignorant person who did the parking.

Do you think the average man who visited Orgy Island just hung out by the pool on the lounge chairs? I would put the level of guilt of the men who agreed to visit Orgy Island at 95%. Weather or not it was with underaged women, or just simply consensual sex with the harem that Epstein supplied is a different story.