connda

So much for trusting "trusted" news media outlets. Regardless of what we a told we must believe, the majority of Americans don't blindly believe what they are told that they are supposed to believe by "trusted news media." Well, I'm in good company with the 69% who have low-trust in main-stream media which are virtually all owned by corporate interests or individual stakeholders like George Soros. "Americans continue to register record-low trust in the mass media, with 31% expressing a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in the media to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly,” similar to last year’s 32%. Americans’ trust in the media -- such as newspapers, television and radio -- first fell to 32% in 2016 and did so again last year." --Gallup Source: https://news.gallup.com/poll/651977/americans-trust-media-remains-trend-low.aspx "Gallup can't be trusted!!! Gallup must be a MAGA site! Grrrrr." Of course they are (wink wink) ☝️

Fish pee in the sea all the time. Why not people?

I've got a credit card in the US but if I make local purchases I get hit with international transaction fees. I'd like to obtain one of those pre-deposit, M/C or Visa credit card from a Thai bank to make local purchases. I can tie up 100K THB as a deposit for a 100K THB credit limit which is way more than I'll ever need. What I don't want it a bank which insists on holding double the deposit of the credit limit. What banks in Thailand will issue a credit card with these deposit/credit limits to a farang with a yellow house book, pink ID, Tax-ID, married to a Thai woman, who came into Thailand originally on a Non-B visa (now I just stay on marriage extensions).

Well, the politicians pasted that vote-buying gimmick on all of their road-side campaign posters. "Vote For Me And My Party And If We Win We'll Give You Lotsa Money Directly From The Thai Treasury." Now, lying is part and parcel of being a politician so the commoners fully expect to be rewarded for their votes. And should the Shinawatra's and their friends renege on those promises - well? That ploy will never work again and they can probably expect to be kicked out of power in the next election - well - unless the Army decides to run the country for awhile again.

Well according to the private jet flying John Kerry, all of the commoner and peasant classes of citizens must be immediately forced to stop all flying, be forced to live in 15 minute cities, and forced to stop driving in order to "Save The Planet From Man-Made Climate Change. And of course when that happens, if it is ever enforced by the world's governments (and it may in the future), then Phuket will return to being a fishing village as all tourism will be mandated by world leaders to permanently end for the plebeians . Only the John Kerry's of the world will be allow to fly and take vacations. Then Phuket won't have to worry about the occasional flooding (which by the way has been happening cyclically since the dawn of the Earth). And actually it won't even be a fishing village as all fishing will be outlawed in order to "Save The Planet." Only the John Kerry's and his WEF friends will be allowed to eat fish. So trust me - it won't be cyclical annual floods that end the tourist destinations like Phuket (and in fact, all of Thailand's) and all tourism by the commoners. It will be man-made laws outlawing tourism (for everyone but those with private jets who all are above all laws) in the name of stopping "man-made climate change"

Seagal is no more planning on joining Russia's military efforts than any 72 year old man. I don't think any military in the world allows men in their 70s to join their rank regardless of their physical conditioning. Well, maybe Ukraine as I read that the Russians captured a US guy in his 60s who looks like Santa Claus fighting for Ukraine. 70 year olds don't see action unless their country is overrun by an invading force. However give the bellicosity of Neo-con elements in the West and the outright admission that their plan for Russia includes its strategic defeat and the break-up of the Russian landmass (read Zbigniew Brzezinski's The Grand Chessboard, et. al.) in addition to the absolute hatred by most EU leaders of anything Russian - US-led NATA may just attempt a land invasion of Russia in the future. Then perhaps Seagal's aspirations will come true.

Well, give him credit for not running like most Thais.

Shhhhh. Pfizer and the CDC say there is no such thing as natural immunity. It's disinformation!

Safe and Effective. Just ask Dr. Fauci. He's had Covid three times and those shots saved him from dying for sure.

Foreign Tour Operators Flood Phuket, Taking Jobs from Locals Well Phuket locals, go to Mexico, book a trip through Eagle Pass, TX, and get your free healthcare, a complimentary EBT card loaded up with USD, and a free apartment, and a job waiting for you with transportation to and from work. Show them foreigners a thing or two and go take jobs away from them in their home countries. Don't like the US (although North Hollywood has great weather), then head to the EU or UK. Claim asylum and get a similar deal. "Hello Big Money!" Stay for five years in the US and collect Social Security when you get old and retire. Why stay in Thailand and complain about foreigners? Two can play this game and in the West the game is rigged in your favor! Move and join the gravy-train today!

Lightweight.

So why war? Wars are Profit. Wars make a s**t-ton of money for Western corporations. So wars are an eternal facet of Western colonial powers. They never end. There is no such thing as “peace” to those Ivy League leaders of Western nations as there is no profit in peace. So forever wars are fabricated, new insurgents are born (generally from within the population of those labeled collateral damage), and the beat goes on… However, if you have ever traveled extensively or are a Western veteran, the rose colored glasses slip-off and you see things for what they are, well, unless you are a completely brainwashed ideologue...then there is little hope for you. So do wake up and understand that there is more than one narrative. Every country has it’s own interests and a right to protect their national interests against larger colonial powers which seek to take what smaller countries (or countries which have little in the way of modern weapons and can be crushed with a disparity of force by those with advanced weapons systems) have by force. And now it has gotten so silly that Western military forces are gearing up for wars with Russia, China, and Iran (and elsewhere) on those countries territories! Who do you think fights with a vengeance? A soldier or conscript sent thousands of miles away to fight a war, or a soldier (an insurgent) fighting on their own homelands in defense of their country? Hegemony and hubris – it is a world-destroying recipe.

From a Western perspective, the term "Insurgent" is a pejorative meaning "a bad person who needs to be killed." But in most cases the term is used to define "an oppressed individual in a once sovereign nation who has risen up and is fighting to liberate their nation from domestic and foreign enemies." However, read a Western main-stream media article and "insurgents" are always the bad guys because the term is always used from the perspective of a country like e.g., Vietnam, Malvinas, Granada, Yugoslavia, Somalia, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Central African Republic, Sudan, Mali, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Chad, Haiti, Syria, Afghanistan, etc, where Western colonial powers intervene in the domestic affairs of a sovereign nation, enter the country as occupiers, and begin a war using advanced weapons usually slaughtering countless civilians (called by this sterile term: collateral damage) in order to "kill the insurgents." Interestingly enough, the term "freedom fighter" is often coined to refer to the internal proxy forces of the colonial power which are created and funded to fight the "insurgents." So in a way I don't completely blame Westerner citizens of colonial powers for not understanding, as virtually all citizens of these countries (including myself) were literally indoctrinated from birth to believe the "one and only one narrative of Geo-politics" that all of the killing done "over there" by your country is for "the defense of your nation" (which is thousands of miles away from where your military is fighting) and for spreading "liberty and democracy" to the savages in foreign lands. (Do ya want to know all of the disparaging terms used to label North Vietnamese "savages" during the war? They weren't nice, but they were used to impress on Western troops that all Vietnamese were savages. And new terms as created to label all insurgents in countries where Western colonial troops are sent to put-down insurgencies. You have to dehumanize those you wish to kill).

To troll bars, get drunk, and "boom-boom" bar-girls. Isn't that why all expats are here? "One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster The bars are temples but their pearls ain't free You'll find a god in every golden cloister And if you're lucky, then the god's a she I can feel an angel slidin' up to me."

That's not going to happen ☝️ any more than Russia is going to lay down it's weapons and give up the territories which are now part of the Russian Federation, or China is going to allow Taiwan to secede from mainline China. But those are all demands that the West is willing to start World War 3 over...and they will, I have no doubt. Why? Hegemony and hubris. Remember, the United States is the "Most Exceptional Country In The World" and all of the lowly nations must "bend a knee" - or else! Well kids - what you're going to experience is a self-fulfilling prophesy. Stay tuned.....!

Heat wave? I judge temperature by the consistency of a can of Ghee that I use in cooking. My Ghee thermometer now has chunks of butter floating around now. I haven't seen that since last Cool Season. Heat wave huh? Right. The polar ice-caps are melting and the oceans are boiling. Of course they are.

I won't even elaborate other that to state the obvious: Most Westerners have been raised from birth to believe that Israel is God's Gift to the World. And of course, God gave them the Eastern Mediterranean (not the British via the Belfour Agreement) and as such they have the God-given right to ethnically cleanse the entire region since 1948 and anyone who disagrees is a "terrorist." The only problem? The local Arab and Persian population is tired of the ethnic cleansing. Now if you are the typical Westerner, then all Arabs and Persians are dirty camel-riding ragheads who don't deserve to breath the same air as "God's Chosen People" sooooo, ya'll root root root to <cue the Beach Boys "bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" The same goes for Westerner's sentiments about Russia, China, and all other countries which you have been raised to viscerally hate. So? Don't be surprised when the nukes fly. In this Orwellian world of Newspeak, the oppressors are the oppressed, and the aggressors are the victims of aggression. The world stage is better than a fictional screen-play nowadays, kinda like Doctor Strangelove, and just about as satirically funny.

Ever light your farts? Much more fun when you're both stoned and drunk.

The Rat Pack were some real boozers and tail-chasers. Can ya name them? Man I was brought up on these guy's music and comedy. I'm glad I was born when I was born. Those were the days. "Boy the way Glenn Miller played Songs that made the hit parade. Guys like us we had it made, Those were the days. And you knew who you were then, Girls were girls and men were men, Mister we could use a man Like Herbert Hoover John F. Kennedy again. Didn't need no welfare state, Everybody pulled his weight. Gee our old LaSalle ran great. Those were the days." God, I was Meathead in the 1960s, now I've turned into Archie Bunker. <laughs> Meathead is still Meathead tho'

Yeahhhh, but you decided to take a detour down this lane: 🤑"Most of them might be losers, came here after a failed marriage, insufficient funds, or any other low income, hoping to forget their misery by buying booze and sometimes sex. Poor life I'd say." So you got this reply: 🙄 "It never fails to amaze me, the number of "Holier Than Thou" and "Richer Than You" types who can't wait to pontificate on Aseannow about being morally superior to other expats here." I thought the shoe fit, so I put your foot into it and tied the laces for ya.

Ohhh - loved rich red wine, but <gag> terrible freaking hangovers.

Yep.

Yeah - you and me both, and there must be more of us out there. It's something about getting older and changes in the metabolism. It just doesn't feel like it use to. Alcohol, weed, even "other stuff" (I won't elaborate other than to say - "Timothy Leary's dead...Noooo, no no, he's outside, looking in, Driving that train, high on cocaine, Casey Jones you better, watch your speed," and Carlos Castaneda and his brujo friends). Most mind-altering, feel good stuff is now in the "Been There, Done That, It Was Fun, Don't Feel Like Doing It Anymore Because It Doesn't Have The Same 'Feel') category. So now I just get my jollies in different ways without the buzz. But with that said, I know many guys and gals who quite literally drink themselves into an early grave and alcohol, bars, and hanging out with others who like to get hammered is a central part of their lives right up into their elderly years. It's funny, I have a friend like that, a bit younger than me, who now has some serious health problems...and suddenly his kids, grand-kids, and family have become really important to him. It's good to see. I have wondered how many of the bar-flies will hang with him to the end? But family and non-bar-fly friends have become important. That's something to celebrate. But if the bar-flies want to indulge, more power to them. I'm not going to knock it, but now it's just not my cup of tea. But for everyone else? Up to you!

I'd rather have a mini-keg of craft beer in a tub of ice.

It never fails to amaze me, the number of "Holier Than Thou" and "Richer Than You" types who can't wait to pontificate on Aseannow about being morally superior to other expats here. If some guy finds a modicum of happiness lazing his days away in Margaritaville with young Thai lasses willing to satisfy his carnal needs, for a price, then honestly - what the hell's business is it of anyone but him?