GroveHillWanderer

The Democrats were in the minority and had no power to block their appointments.

The shop owner quotes him as swearing at her, and insulting the Thai people in English, which she evidently understood.

If you read the whole account in the linked Thaiger article, you'll see that's exactly what the shop owner says happened.

In an interview with the Dallas Morning News, Harlan Crow was basically asked if he ever expected any kind of "quid pro quo" from his relationship with Clarence Thomas. His answer? Sounds rather like he's just "admitted the quiet part out loud." Harlan Crow: There’s nothing wrong with my friendship with Clarence Thomas

The more I read about Clarence Thomas the more it seems that he's just a serial scofflaw when it comes to financial disclosures. As mentioned in the article below he also failed to disclose his wife's income for several years in a row. The writer of the articles points out that this is actually criminal behavior (but that it is unlikely he will ever get into any trouble over it because of the massive double standards involved). Clarence Thomas' Criminal Behavior on Financial Disclosure Thomas claimed that his failure to report correctly was because he didn't understand the disclosure rules, but the strange thing is that he had been declaring her income up until 2003 but didn't from 2003 to 2007 (a period during which when she earned nearly $700,000) and then failed to do so again in 2009, another year in which she is known to have been employed in what was apparently an extremely lucrative position. So it seems that his lack of comprehension of these rules is a thing that comes and goes in what can only be described as a rather strange and mysterious way. It also seems odd that a Supreme court justice, who is supposed to understand, interpret and rule on the most serious and complex issues of law in the United States, is suddenly afflicted by ignorance or lack of understanding when it comes to the matter of simple financial disclosure rules applying to themselves.

Without looking back through all 14 pages, I seem to recall that the majority of vaccination experiences recounted on here have been just fine. For myself personally, I haven't had anything other than a little soreness and slight fatigue after any of my Covid shots (four of them so far). I've never had any significant problems with any of the other many, many vaccinations I've had in my life, either.

I guess everybody's different. I've driven my MG ZS on a number of long drives (typically, over 700 km at a time) and found it eminently comfortable. Much more so than the Isuzu SUV that I used to do the same kinds of trips in before. Never needed a cushion and nor did anyone else travelling with me (I usually have three other adults in the car).

@ozimoron posted a link earlier that pointed out Harlan Crow sits on the boards two organisations (CCI and AEI) that have filed at least 11 briefs before the Supreme Court, with Thomas involved. In every one of those cases, Thomas ruled in their favour. Which at a minimum, means that Thomas was being a tad disingenuous when he stated that Crow had never had any business before the court.

Once again, you're giving an example of what you think is woke which completely fails to demonstrate your point. Saying that Hitler was reprehensible and should not be romanticised does not meet any definition of wokeness that I've ever heard. If you think that Adolf Hitler does not deserve to be admonished or shamed, then I don't think it's the AI's opinions on the matter that need to be called into question.

That doesn't mean there's zero risk however. According to all the scientific literature, any mammal can carry rabies. And since rabies is 100% fatal if left untreated, I certainly wouldn't want to take the risk.

You said the AI was displaying "wokeness" in reference to a question about who Dick Cheney shot, when it's obvious that it doesn't have a problem with answering a properly-composed question on the matter. Also, I'm not sure how the fact that the AI won't agree with your views on the world, or won't say what you want it to say, means that it's "woke."

Not sure where you're seeing "wokeness" here. The AI obviously has no problem with, or bias against answering the question completely and accurately, if it's posed in a normal, straightforward manner that it can understand.

It's apparently not pseudoscientific nonsense. According to the article below from PubMed Central: Rabies: The Lethality Since Antiquity

As I already pointed out, if you ask it the more normal, straightforward question of, "How many people did Dick Cheney shoot?" it gives a straightforward answer as to the details of who he shot and when, etc. Framing the question as if it is about Liz Cheney is at a minimum, confusing.

While any death is tragic and to be avoided, as far as I can tell the number of 38 deaths per day is actually lower than the normal daily average. A report on Sky News from a couple of years ago stated the average number of road accident deaths per day in Thailand was 62. Although in the article itself, it said there were around 20,000 deaths per year which is actually 54 deaths per day. Last year, according to the article below, there were an average of 40 road traffic deaths per day. 14,737 lives lost on Thai roads in 2022 Whatever the true figure, the average death toll for these three days is still below it.

I don't think you need to do anything. The message you got is the standard, automatic reply that is generated any time an attempt at an online 90 day report fails. Since you didn't need to do a 90 day report in the first place, there's no need for you to report to immigration.

If by "the allegations" you mean the fact that he received money from a property deal with Harlan Crow and did not declare it, then those are not allegations. They are facts backed up by documents available as matters of public record.

From what I can tell on reading the ProPublica article, we don't know that Thomas only got $15,000 from the sale. It says that Thomas had previously declared his stake in the property as $15,000 but that was before it was sold and it seems to be suggested in the article that Crow may have paid well above market value in the deal, for reasons that are unclear.

You seem to have misunderstood the point being made. That point was contained in the first link, and was that Justice Fortas was forced to resign by revelations that he had taken "a secret retainer from the family foundation of [a] Wall Street financier. " The part about Crow having a collection of Nazi memorabilia was a separate aside, not directly related to the main point raised in the post.

You may have been given some duff information. A subsequent post showing various cans of imported beer available from Villa Market would seem to indicate that canned beers can be imported.

I agree with all those who've referred to Guinness zero - I tried a whole bunch of zero alcohol beers when I was home in the UK last year and Guinness zero was the best-tasting one out of the whole lot. It's also the one that tastes most like its alcoholic counterpart. And, at least for a couple of weeks while I was there and it was on special offer in Morrison's, it was also the cheapest one I could find.

I got a TIN in Hua Hin in 2015, for exactly the same reason. I applied for and was issued a TIN with no problem whatsoever. Getting the refund was a different matter though. The first time I tried, I got a stony-faced guy who insisted that as a retired foreigner I was not entitled to a refund. Nothing I or my wife could say would get him to change his mind. I went back a few days later with a Thai friend who owns a business and often has dealings with the Tax office. We went to the lady he normally deals with there, she couldn't have been more friendly or helpful and processed the refund form straight away. She even filled it out for me and all I had to do was sign it. Whenever I've done refunds since, I always dread running into that guy again but luckily I haven't, and have always been able to get the refunds without any drama.

We have Trane ceiling-mounted AC units and they don't seem to have any problem coping with the heat. I can say for definite that the "blackout" curtains that we had fitted in the bedroom, with a reflective silver lining, make a noticeable difference. You only have to open them during the day, to feel the radiant heat flooding in through the window. We only put the AC on when we actually go to bed at night - the room cools down within five minutes and we have it set to go off automatically at 4:30 am (used to be 2:30 until about the end of last month). The room stays pleasantly cool until morning. In the daytime we don't use AC at all, just floor fans. Our house does have a lot of trees around it providing shade, good thick walls and we usually get a nice breeze from the beach so that helps (though not so much just recently as even the breeze feels hot after about 9 am).

I guess it's hard to convey irony in written text. ????

Yes, you have said this numerous times but I'm a little at a loss as to why. The trial is about to start and the discovery phase is just about over (although see below about Fox's new problems with discovery). The judge has already ruled that there was no fraud or altering of votes by Dominion Voting Systems (he characterized the evidence as "crystal clear" in this regard) so this will not be an issue brought up for debate. Fox's attorneys will only be able to present evidence that goes to the question of whether Fox News acted with malice. And when it comes to anyone being embarrassed due to discovery-related matters, well that shoe is very definitely on Fox's foot. It has now been revealed that Fox's lawyers improperly withheld some discovery documents and as reported in the link below, the judge has said he is: Judge Imposes Sanction on Fox for Withholding Evidence in Defamation Case