GinBoy2

Maybe hold off giving the Chagos Islands away and wait for Mauritius to invade? Although in that case you'd have Big Daddy on Diego Garcia to knock that on the head within 24 hours, don't think the UK would have much to do, other than issue the press releases!

So, my wife's friend just died unexpectedly. Left behind are her German husband and a mutual underage son, Thai/german national. Given the suddenness and the realative youth of the wife don't believe there was any will or the like. What happens now? He obviously is now widowed, so visa wise, and does the minor son inherit the land, or do adult siblings of the woman get a bite

I'd be fine paying folks a living wage for the food we eat if it means I'm paying more at the store But my point is that the crooked farm owners knowingly employ illegals to lower their costs and line their own pockets, they ain't doing it for your benefit trust me

Oh, and btw, when ICE do raid the fields, I look forward to seeing a swath of farmers in orange jump suits for knowingly employed illegals in their fields. I think thats a crime, aren't you supposed to check an I-9!

Well I am a 'yank' have no real; view on Lammy as a politician so can't comment, after all I am a yank with no skin in that game But I do think as a 'yank' the ability the ability to at least comment on an absurd policy

So here is an idea, Why not grant independence to the Indian Ocean Territory, allow the Chagocians to return, then retain Diego Garcia as a sovereign base? Hardly groundbreaking idea, seems to have worked pretty well in Cyprus since independence

Once we start deporting undocumented farm workers, thats when the sh*****t will really hit the fan As I said in a previous post, my parents worked with a mic of documented and undocumented, and the whole purpose of the farmers was to drive down the pay for any legal worker. Now the data suggests that 42% of the farm workers in the US are undocumented. I only hope that when those guys are deported some of the rabid right are prepared to roll up their sleeves and replace them in the fields for $10/hr to ensure their veggies on on the shelf in Safeway https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-deportation-plan-effects-undocumented-farmers/

I'm a bit of a history nerd. The Chagos Islands were never part of Mauritius In the British Empire days they were 'administered' by colonial Mauritius It's very analogous to the fact that Burma was administered by the British Raj, yet no one would today suggest that Burma was part of India. The Chagosians have some valid beef with the UK, but saying Mauritius has any claim, thats rich. Better, in my mind, keep the status quo, let the Chagosians who wish to return do so and become part of the support structure for the US military, which folks are in Germany, Japan, South Korea and a host of others

Hmmm, now I'm from Kern County, a child of farm workers, US citizens, Grandparents came from Mexico in the early 20th century. Now it was different times back in the 60/70's, but my parents worked with a mix of citizens, legal and illegal workers. The farm owners knew exactly what they were doing employing the illegals, it simply drove down costs. Now I'd bet my next paycheck every single one of those farm owners was a fully paid up red blooded Republican. Drive down I-5 today and you'll see a bunch of the same nonsense on billboards. This is not to say I disagree with deporting the illegal felons on mass, I do. But the hypocrisy from someone like Belluomini and his ilk sticks in my craw

I rather liked this story, had a touch of 'Red October' and cold war. It's time we collectively grow a pair and assertive ourselves. A nuke sub surfacing next to a spy ship, hope it scared the sh****t outta that crew Well done to the Royal Navy, hope we see a lot more of it

So this is one of those 'I really don't understand' questions Why or how does a water company seem to have better data, than I think immigration or a host of other government agencies? Should we be consulting the local Starbucks next?

Well apparently according to your Government you're wrong. Asylum seekers entitled to free housing, healthcare and a monetary payment, loaded onto a cashcard every week. And if reading from many of your fellow countrymen, not so generous when bringing in a Thai spouse, although thank God you can put her out to work to pay for that NHS surcharge! I think Trump tapped in to a common thread across many Western countries. Do it right, and it costs you more. And btw, who or what is the daily mail? https://www.gov.uk/asylum-support/what-youll-get

To be honest Part A albeit free, doesn't really mean coverage. It'll keep you alive but not much else, You need to sign up for Part B to make any of medicare worth while, and do it before you incur a penalty. I don't think any location makes things better or worse, although @Sheryl may know better than any of us. The fact that you are asking this question, if you worry about a health issue, do Part B and do a Part D supplement

I'm a little conflicted about Trump, as Im sure a lot of Brits are. I'm an American bleeding heart liberal, but what got Trump elected was immigration. I despise him as a human being, but he's tapped in to a growing frustration with politicians unwillingness, both here in the US, the UK and more widely the EU to actually get a grip on this. My wife is a legal immigrant, but from the day she set foot on American soil wasn't entitled to a thing, I was on the hook for everything until she got entitled for herself, never claimed a dime I 'think' the same is true for the UK, had she arrived as an illegal claiming asylum then, the benefits world would have been her oyster Thats Trump's great appeal, and probably UK envy that he's actually prepared to do something

Curiously, the US taxes residents on worldwide income, yet still seems to have the richest in the world. I thoroughly look forward to seeing Elon relocating to the UK to take advantage of your non dom policy!

Off on a tangent, are you a child of farm workers? Of course i understand what your name means, but my parents where pretty active in the UFW in the 70's so it resonates with me

I would also agree with that. I read it and my immediate reaction, was ChatGPT. That being said wasn't a bad topic and I responded as if it had been written by a human. But given that we all know an increasing number of these essay style posts showing up on AN are AI, maybe a little honesty and disclosure wouldn't be a bad thing

Well JT that was a bit dumb, but we've all had those dumb moments when we look back and think, 'what the f****ck was I thinking saying the that' On the plus side I doubt any Thai not brought up on 50/60's Westerns movies had any clue what the Hell you were talking about

They are discussing obtaining a Thailand TIN, not a US TIN

As appealing as that sounds, I'm just too damn lazy at this stage of my life I'll put up with the criticism of my pathetic house cleaning, take my lumps, and just look forward to some fantastic dinner MrsG will cook for me

I kinda laughed a little bit about this assumption that all Western wives are whales and Thai women are stunning. Right before before Christmas we went to San Diego for my Grandsons 2nd birthday. Both my wife and my ex wife obviously were there. Both of them almost exactly the same age, mature women, but equally I find them both stunningly good looking mature ladies, but ln different ways. They get on very well together, probably in their collective glee in bitching together about me A difficult divorce doesn't mean you need to believe every Western woman is an evil witch, they can both be beautiful

I'm a bit terrible in this respect We both work, but I'm in the bare minimal range of household chores category My wife love to cook and I look forward to her coming home and asking me what do you want to eat, We work opposing shifts, and on my days off, it's a rush to do the bare minimum, make the bed, tidy up and load the dishwasher before she gets home Can't say it makes me proud, but it keeps the peace

That may well be true. My wife's an odd ball after growing up as a teenager in the US with her aunt and uncle after her parents died and the kids were farmed out to various relatives But when in Thailand and when we're in the US, so many ask her do we know any farangs who want a Thai GF They have this distorted view that magical mystical farang land is a place where the streets are paved with gold. In some ways my wife adds to the distorted view. As I said she grew up in the US, and her life, HS, University successful career was so different to her three sisters and brother. Bar girl, one death from AIDS, another 3 failed marriages factory worker, and a brother who is basically living on the streets So they see happy successful woman, family grandkids, compared to the rest of her siblings, and they extrapolate that all Thai/Farang relationships are paved with Gold

Well maybe I'm lucky. I'm an oddity Hispanic and was an only child, so no sibling rivalries to deal with My second cousins, it's all good with them, but they are second cousins so it's always arms length so to speak. Parents, who I did have a great relationship, long dead, but I still miss them. But my kids are bringing me the next generation, and I so much enjoy being Grandad, all the fun without the changing diapers and sleepless nights lol That all being said, and I think it's a function of being an only child, I learned to be very self sufficient. Don't get be wrong I love my family, but I could function completely alone and never miss a soul

The worst eye opener for a lot is when farang takes them back to their home country. The dirty rotten truth is they often find themself in a small apartment somewhere, in God knows where, and horror upon horror they find that they have to go out and find a job to make ends meet. That wouldn't be the first time a lot of us have seen things go South, and the woman starts to look for other 'options' That scenario is rather common when the Thai lady, used to the older farang in Thailand is suddenly presented with an array of younger guys more her age!