CharlieH

That's enough ! Let's not have yet another topic descend into a Bickerfest.

Hell of a trip! Probably around 14hrs and close to 800 km. Do it over 2-3 days and enjoy some stop overs on the way. 👍😀

The file size is far in excess of your requirement. I would suggest it may be file type or connection issue.

Watery ? Every version I have seen is pretty dry unless stipulated otherwise. 57bt with kai dow is about right dependent in where this was.

Almost three years on from its bloody coup, Myanmar’s military junta is facing the biggest threat to its hold on power as it fights wars on multiple fronts across the Southeast Asian nation. In recent weeks, powerful armed ethnic militias have joined with resistance forces to mount major new offensives with unprecedented coordination, exposing the limits of the deeply unpopular junta’s capabilities as it loses strategic border towns, key military positions and vital trade routes at a scale not seen in decades, according to experts. “The junta is actively collapsing right now and that’s only become possible because there is this wider effort across the country,” said Matthew Arnold, an independent Myanmar analyst. Calling it an “existential moment for the military,” Arnold said the resistance is “now focused on taking major towns to fundamentally defeat the junta.” An offensive named Operation 1027, launched in late October by an alliance of three powerful ethnic rebel armies in the country’s northeast, has since catalyzed into a nationwide push to take control of towns and areas in Myanmar’s north, west and southeast. Nearly 200 civilians have been killed and 335,000 people newly displaced by the fighting since October 27, according to the United Nations. Civil war between Myanmar’s myriad ethnic armies and successive military governments has raged for decades. But the latest escalation in fighting comes off the back of nationwide public resistance to army chief Min Aung Hlaing’s February 2021 coup, which sacked the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. FULL STORY

Australia's prime minister has given a national apology to survivors of the thalidomide scandal and their families. It comes over 60 years after the morning sickness drug started causing birth defects in babies globally. "This apology takes in one of the darkest chapters in Australia's medical history," Anthony Albanese told parliament on Wednesday. It is the first time the government has acknowledged its role in the tragedy. "To the survivors - we apologise for the pain thalidomide has inflicted on each and every one of you each and every day. We are sorry. We are more sorry than we can say," Mr Albanese said, addressing a crowd of survivors and their families in the chamber. The exact number of people affected in Australia remains unknown, but more than 140 survivors have registered for a financial support programme since 2020. In 2019, a report found that 20% of Australia's thalidomide cases could have been avoided if leaders had acted sooner. Survivor Trish Jackson, 61, told the BBC she hoped the apology would give "a bit of peace" to families. "[But] it should have been done years ago when parents were still alive, when mothers were still alive. Some survivors have even died and not gotten to hear this." Developed in Germany in the 1950s, thalidomide was originally used as a sedative or tranquiliser, but soon became widely promoted around the world as a morning sickness drug. FULL STORY

Former President Trump often made support for Israel a cornerstone of his foreign policy during his first term in office, but in recent weeks he has offered mixed messages about how he would handle Israel’s battle with Hamas if he were chief executive. Trump initially criticized Israeli leadership over the Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7 but has since reiterated his support for the country. He has insisted he would take a much harder line against Iran, which has long backed the military wing of Gaza’s governing body, but has suggested the Israel-Hamas conflict will have to play out. Trump’s comments and policy stances have offered clues about how he would handle the situation, providing a glimpse into how he and President Biden — the two men most likely to be on the ballot next November — differ on a major foreign policy issue. Hostage efforts Trump has joined a chorus of Republicans critical of the Biden White House for its dealings on hostages, which include Israelis, Americans and other foreign nationals, taken by Hamas. Over the weekend, in a deal brokered by the U.S., Israel and Hamas agreed to a pause in fighting to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave and Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange for a wave of hostages being freed. The first two waves, however, included no Americans. “Has anybody noticed that Hamas has returned people from other Countries but, so far, has not returned one American Hostage? There is only one reason for that, NO RESPECT FOR OUR COUNTRY OR OUR LEADERSHIP,” Trump wrote Saturday on Truth Social. FULL STORY

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) warned Monday that an impeachment vote on President Biden would be a “political disaster” for House Republicans. In an interview with “Just the News No Noise” on Real America’s Voice, Huckabee said House GOP members should not move to impeach the president without the support of some Democrats. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) opened an impeachment inquiry into Biden in September that is centered on his family’s foreign business dealings. Huckabee cautioned it would be a “huge mistake” to move forward without getting more information. “To impeach Joe Biden in the House, knowing it’s not going to go to the Senate — there’s no point,” he said. “All it becomes is a political disaster.” Huckabee said that until some Democrats agree with Republicans in that “Joe Biden is hopelessly corrupt,” the GOP members of the House should focus on other things, such as winning elections. “Until that happens, the best thing Republicans can do is keep dribbling out the information of Joe’s ties to the Communist Chinese Party and business deals,” Huckabee said, adding that they should also “focus on a message that gets us elected, and reminding people how much better off they were when Donald Trump was president than they have been since Joe Biden has taken the reins.” Many Senate Republicans said that they were not happy with McCarthy’s decision shortly after the inquiry was opened. A handful of senators told The Hill at the time that they were worried an impeachment inquiry could backfire on the party. FULL STORY

Once a temporary truce ends between Israel and Hamas, fighting is expected to enter the deadliest phase of the war, when Israeli troops confront the main Hamas force in southern Gaza. Israeli troops inside of Gaza for about a month have largely cemented control over the northern half of the coastal strip, including the urban center of Gaza City, and will next focus on the south, where 1.7 million Palestinian civilians are sequestered. But southern Gaza is also currently home to the bulk of Hamas, most of which is still intact after nearly two months of war. Many Hamas fighters fled Gaza City and other strongholds in the north to hide down south. If Israel wants to destroy Hamas, as per its stated goal, that will require taking the fight south — where they will risk a high rate of civilian casualties and increased pressure for a cease-fire, which could magnify depending on how long the ongoing truce extends and how many hostages are released. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged “there is no place in Gaza that we will not reach,” brushing aside any calls to halt the campaign to annihilate Hamas for launching a deadly Oct. 7 surprise attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people. “There is no hiding, no shelter, no refuge for the murderers of Hamas,” Netanyahu said earlier this month. At the moment, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it is committed to securing the release of the hostages during a temporary truce while preparing for the next stage of the war. FULL STORY

At my Office its required to be presented within 7 days of issue from the Amphur. The wife has to obtain a new one every year.

Perfumed Talcum powder, it messes up their GPS and they will not cross it. Put it around the base of the tree. Just a suggestion, it worked well for me.

Rooster used to work on the News Team, he was never a Moderator. He is no longer with the forum. CLOSED

Who said they would or are entitled to one ?

A bit hard that one, as what one person finds exciting another may not. I suppose it was the sheer wonderment and attack on the senses the first time I sat at a bar in Soi Nans, on the corner of the Nana Hotel (hooters now?)and just watched what was going on. Never seen or experienced anything quite like it.Not being a drinker or frequenting bars as such, never been to Thailand before, this was way back in 2003. My entire 2 week stay was unbelievable and exciting to me, and why I came back so many times and eventually moved here. That one trip and experience changed the entire course of my life. 😀

Mobile device or PC ? when did the issue start, any other info ?

56c96e2ec8df6e6b29b4be86003802b3.mp4

Former President Trump over the weekend revived his calls to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act if he wins the 2024 presidential election. In a Truth Social post, the leading GOP presidential candidate claimed he’s “seriously looking at alternatives” to replace ObamaCare, and that the failure to repeal the health law in 2017 while he was in office was “a low point for the Republican Party.” Republicans were one vote away from repealing the law in 2017 after the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) voted with Democrats to keep ObamaCare in place. Ever since, Trump has knocked and mocked McCain, even years after the senator’s death from brain cancer. Democrats retook control of the House in 2018 after making the GOP repeal efforts the center of their campaigns, promising to protect Americans from losing coverage for preexisting conditions. Trump reinjecting life into the health care debate could backfire for Republicans, who have largely given up campaigning against ObamaCare, an acknowledgment that health care is a losing issue for them. Three GOP-led attempts to repeal the law through the courts have also failed, including one backed by Trump in 2020. “We had a couple of Republican Senators who campaigned for 6 years against it, and then raised their hands not to terminate it. It was a low point for the Republican Party, but we should never give up!” Trump said. FULL STORY

Deal agreed to extend Gaza ceasefire for two days, say Hamas and Qatar Palestinian group says it has agreed to continuation of truce with same conditions, but Israel has not commented Israel-Hamas war – live updates A deal to extend the current ceasefire between Israel and Hamas by two days has been agreed after a frantic dash by mediators with just over 12 hours remaining before hostilities in Gaza were due to resume. Hamas said it had agreed to the extension of the four-day truce by 48 hours after the intervention of Qatar and Egypt, the principal mediators for the initial agreement, and with the same conditions. There was no immediate confirmation from Israel, but António Guterres, the UN secretary general, hailed the extension as “a glimpse of hope and humanity in the middle of the darkness of war”. There are widespread fears that any break in the conflict that has devastated swaths of Gaza and killed many thousands of civilians will only be brief. Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, told troops on Monday that when fighting recommenced its “strength will be greater, and it will take place throughout the entire strip”. “You now have a few days, we will return to fighting, we will use the same amount of power and more,” Gallant said. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has pledged to crush Hamas. FULL STORY

The Ukrainian government is planning to change its conscription practices as it seeks to sustain fighting capacity after nearly two years of full-fledged war with Russia. The changes, expected to be announced this week, will include the use of commercial recruitment companies to carry out more targeted conscription and to reassure conscripts they will be deployed in roles that match their skills and not simply sent to the front, according to one senior official. “Some people are scared, scared to die, scared to shoot, but it doesn’t mean they can’t be involved in other activities … Now we have a new minister with a new approach,” Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s security council, told the Guardian. In early September, the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, sacked Oleksii Reznikov, who had been defence minister since the beginning of the war, and replaced him with Rustem Umerov, who spent the early part of the war working on doomed negotiations with Russia. On Friday, Zelenskiy said he expected Umerov’s ministry to provide him with a package of new mobilisation policies this week. “The plan will be worked out and all the answers will be there – next week I will see this plan,” Zelenskiy told a news conference, without giving further details. Danilov said the army would work with two of Ukraine’s biggest recruitment companies in order to identify people with specific skills, and to dissuade skilled Ukrainians who wanted to help the army but did not want to go to the front from trying to evade the draft. “The mobilisation will become more flexible, those specialities that are required will be announced, and people will be volunteering for a concrete position. For example, they need welders or mechanics and so on,” said Danilov. FULL STORY

Instagram and Facebook parent company also knowingly allowed underage users to hold accounts, unsealed legal complaint says Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta purposefully engineered its platforms to addict children and knowingly allowed underage users to hold accounts, according to a newly unsealed legal complaint. The complaint is a key part of a lawsuit filed against Meta by the attorneys general of 33 states in late October and was originally redacted. It alleges the social media company knew – but never disclosed – it had received millions of complaints about underage users on Instagram but only disabled a fraction of those accounts. The large number of underage users was an “open secret” at the company, the suit alleges, citing internal company documents. In one example, the lawsuit cites an internal email thread in which employees discuss why a 12-year-old girl’s four accounts were not deleted following complaints from the girl’s mother stating her daughter was 12 years old and requesting the accounts to be taken down. The employees concluded that “the accounts were ignored” in part because representatives of Meta “couldn’t tell for sure the user was underage”. The complaint said that in 2021, Meta received over 402,000 reports of under-13 users on Instagram but that 164,000 – far fewer than half of the reported accounts – were “disabled for potentially being under the age of 13” that year. The complaint noted that at times Meta has a backlog of up to 2.5m accounts of younger children awaiting action. The complaint alleges this and other incidents violate the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act, which requires that social media companies provide notice and get parental consent before collecting data from children. FULL STORY

Defense Production Act of 1950, passed to streamline production during Korean war, was last used during Covid pandemic. The White House has announced it plans to use a cold-war era law to ease supply chain issues that the administration argues are contributing to higher inflation – a key electoral challenge to Joe Biden’s re-election chances next year as polling consistently suggests voters are not buying his Bidenomics pitch. In a statement, the White House said Biden will use the Defense Production Act to improve the domestic manufacturing of medicines deemed crucial for national security and will convene the first meeting of the president’s supply chain resilience council to announce other measures tied to the production and shipment of goods. “We’re determined to keep working to bring down prices for American consumers and ensure the resilience of our supply chains for the future,” said Lael Brainard, director of the White House national economic council and a co-chair of the new supply chain council, in a separate statement. The Defense Production Act of 1950, which was passed to streamline production during the Korean war, was last used in early 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic to accelerate and expand the availability of ventilators and personal protective equipment. The supply chain council is set to address issues ranging from improved data sharing between government agencies, supplying renewable energy resources and freight logistics. Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, will be co-chair of the council, which includes the heads of cabinet departments, the administration’s council of economic advisers, the US director of national intelligence, the Office of Management and Budget, and other agencies. FULL STORY

Thought if you wanted to have someone tell you how to run your life, you got married ! 🤔

The village headman has stopped locals putting rice on the road. This is not a traffic law and I suggest is more intended as a local community safety action. It would be applicable to anyone living in that locality; there wouldnt be any need to post notices for outsiders, etc as they are highly unlikely to be putting rice on the road, and if they did the locals would soon put them straight.

Agreed, and that particular branch always seemed to be busy with an average wait of around 20 minutes if you needed counter service. The loss of the ATM there also means there is now just ONE ATM (kreung Thai)in that Big C.