beautifulthailand99

Well Tommee's done a runner to a place with free gak and sunshine so one of them can have his place before he comes back and costs us a fortune in chokee.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/zelenskys-corruption-crackdown-is-a-disaster/ It's worse than you can imagine - well not to us that did of course. Perhaps more seriously, Zelensky seems to have badly misread the room in terms of the impact on his backers in the West. International anti-corruption bodies, Ukrainian civil society groups, the independent Ukrainian press and Western diplomats have all been warning Zelensky that passing this law could jeopardise Ukraine’s EU accession process, cancel its visa-free regime, and even trigger EU sanctions against Ukraine. But he went ahead and did it anyway. In the wake of the Rada vote, Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Action Centre published a mock up of a Time Magazine cover featuring Zelensky – but with half his face covered by that of Viktor Yanukovych, his corrupt predecessor. Yanukovych’s wholesale plundering of the state was one of the main triggers of the 2014 Maidan revolution. Just a year ago, any equivalence between Zelensky and Yanukovych would have seemed absurd. Today, many of those making exactly that grim comparison were once Zelensky’s most passionate supporters.

At the most patriotic Reditt the posters are feeling betrayed - and rightly so - he was a good actor though that made problems of it's own. The signing of such law is very bad to the Frontline. First of all, it reduces morale ('why do we have to fight and die when the president tries to usurp the power and not being responsible for his actions?') Second, it won't be left unanswered, and will likely end up with reducing the international assistance (because many international institutions that provide assistance are already fed up with the cycle 'institution provides assistance in exchange of reforms - Zelensky promises reforms - the parliament votes for some bat<deleted> proposal - institution said that's not okay - the parliament scrambles at the last moment and retracts the bat<deleted>, often with some tiny pieces of bat crap stuck in corners'). Ukraine already had failed several critical checkpoints in reforms because of that. And it's not okay. Compared to the tempo of 2022 when Ukraine often moved ahead of the plan and passed the checks long before the deadline. Looks like having russian troops in proximity to the precious parliament asses is deeply invigorating - maybe they should move to Zaporizhya or Kherson for regular sessions? You can read Yaroslav Zheleznyak's account for the second take.

I know I got bored by the pushback and went elsewhere and now there's a lot of informed talk about the front collapsing. We have entered the end game.

And the excellent Vlad Vexler who, sadly, is unwell but has been one of the most steadfast and thoughtful pro-Ukraine voices has weighed in, and it’s damning for Zelensky. He argues that Zelensky’s actions have played directly into Putin’s hands.

It turns out that Zelensky and his associates are mired in corruption something that’s not sitting well with a nation that has fought bravely. There's even talk now of another Maidan uprising. Some of us tried to raise the alarm earlier, but were met with accusations and dismissal. It’s a tragedy all around for Ukraine, for Russia, and for a West that was unnecessarily drawn into an internecine conflict between two Slavic nations. https://kyivindependent.com/editorial-dark-hour-for-ukrainian-democracy/

Best Glastonbury ever - been going for 20 years 12 as a volunteer in recycling and do after festival so we get to 'tat' the stuff that folks leave behind and a get a 'free' ticket to boot and get on site early. It truly is a land of smiles. Wanted to see Bob and Kneecap on West Holt's but everying knew they would be totally rammed so we left them to the kidz. Nadine Shah was a revelation on Sunday though.

REJOICE - War is nearly over !

But by supressing the gays Russia increases the amount of hetreosexuals so they get a straight boost in children to offset those lost in wars. It's swingers and roundabouts in Putinland.

It's entirely reasonable to ask for clear, easily verifiable proof. As Ronald Reagan famously said, "Trust, but verify." If he is indeed serving in Ukraine, I have genuine sympathy for his courage , however misdirected it might be—and would welcome his firsthand insights from the battlefield. If not, then, as any current or former servicemember will tell you, stolen valour is taken very seriously. Apparently, there are a significant number of so-called "Walts" (military impostors), and quite a few seem to be in Thailand for reasons unknown.

They took a leaf out of Ukraine's media war !

Aye 4 years ago the dialogue changed but some have reason to not trust that volte face and rightly so. But while intent can become clouded and often obscured, political agendas typically prevail – the Congressional ban was later lifted – Azov is currently an official member of the Ukraine National Guard. Global aid to Ukraine since 2022 has reached a staggering €400 billion committed as of December 2024, or about $430 billion, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Shouldn’t we have asked better questions of Ukraine before the financial largess began? Or did we already know the answers and as is typical – allowed politics rather than principle to dictate? https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/does-ukraine-have-a-neo-nazi-problem/

All wars , all armies, all people's period. No ifs no buts no weasel words.

https://twitter.com/NiohBerg/status/1915721495109685378

15. Only 2 genders !