beautifulthailand99

Fair enuff as good answer even for a scouser, I come from Preston, and we regard you guys with suspicion ! I used to love Alan Beswick who used you troll you guys on local radio.

Well if you don't doubt the veracity of The Brig Gen - then a State Department Official said that to him in the State Department therefore on official business and reported in an authoritative source the Jerusalem Post - there's a case to answer at the very least unless you want to smear female US officials as somehow in the pay of Hamas. But then as the whole of the UN is smeared now whither the truth ? The BG can surely not know more than anyone else, especially so since he is retired and the State Department official is not. No wonder that for Joe Biden the premise that everyone but Israel is lying is wearing pretty thin all round. Even their British foul mouthpiece Elon Levy was suspended for his daily fact free diatribes.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-793420 IDF Brig.-Gen. (res.) Amir Avivi met with the holder of the Israeli-Palestinian portfolio at the US State Department, who accused Israel of "systematically" sexually abusing Palestinian woman, the general explained in an interview on 103FM. Recounting his meeting, he explained, "It was a meeting that shook me. We sat there, talked about the situation, and suddenly she accused Israel of systematically sexually abusing Palestinian women."

And yet it seems you left Blighty for such a place. Forgive me if I called wrong.

Most of our Thai friends and contacts in the UK are desperate for Thai staff - working holidays under the radar would be a big thing for sure.

Do we know it's hidden for sure ?

Are you acquainted with the noted paintings of Anthony Hancock the celebrated existentialist painter ?

Your paintings and writings look very good I fear though you are too erudite and educated for this declining cess pit of washed up expat humanity. Turn back now before all is lost.

He was briefly a mod at the 'other place' - much hilarity ensued !

I can see why Thai babes would get him.

We should post our old wizened faces to compare - you first !

He looks like this btw so I would hazard a guess, greying, bald beer-bellied old geezers wouldn't get the same response.

Shame Cuba wasn't left in peace to develop its own alternative to rapacious US corrupt control pre Castro of Chile under Allende for that matter. Backyards and borders matter to superpowers. Meddle with them at your peril. Kennedy was actually prepared to nuke Russia - contemplate that.

The risks and costs are significant - not least that other autocracies will read the runes and realise their assets could be sequestrated if they fall foul of western sentiment and take out and avoid European sovereign funds. The intention is to create a bond which will be traded using the frozen assets as security, and these bonds will be traded - the funds released are a loan and debt to Ukraine not a gift. Now if these bond issues fail to raise the funds necessary on the open markets and most seasoned investors and institutions will avoid them like the plague (though I'm sure some of the Ukrainian supporters will be keen to invest some of their retirement funds in them !) then central banks become the buyer of last resort, buying them again with QE money further debauching western currencies. They can cause massive damage on European banks. Here are global funds stuck in Russia - they will all take enforced haircuts. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/stranded-assets-how-many-billions-are-stuck-russia-2022-03-03/ Not quite 300 billion, but the difference is that the 130 some billion is private assets, and holders won’t even be able to sue Russia for confiscating it. Raffeissen would probably need money from the government to stay afloat if they have to compensate their customers. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/14/eu-profit-frozen-russian-assets-ukraine The move is likely to be met with retaliation in Moscow before and after the end of the war, and officials think some of the money should be held in Euroclear as a defence buffer for any future court costs. “We need a significant amount in Euroclear … because Euroclear will face a lot of claims,” the official said. Russian courts do not recognise western sanctions and could move to seize €33bn in Euroclear’s assets held in national securities in Moscow This has been covered in the rand's Corporation excellent report Avoiding a Long War - my money's on it as sabre-rattling to bring Russia to the negotiating table rather than a firm policy intention. https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PEA2510-1.html The United States, the European Union, and other partners imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia, including the freezing of more than $300 billion in Russian central bank assets and the imposition of export controls that will severely limit the country's future growth. Thus far, U.S. sanctions have largely been framed as a punishment for Russia's actions, not as a tool to affect Russia's behavior and bring it to the table. As Daniel Drezner has pointed out, the United States and its partners have not been explicit about "what Russia can do to get the sanctions lifted." The "lack of clarity undermines coercive bargaining, because the targeted actor believes that sanctions will stay in place no matter what they do."[68] The promise of sanctions relief contributed to Iran's willingness to negotiate over its nuclear program and conclude the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015 and to Libya's agreement to renounce weapons of mass destruction in 2003.[69] Although not perfect analogies, these experiences suggest the plausibility of using the promise of conditional sanctions relief, as part of a package of policies, to influence a rival's calculations.

Where are you at the moment, is it still Brighton ? And what do you most need - PM me if you're not comfortable posting. Sorry to hear of your continuing troubles, it's bloody cold at the moment and must have been terrible over the Christmas period.

Both of us probably spend far too much time studying stuff that doesn't directly affect us. On the Russo-Ukraine war my time is 6 to 8 hours daily 7 days a week for 2 years - which if I had put it to a degree I would have got another one. But what it has taught me is the narrative that is spun and projected in the mainstream press is a shadow of the reality and that public opinion is shaped and overarching narratives are spun by Western journalists en masse for the most part to align with western foreign policy objectives. There is a consensus - until extreme reality intrudes, and then they need to change it. We are on the cusp of that inflection point IMO now. My wife on the other hand is cooking up a storm and majoring on the daily machinations of Lisa from Black Pink maybe I should learn from her !

With all due respect, a fellow poster mentioned foreign mercenaries, and it sparked a memory about one aspect of that, and I crafted a response with appropriate well sourced evidence.

It would appear they are being used as expensive artillery deep behind the front lines. If this war has taught us anything, big ticket pieces like tanks and boats are sitting ducks in the drone age and can be taken down by cheap tech that is a mere fraction of their price and defeated by mud, minefields and extensive use of shovels. And this has been a huge bugbear for Ukraine, you can't just dump your ageing inventory of old equipment from hither and thither direct into a front line. The complications and complexities of a menagerie of tech is a nightmare to understand and maintain (just the absence of Cyrillic labels is a start), and Ukrainians have complained that many were faulty on arrival. Bore diameters between kit whilst seemingly the same has proved problematic, as has the quality and variants of fuel. The M1 Abrams for instance needs jet fuel 500 gallons for 350 miles of operation. So that alone needs its own tanker fleet able to support them. The F16s if they eventually arrive will need pristine runways as the slightest debris can jam the engines and cause malfunction, and any bases will be sitting targets for Kinzhals. Now western intelligence know all of this and when you couple in the acute conscription problem and lack of air defence (it's suggested that the recent loss of Patriots is the fact that Ukraine has moved them nearer to the front line to try and deflect the relentless FAB glide bombs assault on the front lines and by so doing is depleting critical air defence in Kyiv and other key sites). With drones, both sides see pretty much everything that is going on. There is no longer any place to hide. https://www.kyivpost.com/post/29778 https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2024/02/17/after-two-years-of-war-ukraine-still-has-a-thousand-tanks/?sh=510e304b2cd8 https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-f-16-fighter-jets-war-russia-base-runway/ “If you ever walked up and put your hands on a MiG-29 at an air show and then walked right over and put your hands on an F-16, you can feel just from the outside how the F-16 is highly engineered. It is a prima donna, and it is very sensitive and needs high maintenance,” said Richter, who used the call sign T-Bone. The Soviet planes are more “rough and tumble” and can fly off poorly maintained airfields, and need less maintenance. In a different situation, Ukraine would build modern bases and runways to host the jets, but that's not possible during the war.

There was even a much vaunted Mozart Group battalion of foreign mercenaries as a counterpoint to Wagner that had much publicity until it fell apart with infighting and alleged corruption. The western press was full of puff pieces about their competencies and the difference they would make. In January 2023, the Mozart Group became defunct after running out of funds. In its final months, it was faced with defections, infighting, financial issues and a legal dispute between the Mozart Group's two co-founders.[1] Soldiers of the Mozart Group were also known to gravitate towards Kyiv’s strip clubs and bars when they were off duty.[12] Serious allegations, arose accusing Milburn of making derogatory comments about Ukraine’s leadership while “significantly intoxicated,” letting his dog urinate in a borrowed apartment, diverting company funds and other financial malfeasance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_Group https://archive.is/E0Aap

You've nailed it I think that was the plan if they can't have their land back they will curse future generations of Israel to perpetual paranoia in their refuge and in the rubble of Gaza and a newly emerging multipolar world with a declining US Hamas 2 will arise intent on the same revenge as their martyrs from this.

Your hit and run trolling is a thing but as for facts there was so little that even with my specs on I still can't see a thing.

It's several hundred kms let's not exagerrate for effect and besides which a zillion is a made up word. Your knives probably need sharpening.

Gosh he wrote that a real mask off moment saying the quiet part out loud.

Oh that will explain all the Gazan children dying then. Silly me I thought it was the huge megatonnages of bombs dropped on the most densely populated enclave on earth. Thanks for the education Brian. Much appreciated.

The terrorists had go-pro bodycams and that footage has now leaked to the internet - truly horrific stuff.