MisterTee

Quagmires are the best way to keep the weapons sales rolling.

Keeping each side in the fight is critical.

So true.

The Military/Industrial Complex learned that in Vietnam.

Why win when you can get filthy rich by losing?

As an atheist, I am just supporting the resistance of oppressed people whose land is stolen too.

And yet the zeal of the anti-Israel folks regarding the oppression of the Arabs in the West Bank, and I too am against the existence of the Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, is never seen in relation to the oppression and/or stolen lands of the Kurds, Uyghurs, or countless other irredentist populations, many of whom do not have the alternative of migrating to neighboring states with an identical ethnic identity.

The term ​irredentist ​only applies to the Palestinian factions who claim the entire territory of the state of Israel.

It has nothing to do with the indigenous inhabitants of occupied Palestine.

Giving these people the ​"...alternative of migrating to neighboring states with an identical ethnic identity" ​i​s what the hard-core Zionists intend to do, but they are too dishonest to say it straight out.

you chose to stay a while back did you not see this coming then

They did choose to stay - but the EU was part of the package.

Things have changed.

They must be insane after the US shafted them over the sanctions. Why not buy Airbus? Just as good and no sanctions.

It seems like a calculated decision by the leadership in Tehran to buy Boeing instead of Airbus.

More to do with politics than economics.

The true wonderfulness of TV.

All terribly amusing - maybe this woman was actually trafficking young women and forcing them into prostitution - it happens all the time.

So if she is arrested- good- might save a few guillable girls in the future

not really, the people who fall for this are going to fall for something else the next day

All good to prosecute those a-holes but it won't change anything, dumb people will find a way to become slave or lose all their money or hit a parked car with no helmet on. The only way to save them is to babysit them like in the west and let them live on social welfare money without the means of travelling further than the corner store for a bit of food and alchool.

You make some good points.

A nanny state would be their salvation.

Putin never learns.

CCP Dictators in Beijing have benefited enormously by heavily engaging their economic development with the USA, in financing especially. India has gained much the past twenty years by an increasingly active political alignment with the USA to include strategically in the SCS, South Central Asia, and concerning Iran and the Gulf.

Putin on the other hand has encouraged Russian jihadists in the North Caucuses to fight in Syria figuring USA would help kill 'em off for him. Daesh is more the enemy of Russia than it is the USA which is why Putin focused on bombing hell out of 'em. Al Nusra keeps putting it to Putin to the point he's got FM Lavrov squawking to SecState John Kerry who continues to play the role of Obama's butler innocently spilling hot tea on Putin.

Putin chooses to instead wage hybrid wars against Georgia, Ukraine and now USA in Syria while Europe begins again to feel menaced by Putin as a 21st century territorial aggressor in EurAsia. So Putin's had the squeeze put on him in oil prices, the ruble, trade and technology, diplomacy, the collapse of his precious Brics countries; he's struggling (against Canada-USA mainly) to access resources in the Arctic and so much more that's whacked his government budget off by 50% and chopped 5% off GDP.

If Putin could cooperate on some one important thing such as do CCP and India respectively, Russia and Putin along with everyone else would be a lot better off. Instead Putin pursues his constant and unrelenting, eccentric and idiosyncratic irredentism and revanchism. Putin is a compulsive and nothing more than obsessive.

Russian elites have begun to recognise Putin suffers from a brain disease, i.e., ideology -- he is a Tsarist-Chekist who will never change. Which means a further development of Russia can become possible only if and when Putin is sent off to retirement on some tropical island. Or terminated in one way or the other by his own elites who can offer the population a way to restore progress based in stability and global respect.

The view from Foggy Bottom.

Some of the points may be credible, but overall it's just the usual warmongering hogwash from the USA.

Why are you looking only for bald & fat farangs?

Because they're looking for a hogwash.

The reference to Udon gives the game away.

To quote Orwell. The war is not meant to be won.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

George Orwell saw it coming...

Big Brother; Emmanuel Goldstein; the security state, and so much more.

images-5.jpg

Sally Rand... Chicago World's Fair 1934.

Do you remember it too?

What has happened to fang37?

Once a prolific poster with some interesting topics and perceptive observations.

Did he move away?

Oh Donald..... on the shooter: "He was born in Afghan"....

No, he was born in New York. And where the hell is 'Afghan'?

And now he's banned the Washington Post for being nasty to him.

What a bumbling idiot.

Had I been president this event would not have happened, and would not continue to happen because America would not give citizenship to their sworn enemies. Simple logic if not completely PC.

Seriously? This is the kind of nonsense that Trump would spew. Is there anyone over 5 years of age that would actually believe that?

You will be stunned to learn that as a youth I spent many years in a fairly isolated community with no muslims and no mosques. Incredibly there were no gangs of morons going around beating women for not covering their faces, nobody beating people enjoying a drink outside in the summer. The secular community was perfectly peaceful - yes there were some drunks and tramps but they were a known quantity and not out to kill others. To my disgust the leaders of this community have now started importing muslims, and now there are quite a few with full black headdress and yes it is only a matter of time until one of them gets the "calling" and starts mowing down infidels. My point is it is not compulsory to screw up your community or country by inviting members of a hateful ideology and I have always said their children and all following generations of them will always be a risk because they are 1st muslim and 2nd citizens so their loyalty lies to allah and its just a matter of time until they get serious about their ideology and start murdering non-believers as they are told to do in the koran and in the mosque by some leaders(see the Orlando hate preachers saying all gays deserved to die).

People that ignored views like my own and mass imported these hateful members of the particular ideology have blood on their hands. They caused this mass murder. Same as a farmer that throws a fox into his henhouse must be responsible for his headless chooks the next morning. This should be obvious I'm not sure why you think my logic to be nonsense.

Ah, that explains it - your isolated childhood community has been invaded by gangs of morons going around beating women for not covering their faces.

​Your ​logic ​is perfectly understandable.

France should be more worried about muslim terrorists than a few hooligans . I hope the security are focused on terror attacks that might happen instead of supporter idiots walking in the streets.

They're not ​walking ​in the streets...

They're ​rioting ​in the streets.

>>If Israel does not have any respect for human rights, what was this event all about?

...pinkwashing!

Exactly as claimed by the Israeli LGBT group in the OP.

Are you being intentionally obtuse or simply trolling?

The OPs "Israeli LGBT group" is not Israeli. Been covered at least twice on this topic, and yet you persist with this falsehood.

And NO. Not everything in Israel is to do with the Palestinians. Not everything is to be considered in light of the conflict, And no, not every civil/human rights issue in Israel is intended to ward off criticism regarding policies vs. the Palestinians.

The "Israeli LGBT group" and what it claims isn't very important.

The obvious fact is that this event is just another publicity stunt to legitimize a regime that should be ostracized until they get back within their internationally recognized borders.

No, it is no such thing. Please refer to the Dershowitz article which explains how TOXIC such conspiracy theories are.

It is Tel Aviv Gay Pride Week, an event that has been going on for many years.

Pride Week in Israel done for the SAME REASONS they are done in many other nations, though of course each specific nation (as well as regions within nations) is at a unique place as far as the level of their LGBT civil rights progress and local cultural environment.

It's not a conspiracy theory. It's done to have Pride Week as happens in many nations all over the world now. As it's so big now, of course it naturally gets publicity. It natural the press would notice the CONTRAST between the GLBT civil rights situation in Israel and other nations in the region.

The border issues are real. Pride Week in Tel Aviv is just not about that. Not everything all the time in Israel needs to be about that.

Having Pride Week doesn't mean those issues go away.

As far as Israel seeking TOURISM revenue from big events such as PRIDE WEEK, this is no different than when other nations tourism organizations commercially "exploit" for similar events. Rio Carnival (very gay popular), San Francisco Pride, Amsterdam Queen's Day Party, Eurovision, Toronto Pride, etc.

Yes Gay Pride events have become a BIG BUSINESS in many cities in many countries. So what? Why not Israel if they have great events in a fabulous city, which they do?

Yes, nobody is denying there is a decades long conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Arab identity movement. There are border conflicts and indeed they continue.

But Israel is still a nation that does exist and as such NORMAL things happen there.

People go to college graduations. They go to rock concerts. They go to football matches. They go to see Jerry Seinfeld to make them laugh. They go to Gay Pride Parades.

Normal things as happen in so many countries.

Not college washing.

Not rock and roll washing.

Not football washing.

Not comedy washing.

Not pink washing.

Normal stuff that happens.

Doesn't mean the conflicts are resolved. Doesn't mean these normal things are done for propaganda conspiracy theory either.

Yes, as you say, Israel is a nation that does exist and normal things happen there

But as long as they keep building illegal settlements and encroaching on Palestinian land they are in violation of international law and will be treated as a pariah state just as apartheid South Africa was until worldwide pressure and boycotts brought the necessary changes.

If your posts are anything to judge by, you sound like you're about to go off the deep end.

Khol originated at the royal court of Cambodia before the Thais began their migration south to Siam.

Khol and Khon are the same word, but in Thai 'l' is pronounced 'n' at the end of a word - as in Ubol / Ubon.

During the late 1970s the Khmer Rouge made a concerted attempt to wipe out the Cambodian Royal Ballet completely, killing just about every dancer and banning the cultural activity.

Khing Sihanouk's daughter Princess Bopha Devi was a leading ballerina who was not killed as she was in Paris. After the Khmer Rouge defeat, she returned to Phnom Penh and painstakingly built up a new Cambodian Royal Ballet corps.

The Thais assisted honourably in this endeavour, providing teachers and expert dancers to help Bopha Devi successfully re-establish Cambodian / Thai classical dance in Cambodia.

So - both sides have taught each other down the centuries, with the Cambodians originally giving the dance to the Thais, and the Thais helping to give it back to Cambodia after the defeat of Pol Pot (who spent four of his youthful years being brought up at the Cambodian Royal Ballet by a relative).

So no need to bicker - it belongs equally to both closely-related national traditions, as well as to the Lao. Nobody should try to claim exclusivity.

Thanks for that informative post.

Idiocy hasn't completely taken over ThaiVisa - not yet anyway.

>>If Israel does not have any respect for human rights, what was this event all about?

...pinkwashing!

Exactly as claimed by the Israeli LGBT group in the OP.

Are you being intentionally obtuse or simply trolling?

The OPs "Israeli LGBT group" is not Israeli. Been covered at least twice on this topic, and yet you persist with this falsehood.

And NO. Not everything in Israel is to do with the Palestinians. Not everything is to be considered in light of the conflict, And no, not every civil/human rights issue in Israel is intended to ward off criticism regarding policies vs. the Palestinians.

The "Israeli LGBT group" and what it claims isn't very important.

The obvious fact is that this event is just another publicity stunt to legitimize a regime that should be ostracized until they get back within their internationally recognized borders.

THIS QUOTED FROM ORIGINAL POST.........................

"There are people in America today of goodwill who are not Muslim who are willing to stand with us. But we have to be the ones who have to be courageous and stand up for ourselves and be unapologetically Muslim and American."

"unapologetically Muslim and American."

MY REPLY.........................

I am an AMERICAN........................................... I FEEL AN ALLEGIANCE TO 'AMERICA'............................

Allegiance is a necessity.... To be an American..........

If you want to be "Muslim and American", that is GREAT........... WELCOME

If you only want to be Muslim, and not American........... Then look elsewhere.......... NOT WELCOME

If any Muslims want to love 'America', (AS Americans do, then I (we) will welcome them with open arms...............

If they only want to 'use and abuse us' as too many have done, then forget it.

If they want to accept us 'Christians' and other religious groups as "EQUALS' and attempt to fit in with 'OUR' existing SOCIETY and WAYs (without changing it to their choosing)............... then please be WELCOME.........

When the Muslim men can give their women all the freedoms that American women commonly have in America, then WELCOME.

To go back in our history, way, way back, and quote a famous quotation ---- "DON'T TREAD ON ME".... Then, WELCOME

Personally I have travelled to over 90 countries in the world, and would not give my U.S. Passport for any one of them.

another thought: --- You can tell whether a place is desirable by whether people are sneaking 'INTO' or 'OUT OF' the place.

America may have loads of problems, But it is still more desirable than over 90 other countries......... and people are still sneaking or struggling to 'GET IN' ---- not the other way around..........

IMHO ------ (In My Humble Opinion)

I think you gave yourself away here with this line: If any Muslims want to love 'America', (AS Americans do, then I (we) will welcome them with open arms...............

I somehow doubt that you can even see how you've exposed your true beliefs..

Spot on.

The Samuel Johnson line is still the best and the truest - "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."

​Not because there is not such a thing as genuine patriotism. But it tends to get buried under tons of claptrap. The vast majority of the time, people invoke patriotism in defense of principles that they can't logically defend in any other way.

Muhammad Ali was a draft dodger and so was I.

I didn't want to get killed or maimed for no good reason. Ali probably felt the same way.

Even a kid in his teens of average intelligence could see through the claptrap and realize that it was a senseless war of aggression that wasn't worth wasting two years of your life - let alone dying for.

"I ain't got nothing against them Viet Cong."

​Neither did I, bro.

Save yourself from the ordeal and expense of shipping pets to the US and forget about it.

Dealing with the bureaucracy is a nightmare.

No doubt you will get replies telling you how easy it is - don't believe them.

Israel has always been run by extremists.

Not true. The original Labor Party (think Meir and Eban) made their mistakes, such as allowing the first Orthodox settlements in the territories, but they were not extremists and many were capable of dialog with their neighbors in Arabic.

I believe it has a lot to do with an increase in bitter and twisted ex military personnel, with a personal axe to grind at the helm . Especially those in the higher echelons of Israel's political apparatus. Current leader included.

The problem is the political influence upon who is selected for the courses for the higher ranks in the military. I would argue that Begin and Sharon were not able to go into Lebanon (1982) until their selections were in control of most brigades and above. And then this flows back into politics where military prowess is often mistaken, and substituted as political prowess.

There will be no more large scale aliyahs while such extreme right wing policies are in force. Why would American Jewry and others from elsewhere migrate to Israel when they are doing very nicely practising their faith and living secure prosperous peaceful fully integrated lives in the USA and other countries.

One of the few larger scale recent aliyahs have been the extreme right wing orthodox coming out of New York. The larger non-orthodox American Jewish communities are very divided over current Israeli politics and many are in open opposition and trend more towards the position of Gideon Levy (search on Youtube) the Ha'Aretz correspondent who agrees that, in the territories, one sees an apartheid system set up to isolate two communities.

Take a look at the Israeli settlements in the West Bank connected by Israeli-only roads and the Palestinian bantustans isolated by military checkpoints and you would have to be blind not to see apartheid with a capital "A".

Absolutely concur Suradit. I am sick and tired of the ludicrous Thai bashing I read on this website. I simply wonder what sort of world or environment these brainless idiots inhabit. Obviously nothing that resembles any sort of normality or reason. I do wish the controllers on here, or whatever they're called, could block them from writing such drivel with its racist overtones. Surely this goes beyond 'free speech' and in any other jurisdiction would be banned because of its blatant racism and indeed, if aimed at named individuals, would be deemed libellous.

It would be interesting if someone would do a study on the subject .

Some people seem to have a similar attitude towards Thais as prisoners have about prison officers

Really.

These misfits act like they are being held here against their will.

While I realize the obsessive Israel demonization agenda will take his statement out of context and use it as "Jew washing" (it's a thing, look it up) to support continued demonization of Israel. So in that sense, perhaps he shouldn't have given such ammunition to people who obviously hate Israel ... but the context really was INTERNAL.

I think this article explains that very well but you really need to read the entire article to get the context, which also explains the INTERNAL context of the general's statement:

Why are Israel’s generals being so noisy? Quite simple. In their near-unanimous professional estimation, stretching from a proven hawk like Yair Golan across the spectrum to the 200 ex-generals of Commanders for Israel’s Security, they see Israel facing an opportunity now, given the current Palestinian leadership, the weakness of the neighboring Arab states and the openness of the Saudi-led Arab League, to make deals that can secure Israel’s future. Instead they see a political leadership that’s letting the opportunities slip by for ideological reasons.

http://forward.com/opinion/340173/was-this-top-israeli-general-right-to-denounce-jewish-extremism-on-holocaus/?attribution=home-hero-item-text-1

Well I read the article, and it is quite clear

Here is another quote :

They must stop thinking of themselves only as victims and begin to understand themselves also as actors. If they don’t, they’re in danger of sliding down that same slippery slope and becoming perpetrators.

So basically they say what most of the people you tax as "jew hater"... they see the victims puhing worldwide the victim card each time and never think the way they do the things to other.

Because you criticize the thai government can you be taxed as thai hater? Don t think so, think you even like this country and are sadden by the action taken, am I right?

Can't you simply imagine that most of the critics seen here, in Europe, in USA and even in Israel with Breaking The Silence, the same way you criticize the government.

Israel, proudly boasting its democratic country in middle east, has the power to change its leaders and the way the Cisjordania settlements and abuses are seen by Israeli. That' s also why the world (yeah a lot of people worldwide disapprove the politics of Israel) put pressure and call for boycott...certainly not for the "end of Israel" but to show that those illegal settlements are bad for the palestinians AND for the Israeli....

So maybe you will play the "jew Hater" card but from the other post you wrote not linked to Israel you seem a clever man and hope you can see the difference between this poor game of : you not agree so you hate the jew, and the reality which is : stealing lands of your neighbours and ressources is bad and leads to more confrontation...

Very good post that speaks to the topic as well as the predictable accusations of race hatred and demonization that bait anyone who dares criticize Israel.

What is it that makes a smirking killer so creepy?

Is it memories of a recent US President?

A relic of Savage Imperialism personified by Captain Cook.

Change ​savage to scientific .

​Cook's three Pacific voyages produced a wealth of knowledge that Great Britain used very effectively in the following century.

Sink that mindless denigration of imperialism and look at historical events in the context that they occurred.

And bringing western values and diseases that killed the majority of previously happy and healthy people around the world.

Hail Britannia!

That was a two way street, there were a few diseases that were picked up and brought back home, too.

Yeah, like syphilis.

But keep it to yourself.

Not all of the Palestinian economic hardship is caused by Israel. Their own leadership plays a big part. This is a reflection of the duality evident in Biden's speech.

And even if this wasn't the case, it still wouldn't have changed the fact that hurting Israel's economy spells adverse effects for the Palestinians as well.

If I understand correctly, you are in favor of making the situation of the Palestinians even worse than it is. The underlying assumptions being that things can't be worse (incorrect), that the Palestinian can take it (keyboard warfare), or that such pressure is bound to have the wished for results (speculative).

As much as posters attempt to harness the OP to their respective extreme views, Biden's speech was overall pretty balanced and reasonable.

economic hardship is caused by Israel which is applying an embargo over Palestine for long years!

So it is all about israel again. Again an embargo to israel is an embargo to israel. Not palestine. Palestinians has borders with other countries too.

Biden's speech didn't mention the elephant in the room - the BDS movement.

In fact BDS has proven to be a bonanza for Israel. First, if you look at the genesis of Israel's current BDS hysteria, it's illuminating to pinpoint exactly when it began. It started right after Netanyahu was defeated on the Iran issue. Netanyahu and his cronies thrive on conjuring up enemies who allegedly want to destroy Israel. So they manufactured this hysteria about Iran, but it didn't work because the West wanted to cut a deal. When Iran was off the agenda, Netanyahu needed a new Great Satan that was bent on Israel's destruction. So he grasped at BDS. It became the new pretext for Israel to play victim.

Israel was getting nervous as international public opinion turned against it, and claimed that all criticism of Israel was at heart BDS and that BDS was about destroying Israel. By exaggerating the reach and potency of BDS, Israel could delegitimize even the most tepid but also most ominous critics. It could now allege that even they were really - whatever they might avow - seeking Israel's destruction. The irony is, while Netanyahu wails that BDS wants to delegitimize Israel, in fact, he is manipulating BDS to delegitimize principled criticism of the occupation and the illegal settlements.