Cory1848

What seems to be a bad karaoke version of "My Heart Will Go On" was playing in the background during the fight ... just precious ...

1 hour ago, Credo said:

I suspect that a lot of people don't seem to understand that the money being spent on arming Ukraine, is money that is being spent on arms and equipment that is manufactured in the US.  I suspect some of those companies have a well-oiled lobby in Congress.  

 

For the Hawkish members of Congress, they see Ukraine as a good testing ground and a financial win.  For the less Hawkish members, it's simply the right thing to do to help a country that has been invaded.   

 

I don't know much about the weapon manufacturers in other countries, but I suspect it's not all that difference.  

I’m sure that when a politician like Biden weighs whether and how much military aid to send to Ukraine, he calculates several things at once: the financial benefit to US arms companies, the sheer politics of not wanting to come off as Neville Chamberlain, the geopolitical need to contain a rogue Russian state and maintain some sort of Western alliance, and the simple moral imperative to do the right thing. Some of these factors are cynical, and some not. But the job for sure is not easy …

1 hour ago, placeholder said:

Don't know what you mean by "the circumstances are entirely different". Militarily speaking, not so much. An indigenous population is opposing invaders and is being aided by outside powers. That pretty much sums up the situations in Vietnam and Iraq.

I think the original comment was about the role of the United States. In Iraq and Vietnam, the US was the invader. In Ukraine, the US is helping the indigenous population against the invader.

10 hours ago, blazes said:

Precisely.  Well put, but surely you did not mean it as I have taken it?? 

 

That is, those who cannot remember  America's defeats in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan are condemned to repeat them ad nauseam.....

As pointed out elsewhere here, the circumstances are entirely different. The US could justify attacking Afghanistan (as foolhardy a proposal as that might be, historically speaking), but their adventures in Vietnam and Iraq were clearly disasters. (Somebody here mentioned Raytheon, a point well made.) However, Neville Chamberlain refusing to stand up to Hitler in 1938 broaches issues that go well beyond nationalist hubris or the needs of the military-industrial complex, and these same issues are directly applicable to the situation in Ukraine.

When I’m in the US, I’m in Delaware, and there’s dual pricing here for state parks -- out-of-state visitors pay more than in-state residents. The logic is, Delawareans are already paying something for the upkeep of the parks via state taxes. However, the price differential is reasonable. Seems that the difference in Thailand is ten times more, which is not reasonable.

20 hours ago, proton said:

The choice is having sex with no contraception, nobody should have the choice to kill a child because they could not be bothered to

No. Many pregnancies result from circumstances in which the woman has no choice whatsoever -- namely, rape. And even in consensual sex, the choice to have “sex with no contraception” is made by both parties to the sex, not just the woman, yet the male party bears no actual (legal) responsibility whatsoever for the consequences. How about a law requiring all men to undergo vasectomies until they are deemed mature enough to have sex responsibly, as determined by a panel of women judges, at which point the vasectomy can be reversed? Let’s start messing with men’s bodies -- seems only fair.

10 hours ago, BritTim said:

If you are vaccinated, you can still get Covid (but it is less likely) and can still pass Covid on (but it is less likely) and can still get seriously ill and die from Covid (but it is FAR less likely).

 

You use the same arguments as those who defend their heavy smoking habit by saying non smokers can still get lung cancer, heart disease and strokes (among other conditions) so why give up smoking? You can always be unlucky, whatever measures you take to protect yourself. That does not mean there is no point in taking sensible precautions.

Right. Thank you. I’ve been visiting the US for the past few months; I’ve had four shots (three in Thailand and the last one here), then I got COVID, here in the US. Other than fatigue and brain fog for a week or so, it was not a big deal, but had I NOT had those shots, I may have ended up in the ICU ruing my stupidity, or dead.

Back to topic, I’ve been told by health care workers here (in the US) that, if you’ve had the virus and gotten over it, false positives may continue to show up in tests. It’s my understanding that, if you DON’T have a vax record, you need to show evidence of a negative test result prior to boarding a flight back to Thailand. A positive test result and no vax record 48 hours before boarding a flight would create a major hassle; so if the vax record forestalls the need for any testing at all, doesn’t it make sense just to get the shots, so you don’t have to leave your travel plans to chance?

12 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

People in Thailand seem to have a fairly different idea of what beautiful is.  It seems like topics with the heading "most beautiful X is getting attention" often feature a very unusual looking woman.

 

Does everyone here actually think she is highly beautiful?

She looks pretty gorgeous to me (but I may not have high standards!).

22 hours ago, paul1804 said:

Many of us westerners call it Burma because the people are known as Burmese and due to the fact that the name was changed by a non elected regime. Many senior Burmese do the same as well as younger people that I know living & working abroad. 

Exactly -- at least to some, the name “Myanmar” is affiliated with a repulsive regime. When Mobutu took charge of the DRC, he changed that country’s name to Zaire; when he was gone after 25 years of repressive rule, the incoming administration immediately tossed out the name “Zaire” like it was part of some bad dream.

1 hour ago, TheScience said:

They all do...Pah-ma.

 

But tbh the Myanmarese (?) Call it Myanmar as well.

 

Burmese is the predominant language. Dozens more.

 

The American insistence to call it Burma is just stupid. The name was changed decades ago. There are dozens of ethnicities the nation hardly just belongs to the Burmese.

Well, I call it Burma; and not only Americans but many Europeans as well (Birmania and variants). In the Burman language, the name of the country was always pronounced something like “Myanma,” a word that designates the Burman ethnic majority just the same. And it’s my understanding that the country’s non-Burman minority groups reject “Myanmar” as the official English name because the change was effected by a military government whose legitimacy they often don’t accept, and they continue to use “Burma” when they’re speaking English or their own language. Even Aung San Suu Kyi, when speaking English, has continued to use “Burma.”

On 11/18/2021 at 11:53 AM, gearbox said:

I'm currently in Phuket and there are tourists coming....just not enough. Once the figures are collected for a month or two I expect the Thailand Pass and the PCR test on arrival to go away. The risks seems to be too small to be worth handling with obstacles like these. My prediction is Jan 2022 for proper reopening.

Likewise -- My girlfriend just reopened her travel office in Chiang Mai and has been getting business -- tourists (European; Israeli) who are younger (backpackers) and not interested in drinking but purchasing tours to elephant camps, cooking schools, trekking excursions, and the like, much of which is open at least up here in the north. I’m not disputing anything being said here, and this may be driven by Loy Krathong, which is always popular here, and otherwise Chiang Mai is still far from lively, but I’m encouraged.

My girlfriend got her first Sinopharm shot in Chiang Mai this morning (at Chiang Mai Hospital, and not free, as you mention); she did not want Sinovac, and did not want to wait for a US vaccine. Very well organized here as well, second shot in about a month. She had registered earlier, but her number came up quickly. Other than some mild fatigue, no side effects. Good luck!

Got a first shot of Pfizer last week (at Promenada Chiang Mai) and was assured that my second shot, scheduled in a couple of weeks, would also be Pfizer. (Of course, I have to show up on the scheduled day.) They are keeping careful track of shots they administer, and I'm led to believe that they're keeping everyone's second shot in reserve -- i.e., not administering so many first shots of Pfizer that they don't have enough for people's second shots.

32 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

I guess my perception of you is a "new age " type male who  dont believe in go go bars ...and us guys ...shouting out "show us ya titts !!  oogling over them 

you would find that horrid i believe?

 I take it you dont go to bars in thailand nor partake in the service?

I mean it would be hypocritical if you did

 

I have no judgement against "new age" type of men like yourself ,your perception that women dont like men looking at them and it creates  "microaggression" & "unease" to the ladies  (your words)  is your opinion ,but what i dont like what are hypocrites that say have some empathy for the ladies and what they have to go thru with  us guys staring at them....and lo & behold  the next thing your in a bar with ya old fella hanging out like a true hypocrite !????

Well done! I have nothing to add here --

12 hours ago, Boarn said:

Where you direct your own eyes is nobody else's business, or should simply looking from a distance now also be defined as harassment? 

I think that most women, especially those who are traditionally attractive, have developed sufficient survival skills, when some stranger is glaring at their rack, to distinguish between a genuine threat and a person who is merely boorish. So, yeah, go wild.