Seastallion

Nobody can comment on the rightness or wrongness until the full details are exposed, if ever.

It could be discrimination, or it could be a member of the family was flagged for some real reason.

If the latter, why stop the entire family?

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You are on point concerning finding out the reason. In the creeping police state the reason will not be divulged as a matter of security. Welcome to security Trumping freedom. No charges, no trial or justice oversight....

That is correct. No charges ergo no trial.

They were simply denied entry.

Happens everyday in every International Airport in the World.

They were not American citizens, they have no right to enter simply because they bought tickets to Disneyland.

Next.

I think everyone understands that there is no automatic right of entry. Duh.

The point is the secrecy as to why they were denied entry. If there is a reason, what is it? Why would the reason for denial be a secret?

Until we know why, the fact is how the OP portrays the situation, ie there does not seem to be a valid reason but it could have something to do with the "Muslimness" of the family.

Nobody can comment on the rightness or wrongness until the full details are exposed, if ever.

It could be discrimination, or it could be a member of the family was flagged for some real reason.

If the latter, why stop the entire family?

In general, if one person in a family is refused they are all refused. It's not always the case, but it probably wouldn't be wise to put kids on a plane if the parents' aren't allowed on.

I understand that, it's quite obvious. But there were 4 adults. It implies (IF someone was flagged) that ALL the adults were flagged.

Nobody can comment on the rightness or wrongness until the full details are exposed, if ever.

It could be discrimination, or it could be a member of the family was flagged for some real reason.

If the latter, why stop the entire family?

One is curious to understand how a person can be arrested without being physically present, i.e. in absentia.

Yes, one is. My first thought.

Convicted in absentia, I can understand, but arrested, I can't.

Perhaps it's an error in translation thing. We think of arrested as apprehended. In Russia, it may mean something connoting deemed suspicious or guilty enough to be apprehended on sight.

Give it time....it will become compulsory!!

That would indeed be a nightmare. So many of you guys don't even trim your nose hair!

Eeww. What has nose hair got to do with anything? The mind boggles.

I guess I'm showing my ignorance again on this topic.

But as you know, I am a great supporter of "each to his own".....so trim away.

Much in the way a stopped clock is right twice a day I suspect some of our esteemed members may for once be correct that Israel are about to take action to eliminate Hezbollah once and for all. I say this based on a wider view of the region where I suspect action to remove Iran's proxies from Syria, Yemen and Iraq will be followed by action to tackle Hezbollah and Iran itself. ISiS are currently being taken apart by special ops troops from many nations, not that this is headline news with the MSM yet.

The killing of Samir Kuntar, though welcome, was not in my opinion designed to provoke Hezbollah, who are imho dead men walking, though if they do respond in any meaningful way they may hasten their own demise.

The killing of Samir Kuntar, though welcome, was not in my opinion designed to provoke Hezbollah, who are imho dead men walking, though if they do respond in any meaningful way they may hasten their own demise.

Tell that to the families of the dead IDF last time Israel took on the fully armed well trained soldiers of Hezbollah rather than the usual defenceless opposition.

It is very hard for a nation of 2nd passport holders to defeat an enemy of religious zealots.

If they have been hunting Kuntar for years, why now?

Yeah, why now?

According to some, 8 years is past some imaginary statute of limitations for assassinating someone who got a free pass in a deal. A ridiculous idea, of course.

Why now?

Hezbollah will be asking that, and Israel will be hoping that the assumed answer is the most obvious: Because Hezbollah are tied up in Syria.

And maybe that has something to do with it.

Time will tell.

Maybe it is actually very simple and nasty: It's time to test David's Sling...give a nudge because they can't react with much. Lets see if the Sling works.

I'm surprised that it had to be passed in law....my ignorance....When the term, "doing it Greek" has been around for so long, I just assumed same sex partnerships were the norm in Greece.

Never mind my ignorance, at least they have come this far in equality. About time too.

Good work to foil them.

In an odd way, it's sort of nice to know that they (the criminals/terrorists) need to take such a big risk to steal weapons.

So, one RMB in exchange for 25 000 000 Zimbabwe dollars?

Lets hope you're right, SD. I think you are.

They probably surveyed 4 people!

Yes, or maybe more.

It all depends on which 4 or more people and what were the questions.

Possible polling scenario: 5 old ladies from the Blind Institute were interviewed as they left the wat.

Q. May I ask you a question?.

A. Yes, ka.

Q. Are you blind?

A. Yes, ka.

Q. Have a nice day.

A. Ka.

Back at the office: Everyone said yes to all the questions.....Now...what are the questions?

It's an embarrassment that the people chose what is in reality a sports logo. If NZ hadn't just won the World Rugby Cup, things may have been different.

One day the All Blacks or Silver Ferns will lose....and that leaves the flag flying rather limply.

Seastallion wrote:

Israel was not forced to release him any more than I am forced to pay Starbucks prices for their swill when there is no other coffee shop around. It's a conscious choice.

The state freed him for whatever reasons of their own. Bodies, prisoners, hostages, money, politics, it does not matter.He had been charged, tried, convicted and sentenced. The state then chose to reverse or cut short that sentence, for a consideration, ie a deal was made.

So if someone or a group take hostages, anywhere in the world, and there is an exchange made, then the hostage takers should get a free pass because it was a deal, right?

No. False logic and bad analogy I'm surprised you got likes.

HE was the "hostage" so to speak, and what has happened is that the ransom (so to speak) was paid, but then the hostage takers reneged and killed the hostage, while pocketing the ransom.

The fact Hillary had to take a poop break in the middle of this Democratic debate is further proof this woman is full of it. Viewing this debate was right up there with waterboarding or some other form of torture. Although, if anyone is having problems sleeping, if you watch five minutes of this debate you will be asleep.

The irrational stance in this post is incredible! So too that anybody would "like" it.

When a call of nature occurs, and you hold off till the ad break.....what's wrong with that? It's admirable that she waited for the break. How do you or Trump know what she was going through?

Trump calls going to the toilet "disgusting....disgusting...disgusting". What, he never craps? He's never been constipated? Never had a stomach problem?

Forgive my lack of geography.....in this case because it is so ambiguous. If Palestinians have their own passports, do they actually have to travel through (defined) Israeli borders before they can reach the outside world? Doesn't the West Bank border Jordan? Why can't a Palestinian passport holder enter Jordan without Israeli consent? Why couldn't a Palestinian enter Egypt?

How about airspace? Could a Palestinian passport holder fly out on his home-made microlight and enter a neighbouring country?

If not...why not? Are the Palestinians prisoners?

Thats what comes of doing things on the cheap, and not using public funds...

Well. the project DID use public funds if it used military personnel to do the work...unless all the sappers took leave and did it voluntarily?

Thats what comes of doing things on the cheap, and not using public funds...

...and some of the funds not going towards construction.

The maths is boggling. One insider said it was comparable to firing a pencil over the Empire State Building and getting it to land in a shoe box on the other side during a wind storm. I actually think his scale is out as far as height is concerned, and out also as far as a shoe box is too big.

A free-calling hotline wouldn't go astray either.

"... I am like Jason Bourne...."

How on earth did this airhead get his stripes?

Oh, that's right.....I forgot which army.

Palestinian Authority residents already can get passports. So now they have a choice of passports? A bit of a patchwork. Will that mean all the old ones are instantly invalid? I wonder how Kuwait Airlines will respond.

The passport thing is a manifestation of a strategy of Palestinian refusal to deal directly with Israel. Good luck with that if that is actually a real path to two states living side by side in peace. Because it obviously isn't.

"Refuse to deal directly with Israel" is a bit of spin.

The fact is, Israel refuses to deal with Palestine unless they drop their insistence that Israel stop settlements! In other words, Israel's participation in talks is dependent on nobody objecting to their further illegal expansion. A ridiculous stance.

It's like a wife-beater agreeing to matrimonial counselling and anger management only on condition that he doesn't have to stop hitting his wife.

The main Palestinian demands for renewal of talks are that ALL Israeli construction related to the illegal settlements will cease, a partial release of Palestinian prisoners, and more recently, a set of unclear propositions regarding the Temple Mount.

Overall, most relevant construction is currently (and for some time now) more to do with existing illegal settlements rather than creating new ones. Netanyahu's government position is that these will continue, as they are not considered new settlements. This is one point where Israel and the USA differ, with the Americans generally rejection such interpretation.

As for release of Palestinian prisoners, there were several previous instances where some formulations were agreed upon. It was only partially carried out as other components of understandings fell apart. The result is lack of clarity as to which prisoners are referred to.

The Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa issue is even more muddied. There are various demands raised, some doable, some already in place, some unrealistic. The thing is that there are parallel dealing with Jordan, and a certain amount of jostling for better position in future stake.

I think that the tone and way things are presented got a lot to do with the chances of them being realized. Defining issues as conditions and demands turns it into a matter of win/lose from the start. Surely there are better diplomatic ways of formulating things, allowing sides to accept without much lose of face and issues vs. their relative hardliners. As this is rarely done, one way of seeing it is that sides are not all that eager to sit down and iron things out. Too much at stake, better to improve position and delay tough decisions. Most of the "conditions" above can be quite easily met - to an extent, and in some cases more as PR. The question is which becomes the essence - the conditions or the dialogue they are supposed to make possible.

Obviously, there will be no mention from certain quarters that the last couple of refusals to meet and negotiate (even on the Temple Mount issue), were by Abbas. Same goes for the Palestinian Authority either unable or unwilling (probably a bit of both) to deliver anything resembling clamping down on Palestinian violence in the West Bank.

ALL construction should be halted! It's a perfectly reasonable demand for negotiations to commence or continue.

How many hectares was it that were taken over a week or two after the last ceasefire following the 2014 Gaza slaughter? Was it 40 or 400? I forget. How many Palestinians lost their homes and/or gardens to make way for that? Was it 300? Expanding the illegal settlements, and spinning it as "not a new settlement" is diversionary and not realistic. Follow that rationale, and eventually the Euphrates to the Mediterranean could be just an extension of the existing settlements.

I agree that the question of prisoners is debatable. However, there is no doubt that many prisoners Israel holds are political prisoners or held for no real crime. Of course they should be released, and they should not even be a bargaining chip. Effectively, they are hostages. Prisoners of war should be released, too. As for criminals, well, as we have seen Israel can release criminals when it wants something, so do they want peace or not? This is the central question.

Abbas is in a very difficult position. He needs to stand firm on solid principles such as demanding a cessation of settlement expansion and requiring guarantees regarding Al Aqsa, but is vilified by Israel apologists when he does so stand firm. To say that he is refusing to talk is spinning things away from the reality in an attempt to blame him.

He has no choice but to follow a unilateral approach, and Palestinian passports, along with UN and ICC manouvres are the right way to do it. If Israel doesn't get serious about peace soon, it will really be between a rock and a hard place.

If there is anything thus far that should disqualify him from running, it is this statement about his female opponent being "schlonged".

There is no room whatsoever for a presidential hopeful to be so utterly crass.

His xenophobia, misogynism, racism etc are bad enough, but each to his own....let him show his colours let him appeal to the lowest common denominator. But such crudeness, such gutter language, does not have any place in diplomacy.

What a crass, rude, lacking culture boor.

Schlonged? Really?

Disgusting? What's he referring to?

An oaf and a boor.

While the suggestion has merit, wouldn't it be better to seize their vehicle for the week. When Somchai's pick-up is taken away, the 27 passengers forced to start walking will give him grief he will remember for a loooong time.

Yeah, impounding the vehicle will have a far better punitive effect than a fine or a few days in the clink, and would be logistically easier in the long run for the police.

And it should be year-round, not just for one week of the year.

"Dr Thanapong Chinwong, manager of Road Safety Centre, attributed high incidence of road accidents in Thailand to lax law enforcement and social norm"

EXACTLY!!! The two major contributors. Nice to hear the voice of reason coming from a Thai.