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Show up, claim refugee status, get a work permit, work the courts for a couple of decades, and voila, virtually a citizen. Get ready for the tidal wave, you Irish.

The last time a midget Frenchman decided to take on Russia, it ruined his career.

Germans were so cheap they used broomsticks instead of real guns on Nato exercises.  http://www.newsweek.com/germany-cant-explain-use-broomstick-instead-guns-nato-exercise-307902

Macron, Merkel's poodle, and the true new Vichy France.

5 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

Yet another indication that Trump is alienating all America's former friends.  Little by little, European leaders are gauging what an unreliable dufus Trump is.  It's only natural that Europeans strengthen bonds among themselves.   The US is unreliable - on sharing intel, and other levels.

This topic is not about Trump.  You want to turn every topic into a Trump topic.  You make this forum boring.

28 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and 72 years after VE Day and the Germans finally may be forced to pay for their own defense. No wonder Beer Belly Merkel was soused up at that Beer Garden and raging against the US, the UK and Trump.

Merkel: "Uh, oh. The Americans and the British are not going to pay our way anymore. Time for the 'Europeans' to step in and make up the difference."

I miss Gaddafi. I'm sure a lot of other people do, now, too. Thanks, Hillary, Obama, and Europe for creating the Libyan hellhole.

6 minutes ago, chilli42 said:

I would think that this needs to be put in context before it's damned.  Does the state department celebrate other non Christian religious events .... those of Bhuddist, Hindu, Zorastan, Jewish etc?  If so and they are now snubbing Muslims well that looks short sighted.  If not then why should we care that the Muslim faith is no longer accorded a special acknowledgement?

Yea, can't remember Buddha's birthday ever being celebrated at the State Department. Maybe a presidential statement, but not a full blown dinner and celebration like the moslems get. 

4 hours ago, Scott said:

I think we can drop the nonsense about "Merry Christmas".   Last Christmas, I wished a Merry Christmas in a lot of places, including in a government office and by clerks with major retailers.  

And what did they say in reply?

On 5/26/2017 at 8:42 AM, boomerangutang said:

On the immediate horizon:  A Republican candidate is facing a loss (for a House of Rep seat) against a Dem in Montana.  MONTANA!  A low population state that has been Red since Ivanka was born.  It voted 20% majority for Trump 6 months ago, now it might flip to the Dems.

Montana has a Democratic US Senator. And the governor and Lt. Governor are both Democrats.  Not the Red State monolith you seem to think it is. The US house "seat" was an at large election for the entire state, because Montana only has one house representative.  In other words, it was the same sort of general election as those for US Senate and governor and Lt. Governor. 

4 hours ago, Trentham said:

The undertones to your comment, and this applies to those who clicked like to it, show you to be quite heartless. Perhaps you wish you could have been one of the observers.

How many people need to die in the bloodbath that would happen should you try and and go in and change Aceh to fit your personal feelings?  Of course it will not be you who goes in but someone you regard as a poor schlub who needs to pull the duty.

Everybody, even in the obits, have forgotten Beau Maverick.  

I just finished watching the entire series run of The Saint and The Persuaders about two weeks ago.  Those two, and Danger Man, with Patrick McGoohan.  The best secret agent/caper series ever on television.

Also one of The Persuaders, along with Tony Curtis.

The Saint

1 minute ago, Prbkk said:

The introduction was a consequence of a campaign of harassment, bullying, threats. It ignores the rights of citizens under the national constitution but is not challenged as politicians in other areas live in fear of it spreading ( with good cause given what happened to the former Mayor of Jakarta, now in jail having been convicted in a ludicrous fiasco on blasphemy charges). The coming exodus from Indonesia is going to set the country back decades in economic terms and centuries in other ways).

Indonesia undertook this route to avoid a civil war. Their decision. Getting involved in other countries' civil wars doesn't work real well for Western countries. See Vietnam and Syria.

3 minutes ago, oilinki said:

Could 100 million Indonesians migrate to some other countries in case they don't like the policies what the other 200 million push to them?

 

There is a reason, why we need to allow minorities to have their own ways to live. This applies to all countries.

Aceh province only has 5 million (not 100 million) people total in its population, in a country of 258 million. There are 33 other provinces in Indonesia--with more lenient laws.  And the vast majority of that 5 million in Aceh want this legal system.  If Bwana wants to go in there and take it away from them, he is going to find a good, bloody, terror riddled fight on his hands.  And leave another mess in his wake.

Just now, Prbkk said:

That's partially true but it's entirely appropriate to express support for those adversely affected by the imposition of Sharia Law....particularly when many of those are either not strict Muslims or not Muslims at all.

Indonesia used to known and respected for its diversity and tolerance, now it's a pale pink copy of its former self.

I believe this particular province chose to enact strict standards of Islamic law. I'm guessing Indonesian citizens can go to other provinces where that is not the case should they want.  Meanwhile, a society will change when it's ready to change. Forcing them down a path they don't want to go gets you . . . Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya.

1 hour ago, ginge said:

Not so easy when you live there.

Well, it's up to the people of Indonesia and/or that province to change things, if they so wish.  Making the rules other societies' live under is not the responsibility of Bwana.

10 minutes ago, Caps said:

I was not up to the US Officials to say anything, its down to the British Government/Police....BUT no, they just can not help themselves.....maybe if they kept their noses out of other peoples problems the world might be a better place

In a topic on the ISIS terrorist slaughter of teenagers, your focus is on criticizing the US?

10 minutes ago, oilinki said:

Really? How about other crimes?

Start condemning every time a farang, Russian mafia or not, commits crimes in Thailand.

By your way of thinking You are the Russian mafia, didn't you know that?

 

 

Bizarre reply.

Their country, their rules. Don't go there if you don't like it.  And don't invite them in as residents of your country if you don't want to import their values.

3 minutes ago, stephenterry said:

We should take a step back from this atrocity. A lone bomber was responsible for the deaths of 22 people and 50+ injured (more people are killed and injured on the roads in a week, but that isn't headlines across every newspaper). The concert's capacity was 21,000. The UK contains 65 million citizens.

Yes, it was a barbaric act, yes there should be action taken by the UK, yes there should be mourning by the relatives, but put this into perspective and not engage in gung-ho suggestions to wipe all muslims off the face of the earth or bring back capital punishment - these are extreme measure to resolve the actions of one zealot. 

 

 

 

In other words, just get used to it and live with it, eh?  Are you the mayor of London by any chance?