mfd101

1 hour ago, NumbNut said:

I'm hoping against hope that's a true story. I have my doubts, it just sounds too perfect.

 

And here I was thinking Stralya was immune to this Trump/Brexit madness that seems to be sweeping the collective Anglo-Saxon world. Looks like I was wrong.

Not quite the same in Oz: they're a small - but of course - noisy minority. The main reason for MT's ouster is his weakness, political misjudgments & general ineffectiveness.

Which shows that, in politics, being rational & intelligent is not enough.

1 hour ago, ripstanley said:

The exchange rate is dropping like a lead weight

Not helped by the US/China trade spat, with Oz as lateral damage.

It will recover. When? next week? after the next election? - depends who wins. But most of all of course it depends on the performance of the Oz economy: high growth (not far off) leads to higher inflation leads to higher wages & higher interest rates leads to better xrate. That's the theory at any rate ...

1 hour ago, ELVIS123456 said:

Looks like tomorrow Aust will have a new PM.  Turnbull has stated that if he gets a petition with a majority of members on it, he will call a Party meeting at lunchtime and declare the position vacant and resign and leave parliament. Then Dutton, Morrison and Bishop look likely to nominate themselves.  Looks like Dutton had the right idea, but didnt know how to close the deal.  Morrision would be more of the same, unless he changed direction away from Turnbull, and Julie is - well - Julie is an option if they want to go for the female vote.  Hey, who knows, maybe Barnaby will put his hand up ?   Probably any change of PM will result in an early election - especially if it is Julie chosen as leader.  

 

If MT resigns from the Parliament, then the government will probably lose its majority in the House so the GG will have a 1975-like decision to make - either ask the Leader of the Opposition if he can form a government with a Lower House majority which means, if Shorten says Yes, then he becomes PM but then has to call the Parliament together to test that he does indeed have a majority. Alternatively, if he says No I cannot guarantee a majority, then the GG dissolves at least the Lower House (and possibly the Senate as well) & calls an election.

Several difficult decisions for Cosgrove there. He will be sweating over being seen to make the right decision in each case, though he could well end up like Kerr in 1975 & detested by all sides. From Hero of Dili to feather duster in several small moves ...

With each passing PM, John Howard looks better & better.

Come back, Little Johnnie! All is forgiven.

Those who think it's terrible that Turnbull (or anyone else) concentrates on finances & economics need to get a grip.

(1) The numbers relating to superannuation & pensions are inexorable. NO government - practically anywhere in the Western world - can meet people's expectations of the Nanny State (which everyone loves to disparage but expects to look after them cradle to grave). The money is not there, there are too many old people and not enough young people working to pay for it all. Something has to give. Shorten can't avoid this any more than Turnbull.

(2) The origins of our modern democracies are in the battles between barons & kings, and then between parliaments & kings from the C12th thru the C19th. And it was all about money & taxes. Politics is about: what do we want to spend money on? and who's going to pay? 'Policy' is the draft answers to those questions.

Unless he lifts his game dramatically, it'll be on again in a few weeks and that time he'll lose to Dutton.

47 minutes ago, tonbridgebrit said:

The student is now better at doing it than the master.   ?

The student has deep deep pockets.

I doubt you'll find much at 1000-1500฿ in Kowloon. We stayed in Sav Hotel in Kowloon only 2 months ago - new, clean, handy to shops & cafes & restaurants, but our room was tiny. Can't remember the exact price but it was around $A100 a night so roughly 2400฿.

2 hours ago, lordblackader said:

I thought Thailand was trying to play nicely with China - teaming up with a country that hates China is an interesting move. 

If there's one thing the Thais are quite good at, it's playing both ends against the middle. eg WW2; and now China AND Usofa are bosom buddies ...

4 minutes ago, zydeco said:

France hasn't been a superpower since Napoleon. 

Yes, hard to think of a war they've won, let alone a major battle, since 1811.

17 minutes ago, Redline said:

It’s time to confront China before they get too powerful, which is happening at an alarming pace.  USA, Europe, India, Japan, Canada, Australia... need to band together-this is the only way 

Too late already. With Trump in the White House, distrustful allies are slowly edging away from Usofa and Third World countries have long since given up the old model of Usofa as cultural attractor and are now sucking up to China with its bottomless barrel of money ...

Usofa remains the dominant world power, though not by much, and its prestige is rapidly weakening. China too has major vulnerabilities - economic & ethno-political internally - but so far its rise & rise is holding it all together.

We'll know the outcome in about 20 years. It may be a rocky ride for everyone, and particularly for those of us who live in the neightbourhood.

Hard not to sympathize with the Taiwanese. They haven't hurt anyone, just looked after themselves & turned themselves in the process from a KMT dictatorship into a thriving democracy. But they're on the wrong side of history ...

On the other hand, Beijing may be ruthless & determined, but stupid on the whole they are not. So killing a golden egg on their doorstep will happen only in the case of major warfare in the neighbourhood eg on the Korean peninsular. It might be hard for Beijing to resist a move when everyone else is distracted.

4 minutes ago, My Thai Life said:

An excellent Ivan Rogers speech. Actually he does say this, probably the most optimistic paragraph in his speech:

 

"If the option now exists of the UK aligning itself more permanently regulatorily on goods, and staying in both a Customs Union and having quasi Single Market membership, paying something for it, living under ECJ jurisprudence and jurisdiction in goods, but disapplying the fourth fundamental freedom, free movement of people, the EU faces the decision as to whether this is an unacceptable option sundering indivisible freedoms and offering something too close to membership advantages to a non member. Or whether it’s rather a good deal for the EU with a major strategic partner. With the added advantage of providing far more continuity in the sectors in which you have a surplus with the UK than those in which you have a deficit – notably key services sectors."

 

I'm not an exiter or a remainer. But the idea that exit is going to blight every one's children for ever is just hysteria in my opinion. Particularly as it's far from clear what the future relationship will be will be.

 

 

Yes, a nice way forward, based on Britain giving up everything the Brexiteers thought they were after (sovereignty).

1 hour ago, BestB said:

So according to this legal guru, if staff shows up 4 hours late, company can not cut their salary and must pay?

 

amd if they start to show up late everyday , not only company can not cut for unworked hours but must also give warnings and time to rectify their lateness before being able to kick them out?

 

yup, 1 sure way to kill a few businesses around when staff could not care less as it is 

Just as in just about any 'Western' country.

11 minutes ago, whatsupdoc said:

One of the best contributions ever to the Brexit threads on this forum. The speech by Sir Ivan Rogers is absolutely excellent. He should have been the chief negotiator on the UK side.

Yes, absolutely agree. And the brexitoptions.co.uk item is something EVERYONE should have a careful look at. It is VERY enlightening, if only to confirm the mind-boggling complexity of the issues (and, as it says, it's only a simplified version).

There are plenty of things that could be done infrastructure-wise to cope with even Thai kamikazes eg safety barriers everywhere such as on turn-left spots where, currently, there is just a khlong which is hard to see in the dark. Plus more barriers down the middle of main highways so that idiots CAN'T cross into oncoming traffic even if they wanted to ...

6 hours ago, mikebell said:

Someone wisely commented on here that if the Shins entered UK on non-Thai passports (the Thai ones having been revoked) then extradition to Thailand is a non-starter.

QED.

Doesn't sound wise to me. The ability of Country A to request extradition of an individual from Country B is not based on either the nationality of the individual or the passport that that individual used to enter Country B.

7 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

That sounds nice.

 

Just one small problem.

 

What do you think the governing clique wants?

 

Oh, by the way, who in that governing clique gives a **** about what "those of us who live here dream of" ?

 

 

My basic point remains: The interests of residents (whether Thai or 'Western') are not the same as those of tourists.