mfd101

He needs to get a move on!

Poor Donald. He's learning that his gestures and his sense of humour have consequences in the real world.

Or both.

Trump needs to get a move on if he's to help overthrow the mullahs. But many many possibilities for action, none of them risk-free. This is not Venezuela.

No protection for members of Parliament? (making comments under what - in any democracy - would be considered Parliamentary privilege)

Two that I encountered on my first visit to Thailand (totally innocent & unknowing) in 2011: (1) No tourists allowed in at the moment, Thais only. Take this taxi & we'll show you around for the next hour until it reopens. Thence on to this luvly shop where you could order a luvly suit (if you were even more dumb than me), and then this cafe for lunch etc etc (2) Jeans not allowed. Must wear this wrap around ...

Seems like sensible comment to me. In any genuine democracy people would wonder why there was a need to say it.

Stay calm everyone! Just a little bit of anti-Muslim satire. Perfectly harmless.

Clearly a different order of problem-solving required than was involved with Venezuela.

In my experience Thais love noise. A rich man doesn't build his mansion in a quiet suburban area, he builds it on the main road. Gives him the feeling of being at the centre of things, breathing in the diesel fumes. And that's why life in a peasant village can be noisy for days on end at various times of celebration.

His recent activities (Venezuela & Iran) rather suggest not. But you can't predict what tomorrow might bring, and neither can he.

Ukraine will be interested. Sounds very useful.

Will be fascinating to watch matters Venezuelan play out over the next 2 or 3 years. Not least of course the Chinese & Russian oil angles.

Well, it could be only hours away. Or not. The sign will be the Ayatollahs, generals & families fleeing to Moscow. Not sure Vlad will be happy with that (bad timing). Alternatively, the demonstrators just get tired, as has happened on 2 or 3 previous occasions. Can't live on the streets indefinitely. Meantime US military planes are rather conspicuously taking up position.

I remember well the Iranian student demos in the Cité Universitaire in Paris in 1972-73. Later moving on to the overthrow of the Shah in 1979. I wonder what those oldies think now as Iran looks like it might have the then Shah's son as their leader again. 50 years of Islamist 'revolution' heading down the gurgler ...

That does seem inevitable, yes.

I had it for about 4 weeks in Dec/early Jan on return from BKK - fairly mild in my case (just a hacking cough several times a day). My b/f still has it some 5 weeks later & much worse - non-stop coughing. Improves a little for a day or 2 then back again. Some pills from the village witchdoctor in Phanom Dong Rak greatly improved my condition and eating plenty of garlic & ginger with high-quality meals also seemed to help. Aussie friends who stayed with us in BKK for a couple of days in Dec on their way back to Oz from Germany said their dose once returned to Melbourne was the worst they've ever had & similarly lasted several weeks.

And I thought the polls (a year or 2 or 3 ago) showed that a majority of Brits regarded Brexit as a disaster for Britain ... I guess the conclusion now is that a majority of Brits haven't a clue about anything much.

And in Iran the crowds overthrowing the regime are calling for Israel to intervene on their behalf! Funny that.

So every time Putin makes a speech the Europeans are to burst into tears & run home for Mummy?

They don't have to be nuclear-armed. And Putin wouldn't do anything apart from huffing & puffing. He doesn't do anything about US & other Western troops in Poland & Finland & the Baltics ...

Um, I think you could remove 'railways' from that list. And at the current rate of progress (outside of metropolitan BKK) it'll be at least another decade before any (usable) progress is apparent.

Careful cautious plodding China vs "the unpredictable Trump administration". Fun to watch.

Wouldn't it be fun if it took an incompetent nitwit like Trump to bring the 67-year-old incompetent Castro regime crashing down!

British, French & German troops & aircraft should already be in Ukraine. Instead the weak leaders just ponce around in front of the cameras. Putin has their number. But he is himself the bluffer-in-chief.