lannarebirth

1 hour ago, rupert the bear said:

lets leave trump and gates out of this and all the politicking.the WHO ,im ex taiwan and hk resisdent ,both countries have dealt with the virus well,theyre both next to big brother.i have used both places health services .well run and extensive.WHO told us no human to human transmission parroting beijings line at the time although evidence pointed in the opposite direction,drs reporters and private individuals reporting the virus in PRc were jailed and disappeared some are still lost.no mention of this by WHO.either the disappearances or the results of their findings.flights bans same story.and and and.aylward the WHO no 2 in hk was interviewed by local reporter she asked why they ignored taiwans offer of help,he didnt answer he just got up and walked out!the reporter after leaving the bldg was detained by police.this indicates quite clearly a bias towards PRC and thats being polite about it.some have mentioned we need a competent planet wide authority.i agree but WHO isnt it as they plainly demonstrate.any port in a storm?a complacent mistake and theres so many of those made so far.it needs  a shake up and thats putting it mildly,the upper echelon need t go and some could face criminal proceedings if found knowingly negligent on several fronts.

It's not just WHO that needs a shake up. Every country I'm aware of has organizational leaders in place from the "silent" and "baby boomer" generations. It's time to put these careerists out to pasture and bring in a new generation of leaders.

2 hours ago, Assurancetourix said:

 

It is obvious that for me who earns the astronomical sum of 14,000 euros per year, this donation of 250 million US dollars may seem important.
To relate to his personal fortune which is more than 100 billion US dollars;
all of a sudden it seems really derisory;
a little boost of a few billion US dollars would have seemed more acceptable.

It's better to give it in small pieces as "administrators" will otherwise take the bulk of it. $250,000,000 is a pretty big small piece if you can get it directed appropriately

2 hours ago, Tug said:

Imo a very admirable couple self made smart and generous giving back if I may plagiarise jfk ask what you can do for your country not what your country can do for you.Now trump on the other hand asks himself what can he (do) his country for I don’t know I’m just a simple guy but I sit back and watch this crisis unfold and observe folks like the gates the Biden’s gov Cumo the gov of calif and how they rise to the occasion then I observe trump............ sad we can do better much much better thanks to the gates family blessings to you and yours 

I'm curious, what have you seen Biden do? Not that he's expected to do anything, as he's out of office , but you brought it up.

4 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

I assume the Iranian boats were in Iranian waters and the US was 'testing their defences' by ignoring their sovereignty over those Iranian waters.

I assume the US Naval vessel was in International Waters, as is their right. I also assume that the Iranian vessels were either in International Waters or Iranianian sovereign waters, which is their right. If the Iranian vessels were truly a threat, I have no doubt the USN would have fired on them. It is a non story. Hopefully it enhanced the learning of the USN officers in command in understanding what is and is not a threat.

8 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

We all remember you going around from candidate to candidate as they fell. Warren, Booker, Klobuchar and then suddenly Bloomberg was your man. I bet like dogs sniffing each others rears. The one in front of your nose is the best at the time. The last one doesn't last a minute in memory.

 

 

That's not true. He started with Klobuchar. Not my preferred candidate, but better than anyone on offer currently.

18 hours ago, sirineou said:

I agree with everything you said, but not only Obama, at this point I would gladly accept any past president Democrat or Republican.  I of course prefer someone who's politics align with mine, but I would settle for some Dignity and professionalism. I would be happy beyond words with a Romney president or bless his soul , if he was alive a Mckain president. During the campaign when an old woman confronted McKain with a " Obama is a terrorist" ,

Now there is a class act. I might not agree with his politics but I trust him to do the be honorable , dignified , intellectually honest man. 

I truly don't understand why anyone would support trump, What has he done for them? there are so many honorable, capable republicans, why waste your political capital and in the process endanger the country on trump? I understand their frustration with the system and their hope he would be their savior, but by now that, that was clear to us then,   should be also clear to them now .

I don't get it!!

Actually, there are very few "capable, honorable Republicans" these days. Check their voting records. Interestingly, there is a small group of "progressive" Republicans that has more in common with progressive Democrats than they do with establishment Republicans or establisment Democrats.

12 minutes ago, mohinga said:

Yes, exactly! As a lowly second mate I took a ULCC though Hormuz at night with only a man on the wheel for company. Situational awareness decreases with number of bodies on the bridge.

I was 2nd Mate on a ship going through the Straits of Hormuz at night during the first 1st Iraqui war. Some A-hole on a US Navy ship shined a beam straight into our wheelhouse and asked us to identify ourselves, blinding us, even though we'd been communicating our entrance for the previous 10 hours. Incompetents.

3 minutes ago, simple1 said:

OK. Matters are moving so fast, so you may like to review the URL below which provides Pelosi's position as of 15 April.

 

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/04/15/pelosi_people_think_we_can_do_congress_by_zoom_zoom_is_a_chinese_entity_weve_been_told_not_to_trust.html

These are the people that send the children of poor families off to war. Are they too afraid to set up a system where they can watch speakers from another room and stagger their entrances into the room to cast their votes? I'm not buying it. It's political grandstanding in the midst of a crisis. Oh, how I wish for a 3rd, or even a 4th party.

21 minutes ago, WalkingOrders said:

Plenty of evidence. A quick search and you will be on to it. It will require a read and jumps to other sources, but evidence is there and building. Now more plausible then wuhan market. Note : I do believe it was an accident and the research itself was not malicious.

That seems plausible, especially in China. But it's important to remember these days, that nothing is factual anymore. There are only narratives; some more factually supported than others.

20 minutes ago, pineapple01 said:

Thats OK , but i cant figure out why there are Yanks here, i wouldn't leave the Best Nation on Earth to come here, lefty failures perhaps.?

Well, at first it was sufficient wealth, but later it required repatriating for college for children, elderly parents, you know, everything a family goes through.

8 minutes ago, pineapple01 said:

Disagreeing is an insult to the Lefty Me Me Posters who infect Thai Visa these days..wheres me  Hot Latte n Vegan sarnie gone Luvie.

Thanks for playing.

14 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Fact. 

It's OK. 

We all get egg on our faces sometimes. 

 

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-threatens-to-adjourn-congress-to-get-his-nominees-through/2020/04/15/e3bfc4c6-7f6a-11ea-9040-68981f488eed_story.htm

 

Trump threatens to adjourn Congress to get his nominees but likely would be impeded by Senate rules

 

 

President Trump threatened Wednesday to try to force Congress to adjourn so he could fill his administration’s vacancies without Senate approval, the second time this week he has claimed unprecedented executive authority amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The president cited a never-exercised constitutional power to shut down Congress if the House and Senate are in disagreement over adjourning, pushing both the executive and legislative branches into uncharted territory.

On Monday, Trump had asserted that he had “total” authority over the decision to reopen the country, overruling governors intent on protecting public health and containing further spread of the coronavirus. 

 

To be fair, he was trying to force them to reconvene, and the threatened to force them to adjourn if they failed to reconvene. They absolutely should reconvene. They have been absolutely absent in this crisis, save to fund their campaign contributors and send a meagerly stipend to real American people.

Congress is not fulfilling it's duty presently, both the House and the Senate. They should absolutely reconvene. Ignore Trump's demands for approval of more sycophants and nutjobs, but absolutely tend to the needs of the American people while giving the corporations the middle finger.

3 hours ago, ThreeEyedRaven said:

Are they suggesting that Trump is fallible? I thought even God checked in with Donald before making decisions.

McKinsey is a reprehensible organization. You can be sure one study or another of theirs led to layoffs and underfunding. Their specialty is "efficiencies" that lead to "shareholder value".

1 minute ago, WalkingOrders said:

Why a foul tip?

3 and 2, a foul tip still keeps you at bat.

18 minutes ago, WalkingOrders said:

If you read into my very clear post you will see that the naming of all countries is not neccessary for the answer to be crystal clear. It works like this if I say ten less two.....must I explicity say eight? No of course not.

 

Pretty much the entire world...

 

And so tedious to have to list them all simply for your satisfaction. 

 

Chinese softpower has been delt a very serious blow. 

 

Even "friends" of China, if such countries exist, will sleep with one eye open....as it is very difficult to have any trust for a one party authoritarian state,  led by a President for life,  who let a bat research corona virus out by the mistake of improper use of safety precautions...

 

but we are talking about a place that allows defecation on city streets in the 21st century.

 

keep plugging away on the disinformation campaign!

That is simply not true. When China offers coal fired power plants to Africa, with substantial kickbacks to the decision makers, they will buy those power plants, even if they are heavy polluters, even if the financing will lead to a future default, even if it will allow for China's infiltration of that economy.

9 minutes ago, WalkingOrders said:

The import of my original post regarding typical claimed governmental Democratic structure of CCP seems to have been completely lost. So dissapointed.

I may have missed it, feel free to point me to it.

13 minutes ago, WalkingOrders said:

Haha.... One more time pal who won the world series in 2018? Wrong! Shoot 'em!

 

A very obscure section of the US Constitution? My advice is delete that phrase from the book.

 

Strike four your out... er strike three!

I miss baseball too. C'mon, give me a foul tip.

10 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Both gentlemen well suited for economic affairs. As for Obama’s East policies, the follow-up by Trump is falling apart with his handling of North Korea’s nukes, the reclaimed islands in SC sea and walking out of TPP.  Disaster for Asia and China is thanking Trump. 

 

No question, but you're now choosing for <deleted> over syphillis.  That's why the primaries are much more important than the General Election.

43 minutes ago, WalkingOrders said:

I wish the obsession of certain posters with abolishing the Electoral College in the United States of America could find a new homeplace for posts within the Forum. Perhaps a Comparison and Contrast of Democratic processes of the USA and China? A great place for posting wikipedia and NY Times articles... a shame that nothing more then that will be posted by the Chinese, but its worth a try

 

I received a solicitation ofa donation today from Pete Buttigieg, to help him abolish the Electoral College. Now, the Electoral College is never going away short of a Constitutional Convention, so I'm not sure what he was needing the money for. I'm guessing his networth has grown considerably since he has dropped out.

31 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Take a lesson on Obama’s pivot to Asia foreign policy and let us know about Trump’s Asia policy if any. 

You mean Larry Summers'  and Tim Geithner's China policy? Disasterous!

19 minutes ago, WalkingOrders said:

The Party has an opinion on the electoral college that seems to favor a weak leftist cowtaoing band of criminals willing to give it all away. Not surprised. An opinion developed through millions of small democratic committees I am sure.

There are very few small Democrat committees anymore, as during the Obama administration more than 1,000 state elections were lost by the Democrats. I guess people thought "If the Democrats aren't really Democrats anymore, then why should I vote for them".