dick dasterdly

13 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

I'm not convinced that the press/media following a politician results in anything other than biased opinion pieces in their media outlets.

 

Far better to judge the results - i.e. what they actually do.  Which IMO is why voters went for Trump - they were sick and tired of the status quo that didn't benefit them at all, and so voted for a 'wild card' that would, at least, shake up the establishment.

Just now, Morch said:

 

May want to read previous posts. The issue of media riding with the president is a non-issue introduced as deflection. The original claims made were that "the media" needs to be "destroyed" or "torn down".

 

Not sure if you meant that coverage of the president should be limited to such times when results are presented. If so, that's more like how things work in Putinland etc.

Re. the 2nd para, I didn't mean or imply that - and you know it....

Why would you try to twist my post in that way .

2 minutes ago, jpinx said:

The original appeal which basically would have forced a vote, has been counter appealed to the Supreme Court.  The result of the Supreme Court appeal will either allow the PM to pursue her original course of action in implementing Art 50, or will force her to go back to the house.  There is a possibility of further appeal, but that would be too ludicrous to contemplate -- the EU court of justice?  really??

So it seems likely that we will end up with MPs deciding on whether to enact article 50.

But the appeal plays into May's hands I suppose, as she's always said that she didn't intend to implement article 50 until next year.

Interesting times indeed if MPs decide to over-ride the referendum result.

Just now, Morch said:

 

And no one claimed there was such a law. The media not flying with the president (or president elect, before some sensitive souls will be hurt) is not on par with previous statements on this topic calling to "destroy" and "tear down" the media.

 

With regard to the "serve them right" bit, might be applicable to the media, but still doesn't solve the question of where the public gets his information from. From this angle, it does not serve the people at all.

 

I get that some are angry at "the media", but slogans are not solutions.

I'm not convinced that the press/media following a politician results in anything other than biased opinion pieces in their media outlets.

Far better to judge the results - i.e. what they actually do.  Which IMO is why voters went for Trump - they were sick and tired of the status quo that didn't benefit them at all, and so voted for a 'wild card' that would, at least, shake up the establishment.

Does anyone know whether this court decision means that MPs have to vote on whether to enact article 50, or whether it means they have to vote on the final agreement?

On 11/11/2016 at 6:11 PM, ThaiFelix said:

RIP dear Leonard, you will be sorely missed but your music will ensure you are never forgotten.

I hope you're right, but Leonard Cohen was far from 'main stream' and largely introduced to others by those that knew (and liked) his music/lyrics.

Those few are shrinking every year/decade.

21 minutes ago, WaywardWind said:

It happened to me once in a rather well-known restaurant in Pattaya when the new 500 THB notes came out - gave 2000 for our 1200 baht meal, and got change for 1500. I know they were 1000 baht notes because I had just withdrawn them from the ATM right outside the restaurant.  No amount of discussion persuaded them to change their minds.

 

Pity for them - that was our first and last visit to that restaurant.

 

Now I put a couple of dots in one of the corners of 1000 baht notes before using them.

Funnily enough, many years ago a Western restaurant apparently undercharged our group of 4 three or four hundred bht - but recognised us when we went back a few days later and told us that we'd previously been under-charged so it would be added to our bill this time....

I've no idea whether they were right or wrong - but it was the last time we went to that (expensive) restaurant that we'd previously liked.

17 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

 

Wow!  Various people who held senior national security/foreign policy positions from Nixon to G W Bush  think they are a respected source of opinion?!

2 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

Yes -- they represent experience. 

Experience of 'screwing up' badly?

The letter you posted should have been made very obvious before the election (or perhaps it was, I didn't follow the pre-election coverage), as it would likely have resulted in even more voting for Trump.....

7 hours ago, stephen tracy said:

Clinton is a snake, and I'm not a liberal.  But it's extremely difficult for Trumpians to grasp anything beyond left/right, liberal conservative.  Thinking beyond that makes the brain go tilt.  "man of mystery"?  Sad.

You're kidding right?!

I'm hearing left/right/liberal/conservative (and the odd marxist) definitions thrown around by those on both sides of the debate!

7 hours ago, Strange said:

 

Cute, name calling.... Must have hit a nerve. Feels good over here. 

 

This is why I don't usually don't debate anything with the English. They are incapable of viewing things from an American perspective, but continually feel they know whats best for America and the World. 

 

News Flash - No One Cares. 

7 hours ago, stephen tracy said:

I ain't American

7 hours ago, ClutchClark said:

 

Then you are simply a time waster in the discussion.

 

Thanks for clarifying.

 

To borrow a phrase from the famed, JT, "Welcome to the Ignore List buddy"  ;-)

Good point.  I'm not American either, but have been (mostly) understanding of the Trump election vote and posting against the anti-Trump demonstrations.

Please forgive me for having an opinion on these subjects - in the same way I (sort of ) forgive those non-Brit voters commenting on the Brexit vote.

21 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

I'm assuming that link is a joke?

10 minutes ago, JLCrab said:

No,

Wow!  Various people who held senior national security/foreign policy positions from Nixon to G W Bush  think they are a respected source of opinion?!

As far as I know I've never been short-changed this way, but then again 1) I rarely check change and 2) I rarely frequent either restaurants or bars.

On the other hand a local family run 'supermarket' told me they'd over-charged me by 300 bht on a previous visit, and a restaurant owner (from whom I'd bought a bulk purchase of take-aways) saw me at Makros and came running after me to tell me that I'd been charged too much and paid me back x amount (can't remember the amount)!

Even so, I appreciate the warning and will make an effort to check change in the future.

10 hours ago, JLCrab said:

A large number of Republican National Security experts signed a letter opposing Mr. Trump as President.

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3007589/Nationalsecurityletter.pdf

 

The Change(dot)org petition is in no way binding on anything. But if some Republican electors have great respect for persons who signed that letter, who knows?

I'm assuming that link is a joke?

7 minutes ago, jpinx said:

I've been banging on about next years elections for some time now, but everyone has their head deep in the sand.  Merkel has not even declared she's going to stand!

I agree, the elections in EU countries next year are going to be very interesting.

Those running the EU will realise this too, and so I suspect will come up with some EU reforms.  If they don't - then they truly are "numpties"!

Assuming they do come up with reforms - will those reforms be enough to head off the potential calamity of those EU countries' elections?

35 minutes ago, Basil B said:

Very Clear...

The Thai guy said it was self defence.

 

The CCTV shows an altercation at the car of the Thai guy, seems to me the the Thai guy lashed out at whoever was holding the camera, not sure if the Belgium hit him.

 

But the Thai Guy gets out of his car and sneaks up behind the Belgium guy and hits him hard enough to floor him, that was not self defence.

 

But there again This Is Thailand and all Farang, their women and CCTV cameras lie.

 

Why on earth was the Belgian guy at the door of the Thai guy's car in the first place???

He wanted to complain about bad driving presumably - which makes me think he can't have lived here very long and/or is very stupid.

17 minutes ago, madmitch said:

The traffic hasn't been too bad considering what they've done, though I don't approach from Rawai so can't comment on that.

 

So today the police are back controlling the traffic, the bollards filtering all the traffic from Patak Road into Chaofa West are back and they're letting one lane through at a time. Result: tailbacks southbound on Chaofa West half a kilometre or so before the Big Buddha lights. To avoid this on my return I used Chaofa East where it tailed back to the Yacht Club turning. 

 

Patak Road to the Circle was flowing very well. It looked busy approaching from Rawai.

 

Perhaps there's a new batch of overenthusiastic traffic police. It's about that time of year. But I hope it's a one-off as it was totally unnecessary.

I had to travel towards Chalong Circle from Chaofa West around 3 p.m. today and it was a long, slow queue of traffic.  It was only on approaching Chalong Circle I realised police were involved/directing traffic flow at Chalong Circle - although I did wonder why every now and again there was a 'rush' of scooters/bikes going by and through the traffic queuing on Chaofa West.

Your post probably explains it.

But I could be being unfair, as I rarely have the misfortune to take that route at that time of day.

On a more positive note, I headed from Chaofa West to Chaofa East (eventually....) to get something I needed, and on the way back towards Chalong Circle it was the typical slow queue of traffic.  A couple of Westerner tourists on a scooter (coming from the opposite direction and turning across our traffic) had a small collision with a Thai on a scooter heading in our direction.

Much to my suprise, there was a bit of shoving and (presumably) swearing from the Thai - but no real aggression .

2 hours ago, cardinalblue said:

Why is taking a photo deemed instigating a physical assault?

 

the Belgium guy was attacked...it doesn't matter taking a photo saying something whatever...

 

physicality crosses the line...and causes bodily harm...what happens had the farang hit his head on the cement and suffered serious injury or death which happens a lot?

 

clear case of physical assault...

The Belgian guy was an idiot for going to the other driver's car for a confrontation.

Unluckily for him the other driver (once presumably he had got over the shock of being confronted in this way) turned out to be an idiot too as he physically attacked the stupid Belgian instead of just giving him a stream of verbal abuse.

I'm at a loss to understand why the Belgian behaved the way he did e.g. getting involved in an 'overtaking race' in the first place and then going to the other guy's car for a confrontation .  As others have pointed out, pushing in front given the slightest opportunity is normal driving here, and anyone with an ounce of common sense quickly learns this.  They also quickly learn that road rage could result in far worse than being knocked to the ground - and consequently the vast majority of long-term Westerners just swear 'to themselves' when coming across particularly bad drivers.

Perhaps he hasn't been here very long?  At first I thought he must have been here a while as he has a child, but it could be a step-daughter?

Just now, CharlieK said:

 

My understanding is it costs 65K to relinquish your citizenship. I really don't understand what all the fuss is about, Trump won't be able to do half the things he said he will do. The GOP will control Trump's excesses. As for press protocol, they are just wolves looking to manufacture the news rather than report it. So good on him if he does keep them at a distance. 

 

That you allow yourself to believe all the BS shows just how gullible you Americans are, you people are almost scared of you're own shadow. That's how the media have played the American public with fear and paranoia. IMO

That's the way politicians play the game.

Unfortunately for the UK politicians and now the US politicians, the electorate is bad-tempered enough to vote for anything other than the establishment views and opinions .

Just now, tropo said:

My comment was mainly in response to the word "uneducated"...  but generally, they are the more intelligent among the community, and the people who will in the future hold most of the top jobs and positions.

 

I think you're referring to wisdom, not intelligence. That indeed is in short supply, even in the universities.

 

 

 

No, there are one hell of a lot of college educated people that are far from intelligent.

The intelligent few are lacking wisdom on leaving college/university.

Meanwhile, we're watching unintelligent college students becoming sheep as they incite each other to violence.

4 minutes ago, CaptHaddock said:

Beyond the expected destruction of the social safety net in the US due to the Republicans' free rein over all three branches of the govt, there is now range of outcomes that, while none of them is likely, all are a lot more likely than they were as recently as last Monday, such as:

 

1.  A military coup against Trump if the military can't stomach him.

2.  A revocation or suspension of the Constitution to enable Trump or Pence to retain power beyond term limits in 2024.

3.  A declaration of martial law and/or suspension of certain civil liberties.

4.  The largest roundup and forced deportation of people en masse in history.

 

All of this becomes conceivable, if not yet likely, because both Trump and the Republican party are profoundly anti-democratic.  It's not for nothing that Trump expresses admiration for a tinpot dictator like Putin.  Republican state govts have actively been suppressing voting rights to a degree not seen since the Jim Crow era.  It won't stop, because it suits the agenda both of the billionaire donor class and of the white Christian reactionary voters.  Since it won't stop it will likely go beyond   the traditional bounds of democracy in America.

 

This is the way fascism proceeds.

 

Somehow I suspect that the Americans (many of who have guns) will not accept a military coup or martial law/suspension of civil liberties....

19 minutes ago, tropo said:

I don't think so. It appears that university students are front and center here too.

How many new graduates/students have you met??  Many are unintelligent (or too inexperienced to 'argue' a case coherently) in my experience.

Of course the intelligent amongst university college students are tolerant - but realise that an University education does't necessarily mean an intelligent person!

Hence my point, those college students getting involved in this violence are part of the sheep pack and far from intelligent.

6 minutes ago, CaptHaddock said:

 

This is indeed the heart of the problem.  The Repubs will not only rescind Obama's achievements, but they may well revoke the New Deal, or what's left of it. 

 

While people are understandably focused on Trump himself, whose pronouncements have been too inconsistent to make sense of, it's a lot easier to look at what the Republican leadership in Congress will do since they have been clear about it for years.  They will indeed make short work of Obamacare, but Ryan supported Bush's attempt to destroy Social Security by privatising it, which failed at the time.  Ryan and the other Repub leaders haven't changed their stripes in the meantime.  Trump announced during the election that he would not go after SS and Medicare, but he earlier called SS a "Ponzi scheme."  So, what does he really think?  Who knows?  But McConnell, Ryan and the rest are determined to destroy both SS and Medicare.  Hell, they want to destroy public education in America, which is another item on the current agenda.

 

This election is not merely a disappointing change of government, it will be a revolution.  Like Reagan's revolution the effects will only become apparent down the road when the working class and the middle class, very much including Trump's supporters of 2016, will pay an enormous price.

 

First they will turn the US into Kansas, a project that has failed in every purpose except that of lowering taxes on the rich.  And, by and by, the US will become Brazil where a tiny group will have all the wealth.  And it will be because there just won't be enough money to pay for government services on which everyone, but the rich, depend.

I hope you're wrong, but suspect you're right .

9 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Well, for one thing, when I tell foreigners my nationality, I will say I'm an American that opposes trump. It embarrasses me deeply that all Americans will now be associated with that horribly unfit, dangerous and hateful clown that has enacted a takeover of my country by the alt-right, a movement deeply infected with Nazis and all flavors of anti-intellectual regressive anti-civil rights HATERS. 
 

 

You know, when I meet a Russian unless they appear like an "alternative" type, I assume (sadly usually correctly) that they support their dictator Putin. 

You're braver than most as the Americans as I've met over the years, when asked, say they are Canadians .

If you think Trump being elected has (at the moment) made your nationality more unpopular - than you're clearly living in your own fantasy land.

41 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

 It's highly unlikely but the idea of breaking up the USA into new nations is not impossible. Look what happened to the USSR and other former nations under intense stress.

Wow - you really are desperate to clutch at any straw!

Probably best to get over it.  Trump (appalling man as he is) has been elected, and so time to hope that he (depressingly) turns into the politician who promises everything and delivers nothing for ordinary people.

Haven't read the thread, but have to admit that having watched some CNN today the bias is evident .

7 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

WHAT THE H*** WERE THE POLICE DOING????????

Why weren't they protecting law abiding citizens trying to get to their cars????????

If it turns out anti Trump mayors didn't allow them to do their jobs there should be h*** to pay.

Why hasn't the national guard been called out if the police can't do their job?????

 

This ISN'T a few disgruntled Clinton supporters demonstrating peacefully, this is rioting.

 

Where is Obama??????

Shame on everyone that allowed what was on that VDO.

 

At least we now know for sure that the anti Trump rabble are SCUM.

I wondered about that too (the police aspect) as there were police forming a line on the out-skirts.  And yet they didn't bother to intervene when people were attacked??

And no, the anti Trump rabble aren't scum - a few of them are as they worked each other up into a frenzy.

Other than that, they're just the uneducated, unintelligent people that anti-Trump supporters claim was the province of Trump supporters .