Fortean1

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I've read he protected his children from rapper lyrics but he willingly profited from his own rapper lyrics being heard by adults and their children. Hypocrisy.

Thai used to fly to America. We took one flight nonstop from LAX to Bangkok. We flew economy. Service and food was good, but the price a little high. I think this was 2008. Our first trip to the U.S. in nine years was last year, the summer of 2023. We flew Korean Air from Bangkok to South Korea, then non-stop to Washington, DC. Our son paid for the business class trip, quite pricey I thought. Fully lying down seats was OK, but I do not sleep well on planes. Who does. Our return four months later was also on Korean Air from Las Vegas to South Korea to Bangkok. Cost was $1,000 in economy. Middle row seats with one seat not occupied. We each had aisle seats and a vacant seat in between. Wheelchairs for my wife and I. More so for my wife of 50 years, who is Thai. I couldn't keep up on my own as those wheelchair guys and gals are wickedly fast. In South Korea the wheelchair pushers were too few. Guy asked if I could walk. I said a few hundred feet was OK. No wheelchair. Terry ( a few miles south of Hua Hin ) . . .

Which channels will have overall coverage of the sports events in Paris? I use True Visions and hope that the SPOTV channels will have overall coverage.

She was on the Johnny Carson and other talk shows. She was direct and funny at times too.

PAX America replaced by PAX China or PAX Russia would be a road fraught with danger. Methinks there are people here just poking the pooch.

Here is a good pictorial history and most have captions: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/declassified_194081.htm In the SHD a storyboard listed the countries included in the pooled intelligence network. The full 12 nations (in 1979) and a few more. I recall Japan and South Africa. These were not obviously countries in Europe. Technical note: All proper names were repeated; punctuation was spelled out in an abbreviated form (e.g., CMM for comma, PD for period or full stop, QUESTION MARK for ?, paren for ( and unparen for ), and others. The punched Baudot paper tape from the teletype had the full message in 5-letter code groups (e.g., ABCDE ZRUZE EATDZ RUMOU HAZDR DEFGH). This perforated paper tape was fed through an HL-1B after setting the code for that day. There is an excellent overview of the KL-7 system. Please see: http://jproc.ca/crypto/crypto2/kl7.html The final message from the KL-7 system was sent from Ottawa, Canada. Office symbols include "SSO" which means Special Security Office or shall we say back channel communications. As the paper tape fed through the tape reader it produced a small white paper tape, not unlike correction tape in size. This was torn off and placed on a page of typing paper and enveloped for delivery. In 1979, a compromise forced the rewiring of all rotors globally. I recall spending most of the night rewiring our rotors, a group effort by several of us.

Hamas is hiding in urban areas, inside some hospitals and just mixing with the civilian population. They are breaking the rules of war, such as they are.

I worked the AFSOUTH, Allied Forces South, NATO communications center in Naples, Italy from 1/77 to 1/80. Pooled intelligence was received and sent in five letter code groups. Only three or four people working each shift or watch was cleared. Other intelligence messages were sent and received via on-line encrypted circuits. The pooled intelligence I mentioned was handled in the Special Handling Detachment. The source country was not revealed. I saw Soviet ship movements, Fidel Castro's visits to Angola, and special data. At NATO headquarters in Brussels there is a special handling (U.S.) group that served Colonel promotable and above officers. These were restricted to United Kingdom and U.S. officers. Those 13 other countries, and especially the French, were not to be trusted. The French military did participate in NATO exercises. One of our customers in Naples, Italy was the French Military Mission. Quite a few of the classified NATO teletypes were clearly marked NOT RELEASABLE TO THE FRENCH. We sent and received teletypes to French ships as well as including Marseilles, Toulon, and Paris.

A welcome 0.5 inches of rain this mid-afternoon just a few miles south of Hua Hin. Our first good rain in June.

Heckuva waste of space if no other life out there.

Yes, I jumped the gun there. I found this on Fareed's Global Briefing: "Whereas Putin wants artillery shells, The Economist writes, “North Korea’s wish list probably includes nuclear weapons designs, re-entry vehicles for intercontinental ballistic missiles, as well as technology related to satellites, submarines and hypersonic weapons. Russia could also provide less flashy, but still important support for North Korea’s conventional forces, such as spare parts for aircraft or ships and more modern air defences.” A warmer relationship with Russia could also give Pyongyang more leeway in dealing with its main benefactor, China; Ankit Panda of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace tells The Economist this opening with Russia constitutes “the biggest strategic opportunity for North Korea since the end of the Cold War.” That said, while the word “bromance” is thrown around vis-à-vis Putin and Kim, and while some Western commentators worry about a three-way, anti-Western partnership between China, Russia and North Korea, The Economist sees these relationships as more transactional and limited. The magazine concludes: “The picture that emerges is less of a neat authoritarian axis and more a messy love triangle.”'"

Giving? I think not. Fat Boy needs help improving his ballistic missiles. Putin can provide that.

Melanistic leopards! In 2003, Bob Mantz and I were employed to work a classified radio jamming test. We put up a 50 foot antenna for HF. We then turned on and calibrated the automated broadcast and jamming equipment. We were driving the 'bread truck' on the East Range of Fort Huachuca, Cochise County, Arizona about 0630, along a dirt road. We saw the black animal crossing from right to left and not turning its head towards us as we approached about 200 feet away. No cameras allowed. It was about five feet from head to end of tail. It was either a melanistic jaguar or mountain lion (puma). The latter is not accepted as melanism is unknown in that population throughout the Americas.

I somewhat agree that NATO/OTAN expanded too quickly whereby former Warsaw Pact countries (esp. Poland) became members. I served in a NATO/OTAN communications center in Naples, Italy from 1977 to 1980. Every November we war gamed a Soviet invasion through the Ruhr river valley into Germany and the Po river valley in northern Italy. The command was Allied Forces South. There was a war headquarters northeast of Naples at PROTO. It was inside a mountain, a poor man's version of Cheyenne Mountain in the U.S. Few troops, planes, and ships moved throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. Almost two weeks of clattering Olivetti teletypes and then a stillness. Those tank armies could not be stopped by conventional means, therefore, the U.S. and designated Allies began using tactical nuclear weapons. The Soviets and the reluctant Warsaw Pact countries went home without using tactical nuclear weapons. That is hardly likely. I'm pretty sure that Putin is aware of this war gaming scenario. He threatens use, and hopefully, the world will not see this. I want to add that the French military did participate. I recall sending and receiving teletypes from FS Foch, an aircraft carrier. One customer in our communications center was the French Military Mission. The messages were often in both English and French. At the beginning of text there were passing instructions in specific messages that said, NOT RELEASABLE TO THE FRENCH MILITARY MISSION.

Yes, recent history is always acceptable. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, I worked in the NATO/OTAN communications center in Naples, Italy. At that time it was Allied Forces South, that is, the countries in and near the Mediterranean Sea. Oddly enough as the shift or watch supervisor I was given a list of officers, both U.S. and Allied, who had either an assignment in Afghanistan or were affiliated in other ways. This was highly unusual. I guess the switchboard operators, Italian civilians, did not have security clearances, and were not allowed to make telephone contact. I improvised as I had no transcript to follow. I basically said after identifying myself that a crisis required them to report to Admiral Shear's Command Center.

Here is a discussion which begins aimlessly, then gets into weather, climate, and environmentalism. I don't know the detailed background of Dr. Patrick Moore. His comments do make sense or maybe he is a shill for the petroleum industry. This is almost two hours. I watched the whole thing. Please see:

About ten years ago the GoT (Government of Thailand) blocked the uncooked turkeys from America, such as Butterball, basing it on a single outbreak of some type of bird flu on a turkey farm/ranch in Illinois. This helps to protect the Thai turkey farmers. My friend/mentor, retired Air America pilot Les S., stopped buying as he likes to prepare his own stuffing inside the turkey. I also stopped buying. Terry, a few miles south of Hua Hin.

Yes, re open beaches from Khao Kalok beach which is maybe a 30 minute drive south of Hua Hin. I live nearby but 0.5 miles from the beach.

There is little to no control on who can become a monk. There is little to no auditing of the temples. My wife's home village is near Ayutthaya. We've lived in Thailand since 2008. The new village temple now under construction for 15 years. Gossip says the abbot has not one, but four mistresses. I asked one monk why so long in the construction. He just smiled. I see the abbot at the tamboon ceremonies for my wife's mother. He acts like a businessman.

The surviving email nodes should keep us in contact with each other. America's DARPA began using a network that kept governments offices, university science labs, and other facilities in touch even with a WW III scenario. I agree that ground zero would be best.

The Lotus's in Pran Buri just south of Hua Hin has stopped stocking sour cream. Bread is scattered in two or three areas around the store, and IMO prices went up after Mr. CP bought it. The same with our Makro re no sour cream. I found sour cream at Villa Market in Hua Hin at the same price of 107 baht. My Thai wife of 50 years suggested I buy more than one and put these in our chest freezer. I looked up freezing sour cream and found: "Sour cream can be stored in the freezer for up to six months. To thaw, simply transfer the amount of sour cream you need to the fridge and allow it to thaw for several hours. You'll notice the texture will be a bit watery and separated. Simply whip it with a whisk to reach a smooth consistency. Jan 5, 2566 BE" Terry ( a few miles south of Hua Hin, near Khao Kalock )

Yep, communications at constant level does degrade hearing. I worked in communications centers with its alarm bells, high precedence alarms, high speed printers, card punches, and more for 15 years. Did you work at 7th RRFS at Ramasun Station near Udorn Thani, Thailand?

True Visions often uses Thai language subtitles. I watched Equalizer 3 and saw the translations where curse words were used to have been censored with a black rectangle. My Panasonic is fairly old and does not offer Audio Compression. If I Stream Boost my hearing aids that helps. Also, the sound is awful compared to the other three televisions in the house. Terry ( a few miles south of Hua Hin )

I heartily agree with your humor. Paris, France for at least one U.S. agency. Again, on the pro side my mail service here just south of Hua Hin is very good. International mail office in Bangkok often delays my monthly issue of Fortean Times magazine. It's a British magazine. It gets sent somewhere in Europe, arrives in Bangkok. Couple times I've received the previous month and current month on the same day.