mikebike

3 hours ago, BuaBS said:

And Iran is ditching the USD for oil exports . They will report it in euro and other currencies like the Yuan . Sadam , Ghadaffi come to mind.

So the "distabilising and malign activities"  , is to be seen broader than their influence in the region.

If Kim is serious about denuclearizing Korea .... he can sell his nukes for a nice profit to Iran. They are going to need it.

Kim ain't dim. He will take the lesson of Iran and Iraq and be 45's worst nightmare at the negotiating table.

You think he will sell out? Not a hope in hell. He will take the lessons of his dad and grandpa and make 45 look like a ... let's say TWIT, with the "I" replaced with an "A".

5 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

Or I guess they could have just sprayed it with something to kill any parasites there may have been.

It is likely that spraying it in place would still have a risk of spreading the invasive parasites, hence the quarantine.

39 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

How big of a region? They already have complete dominance in their region.

Simple terms - no Palestinians in Israel. So must remove all Palestinian support therefore Iran bad.

40 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

 

Wouldn't someone looking forward to The Rapture be less concerned that Iran's ayatollahs might get nuclear weapons?

No. The exact opposite.

In simple terms:

For the rapture to unfold, evangelicals believe that ALL the worlds jewish people must "return" to Israel. This is much more likely, in their minds, IF Israel has complete dominance in the region.

7 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

No, that's not it. The US is happy the region is destabilized. It is what we and our proxies set out to do. It's just that they are not in a position to take advantage of the instability later because we are losing. Still, we're making nice bank on the weapons we're selling, so we got that going for us.

Maybe... maybe not...

Kinda good news.

It means there must be at least one scientist (biologist) that the current admin believes is telling the truth.

Maybe he can get them to use science for other environmental issues as well.

1 hour ago, cat handler said:

 

Oh, no criminal convictions WITHIN the US, that’s a relief, who cares if they were murderers or rapists in their originating country. Kick them all out, no questions asked, don’t set a precedent that says if you bring children you can come illegally and stay. Look at the debt in the US, having a bunch of illegal immigrants undercutting wages or people born their legally is lowering their standard of living, and let’s not forget that no tax is being paid by these freeloaders. 

 

using facts and logic earns a suspension, interesting.

555555... that's a side-splitter.

I bet those children had rap sheets as long as a giraffe's neck when their parents brought them in.

55555... thanks dude, I needed a good laugh.

4 minutes ago, 7by7 said:

Yes, when I first heard reports of this, and similar incidents, that it may be an Islamist terrorist attack did cross my mind. What also crossed my mind was that it was the sort of incident it actually was. I also thought it could be a drunk driver who lost control, a catastrophic vehicular failure of some kind or simply a driver using their phone or not paying attention for some other reason. Even the smallest amount of research will show you that there are, sadly, far more pedestrians killed each year in the latter three types of incident than the former two.

 

You may say that those types of incidents don't kill and injure as many as a deliberate attack; and usually you'd be right, but not always.

 

But certain elements, unfortunately well represented amongst members here, always immediately assume such incidents are Islamist terrorism rather than waiting for the actual facts. Furthermore, they actually accuse the police and others of attempting to hide that the incident is Islamist terrorism merely because the identity of the attacker(s) is not immediately released!

 

As this, and many other incidents, prove; these ignorant people are usually wrong in their assumption. Do they come back and admit their error? No, they merely repeat it again and again every time such a tragic incident occurs. That they are correct maybe 25% of the time is no excuse for that.

And really didn't have to wait long in this case. CBC (Canadian national broadcaster) was on to the incel thing within 24hrs.

18 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

 

ASEAN may be a block of nations but it is not an economic, security nor ideological block. The only thing its members seem to have in common are their individual trade protectionist and nationalistic preservation. Case in point that's how China approaches ASEAN members regarding its trade relations and its China South Sea claims - not as a block of nations but as individual nations. 

ASEAN members would do better to join the larger Trans Pacific Partnership and let ASEAN continue as a more cultural heritage organization.

Actually they would not be better. A good primer of SE Asian geopolitics is "Singapore is Not an Island" by former Singaporean foreign minister Bilahari Kausikan.

Seeming useless organizations like the UN and ASEAN serve very important purposes.

11 minutes ago, CharlesSwann said:

You're only proving my point. The video on that psychologytoday website is all the evidence that anyone with an ounce of understanding of human nature needs to know that that guy is gay. Hilarious the elaborate web the psychologist had to weave to avoid blaming homosexuality. But course, with today's rainbow hysteria, it's not politically correct to say or even imply anything negative about gays.

That's your take-away from the links? A reinforcement of your totally unfounded guess that Rodger is gay?

Would you entertain any circumstance where a deranged man has a clinically narcissistic hatred of women and actually is hetro?

23 minutes ago, attrayant said:

 

What "multiple investigations" have the democrats undertaken?

Uhm... I know!!

Zero.

They did just initiate a lawsuit tho...

Older, reasonably entertaining show that I just discovered: Banshee.

14 minutes ago, yogi100 said:

 

Who are you trying to kid. Don't make out you don't have a little bit on the side when you get the chance. Just like Donald does.

Not everyone is the same as 45 and (apparently) you, mon ami.

4 minutes ago, yogi100 said:

 

He puts his own people first which is something our leaders are dead against. And he has sorted out N Korea.

 

Now you tell us what he has done wrong, forget about his womanising ways, we're all big boys on here who all know the score. We all come to the LOS for the same thing.

Somehow you are confusing pre-election pandering with objective, post-election policy, which has only put corporations and elites first relegating "the people" to a distant, oft unseen, mirage on the horizon.

Your NK statement is, if nothing else, premature and unsubstantiated.

I came to Thailand 13 yrs ago with my (western) wife. We still love the country. Is that the same as you?

4 minutes ago, yogi100 said:

 

From what the average Englishman can see he must be the best president the USA has had in living memory.

Are you claiming that the "average Englishman" is incapable of ranking foreign heads of state based on objective policy achievements?

22 minutes ago, boomerangutang said:

Having Trump as prez is already painful enough.  I don't want to exacerbate my pain. ha ha ha.

 

Re: the video below:  Rachel articulates how Kushner is being treasonous (secret meetings with China higher-ups, discussing K's personal business needs and how the US can kow-tow to China). Tillerson is echoing Kushner's and China's requirements.  China wants unfettered/unopposed movement in all directions where it wants to assert ownership and dominance.  Obama and Kerry and HRC put American and SE Asian/African interests (and rule of int'l law) to the fore.  Trump/Tillerson and Kushner are cutting the balls off US interests overseas, while gutting the State Dept.   The US still doesn't have ambassadors in S.Korea or S.Arabia.  If Trumpists were just asleep at the wheel, that would be bad.  But they're doing much worse.  

 

 

Where is Jarred anyway? 

Current reporting seems to indicate the perpetrator is aligned with the "incel" movement. Or, in other words, a garden variety nutter...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-van-attack-driver-profile-alek-minassian-1.4632435

11 minutes ago, billd766 said:

 

If you wish to go back to WW1 you may find that PTSD was totally unknown but shell shock was. 

 

PTSD was "discovered" in 1980 as this link points out. 

 

https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/ptsd-overview/ptsd-overview.asp

 

So FYI I did fact check and crap posts like yours detracts from any sane argument you may present.

 

Have a nice day.

From Dr. Steven Joseph, Psychology Today:

Is shell shock the same as PTSD? This is an intriguing question; one that I've been scratching my head over for the last couple of weeks.

The answer I've come up with is that PTSD and shell shock are the same.

35 minutes ago, tonbridgebrit said:

"Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen attended the event while on a visit to a country which is one of the few to maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan rather than Beijing. "


Yes, this is a country that 'reckons' that the Republic of China (Taiwan) is China. They don't reckon that the Peoples' Republic of China is China. 

As did the USA until the late 70s. Country's do whatever serves their political purpose.

12 hours ago, hyku1147 said:

I wonder how many paying customers they will lose?

Will Starbucks become a hangout for the indigent?

Is Starbucks run by businessmen, or by short sighted left leaning sociologists?

Their stunning success seems to indicate it is run by competent business-people.

5 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

Agreed no set meaning. Are you from the UK?  if you were you would know that 'in the real world' 20% of Britons are not in 'absolute poverty'.

Sure objective facts should always take a back seat to the subjective reality Bob perceives. Hahaha.