Donga

The tragedy is the frightful waste of money and rising energy costs in most "rich" governments, being fearful of climate change. Merkel will go down as her country's most destructive leader since Hitler, and yet she meant well, poor sod.

4 hours ago, WDSmart said:

I detest Elon Musk almost as much as I detest Trump, but as a US citizen, I hope his American Party is successful enough to draw enough people away from the Republican Party for the Democrats to once again take control of all three branches of government.

... to continue their deluded pathways of unsustainable economics, immigration, foreign affairs and health deterioration. Democrats have to reinvent themselves big time to become responsible custodians and not sure they're up to it.

4 hours ago, ignore it said:

Crystal ball says,

 

"America is the aggressor, Israel is the real threat, and we love peace, science, and definitely not building nuclear weapons."

in deep underground mountains. No, no, not us.

1 hour ago, brewsterbudgen said:

I expect there will be more, thanks to the media coverage of the idiot pop star at Glastonbury!

 

Shades of the Vietnam war protests and songs about LBJ.

Think the Vietnam War protests were much more justified than this ignorant lot e.g. So many US & Aussie troops in Vietnam for years, the IDF hasn't used napalm and the history of Vietnamese struggle was very different. Jihad was not a factor, and I for one never believed in the Domino theory.

 

The article was adapted from the BBC no less, hardly a Trump supporter.

Soon the luvvie lefties will only be able to choose from diminishing pool of legacy media, fighting each other with their doom and gloom to try minimise their loss of market share of the deluded hard left. Those still supporting Iran, Hamas and all sorts of identity politics.

Left wing parties will have to move towards the centre or continue to wither.

Hope we can all see how this article relates to border protection, as most countries of the world recognise it.

He is an illegal immigrant, no free accommodation, no appeals for removal.

At least he had a visa at one time and overstated it. That's the legal process, right?

4 minutes ago, fdimike said:

I'm not sure what all the histrionics are all about after all Israel has some 80-90 nukes which they refuse to admit to, refuse to sign the Non Proliferation Treaty and also refuse to allow UN inspectors into their nuclear production facilities.  It certainly appears there is a double standard when it comes to just who possesses nuclear weapons.  It's OK for Israel to have nuclear weapons but not anyone else in the region.  Personally I find it totally ludicrous for Israel to possess nuclear weapons unless they're interested in destroying their own people from the nuclear fallout.   The saddest part of all this is that the US has known about Israel's nuclear weapons for at least 40 years and no one in the Us government has said a word about the program for fear of losing all that Israeli money used to pay off the congress and every government since after Eisenhower.  

If you don't understand the double standard, guess you don't understand who are the Good guys after all. Wake up Mike.

Similarly those of you who don't understand why the US had no choice but to drop not one, but two atomic bombs to end WWII in the Pacific - dig into your history on the power of the Emperor and the psychology of the Japanese soldiers back then. Reminds me of the psychosis of the jihad movement today.

7 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

It's amusing that:

 

The left was howling that Iran had no nuclear weapon program. 

 

Then Trump bombs Iran's nuclear weapon program. 

 

And now the left is howling that Trump's bombing failed to destroy Iran's nuclear weapon program. 

Yep another example of what I call left squirming and funny how they fail to see the ironies.

We had TACO Trump, the bully who won't do anything. Makes the decision, then Trump is risky, illegal, AO-C says impeach him! Meanwhile the Middle East breathes a sigh of relief and Iranians hope they might overthrow the regime. The New York Times no less, carried a story about how the Tehrangeles, LA Persian community, wish for the regime change.

This on top of how Lefties been behind Hamas. Didn't believe they use human shields, or their horrid jihadist background, Iran funding and objectives. Support Hezbollah and then have to pivot when Hezbollah is smashed and Assad is removed. Don't know how many famines Gaza has endured, been going on since early last year.

Could tell some of these clowns Trump thinks 1+1=2 and they'd say he's wrong. I'm joking Chomper, just joking.
 

4 hours ago, johnnybangkok said:

I appreciate you taking the time to put together a reasoned argument. It's a rarity on this site so it's good to see.

 

I'm sorry that you feel so jaded about the media these days but I will also say that media bias has been around since the dawn of media so I'm not sure why you think it's getting any worse but I think you've hit the nail on the head when you mention 'Objective stuff can be found, but takes a bit of effort'. I personally still find lots of 'objective media' but I do realise it can sometimes be drowned out by the hysteria of blatantly unbiased media. The areas though I want to pick up on are when you mention the following:-

 

1. People now of the left persuasion are convinced they are more humane, caring while Conservatives are viewed as capitalist, environmentally blind and inherently evil - this is probably the case as it's objectively true although I would substitute 'conservative' with right-wing as I think 'proper' conservatism has been slowly but surely eroded by right-wing doctrine that is absolutely less humane, less caring, completely focused on capitalism, doesn't give a hoot about the environment and when all added up, is hard to argue is NOT evil. 

2. People of the left often have very strong views, but struggle to engage with the other side about them. They tend to hit back at the source, rather than the content and are fond of cancelling those with whom they disagree with. Sad. - don't agree with this at all. The 'struggle' you talk about is because the far-right (and I will stick to just them) disregard facts and figures in favour of identity politics and blind devotion. They disregard evidence, logic and reason in favour of bias, xenophobia and downright racism to the point they now wear their prejudices like some sort of badge of honour. They feel emboldened to spout their nonsense after they see a bunch of billionaires with an obvious agenda get voted into office by standardising their inherent fear of others that don't look like them with a very obvious 'look over there, not over here' slight of hand. They don't want to engage in any meaningful way and certainly don't want to be hampered by silly facts and figures which continually prove them wrong. They also have a tenuous grasp of history and seem to conveniently forget that we have seen much of what's going on by the far-right before, with disastrous consequences, conveniently forgetting that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Anyway. I appreciate your thoughts.  

 

      
 

Firstly wasn't me than down thumbed your reply.

My overriding comeback is that most media now use the term "far right" too easily. The most glaring is example is on this very topic of immigration. I put it to you that you don't have to be "far right" to subscribe to the right of nations, indeed societies to choose who should be allowed to live in their country, let alone the welfare entitlements and years of appeals made available for illegal immigrants. Indeed a lot of media have trouble with the concept, choosing to use descriptors such as "migrants", "asylum seekers" and the like. My grandfather and family were refugees after the Russian civil war.

You say "eroded by right-wing doctrine that is absolutely less humane, less caring, completely focused on capitalism, doesn't give a hoot about the environment and when all added up, is hard to argue is NOT evil." The MSM loves this narrative even though it takes years and years to obtain environment and in some cases Indigenous approvals for projects. Projects that are required to advance society, and often essential for the low carbon transition like solar panels and EVs. Some people live in a dream world, I call them luvvies. Feel good, but either naive or hypocritical.

As for "completely focused on capitalism" not sure what your alternative is. Why is capitalism essentially bad? I'd be delighted if you can articulate how your economic model works.

As far as being evil is concerned, I'd be looking at societies where basic freedoms are denied and corruption is rampant. I'd include a popular movement that uses human shields as their main strategy in their struggle for what they call liberation (part of the jihad movement, which is disgusting) as inherently evil, yet so many people are able to condone this.

I think it was evil that people during Covid were unable to return home in some instances or visit dying relatives in hospital, and yet it was accepted. People who protested were termed "far right" in a lot of MSM.

I could go on but trust you get my drift. We won't change each other's views but I appreciate your approach. Is refreshing for a Leftie these days, which I used to be until they cared more about being "progressive" and less concerned about the lower echelons. Lastly, am very annoyed with the widespread disdain for Western civilisation. Is so inane and devoid of historical perspective, e.g. after thousands of years of slavery, which civilisation abolished it?

9 minutes ago, Jeff the Chef said:

 

The middle-class daughter of a top NHS surgeon who campaigned against hummus at university has been revealed as the leader of Palestine Action.

Huda Ammori, a former campaigner at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, founded the controversial group alongside Richard Barnard, 51, a former member of Extinction Rebellion, in 2020.

The 31-year-old was born in Bolton to a Palestinian father, a surgeon, and an Iraqi mother. She later went on to graduate from the University of Manchester with an international business and finance degree.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14834175/Palestine-Action-middle-class-leader-campaign-against-hummus-RAF-plane.html

I have to trust that you understand her pedigree doesn't provide her with any more insight than a say a plumber.

Our universities and most MSM have been woeful in providing people with an objective historical background of the region. I believe Corbyn paid the price for his views on the matter.

I daresay that IF both allowed a proper examination of the history and IF most people bothered to look into it, they would overwhelmingly understand that Israel is more the victim and not the other way around. Even without this, I'd expect that a referendum today on the matter today would be more sympathetic to Israel than "Free Palestine", whatever that means. How would you see the wording of such a referendum btw, especially in the light of the Iranian clerics role.

Similarly with open borders and identity politics, which is bringing down governments one by one. Policies that were implemented without enough community input.

3 hours ago, RocketDog said:

Be honest. 

Even if valid sources would be named you would never accept the truth.

 

The truth of US healthcare. Let's look at it...

1. Very high health spending per capita, if not the highest
2. Dismal health indices amongst OECD countries, amongst the lowest

And getting worse, so trust you accept that what they've been doing has been a failure.

So much spurious health research these days. Billions wasted. So yep, let's get back to basics, and that means firing the complicit CDC rubber stamp for the over powerful pharma and food industries.

So mainstream media all screech together... RFK got rid of 17 experts. Often shudder when I see that word, as so many "experts" seem plain dumb or maybe ideologically challenged. He replaced them with 8, "including some with a history of vaccine skepticism and questioning pandemic restrictions." So a more balanced panel on vaccinations and also question pandemic restrictions. Restriction eh, as a Covid believer and 5x vax, I call them pandemic excesses, abused by left wing govts and caused so much misery among the lower echelons. The hypocrisy is outrageous.

I'm not sure RFK will be successful, but wish him well. A lot of media will look for anything they can to discredit him, including "experts" who've been fired and previous admin spokesmen and women. MSM love that. 

Articles like this lack objectivity, are deceptive. I will seek an outlet in this space that keeps a fairer track of how things go. Will vaccinations plummet after all? Will we have a wave of pandemics because of RFK, stay tuned.

Won't be easy to track objectively so we may have to look at those major indices in a few years time.

Putin is well out of his depth now, sounding more like an Iranian ayatollah. Trump has him where he wants him.

Russia is bleeding, soldiers that it and also economically. Europe is stepping up big time, as demanded by Trump. And the Ukrainians are being compared to Mossad as they execute a number of deep penetration feats.

Trump is grinning (as was Biden) with Putin's deluded mission. Could you imagine how the Russians would fare now if even just the Poles and Germans got serious? Throw in Baltic countries and the US airforce, and the war would end very quickly. But why do that, lose good people, while Russia slowly bleeds and everything gets worse for them day by the day.

So easy to get the bitter or depressed farang bitching away about diddly.

10 minutes ago, Purdey said:

I don't see any link between a democratically elected government and the ability to solve problems. There are democratically elected governments in many Western countries that seem unable to solve their country's problems. 

Should the PP become the next government, their inexperience may help defy expectations but there is no way that chanting "they were elected by the people" is going to solve the terrible economic problems of today.

Am hopeful that army coups are behind us.

If there is another election, hopefully PP doesn't have take a strong anti-monarchist bent, which kept it from power last time around. Many seem to forget they were unable to form government because not one other party shared their lese majeste policy. The vast majority of Thai still respect the monarchy even if they vote for PP like some of my relatives did.

Lastly, agree Purdey, I'd be delighted to know which countries in the world don't have difficult problems.

18 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

I wanted to take just these two particular points because many of the others are largely subjective. That said, I broadly agree that Thailand stands out as a significantly better destination for foreigners compared to its neighbouring countries.

 

However, healthcare remains a serious concern.

 

First, there's the issue of dual pricing. At the lighter end of the scale, we see it in places like national parks - and while it's objectionable in principle, most people aren't too bothered. In the private sector, we have the freedom to take our business elsewhere. The real problem arises with state-sanctioned dual pricing in government hospitals. If we fall seriously ill, we're can be charged substantially more than a Thai citizen would be for the same treatment (i.e. long term cancer treatment and operations costing 2 Million Baht instead of 1 MB.

In my view, this is indefensible. When it comes to healthcare, there should be an option for long-term residents to pay into the system and receive equitable care. For me, this is where dual pricing becomes genuinely troubling - it's the big stuff that matters.

 

Secondly, while the quality of treatment is generally excellent, there's a troubling lack of accountability when mistakes are made - a factor that certainly helps keep costs down. Personally, I’d prefer to be in a private hospital in Bangkok over most places in the world. But the question is - at 80, will I still be able to afford the premiums? And that brings us full circle, back to the need for a system that ensures long-term, affordable care.

 

I can’t say whether neighbouring countries offer anything better in this regard, but this remains a major red flag when considering a long-term life in Thailand, especially if one hopes to grow old in comfort with the security of health care.

Fair enough, Richard and I don't know enough about it, though do think about later health care from time to time, e.g. would I want to spend my last days here, or Sydney. Pros and cons with both.

Having said that, am very proactive in looking after myself with activities and less drinking but know that age will catch up to me at some point. Have heard a lot of positive stories about Thai public healthcare e.g. sister in law doing well after 3 brain tumour ops in hardly the medical precinct of Det Udom, various farang tales including where they've paid for better rooms, but not that expensive. Also heard a few personal horror stories, but one hears about them back in Australia as well. There's always the private system, which can be expensive without coverage, which itself is not cheap and so far I've not paid for that, though have private coverage in Australia. I get 6 months free Credit Card travel insurance while here.

I don't have a clue what it's like in neighbouring countries but suspect it would be no better.

4 hours ago, jacko45k said:

When it happened to me it was my own fault as I had put my CC in the machine and not my debit card.  I got it back quite quickly as I usually try to use a machine in front of an open bank branch. 

Haha that's it, what I did when it was my fault. Bali airport, big new shiny bank ATM display and you'd think they'd have someone to sort nearby. No got.

Rang the number provided, and advised as after hours Friday, I would only be able to retrieve on Monday. The CC was about to expire so I dug out the new one out and found an ATM nearby to use the correct debit card.

7 hours ago, jacko45k said:

No, I am happy with the idea that someone getting the PIN wrong a number of times, that the card can be kept. Rather than them being allowed to get creative and go buy stuff with it. As to Bali, I visited TT exchange in Pattaya and bought some Indonesian currency before travel. 

Good for you jacko, I've done a million miles with both Qantas and American Airlines, and know my way around.

You've got a point with possible creative use of the card after three PIN attempts, so ok ATM keeps card.

However, in one case the ATM was faulty. In the other I was very tired, didn't get the chance to do Pin 3x as ATM didn't like the card description I had entered. My point is ATMs keep the card too easily, have 30 year old software platforms and the banks could do more to contact the owner before they destroy the card.