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Lapun

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Posts posted by Lapun

  1. It would be preferrable to read this before further comments on the Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at the Christ the Good Shepherd Church.

     

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-16/who-is-bishop-mar-mari-emmanuel-wakeley-church-attack/103728808

     

    The service was being live streamed - hence the immediate response of people rushing to the church. However, the numbers in the news.com.au appear to be exaggerated. Also there were women & youths there as well, but the males were the main violent attackers.

     

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-16/violent-attack-crowd-sydney-church-stabbing-terrorist-incident/103728308

     

    What is sad is that it gives fuel to anti-arab/muslim groups in Australia & around the world.

    • Confused 1
  2. That is an old photo. Julie Bishop (2nd from Right) was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013-18 & Marise Payne (4th from Right) took over from 2018-22. Penny Wong is the current one. All they had to do was Google - this is the first image that came up.

    image.png.7751f054dfe9f452f3898de3752b8db8.png

     But really, with the current housing & rental crisis in Australia & exhorbitant rents, allowing "former" resident pensioners to retire gracefully (hopefully not otherwise) in Thailand like pensioners from many other countries would benefit both countries. Then again, stupid regulations are sometimes the hardest to change. After all, the Dept of Social Services is responsible for the Robodebt debacle that went from 2016 to 2020 even though the Dept & Govt knew it to be illegal & with 470,000 wrongly-issued debts which had to be repaid in full. And who was held accountable - not one politician. Only a few public servants. 

     

    So no, there will be no change, & Chinese vegetables will continue to fill the supermarkets of both countries. But maybe Australia could sell Thailand some of their old submarines, soon to be replaced under the AU$368billion AUKUS agreement (1st subs available 2040 - maybe).

     

    This may help recover some of the AU$2.4billion it cost to break the submarine deal with France. Emmanuel Macron famously said when asked if he thought the then Prime Minister Scott Morrison had lied to him (Macron) replied "I don't think, I know."

     

    So no, no ex-Australian submarines for Thailand either.

     

    Think that covers about all the threads in the above comments. :-)

  3. But that was only 3 Liberals. The forth, according to another web-site, said -

     

    Warragul-based Liberal MP Wayne Farnham flew to Phuket in July to see the impact of Thailand's decriminalisation of cannabis. He claimed $3,340 for the trip.

    "Given [Phuket's] popularity with tourists, I knew I would get a very good gauge how it has affected the local communities and tourism and tourists' attitude towards the legalisation of cannabis," Mr Farnham's travel report said.

    Mr Farnham met with local police, two Australian bar owners in the tourist town, as well as having conversations with locals and tourists.

    "Nearly all the locals I had spoken to are against it as they have already seen the negative it has had for their communities and I believe their experiences can be directly related to what could occur here in Victoria if such a change was to be proposed,'' his report said.

     

    (My emphasis.)

     

    I wonder if he spoke to any Russians, other bar owners (2 Aussie bar owners isn't a representative sample), stoned & straight tourists or stoned & straight locals to form a balanced opinion of the community & tourist feelings on the subject? 

  4. Wonder if there will be any follow-up visits from the Victorian State MPs who "investigated"

     

    Four Liberals flew to Phuket to investigate after Thailand relaxed its cannabis laws.
    Nick McGowan paid for his own flights, while Renee Health and Bev McArthur did not.
    Heath told reporters she thought cannabis was a "huge deal", while McArthur said she thought it was a good use of taxpayer money.

     

    But did the Victorian taxpayers get any bang for their bucks? What will they do if Thailand changes it's laws? Would have to vist again?

     

    https://www.9news.com.au/national/victorian-news-victorian-taxpayers-fork-out-hundreds-of-thousands-to-fund-mps-international-travel/d19f4493-515b-4504-8a59-c7b1fbbce7e2

    • Haha 1
  5. Maybe some Thai official should request Worldometer to correct their obviously incorrect Thai figures, as it looks like it increased to me. The web site says -

    • The current population of Thailand is 71,852,424 as of Wednesday, February 7, 2024, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data 1.

    https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/thailand-population/

     

    image.png.788a47b587834894081d19f49887370c.png

     

    So it looks like more BS from the mouths of government officials . . .

  6. Not sure if retarius was serious about tattoos. Those are the marks made by the jellyfish tentacles. For more information, see -

     

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_jellyfish

    https://boxjellyfish.org/box-jellyfish-habitat/

     

    In Australia, people swim in netted enclosures & very rarely wear body stockings for rerceational swimming. As far as only spawning in Australia, no. There are different species that are found in other parts of the world. The Wikipedia article says in part . . .

     

    At least 51 species of box jellyfish were known as of 2018.

     

    Then further on . . .

     

    Recently, in 2023, a new genus and species of box jellyfish was discovered in the Indo-Pacific region, specifically the Gulf of Thailand. 

     

    So that makes it at least 52 species.

     

    And by the way, the Gulf Stream is in the Atlantic not the Pacific or Indian Oceans.

     

    image.png.67df52f146f49546be93ef132d1774ba.png

     

    But you are right, the sting is painful. They are considered the most the most venemous sea creature, with more than 170 toxins identified in their venom.

    • Like 2
  7. According to the PBS link, they basically allowed other MPs to vote on their behalf, although they denied that they allowed it.

     

    Pretty much a misdemeanor compared the the graft & corruption that goes on in government.

     

    How about banning all politicians who cannot explain their huge increases in wealth of them & their families whilst in office - better still, put them in jail for graft & corruption.

    • Agree 1
  8. There is a big difference between signing & ratifying something.

     

    Here is a bit of clarity provided by -

     

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_parties_to_the_Rome_Statute_of_the_International_Criminal_Court

     

    Thailand
    Former Senator Kraisak Choonhavan called in November 2006 for Thailand to ratify the Rome Statute and to accept retrospective jurisdiction, so that former premier Thaksin Shinawatra could be investigated for crimes against humanity connected to 2,500 alleged extrajudicial killings carried out in 2003 against suspected drug dealers.

     

    Additionally -

    The United States signed the Rome Statute in December 2000 (under President Bill Clinton), but Clinton decided not to submit the treaty to the United States Senate for ratification, stating: "I will not, and do not recommend that my successor [George W. Bush] submit the treaty to the Senate for advice and consent until our fundamental concerns are satisfied."

    And . . .

    The Trump administration strained relations with the ICC, stating it would revoke visas for any ICC staff seeking to investigate Americans for war crimes. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated that such revocations could be applied to any staff involved with investigating war crimes committed by Israel or other allied nations as well.

     

    Also . . .

    Four signatory states (Israel, Russia, Sudan, and the United States) have informed the UN Secretary General that they no longer intend to become parties to the Rome Statute, and as such have no legal obligations arising from their signature.

     

    And for those to lazy to read . . .

     

    image.png.5779263602df0e20423eac7b6c18bb5c.png 

     

  9. The other two points omitted by the above summary of the PBS report are -

     

    The second measure is for authorities to ask farmers to avoid cultivation of second rice crops, due to an insufficient water supply. 

    The final measure is to emphasise efficient use of water for consumption and agriculture.

     

    No 2nd rice crop is gunna hurt a lot of farmers & rice consumers as the price of rice was reported today to go up by B3/kg in Sept! But then all they have to do is "ask farmers". Easy peasy.

     

    The 1st point is easy to achieve. All they have to do is formulate a plan - it doesn't state in the report that it has to be effective, nor that they have to implement it.

     

    The last point is easy to achieve as well. Just put out press statements to that effect, but it will achieve absolutely nothing nothing.

     

    So judging from the report, the management measures adopted are totally meaningless and will achieve no water savings at all. I think the Chairman should have insisted on actual management actions to save water, not just talk about saving it. What was the Chairman thinking of?

    • Thumbs Up 1
  10. If you read the Thaiger article, his criminal history is as follows:

    2004: At 17 years old, he murdered his stepfather & got 2 years in a youth detention centre

    2007: Apprehended for "importing & producing inhalants" - whatever that is

    2010: Making firearms & assault

    2012: Assault

    2015: Break & enter

    2017: Chaos & damage whilst drunk

    But possibly the worst of all (apart for his attempted murder on July 1) is -

    2019: Rape & assault of HIS MOTHER - for which he received only FOUR, I repeat, FOUR years.

     

    What a piece of excrement - but his sister allegedly said she was proud of him! What a f****d up family.

     

    • Like 1
  11. On 10/28/2022 at 9:41 AM, webfact said:

    One goal is to elevate the overall wealth of the nation and dissipate prosperity to every locality so people’s livelihood could improve.

    But only for the rich in every locality. The poor can go & get stuffed, as they cannot afford the contents of a brown paper envelope to grease the wheels of official corruption.

     

    According to https://tricycle.org/beginners/buddhism/three-poisons/

    In his early teachings, the Buddha identified “three poisons,” or three fires, or three negative qualities of the mind that cause most of our problems—and most of the problems in the world. The three poisons are: greed (raga, also translated as lust), hatred (dvesha, or anger), and delusion (moha, or ignorance). The three poisons are opposed by three wholesome, or positive attitudes essential to liberation: generosity (dana), lovingkindness (maitri, Pali: metta), and wisdom (prajna).

     

    What is Uncle Tu's (& his wife's) wealth valued at now I wonder?

     

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