Patong2021

This is a historical inaccuracy made from the perspective of current political sensitivities. The "civilians" were actively involved in the war effort. They were willing participants in a military regime. Children as young as 10 were carrying weapons. Others were manning AA guns, and working in logistics. Females of all ages were employed as searchlight operators, of radio operators, drivers, logistics clerks. There were no non combatant civilians in the Third Reich. Hamas shares that similarity. The difference though is that the Third Reich did not use their families as shields and did not intentionally sacrifice their own children for publicity opportunities.

Perhaps fiscal restraint and spending within the revenue stream would have been a more responsible first step?

Common sense and based upon what happened in Canada. Learn from the social disaster north of the border. Canadian business lobby made the same claims as Musk. they were disproven. And the Canadian busienss lobby still is making the same claim. All those "students" were going to improve Canadian academic quality, and improve productivity. Instead they gamed the immigration system claiming refugee status, and collecting benefits. Those who worked were exploited by the hospitality sector. Go into a Tim Horton's today and you need to speak Urdu if you want service. Almost all of the big truck crash tragedies are because of Punjabi drivers imported by Punjabi controlled trucking firms who hired unqualified drivers. They were all supposed to be educated people. Now it turns out, Canada has become a center for organized crime with Punjabi crime syndicates running wild. That's the reality of Musk's promise.

On the US nationals, particularly the taxpayers. An influx of low paid workers will screw up the US economy long term. Theyu won't pay taxes sufficient to cover the social services they will receive. They will compete for low cost housing with locals. they will jam the local healthcare networks resulting in delays of access to locals. They will jam the roads etc.

Musk is looking after Musk's best interest. To understand the damage that Musk will cause if he is allowed to do what he wants on this issue, look at Canada. Nearly 5 million temporary Canadians most of whom are from India. They have disrupted housing, healthcare and social services taking up places while giving little back in taxes. They have imported theirown political disputes and created havoc on the roads. All because some business interests want cheap labour. If the US has a shortage of qualified people, train US students. Pay them living wages. Offer them training. That's what Trump promised. Now it is time to deliver.

Civilians? Seriously? Your claim would mean that there are no Hamas military personnel in that number. Who do you think has been firing missiles and rockets at Israel? The civilans you claim are the same people who are responsible for Hamas military logistics, ordinance support and supply, operating command and control centers, and Hamas military transport. Hamas has a network of supply that relies on the use of boys aged 10-16. They carry the munitions and other ordinance used.Often the munitions explode and they are injured. Their deaths are registered as civilian deaths. Your 45,000 number requires that one ignore the tens of thousands of military deaths and the tens of thousands of support personnel deaths. Others who have died were Hamas family members who were used as. human shields and who were intended to die as part of the Hamas strategy.

Ever drive some of them? The Suzuki Samurai was a classic 1980's nightmare. The early Japanese models were tiny and underpowered and had rust and corrosion issues. The Japanese sorted that all out in the 1980's and 1990's . They did it through innovation and their own engineering. The Chinese stealth fighter we see today is based upon industrial espionage and general theft of proprietary information. I hope the US let the Chinese also steal some inherent intentional defects or signature deficiencies.

No supporting evidence, no corroborating documentation. Only the claim of "Gaza Health Authority" spokesperson. In a place where women pump out babies like chickens lay eggs, there are going to be infant deaths. People are often born with serious defects, a problem exacerbated when 40%+ of the population is the product of inbreeding when cousins marry each other.

Actions have consequences. What is your alternative? Think it through. MPox, Ebola are just some of the infectious diseases which have entered the USA and Europe. How would you control and prevent the diseases from spreading? WHO is the only entity which sends people to keep the diseases from spreading. And before you say travel restrictions, consider the practicality of enforcement. Near impossible. UK has thousands of nationals who visit high risk regions and who return. Thousands more visit places like Thailand and are exposed to people who are infected. That is how much of the covid infection came to the UK.

It has been remarkably chilly in Hua Hin this year. Ocean is quite cold.

Thank you for the observations and comments. Ogen has moved up the road, into a new and much fancier location. It also slightly rebranded as Mediterranean Food. I found the food at the old place a bit too salty, but otherwise interesting. Haven't tried the new location. I received food poisoning from a Thai curry at a midscale restaurant that I frequented for 2 years straight without problem. Once or twice, fish was off, but otherwise, reliable midlevel Thai restaurant. Starbucks has consistency. It's bakery items are produced to exacting quality standards. Despite comments to the contrary, the baked goods do not rely on chemicals and additives. I purchased a piece of apple pie the other day. It was mostly apples and it was good. It was not a palm oil palm oil crust. The croissants are made with butter. The blueberry muffin has real blueberries. There are several "French" and "Japanese" style bakeries in the 2 shopping malls here. The products look good, but the quality is generic western grocery chain. I have tried 3 different European bakeries, one is French and the either 2 German. Quality is decent, but it is a hastle to have to make a special trip to the bakery , especially since I can't consume a loaf in a day or two like a normal family does. I go to the Europeans because I don't want sugary bread, and like a good rye or whole grain. I will be back to eating more salads and fruit at home again.

Money and good health are big factors in achieving happiness. The most unhappy are in declining health and of limited financial means.

So many men in the 1-4 category offering their view. How about, they are lucky they can even get their Thai equivalents? Educated, naturally beautiful Thai women with careers are not the least bit interested in the type of men found on AN. If they become involved with a non Thai, he will be of a similar or higher social position and will be just as educated, good looking and wealthy as they are. That's the reality. There is no reason for a successful and pretty Thai woman to take up with a middle aged or older farang with limited financial means and low social standing. The days of buying Thai women with chiclets, soap and pens disappeared 50 +years ago.

This holiday season, I have been eating out frequently in Hua Hin with my friends and am profoundly disappointed by the deterioration in the quality of food at many places that were once reliable and had some semblance of standards. It covers all types of dining. I don't believe it is attributable to the high season surge of visitors, but rather a calculated selection of lower quality ingredients, and the cutting of corners. Am I alone? Here are some examples; - A couple weeks ago I was transiting through Bangkok and statyed at the airport Novotel. Breakfast buffets are never anything to celebrate, but Novotel once had a decent breakfast spread. What I experienced was empty selection offerings and what was available was cold. This was at 8:30 AM after the breakfast rush. -Stayed at a Dusit, which is usually reliable and consistent in its quality. 500 baht for breakfast buffet and that also featured empty serving trays. It was a farce. -Had dinner last week at my once favourite Brazilian steak house in town. They come along and carve off beef, lamb, chicken whatever. I had not eaten here in 6 months as I was scaling back on beef. Well, what a shock. The beef was tough, and limited. Instead, they tried to push the pork belly, pineapple, greasy chicken wings. The result is that I won't go back. - Had breakfast at Coffee Club. It was just unappetizing . Not bad, but not good. - Tried a chain - **** ***nection. A 3200 baht insult with a nasty beef serving. - Had a Burger King Chicken crispy yesterday and it left me feeling ill. Smeared with white goo, wilted lettuce, and characterized by grease. -Yesterday, breakfast at a local go to place that I usually enjoy. Just awful. The bacon was 2 flat wedges of fried sliced fat. 200 baht. - Last week, Chicken Curry at one of my regular restaurants. I was laid out with awful food poisoning for 2 days. I was literally leaking crap and could not stray far from the toilet. - Went to the fish strip at the night market. The fish I was served, was not fresh. The other dishes were greasy. 1500 baht for a mediocre experience at a place that had once been decent. The only reliable and consistently good experience has been with Starbucks. Its bakery items are always fresh. I will be mostly eating at home for the coming weeks. Ok, so this may read like a rant, but I just can't get over how quickly the quality of restaurant dining has deriorated in the past few months. Looking at many of the visitors who are in the estaurants, I don't think many of them know that they are being taken advantage of. In years past there were lots of wine and cocktail drinkers, Now, so many of them are beer drinkers and ordering much less than before. Ok, so I am over reacting, or have you noticed this now too?

Ok then, the Russian economy is doing fantastically well and there is prosperity for all. The Russian visitors to Thailand are just fans of retro wear and their fashion sense causes them to wear the discards from 1980's KMart and Woolworth discount bins. The Russians hunting for marked down food items at Lotus yesterday were just being thrifty. There have been no large social investment projects since Russia started its war. No university, no hospital, no transportation infrastructure rejuvenation unless it is directly war related. A nation that does not invest in itself is doomed.

Let's see if it actually launches and can remain operating for 72 hours without a crash.

I never applied to join the Foreign Office. As I am a white heterosexual male, the chances of me even being considered would have been remote.

I visited last Christmas after a 5 year absence.🤪 And how would you like me to change my user name? Please let us know.

And was Trump appropriate when he tried to bully Senator Clinton with his chants of lock her up? He is the coinvicted felon and failed insurrectionist who should be locked up.

US government had a duty to warn Jamal Kashoggi of the Saudi plot which US intelligence had identified. Kashoggi was a resident of the USA as a holder of an O Visa. US government failed to warn Kashoggi. Hence, the financial settlement.

I again thank myself for leaving Patong.

At 2ndary screening for some high risk individuals, otherwise for 99% of people, NO.

Not a question of love, but of being fair, and recognizing that much of what he is blamed for is neither merited nor supported by the data for that period. No, PM Blair did not open the door to mass migration. On the contrary, it was the gross incompetence, the ineptidute of successive Conservative administrations coupled with crippling court rulings since 2010 that have rendered the UK immigration policy a farce. Chemical weapons ordinance continues to be found up until this time. Some of it is left over from the first Fulf war, others are from depots that were previously unidentified. So yes there is chemical warfare ordinance to be found in Iraq. This is well documented. Yes, yellow cake Uranium that can be used in dirty bombs was discovered and disposed of by the US government in 2008. The resulting mess is a reflection of the Arabs themselves. When Europe was liberated from the brutal dictatorship first from the Nazis and then from Soviet barbarism it fluorished and did not descend into chaos. When South Korea and many latin American countries rid themselves off military dictatorships, ofen after civil wars, they evolved into functiong free states. The Arabs have to take responsibility for their own hatreds and feuds. Also, the undeniable fact is that a large part of Iraq's mess today is because of Iran and its promotion of sectarian strife turning shiite against sunni. Yes, my comment on the risks facing military personnel speaks volumes about me. Don't join the military if you do not expect to face risk and to have the potential to be injured or die. The military is not a holiday camp.This has been impressed upon me by successive generations of family members who volunteered for active service and it was made clear to me at OTC. What do you think the military is? A place to ride around in big vehicles and to play with things that go boom? Everyone who serves knows the risks and also knows that their life has value and will be valued. That's why safety protocols are repeatedly drilled into personnel. More people die in vehicle accidents and from general health related conditions than battle injuries. There were a total of 135 combat mortalities in Iraq since 1984. That's 40 years and multiple actions, some of which predate and occur after Blair. In any given year there are 60-75 deaths in the UK military. In 2023 there were 73 deaths. The three leading causes of death in 2023 among the UK regular armed forces were cancers (25%), other accidents (22%), and land transport accidents (16%). Even suicide, which is problem with young people today is at a lower rate in the military than it is in the general population. Do we blame PM Thatcher for the loss of 255 personnel in the liberation of the Falklands? Some do, but I do not.

The thread reads like a discourse on the merits of enemas. The mentally ill collective. I have only put one name on ignore, Gamma, as its content of nonsense was just so annoying and idiotic that it caused me to log off. The reality of Covid. It killed off multiple members and caused many others to go home. I still can't believe that we lived through that horrific event. I remember Keene's mustard from my childhood. It was real mustard. Not like the watery yellow coloured Heinz stuff we see today.

Your unit is more exposed to weather damage. The winds off the ocean during a storm can be intense. Nothing says fun like debris crashing into the windows.