Patong2021

Yes. The Cabinet including the PM listing has not been submitted yet for the appointment, aka Royal Endorsement. It is reportedly to be done this week, with the officials to be officially sworn in by mid September.

Is feverishly working hard to blanket forum topics with as much disinformation as possible.

I am of the view that a major factor in this war has been Iran and to a lesser extent, Russia. Israel was on the verge of signing a monumental diplomatic agreement with KSA and then Oman that would have shifted the power dynamic. The Gulf states were about to take over as the lead funder of regional redevelopment and influence and Iran was not going to allow that to happen. Iran wants to control the region and has extended its reach into Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan. Wherever the Iranians go, war and destruction follows. Instability in the region serves Russian interests as it forces the west to dedicate resources on protecting trade routes and in slowing the flood of economic migrants. The Russians take comfort in knowing that NATO borders a region that is hostile to western values and culture. Making the region more hostile is in its best interests. Disruption in the Gulf ensures that oil and gas prices remain high, benefiting the pricing of Russia's own oil and gas exports.

If we step back, and look at this, it's like a classic Bullwinkle episode with Boris Badenov furtively defending Russia's preferred candidate, Trump. Does anone else see some of the fervent Trump loyalists as looking like this?

Please provide your source, because there is no source that supports your revisionist history. The only source for the weather as a cause for the cancellation of the visit was from John Bolton, who had offered a neutral statement that weather conditions did not permit a cemetery visit. He did not say that President Trump was unable to fly because of the weather. There is no documented record of the US Secret Service ordering the cancellation of the visit. Mr. Bolton's comment has since been taken out of context to support the Trump story. The claims that the rain would dishevel the Trump comb over and hairspray hold, are not substantiated. It is most likely, that Trump just did not want to go out on a wet and blustery day to attend a ceremony that was not about him. The sad reality is what was at the heart of the event and why so many people were disgusted. The original source for Trump's actions and statements on that day was an article in the Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg titled: “Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers.’” The writer relied on 4 people who were present and knowledgeable of the events. He stated that; 1. Trump cancelled a visit to Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018 because he did not believe it was important to honour American war dead. and quoted Trump's conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, where Trump reportedly stated "Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers". 2. A little while later, Trump reportedly upset some staffers when he described the 1,800 + US personnel KIA in WWI at Belleau Wood as ‘suckers’ for getting killed in a war they didn't have to fight. Trump has repeatedly denied these statements and has claimed that he has witnesses who can support him. To date, not one person has come forward to support Trump's account of the events. NOT ONE PERSON can corroborate Trump's claims. Trumps claims were further discredited by his own White House chief of staff John F. kelly's statements in 2023 when he dismissed Trump as the man who “rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France.” Trump's actions were so vile, that it is understandable that those who hold him in high regard do not want, nor cannot accept that the man did what he did. They will deny the events and invent excuses for him because to accept the events as document is to admit that they are supporters of a morally bankrupt person and that they have erred.

The Harris campaign has not made "attacks" as you claim. On the contrary, the Harris campaign remained silent for some time, until finally forced to issue a statement two days ago. VP Harris stated the obvious; “Let me be clear: the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt,” Arlington is a “solemn place where we come together to honor American heroes … not a place for politics.” It is the Trump campaign that has been attacking everyone who dared to respect the rules of decorum at the cemetery. It was Trump campaign senior official Chris LaCivita who called the US Army spokespersons “hacks.” It is the Trump campaign who denigrated and insulted the cemetery official by calling her mentally ill when she tried to prevent the abuse of the premises. It was the Trump who is blaming the families now. With Trump, it is always some else's fault. The reality is that the campaign screwed up and no one wants to admit it and say, sorry we made a mistake. Mistakes happen. It's how we handle our mistakes that define our character. With the Trump collective it's the same M.O. of doubling down on a lie and pushing a false narrative.

Al Jazeera is financed by the government of Qatar and is a political outlet for Qatari political actions and views. After greater involvement by the Qatari government in 2018, the company developed a reputation for bias.

No. The difference is that Myanmar's violence is inside the country and is between warring factions, neither of whom is particularly nice or will win humanitarian of the year. Ukraine is at war with Russia because Russia invaded and has been threatening other countries in the region. Russia has been sending nuclear armed bombers and warships into the airspace and waters of Norway, Sweden and Canada. It regularly threatens the Baltic states, and Poland. This is why the EU has responded a Russia is threatening the EU. The US would be delighted if Russia stopped the war. Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza on October 7, murdering 1200 people and taking 251 hostages, most of whom were non combatants. Hamas has been firing missiles and rockets from Gaza ever since. Israel has responded, Iran is implicated with its support, and financing. Iran is a threat to the Gulf oil producers and is a major sponsor of international terrorism and has actively supported the Taliban and militias in Iraq. Iran propped up the despot of Syria, Asssad and has a hand in the creation of 14 million refugees and 500,000 Syrian war deaths. Iran has funded the Houthi campaign of war in Yemen that has resulted 4.5 million refugees, a near famine and 250,000+ war casualties . The Gaza war was encouraged by Iran to block the long awaited normalization of relations between the KSA and Israel, which would have resulted in regional stability. Myanmar's war is self contained. The Indians and Chinese funding of factions is intended to gain control of the country's raw materials, particularly oil & gas, timber and minerals.

Stop using a terrible event to further your political agenda. The 2021 suicide bombing attack that killed 13 U.S. service members and roughly 170 Afghan civilians at Hamid Karzai International Airport's Abbey Gate was next to impossible to have prevented. If you had active combat experience in Afghanistan or urban warfare in Iraq or the Palestinian territories, you would know that suicide events are typical of how the local fighters behaved. even at full strength, coalition forces took casualties from suicide bombs and from IED booby traps on dead or wounded people. When you have been in a command position you will understand why your comments are terribly wrong. VP Harris had no authority or control over military personnel. President Biden was not directing or managing the gate. The fact is, that any lapse in security or failure to secure the gate was local command's responsibility. Multiple reviews were conducted and cleared the local leadership and officers. The last review was oOrdered by U.S. Army Central Command in September 2023, the results of the two-year supplemental review found that no new information disclosed in public testimony since March 2023 had any material impact on the original investigation's findings. It also confirmed that a lone ISIS-K suicide bomber had carried out the attack, and that the attack could not have been preventable at the tactical level. What magical knowledge of defensive tactics do you have that is 100% perfect in stopping suicide bombings? Even the Israelis who relied on double corridors, automation and cameras were not safe from suicide bombers at the border crossings. One event involved an ambulance carrying a "wounded" person that blew up. This is the mentality of these people.

Your invented numbers do not line up with the reality. Putting in a % means nothing if the data sets are not declared. The number of people who believe Trump is a crook is +23.5%. See what I did?

I have no sympathy for any of them. Arrogant and rude ill mannered visitors meet their match with the local rude and ill mannered members of the transport thug collective. They deserve each other.

The invasion of Ukraine was. The occupation of Ukrainian recognized land is a violation of international law in respect to the sanctity of pre-existing recognized international borders.

You are factually incorrect. The Philippines was not bullied into anything. This is a long standing encroachment by the Chinese who have been destroying the local environment of the locations it squats upon. The waters were not controlled by the Chinese for thousands of years. China was not a seafarer nation. Much of the area claimed is in much closer proximity to Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines than it is to China. Yes, China did visit the sea during the Han dynasty. However, much of the Chinese Han claim of historical ownership is not supported by actual history. One analysis puts this historical claim into perspective; China has had many dynasties and governments in the history of its peoples and cultures. These dynasties potentially include at least 15 different governments in China since 206 BCE, covering the periods where China claims evidence of sovereignty in the SCS. Some of these dynasties were controlled by non-Chinese invaders, such as the Mongols or Japanese, and could be considered as evidence of sovereign control in the SCS by non-Chinese claimants. At times, several different dynasties controlled portions of modern China simultaneously, and it is not clear whether these different dynasties made conflicting claims of sovereignty in the SCS or whether any prior sovereignty claims were abandoned. More specifically, the central argument of the Chinese government rests on its belief that if people of Chinese ethnicity were in the area, then the area is Chinese. This is a concept few westerners comprehend. I will make it clearer. China holds the position that wherever there is an ethnic Chinese population, China can lay claim to the land or territory. This means that if there are sufficient numbers of ethnic Chinese living in Canada or Australia, China has the right to claim the country or portions of the nation on behalf of the Chinese people. As far as China is concerned, China is not restricted to the PRC. This is the policy of China. You go off on a tangent about forcing homosexuality on China. What sheer hateful ignorance. It was China that originated the option of male wives for the emperor. On the contrary, homosexual relations were the norm for the aristocracy of the Han Empire, the same empire that is used to justify the seizing of the South China Sea. https://daily.jstor.org/in-han-dynasty-china-bisexuality-was-the-norm/ Your position ignores the horrible consequences of the Chinese presence. it is China which overfishes waters and continuously pursues long range trawling that decimates local fish stocks and destroys local cultures. One of the reasons why countries like Somalia turned to piracy was because of the devastating impact of Asian based fishing fleets which destroyed the offshore fish stocks pushing thousands of subsistence fishermen into poverty. China regularly strips clean the territorial waters of Canada. The Canadian government is incapable of challenging the Chinese fishing fleets because it has a limited naval capability and the result is that Canada has seen its ocean resources plundered by the insatiable greed of the Chinese fishing fleets. China intends to do the same to the South China sea. it also intends to seize the petro resources and to deny Vietnam and the Philippines access. Worse is the total destruction of marine habitats by the Chinese. They are expanding shoals and reefs by destroying the coral reefs and dumping tons upon tons of contaminated landfill and compacted garbage at the reef sites. You are in effect support China's destruction of the environment.

How do you propose that the Philippines respond to China's expansionist activities. China has ignored international rulings in respect to the territorial waters of the Philippines. It is China that has militarized this part of the South China Sea. The Chinese have also encroached into waters claimed by Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. How do you propose these nations deal with China which is quite literally destroying the fragile ecosystem by blasting coral reefs and dumping contaminated land fill into the ocean to extend and build up its squatter locations. This activity is done without any concern for the environmental impact. Please explain how these countries should respond to the Chinese militarization of the region and the multiple violent confrontations initiated by the Chinese. These countries are aware that China is allied with Russia which launched an invasion into a weaker neighbor and are familiar with the Chinese invasion of Tibet .

One could always have Eisenhower who initiated the Bay of Pigs fiasco and set the groundwork for the Vietnam war debacle. Or Nixon and his long list of reprehensible illegal activities And then there was Reagan who's administration which secretly facilitated the illegal sale of arms to Iran, which was subject to an arms embargo at the time. The administration hoped to use the proceeds of the arms sale to fund the Contras, an anti-Sandinista rebel group in Nicaragua. The difference between the people you mention is that they couldn't keep their peckers under control, while the others violated serious US laws and facilitated death and destruction. This is why people are willing to forgive Clinton's transgressions and even look the other way with the odious JFK.

As the youngest, I also believe I have good judgment of the character of my older siblings and can say that my oldest brother is a dud. I also know that the Walz brother comments are taken out of context. The man has nothing to do with his younger brother and in typical sibling fashion has a comment with inside meaning. Just ask Noel and Liam Gallagher how that works.

Context is needed. A large portion of that "welfare" spending is on health and education. Yes, it is one of the top spenders on its people. In comparison, Alaska which has higher welfare spending, is a right wing Republican state. It survives off of Federal welfare spending, much of which is paid for by tax revenues from successful Democrat states like California and New York. Using your logic, one could say that Alaska is a welfare state, the Republicans will control the state forever. The reality is that Minnesota ranks high among the states in the quality of health and welfare services. It is known for its high standard of general medical services, its extensive children’s health and welfare programs, and care for the elderly. People living below the poverty level are about 10% of the population compared to 11.5% for the nation. Republican states like Mississippi are close to 20%, and Louisiana is 18%+. In fact , Republican states are more likely to have lower living standards and more impoverished people as part of their population. The reality is that Minnesotans for the most part have a decent quality of life. The cost of living there is significantly higher than in Republican states, because of the climate. The cold weather requires extensive heating for much of the year, better quality dwellings and infrastructure that can resist the cold and freeze and thaw cycles. A large part of welfare spending is to ensure that people can heat their homes and that children can have a hot meal. Not such a bad thing.

This is going to be awkward. Russia was just exposed for planting spyware in the Mongolian government website and email system. It is a serious attack on a "friendly" nation. https://therecord.media/mongolia-apt29-watering-hole-attacks-exploits-nso-group-intellexa

Poor innocent terrorists were caught this time. Israel learnt its lesson on October 7. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/28/world/middleeast/gaza-unrwa-hamas-israel.html https://www.nbcnews.com/news/un-workers-played-direct-role-oct-7-hamas-attack-israeli-intelligence-rcna136201 Of the 19 UN personnel named, 10 were to be disciplined. That's nice, they are disciplined for aiding and abetting or participating in starting a war, murdering, raping and taking hostages.

Names have been released 5 people. It appears that they were executed. Medical examinations will be needed to confirm.

What exactly did you expect him to do? The golden rule is to never get involved in a domestic dispute. Call the police. Stand on the side, and cough so that your presence is known, but that's it. It is a no win situation. The thugs always win unless they upset nastier thugs, like the police or senior military. This is not his country and the locals are not worth dying for. Interjecting oneself is a good way to be killed, and they do kill foreigners with impunity.

I expect that Trump's idea of a connection would be to visit a local trailer park with his QAnon talking points. 😁

If this is the best that the Trump collective can come up with, they will need to consider something more convincing and substantive. You know, stuff like policy and how exactly they intend to fix the many problems they say are not their doing.

An opinion does not change the reality, the actual facts. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23484314/trump-fuentes-ye-dinner-white-nationalism-supremacy He has a long history of enabling hate. And he refused to condemn white supremacists. As he says, they are his people. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-trump-doesnt-disavow-white-supremacy-tells-far-right-extremist-group-to-stand-by

I was highlighting some of the prominent supporters of Trump. They have some characteristics in common. Did you read the Pew Research data summary? Educated people are not likely to be supporters of Trump.