Patong2021

Although what you write is accurate, the fact remains that the Hyundai driver was in the outer lane, and quickly crossed to the inner lane and shoulder without slowing. I did not see the vehicle signal its lane change, nor its turn. into the petrol station. Sure, the motorcyclist was partially responsible, but the automobile driver sealed his or her fate with the runner. I am going to speculate and say the driver has visa issues and is Russian.

The last 2 days have been crazy. The high winds have the kitesurfers out in high numbers in Hua hin with the 2 "schools" very busy. I was watching them and their leaps and soars left me queasy. The people who know what they are doing are not a threat to anyone, but I am waiting for the day when one of the jerks on a jet ski rental crashes into one of them. Unfortunately, the Europeans who are associated with the schools here can be rude and aggressive. They operate as if they own the beach and the students/members sometimes have their kites crashing down into the beach or swooping low, terrifying the unaware beach walkers. One day, someone is going to over react to a near beheading and pop one of the kite clan in the nose especially the middle aged man we call "Monsieur Morveux". He carries on as if he was some sort of feudal lord.

US will have something similar: A dictator. The people have spoken.

The people you describe are a small minority. The reality is that the people who are collecting social benefits (food, medical, income) are mostly white and over the age of 60. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/05/who-is-receiving-social-safety-net-benefits.html

OK. Are you prepared for the crime, increased child poverty, exploitation and disease that will result? Why not treat all social assistance beneficiaries equally? Reduce Social Security payments, for everyone, including the elderly and the infirm. Change the income thresholds and copayments for Medicaid/Medicare participation. No more food stamps. No more early childhood and pre natal programs. If women miscarry because of illness or malnutrition, charge them with aiding an abortion, which is now illegal in many states. Change the Veterans access to medical care. Only military personnel who sustained injuries in active service should qualify. Eliminate subsidies for small use airports and increase the airport user fees to fully cover the costs of TSA, ATC and. other operations. I expect a few people on this forum would object.

Then how can you and your friends expect to be taken seriously when you insist that one virus is the same as another?

Iran like North Korea never had an honest intent when it comes to nuclear arms. There are those who assume that the Iranians can be trusted in this regard. They cannot for the simple reason that their culture and religion considers lying part of an acceptable strategy. Lost on the clueless westerners who embrace the belief that Iran is to be trusted is the fact that Iran is pledged to the destruction of Israel. In so doing it will also wipe out Palestine, Jordan and probably create a fallot cloud that poisons many neighboring arab countries.

How is a covid virus an influenza virus? Educate me since the SARS Cov-19 is accepted as. different than an influenza virus.

Not bragging but pointing out a fact that addresses the disparaging lies . It is salient now because it shows that California has done rather well so far with only 11 deaths to date , when one considers the extent and severity of the fires. Maui had 102 deaths. This time people listened to the evacuation orders and despite all the crtiticisms of the state and counties, they did a good job of trying to keep routes open. The critics here love to insult Californians, but they behaved appropriately and helped neighbors and family to escape. Look at what happened in North Carloina when people wouldn't or couldn't listen to the evacuation warnings - 103 died. Every year when a hurricane hits Florida there are always some idiots who want to sit it out, and many of them die. California has invested in human safety with a resilient warning system. They deserve credit for that.

And what is the point of pushing your political agenda? You are not convincing anyone with an education , not feeble minded and who is not mentally ill.

Trump will not be able to do anything. It takes time and at most he has is 2 years. He will lose control of the House and the Senate in 2 years and will then be impeached. It is coming.

He applied the recommended building construction fire mitigation options. It wasn't because he was a Texan. Rather, the building had a concrete non combustible roof and non combustible side walls without windows exposed to the fire. There were no ornamental flammable hedges like cedar or Juniper. The fire and police protection is quite good in Orange County, as are Ventura and San Diego Counties. They also have. low crime rates that are the envy of much of the USA. You shouldn't single out Californi for public safety issues because multiple Republican states are in much, much worse shape. TN, LA, AR, AK. California is rated as the 2nd best state for fire safety in the USA. Look up the rating. You are just looking to bash a state that drives the US economy, contributes 14% of the GDP and leads the nation in environmental responsibility.

It was not possible for the water supply piping to support the water demands that were required. You have ignored the impact of the non public use of the water supply for residential and commercial sprinkler systems. The water reservoirs were filled. Which reservoirs were empty? One was out of service for urgent repairs. Where are you getting your civil engineering expertise, because it just is not feasible to have the pipe diameters and pressurization need to support a system that has every hydrant opened and is being drained by additional private hydrant and diversion. In respect to your magical desalination plant solution. Again it is not cost effective nor environmentally sustainable. The San Diego Carlsbad plant cost US $1billion to build in 2015, and costs in excess of $100 milion to operate. The land requirements are enormous and there is a negative impact from the plants operation. The taxpayers of California do not want to build a desalination plant because it costs many times more to operate than to purchase it from other sources. And now you want California to build more nuclear power plants. In what magical world do you live in where you build nuclear power plants in a region expecting a catastrophic earthquake . California is an earthquake waiting to happen. Ever hear of the Fukashima catastrophe? And just where would you store the nuclear waste? No one in the USA wants to accept it in their region. Nuclear waste disposal is a big problem in the USA.

The question was not answered. Instead you offer a scenario that the Arabs previously rejected. You are reminded of the Clinton peace initiative that did just as you demand. The Arab response was to reject that agreement. They have also rejected modifications that provided them almost all that they wanted when Obama was President. Why are you placing the burden of israel doing whatever the Arabs want? No matter what Israel does, it wil never be enough. This is the ASrab mentality to keep pushing and demanding. One need only look at how the strategy is playing out with the millions of Arab migrants in Europe now. You use the term stealing land from Palestinians. What you refuse to acknowledge is that those Palestinians took the land form the Israelis, forcing them off the land. This was done during the Ottoman occupoation and then during the European occupation. President Clinton stated that in reference to the failed Camp David talks of 2000, that having turned down a “once in a lifetime” peace opportunity, you can’t complain 25 years later when the doors weren’t all still open, and all the possibilities weren’t still there.

Identify who is innocent. Serious request. The reality is that Hamas uses children in its war. They are used as couriers, logistics helpers, observers, and fighters. Typically, the boy is allowed to become a fighter once he can grow hair in his armpit. Militant fighters are intentionally housed in danger zones to serve as human shields. Missile and rocket launch sites are fired from "schools" and medical facilities as well as residential buildings. Munitions depots are maintained in these areas and hospitals are used for command and control sites. The aforementioned has been documented. How then would you fight a war against such an entity that intentionally puts people in harm's way and who hides behind such people with the goal of creating martyrs to manipulate western sentiment. The other muslim nations know what is being done because they have done it themselves in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya and Chad. Even after Israel cleared several hospitals, Hamas moved its rocket launch sites back into them. How then do you propose that Israel defend itself from the rocket launches from Gaza from the dozen or more factions? Hamas is the principal enemy, but Islamic Jihad and the Marxist Alliance and others are all engaged in the war. They are sworn to the destruction of israel and refuse to enter into a peace arrangement.

I am familiar with one of the areas where wild fires have occurred having worked in the Lake Forest- Laguna Hills- Laguna Beach area and been in and out for several years. The local county started using goats to control the scrub foilage. Orange County is Republican gated community country and relatively wealthy. It has many new property developments. The developments which were mostly brick and that limited combustible decorative vegetation did well. Wood is a favourite construction material because it is lower cost. Some buildings are built with concrete, and brick or other types of masonry and they are built to the minimal state seismic resilience standards, which makes it a more expensive build than lumber. The longstanding myth is that lumber homes are better suited for seismic prone regions. Unfortunately, what is ignored is that most damage that occurs in residential areas after a strong earthquake is resulting fire. The nathional Building trade association has blocked stricter fire resistance standards because it will reduce their profits and increase the cost of builds. Many consumers don't want to know about managing their personal risk and just want the pretty house shown in the sales brochure. The state finally passed some basic fire code improvements in 2022 that regulated the use of outdoor fires including BBQs, fire pits etc. and mandated some basic changes like spark arresters in fireplaces. The protests that erupted were ridiculous. Cries of government interference and of unamerican deep state meddling ensued. I draw your attention to this year's prohibition on the use of incendiary fireworks. How many hundreds of thousands of people ignored the restrictions and set off their fireworks? Americans want low cost everything and as a society are reluctant to pay for quality or durability.

The continued persecution of Yingluck is ridiculous and serves no purpose other than to distract from the need for reform. The reason so many still cling to the Thaksin clan is the mistaken belief that it has the power to take on the military cabal. The real evil are the powers who back sock puppets like the PRN. This keeps the counry mired in unproductive feuds that block any real social progress. Nothing I can do about it. it's like trying to hold back the incoming tide at the beach.

Presenting a budget to the state legislature is quite different than managing a specific infrastructure and local resources. The state legislators approve or amend the budget. The counties and municipalities oversee the local budgets and the management of local facilities. As previously stated, the CalFire budget was increased $150 million for 2023-2024. The small budget change for 2024-2025 was in effect the spreading of disbursements over 5 years instead of 4, as the money would still be spent. Even if there had been $500 million extra to spend, it would not have helped with this fire. Governor Newsom is being blamed for events that were beyond anyone's control. I was watching an ABC news report 15 minutes ago where they were interviewing one of the local fire chiefs, and he pointed out the following when asked what they could have done to control the fires better. He stated some things that are not being mentioned by the finger pointers; - The wind storm was hurricane force and never encountered to this extent before; - The leakage from the water supply system impacted the availability of water. The "leakage" was from the private fire suppression systems that are hooked up to the public water pipes. Many houses have their own sprinkler systems. They all went into operation and bled off critical water supplies. And most interesting of all was the mention of why a 170 million gallon reservoir was empty: Despite the claims of the conspiracy promoters, the reservoir was undergoing needed repairs to ensure its operation including the sealing of leaks and the repairs of the pumping and supply infrastructure. No one is mentioning the reason why the reservoir is dry, but they are blaming "politicians" for not having it filled. Well, you can't use a reservoir if it is leaking and can't pump or manage its water reserve. This is why it was being repaired, and was publicly declared.

That's the key advantage: The proximity to the nation's primary international airport. If the powers that be were serious about giving Pattaya status, there would have been a rail link built between BKK and Bangkok city with the Pattaya city center long ago. It would have removed hundreds of vehicles from the road in any given hour and made visiting Pattaya much easier. Sure, there is a promised rail link for 2029 and I suppose better late than never, but many people here won't be alive to see the train operation because it will most likely be late opening. The station will be at Soi Chaiyaporn in Nong Prue of Bang Lamung district, rather far away from the tourist zone. This will set visitors up to taxi rip offs of 300baht+ and a relocation of the obnoxious minibus operators. Visitors will be left scrambling. No mention of a major hotel bus option as is seen at Tokyo or South Korea airports. It's like Pattaya is a cash cow and they want to exploit it as long as possible without really investing in the place.

Please do your research into who and what is private industry in Thailand. Then look up the definition of monopoly. Start with the who the largest landowners are and which families are heavily involved in the hospitality sector. Hint, naming one of them is not allowed. The data from Mastercard is based on its own spending data. The Russians , Indians and Chinese are not using Mastercard. They have their own financial payment options. Mastercard is not paqrticularly big in Thailand. Placing in the top 20 of destinations of one credit card company does not mean that the destination is premium. There is no denying that Pattaya is a popular destination for a number of reasons,however, this should not be confused with its being a premium destination.

Not likely. Shkreli aka federal inmate number 87850-053 is avoided like the plague. He was reduced to playing in the cryptocurrency market.

Israel most certainly existed as a nation long before WWII. It was called the Kingdom of Israel. This is documented and an historical fact. Would you deny the existence of the Duchys and Principalities of Europe? They went on to become countries known today as Italy, France, Germany etc. In case you missed it, there was something called the Ottoman Empire. It had control over much of the region called the Middle East for centuries. Israel existed as a part of the Ottoman Empire and was administered as a department of Damascus. There was no Lebanon, no Jordan, no Saudia Arabia and the borders of Assyria, Iraq/Babylonia, Persia/Iran were not defined. Nor was there any semblance of a place called Palestine as it is known today. The North African Arab nations of today were nothing more than feuding tribal and clan differentiations. You deny the existence of modern Israel, and yet, you ignore the fact, that Israel's modern origins also gave rise to Jordan, Lebanon, the establishment of the Syrian and Iraqi borders, and the creation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. You wish to deny the existence and legitimacy of Israel. Fine. Then at least be consistent and deny the right to exist of much of the current Arab nations. The Arabs could have lived in peace with Israel, but they attacked Israel in 1948 with the stated desire to wipe it out. The arab leadership has been promising to do this since 1948 as it provides an easy distraction from the screwed up mismanaged corrupt dictatorships that they are.

In respect to the house. that was relatively undamaged, it had a fire resistant roof (falling embers could not ignite the structure), and its outer structure was built to resist a fire. Easily combustible vegetation was minimized. National Homebuilder's Association has fought to prevent such requirements in high fire risk zones. The takeaway is that the fire damage and spread could have been minimized if the buildings were not so easily ignited. Instead of realizing that the quality of construction is a factor, the vested interests will seek to blame "politicians". No one in the building trades will accept their responsibility, nor will the people who demanded the cheap quality of builds accept that they made a mistake. In the world today, it is easier to blame a third party rather than take responsibility.

Understood. Apologies for personal density

How about the big picture. Israel is doing the dirty work of the western governments and several Arab countries, none of whom wants to be the target of the Islamic jihadis. The Ottoman Turks left the region in an absolute mess. The Europeans made it worse with their colonial disruption in North Africa. Also, Israel is fighting against overwhelming odds against hundreds of millions of people with more money and more power.