ozimoron

Of course there is.

Again, I quoted an article without comment. What I got in return is precisely what I said. An attempt to tell me what I believed.

Both sides will believe that until a permanent solution is agreed.

Some people think that because some bar girl once jibed them with "you know too mutt" that they form the opinion that Thais don't appreciate foreigners speaking their language. Makes about as much sense as Australians not appreciating foreigners speaking English.

BS. Another far right apologist who wants to tell me what I believe.

The alternative would be to negotiate in good faith instead of supporting terrorists as a way of diving a nation. Until that happens Israel will never prevent terrorist attacks. Any claim to the contrary is Israeli propaganda. No rational person believes that a military defeat will prevent terrorist attacks in the future.

I quoted a source.

I'll say that I have spoken Thai to thousands of hookers and not encountered any lack of appreciation. Over 45 years.

No, the phraseology as paraphrased in the post I referred to were sophisticated and nuanced references to certain mindsets. The post implied that these were woke (my words I think) and that Thais didn't buy into what the poster obviously though was BS. It is a fact that educated Thais are just as nuanced psychologically as everyone in the west. It was a quasi-political attack on the left. It is a ginormous mistake to imagine that Thais think differently or have different aspirations to any westerners. That's peer hegemony, if not outright racism.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and suggest that most online polls would lean republican for the simple reason that a higher percentage of registered republicans are politically active than registered dems. I could be completely wrong but I know my predicate is correct. A higher percentage of registered republicans votes than do dems.

Yeah, it's not perfect but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Phuket is out, everywhere else too boring except Bangkok (I'm not talking about bars) and Bangkok has too much pollution. Maybe in 5 years. For now, Pattaya. Always something happening, they are setting up on the beach for huge NY festivities. Rents are still fairly cheap and infrastructure is good and close by. Food is cheap, if not as cheap as woop woop but one can only eat so much.

More than half of Americans approve of Colorado ruling to bar Trump from state’s ballot: Poll More than half of Americans approve of a Colorado Supreme Court ruling to bar former President Trump from the state’s primary ballot, citing the 14th Amendment, according to a YouGov poll released Wednesday. The online survey, published just a day after the ruling, found that 54 percent of respondents either strongly or somewhat approve of the decision, with 35 percent disapproving. Independents were split, but a larger proportion support the decision, 48 percent to 35 percent. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4370878-over-half-americans-approve-colorado-ruling-barring-trump-states-ballot/

The war will continue until it either explodes into an international war or a permanent solution to the 2 state solution is reached. Simple as that.

Deliberate mass killing of a civilian population is genocide is genocide. That's what's going on here. After 1,200 Israelis were killed by Hamas on October 7, the U.S. media endlessly described the attack as “like 15 9/11s,” adjusted to the size of Israel’s population. Applying that math to the 20,000 Palestinians killed since October 7 in Gaza, that would be 864 9/11s. Eight hundred and sixty-four. That’s almost 12 9/11s a day, every day, for 76 days in a row. In an area less than one-third the size of Los Angeles. source: direct email from The Intercept.

Lachlan Murdoch is a liberal now? Where did you get that idea? Lachlan Murdoch Is 'More Conservative' than Dad Rupert, Says Source: 'Could Go All Out for Trump' A plugged-in political source tells PEOPLE that Lachlan, as the new CEO, likely won't make any "major changes." “If he does make some changes, I don’t think they will be good ones,” the source continues. https://people.com/lachlan-murdoch-more-conservative-than-rupert-source-says-7973718 I love that new song by Taylor Swift about Trump. "You'll stare at the sun but you won't look in the mirror".

Indeed. I always urge any farangs who live here to learn Thai and to not bother until they can read it. I initially went to AUA in BKK in 1982 for a semester in Thai and spent the next 12 years coming and going from Australia. I was also married twice to Thai women. After my last divorce I spent a couple of decades mosying around the Philippines until returning to Thailand so I lost a lot of it. I lived her for a couple of years before covid and for the past 2 years so I'm nowhere near fluent. I'd say my peak level was being able to read teenage girls magazines and reaching for the dictionary about once per page. I speak basic Tagalog as well and I can say that Thai is far easier to learn than Tagalog or the Bahasa languages. For a start, Thais don't conjugate their verbs which is a big help. Once you can read a Thai word you instantly know how rto pronounce it, even if not capable of correct tonal pronunciation. And finally, Thais only use about 2/3 of their alphabet for day to day stuff so learning it isn't difficult. It's not like Chinese.

Israeli intelligence officers were the ones who escorted Qatari officials to Gaza. He believed that having two strong rivals would “lessen the pressure on him to negotiate toward a Palestinian state”. According to Israeli intelligence officials, the Qatari money played a role in the success of the terror attacks. https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/qatar-sent-millions-to-hamas-for-years-and-netanyahu-encouraged-it-heres-why-13495242.html

Netanyahu’s policy, however, was in direct opposition to most of the Israeli defense and security establishment, which viewed cooperation with the PA to be in Israel’s security interest. Since returning to power in 2009, Netanyahu made no secret of his desire to keep Hamas and the PA apart for his own political purposes. With Hamas in power in Gaza, coupled with a deliberately emaciated PA in the West Bank, Netanyahu could claim there was no Palestinian partner for negotiation, and he could continue to crisscross the West Bank with settlements. https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4268794-the-symbiotic-relationship-between-netanyahu-and-hamas/

How Benjamin Netanyahu empowered Hamas ... and broke Israel Polling shows majority blame the PM not just for military failures but for ‘propping up’ the terrorist group in the first place https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/10/16/how-benjamin-netanyahu-empowered-hamas/

Two senior European Union officials said Friday that they are “deeply shocked” at an assessment that the entire population of Gaza is at risk of acute food insecurity because of the Israeli offensive there. “This is a grave development and should be a wake-up call for the whole world to act now to prevent a deadly human catastrophe,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarcic said in a statement. “We urgently need continued, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to avoid a further worsening of an already catastrophic situation,” they said. https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-live-updates-c83889b311f05fc76184b0ab95da7b60

Attaining political power and becoming militarily powerful are not the same thing.

You're describing a time and circumstances where they were a domestic nationalist, religious and political organization. Hamas has really only become powerful since Netanyahu appeared on the scene, It should also be noted that Iran and Hezbollah are not exactly close to Hamas since Hamas is Sunni. Hamas really relied on the funding and support from Qatar and Israel.

He's just saying that small Thai villages are unsophisticated. No surprises there.

Israel is directly involved in this debate. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant continue threatening to turn Beirut into another Gaza, should Hezbollah ignite a wider war. Hezbollah, the most powerful non-state military force in the world, has been entrenching itself in south Lebanon for decades. With an estimated force of about fifty thousand hardened fighters and an arsenal of over a hundred thousand missiles, Hezbollah will not cede its strategic foothold, its hardened bunkers, or its network of underground tunnels just because Israel demands it. https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4365909-israel-and-lebanon-are-sliding-into-war-but-the-us-can-still-stop-it/

No, Hamas would have faded away had Israel negotiated in good faith with the PA. Netanyahu was instrumental in facilitating financing Hamas by Qatar