Un Homme du Midi

Ha, ha. Yes. My brother keeps telling me that. I'm just happy to see long range equipment on the move. One hand tires tied behind the back for so long. I hadn't interpreted the UK's posture as warmongering, if that's what you meant. I think its been the right touch.

So it's another Munich Agreement, then is it, Neville? C'mon, Brother! You're a descendant of William the Conqueror, possibly, or perhaps a fan of George Washington. Even George had his challenges as a new commander, including a surrender and demotion in early Pennsylvania. These things do take time. Consider if some wackos laid claim to the area from Bristol to Cornwall, or Charleston to Baton Rouge. No fight? The US would lose its best Bar-B-Q and strip joints, the UK its best seafood and pasties. Unacceptable! Ha, ha. That's what Ukraine is facing. The nationalistic warmongering is coming from Moscow. Determined backbone is simply what they've met, and didn't expect. Putin is crumbling. Finland has joined NATO. The center of gravity in European backbone has shifted to Warsaw. Russia's "allies" from Minsk to Tashkent want nothing to do with him. Russia runs scared of its own "Victory Day" celebrations today (09 May). Putin will fall, though it may take time, even a decade. That said, your point is right. Ukraine's time is now. "As long as it takes" is a friend's slogan. Ukraine has no time. This is Yorktown. Cornwallis is in George Washington's sights. Foreign allies have joined the fight. The time to close it is now. The "what", you mention, is for Putin to fail in his land-grab. That's doesn't mean all land vacated immediately. Like Transnistria in Moldova or Abkhazia in Georgia, that may take a decade. It does mean Putin negotiating in weakness. Clamoring to save face. Propping up the economy. Pandering to the Chinese. A Kim Jung Un of ridiculousness and servitude. His authority shriveling, over time, like a cheap Matryoshka doll, and finally to nothing. The rest of the world moving on. Those around him will take care of the rest.

Finally, someone steps up. As so often, 'tis Ol' Blighty. Well done, lads. UK steps up w/ long-range cruise missiles for Ukraine (most likely the air-launched Storm Shadows.) Damn straight, UK. Well done. 300km range. Fabulous. Combined w/ the (late-arriving!) US HIMARS-launched GLSD Bombs (160km range, but delivery later this year), loudmouth Prigozhin and his thugs talking big and leading from behind will have more visitors to welcome in theatre: to their supply lines, ammunition stores, fuel dumps, and - privet, Yevgeny - rear command centers. Rishi Sunak: "If there is a moment in this conflict we can make a difference, why not seize it? What are we waiting for?” Well said. I could grow to like this guy. Joseph Robinette Biden? What are you waiting for? 300km ATACM Systems? You know you'll send them soon. Why not today? Join Rishi. This is great news. The first concrete step (procurement) to getting long-range capability in theatre to kiss the back-line supply and command centers. Ooh-rah! From the halls of Montezuma...to a shore near you, Vlad. Source: "Long-range Strike" IFU Procurement Notice: 05 June Contracting. Specs fit the UK's Storm Shadows. Well done, UK. (Especially like the "air-defence penetration methods to increase probability...." Nice touch.) https://www.gov.uk/guidance/international-fund-for-ukraine-ifu#ifu-procurement-opportunities

Heart-wrenching. Lampang's mountains, river valleys, wildlife and national parks are an almost idyllic place to grow up. Young Ben appears to have had some success in Motocross competitions, too. RIP. Reminds me, in ways, of the two young lads (6yo, 10yo or so) murdered in Pattaya, before Covid, by the jealous boyfriend of the girl temporarily staying with the family and of the 2 dozen pre-schoolers and 36 people the freak murdered in NB Lam Phu last October. Senseless, horrific, heart-breaking murders. Hope the parents make it through, and the girl. Would be nice, in time, to set up a foundation to honor the boy's memory. We can all see ourselves in 16yo Ben. With hope, his final minutes and memory were ones of valor not betrayal. Memento mori.

Happy V-E Day to All: 08 May In thankful memory to all who served and died. They fought on the beaches, on the landing grounds, in the fields, streets, and hills. They never surrendered. "The enemy win their battles from the air! They knock out my panzers with American armor-piercing shells." Rommel. "If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn’t thinking." Patton. "I’ve had my fill of Hitler." Mussolini, already in 1941. A hearty welcome to Ukraine all Ukrainians to join with Europe and the West for V-E celebration and memorial on the 8th. Slava Ukraini! Heroyam Slava! "Tama-tama, gol olur." Crimean-Tatar proverbe: Drop by drop, a lake forms. May Putin and his clique enjoy a war-crimes trial and a Mussolini- and Ceaușescu-style exit. We've had our fill of Putin. Putin: khuylo! Slava Ukraini!

Accidents like this can happen, as you say. Caveat pedestrem, for sure. But cars must stop, even for drunk idiots. Pedestrians have the right of way, by Thai law, even if the right is abused. More often, I've seen motorbikes and cars speeding, weaving wrecklessly, and endangering properly behaving pedestrians.

That's unfair. Thai's as a whole accept blame as often as most. Every country has its weasels. Speaking of which....Tom Cullinan's I and III, IV, V looked mighty fine today.

Goon is taking the drunk's approach to life: deflecting, with where the car parked, not where it drove. The photo shows where the driver returned to the correct side of the road and parked after he hit them. The vid shows where he was.

The left wheels are on the double-yellow. The entire car is right of it, on the wrong side of the road driving the wrong way at high speed.

Wow. The pedestrians did nothing wrong. Exactly as you would coach anyone to do. Looked both ways. Proceeded with caution. The driver came at high speed, on the wrong side of the road, and with one wheel on the yellow center line. The Germans can sue. They will be awarded a significant settlement, both civil from the driver and the insurer. Not that they would have wanted it. Each of us can see our Grandads here, doing everything right....except not anticipating and looking for the drunk driving at high speed on the wrong side of the ride. Hope they're ok.