9 hours ago, Hawaiian said:

Just back from Laem Sing.  Fairly decent rooms with air con and breakfast started at $41.

Vacation almost over.  Have reservations in Chonburi for a "superior" room at $41 for 2 nights.  Convenient for our friend who lives close by who will be dropping us off at Suvarnabhumi in the wee hours of the morning.

8 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Well, why wouldn't we assume your comment was were directed at the topic of this thread which is:

 

Fauci on calls to prosecute him: ‘There’s no response to that craziness’

 

Apparently, your defense of your comments amounts to the fact that they were irrelevant.

If irrelevant, then why reply?

To all of the posters who replied to my post, no where in my post did I say that Fauci should be prosecuted.  What I was referring to was his comments made to anyone disagreeing with him about the origins of the virus.  No one has any concrete evidence as to whether Covid19 came from the Wuhan Lab of Virology or anywhere else.

One poster mentioned First Amendments rights.  They apply to everyone including me. 

The following link explores the ongoing controversy surrounding the origin of Covid19.  Notice the disclaimer at the bottom of the article:  https://www.factcheck.org/2021/05/the-wuhan-lab-and-the-gain-of-function-disagreement

If anyone continues to disagree with my right to post my opinion, well then, it's their problem.

Fauci thinks he is always right and anyone who disagrees doesn't know what they are talking about

14 minutes ago, NORDO said:

Agreed

the events that  took place in the  Pacific during pre WWII are slowly evolving in present day. Only a different player.

The current World affairs are just a mask for him. The western Countries are far to occupied with Eastern  Europe and MENA.  
Previous industrial nations are at an all time low and ill prepared to ramp up production in order to counter an offensive.  As well, many of the Western nations have “farmed out” much of their industrial capacity.

The Western World is to occupied  with our personal needs to accept our lives will change dramatically for he worse  in the next Ten to Twenty years.

 

I seriously question whether the younger gens are able to fathom this, or even be able to muster a successful defense.    I’ll be pushing up daisy's  by then, but it still infuriates me that the younger gens is willing to <deleted> away  everything our previous gens fought and died for.   They want a “ WOKE” culture and they sure as hell will get one, but not the kind they want.

You may not notice it, but the U.S. is gradually redeploying forces to the Pacific to counter Chinese aggression.  And existing forces are being restructured in this direction.

2 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

accomodations 21 USD a night??? What time was this article written??? Last week was mentioned that prices of hotels raised to even more than 50 % than before Covid.. and with the inflation, the strong THB  we all notice that living costs are up too... 

Just back from Laem Sing.  Fairly decent rooms with air con and breakfast started at $41.

The so-called blue bloods are at it again, behaving like a bunch peasants.  Good example in how NOT to educate their kids.

44 minutes ago, heybruce said:

That in no way refutes anything I posted.

I did not attempt to refute anything you posted.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion and what you posted is your opinion.   The only requirement is to be elected President of the U.S. who is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

20 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

The nuclear codes should be entirely in the hands of the military and they should be free of any political appointees. 

Easier said than done.  Everyone is politically connected one way or another.    

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Chiefs_of_Staff.

On 3/11/2023 at 4:22 AM, Credo said:

This does not bode well.  I hope the Feds are keeping a close eye on all the banks.  

I agree.  The news has hit bank stock prices really hard, even very conservative banks.  A free fall in the market affects everyone, not just investors.

47 minutes ago, heybruce said:

I don't know why you brought up the Twitter files, but since I suspect it is an attempted deflection I won't ask.

 

I remember my first reason for opposing Trump which predates his election:  He has never been in any way qualified to have access to the nuclear codes.  I have many other reasons, but that has always been my number one reason.

 

Yes, I'm vaxxed and boosted to the hilt and intend to remain so.  I also don't recall having Covid or any other illness of any note for over ten years.

" Trump.......He has never been in any way qualified to have access to the nuclear codes."   Over the years there has been much discussion about access.  So far only talk.

https://www.westernjournal.com/dozens-house-democrats-request-biden-hand-nuclear-codes/

7 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

I guess you have not read 1 paper of the Twitter files, did you? There is a lot more going on, including the election fraud, this is not the end of that conversation yet at all. Not to mean much more and worse things done during Trump his presidency, and not by Trump.

 

Always the same with sheeple, they do not even remember what they complained about for years while Trump was a president, while those same things now continued worse.

 

Or like with covid, sure many of the users here still would like another booster shot.

Quote

"sure many of the users here still would like another booster shot."  That includes me.  I had 3 Pfizer shots plus the bi-valent and will go for another booster if and when available. 

10 hours ago, Confuscious said:

"Lack of enforcement"?

 

My own wife changed her name and the name of the children at the Thetsabaan without my knowledge because a monk said to here that the names were "not auspicious".

Go figure ...

Anyone can get a new identity in Thailand if they want.

https://www.dw.com/en/thailand-name-change-good-fortune/a-56459699

3 hours ago, Lorenzo Valla said:

The fact that you don't understand the difference between a law passed by Congress and signed by President, and a judicial opinion is fairly startling.  Yes, it was correct that a previous SCOTUS opinion supported the right to an abortion.  Judicial opinions are not laws and they can, and often are, overturned.  As this one, unfortunately was.

 

If in the last 50 years a Congress passed a law protecting a woman's ability to get an abortion, it would take precedence over all over states' restrictions and no one would be trying to place 9 judges' opinions over the will of the people.

The U.S. has three branches of government so no one person  or group has absolute power.  Unfortunate for whom?  Depends what side of the issue you are on.

1 hour ago, CatCage said:

 

Correct and launched from aircraft deep inside Russia so even if they had F16s to take down the launch aircraft they are not allowed to go there as it might upset them even more. 

 

That is one heck of an advantage and sounds rather like trying to fight with one arm tied behind the back to me.

In the Korean Conflict the U.S. and U.N. forces were not allowed to cross the Yalu River for fear of an escalation with the Red Chinese, although the Chinese continued to send wave after wave of troops.

Viet Nam, same thing......Hanoi was off limits.  Iraq and Afghanistan was again more ridiculous rules.  War is hell.  Why start one if you have no intentions of winning.  However, Ukraine was invaded by Russia and the U.S. and its allies have been intimidated by Putin's threat of nuclear weapons. 

Ukraine's supporters are between a rock and a hard place as Russia continues their onslaught on the Ukrainian people and the destruction of their cities and infrastructure. 

What happens next will be very interesting.

13 hours ago, placeholder said:

I don't think any country currently has a defense against hypersonic missiles.

The only defense that I know of is to destroy their launch sites.

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

China is facing major financial issues, that could eventually collapse the entire CCP. The extent of the issues within the banking sector, and the amount of private debt is staggering. 

 

Ever since the deleveraging campaign started, investors have been disappointed in consistently expecting Beijing to bail them out. Even today, with the property sector’s woes mounting, investors are openly discussing what level of defaults or economic and financial stress will require Beijing to finally step in. But as losses are now plausible for investors in trust products, wealth management products, structured deposits, state-owned enterprises’ corporate bonds, banks themselves, and individual mortgages, there are not many asset classes remaining that carry unassailable promises of government support.

 

https://www.csis.org/analysis/chinas-slow-motion-financial-crisis-unfolding-expected

 

The current real estate crisis is the most severe the regime has met for a long time, but the recent new injection of liquidity may buy time and stabilize the market for a while. Even though, another round of instability is bound to occur. Many sectors could be the epicenter of the next tremor: it could be real estate again if it turns out that the faith of the public in ever-rising prices for property has been destroyed for good; or the financial sector, where there are many poorly managed small local banks and where some non-bank financial institutions are not as strongly regulated as banks; or the individual borrowers' segment (household debt has been rising too fast), or parts of the corporate segment (SOE debt is still growing); or perhaps, and most likely, the local governments, which suffer from a dramatic loss of revenues. 

 

https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/analysis/chinas-next-financial-crisis-matter-when-not-if

 

 Manipulating statistics always backfire no matter who is in charge.  Xi and his CCP evidently think that cooking the books will not have any serious repercussions.  They might fool their countrymen, but will soon discover that breaking the basic rules of fiscal management is inviting disaster.

3 minutes ago, Confuscious said:

When I came to Thailand, more than 2 decades ago, the house next to mine was owned by a woman whose husband was working in Korea to make money to pay the house and take care of his family.
One day, the guy came back from Korea to visit his wife and his children, and apparently the house was sold to another person who was married now to his wife and his children were now on this person name.
Seems that the wife reported the husband as "died on an accident while working abroad" and sold everything.
Strange, but such things are possible in thailand.

Lack of enforcement of poorly written laws and a money centric culture are contributing factors that make this "possible." 

7 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Presuming you suddenly want to be in Alice Springs when you thought you were gong to Melbourne.... and have the dubious pleasure of viewing the middle of nowhere.... for 7 hours. You would have to do seat swaps to get a view of Ayer's Rock!

Budget flights are great until they go wrong... then you learn a lesson!

My biggest worry is flight delays or cancellations that result in missed connections.  That is why I prefer layovers with a minimum of 3 hours. 

32 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Here in the U.K. we call it tomato sauce and its the Americans that call it Ketchup

 

Heinz Tomato Sauce Top Down 460g

 

 

 

https://masseysofsaintfield.co.uk/product/heinz-tomato-sauce-top-down-460g/

 

 

 

Ketchup, also spelled catsup, is flavored with vinegar, sugar, and other spices, whereas most tomato sauces contain only salt.  For this reason it is not recommended for making pasta sauces. 

I make my pasta sauce with tomato sauce or tomato paste and add crushed or pureed tomatoes for the extra "body."  I also add a little sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes.