Hawaiian

What is so desperate about wanting to see justice served? I am a lifelong independent and far from being a "retrumplikan." As pointed out in the indictment, Hunter bragged about his opulent lifestyle while intentionally evading $1.4 million in income taxes. You are the desperate one, using what aboutism to defend this shameful crime. Shame on you. The Democrats control the DOJ. Why haven't they gone after blondy? When you make accusations, name real names or is it because you are confused about who's who?

I would think that Russia is quite hard pressed in keeping up their inventory that supplying any kind of armaments to ANYONE is highly unlikely. But, then again, maybe some posters have an intelligence source not available to us uninformed posters.

To all of you commenting on my "history of Yemen" post, I did state that Yemen has a complicated history. For you nitpickers concerned about my use of "protectorate" and "crown colony" the following link should clear up the confusion. https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/a-short-history-of-the-aden-emergency Take note of the chronology: 1839, 1869, 1937 and 1967. There are other links out there that are confusing and contradict each other similar to some of the information provided on this forum.

As a long time stamp collector I remember stamps of the Protectorate of Aden, a crown colony of Great Britain. I recall stamps with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on them. Some time in the 1960's, Aden gained independence and changed its name to Yemen. For some reason I never collected stamps from Yemen. Out of curiosity I did a search on the history of Yemen. Like much of the Middle East it has a very ancient and complicated history. According to Wikipedia, the country has changed hands a few times by different warring factions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Yemen

I was going post the same link. You beat me to it. Good to see participation by the French. Like you say, there will be more countries involved.

Well said.

I believe that was my post documenting my claim of human shields, etc. The link worked when tested, but failed to work when posted.

Interesting development. Netanyahu has just announced Israel will take on the Houthis in Yemen if the U.S. doesn't. Anyone care to comment?

Excellent advice. I am always suspicious when I receive any type of solicitation. AOL has been quite effective in sending these types of emails to my spam file. Then I make a quick check before deleting anything.

The French were wise in not going back. They did not want to be embarrassed again. This does not preclude them from offering a semblance of support for the U.S. and her allies if things boil over into a conflict with China. Much depends on who is the French president at the time.

Maybe you have not noticed the shift. More nations are in the process of decoupling from China with major corporations moving some of their operations to Viet Nam, India and elsewhere. Some have cut their ties entirely. The rift between Australia and China is nothing new. The iron ore and other minerals will not rot. Sooner or latter other buyers will show up. New Zealand has only themselves to blame. They have alienated many of their western-oriented allies.

South Korea's growing trade deficit with China is causing problems for the Yoon Suk Yeol government and China is not happy with South Korea's improving relationship with the U.S. https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/whats-causing-rise-china-south-korea-tensions

Not just badly, but most likely a disaster. Even if an invasion were successful, the toll on its military would make it difficult to both maintain an effective occupation and maintain law and order back on the mainland. . Their economy would be in shambles with vital imports of foodstuffs seriously curtailed possibly causing anarchy among a hungry population. The Chinese economy is much worse shape than many realize. Many provincial government treasuries are depleted and they are saddled with an unbelievable amount of debt. Chances of the central government bailing them out are slim. China's BRI is not doing well either. Italy is pulling out. The CPEC highway servicing the Pakistani port of Gwadar is under attack by the Taliban. Back in Afghanistan, the Tailban are having second thoughts of cooperating with China. If you add this all up with the property sector defaults and commercial/shadow banking problems it doesn't look good for Xi and his CCP.

The U.S. will avoid a direct confrontation with Iran. The Mossad has been behind the recent assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists and are most likely attempting to sabotage the infrastructure supporting Natanz. If China invades Taiwan, India might be bold enough to move on the disputed border area. You and I can make suppositions, but in the end that is all they are.

Some of these countries are not pushovers. https://www.businessinsider.com/ranked-world-most-powerful-militaries-2023-firepower-us-china-russia-2023-5?utm France gave up on Viet Nam after Dien Bien Phu. If I recall right South Korea sent in 350,000 troops and the Philippines sent medics. Japan has a beef with China over the uninhabited Senkaku Islands and know that Okinawa would be in harms way. Plus, the U.S. has a bunch of military bases scattered through out Japan. The U.S Seventh Fleet is headquartered in Yokosuka and Okinawa has Camp Butler and Kadena AFB.

I suggest you find someone else foolish enough to engage in conversation with you. Go back under your bridge.

I thought you had all the answers. Could be I am mistaken.

Not my fault if you are not informed. Belief is not proof. Neither are opinions.

Coming from you, this comment is no surprise. I think peace through strength applies here. Xi is not ready to take on most of Southeast Asia plus Japan, Australia, Canada, UK, France and the U.S. in an all out war. China's adversary, India is also beefing up its military in the event of hostilities. The push back against China's BRI is just beginning with Italy pulling out and the situation in Pakistan becoming untenable. Even the Taliban in Afghanistan are having second thoughts. Yes things are heating up, but China's troubling economy, unexplained health scare and massive debt may cause China to pull in it's horns.

I agree with you that opinions are changing. News clips and video showing the destruction in Northern Gaza has gained the sympathy of those dismissing that much of this is inevitable if Hamas continues to resist by using their own people as human shields and continues the fight from hideouts in hospitals, schools and residential structures. It was Hamas that violated the last ceasefire after refusing to release any more hostages. There is now talk of flooding the tunnels in Southern Gaza with seawater in an attempt to avoid more civilian casualties. This idea was rejected in Northern Gaza for fear of killing hostages. I said this before, war is hell, but is the price paid if you want to defeat the enemy and end the war.

Thanks. I made the mistake of taking his post seriously. I miss the good, old days of Thaivisa when we seldom had to deal with this tripe.

While it may not be politically correct, and who cares, I totally agree with you. The saying "Money is the root of all evil," has its equal in "Religion is behind all the problems in the world." Religions, like many forms of government are created to control the masses.

Maybe I am having a Biden moment because I am having difficulty understanding your analogy. As a U.S. Navy veteran from Hawaii I have served on ships homeported both at Pearl Harbor and San Diego. The navy destroyers I served on were assigned to Formosa Patrol and as a radioman copied messages containing "serious warnings" from "Red China." We sailed in international waters and I don't recall it considered as setting foot on the Chinese mainland. Our R&R and replenishment port was the Taiwanese port of Kaoshiung. Again, I have difficulty seeing where you are coming from. Care to explain to this old salt?

Are you implying Israeli's patrolling the Red Sea is the same as "set(ting) foot in the country"? Kind of stretching it, like you frequently do.

Sorry, I did not understand it as such. Credit to you that you see the attacks as unprovoked. They are firing missiles blindly and indiscriminately at targets about a thousand miles away in sympathy with Hamas. Both are proxies of Iran, doing the dirty work of their Shia master. And both groups will eventually be destroyed; the Houthis by the Saudis if the U.S. doesn't do it first and Hamas by the Israelis.