rudi49jr

You have made it abundantly clear that you don’t want any further escalation of this war, and also that ‘this is not your war’. So what do you propose we do now? Because no further escalation is a ship that sailed when Russia invaded Ukraine. It sailed even more when Russia started to indiscriminately capture, torture and execute Ukrainian citizens, and later started bombing Ukrainian infrastructure, so the people would have no water, gas, electricity and heat. Not to mention Putin’s use of the Wagner Group, Prigozhin’s private evil army of mercenaries. Giving in to Russian demands would be madness, because that would be rewarding them for invading Ukraine, and encouraging them - next year, or the year after that - to go after the rest of Ukraine, and then the Baltic states, and then Poland, and so on and so forth. You can keep repeating that you don’t want any further escalation until you’re blue in the face, but if you don’t have a realistic idea of how to end this war in another way, that doesn’t do much good, does it? So what would be your solution to end this war, without giving in to Russia? Honest question.

They are. I have no idea why they haven’t been kicked out of the EU years ago. Victor Orban and his clan have a death grip on the country and it’s time they’re ousted.

Even Serbia, one of Moscow’s closest allies, has had enough: Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has condemned Russian mercenary force Wagner for trying to recruit soldiers from his country after the group ran a local media advertisement for Serbs to fight in Ukraine. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/17/serbia-slams-russias-wagner-group-for-ukraine-recruitment-bid

That’s not really the point, is it?

Kremlin mouthpiece and number one liar liar pants on fire continues with his ridiculous nonsense and propaganda: the West (i.e. USA) is looking for a ‘final solution’ for Russia, similar to Hitler’s goal. You really can’t make that sh*t up, and it’s a mystery to me how anyone can believe that BS.

I think the US settled on the dollar to worship first, and god only a distant second.

I never said all of you, I said “many Americans”. I know there are quite a few very savvy Americans who have a good sense of humor, and they know America is not at all perfect, and certainly not ‘the best country in the world’ or ‘god’s own country’, as many Americans seem to believe.

The white supremacy should already have come to and end, because everybody knows that we all hail from somewhere in Africa, a couple of thousand generations ago. So every white supremacist has black ancestors, but they just refuse to believe that and make up their own reality. They also don’t care that native Americans were/are the original inhabitants of the continent.

Quite right. It’s very important to be able to laugh about yourself from time to time, not always take yourself too seriously. Many Americans to me seem irony or sarcasm impaired, as well as thin skinned when anyone dares criticize (either real or perceived) America and/or Americans

You have a funny way (sarcasm alert) of interpreting my posts. From what I have seen so far from the Shin clan, they don’t give a toss about Thailand or the Thai people, they only care about money and power. So I have no reason to believe it will be different this time, if Paetongtarn were to be elected as PM. That’s why I said I KNOW that that would not be good for Thai people. Like putting your foot in a live bear trap: you just know that is not going to end well. But, like I said before, that is just my opinion.

How did I denigrate anyone? You really read way too much in what I said. It’s not because I don’t like certain persons (although I really don’t like the Shin clan), but it’s because I know they’re not going to be good for Thailand and its people when elected, only good for themselves. So I think it would not be good for Thai people if they voted for Paetongtarn. That is my opinion. Is it okay with you to state my opinion here? Jeez.

While the official Mae Sot border may have been closed for three years, I’m sure there have been many ‘informal’ border crossings to get people and goods across.

I always wonder why so many southerners (especially Texans) wear those ten gallon cowboy hats indoors. I can understand - to a certain degree - why they wear them outdoors, but why on earth would you wear a huge hat like that indoors?

Putin orders new commander to seize Donbas by March. So I’m guessing we’re going to see another change in command at the beginning of April…

Almost all Americans that I ever met can not stop talking, they just talk all the time, about the most inane and trivial things. I was on Ko Phi Phi once, and some people had gathered on a hill overlooking the sea to watch the sunset. It was rather beautiful, it was quiet and peaceful, and when someone said something it was in a very low voice or a whisper. Then two young American women showed up and they sat down, didn’t even look at the sunset and just continued their loud conversation, that we had already heard coming towards us for a couple of minutes as they made their way up the hill. After about five minutes of them yacking it up I asked them, very politely, if they could please be quiet, as we were trying to enjoy the sunset. They looked at me as if I had insulted them deeply, immediately got up and left in a huff. Don’t get me wrong, I have several American friends and I love them dearly, but sometimes I wish I could tape their mouths shut for just a little while.

Where did I say that I support coups over voting? Stop making things up. All I said was that if Paetongtarn becomes PM, her daddy will be very happy to be able to milk that cash cow again, and that it will not be good for the people of Thailand.

I met my Thai wife around that time, so I can vouch for that….

“Paetongtarn Shinawatra says she is ready to be Pheu Thai’s PM candidate.” Of course she is. And when she becomes PM, her daddy will have another puppet in power, just as he did when Yingluck was PM. And they will be laughing all the way to the bank. And the people of Thailand, again, will be left holding the short end of the stick. But that’s probably going to be the case anyway, no matter who becomes PM.

What you call ‘straightening the news’ is spinning the news to suit your narrative. And as for not supporting the war (the Russian side of it, that is): almost all of your previous posts suggest otherwise.

So firing missiles at an ‘energy equipment’ is perfectly okay with you? Millions of people having no gas, electricity or heat in the dead of winter is perfectly okay with you? And you wonder why the Ukrainians hate Russia so much….

And Putin said the military operation in Ukraine is going well and has gained positive momentum. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-says-it-launched-missile-strikes-against-ukraine-saturday-2023-01-15/ "Everything is developing within the framework of the plan of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff. And I hope that our fighters will please us even more with the results of their combat," Putin said. If anyone needs either a bullet between the eyes or a quick trip to the ICJ in The Hague, it’s Russia’s number one war criminal Putin. It’s incredible that countries like China and India are still not condemning Russia, and it’s still ‘business’ as usual, as far as these countries are concerned.

It hasn’t been called the war minister in any Western European country since WWII, but the minister of defense. In Russia, though, it is literally the ministry and minister of war. See the difference?

Looking at all the war crimes Russia is committing in Ukraine, this is arguably one of the more heinous ones: That’s 2,000 kids abducted in just over 10 days. Makes you wonder how many they took last year. Must be in the tens of thousands. Russia really is a terrorist state and needs to be treated and isolated as such.

You can’t compare Vietnam and Ukraine, that’s apples and oranges, two completely different kettles of fish. Vietnam was a war that the USA ventured into knowingly and willingly, they chose to do so. Ukraine is a war started by Russia, nothing to do with the USA or NATO or whatever. No one forced Russia to invade Ukraine, not the USA, not NATO, not the EU. This is Russia’s war by choice, and the West has every right to help Ukraine defend themselves And please spare me the crocodile tears, because if it were up to you, Ukraine would have had to sign a ‘peace treaty’ with Russia long ago, giving up significant parts of its territory to Russia. But as has been repeated many times in this thread: you can not negotiate with a lunatic, and that ‘peace treaty’ would have been worthless. Putin and his clique have made it abundantly clear that they want to restore the old USSR, so it would only be a matter of time before they made a move on the rest of Ukraine, and then the Baltic states, and then Poland, and so on and so forth. The only way to remove that threat is to defeat Russia, and unfortunately for Ukraine they’re going to have to do that. With as much help from the West as is necessary. So please quit your whining about Ukraine not having to pay back for all the aid they’re receiving, because they are doing you and the rest of the world a huge service.