rudi49jr

Driving usually also means not being drunk or high on yaba. I suspect that at keast 5 to 10% of Thai drivers, especially after dark, are under the influence of something, judging by how they drive/ride. Either that, or they believe in divine intervention.

Agreed. Russians have been oppressed for centuries, first by the Czars, then by communist dictators and now by Putin and his cronies. So most of them don’t know any better. But many of them do know things are (much) better in the West, what with TV and internet and social media. And I suspect they also know that things could be a lot better in Russia, if only they could find a way to get rid of the oligarch kleptocracy and have some semblance of democracy. But how do you do that when there has never been a large and strong middle class that can bring to bear enough opposition? The only thing they know and have ever known is brutal oppression. How to break through that vicious circle? I have no idea, to be honest. It’s probably going to take some kind of revolution and involve a lot of bloodshed, because Putin and the oligarchs are not going to give up their position of absolute power without a hell of a fight.

Not to mention all the long-term consequences for many people who have had covid. So many people, also many young and perfectly healthy, got covid and are still suffering the consequences, many of them may never be able to have any sort of normal life again, much less work. Could be millions and millions of people.

Why you put pandemic in quotation marks is not quite clear to me. Almost 7 million deaths worldwide so far, and counting. People are still getting sick and dying from covid. More than 1,1 million deaths in the USA alone, almost 700,000 in Brazil. Apropos of nothing, both countries being led at the time by right-wing presidents who completely (and intentionally) dropped the ball on handling the pandemic, and didn’t take it seriously.

Maybe you should work on your reading skills. This is what was said: “If a more democratic, less corrupt and more prosperous Ukraine rises from the ashes of such a deal then the fight may have been worth it” They were talking about the future, hypothetically. But since you brought it up: Zelensky was elected president in a fair and democratic election. When’s the last time there were fair and democratic elections in Russia? There have also been quite a few stories (easy to find on the internet, just google it) of Russian soldiers in Ukraine who were astounded that houses had indoor plumbing, and gas and electricity, which they themselves didn’t have back home. Moreover, they were led to believe (here’s that pesky propaganda again) that Ukrainians were dirt poor and lived like cavemen. And that all Ukrainians were nazi’s.

Well, apparently the propaganda got to you as well. Like I said, just watch RT, or any other state controlled media, and it’s nothing but lies and BS. I don’t care if you believe that or not, but please stop pushing your distorted view of the world, and your belief that everything is hunky dory in Russia. If, like you said, you really believe that the vast majority of the people in Russia appreciate the way things are right now in their country, then there really is nothing I can do for you, other then to recommend to do some research and get your facts straight.

Germany has evidence of war crimes in Ukraine 'in three-digit range' - prosecutor. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/germany-has-evidence-war-crimes-ukraine-in-three-digit-range-prosecutor-2023-02-04/ I’m guessing they will soon be ‘in the four-digit-range’, since there’s a mountain of evidence still to go through.

“where actually is the "propaganda"? “ Just switch on RT. Or whenever Putin or one of his cronies says something. There have been plenty of polls in Russia which show that somewhere between 50 to 80% of the people believe the lies and BS they are told on a daily basis by Russian state media and their pundits. I would call that successful propaganda, wouldn’t you? My own experience with something similar is that, a long time ago, I had a Czech girlfriend, who had fled then Czechoslovakia with her family at the end of the 1970’s, when she was 10 years old. Later her parents told her that, back when they were still in Czechoslovakia, they had been very careful not to discuss any ‘sensitive’ topics in front of their children, for fear that one of them would inadvertently say something about that in school or to a friend. Which would lead to a visit by the secret police and possibly detention or being locked up in a mental institution. I imagine things were not much better in the USSR. I also imagine this is the kind of state that Putin and his henchmen are very much longing to return to.

You MAGA guys really crack me up, praising Trump who continues to take credit for things he has/had absolutely nothing to do with. A negotiated peace will just be a temporary end to the war, because Putin and his cronies have been very clear that they won’t stop. You can not negotiate with psychopathic and megalomaniacal bullies.

Many Russians are apparently brainwashed into believing the regime’s outrageous propaganda. They have, after all, a long history of state propaganda and brutal oppression. I do think, however, that many Russians do care, but they’re just afraid. I’m not sure I’d be man enough to speak my mind if that could cause me to land in jail for up to 15 years. Or worse.

Lot of posters here lack the empathy gene….

That guy should start doing stand-up, he really cracks me up!

“Thailand to reduce the 50-micron of PM2.5 safety standard to 37.5 microns.” They can reduce it to 10 or increase it to 100, it’s not going to change the air pollution one bit. Just one more token measure to look like they’re actually doing something. This is the air pollution index of today. See all the red and purple signs? That means the air is bad, very bad or extremely bad. And this is just the beginning of the burning season, just wait until April.

No proof? There’s video of the school director taking the money.

I think it’s quite clear that Putin and his clique live on another planet, in a totally different ‘reality’, so there’s no telling what they will do. IMO, any negotiated peace with Russia won’t be worth the paper it’s written on, since Russia has proven that it simply can not be trusted. If not by attacking Poland or the Baltics, they will want to find another way to screw things up for the West. It’s what they have been doing for years already, and they won’t stop.

Maybe the negotiated peace will actually happen, who knows. But then next year Russia is going to want to take the rest of Ukraine. And the year after that the Baltics. And then Poland. And so on and so forth. So a negotiated peace is not a viable solution. The only solution is to defeat Russia, and to make damned sure they will think twice before trying to invade a neighboring country again for no reason.

So you are okay with a school director stealing lunch money from the kids in is school? Of course palm greasing is nothing new, but in Thailand it seems to have become a sport to see who can sink the lowest and think of the most disgusting ways to steal money from people, even if they’re just little kids. And this has nothing to do with jealousy on my part, just anger and outrage that people can stoop so low. I just can’t stand it when someone in a position of power abuses that power to steal money, just makes my blood boil.

Maybe he got pledges, but most of the actual spending didn’t really come about. That only happened when Russia invaded Ukraine. But hey, whatever floats your boat.

This is, among other things, what Putin said today in his speech in Volgograd (Stalingrad until 1962): "Unfortunately we see that the ideology of Nazism in its modern form and manifestation again directly threatens the security of our country," Putin told an audience of army officers and members of local patriotic and youth groups. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-expected-channel-stalingrad-victory-key-moment-ukraine-war-2023-02-02/

Literally everybody who’s anybody in this country is on the take. It is such a deeply corrupt country, and I don’t just mean that everyone’s on the take, but also morally corrupt, just one big mess of greedy b@stards who don’t give a flying **** who they have to screw over to rake in even more money. It really is quite sickening, and there is zero chance of this stopping any time soon, the whole system is just rotten to the core.

How is it even possible that this guy is still breathing? Not that I wish anything bad to happen to him, but you would think that the powers that be - the RTP in particular- would want to shut this guy up for good quite desperately.

That is the whole problem, being in the RTP is just very profitable. That’s why people are willing to pay millions of baht to get higher up in the hierarchy, because the higher up you get, the more money you rake in. It’s basically just one big Ponzi scheme.

There is plenty of evidence of torture by Russian troops, hundreds of accounts of victims, and plenty of intercepted phone calls from Russian soldiers to their loved ones back home. At least the Russian guy in this video has the decency to apologize.

Things are becoming weirder and weirder in Russia: Stalin Monument Unveiled to Mark 80th Anniversary of Stalingrad Victory. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/02/01/stalin-monument-unveiled-to-mark-80th-anniversary-of-stalingrad-victory-a80113 It does make sense, though, that Putin would advocate the revival of worshiping one of the most vicious dictators ever.

I’m very cynical when it comes to Thailand and its future with such a corrupt system, it just seems to get worse and worse. Or maybe it’s been this bad all along and more comes to light now. Singapore used to be quite corrupt as well, until Lee Kuan Yew came to power in 1959 and cleaned house. And I mean he cleaned house like nobody’s business: Singapore is now number 5 in the corruption index. That is a huge accomplishment. I’m not saying I was a big fan of Lee Kuan Yew, I don’t really like autocratic leaders, but this is one thing he got right, and which was very good for the country. So it is possible to turn a corrupt country around, it just takes strong leadership, determination and probably a lot of time. I’m not holding my breath when it comes to Thailand, though….