jcsmith

The whole bit about throwing it only as a warning rubs me the wrong way. Is that the example teachers want to give to the youth? When things don't go your way just start breaking things? I'd like to break a few things on the teacher.

6 hours ago, car720 said:

 

I don't think that it is beyond belief to believe that America has agendas everywhere.  The question that people are beginning to ask is just why their interests are more important than other's interests.

They certainly do, along with every other country (be it trade partnerships, diplomatic agreements, military treaties, etc). Their interests aren't more important than other's interests, but they aren't just taking things (with the exception of Iraq which was pretty undefensible). They are providing support (financially, militarily, trade wise) in exchange for things that further their own interests. Both parties agree to these things. American interests may not line up with interests of some other nations, but countries (and people in general) are going to go with the option that they feel is the best deal for them. Everyone plays the same game.

2 hours ago, lovelomsak said:

So you are saying the only threat is to South Korea. So what the hell business is it of the USA they should get the hell out of there and mind their own business

 2 small countries way up north fighting let them duke it out or does America have other issues or agendas?

See here's where I have a problem with your posts. South Korea wants America there. America provides them with protection, and it is a relationship that has lasted for many decades. Of course if it were your country in danger of being invaded or nuked, I'm sure you would be more than happy to have their protection.

Does anybody really like the idea of North Korea having nuclear weapons? World wide it is condemned by pretty much everyone with the exception of China. If you want to beat up the anti-american drum as usual, it seems like your picking a peculiar case to do it in. 

No matter what America did you would make some post about them having agendas and looking for their own self interests. Of course they do, all countries are going to look for their own self interest. That does not mean that partnerships can not be mutually beneficial, if they were not there would be no reason for anyone to work together. Unless you want anarchy, this is how the world works. Welcome to reality.

3 hours ago, TEFLKrabi said:

 

Hopefully they'll be free to pursue Bush and Blair for similar crimes

The nazis were burning people alive, using them for slave labor.  In what way were their crimes similar? I'm against things like what happened in Guantanamo Bay, but let's not pretend that is anything at all like what happened in Auschwitz.

5 hours ago, lovelomsak said:

Looks like all the previous posters are Americano right. What has American intervention really done for the Phillippines? Still poor,still have many problems. America is there for America's interests same as they are in Thailand for American interests. Maybe people are tired of America and their we are here for you face well robbing them from behind and hindering them. And Duterte is telling America just that.

This is the same world wide in any country of the world. They all look for their own self interest, and alliances are held together by mutual self interests. The only difference is that America is the most powerful country in the world, and as a result they receive a lot more criticism as they have a lot of influence. 

@DeaconJohn: I was in the Navy when they shut down Subic Bay in the early 90s. They definitely left. I suppose you can count some army soldiers near embassies, or smaller presences, but America left the PI and only recently came back.

5 hours ago, tomwct said:

Looking at this guy with his tank top and tattoos, I would have refused him entry into

Yeah because everyone with tattoos has to be a criminal of some sort right? Get over yourself.

No votes for madmen.

42 minutes ago, Anthony5 said:

 

So make someone swim in dirty water is assault these days?

 

Never been in the army I guess.

 

PC reaching never seen levels, only on Thaivisa.

Gee, my dad used to put out cigarettes on my face, now someone tries it and everyone gets all PC about the issue. What are you <deleted> kidding me? A kid is in a coma.

On 9/9/2016 at 6:08 AM, Boon Mee said:

The Donald came out the clear winner hands down...

Says the guy with a Trump picture in his icon...

This is a step in the right direction, and as such hard to complain. It's better than nothing. However, if a different administration had put it into power we'd be hearing grumbles about populist policies. 

1 hour ago, sharecropper said:

 

Rejoice. Rejoice at that news!

 

(This comment has been made in support of an almost-democratically elected 'government' which is just fantastic.)

What qualifies this government as almost-democratic? In what way is it at all democratic? It illegally grabbed power, then bypasses the legal system to enforce certain things, while ignoring certain other things (hello Suthep). There was never an election of any sort and doesn't seem like there will be one in a very long time. That's not democracy not even almost-democracy, it's something else entirely.

5 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

There have been many court proceedings already.  Lots of information has been gathered.  I hear what you are saying, but without S44, it might be 20 years before justice is served.  like in the Sondhi case.  If she's not guilty, then she has nothing to worry about.

And they need to let the court proceedings play out and have a fair trial. Otherwise it will only look like a Witch Hunt and an unelected government imposing rules that they make to take money that they may not be entitled to.

Will, if S44 be invoked, cause a lot of backlash? It has already been used numerous times and how would the backlash occur? haven't seen too much backlash yet.

What exactly are you wanting to see? People fighting in the street? That would be pretty one sided considering the people who are doing wrong in this case are the military themselves. Internationally though it would be another black eye for this regime. 

Whatever you think about her responsibility or whether or not she should be paying anything, if they invoke Section 44 for this, there's going to be a lot of backlash. It would be the equivalent of bypassing the legal system to take money from someone else without oversight which would be the equivalent of theft in the eyes of many.

Trump needed Mexico because he needs minority voters and he's extremely disliked among them. So he's going to Mexico and smiling while telling them they need to pay for a wall, dancing at black churches, etc. Trying to con people into voting for him. Hillary has those voters already.

3 hours ago, joeyg said:

Deal hard drugs.  Should be executed.  Now before you jump on me.  Think of how you'd feel if one of your children got addicted or died from his drugs.  That's what I thought...

 

To Note: Ecstasy is not a hard drug. It is not physically addicting, does not cause violence (quite the opposite), and has anti-addictant properties which make it more or less worthless to do frequently (doing so destroys half of the effect). It's also not a dangerous drug provided that you drink plenty of water (ecstasy overdoses are not really overdoses, they are people overheating as it tends to raise your body temperature and people often do it while dancing at clubs and don't hydrate properly). 

That having been said, with 60 and 200 pills, they were obviously selling the drug and that has a cost. Life is obviously excessive though.

With regards to the Thaksin comparison, I can't say much about what's going on in the PI, not familiar enough about the situation. Duterte's attitude during the whole situation certainly has not helped his case. In the case of what happened here though under Thaksin I don't think it was a case of police being ordered to execute traffickers, it was the case of the police covering their tracks when the crack downs occurred. 

12 hours ago, LawrenceChee said:

USA has no business telling him what to do ...as a first world country they have a shit record in human rights and respecting their own citizens and preventing police brutality

Care to enlighten us on what that long list of human rights violations is? Sounds like your parroting something you read on facebook. Police brutality, sure, like many countries that's an issue. Has nothing to do with the central government. 

Thai politicians throw around the term "populist policy" like it's a bad thing. As if catering to the elite while ignoring the needs of the general population is the way to go. Now certainly people need to be wary of making promising for things that can not be effectively implemented, but the government's responsibility is to improve the life of their citizens. Not just to line the pockets of the already wealthy.

Just another excuse to hold on to power.

9 hours ago, MajarTheLion said:

I suspect the only thing that can deny her the White House is if Julian Assange releases the goods and they are as advertised. Of course, even if the emails explicitly show Hillary armed ISIS, there will be a strong contingent of her worshipers who will insist it means nothing. I suspect Hillary talking to the low information voters via her interview with (whomever had her open the jar, I can't remember) about her boring emails is a preemptive effort to get people to not care if it is shown she armed the most savage terrorist organization on the planet. Or perhaps they'll simply blame George W. Bush.

I think the bottom line is that unless Trump drops out of the race, Hillary will be elected. She's by far the lesser of two evils by way of Trump being completely incompetent and more dangerous to boot.

10 hours ago, dageurreotype said:

The point is the indigenous populations are feeling more and more uneasy about having these imports in their midst, not surprising given past and ongoing events. Perhaps it's time these countries' governments take a leaf out of this particular country's book and put their own citizens first. At least they were elected to do so.

Putting their own citizens first shouldn't involve things like segregation, insulting (or worse) others with provocation, etc. Things like this incident do not solve anything, they only fuel more resentment and hate, which only serves as a recruiting tool for the radical groups.

The problem with what is starting to happen in a few countries is that these closet racists are starting to get brave, and it's a lot easier for them to do so when you have people like Trump out there. So closet racists are becoming overt racists, and this is only going to make the problem larger. Nothing good will come from the hate, it will only reciprocate hate (and possibly violence). The only way to stop that cycle is for people to wake the hell up and get their brains out of the 1700s.

On 8/26/2016 at 4:37 PM, Jingthing said:

Blah blah blah. Already know. It's not so much liking Clinton as seeing trump as an existential danger to the American nation. 

I'd say he's a danger to the world if he managed to get elected (which is doubtful).

39 minutes ago, kingstonkid said:

The problem that I see with legalizing Mary jane is that it will add to the unemployment.  Very hard to drive a cab or work when you are stoned.  It will also invite a subculture that Thailand is trying to get rid of.  Imagine the number of stonies that would come here for the cheap smoke and go overstay.

It's also hard to drive a cab or work when you are drunk. It isn't something that people should be doing, and there should be laws to prevent that.

I would never recommend driving while intoxicated or stoned. I think in some types of jobs, a drug like marijuana can help aid the creativity process. It does certainly hurt with short term memory loss, and is more difficult to stay focused, which pretty much makes it a no go with many types of jobs. I find it useful when brainstorming though, and it makes things like programming more enjoyable. You can code longer for example, though you will lose some time now and again from losing your attention.

I think in cases such as that though, weed should be treated the same as alcohol. You shouldn't be driving while stoned, and you shouldn't do it at work. What people do in their own homes though should be up to them so long as they aren't negatively affecting other people. Legalizing Marijuana would not only bring in revenue and tourists. I doubt it would ever happen though. Certainly not with the junta in charge. 

$100k and nearly a month in jail for criticisizing something, and we wonder how it passed.

You can walk into most shopping centers, and just about any open market and buy pirated movies or music. It's so accepted that you see pictures of celebrities at the shops sometimes. How in the world do they expect this to happen realistically?