Denim

Unfortunately just got mine on Thursday in Petchabun so missed the offer.

The India mast trees look like this and as stated can make a nice wall of green.

Desertion threatens to starve Ukraine's forces at a crucial time in its war with Russia https://www.yahoo.com/news/desertion-threatens-starve-ukraines-forces-052438561.html KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Desertion is starving the Ukrainian army of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia, which could put Kyiv at a clear disadvantage in future ceasefire talks. Facing every imaginable shortage, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops, tired and bereft, have walked away from combat and front-line positions to slide into anonymity, according to soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials. Entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, according to military commanders and soldiers. Some take medical leave and never return, haunted by the traumas of war and demoralized by bleak prospects for victory. Others clash with commanders and refuse to carry out orders, sometimes in the middle of firefights. “This problem is critical,” said Oleksandr Kovalenko, a Kyiv-based military analyst. “This is the third year of war, and this problem will only grow.”

Putins bus don't forget and he is the driver. The many dead definitely won't haunt Putin.

Kellog should stick to making cornflakes. With Russias economy in dire straights Ukraine would never agree to such a plan. Gives Russia way too much.

The guardian link shows a video. It's in the block of links posted

Russian central bank takes desperate stand to halt collapsing ruble and fierce inflation https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/russian-central-bank-takes-desperate-153347276.html In a bid to stave off red-hot inflation, Russia's central bank halted all foreign currency purchases for the remainder of the year, while actively selling Chinese yuan, in hopes of propping up the ruble. The ruble—currently worth a fraction of a penny—hit lows on Wednesday not seen since the start of the Ukraine war.

But she might answer with : Sorry , I don't wash other people's smalls.

The first one looks perfect. Without looking at the specs I can see only 1 horsepower so very economical. Plus I can get free fodder and later sell the poo. Win win.

In this heat , with wife on back ? Pass. I should have clarified. Horse and trap with minimum 2 seats , roof and air con. My bad.

Can you recommend a good horse and trap dealer ?

No problem. Just show the Palestinian flag on Monday and Wednesday, the star of David on Tuesday and Thursday , a Ukrainian flag on Fridays, Taiwanese flag on Saturdays then all take the knee on Sundays. Everybody happy .

Maybe not. I remember this extract from Mark Twains ' Following the Equator ' while he was traveling in Australia : Sir George Grey and Mr. Eyre testify that the natives dug wells fourteen or fifteen feet deep and two feet in diameter at the bore--dug them in the sand--wells that were "quite circular, carried straight down, and the work beautifully executed." Their tools were their hands and feet. How did they throw sand out from such a depth? How could they stoop down and get it, with only two feet of space to stoop in? How did they keep that sand-pipe from caving in on them? I do not know. Still, they did manage those seeming impossibilities. Swallowed the sand, may be.

Russia's ruble drops to more than a 2-year low against the dollar on fresh sanctions and surging tensions Russia's ruble continued to weaken against the dollar on Monday, trading at 104 against the greenback. The currency is now at its weakest level versus the dollar since March 2022, when Russia first began its invasion of Ukraine. Investors were spooked after the US imposed fresh restrictions on Russia's Gazprombank on Thursday, which, up until last week, had been the last major Russian bank that hadn't yet been blacklisted by the US. The new restrictions limit Gazprombank's ability to participate in global financial trade and also prevent the bank from handling transactions related to energy trade, meaning European customers are unable to pay for Russian gas. The latest restrictions are adding to concern over Moscow's weakening economy, which has been battered by Western sanctions since the start of the Ukraine war. Russia's energy revenue fell by nearly a quarter last year, thanks partly to Western trade restrictions including a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian oil. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/russias-ruble-drops-more-2-000303626.html Trending now on Russian social networks. Festive cabbage soup recipes for Christmas dinner.

I have a manual transmission so easily and cheaply repaired anywhere. However when my friends auto started playing up the mechanic ( same one as mine ) did the same and shipped it off for repair. But not Bangkok. somewhere in Nakorn Sawang.

I could be very wrong but I just can't see either side dropping a nuke on Petchabun. I have poured over google maps looking for something of strategic value but so far nothing. So . Are we safe in Petchabun ? I think so. Safer here than back in Europe . So really .....what it boils down to is how much of a nut case is Putin ? Admit defeat and push the button. I don't think so. He is winning it on the front lines , albeit at terrible human and economic cost so it seems probable that he will just keep grinding away at it whilst acting like a rattle snake making loud noises to sow doubt in his enemies while he nibbles away at Ukrainian territory. Trump can pontificate but both sides might choose to put him on ignore.

Putin and many Russians do not recognise Ukraine as a free and independant country with the right to make its own decisions. Putin has said that he regards Ukraine both now and historically as an integral part of Russia or rather the Russian sphere of influence. He does not regard the subjugation of Ukraine as a conquest but rather an operation to bring a recalcitrant province back into line. He hoped to achieve this early in the war by converging on Kiev , overthrowing the government and replacing it with one more on the Belorussian model. Unfortunately for him , many Ukrainians have had enough of Russian hegemomy and want complete and absolute independance. Many Ukrainians look at the Holodomor , where millions of Ukrainians died of starvation , as Russias fault. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor So for this and many other reasons , Ukraine wants its independance , just as the USA broke away from the UK or the South American countries gave Spain and Portugal the boot. Sick of being exploited. As for NATO expansion, there is not a single NATO country that has been forced by military means to join up. They have all asked to join as protection against historical Russian expansion and empire building. When people talk about escalation they should remember that it was Putin that started this , not NATO. That is a hard an inescapable fact. He wants to be able to send missiles into Ukraine and destroy civilian infrastructure ( escalation ) but when Ukraine is finally given the limited go ahead to respond in kind he and others have the ignorant timerity to call it an escalation by the Ukrainins. And there are many useless idiots like Joe Rogan who gobble up Putins propagander as though it were manna from heaven. In any event, it looks like 2025 could be the crunch year. How the map will look when the dust has settled remains to be seen. The Siberians are also getting tired of Russian exploitation.

Another ' red line ' crossed by Putin and a further escalation yet nobody cares or comments but if South Korea contemplates sending weapons to Ukraine Putin has a hissy fit. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1ee8x221lno The Russian leader was speaking in Vietnam, shortly after a lavish visit to Pyongyang where he signed a mutual defence agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Two cockroaches chumming up. No surprise there.

Come on. Don't hold back. Get it off your chest and say what you feel.

They won't be beating the record set by Liz Truss with her very popular mini budget. 50 days to beat. It is said if you pay peanuts you get monkeys, We seem to be getting very well paid monkeys.

Of course its not going to happen but if there were an election Labour would be out on its ear double quick. There are probably a lot of poor people and benefit scroungers who thought voting for labor would improve their finances. They must be crying into their cups of tea by now.

Hamas were well aware of what the Israeli action would be following October 7th. They knew Palestinian blood would flow in buckets and widespread destruction of Gaza would occur. They evidently thought that this was an unfortunate but acceptable price to pay for whipping up anti Israeli sentiment around the globe. In that sense , Israel is just following Hamas's game plan......and some.

Every dog has his day and Sondhi has had his.

Put another way. A man starts receiving his state pension. He stays in the UK for 4 years and receives the annual increase. He then honestly informs the DWP that he is retiring to Thailand. The question therefore is , if he retires to Thailand does he receive his pension plus the annual increases or , once he departs the UK does his pension drop back to his original first amount ? What a can of worms !