spidermike007

There is a very simple solution to this problem. If the authorities were interested in solutions. The burning has to stop. There are alternatives, to this 19th century technique of burning after the sugar cane harvest. Either the government starts to encourage farmers to switch to more environmentally friendly crops, or they start to penalize farmers for burning. This heinous burning, is leading to a tremendous degree of environmental degradation, and alot of lung disease. So here is what I propose-

1. Fine the farmers 5,000 baht for a first offense, and give them a stern warning, that burning is now prohibited, and the second fine will be very harsh.

2. For a second offense, fine the farmer 100,000 baht, and warn them that if the burning continues, their land will be confiscated.

3. On the 3rd offense, confiscate their land. Period. No questions. No legal proceeding or appeals on the part of the farmers. Allow others to come in and purchase the land at a fair price, with the caveat that sugar is prohibited as a crop to be grown on that land. 

The news would travel faster than the toxic smoke, and farmers would change their ways overnight, and move into the 21st century. There are so many alternatives to sugar, which is a blight on the nation.

Same applies to burning trash. Fine the perpetrators. Fine the hell out of the villagers. Impose 1,000 fines for a first time offense. Payable on the spot. You do not have the cash. Borrow it. You cannot borrow it, ok will will confiscate your vehicle until you can pay. We are serious. What you are doing is wrong. Second time offense, 10,000 baht. Three strikes and you lose your home and land. You were warned!

The word would get around. The only way you can convince a tribal people to take the environment seriously, is out of fear. No matter how much they profess to love their nation, they continue to trash it, at an alarming level, without the tiniest thought of the consequences. Scare them into doing the right thing.

6 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Yes, when pressed by Chris Wallace - but Larry did back-peddle slightly to appease his boss by saying "both sides" pay....the tariff two-step.

 

A bit like Mexico paying for the wall one imagines. I think trump knows he's lying, but maybe he's just not that smart?

 

 

Trump is just smart enough to know he is lying, and that his deceptions work with the most gullible amongst his devotees. However, he is not smart enough to know that the majority within the US, and 97% around the world consider him to be a gangster, a fraud, a total charlatan, and someone who cares not one iota for the average American, much less the average man and woman outside of the US.

Trump negotiating with China, is a bit like Justin Bieber in a science debate with Stephen Hawking or Alan Guth. Or Pauly Shore negotiating with Bill Richardson, the former ambassador to the UN, and governor of New Mexico. It would be like Shia LeBoeuf or Lindsay Lohan playing chess with Boris Spassky, or Bobby Fischer. The lowliest member of the Chinese delegation would outclass Trump, Bolton, Miller, Ross, Mnuchin, Kudlow, Lighthizer, or Navarro, by 30-50 IQ points. Not to mention skill, vision, and fortitude. As is typical of this president, he always picks from the bottom of the barrel, and due to both his temperament, and his willingness to throw those loyal to him under the bus, at the first sign of challenge, he is simply not able to attract real talent and intellect. That is perhaps one of his greatest failings as a leader. Add to that the fact that the man himself cannot negotiate his way out of a paper bag, and you have a disaster in the making.

At least Kudrow had the integrity to expose Trumps lies yesterday, about the tariffs being good for the American economy. They are an unmitigated disaster. They are a huge tax hike on the average American, and most American corporations. Lie number 10.001 failed, as have the rest of his low quality, low class, simpleton tactics. At this stage, only his most hard core devotees, are continuing to drink the kool aid. 

Always about saving face. Face is no doubt, the greatest form of weakness, a human can engage in. Many will say it is societal, cultural, etc. No matter. It is the absolute and complete lack of the ability to introspect, and look within for the source of any problem, shortcoming, conflict, or issue. It is the polar opposite of spirituality, and therefore an absolute scourge on Buddha, and all of the precepts he taught. By practicing face, you are denying your spiritual heritage. You are refusing to man up. To take responsibility for your actions. If a man or a woman cannot, and will not take responsibility for their actions, the problems they create, the mistakes they make, and the issues they involve themselves in, what are they? Are they still an adult? Are they a complete individual, if they allow themselves to be limited by such infinitely small social convention? 

Who cares what people think of you? For those of us with high self esteem, it just does not matter. Sure, close friends and family. But strangers on the street? Who gives a rat's butt about this? It means nothing what they think, nor what they say about you. They count for nothing. They are just people, and people you do not know, nor will ever see again. Face is rife with self doubt, and by subscribing to this weakness, and man or woman is made a far lesser person. For those of us with high self esteem, we know who we are. What others think, what society thinks, what a guy or gal thinks, means less than zero.

Real men or women, simply own a situation, and take responsibility for their errors or mistakes. Small men, social deviants, or emotional adolescents deflect, obfuscate, attempt to confuse, and do everything in their power to deny that they made a mistake, or that they are responsible in any way, or on any level. They make up narratives about fake news, or alternative facts. Anything to avoid looking within, for the source of the problem. Anything.

3 hours ago, Benroon said:

Good grief - I cannot recall ever cringing as much when I read that !

 

I personally have never been pushed around by anyone male or female, in business or relationships and yet I don't feel a need to be 'boss' at home! Its a partnership not a dictatorship, well to mature grown ups it is anyway. Presumably you mourn the abolition of slavery ?

 

It must be coincidence that all the caveman type macho heroes on here that have marriage issues or who lose their wives to the first handy man that comes along and treats them with respect have that caveman attitude - odd that right ?

 

The aforementioned cavemen also like to quote success rates of thai/foreigner relationships at less than 1%, all end in failure, only after your money etc etc (yet never ever anything to back it up) yet again quite bizarrely I'm probably aware of around 30ish of the aforementioned relationships and without exception all are very happy - I don't know of one divorcing couple. When we throw a party kids will be laughing everywhere, the wives will be making some horrendous noise into a karaoke machine and the guys will be as distant as possible to the racket with a cold beer in their hands - then everyone goes home happy. How weird is that that mature people that treat each other as equals can be happy ???

 

You know, I really think maturity could be the key. 

An assertive man, who knows his place in the world is a caveman, huh? Sounds like Western women have done a very good job training you. Glad it is working out for you.

42 minutes ago, 55Jay said:

IMO, the aw shit turning point in this scenario isn't mobilizing US assets INTO the Gulf, including the big show of landing B52s on Qatar.  Nope.  Too close. 

 

It's when you see them moving OUT of the Gulf.  CENTCOM FWD on Qatar, and the 5th Fleet/COMUSNAVCENT on Bahrain in particular, are within slingshot range of Iran.

 

5th Fleet Admiral/staff will designate a temporary flag ship and mobilize to sea.  USN will fight from stand off positions in the N. Arabian Sea/near-Indian Ocean, taking out Iran's missile batteries and Naval assets/logistics/facilities in and around the Straits and coastline.  US air strikes and resupply from Diego Garcia and other Near-Asian footprints, Eastern Med/Middle East positions, as well as minor APODS and SPODS along the NAS/IO coast, Djibouti. Kenya, etc.  Fujairah, Oman are (closer in) beachheads with airfields, and are also backdoor land-side routes into UAE if the Strait is fouled/mined. 

 

Iran talks a lot of s**t but they also tend to *blink* first.

 

Wild cards being response/actions from Russia and China.

And Iran will retaliate in a way that will make America wish it had been wiser, more prudent, and a nation with some vision, and a real leader. Iran has the capability to cripple the US. Between their cyber capabilities, and their ideological willingness to fund a massive degree of terror, on US soil. The fact is, invading Iran could be the biggest mistake, in the history of the USA.

What are the end goals with regard to Iran? We encouraged the formation of democracy in Egypt, Libya and Algeria. How is that working out? We did the same in Iraq and Afghanistan. Do they even want our democracy? Are they ready for it, within the region? Is it worth the $7billion or so we have spent, the thousands of American and allied lives, and the hundreds of thousands of civilian lives that have been lost in the battle? Long term prospects for the region? What are they? 

Even Israel, which calls itself a democracy, is at best an apartheid state, that suppresses it's non Jewish population with an iron fist. We encouraged democracy in Cambodia and Burma. How is that working out? Autocratic, multi billionaire serial killing strongmen in both nations, though Burma still poses as a democracy, and most liberals buy into it.

The US has horrific foreign policy. It has for decades now. And with bullies and dimwits like Bolton and Pompeo in charge of foreign policy, and Trump at the helm, the US is completely lost. 

Musk is an out of control maniac. An obviously clever man, but one with an outsized ego, and little common sense. He deserves what is coming, and one can only hope he pays dearly, for slandering the name of a good man, needlessly, and based entirely on perceived petty ego bruising. Musk knew nothing about the cave structure, yet pretended to be an expert. When he was corrected, he went ballistic. If he were not so successful, and apparently smart, I would have to say he is a moron. 

The unfortunate part of this lawsuit, is that Musk has alot of cash to throw at a legal team, and the bigger guy usually wins in the US. Not always the case though. Let us hope Musk gets his butt handed to him.

If there is one thing you can count on from this hapless army, is that they will never, ever appoint anyone based on merit, and always appoint someone based on cronyism, connections, support, or family ties. 

The Thai army. Moving the nation backwards at a breath taking and astonishing pace. 

Trump may be way over his head on this one. First, he is harming the world economy, at a time when he has failed dismally with Chinese trade negotiations. This will drive up oil prices, at a time when that is just not needed. Gasoline is already $4.50 a gallon in Southern California. Second, he just does not know what he is dealing with, in regard to Iran. They could seriously hurt the US. In a very big way. If provoked too hard, they might retaliate. They have tremendous cyber capabilities. It is possible they are good enough to cripple the entire Pentagon satellite system. They have billions to spend, they could resort to selling their oil on the black market, to continue to fund a war of terror against mainland USA, and they could create the kind of havoc the US has never seen. If this ever broke out into all out war, the Iranians could end up costing the US trillions. They would farm out terror to the lowest bidder. They are not to be underestimated. Something Trump regularly does. And something the US has been doing for decades with its adversaries. Just look at Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Some of the adventures the US has been involved in lately. How have they worked out? And with a men as inferior, as dull, and as non visionary as Pompeo and Bolton, he has alot to fear.

This will historically be referred to as one of the largest tax hikes in history, on the American people. What Trump gave to the corporations as a huge tax break, he has now taken back. One of the problems with this administration, is that Trump has a bottom of the barrel approach, when it comes to hiring talent. He cannot attract the best, as he is the last person in the world, they would want to work for, or represent. So, he gets who he can, and they are typically the Ross, Mnuchin, Carson, Sanders, Conway, Barr, Gerrish, Miller types, of seriously low quality, bottom of the line individuals. 

So, to put these negotiators in the room with the Chinese, it is no wonder they could not come up with any solutions. Putting these people in the room with the Chinese, would be like asking Brittany Spears to negotiate a deal with Warren Buffett. The US is in a serious state of decline, and it shows on every level, these days. As for Trump himself, if his life depended upon it, he could not negotiate his way out of a paper bag. They art of not being able to make a deal to save his life. 

9 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Last century! But it doesn't really matter.

What matters is how Thai women (obviously not all of them) behave. 

Looking at the comments in TV every day there are lots of guys who tried to be the nice guy.  I was one of them. They wanted a real partnership with equal rights. And that included obviously letting the wife also decide what to buy and do.

And what is the result? Look at all the threads, including this one.

From my own experience and from what I heard from friends in almost all Thai relationships there is a clear boss. And you have two choices: You are the boss or she is the boss.  Which option do you prefer?

Absolutely spot on. Every ship needs a captain. The choice is be a wet noodle, be a wimp, be an emasculated Western male, and check your cajones at the door, or reject all of the toxic masculinity nonsense, and be a real man. Fortunately, there are alot of very good Thai women who appreciate a man who has power, a sense of himself, high self esteem, and prefers to be the boss. It makes them feel secure. Do not buy into the Western nonsense about sharing the big decisions. Getting her feedback is fine. But, be a man about it. Let the other 90% of men around the world get pushed around. Stand firm and do the gender justice. 

On 4/26/2019 at 8:46 PM, chrisandsu said:

I have been visiting Thailand for 3 months every year for 17 years , I will not be going back again this year . I sold the house and land I had there and invested in my own country . It’s too expensive now ,it holds very little value for money . While western countries bleed money through social programmes thailand does not have any such problems so the economy is built on actual money and not borrowing to appease the peasants . The days of being the big man of the village (feeding sick buffaloes and sick parents) are well and truly over . 

The crazy notions the Thais had that Thailand was a cheap destination, is a long forgotten reality. Some still have that notion, but it is an alternate reality. It is still reasonable, in some regard. Hotels are still a bargain. But food and nearly any other standard one can use to apply to cost of living has gone up dramatically, and with the baht being as strong as it is now, there are so many alternatives to Thailand. Most Western tourists have stopped coming here. Mostly Chinese, Indians and Russians now. Thailand got what it deserved.