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Posts posted by spidermike007
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3 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:
You just know that if Trump confronts China over the Honk Kong issue , people will accuse Trump of war mongering and trying to a start a war with China in order for him to win the next election .
Remember the reaction when Trump confronted North Korea ?
Whatever Trump does or says , some people will just say he should have done the opposite and criticise him for it
And there is perfectly good reason for that. He has engaged in absolutely abominable foreign policy, since day one. And now Pompeo? Talk about a BOB (bottom of the barrel) pick.
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And when was the last time we heard about police getting prosecuted, and sentenced to time in prison. Does it ever happen here? It does appear that police are above the law. Any and all laws. They know that. They know they have virtual immunity from the administration, which does everything in it's power to protect it's own, the cops, the army, the super wealthy, and the entire apparatus. So, do not even attempt to fool us. We are not buying low cost bridges today.
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Open everything up. Now. No need to wait. Covid is gone. It is eradicated. You love the power so much, you cannot let it go. But the people desperately need to get back to work, and you claim to care about these people. You know what? Stop talking, and start acting. The proof is in the pudding. Show us. Stop telling us. Do something. Masks and social distancing mean nothing, when you have no virus to fight.
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Malaysia is still a hotspot, many areas have continued to allow mosque services, and Thailand must exercise extreme care in letting anyone in from Malaysia. In my opinion, anyone coming in through the southern border should be required to have mandatory Covid testing. It is the most dangerous border Thailand has.
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1 minute ago, robblok said:
Yes i remember the US having a moral authority and I used to believe them. It all stopped for me after the gulf war and not finding chemical weapons. Also their constant wars in the middle east and then let Europe take care of the refugees.
I used to really respect the USA now i see it as a money grabbing country with a mental midget as a leader. (mind you I have no problem with Americans on a private level)
Well, as an American, I can say your view of the US is fairly accurate. And I feel the same way about Americans. A lot of good people, with good hearts. Alot of bad people too (mostly empty suited white men in my opinion), but on the whole the majority are quite decent. The Gulf war was an abomination. Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld and Bush Jr. were so completely disingenuous about the whole thing, they deserve as little respect as we can possibly direct their way. They have collectively made the world an infinitely less safe place, with their Afghan and Iraqi interventions. And they not only put the US into a $7-10 trillion hole, they accomplished nothing, and if anything made the region less stable. If they were sincere, they would have been going after enemy number one and two. The Saudis, and the Pakistanis. But, all they could muster up was a fake war, against a fake enemy, who they assumed would easily fall, and 17 hapless years later, they are still trying to extricate themselves from the same mess countless other empires comprised of hubris and astonishing arrogance, have found themselves in.
The promotion of democracy is an outdated model. People have to evolve on their own. You cannot force it upon them, especially not a from a nation that is practicing an incredibly flawed version of it, and has so many systemic and cultural problems of it's own. Guys like Trump like to gloss over the issues, and pretend that America is great. It is anything but great. Sure they are number one in Covid, and number one in civil unrest, at the moment. But great? Maybe great producers of cultural trash like reality TV. Maybe great producers of over bloated, theme park type, highly repetitive tent pole films, made for the Chinese audience, and 8-16 year olds at home. But a great nation? If they were great, that is in the rear view. There is no way to make the nation great again. It is an empire in decline, and there is no fixing that. You can slow it down, by embracing some progressive and intelligent policies. But, you cannot stop it.
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8 hours ago, heybruce said:Trump employed violence against peaceful protesters in order to clear a path to a church for a photo op. He also encouraged police brutality https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/07/29/trump-tells-law-enforcement-dont-too-nice-suspects/522220001/ and ridiculed Colin Kaepernick for peaceful protest against police violence.
Combine this with Trump's constant assault on the press and it's clear that Trump is the enemy of the First Amendment. Not surprising, the First Amendment is a far better guard against tyranny than the Second Amendment, and Trump is definitely a tyrant wannabe.
So he could hold up a bible and pander to his evangelical base. Does anyone actually think he has ever read the good book? Does anyone think he has ever spent even five minutes in prayer, meditation, contemplation or introspection? In his lifetime? This man is the polar opposite of a spiritual man, in everything he does, everything he says, and everything he represents.
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On 5/29/2020 at 7:27 PM, robblok said:
I doubt the USA or any other country will stand against China for Taiwan. There is no oil there or other things the US can use. Also its not an easy victory for the US (they would probably give up after losing too many people). Nuclear attack.. highly doubt it again. In the end Taiwan will just be Chinese.
I wish it were different but dont think anyone will help or is able to help. The Chinese have all the advantages.
They US is certainly not standing with Hong Kong are they? They can no longer be considered a trusted ally. Why would they stand up for Taiwan, unless they wanted war with China? What is really astonishing, is that the US used to have some moral authority, and would and could at least make a case for democracy, and the defense of it. How far they have fallen from that perch. Not only was there little to no defense of the Hong Kong protests, but now they are abandoning them completely. And with the stuff that is going on in the US right now, they can barely afford to lecture China about freedom.
And it seems the ever desperate leadership in China, wastes no opportunity to lecture others. They are hungry for power, more territory and will stop at nothing to achieve their goal of world supremacy. From the Chinese point of view, they are simply trying to re-establish their place in history. From the 8th to about the early to mid 18th century, China was a world superpower.
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12 hours ago, ChouDoufu said:who exactly are "these kind" of guys?
i spent a lotta time in texas, new mexico, arizona, idaho. met plenty of states rights, 2nd amendment and militia guys. a fair number of guys with "military experience", as in records clerks and coffee nco's, not so many combat vets. mostly a bunch of grocery clerks doing army cosplay in the woods.
There is an awful lot of that in the US. Basically juvenile minds, carrying serious weapons, which make them feel like really big dogs. And they rarely like people of color, totally buy into the fake narrative that Latinos are taking away our jobs, and blame everyone but themselves, and their own, on the problems in their lives, the issues in their community, and the plague facing the nation.
As a centrist democrat, I have no issues with gun ownership. But, limit it to three per family, or household. Nobody needs anything more than a pistol, a rifle (for hunting) and a shotgun in the house. Anything more than that is overkill, and perhaps a desperate attempt to fill a void of masculinity that is seriously lacking.
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I think young people who are on social media a lot are getting more real time info on police killings and they're not getting the watered down official versions that their parents are getting on the evening news (he didn't die from asphyxiation, he died from high blood pressure, etc). So if someone is not closely following the endless police violence then it may be hard for them to wrap their heads around the anger and frustration and youthful "let's mess stuff up" response.
This brings up some interesting points about policing policy...From a good friend in LA, who was out in the streets, participating in one of the many peaceful protests: I've been out to some, friends have too. I think it's a lot of factors but young people are fed up, everyone is out of work, anxious about getting evicted, not sure how they're going to pay bills, etc, stir crazy from Covid, and they're watching the police and white supremacists murder black people on video around the country, from Amad in Georgia. The young paramedic (I think?) In Kentucky and Floyd in Minnesota. It's the perfect recipe for an uprising. I just hope some positive things come of it. The US needs a good therapist lol! I understand people have a visceral response to the looting, it's scary, they don't like it. But compared to the big companies that got the majority of PPP money, Trump's corporate tax write offs, the real looting is happening right under our noses.
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I admire actors, athletes, musicians and others who use their fame to speak out about important issues. If they do not stand up for the people, who will? Certainly not this administration. Certainly not a completely tone deaf president, who has shown a great preference for anything white, and is lacking a nanogram of moral or ethical fiber, or empathy, in his entire being. Clooney is just stating a fact that we all know. And the problem is racial, systemic, cultural and more. This stuff needs to be addressed, and the police departments in the US are in drastic need of reform. The militarization of the police was not a good thing for American society. If anything, it has made things worse. Racism is NOT getting better in the US. Like most things American, it is going in the opposite direction it needs to be going.
Having said all of that, Clooney really, really needs to lose that beard!
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3 minutes ago, rabas said:The percentage of police killed by black people is also much higher. But, I would never use that fact to spread racist hatred. Both the number of blacks killed by law enforcement and the number of police killed by blacks only reflects the impoverished nature of many black communities and the failure of Democrat governments running these cities to address the problems.
Why must you see everything through raciest eyes?
I would not limit the failure to democratic governments. Republican governments are equally bankrupt, in terms of competence, ethics and morality. It is more about a totally broken nation.
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11 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:
the people I have seen creating the most destruction and fomenting the most fear and conflict were young White men, though some females too. Twitterwill give you a much better idea of what's going on than the mainstream news will. It may be that the revolution IS being televized.
Yes. Likely either disenfranchised young men, hired hands of the right, or just idiots with parents who tried too hard to be their "friends". Regardless once again Trump has failed dismally. Once again he was given a golden opportunity. And instead all this coward can do is threaten young Americans with vicious dogs, all the might of the national guard and the military and other nonsensical and potentially illegal actions. All this from the deferment king, who would wet his pants if he were ever in the line of fire.
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Twitter should be praised for finally taking a stand and labeling absolute fiction as such. Facebook should do the same. Considering the great degree of misuse the platform has been subjected to, it needs to be policed and it needs to be censored for fake news, scams and sheer fiction by malicious players. Yet, Zuckerberg is showing himself to either be a major coward, morally and ethically bankrupt, totally indifferent or unwilling to give up some profits. One thing is for sure. His motives are not based on altruism.
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1 hour ago, lannarebirth said:OMG! Don't you get it? Theres just as many or more White, Asian and Hispanic Americans suffering from the same economic inequality.
There are alot of disenfranchised Americans. No doubt about that. But the black folks have it the worst. There is still rampant racism in the US and it is nowhere near a level playing field.
What is the most glaring in all this is that massive amounts of white people showed up and demonstrated recently over the shutdown. No problem. They were welcomed by the cops. But, when people of color demonstrate they are all labeled rioters and terrorists. Granted there was some rioting. But most were peaceful, at least until the cops started bashing them and gassing them. Based on his recent language, how can we fairly describe the leader of the "free world"? Vicious dogs. The best armed military is coming after you!
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55 minutes ago, GinBoy2 said:
I've said this in many threads, but it's fanciful to believe international travel will rebound, let alone international tourist travel, at least from the West.
Working for an airline I see the domestic passenger loads, we're not an international station, but until you see domestic air travel bounce back, thats the leading indicator for international travel.
Then you have the financial impact. A lot of folks will have drained down their savings through this, and I sincerely doubt getting on a plane to Thailand for a vacation is high on their 'to do' list
You could not possibly be more spot on. The very market that Thailand targets and the only market it is able to attract (primarily lower to lower middle income Indians and Chinese, and to a smaller extent lower end Europeans) is the market that was hit the hardest by both the pandemic and the insane shutdown of the world's economies.
The recovery will be long and painful. Anything but the stupid (totally speculative) V they are discussing.
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One other element of the reset, on the other side of the Zombie apocalypse is that people will be going out of their way to avoid crowds for a long time to come. Crowded airports and planes, crowded cities, malls, cinemas, resorts and beaches. Just another factor that cannot be accounted for, with the inane and ridiculously inaccurate projections. The economy cannot be predicted, and the last thing in the world they will be able to predict accurately will be international tourist arrivals.
There is only one thing that is for certain. Tourism will be way down. For a long time to come. And as a result, millions of jobs will be lost.
So, with all that uncertainty, why is the Thai baht not dropping?
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57 minutes ago, 19DL86 said:
The new mantra for TAT can read - Safe and "TRUSTED" Thailand, now. 555
Believe it or not they already changed it to "Amazing trusted Thailand"! Amazing was not enough. Was it the tens of thousands of elephants as far as the eye could see, the warm, gracious and welcome attitude of immigration, the pristine environment and clean air, or the world class transportation network?
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Tourism was already in a state of decline. Then they deliberately shut down their economy, for the first time in recorded history. Two million tourists were here in December, another two million in January. Probably two million more until mid to late February when they shut it all down. Likely many were infected since 40% were from China and many from Europe. Yet, they ended up with 60 deaths. Break that one down.
And now, millions of jobs have been lost and nobody knows when international tourism will return and what the restrictions will be.
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I have a friend who imported his BMW motorcycle into Thailand. Either an ex-pat is entitled to bring over one motor vehicle free of duty, or it has something to do with the Amity treaty, which relates only to Americans. He also have permanent residency here, which he was able to get due to his aeronautical expertise. It took him 27 months, about 30 visits to the land transport office, customs and other government agencies. They jacked him around to an unbelievable degree. Everyone wanted a handout, to get things done. He refused. In the end he got his bike. But, it was an incredible ordeal for him.
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What is the possibility that elements of the right wing, basically hijacked the protests, and turned them violent, which then encouraged the rampant looting and rioting. It would not take much with the powder keg environment, the anger towards law enforcement that already existed throughout the US, and the graphic Floyd murder caught on video. The more I consider the possibility, the more it makes sense. It feeds right into trumps agenda. Distract from a massive Covid failure, and a stagnant, do nothing presidency at this point, and make himself look strong and decisive. Could have been sponsored by elements from within the administration, to any of the national security agencies, even the CIA or NSA. Who knows? The protests sure started out peaceful, and quickly degenerated.
Makes one wonder. These days in America, I believe anything like this kind of thing is possible. It is then so easy to blame the black man, the people of color, the poor and the others. By casting blame, they do not attempt to fix anything, address the inherent issues, discuss the inherent issues, or make lives better.
Is there anything more cynical, than Trump using force to disperse protestors in front of the White House, to walk across the street to a church, and hold up a bible? As if he was a man of God? Wonders never cease.
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3 minutes ago, DaLa said:I may have missed something , but why can't they have joint ownership?
https://www.samuiforsale.com/knowledge/practical-legal-for-condos.html
That is a reasonable question. Condo law allows foreigners to hold title to the unit. Obviously she is signing for the loan, so she is likely to be on the title. The bank may insist on that. Also, some banks tend to cower away from loans, if they know foreigner is involved, for some reason. So. joint title might be tricky, in regard to the bank and the mortgage. For a cash deal, no issues.
I could consult a good foreign property lawyer working here. Not a local. It will be expensive, but worth it.
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22 hours ago, Eindhoven said:
Yes.
Smokers should not inconvenience non-smokers. On the street nor anywhere else.
If the idiots want to deliberately put poisonous smoke in their lungs, let them do it far away from those who don't.
So yes, it is reasonable. It also stops them being punched in the face or thrown off a baht bus when they refuse to put their cigarette out or get off the bus....
Yes, there were idiots who thought it was their right to be able to smoke on the songthaew.
As you know from the COVID-19 occurrence, people cannot be relied upon to do the right thing.
This way, there is no argument. Bravo! Excellent!
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What really bothers me even more, is why most smokers think they have the right to toss their cigarette butts wherever they want. It is trash. Put it somewhere other that anywhere you happen to be standing. Show some regard please.
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5 minutes ago, Cryingdick said:I am from Minneapolis and have family there 187 businesses were burnt. It started at Lake and Cedar and went up to 1st Ave, If you aren't from there don't pretend to know anything about it.
I am aware of the devastation. And I do not approve of it, on any level. I am not condoning it. I feel for you. Quite a terrible thing to see your city burned down. You and I are quite far apart on our positions on many issues. But, I like your posts. Many are thoughtful and articulate, and I appreciate opposing points of view. How boring a world this would be, if we all felt the same way, about everything. Mayhem is not a good thing. I am simply pointing out the fact that there are reasons why people reacted with such strong actions.
Many do not want to examine that, discuss it, or introspect over it. Many seem to be ready to simply demonize all protestors. Most protestors had nothing to do with the rioting. Many on the ground are speaking out about this fact, that the media seems to be ignoring in their insatiable quest for sensationalism.
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Total BS. No science whatsoever. Second hand air? Total nonsense. The unfounded hysteria continues, from an administration so devoid of talent, it boggles the mind. I am not fond of tobacco. Personally, it has taken out countless people that I loved, and really miss. And I find the smell of smoke to be foul.
But, at the same time, I am not fond of big brother, and over reaching laws. If a person cannot smoke outside, where can they smoke? Is it reasonable to tell someone they can only smoke in their homes?
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Attack on Taiwan an option to stop independence, top China general says
in World News
Posted
Never forget the "tin can" campaign in the PI. The US sent several small, poorly armed ships against the biggest and strongest of what Japan had to offer. Admiral Kurita, though he had the best ship in the fleet under him, turned out to be a coward, a terrible tactician, and a total loser. Afterwards, Japan took whatever remaining ships and soldiers they had, and sailed West.
However, even though the US army is alot more modern than it was back then, when you consider how badly the US has messed up the response to Covid, combined with the current situation there, and add in the fact that no matter how big and powerful their army might be, they have not won a war since WWII, not sure they are the best ally to have. Also, they have grown notoriously unreliable these days.
I think you are right that China is all bluster right now. And they are hugely untested, with their new military. But, this is leading up to something. China wants to regain the supremacy they enjoyed over the seas as a major superpower, for nearly 1,000 years (about 925 years longer than the US, as of now) from about the 8th century, to the early to mid 18th century.