spidermike007

17 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Using tax funded security detail and improper use of government resources to take Pompeo's dog from the groomer and collect his Chinese food among other personal errands. He should follow his colleague Tom Price and resign in shame.   

It is not really the nature and extent of the violation, as much as the spirit of the thing. It is just like Pompeo to treat his subordinates like personal assistants. That is who he is. He is a pompous, arrogant, ignorant, ineffective, incompetent, and a very nasty man. Worse, he is an absolutely horrible secretary of state. Perhaps one of the worst in history?

Elsewhere around the world, Pompeo has been the President's junior partner in undermining US alliances and multilateralism. He's been a cheerleader for the inhumane and ineffectual sanctions campaign to topple the Maduro government in Venezuela. He's championed of the disastrous all-or-nothing approach to denuclearization diplomacy with North Korea, which so far has yielded zero progress (although there are hopeful signs of a change in the US approach to the negotiations).

https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/10/05/pompeo-might-go-down-as-worst-secretary-of-state-in-modern-times-pub-80006

Let them go bankrupt. They have been costing the nation alot of money, for a long time. They are a "has been", on the international scene, and a once very good airline. But, that was a long time ago. And it is best to privatize. State monopolies might work in North Korea, Uganda, Egypt, Bolivia, Oman and Iran, but they are not appropriate for Thailand. Not an efficient model. Also, the private sector would have a much easier time say NO to the army officers, and government moochers, looking for free tickets. 

There have been multiple sources that have quoted July 1st, as an opening date, for incoming international flights. But, nobody knows if that is certain, and nobody knows what the requirements will be. A Covid free letter may be required, and I know for a fact those cannot be obtained in the US, at any price. Also, there may be a requirement of health insurance, without a pandemic exemption, which will be quite costly, and who knows what else.

Though Thailand wants, and desperately needs international tourism, it must be very careful, as the country has done a great job in keeping the number of cases and the death rate low, and it has to be very vigilant against a second wave. If that second wave is going to happen here, it will not come from within. We have beaten Covid into the ground here. It is DOA. Thailand is one of the safest places on earth right now, in terms of Covid, in my opinion. But, it is raging throughout the world, and much care has to be taken to prevent it from slipping back in. 

Will nations be rated, depending on the number of cases, the number of deaths, how recent the curve flattened, etc? If so, it will be quite difficult to get in from the US (the most radioactive people in the world in terms of tourism in the near future) Spain, Russia, UK, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Turkey, Iran, India, Canada, and quite possibly China. The world leaders. In Covid. 

At this stage, even his supporters should be aware, that if Trump says it, it is not real, not true, not accurate, and probably completely made up. Total fiction. That is how he rolls. The man has the most bizarre relationship with truth, intelligence, science, and reality, most of us have ever seen in a world leader. That is just who he is. He does not have a sincere bone in his body. So, when he talks about testing, of course you have to assume the information is not going to be accurate. 

It is all good. We only have to tolerate this man for another 8 months. Then he will be unceremoniously ushered out of Washington, to a lifetime of utter humiliation and vastly declining fortunes. His name has been trashed, and will remain so for his remaining years. 

This program was not intended just for farmers. It was intended for Thai people in need. I know many who were rejected, and I believe the rejection rate was around 83%. The army was totally insincere with this program. If they really wanted to help the people, you just show up with a Thai ID and claim you benefit. As usual, the army is being heartless, cynical, and not there when the people need them. 

As for suing him, Prayuth, all army officers, the entire administration, the police, immigration and customs are entirely above the law. And and all laws. A threat is very hollow, when there is nothing to back it up. But, I understand his anger and disappointment. There are better ways the people can show their total disappointment with the leadership here. Everyone knows they need to be ushered out. It is just a question of how to go about it. Sooner or later it will happen. They are absolute vampires, sucking the blood of the nation. 

16 hours ago, Lacessit said:

While I sympathise with your plight, and that of many other people, I can't help thinking when the world abandoned Micawberian economics in favor of a massive credit binge, it sowed the seeds for the current destruction.

There's a lot of marginal farming land in Australia. The rule of thumb is one really good year in seven where the farmer can make megabucks, maybe one reasonable year of profit, the rest are break even or a dead loss.

I've observed the families who acquire adjoining properties during the desperate years are those who did not go on a buying spree in the bumper year, then battened down the hatches to ride out the bad times. I was on a 44,000 acre property in 1983 that did not have a single blade of live grass. That's what drought does.

Pardon me for asking, but how much battening of the hatches have you done?

 

 

A bit here and there. Nothing major. But other than the business in the US, my overhead is quite low here. Working on some things. Shaving a bit. And some online sales have helped. The lockdown seems to be easing a bit in the US, so that may help quite alot. Reason is coming to the fore, and replacing panic induced insanity, it would appear. 

9 minutes ago, Heppinger said:

The founding Fathers and the implementation of the American Constitution laid the foundations for the Greatest Nation on Earth.  During it's foundation the people were warned of the various threats to National Sovereignty, though sadly time and outside subversion took it's toll, and these warnings were ignored. 

 

JFK's speech basically covers it, some extracts:

 

I refer first to the need for far greater public information, and second, to the need for far greater official secrecy. The very word secrecy is repugnant in a free and open society, and we are as a people, inherently and historically, opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweigh the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today there is little value in ensuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it’s in my control, and no official of my administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to sensor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes, or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know.

 

But we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding it’s fear of influence, on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific, and political operations. It’s preparations are concealed, not published. It’s mistakes are buried, not headlined. It’s dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned. No rumor is printed. No secret is revealed. It conducts the Cold War in short with a wartime discipline, no democracy would ever hope or wish to match.

Some great points. And what would be your guess, as to the percentage of the world's population that is even aware of any of this? 5%? Most I talk to, even good friends, and family, seem to not have the slightest clue, that anything exists beyond the "official narrative". Nothing. Even questioning things makes me subversive, paranoid, disloyal, and a conspiracy theorist. It seems there is a whole level of justification and filters, that are built into the system, to prevent people from even questioning what is going on, and why. 

3 minutes ago, Heppinger said:

HAHA nice.  Remember the "Belt and Road" Initiative links China to the rest of Asia, Europe, Middle East and Oceania.  There are massive Infrastructure projects with some amazing feat's of civil engineering currently taking place and can be seen using Google Earth in particular tunnels through i think it's the Himalayan mountains. America will not have a leadership role in this structure. For the construction of these roads and rail systems to be completed some countries are going to have to keep producing necessary materials.

I think it is fairly safe to say, when observing America for the past couple of decades, and especially the past few years, that America will not have a leadership role in the world, in the near future. Gone, baby gone, in terms of influence, respect, and envy. Those days are over. It is a shame that current policy is more or less assuring China's dominance for decades, if not centuries to come. One can only hope the Chinese people have the good sense to oust the heinous Chicom leadership. Otherwise, it is going to be a lowly future for the world. 

What can one even say? First of all, who does something this inane? Second, a million baht? Either is was a very stupid joke of some sort, or this guy is insane. For 15,000 baht, he can get comparable, any day of the week here. Likely the police did not want to set up a sting, due to the amount of money involved. If it were a real offer, it would mean the guy was wealthy, which would mean he was potentially well connected, or simply above the law. 

One thing I will say for this creep. He sure has good taste. All of these gals are stunning, even hidden behind those masks! 

Kudos to Mr. Bright for telling it like it is, against the will of an AUA (alternate universe administration), which denies truth, fact, science, the will of the people, and reality, every opportunity it gets. Trump and his band of creeps need to be outed every chance we get. The people of the US, and the world need to know what they are dealing with. And what are the ramification of this staggering level of denial? The US used to be admired as a beacon to the rest of the world. Now, they are looked on with sadness and pity. How far the nation has descended. 

Across Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, views of the US handling of the coronavirus crisis are uniformly negative and range from horror through derision to sympathy. Donald Trump’s musings from the White House briefing room, particularly his thoughts on injecting disinfectant, have drawn the attention of the planet. A poll in France last week found Merkel to be far and away the most trusted world leader. Just 2% had confidence Trump was leading the world in the right direction. Only Boris Johnson and Xi Jinping inspired less faith.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/15/donald-trump-coronavirus-response-world-leaders

1 minute ago, BigStar said:

Yeah, reminds me of this case:

 

Ohio man, 60, who blasted COVID-19 lockdown as 'a political ploy' and said stay-at-home orders were 'b*****t' dies after contracting coronavirus

No, no, no, no. You got it all wrong. Covid is essentially dead here. We beat it. I get the panic and caution in the US and Europe and Latin America. But, here is it gone baby gone. In Ohio? Not a remotely reasonable comparison, on any level whatsoever. 

1 minute ago, Heppinger said:

Because nations are no more.  WW2 was fought between Globalists and Nationalists.  The other economies of the World go along with this agenda because their Political and Corporate leaders are Globalists, not Nationalists. They care not for Peoples and Nations but for Corporations and Currencies.  Any deviation from this agenda will not be entertained as consequences are severe.  Regarding Sweden and South Korea, i'm not sure what your referring to, number of Covid cases reported maybe?

No. Those are the only two major nations, that did NOT shut down their economies, and lock down their populations. They were completely independent (very disobedient) and now they are not paying the extremely high price of dramatic increases in debt load, and devastated economies. And in the case of South Korea, due to the very fast response time, they managed to escape with very few deaths. Same with Vietnam. Though they did lock down the nation, they ended up with just a few hundred cases, due to an extremely fast response, very decisive action, and the use of science. The polar opposite of the American model, and essentially the second time the US has been beaten by Vietnam! 

1 minute ago, moe666 said:

Not locking down was not a fix for Sweden they have a higher death rate than the countries who did lock down.

True. But they also have a functioning economy, the middle to lower income people were not crippled and devastated, and they will not be facing a monstrous debt load for decades to come. Herd immunity works. And the secondary benefit is you do not have a second wave, which we will not have here, but in woefully unprepared, and woefully non visionary countries like the US, it could be horrendous. 

8 minutes ago, tlandtday said:

I think it goes beyond that.  What better way to put forward a feminist agenda then a public lashing in the media and a prison sentence to what is viewed as an alpha male?  This is  more about social engineering and a divide and conquer strategy.

Mike Tyson was always an intelligent guy regardless of how he spoke and how he was often portrayed in the media.  He was simply a lost soul who was abused by the true sleazeball Don King.  We now see Mike in a different light.  

All of the is true. And as a white man, with a fairly open mind, I also see it as a way to oppress a popular, powerful, rich black man, who is getting with way too many white women! America is still a very racist land. Millions and millions are still very disappointed slavery ended, and have a very hard time seeing a black man of elevated status.