tgw

As I was distracted, I read the title wrong : "Woman impersonator assaults police in Pattaya bar". Double take, because that could work too.

Publicly seeding doubt is not indicated during a national and worldwide emergency situation. It's something that people are welcome to do once the situation is under control or turned out to be less serious than it potentially was. During such a crisis I consider it normal for the government to control the media. And from my point of view, it failed to do so, in addition to anti-mask people, there were plenty of contrarians and charlatans in the media that caused thousands if not more unnecessary deaths. If COVID had really been serious, it would have been nearly impossible to contain in most countries. An emergency situation is not about you, me, or our rights to free speech or whatever. It's a time when the nation must follow and support the elected leaders and trust their judgement and their experts. That's why it's important to have elected leaders one can trust to do the right thing to try and save as many people as possible. Watch Japanese people carrying out emergency procedure rehearsals. That's how society should act in case of emergency. COVID has certainly been a wake-up call. Even China with their police state and government-controlled internet was unable to completely control information. Our countries certainly need to do some serious thinking about how to protect our populations from a future pandemic, one that could potentially pose a lethal threat. All while the "population" is working with all its might again being protected, because they "did their own research" and are being manipulated by demagogues, populists and foreign powers. The alert and quarantine system has to work much faster and be way stricter, supplies need to be organized as well as production maintained. Huge challenge.

thank God, finally

I would agree if we were in a pre-social media environment. But seeing how rational and factual arguments do not reach the minds of a large part of people, and how some groups successfully pushed some ludicrous narratives to manipulate opinion, one has to wonder.

the Ruzzian ministry of defence and war crimes told the press that that all missiles hit their intended targets.

thanks for clearing that up !

Burning and looting is sadly normal in France every time something "emotional" happens, especially when it involves immigrants or people with an immigration background, much of which resent the establishment and thus support Mélanchon's extreme left, but in essence the rioters are anarchists and petty criminals seizing the opportunity to commit crimes, loot and in general cause mayhem. There are a number of reasons for this, the most important being previous government policies, many stemming from Mitterrand. The rioting and looting after the election doesn't seem to be worse than usual.

apparently, there are only "plans" to make it illegal again. this is Thailand, also known as the hub of unrealized plans. but I have questions about the legal cannabis now (I know nothing about drugs or cannabis) : - is the legal stuff currently sold of satisfactory quality (I read about THC limits, whatever that is, I suppose it's the actual drug active ingredient) ? - is the legal stuff cheaper than the illegal stuff was ?

*slow clap* https://www.news.com.au/world/russia-launches-hypersonic-missile-attack-on-childrens-hospital-in-kyiv/news-story/cf54e212b3c72b937f1fb0dd063cc154 Can the Ruzzian shills here please comment. Hypersonic missiles. Used to attack Ukraine's largest children's hospital. Except for the very remote and very improbable possibility that there was a sufficiently significant military target at the hospital to justify such a strike, the chain of command from Putin to the commander of the missile unit should hang from a rope. Let's prepare the courtroom in Nuremberg.

considered a local by who ? that's where the difference lies.

I have been hearing this from several coordinated Ruzzian propaganda sources for some days now, coinciding with Putin redoubling his efforts in begging for peace yet with unacceptable terms and sending his errand oy Orban back and forth. Pretty much looks like panic is slowly beginning to set in on the Ruzzian side.

calling you a "sophist" is pretty flattering in my opinion.

you won't get a useful answer from someone working for the enemy.

Good article illustrating how Russia's terms were completely unacceptable and how Ukraine tried to be reasonable.

this is yet another common boneheaded Kremlin propaganda talking point. the most probable outcome is #3 - Russia continues its existence within its internationally recognized 2010 borders, because no one is interested in invading Russian territory. Except maybe China, their unlimited friendship partner.

usually they also did their "own" research

Maybe that's what you would say, but "sport" is a word that has a precise definition. Card Games (Poker, Bridge), Chess, Golf are sports. But they aren't "athletic sports".

it's no coincidence that Thailand is much better at women's sports than men's. sports require effort.

don't discount the influence of Ruzzian troll farms just because this is an expat forum about Thailand. They are everywhere. Even NATO has put out information about them : https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2020/5/pdf/2005-deepportal2-troll-factories.pdf https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/02/12/france-uncovers-a-vast-russian-disinformation-campaign-in-europe https://www.propublica.org/article/infamous-russian-troll-farm-appears-to-be-source-of-anti-ukraine-propaganda In our own little forum here we have our dedicated pro-Ruzzian trolls, I guess all categories are represented : - the useful idiot - the paid trollposter - the operative - the bot/AI

you must be joking - first hit on google: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayesian_econometrics

Ukrainian destiny without Russia's involvement is exactly the point ! And also the reason why Putin in ready to kill millions.

Same. The people supporting Yanukovich were of Russo-thuggish persuasion and were in some form paid or blackmailed to do so. It's these people who most imposed mafia-like structures and corruption, pushing everyone to have a "krisha". Everyone was forced to go with the flow at the time.

Nonsense statements. I said almost the opposite of USA being the world's policeman. I said NATO isn't Ukraine's boss. BUT - helping Ukraine is in the USA's interest. Second, the Chinese government in Taipei has older roots than the communist government, one could view communist China as being ruled by rebels. I see no reason to deny the status of sovereign country to Taiwan Ukraine kept it's neutrality, but it was incessantly attacked by Russia since Putin took over the affairs in the Kremlin. Read the history of events, starting before the Orange Revolution

I haven't been asked the question. But since you asked, here's my answer : Regarding NATO intervention, from the information I have, I would say two things : - that NATO should enter the war only when NATO's security is directly threatened. the reason is not to spare NATO soldier's lives, but to avoid multiplying the scale of the conflict, because suddenly there would be armed clashes in many parts of the world - that helping Ukraine to defend itself against Putin is important for world peace. There are other conflicts that will be prevented or lessened by Putin's defeat in Ukraine (Georgia, Azerbaidjan/Armenia, possibility of conflict in Central Asia, Taiwan). In most of these conflicts, Putin's imperialist goals are also the cause

Your logic is insulting. NATO is not Ukraine's boss. Ukraine wants to defend itself, it needs help. If China attacked Taiwan and if Taiwan didn't want to submit to China you would also try to convince them to surrender, right ? You have no regards for independence and freedom.