Politics

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/fact-check-no-putin-did-not-kneel-before-xi-jinping/ar-AA190j8X I knew that the photo was fake the moment I looked at it, as we all know that Vovka only wears high heels

Crowd erupts in laughter at Russia’s top diplomat after he claimed the Ukraine war was ‘launched against us’: https://news.yahoo.com/crowd-erupts-laughter-russias-top-180331126.html

I'm no lawyer, but none other than Laurence Tribe thinks Dominion Voting Systems' request for a $1.6 billion summary judgment against Fox News is likely to succeed. For others who are not legal eagles, a summary judgment is one in which the facts are so compelling that a judge finds no need for a trial and decides the case on the information that has been presented in the brief. In this case, Tribe thinks that Dominion has provided enough evidence that Fox News deliberately spread lies that Dominion's voting machines were faulty and denied Donald Trump the 2020 election. “I have never seen a defamation case with such overwhelming proof that the defendant admitt…

Here is an interesting article in the Intercept about the Nord Stream saga. The NYT story about a pro-Ukrainian group is silly in so many aspects. It is sad that NYT acted as the mouthpiece of the US intelligence agencies. In the golden days, the Grand Lady published the Pentagon papers. https://theintercept.com/2023/03/10/nord-stream-pipeline-bombing/

From Nikkei TOKYO -- Thaksin Shinawatra, the Thai prime minister ousted by the military in 2006 who has lived in self-exile since 2008, said that he expects Thailand to have a coalition government after the May 14 general election even if the largest opposition Pheu Thai Party wins a majority in the lower house. "I believe it will be a coalition government, definitely," Thaksin told Nikkei Asia in an exclusive interview in Tokyo, adding that he is confident Pheu Thai will win at least 250 seats in the 500-seat chamber. Thaksin also told Nikkei that he would not want the new government to issue an amnesty allowing him to return home, however strongly Pheu Th…

Apparently the censors felt that the Winnie-the-Pooh character resembled Chairman Xi too much for this "cinematic masterpiece" to be seen in China! 😂 Cracks me up!

Now and then, I play with some of the new AI tools available. I thought of doing an experiment and asking a controversial political question. I liked Bard's response: And was disappointed at Chat GPT's answer:

Under DeSantis, the state of Florida has taken over the governance of the property on which Disneyworld resides. The state has appointed the board of directors who are decidedly rightwing. They have promised "big changes" in the coming months. Given DeSantis' frequent pandering to extremist rightwingers, what can we expect? Will Disney's "gay days" continue? This story is worth following. Be prepared to change your travel plans from Disneyworld Florida to Disneyland in California. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/disney-world-board-picked-desantis-180343763.html

A month ago China issued a directive requiring that Chinese names are added to the eight places occupied by Russia: https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1758315543670807002&wfr=spider&for=pc

I'd heard before that alcohol was forbidden in Aboriginal lands in the Northern Territory. Until today, I'd always thought it was because the Aboriginals had voted those restrictions on themselves. This would have been similar to the US, in which certain tribal communities have decided amongst themselves to forbid alcohol on Tribal lands (for example, the Navajo in Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico). Then today, I read in the New York Times that it's whites who make those decisions in Australia. Did I understand my reading correctly? https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/12/world/australia/alice-springs-alcohol.html?te=1&nl=the-morning&emc=edit_nn_20230313 ...“Fo…

This was actually the last thread I started on Company of Men before the political forum involuntarily retired. (Maybe that answers my question about Biden? 🤫 ) So I thought it would be interesting to see how it goes here. Since a few of you already posted on this question over there, I also added the second part about Plan B. A lot of Biden supporters or sympathizers said he's a great guy. But his age is showing. So it's time for him to move on. Speaking as a Democrat, that begs a big question. How do we avoid electing Trump II, or Culture Warrior in Chief Ron DeSantis? My answer was, and is, YES. Biden should run again. I'll list three reasons. …

That's what Marjorie Taylor Greene is asking now that she is on a crusade to help the imprisoned insurrectionists from Jan, most of whom HAVE PLEAD GUILTY.... In the GOP's attempt to whitewash the narrative of Jan 6th to clear a path from Trumps 2024 run, she is leading an investigation on the imprisonment and prison conditions of those found GUILTY. She is maintaining they were WRONGED and are simply patriots with bad timing who found themselves in the wrong place on Jan 6th.... Sarah McLachlan singing that sad, sad song In the Arms of an Angel would be the perfect face for her campaign.... The only person that should really be locked up in a prison cell …

Here is his article in Foreign Affairs https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/07/america-is-too-scared-of-the-multipolar-world/

That thread on whether Biden should run again is getting deeper into issues like China, Russia, and whether we are headed to World War III. Since it's one year since the Ukraine war started, and readers in this politics forum tilt toward Asia, I thought it would be interesting to talk about China in particular. And their role in the Ukraine war. I'll start with @njf's quotation in that other thread of what Jimmy Carter said about war and peace: I agree. Even many textbook conservatives like George Will now see Iraq as a huge blunder. As we frittered our global leadership away, China invested. That said, China invading Vietnam right before 1980 to ba…

From Pattaya Mail By Barry Kenyon Barring a political “accident”, Thais are set to go to the national polls on May 7. The conventional wisdom is that the Shinawatra-backed Pheu Thai opposition party will win enough seats in the 500 member House of Representatives, either alone or in coalition, to unseat the military-backed administration of Prayut Chan-o-cha who led the military coup of 2014. The general became prime minister and went on to win a disputed election in 2019. Pheu Thai optimism now seems a reasonable assumption as the army-led government has failed to deliver on promises, specifically cleaning up corruption or reforming the police, and has only man…

By Adam Kovac February 23, 2023 Several police departments around the United States are warning Jews of extremist groups planning a “Day of Hate” for Saturday. https://forward.com/fast-forward/537473/jewish-communities-white-supremacists-feb-25-day-of-hate-nypd/ The NYPD Intelligence and Counterterrorism bureau said the cautionary message is being circulated due to social media posts and video “instructing likeminded individuals to drop banners, place stickers and flyers, or scrawl graffiti” targeting Jews. They added that at least one person has disseminated a message encouraging these acts of hate to be recorded. In the warning, the NYPD advised…

From Reuters Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Pheu Thai Party's candidate for prime minister, attends a general election campaign, in Ubon Ratchathani © Thomson Reuters AMNAT CHAROEN, Thailand (Reuters) -Touting her billionaire family's legacy of populism and massive election victories, Thailand's Paetongtarn Shinawatra is emerging as the candidate to beat in upcoming polls, betting that nostalgia can win millions of working class votes. Paetongtarn, 36, is campaigning hard in the vote-rich rural strongholds of the Shinawatra family's Pheu Thai political juggernaut, hoping to reignite the kind of fervor that swept father Thaksin and aunt Yingluc…

Members of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) call for a truce at the summit in Yerevan, while the prime minister of the host country refuses to sign the joint document: https://www.txtreport.com/news/2022-11-24-putin-explodes-and-throws-pen-video!-csto-member-states-call-for-a-truce--and-some-people-refuse-to-sign-documents-international.H1jixWpUj.html

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Blasting the For the People Act, Senator Mitch McConnell claimed that the bill’s passage would bring the United States “to the brink of democracy.” “The Democrats can dress this bill up any way they want, but their real agenda couldn’t be clearer,” the Senate Minority Leader said. “They want to turn the United States of America that we love and cherish into a democracy.” Noting that the word “democracy” originated in ancient Greece, he vowed, “I will not sit idly by and watch a foreign form of government sneak across our border.” McConnell rallied his fellow Republican senators by reminding them that “we’re the only thing st…

From Pattaya Mail By Barry Kenyon House of Representatives speaker Chuan Leekpai is warning that the next general election, provisionally set for May 7 2023, is likely to see rampant vote buying as some politicians continue to mix money with politics. He is appealing for the public to vote for honest politicians to put an end to the familiar cycle of corruption which could lead to yet another military putsch to restore order. Thailand has, on average, experienced a coup attempt every seven years in the last 90 years, most of them successful. Mr Chuan foresees a negative scenario in which no party will win enough seats to form a government, resulting in a sc…

From Coconuts Bangkok Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha today ended weeks of speculation by announcing he would jump ship from the party created to usher him into power under rules favoring military-aligned rule for a new political party. The former junta leader who overthrew the last fully civilian government in 2014 said he will seek the premiership again with the newly formed Ruam Thai Sang Chart Party when general elections take place as scheduled in May. “The Ruam Thai Sang Chart Party has proposed that it is willing to support me as the prime minister in the next election,” Prayuth said at the Government House this morning. “So, today…

I'm not American but seems like. Trump has lost the mid term elections. Just lost a online bet in Pennsylvania ,thought Dr Oz was going to win 😳 oh well. So seems Americans prefer the socialist alternative,

From AFP By Alexis Hontang with Fulya Ozerkan in Istanbul Almost a decade after fleeing China, more than 50 Uyghurs are languishing in Thai detention facilities, living in constant fear of being sent back. China has been accused of grave human rights abuses in Xinjiang against the Uyghurs dating back to at least the 1990s, with the United States branding Beijing's treatment of the mostly Muslim minority a "genocide". A damning UN report released in August detailed violations including torture and forced labour and "large-scale" arbitrary detention in what Beijing calls vocational training centres. Many Uyghurs have fled China over the ye…

From the Diplomat On October 16, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) opened its 20th National Party Congress to one, announce a major leadership shuffle and two, review China’s achievements over the last five years, thereby charting a course for the coming five years. Much of the international discussion has seemed to focus on President Xi Jinping’s tightening grip on authority, which marks a shift from China’s old-school leadership transition (post-Deng Xiaoping era) and could ultimately put Xi on par with Chairman Mao Zedong. While this development certainly deserves attention, the CCP’s work report is what truly matters in the eyes of observers in Thailand. …