Trip advice

[mauRICE]

12 hours ago, daydreamer said:

From what I have read, there have been peace talks between the Iranian Foreign Minister, Badr Abdelatty, and the US special envoy, Steve Witkoff in the past 36 hours.

The denial of any talks is coming from Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and possibly other top officials loyal to the Supreme Leader.  Ghalibaf is the speaker of the Iranian parliament, and a staunch supporter of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.  Ghalibaf is a mouthpiece for the IRGC.

President Trump was on the US evening news just an hour ago saying they have been talking, and this agreement included in the talks would involve a change of the current Iranian government.  So yes, both sides are correct.  Talks are happening, just not with the Islamic regime's hardliners that remain alive. 

Tehran is officially denying any talks, because the few remaining top officials that are loyal to the Supreme Leader cannot perceive an Iranian government that does not include them.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/23/surprise-us-talks-with-irans-fractured-leadership-offer-uncertain-path-out-of-conflict

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/23/politics/trump-shift-iran-talks

🤣 Trump, Dimwitkoff and Trump's nelly, bottom son-in-law who proudly bragged about building luxury condos on the unmarked graves of Gaza's children can hardly be trusted. I think Trump is desperate and his administration is flip-flopping on the way forward with this terrible assault on Iran and seem surprised that Iran is fighting back. Hellooo, they've been preparing for this for decades!

The genocidal Israeli regime, which wanted and pushed for this assault on Iran, of course doesn't want it to end until Iran is completely destroyed and in utter chaos so that they can have complete and utter hegemony over the region. Except for battles here and there where it achieved limited objectives, the US hasn't had a single major victory since WW2 and it will be the same here. What's important is that a new generation of freedom and resistance fighters who have seen their mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters killed by the US and Israel, has been born. And what this new generation of Iranians have learned from this murderous aggression by the Americans and the Israelis on their homes and their lives is that might is right which may encourage them to develop nuclear weapons for real in the future.  The fight against the genocidal Israeli regime and its US sponsors will thus continue. Amen. 

[vinapu]

8 hours ago, Blah said:

It is totally irrelevant what you read today - it's gonna change 7 ways to Friday and then back again, over the next 10 weeks, followed by several flip-flops!

It would be funny if it weren't true

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, mauRICE said:

What's important is that a new generation of freedom and resistance fighters who have seen their mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters killed by the US and Israel, has been born. And what this new generation of Iranians have learned from this murderous aggression by the Americans and the Israelis on their homes and their lives is that might is right which may encourage them to develop nuclear weapons for real in the future. 

 Iranians face double tragedy being stuck between aggressors and their own cruel regime. While it's true Iran is victim of raw aggression , there weren't exactly best behaving neighbour on their street either.

It's sad how fast word forgot about plight of Gaza people,  since bombing began almost never mentioned in media.

As for BOMB unfortunately lesson from North Korea, Ukraine and now Iran is , you want be safe you better have one or at least close friend who does.

Might was always right but now, thanks to Orange one  that's truth is exposed without shame to world's peril.

 

BEEP, BEEP we are going astray from  thread's topic

[mauRICE]

2 hours ago, vinapu said:

 Iranians face double tragedy being stuck between aggressors and their own cruel regime. While it's true Iran is victim of raw aggression , there weren't exactly best behaving neighbour on their street either.

It's sad how fast word forgot about plight of Gaza people, since bombing began almost never mentioned in media.

What have you been smoking gurl? Iran hasn't sought to occupy territory belonging to its neighbours; Israel has. Iran has never initiated attacks against its neighbours; Israel has intiated and sustained attacks on all of its neighbours, including Lebanon, Syria, Libya, Iraq, Yemen and Iran. Iran hasn't got nuclear weapons, Israel has. Iran has openly allowed UN agencies and the IAEA to inspect its nuclear facilities; Israel won't even admit to having nuclear weapons. Who's the "misbehaving neighbour" on the "street" now?

Cruel regime? Hello, isn't dropping a US Tomahawk missile on a school and killing 185 schoolgirls cruel? And what about shooting down an Iran Air Airbus A300 in 1988 by a US warship and killing all 290 commercial passengers on board? What do you call that? A unique brand of American mercy? You think their families and descendants are simply going to forgive and forget? Are we to believe they were both accidents on the part of supposedly the world's greatest military? 

My grandparents lived under both the British and Japanese Occupations and like to brag that they know the lyrics to both God Save the King and the Kimigayo and, while there were traits they admired in both cultures, have never failed to remind us of the horrors both occupiers had inflicted on the local populations. And my grandfather would add that the Japanese, as cruel as they were, were fair and always paid for what they took whereas the Brits would just steal and "appropriate" and then make the locals pay to gain access to what was theirs to begin with. 🙄

Moreover if cruelty is a motive for attacking and intervening in a country, why not attack Saudi Arabia, which has a far worse human rights record than Iran. Or why didn't the US attack Iran during the Pahlavi regime which was extremely brutal to its own people? Ohh wait, the US and the UK put that regime in power in return for 40% access to Iranian oil. 40%! Did you know that female literacy went up three times under the Ayatollahs after the fall of the Pahlavis and now Iranian women are amongst the most literate in the world? And what did the US and the Israelis do? Kill Iranian schoolgirls. Ohh the irony!

The western mainstream media has never reported fairly on the plight of the Palestinians. When they report on the genocide, the news is always skewered towards the Israelis being the victims. Boo-hoo. Right now the Israelis are mercilessly carpet bombing southern Lebanon, targetting schools and hospitals, their favourites. It's what they do; kill, kill, kill to get what they want and if they don't, they kill some more. Western mainstream media reporting has got worse with that rabid Zionist Barrie Weiss now the head of CBS news and as CNN and other major media outlets become monopolised by a tiny but very powerful band of pro-Israeli conglomerates like the Ellison Company which also owns Oracle, Paramount and Warner Bros and are big donors to Donald Trump. Thank god for Aljazeera and independent media like Zeteo, Breaking Point, The Majority Report and Owen Jones for their impartial reporting and for analysts like Ilan Pappe, Norman Finkelstein, Jeffrey Sachs and John Marsheimer. And that brave, brave UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese. 🫶

[vinapu]

BEEP, BEEP BEEP. Create new thread. For the record I don't smoke

[mauRICE]

55 minutes ago, vinapu said:

BEEP, BEEP BEEP. Create new thread. For the record I don't smoke

What is "BEEP BEEP BEEP"? Secondly, are you a forum moderator? I wasn't the one who started posting on the illegal war against Iran in this thread and yet you didn't tell them to start a new thread? If the forum moderators - whoever they are - would like to move all posts that which do not strictly relate to the original post in this thread to another thread, I would have no objections. 

[Keithambrose]

6 hours ago, mauRICE said:

What have you been smoking gurl? Iran hasn't sought to occupy territory belonging to its neighbours; Israel has. Iran has never initiated attacks against its neighbours; Israel has intiated and sustained attacks on all of its neighbours, including Lebanon, Syria, Libya, Iraq, Yemen and Iran. Iran hasn't got nuclear weapons, Israel has. Iran has openly allowed UN agencies and the IAEA to inspect its nuclear facilities; Israel won't even admit to having nuclear weapons. Who's the "misbehaving neighbour" on the "street" now?

Cruel regime? Hello, isn't dropping a US Tomahawk missile on a school and killing 185 schoolgirls cruel? And what about shooting down an Iran Air Airbus A300 in 1988 by a US warship and killing all 290 commercial passengers on board? What do you call that? A unique brand of American mercy? You think their families and descendants are simply going to forgive and forget? Are we to believe they were both accidents on the part of supposedly the world's greatest military? 

My grandparents lived under both the British and Japanese Occupations and like to brag that they know the lyrics to both God Save the King and the Kimigayo and, while there were traits they admired in both cultures, have never failed to remind us of the horrors both occupiers had inflicted on the local populations. And my grandfather would add that the Japanese, as cruel as they were, were fair and always paid for what they took whereas the Brits would just steal and "appropriate" and then make the locals pay to gain access to what was theirs to begin with. 🙄

Moreover if cruelty is a motive for attacking and intervening in a country, why not attack Saudi Arabia, which has a far worse human rights record than Iran. Or why didn't the US attack Iran during the Pahlavi regime which was extremely brutal to its own people? Ohh wait, the US and the UK put that regime in power in return for 40% access to Iranian oil. 40%! Did you know that female literacy went up three times under the Ayatollahs after the fall of the Pahlavis and now Iranian women are amongst the most literate in the world? And what did the US and the Israelis do? Kill Iranian schoolgirls. Ohh the irony!

The western mainstream media has never reported fairly on the plight of the Palestinians. When they report on the genocide, the news is always skewered towards the Israelis being the victims. Boo-hoo. Right now the Israelis are mercilessly carpet bombing southern Lebanon, targetting schools and hospitals, their favourites. It's what they do; kill, kill, kill to get what they want and if they don't, they kill some more. Western mainstream media reporting has got worse with that rabid Zionist Barrie Weiss now the head of CBS news and as CNN and other major media outlets become monopolised by a tiny but very powerful band of pro-Israeli conglomerates like the Ellison Company which also owns Oracle, Paramount and Warner Bros and are big donors to Donald Trump. Thank god for Aljazeera and independent media like Zeteo, Breaking Point, The Majority Report and Owen Jones for their impartial reporting and for analysts like Ilan Pappe, Norman Finkelstein, Jeffrey Sachs and John Marsheimer. And that brave, brave UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese. 🫶

Life is too short to deal with all these  important  issues in detail. However, it should be pointed out that in my view,  there are faults on all sides. It's worth remembering that one of  Iran's stated aims is to destroy Israel, and wipe it off the map.  They also fund, and support, Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, etc, who have been guilty of many civilian  deaths.  No one could dispute that  Israel's activities in Lebanon, Iran,  Gaza, and the West Bank, are despicable, but there are two sides to the story.

[mauRICE]

1 hour ago, Keithambrose said:

Life is too short to deal with all these  important  issues in detail. However, it should be pointed out that in my view,  there are faults on all sides. It's worth remembering that one of  Iran's stated aims is to destroy Israel, and wipe it off the map.  They also fund, and support, Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, etc, who have been guilty of many civilian  deaths.  No one could dispute that  Israel's activities in Lebanon, Iran,  Gaza, and the West Bank, are despicable, but there are two sides to the story.

It's precisely because life is too short and precious that we can't be cavalier about the issues. And we should ask ourselves why and how resistance fighters like Hamas and Hezbollah came about and why they have acted as they have? Did they even exist prior to 1948? The Christians, Jews and Muslims lived in relative peace before then. And you may want to check again who's actually been funding Hamas previously in order to undermine the Palestinian Authority and prevent the creation of a viable Palestinian state.

Prior to this illegal war against them, for which the US are still mumbling off the reasons and have no exit plan, Iran hadn't attacked anyone. Can anyone say the same about the US, Israel and the UK? Civilian deaths? Oh perleez. 🙄 Anyone with any connection to centuries of western settler-colonial aggression - a tradition the genocidal Israeli regime is keeping well and alive in Palestine - should think twice before bringing up the issue of civilian deaths allegedly perpetrated by others.

[floridarob]

1 hour ago, mauRICE said:

What is "BEEP BEEP BEEP"?

It's become an acceptable way of letting people know that the post is going off topic, we're all guilty of it even Auntie Vin, don't be offended.... and feel free to honk at someone  when appropriate 😉

I prefer we self moderate (not medicate) rather than have "moderators" that delete and "patrol" the boards and warnings.... usually if it's toooo insane @TotallyOz steps in behind the scenes to take care of it.

[mauRICE]

6 minutes ago, floridarob said:

It's become an acceptable way of letting people know that the post is going off topic, we're all guilty of it even Auntie Vin, don't be offended.... and feel free to honk at someone  when appropriate 😉

I wasn't offended; I was just worried Aunty Vin might be having a seizure. 😅

[Londoner]

I write a lot about my time in  Palestine-too much some would say- and so I won't do so here but I must say that, while I've enjoyed my holiday in Chiang Mai and Jomtien and am sad to be going home tomorrow,  Trump and Netanyahu have done their utmost to ensure that my mood has been much more gloomy than usual. Thanks guys. And I dare not speak of the far worse suffering of others.

Insh'allah it'll be over by June when I return. Or will it be Cuba and Lebanon (again) then? Or Mexico? or Syria? 

For heaven's sake, please stop.

[Olddaddy]

10 hours ago, mauRICE said:

What is "BEEP BEEP BEEP"? Secondly, are you a forum moderator? I wasn't the one who started posting on the illegal war against Iran in this thread and yet you didn't tell them to start a new thread? If the forum moderators - whoever they are - would like to move all posts that which do not strictly relate to the original post in this thread to another thread, I would have no objections. 

And could you ask them about why I cant  post pics too ?

Surely that's not too much to ask !!!

 

[Dannyxxx]

I’ve decided to be risky and to end my trip in Hochiminh City Vietnam.  If my flight to Seoul is cancelled or delayed I’ll figure out another way home.  The flights from Bangkok to Seoul became so expensive I decided to take the risk and fly out of SGN since my Air France points could cover most of the cost.  My flights are mostly refundable so I can cancel them last minute if it becomes necessary.  

I’ve been to Freshboys and Good Boys and am wondering which other gogo style bars are most similar to these since I really liked the selection of guys.  I’ll definitely be making an appointment with Float at Wabi Sabi.

[zoomomancs]

1 hour ago, Dannyxxx said:

I’ve decided to be risky and to end my trip in Hochiminh City Vietnam.  If my flight to Seoul is cancelled or delayed I’ll figure out another way home.  The flights from Bangkok to Seoul became so expensive I decided to take the risk and fly out of SGN since my Air France points could cover most of the cost.  My flights are mostly refundable so I can cancel them last minute if it becomes necessary.  

I’ve been to Freshboys and Good Boys and am wondering which other gogo style bars are most similar to these since I really liked the selection of guys.  I’ll definitely be making an appointment with Float at Wabi Sabi.

Nowhere is as good as Freshboys and Good Boys if you like that type. Go back there. Dreamboys has a few similar.