Coss

The Phoenician Scheme 2025 An offering from Wes Anderson - starting to see that people love or hate Wes' movies. This one I liked a lot. Not a stretch to say, a star studded cast, most of them in cameos, these are the one's I recognised - Benicio Del Toro, a couple of Hanks, Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham, Rupert Friend, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Bryan Cranston, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray and Benedict Cumberbatch I also enjoyed Andersons' The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and The French Dispatch (2021) Asteroid City, not so much.

on Tariffs - note Thailand in the list _____ Key elements and direct excerpts from Trump's tariff letters: The letters, addressed to the leaders of 14 countries, were posted on Truth Social and outlined new tariff rates—ranging from 25% to 40%—that would take effect on August 1 if a new trade deal was not reached. Trump warned that any retaliatory tariffs would be met with further increases: "If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 25% that we charge," (as seen in the letters to Japan and South Korea). The letters generally followed a standard template, with the only major difference being the specific tariff rate and country addressed. Trump sometimes used the word “only” before the tariff rate, implying generosity: "We are imposing only a 25% tariff..." The letters included a willingness to negotiate: "...I will perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter if you open your markets to more U.S. goods and reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers." The letters explicitly stated that tariffs on autos, steel, and aluminum would be handled separately, under existing or additional Section 232 tariffs. Summary: The letters were formal, addressed to heads of state, and included a deadline (August 1) to avoid the new tariffs by reaching a trade deal. They warned against retaliation and offered the possibility of negotiation if the recipient country made concessions to open their market to U.S. goods. The tone was aggressive but left room for further talks and adjustments. Countries and rates mentioned: Japan: 25% South Korea: 25% Myanmar: 40% Laos: 40% Cambodia: 36% Thailand: 36% Bangladesh: 35% Serbia: 35% Indonesia: 32% South Africa: 30% Bosnia and Herzegovina: 30% Kazakhstan: 25% Malaysia: 25% Tunisia: 25% _____

Trump says he's 'not happy' with Putin and blames him for 'killing a lot of people' in Ukraine - LINK

If you ever wanted to see a false flag operation here 'tis - 10 people, all that fire power, messages sprayed on cars, only one wounded. Who dunnit? LINK Should the troops be sent in? 5,000, 10,000...?

On Vietnamese flavours - I went to a "brand new" Pho shop in Middle Earth on Sunday. It is our custom to take the old fella, (me) to lunch after Tak Baht at the local Lao temple, and MLG found this Pho place, so we went. As we stood in the long cold 8°C queue on the pavement outside, I asked MLG how she found the place, she said Tik Tok. I said, you just want to stand in the cold 'cause you found it on Tik Tok and want to post about it. At which point about half the queue's male members turned and gave me the "I've got one too" look. However, two big pots of soup, plenty of prep and they were churning through them at about 4 pax a minute, The Pho was good, the plastic stools and little tables authentic, price OK. I'll wait for Tik Tok to lose interest, before I go again.

Yes his understanding of a space force will be sometime like Flash Gordon - whereas, some of his people and - "And so for our virtual team, it's between us, Australia, Japan and the Republic of Korea that helps monitor behaviors and we share it all widely amongst, I think at the moment it's around about 12 countries that are sharing that information." - are probably doing something worthwhile.

Having read this article I can't help but opine that 'merica will be better off for this initiative...

We all laughed when Trump got them there 'mericans, a shiny new Space Force... Looks like it's real and is part of an international effort. NZ's contributions LINK

I am in awe of folk like yourself, who can hold a business together and keep it going over the decades. I've had a couple in the past, but headhunting/redundancy/heart issues/cancer have prevented my participation in the good journey over these last 15 years. My point in posting, is that I found, that once I found that I could do what I wanted, and I could do stuff that didn't serve the - Capitalist Master/The Man/Society's Expectations, and I found that there's more to life than I had imagined. Fishing, Kayaking, Travelling, I even wrote, performed and produced a musical album, released to deafening silence :) and most of all, observation of our fellow humans. On that note I have an unpublished novel, but given my ties to some folk in Laos, it may be too close to home for its release. Perhaps posthumously. My point is that whilst retirement is gonna be a big change and possible arduous, once you're out the other side it's a new world. Golf they said... A good walk ruined.

I'm finding huge numbers of his doccos in the ether, sometimes I wonder how he had time to grow old, with the amount of content he's narrated. Very good, as you say a treasure.. a tangent: 7DOS - seven days of science - if I wondered where Attenborough's successor would come from: https://www.youtube.com/@7DaysofScience. 3 young'uns doing it quite well and also, one of their members obviously decided to get serious and they also do this one, but without the young person thing... LINK

AMF?

you are correct, but I still don't know how much of the air industry's systems are US influenced i.e in terms of air ticket space: Global Distribution Systems (GDS) These are the largest and most influential platforms in the worldwide air ticket booking ecosystem: Amadeus: The world's largest GDS, accounting for about 40% of global GDS transactions. It is especially dominant in Europe and has the biggest global market share footprint. Sabre: Originating from American Airlines, Sabre is a major GDS with strong presence in the Americas, EMEA, and APAC regions. It serves over 400,000 travel agencies in more than 160 countries. Travelport: This company operates three major GDS brands—Galileo, Worldspan, and Apollo—and is active in 180 countries worldwide. Abacus: A leading GDS in the Asia-Pacific region, now owned by Sabre Holdings, serving over 100,000 travel agents across 59 markets. etc. Security is not really something I can find out about. but: Most countries utilize a common air industry security system based on ICAO’s global standards, particularly Annex 17 and the Global Aviation Security Plan.These frameworks ensure a coordinated, risk-based approach to aviation security worldwide, with each country responsible for implementing and maintaining effective security measures in line with international best practices. In my paranoia, I reckon it would not be a stretch, for a 20 yr old Twonk to make a notification somewhere that is shared internationally. I posted elsewhere here, about getting 2 carryon bag searches, when I arrived in Bangkok from Laos, before I boarded a flight to Oz. Walk walk search, walk walk search, walk walk board flight. It wasn't just me, there were others, but annoying. Given the search before I boarded the Lao-Bkk flight, I thought the 2 in Bkk were unnecessary. My suspicions of how far American (or other) "security" extends into the rest of the world, remain. And no I don't think I'm personally in focus, just annoyed that it seems impossible to travel without something interfering with my journey.

No but Oz may choose to access my phone if the USA decide to check all travellers and put said travellers on a list somewhere. Unlikely and I’m harmless, but they’re sweeping up innocents by the truckload in the USA so this is where it starts. I’m probably wrong but I’ve decided that the risk of some 20 yr old Twonk with access to some industrial strength Ai in a faceless doge office somewhere, might think that international passenger lists are a good place to trawl to boost their quota. It would be never mean my detention for anything but interactions with airport folk can ruin yer day. Ergo no bait from me for twonk fisher folk.

Self edited, deleted... just in case the 'mericans can access any of my digital missives when I'm travelling to Straya, LOS and Laos.

I've always found that knocking on the door with my schlong out, works very well. Even better, when I knock on the door... with my schlong...

Bubi, even in a tangential thread, the message is apt. Historically when the greedy, vain and dodgy, worked out that their path to glory (their idea of success), was "controlling the narrative", the clever, the wise and even us here, said that the masses wont be fooled long term, by a farcical "narrative". The clever, the wise and even us here, were wrong. Collectively the masses, are dumb as bricks, and those of us who are not dumb as bricks, are rare and infrequent, diamonds in the rough, in a great big pile of bricks. The Trump experiment is over - the results are in, the Trump experiment works. How sad. Historically of course, when the rich are too greedy, the masses will rebel and take back society, often with negative consequences for the rich: England 1688 France 1789 Russia 1917 China 1945 'nuff said...

but made herself culture minister so she could keep her desk for now... meanwhile, Dad's case... he's looking healthy, not at all sick....

Criminal Court to begin witness hearings in Thaksin lèse majesté case The Criminal Court will begin hearing prosecution witnesses in the lèse majesté case against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Monday, with sessions scheduled to run over three consecutive days from July 1–3. Public prosecutors have charged Thaksin under Section 112 of the Criminal Code and the 2007 Computer Crime Act. The charges stem from an interview he gave to South Korean media in 2015, in which he allegedly made remarks deemed offensive to the monarchy. Thaksin has denied all allegations and is currently out on bail. The court has scheduled full-day hearings from 9am to 4.30pm over the three days. Thaksin is required to attend the hearings in person each day... LINK POLL

I got my scuba ticket at age 14 and I grew up watching Ron and Valery Taylor's groundbreaking underwater films, Saltwater Crocodiles, Dugongs, Great White Sharks etc etc (they consulted and filmed for Jaws). This docco is a bit of a mish mash but very good for vision of stuff you will have never seen before and likely won't again, underwater scenes, islanders, whales, even volcanic stuff. recommended.

developments: Protesters rally in Bangkok to demand Thai prime minister's resignation over leaked Cambodia call. LINK &c. &c. &c. 20,000 by police estimates

and then June 27 ----- Cambodia’s influential ex-premier Hun Sen on Friday accused Thailand’s prime minister of insulting the Thai king, as tensions between the neighbouring countries intensified. He said Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s comments about her military commander — who she labelled an “opponent” — in a leaked phone call with the veteran leader over a border dispute were “an insult to the king”. “An insult to a regional commander is an insult to the Thai king because it is only the king who issued a royal decree to appoint him,” Hun Sen said in a livestream on his official Facebook page. The daughter of controversial ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra — who goes on trial for lese-majeste next week — faces being sacked as prime minister as the phone call scandal has triggered calls for her to step down and her government to teeter....... LINK ----- BANGKOK - Thailand's foreign ministry said on Friday it was taken aback by an unprecedented public attack on the Thai premier and her family by Cambodia's influential former leader, but stressed the need for diplomacy to resolve an escalating bilateral dispute. In a televised address that lasted more than three hours, veteran Cambodian politician Hun Sen rebuked Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra for her handling of a festering border row between the neighbours. Hun Sen, who led Cambodia for nearly four decades until stepping down in 2023, also took aim at Paetongtarn's father, divisive billionaire former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, until recently his close ally. "It surprised us, and it's quite extraordinary in terms of diplomatic norms," foreign ministry spokesman Nikorndej Balankura told Reuters. "Thailand has opened a lot of doors, and I insist that these doors remain open even after what happened this morning." Hun Sen, who is now president of Cambodia's senate but still holds enormous clout, accused Paetongtarn of looking down at him and his son, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet. On Thaksin, who faces an impending court case over the legitimacy of a hospital stay that allowed him to skip prison time, Hun Sen said the former Thai leader faked his illness. "Thaksin was not sick," he said. "He pretended to be sick." Paetongtarn, 38, has come under enormous domestic pressure following the leak of the audio of June 15 phone call between her and Hun Sen, in which she appeared overtly deferential to him and also criticised a Thai military commander..... LINK

I won't post it here, because 'merica. Another good reason to not travel to the USA https://www.newsweek.com/jd-vance-bald-baby-face-meme-shown-irish-parliament-2091049 That photo will be trouble for you, if it's on for phone on arrival...

LINK Senate president Hun Sen has sent a blunt message to the man who he once described as his “Godbrother” – former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra – accused Thaksin of betraying him and warning that he will expose his treasonous actions, including betraying the Thai monarchy. However, he noted that he would wait to see Bangkok’s reaction first. “I’d rather let others betray me first; I don’t betray others first. Now that I’ve been betrayed, I feel I must reveal what the Thaksin family did to betray their nation. This is a warning: You should teach your children, and they should understand their father and others, he said, as he spoke to displaced Cambodian citizens in Preah Vihear province on June 26. He explained that he plans to discuss the ups and downs of Cambodia-Thailand relations more deeply tomorrow, June 27, in order for both Cambodian and Thai citizens, who he said all desire peace, to understand the nature of the relationship. “I never imagined that a family I helped would rise to become prime minister and cause such issues. One moment they claim to have power, the next they say they don’t. Tomorrow, I will talk about this,” he said, referring to Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of Thaksin. He also directed pointed comments at Thaksin. “If you act arrogantly, I will expose everything you told me, including your insults to your king. Discipline your children. You have a child as prime minister, and I have a child as prime minister. But don’t mistake me for someone you can cross. I owe Thailand nothing,” he said. He indicated that Thaksin’s family owe him a debt of gratitude, which he does not seek to collect. What he wants is a relationship of equals, without interference. Hun Sen and Thaksin’s families once shared a close bond. Both Thaksin and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra, also a former Thai prime minister, have stayed at Hun Sen’s home. The Senate president shard his hopes that a new Thai prime minister will resolve the current issues with Cambodia, as he is unsure who currently holds the authority to negotiate effectively. “Right now, we don’t know who to negotiate with or who holds real power. Is it the military, a political party, someone behind the party or the prime minister? We don’t know who has true authority. We understand that only when a new prime minister takes office might there be willingness to resolve these issues,” he said. “Cambodia doesn’t see Thailand as an enemy. We only see a small group of extremists, some military and some politicians. We will work with Thailand, whether it’s the yellow shirts, red shirts or any other group,” he added. Niem Chheng The Phnom Penh Post Asia News Network