A new zoo vision?
Re: "Dusit Zoo successor to open next year", (BP, July 22). Although the new zoo is a most welcome development in principle, I can't picture Babar and his odd choice of chums cooperating in this Arcadian fantasy.
Given the time this project will take, sadly, Bua Noi is unlikely to experience such freedom due to her advanced age. Anyway, release from her oubliette would never be approved.
Taxing times ahead
Re: "Missing the mark" and "Expat tax fallout", (PostBag, July 20).
MP Foscolos's post is refreshing on the subject of taxing world income. Our only difference is the degree of its effects. Other proclaimed economists "stand united" that the proposal could "cause serious long-term harm to the Thai economy".
I am an economist who graduated from London and qualified as a chartered accountant, and my opinion is that one does not view this proposal as having little effect. But I venture to guess the decision-makers regard this sector as insignificant, especially with the current rise in the number of incoming tourists to the achievable target of 40 million this year (pre-Covid number). This should have overshadowed the significance of this sector.
Being blind to the concerns may harm Thailand's economy in the long run, as claimed. But the words of that guru economist, John Maynard Keynes, come to mind -- "In the long run, we are all dead."
Michel Barre's summary of my thoughts is excellent and fair, including the point of having a "big elephant" in my room. I have to conclude that defeat is beyond assistance, and I wish him well in his next abode.
In the future, I will tell myself to mind my own business when reading the case, similar to Michel Barre.
Cost of bearing arms
Re: "Trust deficit", (PostBag, July 21) and "Guns on US streets", (PostBag, July 18).
Michael Setter seems to have forgotten that the US Constitution's Second Amendment, influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689, states the right to bear arms in an organised militia. At the time of writing the Constitution, the US had no army or navy, so an organised militia was needed for defence.
The founding fathers were concerned about external threats and could never have foreseen the military might that the US now has.
I would suggest that Michael downloads the Letter from America of Alister Cooke (1993) to see how far the bearing of arms and the power of the NRA has led to the carnage in the US relating to gun ownership with no organised militias in sight!!
Biden out, Harris in
Re: "Biden drops out of election race, endorses VP Harris", (BP, July 23).
Because Democrats such as myself refused to follow Joe Biden to the slaughterhouse, Biden has wisely stepped down. The Democrats now have a chance of winning in November.
Does that mean I'll vote for them? Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic nominee, has shown some signs that she's opposed to Israel's barbaric genocide against the Palestinian people. I'm willing to at least listen to her. But if I conclude she's just a younger version of Joe Biden, then I will vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
The days when I would vote for the Democrats just because they're not quite as disgusting as the Republicans are over. As they well should be.