LarryLEB

"imbecile" means a stupid person; Hegseth is just a well-educated, but stupid, person. Interesting, but not surprising, that you are an expert on pimples...

"always"?

Hegseth: imbecile.

With all the negative news items coming from Phuket nearly every day, here is my solution: Just shut it down: Close Phuket to all tourists ... simple! (LOL)

Regarding a Two-State Solution and Its Continued Rejection by Palestinian authorities... The 1947 United Nations Partition Plan proposed a 3-way division of Palestine (with Jerusalem held separately under international control). This plan was rejected by the Arab Higher Committee and the Arab League (among other Arab leaders and governments). The Partition Plan, would have seen an Arab state over 42.88% of the land and a Jewish state over 56.47% of the land, with the internationally-administered Jerusalem comprising the remainder of the land. (from The Evolution of Borders of Palestine Throughout Modern History; Bashar Jumaa) At a two-week Camp David conference in 2000, Clinton read a proposal to Yasser Arafat (a proposal which had been endorsed in advance by Israel). The proposal, as read, included "the establishment of a demilitarised Palestinian state on some 92% of the West Bank and 100% of the Gaza Strip, with some territorial compensation for the Palestinians from pre-1967 Israeli territory; the dismantling of most of the settlements and the concentration of the bulk of the settlers inside the 8% of the West Bank to be annexed by Israel; the establishment of the Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem, in which some Arab neighborhoods would become sovereign Palestinian territory and others would enjoy "functional autonomy"; Palestinian sovereignty over half the Old City of Jerusalem (the Muslim and Christian quarters) and "custodianship," though not sovereignty, over the Temple Mount; a return of refugees to the prospective Palestinian state though with no "right of return" to Israel proper; and the organisation by the international community of a massive aid programme to facilitate the refugees' rehabilitation." [the bold font is mine] (article from The Guardian, May 2002) Yasser Arafat rejected the proposal and offered no alternatives. In fact, Arafat didn't negotiate at all. In 2017, Hamas, in its Charter, said that Hamas considers Palestine to be based on its June 4, 1967 borders. Palestinian authorities have never wanted a two-state solution.

HIGH TIME!

December 2024, I was at Rutnin Eye Hospital in Bangkok for my annual checkup. The retinal specialist I've seen for years said that I should consider getting a "Pars plana vitrectomy with membrane peeling." He said that the procedure takes under an hour and that the success rate is about 90%. (Reason for procedure: macular pucker in right eye = epiretinal membrane, which is scar tissue, usually caused by the vitreous tugging on the retina.) Visual recovery is gradual and usually takes about one month. Local anesthetic and the eye is patched over night. Because I still have 20/20 vision with my eyeglasses, we will wait until June for another checkup, and we'll make a decision then. Specialist said was up to me whether to have the surgery. To be honest, since the procedure wouldn't improve my current vision, I'm not likely to have the procedure. The cost quoted was 220,000 Baht.

Free public transport forever would not put more than a small (i.e. tiny) dent in the air pollution problem at this time of year.

Last night, at about 11:00 pm, Pattaya was giving Bangkok a run for its money with IQAir showing 179 here.

What floor are you currently living on? Your figure of 100 meters above ground would normally mean a building of around 25 floors or more. One expert, Dr. Arvind Kumar of the Lung Care Foundation, has said: "air pollution is generally lower on higher floors in a high-rise building because the major sources of air pollution in large cities (that have high-rise buildings) are vehicular traffic emissions and construction debris. However, higher floors can also be more exposed to outdoor air pollution from other sources, such as industrial areas or open burning." (The bold font on the word "burning" is mine, not Dr. Kumar's, since burning of crops seems to be a major cause of air pollution in most of Thailand.) We use air purifiers continuously during the several months of bad air here in Pattaya. We are on the 16th floor. On the Xiaomi purifier next to my desk, the PM 2.5 reading right now is 1, while outside the current reading is 34.4 µg/m³(according to IQAir at 13:30, January 20). In the past, the air purifier filters lasted about 12 or 13 months, but recently, we have had to change them in only 11 months. We turn off the purifiers in the dining/sitting room at night and use purifiers in our bedrooms. When opening again in the dining/sitting room in the morning, the PM2.5 reading has shown as high as 24 when we first open the 2 purifiers there. (Note that sometimes during cooking, the reading can be much higher than that -- say 50 or over for a few minutes.) As others have stated on this site, we are very happy with the performance of our Xiaomi purifiers.

Trump had nothing to do with it... Trudeau was well on his way out before the American election.

I ordered the Paperwhite from Amazon in 2023 and it was delivered to my address in Thailand. Just now I checked the Amazon website, and you are right: the new 2024 Paperwhite cannot be delivered to Thailand. HOWEVER, the International Version of Kindle is available from Amazon for delivery to Thailand. It is $119.99 plus $43.83 which covers both delivery AND import charges.

Before retiring to Thailand more than a dozen years ago, I bought a Kindle while still in Canada. I knew that it would be a literary life-saver once here. Best thing I ever did. For example, I just checked out Paul Theroux on Amazon: There are 15 of his books available for download. You can order a Kindle from Amazon to send to Thailand. (I did this after my original old version Kindle packed it in.)

to the rescue: "Props" is a slang term (American) meaning to give someone credit or appreciation for doing something.

I live in Jomtien. Just a few days ago, IQAir online showed Pattaya City Air Quality at 165. Right now it shows 86.