rickudon

Back to the original post, yes, hard for graduates to find Jobs. My Thai nephew finished technical college in 2019, and was promised a government civil engineering job, but told had to wait for new year when they would have funding for the post. Then Covid. Job never happened. He spent 3 years killing chickens for his Dad part-time, apart for a few months doing some dodgy online computer stuff ( I think it was for an online gambling site). Finally got a job in Bangkok end of 2023 using his qualifications. Two nieces both did accountancy, elder one got a good job, the younger one got exploited by employer who demanded overtime every evening and never paid for it, also often not paid on time. In the end just left and got a shop job. I do agree too many do crap degrees with little chance of related work. In the UK graduates also find jobs hard to get. These days often need to do over a hundred applications to get a decent job. Son had a first Batchelors degree and then a masters from Cambridge, still took him a couple of years, eventually became a civil servant (but not in his speciality). Now, with a 3 year University degree costing you 50,000-60,000 GBP, then taking 20 plus years to pay off, it is questionable if a degree is a sensible financial decision, except for a few subjects.

Lockdowns where a tool, and if used correctly helped slow the spread of the virus and hence deaths. We should bare in mind that the most draconian lockdown happened in China - and was very effective in stopping the virus. Air travel was responsible for a lot of the spread, should have been curtailed earlier - not stopped, but all travellers quarantined. The question is - no lockdowns may have caused the collapse of health services, and even greater numbers of deaths, but come at an economic cost. What price on a life. As for which countries did best - hard to tell - the collected statistics for most under developed countries probably missed most cases, and in the first year many deaths were not recorded as Covid, but implied by excess deaths usually twice as high as recorded deaths, As for USA and nearly all of Europe, death rates were fairly similar - usually over 0,3%, with some Eastern European countries over 0.5%. So nothing these countries did got better results than neighbouring countries. Australia and New Zealand, due to shutting down air travel and applying selective lockdowns, did best at 0.1%

Somewhere in hi-so land, some people are jockeying for power. Will we ever know the details?

Ok. some data. CO2 levels have risen by about 60 ppm in the last 25 years, or about 17%. At the current rate, that means 600 ppm by 2100 and 1000 ppm ppm before 2200. At 1,000 ppm breathing starts getting difficult and strenuous activity becomes difficult. Methane (CH4) - the second greatest cause of warming - this tends to increase somewhat erratically - average of about 10 ppb per year, but sometimes goes down, or up by as much as 20 ppb. At the beginning of this millennium , it hardly changed over 5 years but then shot up again. 40% of methane comes from natural sources (typically wetlands) and 60% is caused by man. Agriculture is responsible for 50% of man made methane, but in reality reducing such emissions is problematic - lower productivity and if land is returned to nature it would still emit some methane, The main non-agricultural source is fossil fuel extraction - and fracking is a big source. The Obama administration made cutting methane releases a legal requirement, but the fossil fuel industry in USA objected - and legal requirements were reduced or scrapped under Trump. Fracking and lack of methane emission controls may be behind the current surge. Finally, the genie in the bottle - methane release from frozen Tundra and methane clathrate could rise rapidly as the arctic warms up. If all the methane was released, we would see temperatures rocket to levels which would cause a global extinction event (think Permian extinction). Climate change (i.e. weather). The world is already experiencing more extreme weather events - category 5 Hurricanes, more intense rainfall (Spain recently experienced this, over 200 people dead and massive damage to infrastructure), droughts and heatwaves. This will damage agriculture, infrastructure and cost lives. These events are already causing billions of dollars in losses every year, maybe one trillion will be peanuts in the future. So no complacency please. Sea level rise - ok, only about 3 mm a year - doesn't sound like much. As water warms it expands, and of course ice sheets and glaciers melt faster. But slowly it increases rates of coastal erosion - we need more coast defences, or managed retreat - both cost money. These are just direct effects. The synergy between the different elements may cause unexpected, or shall we say undesired outcomes - mass migration, war, new or growing disease outbreaks.

Obviously you did not read it.

Ok. and the link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Israel–Hamas_war#:~:text=As of 5 November 2024,including 179 employees of UNRWA.

Ok, do you deny the deaths or claim other wars killed more?

Israel has killed more civilians in Gaza than any other war in the last 20 years. Over 40,000 mainly verified deaths, with some estimates that as many as 10,000 more are buried under the rubble. 70% women and children. US health workers who have worked in Gaza estimate that starvation and disease have killed even more - maybe over 60,000 (mainly infants and young children. Another 5,000 have died due to lack of medical care. Hardly a proportional response.

Very dubious. A sibling 36 years younger - possible, but unlikely unless 2 mothers, A daughter of 57 years of age? so she had her at 64? That would be a record!

Start learning Mandarin or Russian, the new order. Thanks Trump.

Well, we cannot shoot them .... but treat them like a resource, to be mined and monetised.... 1. make illegal entry a crime, fine 2,000 GBP. 2. detain illegals until asylum status is decided. Charge them for their keep. 3. provide work. labour battalions, let them pay their way. 4. no benefits for 10 years, for ALL migrants. 5. They have to pay for right to remain status, like legal migrants, but must pay off debts first. 6. can ask for a ticket back to home country at any time. 7. If illegals refuse to work, they will never be released from detention, and they will only get the minimum for survival. 8. Illegals will only be allowed to live in defined areas until they pay off all their debts. I agree that the UK is full. We need to dissuade migrants, unless they are people with skills we actually need. If we allow migration to continue at the current rate, UK will see quality of life decline and environment degraded.

We know why. But why did Israel kill 43,000 Palestinians in retaliation, destroy most of Gaza and deny aid of all kinds to refugees. Also sabotage ceasefire talks, and spread misinformation (from Netanyahu's own office). Not to mention what has been done to the West bank and Lebanon. Also chilling to listen to a Jew who said we should resettle Gaza, and send the Palestinians to Europe..... I think all that is pretty much Ethnic cleansing. What Israel has been encouraging (at a snails pace) for the last 30-50 years.

Unwra has /had over 3,000 staff, mainly recruited within Gaza. It is impossible to prevent Hamas sympathies within it. Maybe Israel will pay for 3,000 mainly Arabic speaking non Hamas affiliated staff? Obviously impossible. Meanwhile Israel starves, kills and ill treats hundreds of thousands of Palestinians (and has done for years) with only minimal protests from the western world. Now, how would you react if on the receiving end? Without justice, this war will never end.

All countries use money these days. it may be paper, digital or whatever. Reality - if all these currencies become useless, so will gold to a large degree. Back to barter. Food, weapons, tools and other materials will be what you need. Cannot eat gold or make a decent weapon out of it. The OP does not take into account interest on money. Adjusted for inflation, My GBP with interest when converted to Baht buys me about the same as 10 years ago. My pension goes up nearly every year. Gold doesn't grow, current high value just due to war and other lesser conflicts, will probably loose a third of its value if all the international conflicts stopped.

Next target, Netanyahu. Just might end the middle east wars.

ESPECIALLY Aseannow. More nutjobs than Bedlam.

USA has been drinking the Israel Kool-aid for a 100 years. Time to actually see the issues from the other sides point of view. A more balanced approach is needed.

CD is the miserable one, hoping everyone else is even more miserable. My first marriage in the UK didn't end up well, but had 2 kids and stayed until they left home; I might have stayed longer because i had my dream home, but the ex-wifes financial incompetence (and nagging) meant it had to be sold to pay off the mortgage. I just so happened to also be made redundant (at age 55) a few weeks before moving, and knew getting another job would be hard. Downsized, mortgage free and just enough income so that work was not essential. Younger son left for university 3 years later, i told wife to divorce me and moved to Thailand. Intended having some fun, but it was short lived, as found a really good girl quickly (actually, 2 but had to choose). She was just happy to get the buddhist wedding and the promise of support, never asked for formal marriage. But, she quickly became pregnant and i was a Dad again. Then the visa rules changed, so needed the Marriage visa to stay - only had a modest pension which would last me until State pension kicked in, but not enough for retirement. So, got married as good for daughters future as well. Not regretted it. Bars not really my thing, not a big drinker. I had my daughter, my fish ponds and vegetable garden and computer to keep me busy. 10 years later have slowed down a lot, but still desire the wife! I chose carefully, and do not regret it. She never stopped me going out, just wants to know where. Could life be better? well a nymphomaniac Mia noi on the side who just wants the sex and costs me only peanuts would have been nice, but i am a realist! Only gripe - now my friends are going one by one - dead, left Thailand, no longer mobile. Would like a few new friends in my social life, but family WILL look after me.

Carbon capture and storage as a technology is a dead end. Every plant set up so far has been expensive, inefficient and uses up lots of energy to capture the carbon (and where's that energy coming from?). The only efficient way is to enhance natural/geological processes which capture carbon - i.e. plants or weathering of rocks. Let nature work for you.

Do not worry about the rising population, category 5 hurricanes, floods and droughts will soon cull the excess. Or we could just have a nuclear war, even faster - and nuclear winter will reverse the warming!

Odd that Israel keeps assassinating people in Iran, and expect no comeback.

Was he drunk when he made that claim of dying for Putin? Has had an issue with alcohol for a long time.

I would like to know why a group of Thai workers were in a military closed zone. Bet there were few if any Israelis working there. i guess Thai lives are of little importance to Israel (as are Palestinian lives).

2 biggest reasons - affordability and companionship. having got divorced at 59, little chance of much choice when it comes to companionship in the UK; already had interested females to choose from in Thailand. Leaving the house to ex-wife (thus preserving my pension) allowed me to live in Thailand, when i would have been basically homeless in the UK. Weather - not a big deal, cool season is OK for 4 months, rest of year too hot during the day. Other reasons - can have garden to potter about in, and my own fishing ponds. Thai language - i have poor hearing, so cannot get the Thai tones and was never good at languages (although i have tried to learn about 10). Can say a few essential phrases but gave up trying to LEARN the language about 7 years ago. The Thai alphabet doesn't help. Culture - do not like Plaa raa or chilli, so although i do eat some Thai food it is limited. Being back in UK for a couple of months, have to say Home cooking in UK is a lot tastier (not counting fast food); and Thais just cannot do bakery well. I am not a Buddhist, Temples are Ok for an hour or 2, but that is the limit. If i was a lot richer i doubt i would be here. i did contemplate alternatives but my pension was the limiting factor. Back in the UK now i find it incredibly expensive, prices have doubled, pension not so much. I have been contemplating the last year if i should go back to UK for long periods (pre-Covid did every year for a couple of months) but realise now that unless i win the lottery it isn't going to happen. maybe a few more trips to UK to see my children and then, for health reasons, do not expect to be able to do so in about 3 or 4 years. Then i will stay in Thailand (or just possible UK) until i die.

As usual, 25% of the replies assumed it was an EV fire. If they actually read the original post, they would have kept there mouths shut.