rickudon

Cameroni, if you think Russia is justified in invading Ukraine, murdering civilians and killing Ukrainian POWs, threatening nuclear war, suggest you go back and fight for Russia. Wonderful human rights for those mobiks sent to the meat grinder.

You cannot just compare the temperatures in past Geological eras with the current day. First, there are the Milankovitch cycles. Second, the biggest impact on global temperatures are position of the continents, in past eras they could be far North or South of their current positions, or not even exist. Third, oceanic currents; if they distribute heat to the poles you can get a far more equitable climate globally, or if not the reverse. A hell of a lot of guesswork involved in guessing those temperatures, sometimes on just a few bits of data. All we do know is that in the last 5,000 years temperatures have been fairly stable, but are now rising rapidly. The only thing which has changed are CO2 levels due to the industrial revolution and use of wood and fossil fuels. Nothing else has substantially changed. The effects of climate change are not always realised or predicted. Who would have guessed that forest fires would become much bigger and more common even at current levels of warming, and anyone want to holiday in Florida just now? (Milton, category 5).

Green washing Capitalism

Finding good childcare is not easy. The first kindergarten we used for our daughter, when we went to pick her up early we discovered that she was being held down with a blanket over her to 'make her sleep'. Daughter was sufficiently traumatised that she didn't speak for a day. Of course, staff denied any wrong doing. Brother-in-law has a 100% disabled child, needs 24 hour care. Government generously gives 600 baht a month to care for him - that doesn't even pay for his nappies. Father works killing chickens, mother in the local market. They did try a disabled children centre, but care was poor. They try to work on a shift basis, but afternoons no one available - so grandmother takes care. I fully understand that it is not always possible to look after children all the time. In the UK, i worked days, wife nights. Getting care at the right time was not easy - often we were not available all hours. Survived on a mixture of child minders, au pairs, commercial daycare (rarely available in those days) or pretending sick if one of us was delayed. grand parents were not around so not an option. Luckily we earned just enough to pay for it and buy a home. These days in the UK, it is near impossible to raise a family on one salary, which is why both work - or as is now common, you cut out having kids. In Thailand, unlike the UK, usual to have extended family in the village, which makes care easier - but sometimes no work..... so have to go where the work is. And as said, many live in just one room (or even share) and long working hours make caring for the children difficult - but easy in the village. Most send money home to pay for this. Obviously one parent families find it really difficult.

People seem to think that authorities can respond to a disaster like the thunderbirds. Reality - first you have to find the worst hit localities, when communications are often down and roads are blocked. Then the vehicles bringing aid need a route - it can take days to clear roads, repair bridges, so that they can get there. It would also be a good idea if houses were actually robust - most seem to be made of plywood , planks and plasterboard. that is why storm damage in USA is so high.

Although there is no black and white as to who was lied too and who is right and who is wrong in the Ukraine war, it was an invasion of one independent state by another (and the war actually started in 2014). There was very little negotiation, just give in to our demands and then a Russian invasion of Crimea and fomenting of an insurrection in the Donbass. The west allowed this to go unanswered other than a few sanctions and verbal criticism. Remember the Dutch airliner shot down by a Russian SAM system. Russia never admitted responsibility. I understand why Russia invaded Crimea, they had interests there (Russia's Black sea fleet) and it was never really Ukrainian. But the Donbass? Just pure greed. And when that was only partially successful, they went for out and out war. War crimes were committed on civilians and soldiers by Russia. Is it surprising that Ukraine wants to join Nato? As to what is actually happening in the war, subscribe to Tom coopers blog on Sarcastosaurus. Yes, Ukraine is currently slowly loosing, Russia has the demographic advantage and more weapons. However, the Russian losses are appalling. All the well trained troops are gone, wasted in frontal attacks. The mobiks are launched the same way, and the casualty rate is about 3 Russians to one Ukrainian. However Russia has a much larger population. Half of all armour and artillery has been lost. Economically, Russia is suffering. It is diverting a large percentage of its GDP to a war economy, but there military-industrial complex is in disarray, due to corruption, lack of maintenance and sanctions. They are unable to replace many of the weapons they loose; without the help of North Korea, Iran and China, they would be short of ammunition and drones. At current rates of expenditure of weapons, Russia will only have infantry left in 2 years. From a cynical western point of view, if the war continues, Russia will be a spent force by early 2026. However, they are learning how to fight drone wars - the west is still woefully behind on this. The question is, who blinks first, Russia or Ukraine. Loosing the war will see the end of Putin of Zelensky. As to Russia's standing in the world, it may be abysmal in the west, but the rest of the world doesn't care - like China, there help comes without lectures on Democracy, corruption and human rights. The west, and particularly USA and France, are loosing ground in Africa, because they find it insulting to be lectured too and treated like naughty children. They also see that israel can do no wrong in western eyes, even though they have caused chaos for over 50 years in the middle east. The second half of this century will be very different, just in what way it is hard to say, but not looking good.

Keep out of Bangkok. just checked Udon Thani AQI, currently 11. Outside of rainy season usually moderate, between 50-100. But always worse on the major roads. I did buy an air purifier years ago, last used about 3 years ago....

The effects of antibiotics on the gut microflora are often ignored. A healthy microflora means there is a balance, and you are less likely to get gut infections. After antibiotics, some species of bacteria are wiped out, and less useful bacteria, possibly antibiotic resistant, can become dominant. This happened to my mother in a nursing home and the subsequent gut infections took about 4 weeks to control. One treatment is to swallow faecal pellets from people with good microflora. Sounds disgusting, but it works.

Father died at age of 81 from multiple issues - had had a minor stroke, had pulmonary failure and maybe vascular dementia. But outlived his 2 brothers. Spent most of last 2 years sitting in his chair, sleeping. Mother died mainly of old age - spent over 12 years in a nursing home, had dementia and lots of minor issues, just slowly lost the battle, age 93. Still have one Aunt left, about 90, severe vascular dementia. No one in my generation died yet (13 of us, between 80 and 60).

Paradise is the temperature is always 25 Centigrade, 50% cloud cover, a nice bungalow set in a large garden with a river one side and a lake on the other, with many different fish to catch. a nearby social club with many interesting people in it, and attractive women who like company for the night. it only rains after midnight, so is dry by mid morning. Actually, you should have to work for a few hours every few days, at something you enjoy. Paradise still needs maintenance!

Your reading bull<deleted> then. Under 6% of the UK population are Muslims (21/22 Census). So how can they increase to 50% in 11 years? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_Kingdom It is disinformation like this that stirs tension. Just like that which caused the recent riots.

And 5 years earlier a white supremacist murdered a labour MP......

Come to NE Thailand. Businesses cannot pull that crap up here, locals wouldn't stand for it. See the price, pay the price, tip what you want.

As a Brit, exchange rate fall is not so bad (good GBP to dollar rate though!). I am on 400,000 baht in the bank extension, so can cut back on transfers until after my extension date, then draw it down if exchange still poor. have a year before panicking.....

Musk and Kadyrov. A marriage made in Heaven or Hell?

North-East Thailand, very little said. Real conditions - Cold season. Best time to visit is late October to end of February. But the clear skies mean that daytime temperatures can still reach 34 centigrade at anytime. Do not expect temperatures under 20 Centigrade except at night. Hot season - temperatures of 34-42 degrees Centigrade should be expected. Anything less and your lucky! Wet season - 30-38 degrees normal, lower ones on cloudy and rainy days and higher if full sun. Humidity - always high.

Who cares about hi-speed? Try walking first, finish double tracking all the current routes and running more than 2 trains a day in each direction.

So who actually started bombing civilian targets? Actually, Germany in the Great war. First attack was Liege in Belgium; other attacks included Paris. The first sustained attacks were started by the Germans, first with Zeppelins and later Gotha bombers. Main target was London. The British did retaliate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_bombing_during_World_War_I Was Churchill a monster? In my opinion, no, but he was pretty ruthless. I do not suppose the starvation of millions of Indians was deliberate, but was perhaps a predictable outcome.

I was 56 first visit. Didn't feel too young, or too old. If you do come to Udon, willing to show you around a bit.

Obviously we do not know what the OP likes. For me, I am not a beach or big city person. First trip to Thailand i went straight to Udon Thani after researching it extensively online (yes, i was conversing with a girl there). Never met the girl, but was pleasantly surprised and felt at home straight away (2008). moved there in 2010, married now with daughter. Plus factors - low cost of living especially accommodation. Very little 'Farang pricing'. Reasonable levels of English spoken Quite a few retired expats, so some shops and bars serve this community. Airport only 20 minutes away (for me, as on other side of town). most of city is less than 15 minutes away by car City small enough you can actually walk everywhere if you have to. Good weather in cool season. Few tourists Quite a few women in their 30s and 40s looking for a partner Air quality rarely bad. Good road system. Reasonable hospitals. Negative factors - Hot season is hot! Wet season is humid and still quite hot Not a beautiful city, just OK Not a city for the younger expat.

Been following this war on Sarcastosaurus. Russia has used up 50% of its foreifn currency reserves and at least 50% of its armored vehicles. If the war continues for 2 more years Russia will be on the point of economic and military collapse. Ukraines problem is a lack of manpower and Russian glide bombs. There is no solutuon currently to the glide bombs, they degrade Ukrainian defenses to the point where they provide no cover, which forces the Ukrainians to withdraw or suffer heavy casualties. The russian 'meat' attacks result in heavy Russian casualties, typically about 80% of each human wave. It is sensible in the short term for Ukraine to trade land for Russian lives. So the question is, who runs out first?

Bsc in biology and Geology in the 70's, then worked as biochemist in a cannery, which closed. Next junior geologist on oil rigs in Libya, working conditions were pretty awful. Returned to UK and did a Masters in Freshwater biology (my passion). Then research that went nowhere. Offered a job with a Uranium mining company in Australia, but permission to mine refused by government - still in ground to this day. So made redundant. Back to UK hoping for job in the water industry, but no one hiring. Spent 18 months looking so career change to IT as civil servant for over 20 years. Then IT work outsourced to IBM - worst employer ever. They tried to make me quit by giving me impossible Projects, then made me redundant. To old for new job, looked for 2 years then retired, divorced nagging Lying wife and came to Thailand to fish.

I have had pretty bad diarrhea/vomiting in Australia, Singapore, USA, Libya, all food or water related. Rarely (i.e. less than once a year) in UK. Brother got severe food poisoning in the UK a couple of years ago - from a hamburger stall. In Thailand, on my first holiday, surprised to get only very mild upset once. In 16 years since then, mainly living in Thailand, have had maybe 3 times when i actually felt unwell, but not bad enough to need medicine. Otherwise just some loose motions, one time only. live in a semi-rural area, work the garden and most days also fish ponds, so exposed to LOTS of bacteria. But never a significant problem. Just wash my hands after any work, use tap water to clean my teeth. Guess i quickly built up immunity in Thailand. Wife buys in quite a few meals.

Yes, i am sure they are in the UK 'legally'. Strange that all 5 of them are spouses or family members (do you have to be under 18?). They do not work cash in hand, just they either are family members or are paying out of their wages for the job to the franchise owner. It is very hard to believe that any attempt was made to recruit locally. Just possible they are overseas students working for the summer.

Theoretically. In my home town in the UK, recently a Greggs bakery opened. All the staff are Indians who speak rather poor English. It is a small rural town, with a very small migrant community, and a lack of jobs. How the hell did they get work visas? Obviously the Bakery was set up by someone who recruited from India (probably relatives), got them possibly fake qualifications and claimed they would be paid sufficient to meet the skilled worker pay requirement. The shop will make very little profit but the off the record pay deductions from the grateful staff will be tax free.....