Walker88

No surprise South Korea's soft power dwarfs Thailand. South Korea did a few things right, such as borrowing the economic model of Japan and building chaebols, the Korean equivalent of conglomerates like Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Mitsui, etc. Working hard to improve quality, South Korean companies also followed the same road as Japan to reach world class industrial status. Sixty years ago, if a product broke, the joke was, "Made in Japan". Then along came Toyota, Honda, Sony and a host of other companies (ironically following the industrial philosophy of W. Edwards Deming), who forced Western companies to get their acts together. South Korean quality was once poor; now few have many complaints about Samsung, LG, Hyundai, Kia, etc. Because of the war, and the now-70 year presence of US troops in South Korea, that country had a bit of a ready audience. The country exploited that window and built upon it. Entertainment kind of piggy-backed off of the industrial success and name recognition brought about through industry. Korean Soaps made a splash in former enemy Japan, then spread throughout the rest of Asia. It took a few decades, but now even a cutesy Boy Band like BTS is known in the US. Of course, the first big South Korean hit in the West was Gangnam Style by Psy. Thailand lacks the industrial base that South Korea has, which put the country's name in front of consumers worldwide, and set the stage for soft power like BTS and Psy, or even kimchi. When folks elsewhere in the world think of South Korea, they think quality products at a decent price, and now even entertainment. When the world thinks of Thailand, it thinks spicy food and bargirls, or maybe Leonardo di Caprio and The Beach. Thailand has a long way to go to catch South Korea, and shows no indication it can ever develop the industrial might that seems to be the first step in opening the door to soft power.

Of all the vices one can choose, smoking was always the one that I could never understand. One has to overcome initial nausea just to gain an addiction which, at best, will age the smoker at an accelerated rate plus make them stink, and at worst, kill them. Even fat people enjoyed their first extra bite of food, but I doubt any smoker enjoyed the first cigarette. To each his or her own, I guess. And the kicker....some research in the US is showing a statistically significant correlation between those who vape and young people who suffer worst from Covid. As an anecdote, I have a young Thai female friend, age 22, otherwise thin and healthy save for being a vaper, and she's now 3 weeks in hospital trying to beat Covid, which is likely just Omicron, not Delta.

Purpose? Meaning? There is no actual purpose nor meaning to life. It simple is. That being said, we have the ability to enjoy existence, so that becomes whatever purpose one needs. We make choices, or at least operate under the impression that we make choices (many scientists, perhaps most notably Robert Sapolsky of Stanford, argue 'free will' is an illusion). I admit to being what many would call a 'simp'. I operate under the possible delusion that it is a good thing to try to make the lives better of people with whom I share time and space. I neither want nor expect anything in return. I have plenty of money, so don't need any payback. I have pretty much everything I want in this world, except the one thing no one can attain, which is more time. I don't even care if I get a 'thank you'. Doing something that benefits another is its own reward, at least for a true simp. I neither need nor want a god or gods, because they can provide nothing existence itself hasn't already provided better than any of the promises in the myths of religion/superstition could give. I would be bored silly with an eternity of perfection. I want challenges. I want to put my skills and talents, however lacking they might be, toward an endless series of problems, because that yields satisfaction. I don't mind being knocked down, because it feels so good to get back up and fight on. Too much 'happiness', which is really just a dopamine surge, dulls the joy that happiness might bring. There must be down times, or at least neutral times, in order to allow the good times to be appreciated. Life as it is is quite satisfying. If one is curious and naturally competitive, life never gets old; only we get old eventually. So if there is any purpose or meaning to existence, it is what each of us make of it. I was born of stardust and soon enough my atoms will go all entropy again, and this wonder of consciousness will simply no longer exist. Still, it was worth it, even knowing only nothingness awaits.

During my university years I spent my summers working as a lifeguard on a big ocean beach. You'd be surprised how many young women wanted to put 'did the lifeguard' notch on their bed. Made me feel so cheap and used. I was just a sex object. Women can be so shallow. Then again, there were worse things age 18-21 than being a sex object.

You can post one lie or poor assumption (Obama miscalculated how the market---i.e., doctors---would respond to ACA; that's hardly a lie) about the POTUSs you note. 45, OTOH, could churn out more lies in a single sentence than all the POTUSs since George.

And let's ask why Asians might take exception to the term "<deleted>", when its etymology is 'worthy Oriental gentlemen'. That sounds benign, right? And isn't "Chink" just to Chinese what Farang is to Franks? (Bold because the term, oddly, was deleted, despite my just trying to make a point about intent of use.) While many terms might have had a benign genesis, quite often the term morphs into an epithet. Farang is often used in a non-complimentary manner. So is gaijin in Japan, despite its origin. Of course some terms are epithets from the get go, such as gwai lo used in Cantonese (white devil). Once in an Armani shop in HK a service person yelled to a staffer, "Get over here and help the gwai lo" (translated to me by my HK friend, though I heard the gwai lo part). Blacks and South Asians get worse terms tossed at them in SE Asia, and the intent is hardly benign. Most of us also know that "Darlie" toothpaste wasn't always named Darlie. Racism is hardly a monopoly of Caucasians. When someone tosses a term intending it as an insult or epithet, however, it reflects on the speaker and is of usually no concern to the target, other than the target knowing he or she owes zero respect to the speaker.

I suspected Levis was up to something, as at BTS stations they incessantly run a commercial I happen to find particularly irritating, and not just because it's run every half minute....."these jeans...every rip and tear...tell the story of our lives......501: the number that changed EVERYTHING" Seems god-awful pretentious, which is to say probably a genius marketing ploy aimed at the TikTok crowd who fancy themselves 'influencers' and among the most important human beings on Gawd's Green Earth. The narrator's voice seems to belong to a woman about 25 years old, so I suspect she represents the upper limit of their target demographic. When I first heard the ad, I thought I could never be an ad exec in today's world, as I am likely out of touch with that target market. Then I realized I might actually be perfect, as innate cynicism might have me gearing copy toward a demographic that appears to be wildly self-absorbed and self-important. Perhaps it takes a curmudgeon to be cynical enough to think of what would resonate with young folks who feel themselves to be the actual center of the Universe. Anyway, good luck to Levis. DISCLAIMER: I'm not actually a curmudgeon; I just play one of the internet. That ad run in the BTS, however, IS irritating as well as incessantly run. And for my next missive...NOBODY looks better with a tattoo; Gawd, please make that fad go away faster than a mullet!

You could not be more wrong. You are confused about the need to report bank withdrawals/transfers of $10K or more (which has been in effect for decades). I have never had any problem withdrawing or transferring quite substantial amounts. Banks may ask the purpose, which can be as simple as 'for personal use'. I've paid cash for some non-US properties I have bought, and had zero problem transferring seven figure amounts. The only way anyone might have a problem is if your tax returns never indicated the sort of income that is in any of your bank accounts. By the way, it is best to use an FX broker when transferring, as they give the best rate. The higher the amount transferred, the tighter their spread. If one does not use a broker, the best rate offered by Thai banks seems to be Bangkok Bank. As for your "Biden is going to lower it to $600"......No.

What one's fellow citizens are packing has no affect on one's own junk, so such lists are for amusement only. Let's say 'a friend' always thought he was just pretty average when that thing came into its own. His only means of comparison---as he is not gay so never actually saw another man in flagrante delicto---was looking at porn. "Same as me" he thought; thus, pretty average. It was only when he finally entered the field of battle that he was told in no uncertain terms that his was closer to a Saturn 5 rocket than a SAM-7. This, so 'my friend' says, is not necessary an advantage. In fact, it can be just the opposite. Some women are quite robust and can accommodate most anything, especially women in the West. In the East, Japanese women seem most capable. "My friend" has found women of the Rising Sun to be, on balance, rather voluptuous in their nether regions, with an extensive external door frame leading to a sizeable interior. "Kimochi !", as they say. Their Slot B can take all comers' Tab A, domestic or foreign. Thailand is a different story. Many Thai women are rather slight, and better suited to slip a dinner roll into their breadbasket than a country loaf. That they can squeeze out a baby is immaterial, as the dilatory hormones present during childbirth are not present during the act that can lead to motherhood. Also, even women who have given birth, often have had an extra post natal stitch or two sewn into their goodness by the doctor, so even if the room inside is spacious, the door is not. One's Johnson, or John Thomas, or whatever the vernacular happens to be, is an object of curiosity, sometimes admired, but also sometimes feared, like a sword of Damocles, albeit not over the head. As 'my friend' says, "Be careful what you wish for".

Too many of the Westerners on this site are far too stuck in that 'time is linear' thing. You fail to understand how domestic travel during April---and the concomitant spread of Covid---can be impacted by foreigners arriving in Thailand in May. Fortunately Thailand is blessed with the kind of leadership that appreciates the subtleties and nuances of the spacetime continuum, and knows full well the tricks that an impish Universe can play on the unsuspecting. That and a lucky amulet or two will be the savior of the nation. We, the great unwashed (aka 'dirty') farang masses, stand in awe.

I use the same words to describe music of today as I use to describe the phenomenon called TikTok: "Content made by those without talent for those without taste." Granted it is almost ritualistic for one generation to trash what comes after, but even in the 1980s people still played instruments and there was a melody. Today, few can actually play an instrument, and if there is any melody it is saved for the chorus...the rest is just talk, and banal on top of that. Yes, the Beatles could get away with "she loves you, yea, yea, yea", but once is enough. Stuff like "baby, baby, baby, oooh" takes what....one second to write? I might have come later, but I can appreciate Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, John Coltraine....Hendrix and Santana...nobody today of comparable skill. As for voices, female voices in particular are gone. Nina Symone had a voice. So did Stevie Nicks. Chaka Khan. Amy Winehouse had a voice. Ann Wilson of Heart could sing. Anybody today? And without Autotune? Vapid, pedestrian voices that are a dime a dozen. ZERO presence. Singers think running all around a chord is talent. Christine Aguilera started that, but it got old in an instant. Now it just sounds silly. There used to be arrangement, too. Listen to Earth, Wind and Fire. The arrangements put together by Maurice White were both fun and sophisticated, especially when he let Philip Bailey run free in vocals. Heck, I'm the farthest thing from a country fan, but listen to Glen Campbell on Gentle on My Mind (great lyrics) or his astonishing guitar mastery. Is there a new Michael Hedges, Leo Kottke, Eddie Van Halen, Mark Knopfler out there? No. Some songs last through the generations. I am willing to bet NOTHING from the last decade will be heard a decade or two from now. Throwaway drivel. Pabulum. Like TikTok.

That's a rather State of Nature attitude, and suggests a total lack of understanding of civilized society. Perhaps you prefer the old Hobbesian view of life as 'poor, nasty, brutish & short' There are a good many things that make society better and make it more likely to be 'civilized'. Good roads allow both easy travel and the transport of life's necessities. Defense keeps you safe from invaders (and recent history reminds us such invasions are possible and nasty), food and drugs being tested makes it less likely you or your loved ones will be poisoned by rancid food or bad chemicals. Even things like FDIC guarantee of bank deposits (and the equivalent in other nations) gives you a place to put your savings and not worry about loss or theft. Even people without funds are afforded the chance to send their children to school. Perhaps you prefer societies where only the wealthy have access to education, kind of like the days of serfdom? Oh, and having some sort of law enforcement entity seems to have some benefits, too. Those things cost money, and most have no incentive for a private entity to do them. Thus, citizens get taxed, and in a civilized society, most people have decided that helping our fellows makes for a more humane, as well as safer society. Many people jump on the 'taxation is bad' bandwagon because they actually think they have entirely made their own life and harbor delusions of being some sort of 'sovereign man'. Silly. The society that allows us to succeed has a foundation built of rule of law and relative safety, and most of that is created through the tax process.

Putting aside the usual grumbling curmudgeons who call anyone who has utilized non-traditional legal permission to stay measures 'abusers', there does seem to be an Immigration reaction to the visa amnesty and extensions the PM and Cabinet approved during the Covid Era. It seems Immigration resented having a higher power usurp some of the control Immigration used to exclusively enjoy, so I/Os are playing the proverbial dog lifting his leg on bushes and stones trying to re-establish his turf. The fact is---and this is uncomfortable both for many I/Os and expat curmudgeons---the PM and Cabinet decided that having a kind of captive market of money-spending tourists was better than nothing. Thus, a new LEGAL means of remaining, for those who so chose, was implemented. Everyone knew flights were mostly available and anyone could leave, but with a wink and a nod the PM+ decided to give a way for folks to stay. There was no 'abuse' possible, because it was 1) as legal as any visa or permission to stay that anyone has, and 2) nobody was being fooled, as everyone knew the reality. Thailand benefited from that program, and no doubt many Thais were able to remain gainfully employed. Though I ended up buying a business and changing my visa status during the amnesty/extension period, I know there was a time when the only guests in a 300+ room Bangkok hotel where I stayed were on these temp programs, and I was told by the GM the hotel would otherwise have closed and staff laid off if not for us. Certainly the curmudgeons were not going to step in and make up for our spending, had we not been granted permission to stay. So if the angry expats truly care so much about Thailand and its people, they should applaud the PM's moves and not continually moan about 'abuse'. This PM intervention seems to have ruffled the feathers of many I/Os, hence the new effort to question arrivals. I have heard that some folks who utilized the legal amnesty and extensions, who eventually traveled outside Thailand and attempted to visit again, were turned down at Suvarnabhumi and told to take the next flight out.

Those 'classy people' sound racist: "or even Asia". All these classy types are fully up to speed on Kabukicho, the Ginza, Roppongi, Wanchai, etc.? I had to live in Tokyo and Hong Kong to even know such places existed. I must be one of the prudes, or at least painfully naive. I'm sure glad there's none of that nasty stuff in the West, like NY, LA, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, Paris; otherwise, I wouldn't go anywhere near those pure-as-the-driven-snow cities. Actually, I take solace in realizing I could likely count the 'prudish' folks who would otherwise come to Thailand if not for the 'seedy' reputation on one hand. In any event, even if there's more than one such person, his (or their) number is dwarfed by the # of folks actually drawn to visit because the nightlife exists---and these folks are like visitors to Las Vegas: they come with cash and likely go home with empty pockets.

'could take many years' First, there might be a half dozen people on earth who have avoided visiting Thailand simply because of its worldwide reputation for nightlife. I'm at a loss as to who these 'classy' people might be, as it isn't unheard of to see multi-millionaires, Oxford-Cambridge-Ivy League types, diplomats, UN Officials, NGOs, even church deacons in the agogos. Ain't nobody innocent when it comes to the biological imperative and how it manifests itself in entertainment decisions. I'm only slightly red-faced to admit that even I, who through no fault of my own fits multiple of my aforementioned categories, have entered an agogo or two over the years. I guess I'm of the same stripe as Oscar Wilde, who said "the only thing I can't resist is temptation". Most of us are quite human. Second, even if it was a noble goal to erase the nightlife image from Thailand's reputation, before those 'classy' types will pile into the country, it might help to clean the air of 2.5 particulate matter, ban open field burning, install proper sewer systems, stop the flow of untreated effluent into the waters, get rid of dual pricing, and remind officials---whether elected or appointed like cops---that public service does not mean always having one's hand out waiting for tribute. Now cleanup of a society where corruption is entrenched is possible, but not easy. Hong Kong used to be equally corrupt decades ago, but an anti-corruption effort was put in place and---at least until the commies took over---HK had built a reputation for being pretty darn honest. Perhaps, given a miracle, Thailand can do the same. All of this is not to say Thailand does not have its pluses, as it surely has many. One of these pluses, however, to a good many people, is the very thing some authorities are wont to eradicate. They might remember the old line, whose source escapes me at this time: "If my demons leave me, I fear my angels will soon follow".

Perhaps the PM is being influenced by the actions of his role model, President-for-Life Xi of the PRC. It's bizarre what is now happening in one of the world's largest cities, Shanghai. In lockdown, as part of Xi's Zero Covid policy, the masses are beginning to rumble as many have neither money nor food. The CP is woefully inefficient in trying to address the food needs of tens of millions of locked down subjects. Of course, anyone would be unable to adequately meet the needs as well as corral so many people, except in an authoritarian State. And therein lies the attraction. A question remains: why is Xi so hellbent on total control of Covid? Does he believe it is even possible, save via keeping China ringfenced and its borders locked for the next five years? Does he have some special knowledge of Covid no one else has? Is it simply his penchant for wanting total control over people whose 'votes' he obviously will never need, plus a kind of delusionary view of how long even the CP and PLA can keep a billion four hundred million Chinese under their bamboo hand? Does Xi think he can keep economic activity at a high enough level to sustain China's growing debt and RE problems under lockdown? In any event, it seems Xi's actions might be inspiring Thailand's PM to maintain the 'advantages' of Covid fear in a self-appointed and unpopular regime.

Okay, fella, tell us the 'real truth'. There is only one proper side in this issue: against russia A war of choice started solely because a small dick psychopath is hellbent on re-establishing the murderous former Bloc he grew up in. SO he manufactures lies about "nazis", has his GRU and SVR churn out propaganda that appeals to the low IQ or brain addled demographic, unleashes hell on a previously peaceful land where folks were simply going about their daily business, and ordered attacks specifically against schools, hospitals, food storage facilities. But for the little psycho, that isn't enough. He tosses in summary executions, rapes, even beheadings. The world has seen little vlad's playbook before: he made his name by slaughtering 250,000 civilians in Chechnya near the turn of the Century. He engaged in similar behavior in Georgia, and most recently in Syria, particularly Aleppo. So insecure and vindictive is the little guy that he also targets domestic critics and opponents, such as Boris Nemtsov, Alexander Litvinenko, Anna Politkovskaya, among others. He ordered the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, and has now imprisoned him for life. He ordered the dioxin poisoning of former Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko. Heck of a guy, little vlad. Oh, and his actions are not a 'purely domestic issue', so to stand against russia's human rights abuses, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Ukraine is not interfering in another country's politics; it is taking the moral high ground. It is doing the right thing. The immoral of this world are comfortable with these ongoing atrocities. Would that the decent and civilized world adopt the same indifference or the questioning of reality ("by doing one's own research", which is codeword for adopting silly conspiracy theories) if the immoral are similarly attacked and slaughtered.

There are no two sides to this issue, other than right and wrong. A country was at peace, going about daily life just like folks in New York, London, or Bangkok. The country represented no threat to anyone. Then, because a psychopath suffering from Napoleon Complex and SDS, decided he wanted to rebuild the USSR, he launched an unprovoked and horrific attack aimed squarely at causing terror---striking schools and hospitals, destroying food storage facilities, and engaging in rape and summary execution. The war crimes are the worst Europe has seen since Srebanica, and before that the Concentration Camps of Nazi Germany. To side with russia, or to try to suggest some sort of moral equivalency, is bogus, immoral and at best, willfully ignorant. To anyone suggesting such things, may the same hell be unleashed on you, your life and your loved ones. See how you like it. In 1992 Ukraine gave up the nukes stationed on its soil in exchange for a non-aggression pact from russia. Ukraine abided by that agreement 100%. It is only because little vlad the psychopath felt he should be Nicolas II reborn that he launched his invasion. That putin supposedly felt fear because NATO was expanding is his own fault. Nations such as Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, the former Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania asked to join NATO is because they suffered under the heel of the former USSR that putin is hellbent on rebuilding. These nations also saw the slaughter putin carried out in Chechnya, Georgia and Syria, so they wisely sought safety under the umbrella of NATO. It is no surprise that even Sweden and Finland are asking about joining NATO after the Ukraine invasion. The world was pulling out of the Covid Recession, but all of that is under threat now because of putin. Rising fossil fuel prices and higher prices for grains (Ukraine previously produced 14% of the world's wheat). This is going to lead to inflation across the globe. Of course, I suspect the ones trying to pretend there is some moral equivalency in this war will find a way to blame Biden or their own leader.

There is reality, and then there is what officials claim is reality. The latter seems to satisfy many in a population where 'face' is important. Yes, constructed realities exist in most countries and cultures, but in my experience it is taken to another level in lands and cultures where face is so critical. Thailand is known around the world for its bargirls and pay-for-play industry, and for many people, this is likely embarrassing. They can pretend tourists come to visit Wat Arun, but on any given day there's 50 times the number of tourists in Nana Plaza than at Wat Arun. That can be ignored if some authority figure provides an alternative reality. Thus, if cops state matter-of-factly that prostitution does not exist in Thailand, face is saved---despite everyone being fully aware of 'real reality'. And if a little prostitution slips by and must be recognized, well, that's foreigners, even though foreigners partaking in the game are a small percent of overall prostitution in the country. Thais can hold on to a need to feel pure, proper and pious. You know, I know, you know that I know, I know that you know, but if we both pretend all is at odds with reality, face is saved for both of us.

The US GDP grew 6.9% in Quarter 4. That would seem to be something other than destroyed. Also, job creation hit a record in 2021. I was just back in the US for a month, and virtually everywhere there are Help Wanted signs. The number of people employed is at a record, so companies are hard pressed to attract staff. Again, not quite 'destroyed'.

Not sure if the reason is toxic---either toxic masculinity or toxic femininity---but it is chemical. We will always dress it up for more than it is, because it makes us feel we have things like free will and all that, but most every action we take in life is driven by the instinct to propagate our gene pool. We males can produce an almost unlimited number of offspring, but not every women will have us, so we possess that drive from about age 13 to (hopefully) 80+. Women's chances are limited by the toll it takes on her body, so her drive has her seeking support, which in today's world tends to be financial. After menopause, her instincts fade, as she isn't going to be able to propagate her gene pool anymore. If she has a particularly sensitive bit of lady parts, she might still want to engage in the deed, but for many women it seems the thrill is gone. All things considered, I see no Earthly reason why I would ever want to be female....who the heck would want to endure, even one time, nine months of discomfort and a body out of control. That's not even to mention around 40 years of that 'monthly visitor' or whatever the quaint term for menstruation is. A males function in the reproductive process is pure pleasure, and unless one is a responsible sort of fellow, can be one and done in an hour's time. That's a biological advantage of males of most every species that's tough to beat. So what's love got to do with it? It's just a way humans put frosting on a cake. Obviously it can be a joy, but dopamine's main function isn't love, it's to get us randy and in the mood for love (making).

There is a very good reason why ambassadors appointed to major posts are selected....it costs a lot of money to be the ambassador to most major nations. Access to the POTUS is an added plus, but---for example---the US Ambassador to the Court of St James (the UK) is out of pocket maybe $20 million per year. Most of the entertaining ambassadors do is out of their own pocket, not foisted on the taxpayer. The Amb to the UK is quite often a billionaire. Posts at smaller, less significant nations are usually filled by a career diplomat, who is not---contrary to another poster here---a 'yes man'. Most have done good work in other posts. Often they have specific direct knowledge of the nation and its issues, but generally those appointed just have a good record of leadership and management skills. Obviously this isn't always the case, but more often than not it is. Expats tend to have an incorrect impression of the job as well as what aid they can expect from an embassy. Some expats think embassies are responsible for them. One hears things like "I pay my taxes so the embassy owes me blah blah blah", when in fact few expats pay much tax. Of course citizens who are not expats but just at home would beef that 'some guy who chose to go to Country X expects my tax dollars to support him or get him out of trouble'. So you see....it depends on where one views the issue. Any embassy is going to have senior people who fill in for any knowledge an ambassador may lack. There's always a Political Counselor, Economic, Commercial, Consular, Chief of Station, etc., who represent the collective knowledge. Getting into the foreign policy arm of the govt is an onerous process, requiring a great deal of varied knowledge. Agency folks not only must pass knowledge tests, but also IQ tests, psychological evaluation, and a rigorous security check. All appointees---career or FOP (Friend of POTUS) must turn in a resignation upon Administration change. The resignation need not be accepted, though all political appointees are accepted. Occasionally some Ambassadors royally mess up...such as when Amb Lewis (to the UK) remained on holiday when the Falkland War began, while recently the US Amb to Germany was about as ill qualified, inept, and offensive as any Ambassador had ever been. He was then appointed to head the DNI and was tasked with trying to collect names of deep cover assets in certain countries (Russia). The IC, of course, thwarted his efforts, as he had no need to know and it was assumed the covert assets would be given to the then POTUS, who would give them to his friend putin.

I suppose the entangled pair effect in particle physics is slightly easier to understand that these new rules. If the test sites in Thailand were doing sequencing, it would be easier to understand, as the goal would be to stop the influx of a new variant, but all the after-arrival testing is doing is stating yes-or-no generic Covid.....an infection already quite well represented throughout Thailand. That being said, people are biting the bullet and coming to Thailand. I traveled to my home country for a visit to parents and family, then recently returned. The airport lobby was fairly crowded, though that may be deceptive owing to the fact that all arrivals must wait for their inbound chariot to transport them to a hospital then hotel. Admittedly getting my medulla oblongata tickled after a 24 hour series of flights across 12 time zones isn't my first choice of post-arrival entertainment, but ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do or.......quarantine. I could see upwards of 3 million visitors in 2022, though that is still far below 2019's 40 million. Baby steps. Despite the hoops that many countries have long since removed, Thailand is making some progress towards whatever the New Normal will be. Infection numbers are near a peak, and deaths-per-day nearing three figures again, yet when the numbers were similar in the past, dine-in at restaurants was banned or alcohol sales prohibited. Both are now permitted, as well as allowing bars to pretend they are restaurants and thus staying open. That does seem to suggest an evolution toward an 'endemic' realization, and certainly less severe than what the original source of the virus---China---is doing.

It is possible humanity is suffering a bit of 'use it or lose it'. We may be generally less intelligent because we have changed the way we do many things---from typing rather than writing longhand, to using calculators instead of learning Tables to seeking out too much mindless entertainment like most television and cinema. It could also be a kind of Bad Darwinism, as the more successful people in societies---who most often are intellectual superior---are producing fewer offspring. Dumb is being selected in because those so afflicted are reproducing more. On the other hand, I would say that many people (perfect example is the US' 45) are willfully ignorant and intellectually lazy. Much in life is so easy now, that some people think it's a feat on par with Newton & Leibniz developing calculus, Einstein developing relativity theory, or JC Maxwell discovering the laws of electromagnetism just to repeat "person woman man camera TV". Said individual---willfully ignorant---was unaware China and India share a border (and fought over it many times), or that there are not Indian neighbors called "Nipple" and "Button". Intellectual laziness also makes people ripe for exploitation by those who want to promote particular views. The silly QAnon conspiracy is about as foolish as anything anyone has made up in a thousand years, yet it has captured the minds of upwards of 30% of Americans. That should scare rational people, particularly because democracy gives those people the right to vote. H.L. Mencken was proven prescient in 2016, based on his old quote: “As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” The internet age has given everyone a voice and made it easy to spread absolutely ludicrous beliefs. We may actually be dumber, but it may also be that the ignorant are much more visible than when they did not have the entire world open to them. The Village Idiot is now online. Then there is the problem of personal insecurity, which prevents some people from wanting to know actual facts. In a recent thread I noted some economic data I retrieved from entities such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US Treasury, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. That data flies in the face of what some want to believe about recent history, and such people purposely avoid facts, as these interfere with their belief system. Another example is the horribly named Critical Race Theory (CRT), which the right argues is an attempt to force Caucasians to feel guilty, when in fact it is merely to stop hiding unpleasant historical realities in the very nation whose originally stated goal is to 'form a more perfect Union'. The Founders of the US seem to have known they were flawed individuals, but set up a system where progress toward total societal equality was an ongoing process. Ignoring unpleasant historical realities prevents the very equality sought. Students should learn about slavery, because its effects are still being felt in society 150 years after it ended, and the biases which allowed slavery in the first place impacted society in everything from Jim Crow Laws to lynching to the 1921 Oklahoma Black Wall Street Massacre. In a similar vein, it is important students are taught about Relocation Camps such as Manzanar. Slavery, Manzanar and other realities are unpleasant and can make some people feel bad, but knowing the reality and committing to never allowing such things to happen again benefits everybody.

You have an odd moniker, considering the superstition you bring to the 'argument'. Gay is not a choice, but people like you (who often are insecure about their own masculinity and orientation, if not outright hypocrites like a good many TV 'preachers') want to limit whom others can either love or commit to in life. It is absolutely none of your business, and undoubtedly you would be the first to bark if someone with a different view than yours demanded some of your wants/desires/practices should be outlawed. I doubt being born gay is an easy thing, largely because of ancient superstitions or people like you. Research proves that there are developmental differences in the brains of gay people, specifically in the size of certain brain components. Folks born that way did not ask for it, yet you are outraged that CIVILIZED society has finally recognized reality and has enacted laws that stop discrimination based on factors totally out of the control of the individual, particularly when the behaviors driven by those physiological differences cause ZERO harm to anyone else. Yours is a world of superstition and bigotry, and best left in the dustbin of history, letting civilized and evolved men and women carry on with the progress of the species. By the way, even religious people have to consider that there were likely gay men among the apostles. Maybe the more recognizable term is the old one the US used in the 1950s: "confirmed bachelor" (I happen to be a practicing heterosexual, not gay, but I carry no bigotry for gay men or women. Of course I do carry contempt for people holding silly and superstitious views which SCIENCE has proven wrong.)