Patong2021

Thank you for that well written item. It is a nice change from the usual nonsensical claims that come from the mentally ill collective who offer imagined convoluted plots. I too believe that the origin of the illness is due to the consumption of wild animals. It's nothing new as we have seen this play out before with Ebola and the African consumption of "Bush Meat". The Wuhan animal market aka wet market has been documented as a gruesome horrific place. Live animals are kept in small cages, terrified. They are often tormented and tortured as the Chinese believe that the resulting adrenaline will give the consumers of the animal flesh, vitality and vigor. The animals are not fed and are often dehydrated which makes them at greater risk of infection as their immune systems become impaired. China has gone to great lengths to over up the horrors of these wet markets. The animal vendors at Bangkpok's Chatuchak market offer a similar risk and Thai authorities have refused to stop the inhumane activities. the threat has been repeatedly documented, but the powers that be and the community at large has ignored the warnings. Today we are on the edge of another international health crisis with a resurgence of MPox aka Monkey Pox. Initially centered in the Congo, because vaccines were not made available and quarantines not effected, the disease has spread and risks exploding. European infections have been increasing in the past 2 weeks and it is only a matter of time before it spreads in the Americas. Fortunately, vaccines exist to contain the spread, but the issue will be if people at risk will take the vaccine or fall prey to the ignorance of the anti science group who are opposed to vaccines and preventative measures. Will governments act or will be they be afraid of a repeat of the covid conspiracy nutters?

At the time the decisions were made, they were effected on the basis that Covid Sars-2 was an infectious respiratory disease with deadly consequences that had the potential to spread quickly and to reinfect. The same people complaining today, were also the same people in panic mode back then inventing idiotic claims of cures and disease origins. National service infrastructure was in serious peril. The restrictions were made to keep key systems running You ignore the fact that the infection shut down the delivery of medical services. Surgeries and basic procedures could not be undertaken. EMS workers, nurses, orderlies and physicians were dying and/or going off sick for 2-4 weeks and/or burning out. Did you not see the overcrowded emergency rooms and hospitals? Did you not see the wholescale abandonment of residents of long term nursing facilities? Tens of thousands of elderly and infirm were literally abandoned. The healthcare systems were collapsing. In the USA, 4,511 physicians died during this early phase of COVID, 622 more deaths than would have occurred had the pandemic not happened. Excess physician deaths peaked at 70 in December 2020 among all active physicians, followed by a rapid drop in 2021 when safe and effective vaccines became available. No excess deaths among physicians occurred after April 2021, which coincided with the widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines, meaning that nearly 50 U.S. doctors more than expected died each month during this phase of the pandemic. Thousands of healthcare workers burnt out and the staffing problems are still seen today. Source: February 6, 2023- Excess Mortality Among US Physicians During the COVID-19 Pandemic; JAMA Intern Med. 2023;183(4):374-376. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.6308 Police and fire service capability in some cities fell to less than 50% as personnel became ill and fatigued. Food processing plants shut down as infections raged amongst the workers. Key industries like power generation had staffing crises. Electrical power supply lines could not be properly serviced as line workers dropped like flies. Logistics could not operate as the workers became ill at a time when the mechanism of infection was still unknown. Westerners were fighting over toilet paper and hoarding food. Some people were literally going into grocery stores and cleaning out the meat counters, concerned only about their own selfish interests. There is criticism of school closures, but what the critics ignore is that some schools were missing so many teachers and support staff that they could not operate safely. It is very easy to criticize because you have the luxury of the benefits that the restrictions delivered. It is complaining because measures worked as intended. Yes there were inconveniences, but the economy has recovered. People complain about inflation now, but what they ignore is that there was deflation during Covid. Workers did not receive salary adjustments for 2 years, but were expected to work harder than ever. Wages are catching up now. Many of the business that have failed and blame Covid restrictions were in bad financial shape or mismanaged prior to Covid. It is always someone else's fault. The restaurant business is typical of this. In the USA, studies indicate that approximately 60% of restaurants fail within the first year of operation and 80% fail within the first five years. No one ever mentions this when they complain about their restaurant having closed. Bad management and bad quality are never mentioned. Governments did what they could do during the pandemic and overall, they did as best they could. Some countries did better than others, but the constant sniping at the governments and administrations is unwarranted as the complainers would have done much worse.

The Ukrainians have demonstrated that they can take the fight to the invader and Zelenskyy's replacement of Senior defence commanders is vindicated. The arrival of new equipment and modern armaments have helped. The coalition of free nations have been shown that the Ukrainians can and will hold their own if properly equipped. Now russia must devote more personnel and more equipment to a black hole of losses: Losses in money that is diverted from the Russian economy and a loss of young working age males. Perhaps as far as the average Russian is concerned, they won't care since most of the casualties are incurred by the poor and marginalized youth of the outer republics and Siberia, The cream of St Petersburg and Moscow's middle and upper income demographic are avoiding combat. However, it is these young people who work in the factories, oil fields and mines of Russia and upon which the Russian economy was built. A nation cannot afford to lose a generation of young males. Regurgitating Russian saboteur talking points does not support your cause. Your "assumption" leaves the impression that you are so desperate to denigrate President Biden and to support Putin that you have to resort to nonsensical claims. The declared presence of a US submarine is not a provocation as you claim. US submarines are deployed in the Mediterranean sea regularly. The UK and France have submarines in the region too. In case you did not know, multiple EU and NATO member nations border the Mediterranean Sea. Some of these countries include Greece (and Free Cyprus), Italy, France and UK (Gibraltar). Iran has been trying to provoke a war with Israel and its proxy army, Hezbollah holds Lebanon hostage. Because of the presence of the hundreds of thousands of Lebanese with passports of convenience from the EU, Canada and the USA as well as thousands of their nationals in Jordan and Israel, the western nations have an obligation to station assets to discourage potential attacks that could harm these passport holders and nationals. It is Iran that is engaging in massive provocation. Is it a provocation if Russia has a naval vessels in the region? The last count was 6 vessels. Russia also maintains a naval base in the Port of Tartus, Syria. You should ask Russia why it is provoking the EU with its naval presence. Are you sober? Russia is not an American colony. Your reference to American soldiers working on secret Russian objects is so outlandish as to initiate a legitimate questioning of your psychological state.

Your comment is factually incorrect. Donald Trump, the convicted felon and former President of the USA praised Walz's handling of the protests. “So the best example, I alluded to it a couple of seconds ago, is Minneapolis. It was incredible what happened in the state of Minnesota. What they did in Minneapolis was incredible”. “They went in and dominated, and it happened immediately.” June 1. 2020 Full transcript of conference call https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/politics/wh-governors-call-protests/index.html?cid=ios_app

I don't believe the "left" is attacking him for this. I see it as highlighting his hypocrisy. Anytime you see someone you disagree with, your go to attack is to call them a "leftist".

You read, or you fantasize? Please provide a source or retract your statement.

Well, if he is gay, then a closeted self loathing gay.

You have no idea of what the damage is or was. SARS-CoV-2 is a virus that manifests as an inflammatory disease. Its initial symptoms can pass with little perceived impact, but its underlying effect is still not fully identified. It is known to be responsible for long covid which is an auto immune related condition. However, what is still being studied is the impact that covid has for the long term cardio vascular and neurological impact. Smokers do not have heart attack and strokes over night. People who worked in chemical plants and with asbestos did not become ill until decades later. It takes years for the genetic impact of a disease to manifest itself as the damaged cells can no longer be managed by the human body. We see this with shingles, which is related to a previous infection of chicken pox. It is also seen with other viruses, like polio. We most likely will not have the full impact of Covid infections for at least another 10-20 years. Covid is a nasty virus and the damage it does is deep and impacts every critical organ in the human body. Do not under estimate its impact.

There is fancy dress, and then there is dressing up like a tranny hooker working Figueroa Boulevard in South LA. UK universities are also known for their cabals of sexual deviants. Many great novelists have profiled the affliction. Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder is one of the all time classics. Nor should one forget the soviet spies Cambridge gave us with the Cambridge 5. Considering Mr. Trump's closeness to Putin, one would have a reasonable basis for concern. No, it is their reaction to the blatant hypocrisy. People of Mr. Vance's region and political sentiments have an expression that is today considered offensive. It refers to an inconvenient truth hidden in the background. The image of Mr. Vance as a transvestite is referred to as "a n****r in the woodpile". Not an expression I would use, but one that is still used in Mr. Vance's region and that his hillbilly fans might be whispering over the moonshine and meth.

More nonsense. Those are not Buddha's footprints. They are a man made creation.

PM Thatcher and President Reagan defeated the Soviet Union by standing firm and by a defense spending policy that bankrupted the USSR. The western alliance is applying a similar strategy today. Russia has neglected its social and civil spending needs. There are no new spending projects for healthcare, no large R&D expenditures outside of military use, no investment in civil infrastructure unless military related, and no adjusted spending on education or early childhood development. Secondary school graduates can look forward to military manufacturing related jobs or military service. Gone are the idyllic days of travel or non war related education. The diversion of investment away from the social services sector can be absorbed for a few years, but eventually it leads to situations where infrastructure is neglected. Once the Russian infrastructure starts falling apart, and the cheap Chinese consumer items start breaking down Russians will say enough. Young Russians do not want to die in a useless war with Ukraine. Nor should they. At some point the muslim stanistans will turn against Russia and Russia will be in a fight for its survival.

The tax cuts benefit a small number of people. It cost others significantly because the amount of debt increases as the nation borrows to pay the cost for programs that would have been offset by the tax revenue collected from the super wealthy. Tax cuts without a reduction in government spending and debt service actually end up increasing the future tax burden because the spending requirements must be offset by borrowing. Debt has to be serviced and repaid. Close some redundant military bases and raise retirement age benefits to reflect increased lifespan are two of the most effective changes, but are politically impossible to do.

There was no lie. He is factually correct when the statement is put in context. However, if taken as a flat statement, he misspoke. The statement you attack was; “We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.” In August 2003 Walz was deployed to the US military base at Vicenza, Italy. His deployment was authorized as part of the war in Afghanistan. The airbase at Vicenza was used for operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Although his was not a combat role, but the base was a target for terrorists. There is a history of US foreign military facilities and barracks being attacked and of military personnel being killed and wounded. He was deployed because of the Afghanistan war and was assigned to a facility directly implicated in the Afghanistan war. Therefore, his carrying and use of a weapon was in a time of war. The context of his comment was that heavy automatic weapons were intended for war and not as domestic carry accoutrements. The man served 24 years. I don't think he has to prove anything to anyone in respect to his military service.

You obviously have not read the Executive Order. Again, lease cite the section of the order that supports your claim.

One would be foolish to become over excited at the polling data. Yes, it it is good news for the Democrats as it suggests that Democrats are firming up their support and retaining the coalition who elected Biden. That's all. There is no overwhelming movement to Harris and no epiphany amongst Trump supporters. The core Trump voters will not change their votes. Trump will continue to poll 43.5% to 44.5% and Harris will poll 44.5% to 45.5% until election day, unless there is a critical event. The goal for the Democrats is that they must get their supporters to vote in the swing states. Absolute numbers mean nothing because Trump has absolute majority in some states, just as Harris has absolute majorities in other states. Get excited when the Harris poll lead exceeds 4%, otherwise it will remain a nail biter until the bitter end.

I responded to a factually incorrect claim with the actual data. You have returned with what is called in education, an information dump: Information that while not necessarily incorrect is not specific to the subject matter. In effect it is used by students (and politicians) when they are unable to respond to a question and instead attempt to deflect with a bombardment of other information. Your comments on GDP are nonsensical. The national GDP with the exception of the Trump Covid legacy of 2020, has grown every year since 2020. This is a reflection of national population growth and is in large part driven by consumer goods and services spending. i.e. as the population grows it spends more on housing, food, motor vehicles, services etc. The reference to unemployment rates is typical of someone cherry picking data in an attempt to support a biased claim. Unemployment must be looked at as a trend. If it wasn't then Trump would have the sole responsibility for the unemployment rate of 13%+ that he left the Biden administration. Covid was the factor in that spike, and it is remarkable that the rate has now been brought back to 4%. The Trump administration unemployment rates match historical trends. Your logic would require effusive praise for the Johnson administration and scorn for the Ford, Regan and George Bush Jr. administrations that saw some of the highest unemployment rates in the past 50 years. Neither the praise, not the criticism would be reasonable, because the peaks were quickly corrected within the following years. No. As per the Pew Research review; From 1970 to 2018, the share of aggregate income going to middle-class households fell from 62% to 43%. Over the same period, the share held by upper-income households increased from 29% to 48%. The share flowing to lower-income households inched down from 10% in 1970 to 9% in 2018. These trends in income reflect the growth in economic inequality overall in the U.S. in the decades since 1980. Income growth has been most rapid for the top 5% of families. Even among higher-income families, the growth in income has favored those at the top. Since 1980, incomes have increased faster for the most affluent families – those in the top 5% – than for families in the income strata below them. This disparity in outcomes is less pronounced in the wake of the Great Recession but shows no signs of reversing. The takeaway is very clear: The income growth has been most pronounced for the most affluent of US citizens. This is due in large part to tax reductions for them. Trickle down economics does not work. Fair and equitable tax policy does work. Elimination of tax reductions, loopholes and tax simplification with minimum tax payments is more equitable. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/

You misinterpret the Hungarians. Their position is not one of support for Russia, but more of the enemy of my enemy is my friend. After the collapse of the Austro Hungarian Empire Hungary lost some of its territory to Ukraine. It believes that the Carpathia region of western Ukraine should be part of Hungary. This is no secret. The right wing of Hungary has always made this claim and went so far as stating that if Russia was victorious, that Hungary should then make a claim to Carpathia, which it expects that Russia would hand over if it wanted Hungary's support. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hungary-far-right-would-lay-claim-neighbouring-region-if-ukraine-loses-war-2024-01-28/#:~:text=BUDAPEST%2C Jan 28 (Reuters),leader said late on Saturday. This is an unsubstantiated "urban myth" that has been promoted by the Russian propaganda machine. Russia was actively supporting violent militias a decade before its invasion. On July 17, 2014 Malaysia Airlines flight 17, a passenger airliner was shot down by a Russian backed militia using Russian supplied anti aircraft missiles and Russian supplied and manned radar. 298 non combatant passengers were murdered. Russia refused to cooperate with the investigation. Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Almost 8 years of militia sectarian attacks. Please do not insult the intelligence of people by claiming the Russians did not want a conflict. They were in it from the day their puppets were removed from government. You offer a revisionist interpretation of the period when the victims of Russian colonialism broke the shackles of oppression and set themselves free. Germany reunified because that is what the German people wanted. They were fed up of having a wall with deadly mines and snipers who killed Germans who wanted to cross the border. They had watched the the other east European nations gain freedom and wanted their opportunity. It was impossible for Russia to stop it from happening, unless Russia did what it has done in Syria in propping up the cruel dictatorship of Assad, and that is to have engaged in the wholesale slaughter of a civilian population. The legacy of Russia in the former East Germany is one of despair and gloom. The population has the long lasting multi generational damage common to domestic abuse victims. Russia left a region that was a toxic chemical tragedy with poisoned soil, air and water. A region where children were encouraged to spy on their families and where the Stasi ruled supreme. Russia doesn't care about a friendly Ukraine. it wants a subjugated vassal state, like Belarus. It wants the resources of Ukraine at the previous discounted price and it wants the Ukrainians to obey their Russian masters. The Ukrainians don't want to be the Russian puppet state. It's not as if the Russians have anything to offer.

There are no medical exams to support the Trump claim of bone spurs. His own family repudiated the claim of bone spurs. Joe Biden was classified as 1-Y. This meant that he was available for draft and could be drafted in the event of national emergency. His childhood asthma had made him unsuitable for long term active service. This situation is different than the absolute deferment Trump received. Clinton did not go to Canada to avoid the draft. He never went to Canada. He did join the ROTC like many of his generation and played the draft deferral game. Clinton did lucked out during the Nixon initiated draft lottery when he obtained a draft number that was not called up. George Bush joined the Texas Air National Guard and did his 6 years of service to avoid active service. Air National Guards were not used in the Vietnam war and were kept for national defense and search and rescue. None of the above is impressive. The difference is that some people carry on as if they were great military leaders. The reality is that the command officers who have had active service histories, have zero respect for people who have not served when they could have.

Again, not true. You are repeating a fabrication that a Republican state legislature member had circulated. On the contrary, the order since replaced by a law enacted by the state legislature, protected parental rights to seek treatment. Have you read the actual Executive Order? Please cite the section of the order that supports your claim. To help you out, since it does not appear you have read the instruction, it is Executive order 23-03 and is found here https://mn.gov/governor/assets/EO 23-03 Signed and filed_tcm1055-568332.pdf Please show me where the Order says what you claim it says and I will gladly acknowledge your point.

No he was not. Trump inherited a strong economy and then promptly mismanaged the Covid crisis which then resulted in catastrophic economic damage. The Unemployment rate under the Biden administration, excluding the 2020 Covid crisis is actually as good if not better than the Trump period. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNU04000024 The historic inflation data does not support your claim. Obama: 2013 - 0.50%, 2014 - 0.80%, 2015-0.70%, 2016 - 2.10% Trump: 2017 - 2.10%, 2018- 1.90%, 2019 2.30%, 2020 - 1.40% Biden: 2021 - 7.00%, 2022 - 6.50%, 2023 - 3.40% 2024 year on year - 3% If we use your logic, the Obama was a period of economic brilliance because inflation was so low. The first year of Covid saw a near shutdown of the world's economy which resulted in deflationary pressures. As the economy rebounded when it opened up again, it was reflected by the inflation rate. The Biden administration tamed those pressures and provided one of the world's most robust economies. The US inflation rate today is better than it was under the Reagan administration. You forget that 1979 and 1980 had inflation rates of 12-13.5. Inflation was up and down during the big financial boom times of the Reagan era. The reality is that with the exception of running up deficits under the Trump administration because of high income earner tax cuts, the financial policies of the USA under both Biden and Trump were standard restrained policy.

Singapore is reliable. It is reliable enough that Canada has its South Asian supply military warehouse in Singapore. UK has a naval presence in Singapore and can quickly ramp up should the need arise. Singapore is a developed advanced nation with a well trained and equipped defense capability and that has quality infrastructure and an educated population. Sure, Philippines have lots of people, but it also turned on the USA when it was convenient. Remember the demands for the USA to leave prior to the Chinese expansionism?

Why? She does look quite young. The tramp stamp on her ankle does suggest that she is a woman of experience.

You repudiated yourself. You are trying to use an immoral and technically illegal agreement to support an untenable position. The ceding of Hong Kong came about as a result of the first opium war when Great Britain waged war against China in its campaign to force the Chinese to allow foreigners to sell opium to the Chinese and to create a nation of drug addicts. The Kowloon peninsula was obtained after the 2nd Opium War. A treaty that originates from coercion and violence is not the most easy of agreements to defend. However, the Chinese did respect the Hong Kong treaties. Yes, the new territories were technically the only areas that had a lease ending, however, Hong Kong could not exist without the new territories including the islands that had been leased. Water, electricity and food came from the new territories. Much of the population who supported the "city" lived in the New territories. Hong Kong without the new territories was not viable. It is astounding that you are using an unjust colonial construct to defend your position. The presence of Great Britain in China was an immoral and wrongful presence. Great Britain did the right thing when it withdrew. it had neither the legal nor moral right to occupy a foreign nation in the manner it did, particularly when it was based on trying to addict people to opium. You are arguing in defense of that. It does shed light on why why you are a defender of the Putin colonialist expansionism. Overall your position is patronizing and condescending to the Chinese. I have the impression that it is a whitey knows all mindset, common to the the purveyors of bankrupt political positions of the 1970's.

It is not a lie to state that you have not provided a compelling case (to support Putin's invasion of Ukraine) and instead have thrown out weak excuses for the Russian expansionist policy. Your comments oppose the provision of aid to Ukraine. As a result I have asked why you just not come clean and make clear that you support the war initiated by Putin, and as a result support all of the knock on results that I have listed. Are you now saying that you do not support the Russian position and that it is acceptable for Russia to have started a war with Ukraine and to have supplied and directed militias that have attacked Ukraine?

There is a common saying "don't feed the troll". I believe that it is appropriate here.