Pickwick

I have just realised my question was not clear and I think we are talking about different things - my apologies. I understand that the blood test and health packages are best avoided. However, you previously mentioned to the OP that it is prudent to have some cardiac tests at his age - exercise stress test, echo cardiogram etc. I am the same age group as the OP and have had these types of tests before, but more than ten years ago. Given your point about hospitals seeking to maximise profit, are there any recommended or reliable hospitals to get these tests done, where they are not going to suggest a problem (when there is none) just to inflate the bill? I am more concerned with the stress of being told there might be something wrong with my heart, than the financial cost of unnecessary tests. Many thanks as always.

Sheryl - is there an easy/standard way to check this (apologies for my ignorance)? Also, given your warnings about hospitals/labs requesting unnecessary tests, are there any reliable/trustworthy hospitals for the OP (and others of the same age group) to have the cardiac screenings? I do not mind the cost, but I would like to avoid any unnecessary anxiety caused by further testing that's not actually needed. Many thanks.

Which poster and where was 'penis' mentioned? I have not mentioned penis. The 'scientific facts' - your phrase - don't support your point of view, so you just make stuff up. You ignore the science and now want to focus on the word penis. It's as predictable as it is sad. The world has a very big population. A very small part of this population do not fall into your little neat categories of 'normal' (your word). However, as the world population is very big, this small part still amounts to millions of people, which on its own is another big number. It essentially means we are talking about people in every village, town and city on this planet. Now, you may think that millions of people in a population of billions is not a meaningful number and should be ignored. Others disagree. People are allowed to disagree. As history shows us that small groups have often been treated abysmally by larger groups, democratic countries who value human life, have legal protections for minority groups. This generally works very well, though all groups of people, large and small, have radical elements and activism and then there are issues that need discussing and measures taken to try and find compromise. Previously, a lot of discussion about transgender on this forum has seen repeated posts about women having XX chromosomes, men XY and that was 'scientific fact'. Except it is not 'scientific fact'. There are many variations of this, with human beings born with XXX, XXY and numerous other variations (see link 1). There is also people born 'intersex' (see link 2). You have been proven wrong by science. Now you are suddenly obsessed with the word 'penis', which shows you have not actually read the science. Although a true hermaphrodite does not exist, some people are born with atypical genitalia presentations. Whilst this may cause the immature amongst us some school-boy humour, it is nonetheless true (see link 2). Read the links below and stop being facetious. Especially here: "People who are intersex have genitals, chromosomes or reproductive organs that don’t fit into a male/female sex binary. Their genitals might not match their reproductive organs, or they may have traits of both. Being intersex may be evident at birth, childhood, later in adulthood or never. Being intersex isn’t a disorder, disease or condition". All the groups above are a small percentage of the human population but live among us everywhere. The transgender community is also very small. Not all of the above groups are transgender and not all transgender fall into them; but the overlap is quite obvious. If you want to ignore these millions of people, that's up to you. If you want to crack penis jokes, that's up to you. If you want to focus on perverted heterosexual men who might use the above to commit crimes, that's up to you. If you want to focus on the 0.01% of ladyboys who steal gold chains in Pattaya, that's up to you (that percent is an easy to read example, I should think it is much lower in reality). If you want to pick isolated incidents from billions of people and use them to smear a whole community, that's up to you. If you want to continually get frothed at the mouth over this compared to all of the much bigger problems - facing both women and society as a whole - that's up to you. If you're obsessed with the penis, that's up to you. (Though, it might be interesting to note that the most viewed porn site in the world (ends in 'hub') publishes its own metrics. It has had over 5 billion views and the sixth most viewed category is 'transgender'). Link 1: https://genetic.org/variations/ Link2: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/16324-intersex

Quite right. Dodgy Dave is a heterosexual pervert up to no good and should be dealt with accordingly. But, you are just continuing the trope I mentioned in my post above; maybe you work for Asean Now and are part of the machine that wants to keep people angry and clicking away, who knows? By the way, millions of people (X 45; XXX; XXY; Intersex etc.) are millions of people, whether you try and label them an exception or not to some made up rule. A small percentage of the world-wide population for sure, but then so is the transgender community as a whole (and an even smaller percentage are trans activists, not that you would think it with the rantings on here).

Unfortunately, 'normal' people normally don't know much about scientific 'facts' as you put them, which is a great shame because then we wouldn't need to wade through all the nonsense that women have XX chromosomes and men XY and that's that. Because that is not that. There are millions of people who 'scientifically' do not fall into your neat little 'normal' people groups. 1 in 500 people born with XXY. 1 in 1000 born with XXX. 1 in 2-5000 born intersex. Those are medical facts, not made up or delusional thinking. Given the 'facts' above, in my small UK village of 5000 we already have a handful of people who do not fit into your 'normal' groups. Now multiply that by 8.1 billion. Or shall we just ignore those people because they don't fit your idea of normality? The second problem with 'normal' people, especially those who use words like woke a lot and irony of ironies 'sheeple' is that they are manipulated far easier than they would care to acknowledge, despite many 'scientific' studies alerting them to this fact. Media, mainstream or otherwise, is desperate for your business, and keeping you either fearful or angry is a good way to keep you engaged with their business model. Internet fora, like the one we are using now, are driven by advertising revenue -they know which threads get people angry and posting, and the clicks keep coming = and we are then in a perpetual loop of people getting angry about issues that - happily for the politicians - distract from the bigger, more important stuff (like why are we paying more and more tax for fewer and worse services etc). Just to be clear: I am not suggesting at all that every transgender person is born intersex etc. but it seems quite obvious there would be a lot of overlap. The media love the story of the man dressing up as a woman just to get into the female toilets (which is actually about a heterosexual pervert) and the internet lights up as if this is biggest problem in life faced by women every day, when it is a few isolated incidents out of billions of people. The irony is that women do have to be fearful - of heterosexual men. That is a well-documented and far bigger problem, yet oddly gets a fraction of the airtime. Those isolated incidents, of heterosexual men pretending to be transgender, tell anyone with a brain that there are issues that need to be carefully thought about and in the future I am sure we can find solutions, it is not that difficult. When driving up and down this country I see ladyboys going into the female toilets all the time, without issue. Of course, everyone is inside a private cubicle and this seems to be sufficient. I am aware that Thais have a different expectation of privacy though, as any man new to Thailand's toilets quickly finds out when the cleaning ladies do not stop their work despite you being in mid pee. The transgender activists, though vocal, are a tiny percent of the transgender population. The media amplifies and distorts this and everyone plays along. It has been ever thus, just with different groups.

England, ranked one of the highest nations in the world, recently lost to Iceland. Again. They scraped a result against a Serbia side who could not get past a woeful Scotland side last time round. You then had a draw against a 'not very good Denmark team' (ex-England captain's words). Your record at international tournaments for a so called 'big' nation is not very inspiring. That you try and then gloat at the lowest ranked team coming bottom of their group (on account of a last gasp goal) is farcical and reeks of insecure desperation. Yet, unlike you, I wish your country the best of luck in the tournament and look forward to some fantastic clashes in the weeks to come (including, hopefully, matches involving England). Maybe you should try and positively support your team for a change. Plenty of media reports available on the net about the many English people singing when the elderly Margaret Thatcher died. Selective much? You seem unable to handle the fact that most people - including prominent Englishmen - are lauding praise for the Scottish fans' support of their team. Let's see how the England fans fare, I hope they win similar plaudits, whatever happens on the pitch.

Well, yes, of course it was predicted, Scotland are the lowest ranked team in the group for a reason. Weak group, though? Switzerland have reached the latter stages of the last 5 major tournaments, beating teams like France along the way. Germany look to be rediscovering the form that has historically seen them have a trophy haul that would take England another 24 years to catch up with, assuming they won every single tournament until 2048. The last three Hungary results against UK teams - Hungary 1 Scotland 0; England 0 Hungary 4; Hungary 1 England 0. True about the nice fans, acclaimed throughout Germany and praised by many, including former English internationals. I hope the fans of England can show a similar positive support for their team. Like most Scots, I don't blame the English for anything, I only wish your team good luck going forward.

Well, no of course not. But this is a handful of idiots out of 200,000 Scots fans who have won praise from every quarter, notably except from England fans. Shocked, not. The football has been crap but the fans have shown amazing support. Good luck to England, let's see if their fans can get behind their own team likewise.

Well, former England international and Premier League winner, Chris Sutton wrote today on the BBC about Scotland 'You've had the best fans at the tournament'. Many Germans agree, though there have been some great and positive displays of support by many nationalities. Chris Sutton also has Scotland exiting tonight. It'll certainly be tough, Hungary thrashed England 4-0 at home last time they played!

I did read that but you did not mention 'Brookes' in your first post. You wrote 'ask students at uni in Oxford'. When you wrote that you knew that 99.99% of British people immediately thought about the world-renowned Oxford University and not the former polytechnic, now called Oxford Brookes, which most people, myself included, have never heard of. If you wrote 'ask students at former polytechnics' - which is your point but does not sound as good - then perhaps/perhaps not (Brookes' own data reports between 85-92% employment/further study rate; I have no idea if that is accurate or not, nor do I know how many are employed in call centres). I find it hard to believe that school/education has been of no help to you or your family whatsoever, but I'll take your word for it. Not everyone is so fortunate to come from such a strong family background, or be successful due to 'connections' as you put it, that education is rendered meaningless. Given your aversion to education, I know you did not learn this from Harvard Business School. It sounds like something someone on youtube, who is desperate for your business, would say. I do not believe the world is full of successful business owners sitting on a beach somewhere, marvelling at how easy it all was.

You genuinely mistake me for someone else, so please do not let that cloud your replies. I am only responding to what you wrote in this thread, as I disagree with you. If you seriously think the majority of Oxford graduates work in call centres I would like to see the data, as I admit I would be astonished. Who is 'your' directed at? I have nothing to do with the degree system in the UK. You make bold statements with nothing to back them up. I know no one (including myself) who has started a business and thought it was easy. It's not easy, not here and not in Europe, at least it is not easy to be successful. It is hard work and even then there are no guarantees of success. That's with finance, a western education, a hard work ethic, a knowledge of my sector. I have no doubt though that my western education has been an advantage in being a success, along with a fair amount of luck, something which many successful business people mention. This guy was not me and I never said anything about the people here, bigoted or otherwise. I know first hand that most of the kids go to the local school and the standard of education is quite poor, but I have no idea if that is reflected all over Thailand. I suspect it is true in many places, though that is only a guess. I would agree that there are plenty of options other than prostitution but very few where the same amount of money could be made by so many. I have also seen real poverty here and it does not take a genius to see that, for some, heading to Pattaya etc., is seen as a viable way to earn a living - which it is despite whatever your (or my) moral stance might be.

What part of the Theory of Relativity requires solving? If you're talking about the rejection of the abstract mathematical model or something similar, I should think students at Oxford University would probably know more than non-university educated folk, though I admit that's just a guess. What is not a guess, is that many, many long running and successful businesses have been started by Oxford graduates, and that continues today with a huge start-up presence, especially in mathematics, science, worth hundreds of millions of pounds. It is difficult to get an exact percentage of the employment rate of graduates from Oxford, but since the generally accepted level is somewhat north of 90% and then some, I wonder why you think there are no jobs 'waiting'. You will find graduates of Oxford in many high level positions in the country, whether in politics, finance or the media. If you started a successful business with only $10, a phone and an internet connection, I'm Warren Buffet's daughter.

There's nowt under my kilt, so I'm not the one getting my panties in a twist (over multiple threads)! The only irony is that no one has had a go at England, whilst many of your posts are anti-Scotland. I have said I think England will qualify for the next stages, despite last night's performance, and that I look forward to seeing them play the likes of France etc. in the latter stages. I like football and there are some great games coming up, including England. I congratulated the Lionesses in the other thread. Where are you located? 1970? Have you even been to Scotland in the last 30 years? When I was young (a long time ago now) there was a Scottish comedy show on the telly, one of the characters was a tartan clad Scotsman who used to step over the border and hurl an insult at the English and then immediately step back. It wasn't funny because he was hurling insults, it was funny because such a character was ridiculous, 40 years later even more so. Most Scots I know have zero animosity towards England, 10% of the population was born there! Half a million English choose to live in Scotland, I doubt they would do that if they were hunted as the national sport. Go visit, you might have some fun!

It's not a Scottish chant, it is a handful of idiots out of 200,000 Scots in Germany. You can work out the percentage yourself. See below. Germany is generally loving the Scottish fans, the locals blown away by their wonderful support and general good behaviour. I lived in Cologne for seven years and my phone has not stopped ringing with positive messages. Much like it was with the locals in France in 1998 when I was there supporting my pub team. No one has a problem with Scotland being at the Euros, except for you and some England fans. Quelle surprise. Yes, you have repeatedly told us over several different threads that Scotland are terrible and have been for years. Using your logic, it reflects badly on a decent Swiss team, and also an England side who couldn't even beat the pub team last time round in their own stadium. Scotland is a small nation and yes even within that parameter we're not very good. We never said we were, we are just enjoying life. Try it.

That may as well be, but I am not a unionist either and have never suggested such a thing.

I often appreciate what you write in defence of your beliefs, even though I disagree with much of it, but I think you should reconsider this latest line of debate. I feel it is disingenuous at best and certainly not reflective of the welcoming, inclusive and egalitarian principles modern Scotland aims for, where we are all equal citizens, whether born in Scotland, England or elsewhere. I have no love for the SNP but I am willing to listen and to try and see the opposing view(s). But we do not need to split the population into ever smaller groups and subdivisions, the world is polarised and nonsensical enough, as you've witnessed through some of the replies above. The real problem, imho, is that for independence (like Brexit before), the population is split almost 50/50. I am disappointed that no one wants to talk about that, to try and find a common ground. Instead we have juvenile and tribal responses from both sides. Your posts are far from that level, don't descend into it. I am not an SNP supporter as outlined above, but who do you trust with the country's finances? It's a genuine question. Who do you trust, full stop? People on here are claiming Keir Starmer is part of the elite, same same, as the Tories. Not to be trusted. I can understand the line of thinking. But, astonishingly, their answer to that is to vote for privately educated, former stockbroker and multi-millionaire, man of the people, Nigel Farage. The sums (and also the lack thereof) that Reform has provided make the SNP (and even Liz Truss) look like a safe pair of hands! The Liberals? The SDP? (Yes, they are a thing again.) It might be grim up north, but it doesn't look much better down south either.

Quote from the BBC directly (link below):Indians, who form the largest expat community, are likely to be the worst affected. White immigrants have not given themselves the name expat, it is derived from the word expatriate. Since you have previously mentioned the British, here is the BBC reporting on Indian expats in Kuwait (after 3 seconds of a Google search using the term.) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-53361538

The second part of this quote is bang on - it was quite hilarious, though also baffling given some of the performances in qualifying (beating Spain etc.). Though Scotland, like many small countries, have rarely been a threat to any of the bigger nations. When Scotland lost the opening game of the 1998 World Cup to Brazil we at least put up a fight. I expected the defeat on Friday but was disappointed by the manner of it. Some cracking games have followed though and I look forward to the likes of Germany/France/Spain/England etc. playing each other in the later stages (full expecting Scotland to exit stage left on Wednesday). The first part of the quote, however, 'Germany has a tendency to always lose' is as baffling as John Mcginn's non-appearance last Friday. Germany are amongst the nations who are serial winners at football. Of the 'big five' European countries they are at the top - 1. Germany; 2. France; 3. Spain; 4. Italy; 5. England. They have won the World Cup four times! I should argue that they have a tendency to often win. As poor as Scotland undeniably were, I think the German team has some great players and they can challenge France and England (the two favourites imho) for the trophy.

Who are 'we'? The Lionesses? Sorry, I did not realise you were a girl. No offence, but I am not interested in women's football, very happy for it to get more exposure though.

I didn't 'miss' it, I am not familiar or interested in women's football, and as it hasn't been mentioned at all on this thread I was also unaware we were discussing it! At least the women of England are capable of success! Well done the lasses!

Sorry, but I am not sure what fact I missed, it certainly wasn't intentional. What 'fact' did I miss? England's victory? Sectarian thuggery? You think the SNP are good? England - Well done, a valuable 3 points and almost certainly through to the next round (I was already quite certain before the game was played though). However, I am not getting carried away with excitement, for it has been keenly pointed out that Scotland are rubbish and have been for some time, and England's opponents - Serbia - were knocked out of the qualifying last time by, er, Scotland. I fully expect Scotland to get tobleroned on Wednesday, so will hope to see England improve and look forward to some excellent clashes with the the likes of France etc. in the later rounds. Sectarian thuggery - indeed, a blight on Glasgow. But I am not Glaswegian, nor do I support one of the Old Firm, so it is not something I have experienced first hand. Plenty of thuggery, tragedy chanting etc. and other negative aspects to football in every country it is played unfortunately, as was evidenced last night in Gelsenkirchen and Hamburg. A great shame. The SNP - it is your opinion if you think the SNP are good or not. I am not an SNP supporter and the OP suggesting the SNPs decline is not a surprise to me. Unfortunately, the choice in Scotland politically is as underwhelming as the rest of the UK, so I wouldn't write them off just yet.

We already mentioned this. Scotland have won nothing and are rubbish. England have won something once, but that was in between the assassination of John F Kennedy and Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. I know many members here are very old, but still. Scotland get thrashed by European heavyweights and England continually get beaten by Iceland. Wales and NI are similarly not very good. The Premier League is the best in the world, yet everyone forgets to tell Real Madrid etc. etc. etc. Anyway, I apologise for the thread ****; this is a thread about the SNP who are not very good either. It's sunny here in Thailand though.

True, Scotland are a footballing shambles. England, the only 'big' European footballing nation to win nothing since men first walked on the moon, just lost to Iceland - again. Wales could only draw with Gibraltar and Northern Ireland can't even build a new stadium. We would all be wise to switch our allegiance to our adopted country, since Thailand are not allowed to play in the Euros 🙂

The two posts above are really helpful. Truevisions at 249 baht, and of course BBCiPlayer/ITVX, with a vpn. I am using both - it is such a rarity that Scotland are at a major tournament I do not want to miss a match due to possible vpn problems. My wife has set it up but I think I also had the Premier League with the same company (Truevisions) and never had a problem. I have had a few problems over the years trying to log into the BBC iPlayer with a vpn, though since purchasing Nord I haven't encountered any (but not used that much either). Enjoy! 🙂

Outrageous? It's 249 baht? Even I've paid that, and I'm Scottish!