TallGuyJohninBKK

Indeed, this preprint has not been peer reviewed, and is the latest version of various reports being issued by these authors who started out by recruiting a bunch of anti-vaxers as their study subjects. And guess what? The anti-vaxers BELIEVE, without any clear proof provided by the study, that their symptoms stemmed from the COVID vaccines they had received. Unfortunately, there's not much here, if anything, that proves that the subject group's perceived (self-reported) symptoms did in fact stem from them having received COVID vaccines, as opposed to any number of other things/pre-existing conditions that weren't effectively ruled out by the study's methods. A good take-down of the flaws and limitations in this preprint is shown here below: Dr. Willson's summary at the end of his video below: "It's just not a well-designed or ground-breaking study." Re the author of the above video review, Dr. Dan Wilson: "Ph.D. in molecular biology that covers bad science while making good science accessible. This channel focuses mainly on pseudoscience surrounding the anti-vaccine movement and COVID misinformation. I earned my B.S. in Biotechnology and Molecular Biology from Clarion University and my Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University." ----------------------------------- It's also worth noting the opening two sentences of OP-cited pre-print study -- the first of which the various anti-vaxers getting excited by this report seem to be selectively ignoring: "COVID-19 vaccines have prevented millions of COVID-19 deaths. Yet, a small fraction42 of the population reports a chronic debilitating condition after COVID-19 vaccination,43 often referred to as post- vaccination syndrome (PVS). [emphasis added] https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.18.25322379v2.full.pdf

How Well Does the MMR Vaccine Work? "MMR vaccine is very effective at protecting people against measles, mumps, and rubella, and preventing the complications caused by these diseases. People who receive MMR vaccination according to the U.S. vaccination schedule are usually considered protected for life against measles and rubella. While MMR provides effective protection against mumps for most people, immunity against mumps may decrease over time and some people may no longer be protected against mumps later in life. An additional dose may be needed if you are at risk because of a mumps outbreak. One dose of MMR vaccine is 93% effective against measles, 78% effective against mumps, and 97% effective against rubella. Two doses of MMR vaccine are 97% effective against measles and 88% effective against mumps." https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/mmr/public/index.html

Measles resurgence is 'not business as usual,' doctor says https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqnWJLrECVQ

No cause of death has been determined as yet in the above cited case... But since you've posted the headline here, it's worth reporting what the article actually says on the issue -- that the risks from sickness from COVID far outweigh the risks from the vaccines: "the CDC committee evaluating concerns about the heart problems post-vaccination agreed that the risk of severe COVID-19 illness and hospitalization among unvaccinated adolescents and young adults was higher in every age group than the risk of myocarditis or pericarditis after a vaccine. ... That's a sentiment echoed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which issued a joint statement after the hearing that was co-signed by more than a dozen other organizations, including the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Heart Association, the American Medical Association and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It said, in part: “The facts are clear: this is an extremely rare side effect, and only an exceedingly small number of people will experience it after vaccination. Importantly, for the young people who do, most cases are mild, and individuals recover often on their own or with minimal treatment. In addition, we know that myocarditis and pericarditis are much more common if you get COVID-19, and the risks to the heart from COVID-19 infection can be more severe." [emphasis added] https://www.freep.com/story/news/2021/07/02/jacob-clynick-pfizer-covid-vaccine/5323095001/

A child is dead from measles "A little child is dead. From measles. In the United States. In 2025. They were unvaccinated and otherwise healthy, making it the first casualty of the West Texas measles outbreak—and the first measles death in the U.S. in a decade. One death from a preventable disease is one too many. ... This didn’t happen randomly. West Texas has pockets of alarmingly low MMR vaccination rates. In the area where this outbreak began, one in five children is unvaccinated. Measles spreads like wildfire in unprotected communities—it’s the most contagious virus on earth. On average, one infected person will spread it to 12–18 unvaccinated people. [emphasis added] ... Measles is not just a rash. While many children recover from measles, some die of pneumonia caused by the virus. Measles can also lead to deafness and brain damage, and it can wipe out a huge fraction of immune memory to other diseases, like the flu, leading to an increase in all-cause deaths years later. The risks of infection far outweigh the risks of the vaccine, as the New York Times shows beautifully below." https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/a-child-is-dead-from-measles Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) is founded and operated by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, MPH PhD—an epidemiologist, wife, and mom of two little girls. Dr. Jetelina is also a senior scientific consultant to a number of non-profit organizations. YLE reaches over 340,000 people in over 132 countries with one goal: “Translate” the ever-evolving public health science so that people will be well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions.

Texas reports first death in measles outbreak ... "Measles was eliminated from the United States 25 years ago, but dropping vaccination rates due to anti-vaccine advocacy groups erroneously linking the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism, has left some communities vulnerable to outbreaks. [emphasis added] Outbreaks occurring in unvaccinated kids The outbreaks in rural counties of West Texas are largely occurring among unvaccinated or under-vaccinated members of a Mennonite community, a TDSHS spokesperson told the Associated Press. TDSDH said the current outbreak is the largest in the state in 30 years." [emphasis added] https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/measles/texas-reports-first-death-measles-outbreak Including like this brain-addled moron whom Trump has appointed to head the U.S. Health and Human Services Department: RFK Jr. kept asking to see the science that vaccines were safe. After he saw it, he dismissed it January 31, 2025 "Kennedy repeatedly refused to acknowledge scientific consensus that childhood vaccines don’t cause autism and that COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives, and he falsely asserted the government has no good vaccine safety monitoring. While appearing to ignore mainstream science, he cited flawed or tangential research to make his points, such as suggesting Black people may need different vaccines than whites. His responses raised concern among health experts that Kennedy lacks basic skills needed for the job. “He ignores science. He cherry-picks sometimes fraudulent studies. Sometimes he takes well-done studies and takes little pieces of them out of context,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary of the American Academy of Pediatrics. ... The science on vaccines is clear to doctors and scientists — but not to Kennedy Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and physician, said the science is clear that measles and other childhood vaccines are safe and not linked to autism." https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-vaccine-trump-science-autism-9b99621b01f11b7f0bdc81e5a0b82d2b

You've got Marjorie Taylor Greene on your side... That says a lot... more than enough for most thinking folks.

As I said, a bunch of right-wing Trump supporting Republican politicians, some with long histories of promoting COVID-related misinformation and unsupported claims, including nutjobs like Majorie Taylor Greene, Rich McCormick and disgraced former White House physician Ronny Jackson. And needless to say, their opinion was not shared by the Democrat members of that House subcommittee. The FBI and CIA both took the position that a lab likely was responsible, with their assessments being based on "low confidence", along with the Dept. of Energy, for a total of three federal agencies. But as the NY Times reported, the CIA and Dept. of Energy's individual assessments disagreed on what exact lab each thought was responsible. Counter to that, five U.S. intelligence agencies took the opposite view that COVID most likely emerged from a natural spillover event. Per the NY Times from late Jan.: "Five agencies, including the National Intelligence Council and the Defense Intelligence Agency, assessed that natural exposure most likely caused the epidemic. But they [too] said that they had only low-confidence in their assessment. Until now, two agencies, the F.B.I. and Department of Energy, thought a lab leak was more likely. But their theories are different. The F.B.I. believes the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The Energy Department put its bet on another lab, the Wuhan Center for Disease Control. Officials would not say if the C.I.A. believes one lab or the other was the more likely source of the virus." https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/25/us/politics/cia-covid-lab-leak.html Re the Republican-majority House subcommittee's report: "The committee’s 520-page report, released on 2 December, offers no new direct evidence of a lab leak, but summarizes a circumstantial case, including that the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) used NIAID money to conduct “gain-of-function” studies that modified distantly related coronaviruses. [emphasis added] ... Democrats on the panel released their own report challenging many of their colleagues’ conclusions about COVID-19 origins. They conclude, for example, that the viruses studied at WIV with EcoHealth funding were too distantly related to SARS-CoV-2 to cause the pandemic." https://www.science.org/content/article/house-panel-concludes-covid-19-pandemic-came-lab-leak And re Georgia Rep. Rich McCormick, one of the Republican subcommittee members: https://dccc.org/quack-doctor-rich-mccormick-excoriated-by-local-press-for-spreading-covid-19-misinformation/ Re Rep. Ronny Jackson: Rep. Ronny Jackson was demoted by Navy after probe into misconduct https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/rep-ronny-jackson-was-demoted-by-navy-after-probe-into-misconduct/ar-BB1jvPNU https://www.yahoo.com/news/white-house-doctor-raved-trumps-024430725.html And the Republican subcommittee members in general: "A recent HuffPost report added, “McCarthy’s other GOP picks for the COVID subcommittee include Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (Iowa), who spread false information about the CDC planning to mandate COVID vaccines for children and about children not being affected by COVID; Rep. Michael Cloud (Texas), who in March 2020 voted against the Families First COVID Response Act, which provided emergency funding for free COVID testing and paid leave for workers hit by the pandemic; Rep. John Joyce (Pa.), who filed a bill to block the government from issuing standardized COVID vaccine status cards; and Rep. Rich McCormick (Ga.), an ER physician who spread misinformation about masks and COVID vaccines.” https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/problem-gops-new-covid-committee-members-rcna70610

Sick animals suggest COVID pandemic started in Wuhan market 04 December 2024 ... "Most researchers agree that SARS-CoV-2 originated in animals." https://archive.ph/YGIHJ#selection-977.0-977.16 "While the origin of the virus remains unknown, scientists think the most likely hypothesis is that it circulated in bats, like many coronaviruses, before infecting another species, probably raccoon dogs, civet cats or bamboo rats. In turn, the infection spread to humans handling or butchering those animals at a market in Wuhan, where the first human cases appeared in late November 2019." https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cia-covid-likely-originated-lab-low-confidence-assessment/

Your view continues to be the stuff mostly of unsubstantiated right-wing and Republican conspiracy theories... Meanwhile, contrary to your unsourced and unsubstantiated claims above, the majority of U.S. government intelligence agencies voicing an opinion AND the bulk of scientists with expertise in the field believe COVID in humans occurred via a natural jump from some animal species to humans. For the time being, there's been no definitive proof either way as to the origin... just a mainstream opinion of science, and a lot of unproven and often nonsense claims largely coming from various politicians and right-wing social media types who know nothing on the topic.

You might note, I specifically asked about OTHER COUNTRY tax filing obligations....not the Thai ones.

Nada for me in BKK as of today.. But as I mentioned above, I'm pretty sure BKKB had me fill out a FATCA form some years ago when I opened a new account at one of their branches, because they told me I couldn't transfer the existing account I had at the time to the new branch I wanted to use.

Assuming your wife is Thai, have you posted anywhere about the process you went thru to get a Schwab International brokerage account for her? Is so, would appreciate a link. If not, maybe you could write up something on that? Also, is Schwab still requiring an opening $25K USD for their international accounts? I've often wondered whether creating a Schwab International account for the Thai wife would be a helpful/convenient way of handling estate planning issues for her as my Schwab U.S. accounts already all list her as my beneficiary. PS - are there any other country tax filing obligations for a Thai national residing in Thailand as regards a Schwab international account?

As best as I recall, the consequences can be pretty financially severe if the feds end up themselves having to catch someone who has deliberately not filed over a period of time. But I think there are ways to voluntarily get back into compliance. Per the IRS website on the subject: Penalties "You may be subject to civil monetary penalties and/or criminal penalties for FBAR reporting and/or recordkeeping violations. Assertion of penalties depends on facts and circumstances. Civil FBAR penalty maximums in Title 31 of the United States Code are adjusted annually for inflation. Publication 5569, Report of Foreign Bank & Financial Accounts (FBAR) Reference Guide PDF contains information about criminal penalties. Filing delinquent FBARs Filing an FBAR late or not at all is a violation and may subject you to penalties. If the IRS hasn’t contacted you about a late FBAR and you’re not under civil or criminal investigation by the IRS, you should file late FBARs as soon as possible to keep potential penalties to a minimum. Follow these instructions to explain your reason for filing late. If you’re using a compliance option, such as the Streamlined filing compliance procedures, follow the instructions for the specific compliance option. https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/report-of-foreign-bank-and-financial-accounts-fbar

I haven't gotten anything new from BKKB as yet.... But I'm guessing, the form they're likely to be sending out is merely one that asks recipients to confirm or report their US SSN, which is the identifying detail that ties together all the various international financial reporting for Americans. It still will be up to the individual American expat to tally up all their various foreign financial account balances for the 2024 year, and then determine whether they do or don't have a FATCA and/or FBAR filing requirement. BKKB isn't going to be telling anyone that, as they only know about your BKKB account(s), but nothing about any of the others. I'm pretty sure BKKB asked me for, and had me fill out, one of the FATCA/SSN forms some years back in connection with my account. But who knows, maybe that form ended up in a shredder at some Thai Immigration office somewhere!

Because of the relatively HIGH financial thresholds on total foreign financial assets that exist in the FATCA requirement, especially for those living abroad, I'd think MOST Americans living in Thailand, especially retirees, aren't likely to have a FATCA filing requirement. However, as noted above, the FBAR filing requirement is much lower -- merely $10,000 USD or more in combined financial assets held in foreign accounts. Thus anyone with just the standard 800,000 THB retirement extension Thai bank deposit (equal to about $23,000 USD) and little else in Thailand IS is going to trigger the FBAR reporting requirement, but NOT the FATCA reporting requirement. As noted, FBAR is a separate annual reporting requirement done apart from one's federal tax filing process.

HHS to maintain free at-home COVID tests by mail—for now The Trump administration for now will keep offering free COVID tests by mail as it considers whether to store or destroy the stockpile of 160 million tests, both of which come with significant financial costs, the Washington Post reported today. Federal officials speaking off the record initially told the Post that the website for ordering the tests would go offline on February 18, but a Department of Health and Human Services spokesman later told the Post that the free test program would remain for now as the government discusses closing the current round of tests. Tests to remain in the federal stockpile The spokesman also said the tests would be kept in the stockpile until they reach their expiration date. Federal officials told the post that only a small fraction of the tests in the government stockpile are expired. (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/hhs-maintain-free-home-covid-tests-mail-now

Yep, the rep there at my SCB branch had me sign the same form, which I gather, pertained just to to international fund transfers... which I don't do thru SCB anyway. I rarely use SCB for much of anything. But I also was surprised to discover that since the last time I went looking, they also have scrapped their former online banking website and now are 100% mobile app only, something that CIMB previously did as well. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but this march toward reliance only on mobile phone apps in lieu of web based banking seems the wrong way to go.... I'm OK to have BOTH, but really dislike them discontinuing their web-based online banking. That also was another reason that I let my former CIMB account go inactive and ultimately closed.

And, where were the controls within the dating app operator's system to ensure that underage minors were not making use of those services? I asked my Thai wife, and these days, she says Thai children can get their national ID card as early as age 7....

I was in one of my major Thai bank company branches today for some business, and while there, happened to ask if I could register my biometrics for my account, because the same issue had cropped up recently in another issue.... The bank CSR there understood my request and replied that the banking biometric system, at least as used by my major Thai banking company, only is capable of registering THAIS, not farangs. Not sure if that's going to end up being a GOOD thing, or a BAD thingn down the road.... Just waiting for the bank, one of these days, to tell me I can't do this or that kind of transaction via their mobile app because I don't have the biometrics registered for my account....

Effective PM2.5 reduction is not only a matter of the clean air flow delivery rate, but also the type and quality of filter being used. "True" HEPA filters eliminate 99.97% of PM2.5 at the filter point. There are lots of lesser quality, less effective filters including some labeled as HEPA that do a much poorer job of capturing/eliminating PM2.5. Also, there's the issue of electrical use and economy. Air purifiers by and large use far far less electricity than split air con units do. You can run an air purifier around the clock and not rack up any big electrical charges. But running a large room air con unit around the clock just because you're trying to filter PM2.5 is really going to spike one's electrical bill by comparison.

The U.S. also is currently undergoing a serious wave of flu infections, hospitalizations and some deaths -- with current rates at the highest in years. US flu reaches high severity status as deaths outpace COVID February 15, 2025 With flu activity last week higher than or similar to the highest point of the season and hospitalizations and deaths on the rise, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today that it now classified the season as high severity for all age-groups for the first time since the 2017-18 season. Over the past 2 weeks, flu deaths have outpaced fatalities from COVID and now make up 2.6% of all deaths for the most recent week, compared to 1.5% for COVID. Outpatient visits for flulike illness have been above baseline for 11 weeks in a row, with very high or high activity reported in 46 states. Levels are highest in people ages 24 years old and younger. [emphasis added] (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/influenza-general/us-flu-reaches-high-severity-status-deaths-outpace-covid

Most traditional AC units sold here still don't do a meaningful job of eliminating indoors PM2.5, which is really where the focus should be, from a health perspective. "True" HEPA air purifiers are best for that job.

Ahh, this infamous Dr. Cahill? The Strange Case of Dr. Cahill and Ms. Hyde Professor Dolores Cahill’s scientific résumé can legitimize her false claims about COVID-19. Her crusade of misinformation raises the question of how far academic freedom goes. 13 Aug 2021 ... "Cahill, who until recently was teaching a class for first-year medical students called “Science, Medicine and Society,” has been making a number of staggeringly erroneous claims about COVID-19 and its associated vaccines since the beginning of the pandemic, never correcting her mistakes and always doubling down. She has said, falsely, that COVID-19 can be prevented by taking vitamin C, vitamin D and zinc, and that the most efficient treatment is in the form of hydroxychloroquine, a cheap medication against malaria and autoimmune diseases that turned into an object of worship for some individuals, even as the evidence clearly showed it did not work against COVID-19." ... Bolstered by Cahill’s academic and scientific credentials, her misinformed and hazardous claims have grown to the point where students at her university wrote a 33-page scientific rebuttal of these claims, a document that was signed by 133 students from the university’s own School of Medicine and sent to its administrators. One of the claims these students had to debunk: that once you get COVID-19, you are immune for life. This brazen assertion’s confidence is in contradiction with actual knowledge in the field, which is that we do not clearly know how long immunity does last. But this is the upside-down world at University College Dublin right now, where students are teaching their own professor basic facts about a topic she should be familiar with." McGill University, Office for Science and Society Separating Sense from Nonsense https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19-health/strange-case-dr-cahill-and-ms-hyde

You're too "imminent" for me!!!