TallGuyJohninBKK

It's the Thailand typical trend of eliminating meaningful market competition that's concerning... True is buying out DTAC... eliminating competition in mobile services. AIS is buying out 3BB... eliminating competition in home internet services. Part of the reason we've enjoyed pretty good rates for internet services and mobile services is there have been competitors like DTAC and 3BB providing competition to the huge monopoly-inclined firms like True.... But that all seems to be vanishing now. There's a difference between quality of service and rates... In my experience, AIS is usually a pretty good quality service provider both for mobile and fiber internet. But True is an abomination for both.... However, with the reduced amount of competition coming, where the changes likely will be felt in the future is in product prices.... and AIS needing to pay off their acquisition of 3BB.... Who do you think will end up paying for that?

The full article The full article explains what's known about these latest variants... More transmissible than prior ones, more able to evade vaccine protections against infection. But not producing a higher rate of more severe symptoms than prior versions of Omicron. However, if the rate of more serious symptoms just stays the same (small), but the total number of infections increases substantially, that means there's going to be MORE people getting noticeably sick. And indeed, lately, Thailand's counts of people with COVID lung infection symptoms and requiring intubation to breathe have been increasing. "She said that lung infections increased from 598 on June 17th to 684 cases today and those requiring ventilators rose from 288 last week to 292 today, adding, however, that the increase had been anticipated after the relaxing of face mask wearing requirements in public places and the reopening of pubs and bars. Nevertheless, she noted that the fatality rate remains stable." https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thailand-sees-rise-in-severe-covid-19-cases-after-easing-of-restrictions/

Correct, the grabbing the wheel item is interesting but it's hearsay and was clearly testified by Hutchinson as such. A lot of the rest of her testimony to the committee was based on her first person accounts, such as: "Backstage at the rally, Trump was irate that people with weapons were not being let through the magnetometers by Secret Service officers and agents who screen all attendees at any event featuring a sitting president.... “I don’t f---ing care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me,” Trump said, according to Hutchinson’s recollection. “Take the f---ing mags away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here. Let the people in. Take the f---ing mags away.” https://rollcall.com/2022/06/28/trump-wanted-armed-supporters-allowed-into-jan-6-rally-and-to-lead-capitol-charge/

Founded by Tucker Carlson.... "Overall, we rate the Daily Caller strongly right biased based on story selection that almost always favors the right and Mixed for factual reporting due to numerous failed fact checks. The Daily Caller is a source that needs to be fact-checked on a per-article basis." "Founded in 2010, the Daily Caller is an American news and opinion website based in Washington, D.C. It was founded by Tucker Carlson, a paleoconservative political pundit, and Neil Patel, a former adviser to former Vice President Dick Cheney. The current editor-in-chief is Geoff Ingersol." https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/daily-caller/ I don't know if their report of the SMS message, from back in early February, is true or not... But assuming it is true, I think what is shows is what was already widely known about Hutchinson -- that she was a true Republican party loyalist and believer... right up until Trump went off the deep end, and she ended up getting served with a legal subpoena that she obviously was concerned about at the outset. Hardly anything surprising there. Kind of hard for the Trump loyalists to try to discredit her by claiming she's a RINO...which of course, she's not.

When the right-wingers involved in this came up with their term, I'm guessing they were referring back to the original "involuntary relocation" of black slaves from Africa to what is now the U.S. That certainly was a form of "involuntary relocation" from one continent to another... But most of us just call it what it was..... slavery.

The problem as I see it with the current COVID situation is it's a bit like spinning the roulette wheel. You MIGHT get thru it with minor symptoms and no noticeable lingering after effects.... But you also MIGHT come down with serious complications on the front end and/or serious long-term COVID issues...which the experts are still struggling to fully understand and assess. And, the risk of poor outcomes increases as you get older, and if you aren't up-to-date with vaccinations. But unfortunately, there's no sure way to know ahead of time where you might end up, if you come down with COVID. For those reasons above, I continue to wear my N95 masks when around others, continue to practice social distancing and avoid unnecessary contacts, and keep up to date with my vaccinations and boosters, as allowed. Don't wanna spin the COVID roulette wheel and come up BAD!

As I recall, when you've been pressed on this point by other members in past threads, you ended up admitting that those family members had never actually been tested positive for COVID, and instead, it was you presuming that's what they had.

Dunno about that... Probably only one way to find out.... But once you reach 4 months after, for sure, you should be good to go...

This seems to pretty well tell the story: "Gun Deaths per Capita by State The following ten states have the highest gun deaths per capita (per 100,000): Alaska (24.4), Mississippi (24.2), Wyoming (22.3), New Mexico (22.3), Alabama (22.2), Louisiana (22.1), Missouri (20.6), South Carolina (19.9), Arkansas (19.3), and Montana (19.3). The states with the highest gun deaths per capita have some of the country's highest gun ownership rates... Conversely, the states with the lowest gun deaths per capita are Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Rhode Island, all of which have fewer than five gun deaths per 100,000 people. These states also have the lowest gun ownership in the United States." https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/gun-deaths-per-capita-by-state Below for 2020 per capita statistics: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/firearm_mortality/firearm.htm

You need a semi-auto rifle to kill those BIG bad deer and bunny rabbits???

I think the current waiting period policy in Thailand for booster shots is 4 months after your prior shot... not 6 months after. I had a four month waiting period between my 3rd and 4th shots (first and second boosters) given at Bang Sue, Jan. 2022 and then May 2022.

People have legitimate needs and uses for cars, matches, pressure cookers, fertilizer and diesel fuel. That's why they're not banned. People (the average citizen) have NO legitimate need for semi-automatic firearms... That's why they SHOULD be banned. Lawful self-protection and defense does not require semi-auto weapons. Neither does recreational hunting, nor any other reasonable, legal use. On the other hand. attempted insurrection and mass murder is where those semi-autos really come in handy!

Fact check: Do mask mandates harm early childhood development? ... "In a Dec. 6, 2021 Science brief, The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that limited available data indicates "no clear evidence that masking impairs emotional or language development in children." "A study of 2-year-old children concluded that they were able to recognize familiar words presented without a mask and when hearing words through opaque masks," according to the brief. "Among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), interventions including positive reinforcement and coaching caregivers to teach mask wearing have improved participants’ ability to wear a face mask. These findings suggest that even children who may have difficulty wearing a mask can do so effectively through targeted interventions." https://www.wral.com/fact-check-do-mask-mandates-harm-early-childhood-development/20137991/

And further: Do masks really harm kids? Here's what the science says. As more states drop mask mandates, experts explain why keeping them on in schools is still a smart move for families and teachers ... "How masks affect language development ... "But experts say there’s no clear evidence that this significantly impairs a child’s ability to communicate—perhaps because people can compensate by talking more slowly and loudly and by using hand gestures to convey meaning." ... How masks affect social development ... Similarly, studies do show that children have a harder time reading the emotions of people who are wearing masks—but that doesn’t necessarily prevent them from learning how to interact with others. ... How masks affect mental health Similarly, while some argue that school masking mandates are harmful to a child’s mental health, experts say the evidence suggests the opposite." https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/do-masks-really-harm-kids-heres-what-the-science-says

And regarding some bogus claims that have been raised here: Mask Mythbusters: Common Questions about Kids & Face Masks American Academy of Pediatrics "Can masks interfere with a child's lung development? No, wearing a face mask will not affect your child 's lungs from developing normally... Do masks trap the carbon dioxide that we normally breathe out? No. There have been false reports that face masks can lead to carbon dioxide poisoning (known as hypercapnia) from re-breathing the air we normally breathe out. But this is not true... Can masks lead to a weaker immune system by putting the body under stress? No. Wearing a face mask does not weaken your immune system or increase your chances of getting sick if exposed to the COVID-19 virus." https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/COVID-19/Pages/Mask-Mythbusters.aspx

And other research and reports say otherwise: Does mask wearing harm your child's development? Experts weigh in "Concerns that wearing masks might interfere with these natural learning experiences and communication skills have been studied before the pandemic. When children ages 3 to 8 viewed faces covered with face masks, they didn't show any impairment in classifying the expressions, according to a 2012 study published in the journal Cognition. This suggested that children under 9 preferred studying the eyes area even when they could see full faces, the researchers wrote. ... Given these findings and children's innate flexibility in adapting to challenges or catching up, some experts aren't suspecting any long-term effects of mask-wearing on children's development." https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/11/health/masks-child-development-effects-covid-pandemic-wellness/index.html

The topic here is not about air pollution. But when Thailand has serious seasonal air pollution mostly due to seasonal burning both in Thailand and in adjoining countries, the pollution covers most of the north and central portions of the country in terms of bad air quality. Air isn't confined within particular cities that makes them polluted. The pollution starts at various source locations and then is widely dispersed through the winds even to far remote locations. When it's bad in Bangkok, it's often similarly bad in many other areas as well. But Chiang Mai and other northern region areas often had it the worst, and thus many people there were regularly wearing masks long before COVID.

Not true at all. I've been here equally as long, and many of us -- fitting into none of the groups you list above -- were regularly wearing face masks in Thailand when outdoors long before COVID came along, because of the PM2.5 seasonal air pollution problems. And fortunate we were too... Because when COVID did come along, many of us already had good home stocks of high-quality N95 face masks for air pollution, that then could be repurposed for COVID at a time when N95 masks were virtually unavailable to the general public because of the crush of demand by medical workers dealing with the COVID onslaught.

Dunno what exact chemical method the Thais are pursuing... But in terms of the general anti-COVID nasal spray approach, the Australians already beat them to it by a long ways.... Though just how well the product works seems to be a matter of some dispute: Australian COVID nasal spray not on shop shelves amid TGA dispute "Starpharma started developing its nasal spray Viraleze in 2020 as a preventative tool against coronavirus, to be used alongside vaccination. Viraleze has since been launched into several overseas markets, but the company does not yet have clearance to sell the spray in Australia." ... The company also voluntarily paused in-store sales of Viraleze in the United Kingdom after its medicines regulator asked questions about the promotional claims the company was making on packaging for the nasal spray." https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/australian-covid-nasal-spray-not-on-shop-shelves-amid-tga-dispute-20220303-p5a1c6.html

Yes... that's why "disposable" masks are meant to be disposable single use... and why the public health advice since the beginning has been to put on and take off the mask by the straps, without touching the exterior surface of the mask.

People should wear the best quality, highest efficiency mask that they can obtain.... The gold standard of masks for COVID purposes are the N95 masks, which have the two headstraps to help insure a tight face seal. The Korean made KF94 are better than the commonplace cloth or medical masks... but AFAIK, they're only of the ear loop strap variety... And that style tends to provide a less tight face seal than the head straps variety. There are no N95 masks with ear loops... All N95 masks have the dual head straps design.

Regarding mask wearing, that's exactly what I've been doing and will continue to do when outside my home in close proximity to others...as long as COVID is circulating in the country -- regardless of what the government says or doesn't say. I don't need the government to tell me to do something that is a common sense health protection measure...and that doesn't bother me at all...in a time of COVID. And the N95 masks I wear have been shown to significantly reduce the risk of contracting COVID, in addition to the fact that I've been fully vaccinated and boosted, as companion protections. So I'm going to keep wearing my mask when in close proximity to others outside of home, until there are no longer official government numbers saying things like today's update: --10,000+ people are currently hospitalized in Thailand because of COVID. --610 of those are in serious condition with pneumonia type symptoms. --and another 286 are in such bad condition that they've required intubation in order to breathe. https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/photos/591579362460392 And then, of course, there was this little nugget in today's news: COVID cognitive decline more widespread than thought, say researchers at Australia's first long-COVID clinic "And the team has found something startling. Around one quarter of the ADAPT study's participants were experiencing noticeable cognitive decline a year after getting COVID. And, some sort of cognitive decline was recorded in almost all of the participants, regardless of the severity of the initial infection." https://aseannow.com/topic/1264058-covid-cognitive-decline-more-widespread-than-thought-say-researchers-at-australias-first-long-covid-clinic/

That's why I objected to his terminology and characterization... because it obviously was loaded and politically biased, in addition to being medically incorrect.... The specific "baby" choice he offered doesn't come into play in regards to abortion.

In my world view and I think by definition, it's not a "baby" until after it's born... So prior to birth, for me, it ought to be left to the mother to decide what goes. So I don't see abortion as killing a "baby," I see it as removing a "fetus." "A fetus or foetus is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo." Note the term... unborn. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetus

Or end up getting suspended from practicing law... because of their fraudulent efforts on his behalf....