spidermike007

Your honor, I enter my first bit of evidence that the American judicial system is corrupt beyond repair. Rich white men rarely ever spend any time in prison, and if they do, they are usually released ridiculously early. Covid is just an excuse for the corruption to continue. Black or other men of color, who are convicted for a bag of weed languish in prison for a decade or more, while this guy, who committed multiple felonies gets to go home. An ethically challenged and broken nation, and a broken system at work.

16 hours ago, Walker88 said:

Perhaps you're long removed from any Civics course you might have taken, so let me give you a polite reminder that the Chief of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases was not given any Article 1 powers by the Founders, nor has any subsequent Congress in 244 years bestowed on such a person the degree of power he would need to shut the country down. Thus, Dr Fauci only deals in facts, not orders. Like anyone, he is entitled to state an opinion, but no one need follow it.

 

Also, the Founders allowed the States to retain a lot of powers, so each Governor has the legal right to decide what emergency actions might be taken within the borders of his or her State. In case you have forgotten---as I see you used the term "unelected"---Governors are elected by the citizens of their State.

 

Yes, the US is running behind Belgium, the UK, Spain and Italy, inter alia in CV-19 deaths per capita, but the US still is in the top 10 of the 187 countries, on a per capita death basis, where CV-19 has been found. The record is not----what's the word----good. The US was ill-prepared, and the Administration wasted valuable time not acting when the warnings were first given to him by various members of his govt. The US was also greatly hampered by the fact that the existing Pandemic Response Team created under President Obama had been disbanded by 45, and the Pandemic Response Manuals Obama' people produced were never accessed. The manuals outlined procedures, required equipment, and noted that under the NDA a POTUS can order manufacturing facilities to produce needed items, such as PPE or ventilators. This could have been done as early as January.  Instead, absolutely nothing was done for months, and statements contrary to reality were issued daily out of the WH.

 

Finally, some 80% of Americans polled do not want to return to work and a normal routine until there is more comprehensive testing and contact tracing. They want the same degree of protection 45 has mandated for his own place of work. Actually, people are asking for something less than 45 has mandated, as he demands all West Wing and White House staff be tested every day.

 

The US, up to now, and nearing 5 months since 45 knew the virus was coming, has tested only 9.6 million citizens. Since you seem to like 'per 100,000', that is way below the rate of testing in most countries. 45 claimed he could do 5 million tests a day. That seems at odds with the reality of a mere 9.6 million over several months.

Good points. As usual 45 (actually calling him 44 would be more accurate, when you consider he is the 44th worst president in history) is lying. That is what he does. He has a bizarre relationship with truth, and taking his words as being factual is something people do at their own peril. He is highly embarrassed at his administration's response to Covid, which is comparably dismal to Bush Jr's. response to Katrina. So, he does what he does. He covers his shame in bluster, and just makes things up on the fly. Facts seem to be meaningless to this man, and a percentage of his less intelligent supporters. No worries. He will be unceremoniously ushered out of DC within 8 months time. To a life of utter humiliation, and declining fortunes. 

The shame of all of this, is that the US could have done so much better, had many of the facts that you outlined not happened. And they did happen due to an astonishing degree of hubris, ignorance, arrogance, and indifference to public safety, and not necessarily due to the incompetence of the medical industry, and poor quality of the system, which in my opinion is not nearly as good as it is given credit for being. 

1 minute ago, Mikeasq60 said:

I want to compare and contrast what all seeing all knowing country your from and we'll take it from their!

I am from the US. 

2 hours ago, Swimfan said:

Why cant America the great and wealthy nation provide substantial income support to its people like less wealthy nations such as Australia and the UK ? How utterly embarrassing it is to see everyday Americans queuing by the thousands and thousands just to get food.

The fact the same is happening in Thailand is understandable but in America ? just makes me gobsmacked. 

For the world at large, looking at America right now, they appear to be the most pitiful and utterly hapless and incompetent nation on earth. Make America great again? How about make America moderately competent?

Just more irresponsible fear mongering. The restrictions will not be permanent, and they should be eased as soon as possible. People need to make a living. Notice how the only people who are advocating continuing this lockdown, are the ones collecting a full salary, or the ones who have a nice pension and savings. This is not the Zombie Apocalypse. This too shall pass. It has already passed here in Thailand. There is virtually no risk anymore here. Few want to accept that fact. But, the numbers bear it out. Let it go. Get on with your lives. Embrace peace of mind. Reject fear, as it is not a healthy state of mind to have. Reject the advice of imbeciles. I am not advocating not practicing common sense stuff. Just get out, and start living again. Being indoors all the time is not healthy.

Not a good time to be bringing up this subject again. It is going to take alot to get Thailand back onto the tourism map. If tourism returns, they will continue to get more Indians and Chinese, but they will be lower, and lower middle income tourists. Thailand just cannot attract higher end tourists anymore. The focus on quantity over quality will continue to erode the nation on countless levels. More is rarely better. It just lowers the quality of life for nearly everyone, creates more congestion, more smog, more traffic, longer lines at immigration, and makes life difficult, especially in the big cities. Quantity over quality is never a good thing, unless you are selling one dollar items at a swap meet. It just lowers the quality of the experience for all.

And crowds will have a far different connotation now, than they did before, with social distancing considered to be of concern. 

Beyond seven weeks of lockdown is not sustainable. It is easy for someone like Fauci to take the safe route. He is basically a shrill for big pharma. But, what about the little guy? The common man? Fauci earns $384,000 in salary, plus countless benefits, plus fees for speaking engagements, etc. etc. Quite a far cry from 65% of Americans who had only two months or so, of savings once this thing started. 

You cannot keep an economy shut forever. You have to let the people get back to work. You use whatever safeguards you can, and you develop herd immunity, and let the immunity system do it's work. You continue to isolate the elderly and the most vulnerable as much as possible. This experiment in insanity, known as an economic shutdown, was never supposed to be forever, or long term. It is devastating tens of millions in the US, and hundreds of millions worldwide. There are people in India and Africa spending their entire day trying to find one potato and some rice. 

There are a lot of people who are collecting a paycheck, or a handout, or receiving their monthly pension who are calling for a longer shutdown. For those of us who work for a living, or those of us who are self employed without massive savings, this thing is killing us. 

Muriatic acid and chlorine would vaporize and obliterate Covid upon contact. So saliva is a non starter. Simply more ignorance, and fear mongering, from an administration that is so devoid of scientific facts, it boggles the mind. Social distancing can be practiced anywhere. People need exercise, and recreation. And people need to be outdoors. This encourages better health, and strengthens the immune system. They should have gotten rid of Anutin a long time ago. The nation needs someone with an education in health. He has proven himself over and over again to be inept, ignorant, and in completely over his head. A true BOB (bottom of the barrel) pick, totally without merit. 

"Forward bookings are showing a good trend, with smaller drops. But that will also depend on the outbreak situation and travel restrictions," he added.

What kind of drugs are they taking? What forward bookings? There are no forward bookings. Most hotels are reporting 0% forward bookings. Tourists do not even know what the policies are going to be, with regard to requirements for health letters, health insurance, incoming flights, quarantines, etc. This is a total fiction, creating by men and women out of desperation. 

And to some extent Thailand is getting what they deserve. The people elected a spectacularly incompetent government, and they knew what they were doing, after five years of this mess. I do feel for the people. I really like most Thai people, and millions are going to get crushed by all of this. 

Quantity over quality is never a good thing, unless you are selling one dollar items at a swap meet. It just lowers the quality of the experience for all. This is an emergency situation. It needs to be dealt with, and it needs a high degree of intelligence and competence. Not something Prayuth or Pipat possess. Someone else needs to handle this, and it needs to be handled yesterday! The tourism industry is teetering on the edge of a tragic drop, and has already been devastated by this highly destructive administration. And now Covid? It could devastate millions of families dependent on tourism. Why will tourists take a chance? Who can trust the Thai authorities, and what they say? 

You know what they say about putting all of your eggs in one basket? I have been warning of the dangers of becoming too dependent on China for years. Now, after you have made your bed, you get to sleep in it. You have alienated all tourists but Indians and Chinese. Westerners are not coming here anymore for a dozen very good reasons. You insulted us. You demeaned us. You accused us of being evil, and you accused us of being criminals. You mounted campaigns touting us as bad for the nation. You demonstrated deplorable amounts of racism and xenophobia, and fear of the outside world. And now you want us to come back? Really? How soon you forget. Sorry, but we have not forgotten what was done and said. What millions of tourists have forgotten is a country named Thailand. There are too many alternatives now, and they are not only trying harder, they actually have competent people in charge! Surprise! Sorry to say, but the high spending tourists are lost for good. They WILL NOT come back to Thailand, for a dozen different reasons. And places like Pattaya, Phuket and Samui will continue to go downhill. So, the goons at the TAT continue to pursue ever higher numbers, regardless of the noxious air, unbelievable congestion on the roads, lack of alternative transportation, woeful immigration service at the airports, that these policy only seems to exacerbate.

And that presumes that people are even willing to come back. That remains to be seen. The class of tourist that was the hardest hit by this insane economic shutdown, (lower income and middle income) was the exact one which was being targeted by the TAT. It could be years until tourism normalizes here, and nobody knows what the new normal is going to look like. 

On 8/13/2019 at 9:12 PM, ThomasThBKK said:

Tons of new restaurants and bars popping up in Bangkok all the time, all full.

What differentiates them from the old ones who sometimes close is that they are of higher quality it seems.

You could not possibly be more blind to the message here. And the message is that millions will be out of work. Tens or hundreds of thousands of bars, restaurants, hotels, guest houses, and other businesses are going to close nationwide, permanently. Customer bases have eroded, employees have disappeared, owners have been stuck paying rent during the largest experiment in insanity to take place during our lifetimes. And that is a complete economic shutdown. Never been done before, for 100 good reasons. It was inane. And what will it take to ramp up, and how many will be devastated in the process?