[Trump says he is taking hydroxychloroquine as hedge against virus]

Thank goodness The Real Donald is back in front of the camera. 

 

Hopefully, he's actually taking a nice pharmaceutical cocktail along with a daily does of household disinfectants and sticking a power light up his backside. Maybe if he adds a couple more nonsensical snake-oil "treatments" he'll do the world a favor and be overcome by them.  

[English teacher with poor pronunciation sparks online storm]

Many members of The Committee for Lower Standards are rallying behind this Thai "English" teacher in hope they can keep her in this key education position.  

 

If we want to teach people to cook, wouldn't we hire a chef that knows proper methods and has proven ability to do the job? If we want people to teach others to drive, shouldn't they know very well the rules of the road and the handling of a car? If we want our kids to learn Karate, would we send them to someone who only holds a yellow belt? The answers are clear, so why shouldn't Thai students have proper instruction in English language, especially when there are millions of people who are very qualified? It seems there are too many Thais in key positions that will never accept that any person of any other nationality could possibly do anything better than a Thai. 

 

They may never need English again for the reasons of tourism, anyway, so maybe it doesn't matter.   

[Thai hoteliers appeal to PM for help after major tour group fails to pay up 2 billion baht for trips]

I guess the little man at the top of the gov't has blown his own horn so loud and so often that Thais must be convinced he can anything, including forcing companies he has absolutely no power or control over to make unconfirmed payments. 

["This virus may never go away," WHO says]

29 minutes ago, Mama Noodle said:

 

Well, one is a virus and the other is a parasite, both of which are carried by mosquitoes so.... Neither are good comparisons. 

 

Part of what makes covid such a pain in the ass is that its not very fatal at all, with a high incubation period and high transmissibility. SARS and MERS were much more fatal and much less infectious. 

 

Higher fatality rate makes the virus less transmissible than lower fatality rate. 

Sorry, I don't bother giving serious replies to trolls. 

[Aussie expat launches ambitious bid to host Mike Tyson fight in Thailand]

The only reason I'd ever want this fight to go ahead is to hear that "Old Ear-biter" got badly humiliated. I wouldn't support a fight of his by actually watching it.

 

Tyson should have been cast to the Cellar of Shame immediately after biting part of Holyfield's ear off -- then going for the other one after the IDIOT ref lets the bout continue!!! It should have been stopped, the police brought in and assault charges brought against the a**hole. Then Tyson should have been banned from having anything so with boxing (and maybe humanity) for the rest of his life.  

["This virus may never go away," WHO says]

1 hour ago, sweatalot said:

"The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could become endemic like HIV, the World Health Organization said)

 

It will never go away like the influenca virus and the common cold viruses and nobody will care.

And rightly so.

You compare with HIV - why don't you compare wioth Ebola? What an ill intended comparison!

I agree that HIV is a bad comparison. Contracting HIV requires a choice to have unprotected sex with the wrong person. I would have chosen something like what you said, West Nile Virus or Malaria as a comparison. 

 

But I disagree with you that Covid-19 will be as minor a concern as the seasonal flu or common cold. If Covid-19 can kill a relatively high percentage of those who contract it, people won't take the same attitude until medicine of some sort comes along to make it non-lethal or at least only deadly to the same degree as the flu. We ALL get the flu, and usually more than once, at some time in our lives. If people getting the flu was often deadly to oneself or their elderly loved ones, we'd have a VERY different attitude towards it.   

 

 

 

[No plans to separate Trump, Pence despite White House coronavirus cases: source]

8 hours ago, Mama Noodle said:

 

 

 

 

Y'all are very much triggered ????

 

So let me get this chit straight - the tippy top of US politics can not accurately monitor and test for covid (Puh-lease) yet at the same moment we are supposed to rely on testing testing testing and tracing tracing tracing in order to move forward with the economy? 

 

You guys are such frauds and you know it. 

 

I guess you're hoping for someone...anyone to join you in your corner on this one, but it doesn't look like anyone is coming, and that makes sense because the actions and attitude of those running the White House cannot logically be defended. 

 

As for your question about testing and tracing, what would you suggest? It seems like it's about all we have to work with right now, even with testing flaws -- that and social distancing. 

 

The mindset of the Trump Cult members has been a scary eye-opener.  

[Wuhan market had role in virus outbreak, but more research needed - WHO]

12 minutes ago, Traubert said:

Such as the Chinese?

I am voicing an opinion against the custom having wet markets for wildlife where animals risky to human health are sold, slaughtered and consumed with virtually no regulations in place. I am also condemning the practice of consuming bats, which have been clearly shown to often carry a range of nasty viruses and disease. It doesn't matter to me where these situations exist or which culture indulges in them, I am saying they should ALL stop.

 

It just so happens that China clearly has these situations happening, but if they exist in Canada, Thailand, Timbuktu, or on the moon, I condemn them equally. It is also strongly and logically felt that a certain market in Wuhan, China is where this horrible plague that is tremendously affecting billions of people originated. I could talk about stopping the problem of wildlife wet markets and eating bats in general, but that would be irrelevant without also mentioning where the known problems exist  It's you who have decided to make my comments racial.   

[Wuhan market had role in virus outbreak, but more research needed - WHO]

49 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

No such laws !

Okay I'll take your silly troll bait. But only this once! 

 

I live in Canada and am posting on an internationally accessed platform, so....

 

Freedom of expression in Canada is protected as a "fundamental freedom" by Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter also permits the government to enforce "reasonable" limits. Hate speech, obscenity, and defamation are common categories of restricted speech in Canada.

 

Such LAWS exit both to protect both our right to expression and protection for everyone who may be victims of hateful, defamatory, etc. speech,  as you can read above. 

 

 

 

 

[Wuhan market had role in virus outbreak, but more research needed - WHO]

9 hours ago, Russell17au said:

And what gives you the right to declare what other people eat is barbaric? Are you one of these vegan idiots

Well primarily, freedom of speech laws give me the right to declare that it's barbaric to eat a creature that has been well documented and researched as as being dangerously diseased. There are many other appropriate terms that can be legitimately used, but I think 'barbaric' is quite appropriate. 

 

And I think it shows more validity in opinion then labeling every person who chooses to follow a vegan diet at being an "idiot". I would also guess that anybody making such a simple-minded statement inferring that a person is intellectually superior for being a meat-eater (and defender of bat eaters) would be interpreted as being laughably absurd. But thanks for the entertainment. 

[Wuhan market had role in virus outbreak, but more research needed - WHO]

9 minutes ago, lkv said:

Yeah, well, WHO also told us at the beginning there is no human to human transmission.

 

No, the Chinese told the WHO that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission, which delayed the WHO getting the real info to start containment efforts

 

EDITED: Thank you! I see you have just confirmed this in the post above. 

[Wuhan market had role in virus outbreak, but more research needed - WHO]

11 minutes ago, lkv said:

Why are you worried about the wet markets, I don't get it.

 

It was human to human transmission from the lab.

 

Some guy accidentally spilt a tube in the lab, got infected, gave it to some others, then eventually someone of these others got hungry, and went to the market to buy food.

You and the WHO do not agree.  Here's their quick info about the origin of coronaviruses: 

 

What is coronavirus? Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that range from the common cold to MERS coronavirus, which is Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus and SARs, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus.

 

Where do coronaviruses come from? Corona viruses are circulating in animals and some of these coronaviruses have the capability of transmitting between animals and humans. We call that a spillover event.

 

[Wuhan market had role in virus outbreak, but more research needed - WHO]

5 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

Uh? A bit out of topic but who decides which food is barbaric customs??

You don't show from which country you are,

but I doubt there is no food that I wouldn't call "barabic food customs"...

Well, I distinctly cited eating disease-ridden bats as a barbaric custom, didn't I? And I'll stick to that opinion whatever any ridiculously over-zealot liberal wants to say about "protecting people's customs". If those are dangerous customs, it's time for them to go.

 

As for the highlighted bit in your post, what does that even mean? Are you saying that the consumption of all food is barbaric? If I eat a salad and some bread, are you saying that's barbaric?  

[Wuhan market had role in virus outbreak, but more research needed - WHO]

China's wildlife wet markets MUST be shut down!!! But there doesn't seem to be any chance that's going to happen as they've already been opened back up again. Ultra-liberals will cry "foul" at such suggestions, but the truth of the matter is that poor or no standards of safety and hygiene exist at them, and the next, quite possibly worse, pandemic will ultimately come from China again. Is it fair that the rest of the world should just sit, waiting to be exposed to hundreds of thousands more innocent deaths from their dangerously heathen and barbaric customs of eating things that really have to right to be eaten, like bats, which have been documented many times to be horribly diseased-carrying animals?

 

I would love to see the rest of the world unite on a prohibition of any travelers from China until it has been confirmed that China has shut down these very dangerous and barbaric markets. There is nothing at all fair about China being able to carry on in an irresponsible way, endangering everyone else. 

[Trump campaign launches $10 million ad blitz against Biden]

14 hours ago, webfact said:

Before the first ads began airing, Trump’s campaign manager, Brad Parscale, sent a tweet likening their re-election campaign to the “Death Star”, a "Star Wars" reference to a space station that could destroy a planet. The Biden campaign pointed out that the Death Star gets blown up at the end of the 1977 film, the original movie in the "Star Wars" franchise.

 

Thank gawd there was something worth reading in all that garbage. Trump's people really seem to have a LOT of trouble thinking their statements and actions through before speaking or implementing.

["Good news soon": Murder of German who taught English has damaged the image of Thailand, says media]

6 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

So if a particular murder doesn't harm Thailand's image, then there wouldn't need to be a full police investigation???

 

Do they have a "quickie" or "mini" murder investigation when "image" isn't involved?

 

 

Sadly, that really does pretty much sum up the situation in Thailand, and it's interesting that there's always so much concern about tarnishing the image of Thailand, but the truth is that murders of foreigners in Thailand get very little press attention outside the country, as I assume they're deemed to be everyday occurrences.

 

It's pretty well known that Thailand is in many ways a dangerous place, so the report of yet another foreign murder or death isn't newsworthy. Besides, people will come to Thailand anyway, even knowing that getting into the wrong situation or with the wrong crowd can be lethal. 

[Hiding Out for a Few Years]

Perhaps instead of just asking for people to give you a bunch of information and ideas in general about the cost of living in various countries around the world, you may get better and more logical responses if you take the time and effort to say what you've learned so far or what's important to you.   

[Democrat Joe Biden denies alleged sexual assault, requests release of Senate records]

As I had said in a another thread, why did it take this women 27 years to finally decide that what Biden did may have been classed as sexual assault? Or if she had decided sometime before this 27-year gap, why didn't she report him previously? It is absolutely no coincidence at all that this accusation came along shortly after the press started reporting that Biden had passed Trump in the polls. It's obviously another sleazy Trump tactic, and hopefully American voters have wised up to Trumps absolute disregard for honesty and his disdain for fellow humans. How did US politics become such a sleazy, nasty exhibition of some of the worst human behavior? It's just more typical Trump deflection. 

[Britons fear leaving homes even if lockdown lifted, poll shows]

On 5/1/2020 at 6:34 AM, snoop1130 said:

Britain has been on lockdown since March 23 but on Thursday Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the country was now past the peak of the pandemic and promised to set out a plan next week on how it might start gradually easing restrictions to allow a return to normal life.

 

I swear my understanding of the Covid-19 situation gets worse instead of better as this thing goes along. With over 6000 new case reported in the UK in the past day or two, how is it determined that they are now past the peak and should start planning for easing of restrictions? I would LOVE to believe that it's true and easing up is sensible, but it just doesn't compute for me. Somebody please explain to me what I'm missing, so i can have some optimism about things. If they are past the peak, shouldn't the number of confirmed cases be dropping off substantially? 

[Biden, seeking support of women, wins Hillary Clinton's endorsement]

I'm in the "Anybody but Trump" camp. 

 

I've never been a Hilary fan, and Joe has some questionable qualities, but I'd take them over another 4 years of the orange-face liar by a mile. As Bill Maher put it so well when speaking of Trump, "I can't tell where the lies stop and the dementia begins."  

 

As for Joe's sexual assault accusations, why did it take this women 27 years to finally decide that what Biden did may have been classed as sexual assault? Or if she had decided sometime before this 27-year gap, why didn't she report him previously? It is absolutely no coincidence at all that this accusation has come along when the press has been recently reporting that Biden has passed Trump in the polls. It's obviously another sleazy Trump tactic, and hopefully American voters have wised up to Trumps absolute disregard for honesty and his disdain for fellow humans. How did US politics become such a sleazy, nasty exhibition of some of the worst human behavior? 

[Thailand to lift alcohol sales ban on Sunday]

12 minutes ago, Inn Between said:

Creating ANOTHER MILLION OR TWO DRUG ADDICTS!?!? Seriously? Do you still really believe those "Reefer Madness" messages that cannabis is addictive? Haven't you heard that it's been accepted by the vast majority of the world as a much safer substance than booze, that it isn't addictive like alcohol is, and that it has genuine medical benefits? It saddens my heart to see posts like this, offering an unfair comment against cannabis when so many of us are trying to promote its benefits.  

 

 

Well, it seems that since I don't know anything about darksidedog, I have misinterpreted his comments about drug addicts to be serious rather than sarcastic, and I replied a bit harshly. I can see how people who are regularly active here could assume that we know their particular style of humor, but for us who come and go, not really paying much attention to who's who, I've suggested that a little "wink" or "smile" emoji would be helpful.

 

And now, back to the intended booze discussion. 

[Thailand to lift alcohol sales ban on Sunday]

13 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

It may have something to do with the apparent huge surge in drug usage. My sons friend was driving for Grab and selling a bit of weed on the side. Since the booze ban he has given up his job as business in the green sector is booming apparently and he makes way more just with the bud.

Still wears his grab jacket etc as cops never stop food riders he says. The booze ban which may have saved a few hundred infections, may have unwittingly created another million or two drug addicts. That would be a serious policy fail, if ever I heard of one.

Creating ANOTHER MILLION OR TWO DRUG ADDICTS!?!? Seriously? Do you still really believe those "Reefer Madness" messages that cannabis is addictive? Haven't you heard that it's been accepted by the vast majority of the world as a much safer substance than booze, that it isn't addictive like alcohol is, and that it has genuine medical benefits? It saddens my heart to see posts like this, offering an unfair comment against cannabis when so many of us are trying to promote its benefits.  

 

 

[Australian PM's call for virus inquiry may harm long-term China trade - business leaders]

Big business always gets their way over the good of the people. Look at the stupidly low fines businesses always get for the consumer or ecological crimes they are found guilty of. The fines sound large but are actually a pittance of the gain the companies enjoyed through their illegal activity, and rarely if ever do any of the executives responsible for the crimes suffer even a blemish on their records. 

 

Countries like Australia, Canada and the USA should feel obliged to conduct deep investigations into the origin of Covid-19 in China, but at the same time, how much can they really achieve? China will not be cooperative, and if they won't open labs and files for inspection and possible intervention against further similar incidents, what can their key trade partners do? It seems they're all over an economical barrel. Australia cannot afford to lose a significant amount of their export business to China, Canada's in a similar situation, and at the same time, China's manufacturers need the raw materials that come in such great quantities. 

 

So. what will happen in the end? Nothing! The greedy needs of Big business will once again, and as always, prevail at the expense of the planet and the majority of its inhabitants. 

   

[Train dogs to sniff passengers for coronavirus at airports]

It says that dogs can be trained in 6 to 8 weeks, and that could be very helpful in some situations because as much as we'd like it to be different, there will still likely be a big problem with this virus in a couple of months from now and longer, especially in the USA where they will have 1,000,000 cases soon and continuously have 1/3 of the global confirmed infections. Even if we are VERY fortunate and the detection dogs are not needed, the processes of training and planning implementation of these animals could be helpful in future situations. People can learn something good from this. 

 

[RIP Pattaya]

Thinking about its history and reading some of the posts here, I'd say that the local population of Pattaya was likely exploited to a degree back in the early days of establishing its hospitality industry, but that was reversed over time, becoming so lopsided that tourist numbers dropped off with people choosing other locations that were fresher or had not given into excessive greed. Jacking up prices excessively while offering less, has killed the confidence needed to lure enough tourists to Pattaya.

 

Perhaps this complete shutdown of the hospitality industry there can give bar and venue owners, as well as their employees, a chance to do a "reset" and approach the business in a way that serves customers and makes a fair profit instead of exploiting them. It's a long shot, but maybe something will be learned from this by Pattaya business people. There was a time there when it was good balance for both the businesses and the customers. Maybe it can happen again.