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Hahaha, you can obviously see past subtlety ... the things you can do with a vintage Calvados. I wonder if it was apple or pear, extending the previous orchard peach motif. It reminds me of the Brazilian stud this past March who must douche with Gatorade. He tasted like an Oklahoma State Fair all-day pinwheel lollipop.

From CNBC Taiwan, which has been prepared for a pandemic since SARS, has stood out for its effective response to Covid-19 When Catherine Chou arrived in Taipei after flying from Los Angeles, authorities told her she would need to quarantine for two weeks. For Chou, a citizen, that meant booking herself into a hotel at her own expense, although subsidies are available and the government has paid stipends for some stays. When she first arrived, she got a welcome package including dish soap, nail clippers and laundry detergent. Food was delivered to her doorstep. Several times a day, a representative of the local district’s office phoned her to check in and thank her for doing her part. She’s now almost wrapped up her hotel room stay. Once she’s officially cleared of Covid-19, she’ll be free to go. After living in the U.S., which is still partially closed in various states, she’s looking forward to simple pleasures like visiting her family at home or sitting in a coffee shop with a good book. Taiwan allowed many of its restaurants and bars to reopen in May. “We have this phrase in Taiwan that roughly translates to, ‘This is your country, and it’s up to you to save it,’” she said. “I’m really glad that they’re taking this quarantine seriously.” As of June 22, some business travelers from countries deemed low-risk (the U.S. is not among them) have been exempt from the stringent quarantine. That marks a change in policy from late January, when Taiwan ramped up travel restrictions and set up a home quarantine system using geofencing technology. That helped limit the spread of Covid-19, and Taiwan now has one of the lowest coronavirus death counts in the world. Moreover, visitors who wish to remain on tourist visas have been allowed to without needing to do a visa run every 90 days, said Erin Hale, a journalist based in Taipei. “Taiwan is close to China and could have been a total disaster,” said Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, author of a new book about the best health care systems around the world. “So I see their lack of cases as a truly amazing result.” A clear plan and no exceptions “Taiwan’s population is more than 23 million people — and they have 451 cases with only seven deaths,” said Tsung-Mei Cheng, a health policy research analyst at Princeton University. “That shows how successful they have been at both prevention and control.” Cheng said the key lesson for the rest of the world is that leadership matters. She noted that Taiwan’s government had a strong plan — one that had been in place since the SARS scare of 2003 — for managing a pandemic. And there were no exceptions to the rules. “They have professionals running the show,” she said. “These are people who have trained for years for this.” Taiwan has been excluded from the World Health Organization because China claims Taiwan as its province with no right to its own diplomatic representation on the global stage and in international organizations. As a result, health officials say they were left out of receiving firsthand information on the coronavirus outbreak. William Hsiao, emeritus professor of economics in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, praised Taiwan for its effective early action, noting that health officials had developed a careful advance warning system for diseases around the world. If Taiwan had been a member of the WHO, he said, it might have been able to share its precautions with the organization and help other countries more easily. But it was still able to move forward with a concrete and effective plan of its own. “There was easy access to almost free and rapid testing centers,” said Han Jin, founder of a start-up in Taiwan called LucidPix. “At every building, including restaurants, gyms and offices, they check your temperature — and you cannot enter without face masks.” There’s also enforcement for those who don’t follow the rules. There are huge fines if people are caught not wearing masks in designated areas, such as the subway, and for breaking quarantine. Social pressure also plays a part. Jin said that it’s become part of the culture in Taiwan to name and shame those who are not wearing masks in the subway or are breaking quarantine early. Those who do so might see their face pop up on a social media app. Continues with photos https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/15/how-taiwan-beat-the-coronavirus.html

I streamed Consequences on Amazon Prime. Slovenia. Nice looking guys. The lead is really good. A tough story. Reviews were mixed. I'd give it a B minus.

Each day I think and reflect on how COVID-19 has affected "EVERY COMPONENT of life" worldwide. It has wreaked hell on everyone--everywhere! I do hope and pray that a light will shine brightly in 2021 so that some modicum of life's past can be experienced.

It is your duty to vote. I don't care which political party you belong to or who you vote for (as long as it is not Trump). Please exercise your right and vote! www.VoteFromAbroad.org

It looks like Phase 3 of AstraZeneca vaccine trial, temporally the leader of the pack, is about to be launched in various locations globally, with a few thousand doses in Brazil, but six months must pass for efficacy and broad safety assessment prior to clearance for general consumption, obviously likely past 2021 Carnaval dates. Then Brazil would begin to manufacture a large batch of its own supply to supplement a smaller supply available worldwide, pending approval. Best case scenario is that the vaccination target of 100 million doses would likely not commence until next summer. I think the tentative plan is an initial 30 million followed by 70 million. What is unclear to me is whether recipients must first be assessed for natural immunity (or exposure, since durable immunity is in question) given that it is conceivable that up to 5% or more of the population has already contracted the virus.

Adding to Z909 point number 1. I think what he meant was he have to scroll all the way down to get to the bars option when on the phone. Would be nice if i dont have to, as in have a link or tab at the top instead. But then i realize the link you gave us is the cities link. If i hit home, the home page is nicely done with all the tabs for easy access.

Mama'd love the Maldives. And they opened today with no restrictions. https://www.dansdeals.com/more/coronavirus/maldives-will-reopen-july-15th-without-restrictions-will-travel/

Caring for mama is the role for the next decade. With love. and loving to be home.

Many a new face will please my eye Many a new love will find me Never have I once looked back to sigh Over the romance behind me

The bars at Jomtien complex are more appealing to the expacts in Pattaya , Boyztown is too commercial,noisy and expensive for them.

Thanks everyone. Please take a look at http://www.troff.com/gay-bangkok-gay-thailand/ You will find the bars listed at the bottom. If you look at Moonlight, that is the way we want to have the bars with links to the forum. Would love comments. It is an easy to use database that will help the site grow and also remove the double log in (which many have asked for). But, the name troff is irrelevant. It is just a testing site we are using before moving over to gayguides.com

Back to the thread topic of gay nightlife: I was at Soi 2 / DJ Station last night. Not wall-to-wall packed as it would be on a pre-Covid Saturday, but still very busy. Only the second floor was pretty empty, but ground floor very busy. Inside DJ Station from time to time they made an announcement over the PA asking people to put on their masks and to observe social distancing. The latter wasn't happening at all (impossible anyway), masks were up and down frequently, but on most people down most of the time (everyone had their drinks to take care of). Might as well leave the masks off entirely.

YES, indeed and thought it to be one hell of a dynamic and profound film. ...truly, truly loved and admired the female protagonist.

I've been watching reruns of Perry Mason on MeTV. I also watched the complete series once before in the 80's. The formula never gets tired for me and I enjoy noticing things that have changed since the 50's/60's like everybody smoking. Takes me back to my very early childhood.

Big Mouth in Netflix. It is not a gay themed series, although it is very gay friendly. The series follow the misadventures of a group of boys and girls going through puberty and their sexual awakenings, with a very sex affirmative mindset. Three seasons, all very good.

We really enjoyed the first season of Upload on Amazon Prime. It is a cross between existential horror and dark comedy in a slightly future world. Robbie Amell is very easy on the eyes too.

I really liked Michelle Obama's Becoming Movie on Netflix. Beautiful to watch!