unicorn

Belgian gymnast Luka van den Keybus:

I was just expanding on the prior comment "...including parts of your own country occupied by Germans 1941-43...", to point out that 1943 was not the last time foreign troops have occupied parts of Russian soil. 😉 Well, your country certainly has an ample supply of corpses to keep that war going as long as it wants. Whether it can replace the military hardware and supply of trained fighter pilots is more questionable.

Lord, we need to have a rolling eyes emoji which can be left as a reaction to postings. The Chinese are hardly colonizing Cambodia. However, the Ukrainians may now be colonizing Russia! 😄 A screenshot from a video purportedly showing Ukrainian soldiers tearing down a Russian flag in Sverdlikovo, Kursk. Footage widely circulating online on Sunday appear to show at least two different groups of fighters ripping down Russian flags attached to buildings in Kursk.

If you think that remittances don't contribute to the till, you're deeply mistaken. Foreign cash coming into a country's economy forms an integral part of the economy of many countries (most notably the Philippines). Money spent by foreigners can very much stimulate a country's economy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remittance "...Remittances make up a significant portion of economies of developing countries. Many receive over 10% of their gross domestic product (GDP) in remittances each year, with some exceptional cases as high as a third of their GDP...".

Arthur Nory Oyakawa Mariano, Brazilian Olympic openly gay gymnast (and fitness model).

It looks as though you didn't look very carefully at all. I have to support @Moses on this one. I went through that airport just last year. Even a nod to the French colonials... 😉

Well, the Philippines is one country I've never visited. Someone considering moving there might consider contacting one of the organizations mentioned in this webpage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_culture_in_the_Philippines I'm not recommending the Philippines out of personal experience (although I do have a number of straight acquaintances from there, and know that one of my fellow physicians was happy retiring there). It just seems from the OP, the Philippines are much more welcoming to foreign retirement than Thailand. I'd be especially turned off by the Thai policy of double-taxing the money I'd be spending there already.

My thoughts would involve wondering why, with the information given in the original post, one would want to retire in Thailand rather than in the Philippines or somewhere else entirely. In Thailand, it sounds as though one gets double-taxed, probably can't get real permanent residency status or citizenship, can't own property, and I'd have to learn an entirely new writing script, adapt to driving on the left, and so on. Probably things are no more expensive in the Philippines than in Thailand. My sense, especially from reading this forum, is that one can even express oneself more openly in the Philippines (I keep seeing references to "He who cannot be named," and to lèse-majesté laws when it comes to Thailand). I'm completely baffled as to why anyone would choose Thailand over the Philippines to retire, except perhaps someone coming from a country in which one drives on the left side who doesn't want to adapt to a different driving style. I'd be curious to hear any rationale as to why someone would pick Thailand over the Philippines or somewhere else less hostile to foreigners spending money there.

Wow. Thailand's laws sound hostile to those who seek permanent residency there. There are many countries which are far more welcoming. Certainly, the Philippines seems to be one, but there are many more in other regions, including Belize and Portugal, where my sister has obtained permanent residency and soon citizenship. Portugal also has good infrastructure and healthcare. You'd think a country would be happy to have foreigners spend their hard-earned pensions there, rather than be assholes about it. Where does this hostility come from? Xenophobia?

Looks as though he's on tomorrow's menu at Harvard: 😄 https://www.foodpro.huds.harvard.edu/foodpro/item.asp?recipe=211003&portion=1/2&date=8-22-2024&type=27 Sebastian's Cafe Thursday, August 22, 2024 Wheat Syrian Bread 8z Ingredients: Wheat Pita Bread (Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt, Malt, Molasses, Sodium Propionate.) Ingredients: Wheat Pita Bread (Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt, Malt, Molasses, Sodium Propionate.)

Your statement that you avoid mixing with crowds supports my theory that more frequent exposure would be likely to result in milder (or no) symptoms when you get infected. Of course, I'm not your physician, and I don't know your health history nor what medications you take, whether or not you smoke, and so on, so I can't offer you specific medical advice. However, if other reasons that your course of infection was far more serious than most have been ruled out, it might be a good idea to consider a new strategy. Certainly, you'll be teeming with antibodies for the next 2-3 months, so this might be a good time to go out to the theater, parties, etc. Your GP was correct in stating antibiotics don't work for Covid-19, nor (in almost all cases) for bronchitis (which is a syndrome, not a symptom). However, if you indeed tested positive for Covid-19, and presented within the first few of days of getting symptoms (or testing positive), it's not true that there's NO effective treatment. If given early, Paxlovid is highly effective at diminishing symptoms and complications of Covid-19, although it must be started for sure within 5 days of symptom onset (preferably 3 or 4 days): https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/why-more-people-should-be-prescribed-paxlovid-for-covid "One of the best tools for preventing severe complications from COVID infection is the prescription antiviral drug Paxlovid. But not nearly as many people who could benefit from it are being prescribed it, says Amesh Adalja, MD, FIDSA, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security who specializes in infectious diseases and pandemic preparedness. Adalja says that both patients and providers need to be better informed about the benefits of Paxlovid and other antivirals like it. Paxlovid is extremely effective when taken within five days of symptom onset. In clinical trials, it reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by almost 90% in unvaccinated people. “It’s a tremendous tool that's completely underutilized,” says Adalja...". If you met the criteria for taking Paxlovid (i.e. you're old and not taking medications which interact with it), then your GP was indeed remiss in not prescribing it for you. (I did prescribe it for my elderly neighbors, after they assured me they weren't on any medications with which it interacts). As for where you contracted it, 7 days is somewhat longer than the usual incubation period for the current strain. Also, the planes themselves have not been usually associated with Covid-19 outbreaks because, although they're enclosed spaces, their excellent ventilation is designed to quickly filter airborne particles. A crowded immigration hall, however, would have no such protections. A 3 to 4 day incubation is more typical with the current strain. Did you go to the gym after your trip? https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2795489 "...The mean incubation period of COVID-19 was 5.00 days (95% CI, 4.94-5.06 days) for cases caused by the Alpha variant, 4.50 days (95% CI, 1.83-7.17 days) for the Beta variant, 4.41 days (95% CI, 3.76-5.05 days) for the Delta variant, and 3.42 days (95% CI, 2.88-3.96 days) for the Omicron variant...". The 95% confidence interval means that 95% of people will incubate between 2.88 and 3.96 days between infection and developing symptoms.

Admittedly, I haven't read a study or academic treatise which discusses that particular issue. I briefly tried to look this up, and the studies seemed to be behind paywalls. If you have a reference to such a study, I'd be curious to read it.