Wino

Some people might compare Californians to breakfast cereal, you take away the fruits and nuts and all you have left are flakes.

Roman Polanski is not the only one with a very selective memory. Was Bill Clinton's grand jury testimony based on historical fact?

I bought some coffee filters at Friendship years ago. They were expensive as I remember. I bought a new coffee maker at Big C and it has the reusable filter. It is so much easier and cheaper in the long run.

Here is the latest in the Roman Polanski case. By Kim Willsher in Paris guardian.co.uk, Monday 3 May 2010 Roman Polanski has broken his silence to decry the US for seeking his extradition from Switzerland on a 33-year-old child sex case. Oscar-winning film-maker Roman Polanski has broken his silence to criticise America for seeking his extradition on an under-age sex case that dates back 33 years. In an emotive open letter, published in France and entitled, I Can Remain Silent No Longer, the director, who is under house arrest in Switzerland, says he is only seeking to be "treated fairly". He accuses the US of wanting to serve him "on a platter" to the media. "I have had my share of dramas and joys, as we all have, and I am not going to try to ask you to pity my lot in life. I ask only to be treated fairly like anyone else," he writes. The case against Polanski, 76, whose films include The Pianist, Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown, dates back to 1977 when he was arrested in the US and pleaded guilty to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl. He spent 42 days in a Californian prison but fled before a final court appearance for sentencing. He was arrested in September last year at Zurich airport after travelling from his home in Paris to collect a lifetime award for his work. After two months in prison he was put under house arrest on bail of €3m (£2.5m) at his chalet in Gstaad. In the 900-word statement circulated by his friend, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, Polanski argues why he should be set free. "It is true: 33 years ago I pleaded guilty, and I served time at the prison for common law crimes at Chino, not in a VIP prison. "That period was to have covered the totality of my sentence. By the time I left prison, the judge had changed his mind and claimed that the time served at Chino did not fulfil [sic] the entire sentence, and it is this reversal that justified my leaving the United States," he writes. He lays out eight points in support of his case, each headed with the title phrase: "I can remain silent no longer because the American authorities have just decided, in defiance of all the arguments and depositions submitted by third parties, not to agree to sentence me in absentia even though the same court of appeal recommended the contrary. "I can remain silent no longer because the California court has dismissed the victim's numerous requests that proceedings against me be dropped, once and for all, to spare her from further harassment every time this affair is raised once more." Polanski says the extradition request to Switzerland is based on a lie, in that it suggests the time he spent in prison was for the purposes of "diagnostic study". "The said request asserts that I fled in order to escape sentencing by the US judicial authorities, but under the plea-bargaining process I had acknowledged the facts and returned to the United States in order to serve my sentence. All that remained was for the court to confirm this agreement, but the judge decided to repudiate it in order to gain himself some publicity at my expense," he writes. He says prosecutors from the original case have testified under oath that he has already served whatever jail term he would have been given. "I can no longer remain silent because the United States continues to demand my extradition more to serve me on a platter to the media of the world than to pronounce a judgment concerning which an agreement was reached 33 years ago. "I can remain silent no longer because I have been placed under house arrest in Gstaad and bailed a very large sum of money which I have managed to raise only by mortgaging the apartment that has been my home for over 30 years, and because I am far from my family and unable to work." Addressing the Swiss authorities, he concludes: "Such are the facts I wished to put before you in the hope that Switzerland will recognise that there are no grounds for extradition, and that I shall be able to find peace, be reunited with my family, and live in freedom in my native land."

Apparently, the death penalty is so important to Californians that they spend $125 million a year administering it, plus $400 million recently for a new death row and execution chamber even though the state is notoriously nearly bankrupt and even though, in a death-row population of more than 700, only 13 have been executed in the past 30 years. (As News of the Weird mentioned last year, one killer demanded the death penalty instead of life in prison because death row has better facilities and because, like nearly everyone on death row, he expects to die of disease or natural causes before the state can execute him.) Said the outraged mother of a raped-and-murdered teenage boy, of her son's killer, "(Scott Erskine) is (in) there watching television knowing I am going to die before he does." [san Diego Union-Tribune-AP, 4-25-10]

Sounds like a good idea.

Didn't the Warren Commision investigate a funny looking guy on the grassy knoll in Dallas with a saucer-type aircraft hovering overhead? Now that is a leap of faith when you start trusting government!

How rich are you? by Jeanine Skowronski You are richer than you think. At least according to Poke, a London-based creative company that specializes in interactive media. Their Web site, The Global Rich List generates a wealth ranking for its users based on their annual income. For example, if you make $52,000 a year (the median American household income for 2009), you are the 58,252,719 richest person in the world (or in the top 0.97 percentile of all moneymakers). Someone who makes half of that ($26,000 a year) is still in the top 10%, ranked 569,942,529 on the Global Rich List.

Oh yeh of little faith! Come on, if our long hair guy with sandals can turn water into wine and have a virgin mother, why can this yogi walk on water, too? And that 1956 baloney sandwich incident was a vicious story started by that other yogi group. I think somebody named Boo-boo started that rumor, and if my memory serves me right, had something to do with a picinic basket.

The Catholics aren't the only ones with a corner on the miracle scene. This from India. After 15 days of investigation, India’s Defense Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences concluded its study of 82-year-old yogi Prahlad Jani on Thursday, May 6. Jani, who claims to have lived without food or water since his childhood, was under the close watch of three video cameras 24 hours a day. Researchers conducted various medical tests on him. The research team, consisting of 35 scientists, could not find any evidence that Jani ate or drank anything during the 15 days. Doctors have not found any adverse effects in his body from hunger or dehydration. They think that yoga exercises may have caused Jani’s body to undergo a biological transformation. The researchers said tests found that his brain is equivalent to that of a 25-year-old. In fact, according to the Daily Mail, the doctors said that after fasting for two weeks, Jani was healthier than the average 40-year-old. When a person fasts, there are usually changes in metabolism, but that was not observed in Jani. “Clinical, biochemical, radiological, and other relevant examinations were done on Prahlad Jani and all reports were within the safe range throughout the study. He is healthy; his mind is sharp,†said researcher Dr. G. Ilavazhagn according to the Daily Mail. “What is truly astonishing, and something we have no explanation for, is that he has not passed stools or urine. To my knowledge, that is medically unprecedented.†Scientists will continue to analyze the results from this study, and it may take two months for them to draw conclusions. Epoch Times - Study on Yogi Prahlad Jani’s Fasting Miracles Concludes

The insurance you talk about only covers the motorcycle, is that right? No damages for the other party or medical expenses? I suppose that insurance would be bought through an insurance agent?

It couldn't hurt and who knows, it might help!

That is the way to go. I am sure the guy went out with a bang, too bad it was at the age of 45.

The visa on arrival is good news. The generals are a bunch of power hungry idiots, but the people I have met there are some of the nicest anywhere in the world.

LONDON, May 1 (Reuters Life) – Just five minutes of exercise a day in the great outdoors can improve mental health, according to a study released on Saturday, and policymakers should encourage more people to spend time in parks and gardens. Researchers from the University of Essex found that as little as five minutes of a "green activity" such as walking, gardening, cycling or farming can boost mood and self esteem. "We believe that there would be a large potential benefit to individuals, society and to the costs of the health service if all groups of people were to self-medicate more with green exercise," Barton said in a statement about the study, which was published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Many studies have shown that outdoor exercise can reduce the risk of mental illness and improve a sense of well-being, but Jules Pretty and Jo Barton, who led this study, said that until now no one knew how much time needed to be spent on green exercise for the benefits to show. Barton and Pretty looked at data from 1,252 people of different ages, genders and mental health status taken from 10 existing studies in Britain. They analyzed activities such as walking, gardening, cycling, fishing, boating, horse-riding and farming. They found that the greatest health changes occurred in the young and the mentally ill, although people of all ages and social groups benefited. The largest positive effect on self-esteem came from a five-minute dose of "green exercise." All natural environments were beneficial, including parks in towns or cities, they said, but green areas with water appeared to have a more positive effect. Five minutes in the green can boost self esteem - Yahoo! News

Thank-you maestro for ending your postings on this thread.

I wonder why a swami would kidnap a minor? Certainly not for sex!

Guess again. The way I read the article, it talks about three self-styled holy men in trouble.

I understand the frustration many US citizens are experiencing over the US tax system and banking regulations. There are many things to bitch about and plenty of room for improvement, but for an expat to give up his citizenship is drastic. Comparing the US tax and banking system to many western European nations, I think one might find Americans pay less tax. To give up US citizenship is, in my book, just dumb.

Yes, Certainly scores of priests, but according to the above article, it is not only one Hindu "holy man."

I know Bell Travel Service is a private company and suspect the Airport-Jomtien bus service may also be a money making business. The fact they do not have 24 hour bus service is most probably due to the bottom line. Perhaps the cost of 24 hour bus service is too expensive and the customer demand is not high? It sure would be nice to have a bus available when I arrive at 1 AM, but doesn't look like that will happen. I am glad I can hire a car and driver for 1,000 baht to wisk me away to Pattaya.

I feel sorry for these people. In the first place, they do not have many creature comforts, but then to have everything destroyed by a fire and left homeless! How unfair. MANILA, Philippines – A huge fire sweeping through a shantytown outside the Philippine capital has destroyed about 300 houses and left about 7,000 people homeless. Metropolitan Manila Fire Marshal Pablito Cordeta says about 200 firetrucks are battling the fire that started at midafternoon Sunday and was still burning at nightfall. It spread rapidly in the slum in Quezon city because of strong winds and the scorching summer heat. Firefighters struggled to penetrate alleys, which were clogged by people trying to save their belongings. Residents wept as they watched their burning houses. A weeping resident, Glen Sardon, says "We failed to save anything except our clothes." Cordeta said at least two residents were reported missing. Thousands of people lose homes in Manila slum fire - Yahoo! News

Not scores of priests but more than one guy. "The last few months have been bad for India's self-styled holy men with police arresting a swami for running a brothel involving air stewardesses and college students, while charging another with kidnapping a minor."

Seems the Catholic Church is not the only religious organization with problems. BANGALORE, India (Reuters) – Police have arrested a Hindu holy man with thousands of followers across India and abroad after video footage emerged last month allegedly showing him frolicking with two women. Nithyananda Swami, whose devotees include politicians and movie stars, was arrested in the resort town of Shimla in northern India late on Wednesday, police said on Thursday. Swami, head of Dhyanapeetam, or "knowledge center," was forced to resign last month after the video that was allegedly shot in his center outside the southern city of Bangalore. The leaked video aired by news channels angered hundreds of devotees who ransacked his center and tore down his posters, forcing him to go into hiding. "He will be brought to Bangalore for further investigations," D.V. Guruprasad, an officer of the Criminal Investigation Department said. The 32-year-old, who denied any links to the women and said the tapes were doctored, is being investigated for rape, cheating and criminal conspiracy, police said. The last few months have been bad for India's self-styled holy men with police arresting a swami for running a brothel involving air stewardesses and college students, while charging another with kidnapping a minor. Nithyananda Swami has spiritual centers in Europe and the United States and Dhyanapeetam runs free medical centers and supplies food to the poor. Police arrest "holy man" over sex scandal - Yahoo! News

I like the idea of having two bus companies with the airport to Pattaya route and vice versa. When arriving at Suvarnabhumi, I have the choice of the next available bus to Pattaya. It is not usually a very long wait.