Wino

We might see a size chart on the back of condom boxes in the near future, that might help the consumer with the right fit. MONDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Poorly fitting condoms not only boost the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, they also reduce sexual pleasure during intercourse, a new study has found. The findings are based on a survey of 436 men, aged 18 to 67, who responded to an Internet survey after being recruited through newspaper ads and a blog on a condom sales company Web site. The survey asked the men about how a condom fit the last time they used one while having sex with a female. Nearly 45 percent said they'd used a condom that fit poorly the last time they had sex during the previous three months. These men were more than 2.5 times more likely to say their condom broke or slipped compared to those who said their condoms fit well. And they were five times more likely to say they experienced irritation to the penis. The men whose condoms fit poorly were also about twice as likely to say that the condoms made it difficult for them, their partners or both to reach orgasm. Not surprisingly, this made intercourse less pleasurable, the study authors noted. And the men with poor-fitting condoms were twice as likely to say they took off the condoms before they finished having sex, the survey found. The findings "emphasize the point that men and their female sex partners may benefit from public health efforts designed to promote the improved fit of condoms," the researchers wrote. The study, which surveyed men through the Web site of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, is published online in February in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections. Survey Finds Many Men Complaining of Ill-Fitting Condoms - Yahoo! News

I am afraid this is one of many protest to come. I hope nobody has a flight around February 26. BANGKOK (AFP) – Thousands of protesters forced Thailand's biggest bank to close its headquarters Friday, raising tensions one week before a court ruling on the fortune of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Bangkok Bank shut its head office for the day and sent 3,000 staff home because of the rally by Thaksin's supporters, who say the bank has links to a royal aide whom they blame for the 2006 coup that toppled their idol. Police said around 1,500 demonstrators had gathered in Bangkok's Silom business district. The protest movement, known as the "Red Shirts" because of their signature clothing, said 10,000 attended. "Bangkok Bank is a capitalist institution which has destroyed our democracy," Red Shirt speaker Worawuth Wichaidit told the crowd from a stage. The Red Shirts said former prime minister Prem Tinsulanonda, who is now the chief adviser to Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, used to be Bangkok Bank's chief adviser and continues to have ties to it. They accuse Prem of masterminding the September 2006 putsch. Telecoms tycoon Thaksin is now living abroad to avoid a two-year jail term imposed in absentia in 2008 for corruption relating to a land deal. "Prem is the one who has caused our country to collapse," Worawuth added. More than three years after the coup Thailand remains deeply split between Thaksin's supporters in the country's rural heartland and his foes among the Bangkok-based elites of the palace, military and bureaucracy. Protests by his supporters and the anti-Thaksin "Yellow Shirts" have hurt the kingdom's economy, shutting down Bangkok's airports in late 2008, and sometimes descended into violence. "A turning point is about to be reached in Thai history. We are determined to see democracy, human rights and equal justice," said another key Red Shirt, Sean Boonpracong. Thailand's Supreme Court is due to rule on February 26 on whether the 2.2-billion-dollar fortune of Thaksin, frozen in the months after the coup, can be seized by the authorities. The government has deployed 20,000 extra security forces around the country ahead of the verdict in case protests turn violent. Last weekend a bomb was defused near the court, while a grenade exploded near government offices. The Red Shirts have said they plan to hold further rallies against the government of current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Riots by the movement in April last year left two people dead. Thaksin protesters shut down Thailand's largest bank - Yahoo! News

I thought Kentucky was one of the few states that allow first cousin marriages. Looks like I was wrong. ANNAPOLIS, Md. – A Maryland state legislator says it's time to ban marriages between first cousins and stop playing what he calls "genetic roulette" with their offspring. Henry Heller, a Democratic delegate, or state representative, says he wants to bring Maryland "into the enlightened world of other states such as West Virginia and Arkansas" that already prohibit unions of first cousins. Heller is a retired special education administrator. He says couples who are first cousins are at an increased risk of having a child with birth defects. The bill would make an exception for people who are over age 65 or infertile. Heller says he has "no problem" with those couples if they want the companionship. There are 24 states that prohibit marriage between first-cousins. Md. lawmaker: Ban first-cousin marriages as unsafe - Yahoo! News

Below is the suicide manifesto of the pilot who crashed into the IRS building in Austin, Texas. He wasn't happy with the government to say the least. If you’re reading this, you’re no doubt asking yourself, “Why did this have to happen?†The simple truth is that it is complicated and has been coming for a long time. The writing process, started many months ago, was intended to be therapy in the face of the looming realization that there isn’t enough therapy in the world that can fix what is really broken. Needless to say, this rant could fill volumes with example after example if I would let it. I find the process of writing it frustrating, tedious, and probably pointless… especially given my gross inability to gracefully articulate my thoughts in light of the storm raging in my head. Exactly what is therapeutic about that I’m not sure, but desperate times call for desperate measures. We are all taught as children that without laws there would be no society, only anarchy. Sadly, starting at early ages we in this country have been brainwashed to believe that, in return for our dedication and service, our government stands for justice for all. We are further brainwashed to believe that there is freedom in this place, and that we should be ready to lay our lives down for the noble principals represented by its founding fathers. Remember? One of these was “no taxation without representationâ€. I have spent the total years of my adulthood unlearning that crap from only a few years of my childhood. These days anyone who really stands up for that principal is promptly labeled a “crackpotâ€, traitor and worse. While very few working people would say they haven’t had their fair share of taxes (as can I), in my lifetime I can say with a great degree of certainty that there has never been a politician cast a vote on any matter with the likes of me or my interests in mind. Nor, for that matter, are they the least bit interested in me or anything I have to say. Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it’s time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours? Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political “representatives†(thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the “terrible health care problemâ€. It’s clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don’t get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in. And justice? You’ve got to be kidding! How can any rational individual explain that white elephant conundrum in the middle of our tax system and, indeed, our entire legal system? Here we have a system that is, by far, too complicated for the brightest of the master scholars to understand. Yet, it mercilessly “holds accountable†its victims, claiming that they’re responsible for fully complying with laws not even the experts understand. The law “requires†a signature on the bottom of a tax filing; yet no one can say truthfully that they understand what they are signing; if that’s not “duress†than what is. If this is not the measure of a totalitarian regime, nothing is. How did I get here? My introduction to the real American nightmare starts back in the early ‘80s. Unfortunately after more than 16 years of school, somewhere along the line I picked up the absurd, pompous notion that I could read and understand plain English. Some friends introduced me to a group of people who were having ‘tax code’ readings and discussions. In particular, zeroed in on a section relating to the wonderful “exemptions†that make institutions like the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly wealthy. We carefully studied the law (with the help of some of the “bestâ€, high-paid, experienced tax lawyers in the business), and then began to do exactly what the “big boys†were doing (except that we weren’t steeling from our congregation or lying to the government about our massive profits in the name of God). We took a great deal of care to make it all visible, following all of the rules, exactly the way the law said it was to be done. The intent of this exercise and our efforts was to bring about a much-needed re-evaluation of the laws that allow the monsters of organized religion to make such a mockery of people who earn an honest living. However, this is where I learned that there are two “interpretations†for every law; one for the very rich, and one for the rest of us… Oh, and the monsters are the very ones making and enforcing the laws; the inquisition is still alive and well today in this country. That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10 years of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0. It made me realize for the first time that I live in a country with an ideology that is based on a total and complete lie. It also made me realize, not only how naive I had been, but also the incredible stupidity of the American public; that they buy, hook, line, and sinker, the crap about their “freedomâ€â€¦ and that they continue to do so with eyes closed in the face of overwhelming evidence and all that keeps happening in front of them. Before even having to make a shaky recovery from the sting of the first lesson on what justice really means in this country (around 1984 after making my way through engineering school and still another five years of “paying my duesâ€), I felt I finally had to take a chance of launching my dream of becoming an independent engineer. On the subjects of engineers and dreams of independence, I should digress somewhat to say that I’m sure that I inherited the fascination for creative problem solving from my father. I realized this at a very young age. The significance of independence, however, came much later during my early years of college; at the age of 18 or 19 when I was living on my own as student in an apartment in Harrisburg , Pennsylvania . My neighbor was an elderly retired woman (80+ seemed ancient to me at that age) who was the widowed wife of a retired steel worker. Her husband had worked all his life in the steel mills of central Pennsylvania with promises from big business and the union that, for his 30 years of service, he would have a pension and medical care to look forward to in his retirement. Instead he was one of the thousands who got nothing because the incompetent mill management and corrupt union (not to mention the government) raided their pension funds and stole their retirement. All she had was social security to live on. In retrospect, the situation was laughable because here I was living on peanut butter and bread (or Ritz crackers when I could afford to splurge) for months at a time. When I got to know this poor figure and heard her story I felt worse for her plight than for my own (I, after all, I thought I had everything to in front of me). I was genuinely appalled at one point, as we exchanged stories and commiserated with each other over our situations, when she in her grandmotherly fashion tried to convince me that I would be “healthier†eating cat food (like her) rather than trying to get all my substance from peanut butter and bread. I couldn’t quite go there, but the impression was made. I decided that I didn’t trust big business to take care of me, and that I would take responsibility for my own future and myself. Return to the early ‘80s, and here I was off to a terrifying start as a ‘wet-behind-the-ears’ contract software engineer... and two years later, thanks to the fine backroom, midnight effort by the sleazy executives of Arthur Andersen (the very same folks who later brought us Enron and other such calamities) and an equally sleazy New York Senator (Patrick Moynihan), we saw the passage of 1986 tax reform act with its section 1706. For you who are unfamiliar, here is the core text of the IRS Section 1706, defining the treatment of workers (such as contract engineers) for tax purposes. Visit this link for a conference committee report (http://www.synergistech.com/1706.shtml#ConferenceCommitteeReport) regarding the intended interpretation of Section 1706 and the relevant parts of Section 530, as amended. For information on how these laws affect technical services workers and their clients, read our discussion here (Synergistech :: Laws affecting brokered Independent Contractors' tax status). SEC. 1706. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TECHNICAL PERSONNEL. (a) IN GENERAL - Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection: (d) EXCEPTION. - This section shall not apply in the case of an individual who pursuant to an arrangement between the taxpayer and another person, provides services for such other person as an engineer, designer, drafter, computer programmer, systems analyst, or other similarly skilled worker engaged in a similar line of work. ( EFFECTIVE DATE. - The amendment made by this section shall apply to remuneration paid and services rendered after December 31, 1986. Note: · · "another person" is the client in the traditional job-shop relationship. · · "taxpayer" is the recruiter, broker, agency, or job shop. · · "individual", "employee", or "worker" is you. Admittedly, you need to read the treatment to understand what it is saying but it’s not very complicated. The bottom line is that they may as well have put my name right in the text of section (d). Moreover, they could only have been more blunt if they would have came out and directly declared me a criminal and non-citizen slave. Twenty years later, I still can’t believe my eyes. During 1987, I spent close to $5000 of my ‘pocket change’, and at least 1000 hours of my time writing, printing, and mailing to any senator, congressman, governor, or slug that might listen; none did, and they universally treated me as if I was wasting their time. I spent countless hours on the L.A. freeways driving to meetings and any and all of the disorganized professional groups who were attempting to mount a campaign against this atrocity. This, only to discover that our efforts were being easily derailed by a few moles from the brokers who were just beginning to enjoy the windfall from the new declaration of their “freedomâ€. Oh, and don’t forget, for all of the time I was spending on this, I was loosing income that I couldn’t bill clients. After months of struggling it had clearly gotten to be a futile exercise. The best we could get for all of our trouble is a pronouncement from an IRS mouthpiece that they weren’t going to enforce that provision (read harass engineers and scientists). This immediately proved to be a lie, and the mere existence of the regulation began to have its impact on my bottom line; this, of course, was the intended effect. Again, rewind my retirement plans back to 0 and shift them into idle. If I had any sense, I clearly should have left abandoned engineering and never looked back. Instead I got busy working 100-hour workweeks. Then came the L.A. depression of the early 1990s. Our leaders decided that they didn’t need the all of those extra Air Force bases they had in Southern California, so they were closed; just like that. The result was economic devastation in the region that rivaled the widely publicized Texas S&L fiasco. However, because the government caused it, no one gave a shit about all of the young families who lost their homes or street after street of boarded up houses abandoned to the wealthy loan companies who received government funds to “shore up†their windfall. Again, I lost my retirement. Years later, after weathering a divorce and the constant struggle trying to build some momentum with my business, I find myself once again beginning to finally pick up some speed. Then came the .COM bust and the 911 nightmare. Our leaders decided that all aircraft were grounded for what seemed like an eternity; and long after that, ‘special’ facilities like San Francisco were on security alert for months. This made access to my customers prohibitively expensive. Ironically, after what they had done the Government came to the aid of the airlines with billions of our tax dollars … as usual they left me to rot and die while they bailed out their rich, incompetent cronies WITH MY MONEY! After these events, there went my business but not quite yet all of my retirement and savings. By this time, I’m thinking that it might be good for a change. Bye to California , I’ll try Austin for a while. So I moved, only to find out that this is a place with a highly inflated sense of self-importance and where damn little real engineering work is done. I’ve never experienced such a hard time finding work. The rates are 1/3 of what I was earning before the crash, because pay rates here are fixed by the three or four large companies in the area who are in collusion to drive down prices and wages… and this happens because the justice department is all on the take and doesn’t give a fuck about serving anyone or anything but themselves and their rich buddies. To survive, I was forced to cannibalize my savings and retirement, the last of which was a small IRA. This came in a year with mammoth expenses and not a single dollar of income. I filed no return that year thinking that because I didn’t have any income there was no need. The sleazy government decided that they disagreed. But they didn’t notify me in time for me to launch a legal objection so when I attempted to get a protest filed with the court I was told I was no longer entitled to due process because the time to file ran out. Bend over for another $10,000 helping of justice. So now we come to the present. After my experience with the CPA world, following the business crash I swore that I’d never enter another accountant’s office again. But here I am with a new marriage and a boatload of undocumented income, not to mention an expensive new business asset, a piano, which I had no idea how to handle. After considerable thought I decided that it would be irresponsible NOT to get professional help; a very big mistake. When we received the forms back I was very optimistic that they were in order. I had taken all of the years information to Bill Ross, and he came back with results very similar to what I was expecting. Except that he had neglected to include the contents of Sheryl’s unreported income; $12,700 worth of it. To make matters worse, Ross knew all along this was missing and I didn’t have a clue until he pointed it out in the middle of the audit. By that time it had become brutally evident that he was representing himself and not me. This left me stuck in the middle of this disaster trying to defend transactions that have no relationship to anything tax-related (at least the tax-related transactions were poorly documented). Things I never knew anything about and things my wife had no clue would ever matter to anyone. The end result is… well, just look around. I remember reading about the stock market crash before the “great†depression and how there were wealthy bankers and businessmen jumping out of windows when they realized they screwed up and lost everything. Isn’t it ironic how far we’ve come in 60 years in this country that they now know how to fix that little economic problem; they just steal from the middle class (who doesn’t have any say in it, elections are a joke) to cover their asses and it’s “business-as-usualâ€. Now when the wealthy fuck up, the poor get to die for the mistakes… isn’t that a clever, tidy solution. As government agencies go, the FAA is often justifiably referred to as a tombstone agency, though they are hardly alone. The recent presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies in their eight years certainly reinforced for all of us that this criticism rings equally true for all of the government. Nothing changes unless there is a body count (unless it is in the interest of the wealthy sows at the government trough). In a government full of hypocrites from top to bottom, life is as cheap as their lies and their self-serving laws. I know I’m hardly the first one to decide I have had all I can stand. It has always been a myth that people have stopped dying for their freedom in this country, and it isn’t limited to the blacks, and poor immigrants. I know there have been countless before me and there are sure to be as many after. But I also know that by not adding my body to the count, I insure nothing will change. I choose to not keep looking over my shoulder at “big brother†while he strips my carcass, I choose not to ignore what is going on all around me, I choose not to pretend that business as usual won’t continue; I have just had enough. I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big to be white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt; it will take nothing less. I would only hope that by striking a nerve that stimulates the inevitable double standard, knee-jerk government reaction that results in more stupid draconian restrictions people wake up and begin to see the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what they are. Sadly, though I spent my entire life trying to believe it wasn’t so, but violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer. The cruel joke is that the really big chunks of shit at the top have known this all along and have been laughing, at and using this awareness against, fools like me all along. I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well. The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed. Joe Stack (1956-2010) 02/18/2010

Many western countries are warning it's citizens about possible problems in Thailand around February 26. Warnings include possible terrorist attack due to the unstable political situation in Thailand, as well as to take great caution around demonstrations and large gatherings because things are unpredictable and could easily turn violent without warning.

Thanks, Graymo for that link. From the website, it looks good and will be a welcome addition to the transportation options.

OK Perry Mason, hearsay objection noted and overruled. Be thankful you receive your full social security benefits while living outside of the USA.

That is unfortunate the Thailand flights are not available for the discount. I do not understand all FD label. I guess that is the Thai Air Asia part of the company? I do not know but suspect there are several companies under the Air Asia brand. Air Asia, then Thai Air Asia, and the Air Asia X, and then is there a Indonesian Air Asia? I am a little confused.

This came straight from the Kiwi's lips. Not sure why you need verification. Why would he lie?

How true. Plus they don't have the religious police looking over their shoulder. They do pretty much as they please.

Some say we treat our pets better than the terminally ill.

After getting all of Pope Benedict's luggage loaded into the limo, (and he doesn't travel light), the driver notices the Pope is still standing on the curb. 'Excuse me, Your Holiness,' says the driver, 'Would you please take your seat so we can leave?' 'Well, to tell you the truth,' says the Pope, 'they never let me drive at the Vatican when I was a cardinal, and I'd really like to drive today.' 'I'm sorry, Your Holiness, but I cannot let you do that. I'd lose my job! What if something should happen?' protests the driver, wishing he'd never gone to work that morning.. 'Who's going to tell?' says the Pope with a smile. Reluctantly, the driver gets in the back as the Pope climbs in behind the wheel. The driver quickly regrets his decision when, after exiting the airport, the Pontiff floors it, accelerating the limo to 205 kms.. (Remember, the Pope is German..) 'Please slow down, Your Holiness!' pleads the worried driver, but the Pope keeps the pedal to the metal until they hear sirens. 'Oh, dear God, I'm going to lose my license -- and my job!' moans the driver. The Pope pulls over and rolls down the window as the cop approaches, but the cop takes one look at him, goes back to his motorcycle, and gets on the radio. 'I need to talk to the Chief,' he says to the dispatcher. The Chief gets on the radio and the cop tells him that he's stopped a limo going 155 kph. 'So bust him,' says the Chief. 'I don't think we want to do that, he's really important,' said the cop. The Chief exclaimed,' All the more reason!' 'No, I mean really important,' said the cop with a bit of persistence. The Chief then asked, 'Who do you have there, the mayor?' Cop: 'Bigger.' Chief: ' A senator?' Cop: 'Bigger.' Chief: 'The Prime Minister?' Cop: 'Bigger.' 'Well,' said the Chief, 'who is it?' Cop: 'I think it's God!' The Chief is even more puzzled and curious, 'What makes you think it's God?' Cop: 'His chauffeur is the Pope!'

It is amazing what the camera angles can do. I would have thought Meryl was 6'2".

The rude Arabs I have encountered were young, roudy lugs partying loudly at night and driving motorcycles at almost the speed of light up and down the soi. If I didn't know it was against their religion to drink, I would have guessed they were drunk.

Mercy killing is a touchy subject to some. Here is an article about a British reporter admitting killing his young lover. (Feb. 16) -- A well-known British television reporter admitted on camera that he smothered an ailing lover. Police are investigating the extraordinary statement, which is expected to reinvigorate debate over the national policy on assisted suicide. ''I killed someone once. ... He was a young chap. He'd been my lover and he got AIDS,'' Ray Gosling, 70, said in a BBC documentary on death and dying. ''Maybe this is the time to share a secret that I have kept for quite a long time.'' British law on so-called "mercy killings" hasn't changed much since 1961. Those convicted face up to 14 years in prison. But the government is considering loosening its policies. In September, it announced plans to decriminalize assisted suicide in the case of severely disabled or terminally ill patients. British TV Reporter Ray Gosling Admits Mercy Killing - AOL News

That is an excellent old axiom and works well to spread the risk. On the flip side, another axiom is "put your eggs in one basket, then watch the basket like a hawk." There is something to be said about both statements.

And this is shown on Fox network!

It is very hard to find out exactly what happened and who is responsible. This account states, "The Bangkok nightclub where 59 people died in a fire on New Year’s Eve was only registered as a night-time food stall, had no fire exits and a single fire extinguisher." Bangkok: Blaze nightclub had no licence or safety measures - Telegraph And this, "A preliminary inspection of the club's safety system was called "substandard" by police Lieut. Gen. Jongrak Jutanont." Bangkok nightclub fire kills 61 new year's revellers - CTV News And this from one of the survivors, "He said: "Everyone started running for the door. But the door seemed tiny and people were jammed up against it. If there was another way out, none of us knew about it, and all the windows were barred." Bangkok nightclub fire: British man saved by 'angel' who dragged him out - Telegraph Who knows the true story? After all, this is Thailand.

The Pallin family is going after the writers of "Family Guy" for making fun of Pallin's Down syndrome child. Are the writers "heartless jerks?" By BECKY BOHRER, Associated Press Writer JUNEAU, Alaska – Sarah Palin is lashing out at the portrayal of a character with Down syndrome on the Fox animated comedy "Family Guy."In a Facebook posting headlined "Fox Hollywood — What a Disappointment," the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee and current Fox News contributor said Sunday night's episode felt like "another kick in the gut." Palin's youngest son, Trig, has Down syndrome. The episode features the character Chris falling for a girl with Down syndrome. On a date, he asks what her parents do. She replies: "My dad's an accountant, and my mom is the former governor of Alaska." Palin resigned as Alaska governor last summer. Palin's oldest daughter, Bristol, also was quoted on her mother's Facebook page, calling the show's writers "heartless jerks." "When you're the son or daughter of a public figure, you have to develop thick skin. My siblings and I all have that, but insults directed at our youngest brother hurt too much for us to remain silent," she is quoted as saying. "If the writers of a particularly pathetic cartoon show thought they were being clever in mocking my brother and my family yesterday, they failed," Bristol Palin added in the Monday posting. "All they proved is that they're heartless jerks." Palin wrote that she'd asked her daughter what she thought of the show and Bristol's reply was "a much more restrained and gracious statement than I want to make about an issue that begs the question: When is enough enough?" This isn't the first time Palin has spoken out over an attack, real or perceived, on her family. Last year, she condemned a joke David Letterman made about her daughter, for which he later apologized. A "Family Guy" publicist didn't immediately return an e-mail seeking comment. Palin lashes out at `Family Guy' - Yahoo! News

I was talking to a chap from New Zealand that told me this. I am not sure if England and Australia are the same, but I would not be surprised.

As a cranky old man, I tend to agree. On the flip side, I was in an aisle seat on a crowded plane with non-assigned seating. Wouldn't you know a fat woman chooses the middle seat next to me. I saw it coming and was not pleased, but it turned out ok. She was an interesting person and we had a lovely chat. She told me she had her stomach tied and had lost many pounds already. I was thankful of that. As far as the crying babies, let's hope mama has plenty of milk or a pacifier.

I hope Jay Leno has to hunt high and low for people that uninformed. I should not think those people are a true representation of the "Man on the Street."

That is quite obvious. You and BC were lamenting the fact you are not able to use your medicare benefits overseas. I was simply pointing out how other countries limit expat's social security benefits as well.

Since the law was your profession, I am sure you know much more than the common lay person, but I should think the owners have some culpability here. It was said there was only one fire extinguisher in the entire building. Not sure what the Thai laws are, but that's not right. Also reported, the owners rented to the nightclub, even though nightclubs were banned in that area. Police ownership has also been rumored. Owner of the building have no liability here? I don't know.

Here is a story of one of Madoff's victim. She seems to have picked up the pieces in her life and gone on. On Dec. 10, 2008, Alexandra Penney, the former editor of Self and Glamour magazines, was enjoying a second career as a professional photographer and artist. She had financial security, the apartment of her dreams in the Upper East Side of Manhattan and a sprawling studio in which she was launching her budding new career. The next day, she discovered that her investment adviser, Bernard Madoff, had massively defrauded his clients, including her. Over the next few months, Penney scrambled to sell her houses in Florida and Long Island, drastically cut back on her expenses and set off in a new career direction as a blogger and writer. In her forthcoming book, The Bag Lady Papers: The Priceless Experience of Losing It All, Penney writes about her experiences dealing with the loss of her money and trying to rebuild her life. She shared some of the lessons of that experience with DailyFinance's Bruce Watson. DailyFinance: After your money disappeared, you quickly began rebuilding your life. How long was it before you had another job? Alexandra Penney: The next day. The morning after I found out about Madoff, I woke early, but couldn't look for work because nobody was open before 9:00. Then I remembered that my old friend Ed Victor was in London and would be up. Ed is a very prominent literary agent, and after I told him my story, he said that he would see what he could do. Ten minutes later, he called me back and told me that Tina Brown, an old colleague of mine from Conde Nast, wanted me to write a blog. So I just wrote about my experience, with no filter. In your book, you talk about your luxurious lifestyle before Madoff defrauded you. What was the hardest luxury to give up? Luxuries are easy to give up; the hard part is the things that you don't realize are luxuries. I found that the equilibrium and peace of mind that I got from having some money in the bank was a luxury, too. When that was gone, I was in a panic. Before your Madoff experience, you had four properties that you owned or rented: a house in Long Island, a house in Florida, an apartment in Midtown and a studio. What happened to these places? My landlord lowered the rent on my studio by a third, which made it possible for me to keep my work space. I'm trying to sell the house on Long Island. In the meantime, I'm renting it out. I sold the house in Florida and still have my apartment. In the book, you spend quite a bit of time talking about Carmina, your maid. Does she still work for you? Carmina still comes in for three hours a week. I do most of my own housekeeping, but she needs the money, and I need her. I couldn't not let her have income. Suicide is a recurring theme in your book. After you learn about the Madoff scandal, one of your first impulses is to look into suicide, and your photographs after the event have also explored that. How have you dealt with those feelings? After Madoff, I felt like I had lost control over my savings, my life and my identity. I felt like I had lost my dignity, my ability to do work. For example, I need a large work area, because the photographs that I work with take up a great deal of space, and it looked like I was going to lose my studio. According to my internist, the realization that I could commit suicide -- along with the fact that I didn't do it! -- helped me regain my feeling of self worth and control. Reading this book, it seems like this experience really helped you learn about what is valuable. Do you still hate Madoff? I never hated him. I had a weird reaction: I was really angry one day after I spent 10 hours Xeroxing documents related to my case. Xeroxing isn't cheap! Anyway, I never met the man; he was abstract to me. What I hated was the horrific feeling that I didn't have a cent in the bank. What about your finances now? How is your life after Madoff progressing? Well, the art market is improving, and I have a show in Chelsea that is going up soon. A friend of mine, Richard Story, is editor of Departures magazine, and he flew me out to Africa to do a story. I got to see amazing things that I never would have seen in my pre-Madoff days. I was impressed with how quickly your son offered to put you up. What a darling he is! His first words after Madoff were "Mom, you can come live with us." And so many of your other friends jumped to your aid. Isn't that amazing? People are so immediately thoughtful and generous. Before I knew it, I had friends saying: "Can you do this?" "Will you come here?" "Here's some work for you to do!" Three of my friends -- Richard Story, Alex Mays and Patty Matson -- all jumped to my aid. They literally came to my apartment and told me that "we have to find ways for you to make money." Richard helped me with the Departures story, Patty sent art collectors to my studio and Alex helped me when I was first learning to write my blog. And Ed Victor. Ed is like my guardian angel. How many agents call you every day to see how you're doing? When I think of Madoff's other victims, poor old women who never worked, I'm so completely lucky. The Bag Lady Papers: Madoff Victim Alexandra Penney Writes About Rebuilding Life, Finances - DailyFinance