Wino

Sixty bucks seems high but worth it if you can obtain enough miles.

Although this festival is a four day event, the actual Chonburi Buffalo race will begin at 10:30 am on Saturday, October 3. The races are traditionally held the day before the full moon of the 2nd lunar month, a date which coincides with the end of the three month Buddhist Lent. This is a very colorful event. To see riders on these huge buffalos thundering down the 100 meter race course is exciting. I hope someone can post some pictures.

Did you like to listen to the rants and raves of Fidel back in the good old days?

Really, it is just the price? It does not matter about the placement of the stone, the cut, and the clarity? I am not into jewelry but when you see the crown jewels and other priceless gems, it is impressive.

One earthquake triggers a tsunami and the other one doesn't. Why? Both are about the same magnitude 7.9, both at about the same depth. Why does one wreak severe damage and destruction and the other one doesn't?

New York has almost public transportation to JFK. Like you say you have to switch to the monorail, but how long did that take NY to come up with that system? I guess the taxi lobbyists were very powerful.

I would think it would be different in each case. The strength of the tsunami and the height of the wave would enter into the equation.

Maybe you have to be a girl. Who was it that said, "diamonds are a girl's best friend. Probably Elizabeth Taylor?

As Yogi said, deja vu all over again. At least this powerful quake off Sumatra did not wreck havoc like the last quake. Here is a news story: Indonesia's meteorological agency says a powerful earthquake has shaken western Indonesia. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami alert for Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Thailand. The Indonesian agency said the tremor had a magnitude of 7.6. Its epicenter was just off the coast of Sumatra The U.S. Geological Survey put the strength at 7.9. The shaking could be felt in high buildings in the capital, Jakarta, several hundred miles, kilometers away and in neighboring Singapore and Malaysia. There were no immediate reports of a high waves or injuries.

Thanks for the information. I want to travel to India, a destination I have not gone to in the past. The country is so vast, I don't know where to start. I have always wanted to see the Taj Mahal and so that might be a place to start.

I have not heard about the floating market in Pattaya. Tell me more.

Better late than never. Glad to see this airport link. Bangkok was able to link the airport a lot faster than New York City.

Elephants need some good lovin' too.

SYDNEY (Reuters) – A series of tsunamis smashed into the Pacific island nations of American and Western Samoa killing possibly more than 100 people, some washed out to sea, destroying villages and injuring hundreds, officials said on Wednesday. U.S. President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in American Samoa, a U.S. territory, and ordered federal aid to help recovery efforts, with a U.S. C-130 military transport aircraft due to leave Honolulu for the tiny South Pacific islands. Television images showed homes ripped apart, cars submerged in the sea or lodged in trees and large fishing boats hurled ashore by the waves generated by a 8.0 magnitude quake southwest of American Samoa. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said at least 60 people had been killed in Western Samoa. Disaster officials said the toll may reach 100 as rescuers search for bodies buried under sand in flattened villages along the southern shore of the island of Upolu. Twenty villages on Upolu's south side were reportedly destroyed, including Lepa, the home of Samoa's prime minister. The area is also the main tourist area, and the waves destroyed some resorts. "Thankfully the alarm sounded on the radio and gave people time to climb to higher ground. But not everyone escaped," said Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, adding two children en route to hospital for flu treatment were swept away. "Their car was just taken away. I'm so shocked, so saddened by all the loss," he told reporters on a flight from Auckland, New Zealand to Apia, the capital of Western Samoa. The Australian government said two Australians, a six-year old girl and a woman aged 50, were killed and six others were missing. "It does look like there will be substantial loss of life in Samoa," said Australia's Aid Minister Bob McMullan. In neighboring American Samoa at least 24 people were killed and 50 injured, American Samoa Governor Togiola Tulafono said from Hawaii, with the southern portion of the main Tutuila island "devastated". The death toll there may also rise, said officials. Director of American Samoa's homeland security Mike Sala said the waves that hit Pago Pago village were about 6 meters (20 feet) high. "Some buildings were completely demolished by the waves, you know, there's no buildings anymore except the foundation," Sala told Radio New Zealand. New Zealand said there were also serious concerns about the neighboring island nation of Tonga after a 4-meter (13-foot) wave hit its northern coast. Tongan officials said they feared as many as 10 people had been killed. The two Samoas and Tonga have a combined population of around 400,000 people.

I wish I would have been lucky enought to find a gem like this one. JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – Mining group Petra Diamonds has discovered a 507.55 carat white diamond at South Africa's Cullinan mine, one of the largest high-quality rough diamonds ever found, the firm said on Tuesday. "This spectacular gemstone was recovered on Thursday 24 September and is currently with experts for analysis," said a statement released by the London-listed company which operates mainly in Africa. Initial examinations of the diamond which weighs just over 100 grams (3.5 ounces), have shown it to be of exceptional colour and clarity. The diamond is undergoing colour grading, but is believed to be a rare Type II diamond, with very low traces of nitrogen -- considered an impurity -- making them among the most transparent and colourless of the gems. "The Cullinan mine has again given the world a spectacularly beautiful and important diamond... we now eagerly await the findings of the expert analysis," said Johan Dippenaar, Petra's chief executive. The precious stone was found alongside three other special white gems of similar colour and clarity, a large diamond of 168.00 carats and two other stones of 58.50 and 53.30 carats. The mine which was previously owned by diamond mining giant De Beers, is renowned for the discovery of the famed Cullinan Diamond in 1905, which is part of the British crown jewels and weighed 3106 carats. In May 2008, the mine produced a sparkling 101.27 carat diamond, roughly the size of a ping-pong ball. The Cullinan Diamond Mine is the third richest diamond producing mine in South Africa.

True, but not usually otherwise healthy teens and young adults. The virus is know to mutate and cause havoc. Hope it does not happen, but who knows?

Wow, I heard that Rio was dangerous, but thought like any big city you just have to know the areas to stay away from. Seems I may be wrong because I hear of many visitors being robbed. As far as the Olympic choice, it really does not matter to me, but looks like Chicago has a good chance.

Cycling is fun and a good way to see the countryside. A nice walk isn't so bad, too.

Your grandma was a wise woman, these are the good old days. Live life to the fullest.

60 baht annual fee is really cheap. I think I am paying around 1250 baht for an annual fee for my credit card.

In the West, they would be arrested for child abuse or endangering the welfare of a child.

Just heard a news story about a 14 year old girl in Fort Worth, Texas. Came down with the flu on Wednesday, her mother took her to the doctor on Friday, and then the emergency room on Sunday. The swine flu thing is not a joke to her. She died on Sunday.

I understand Typhoon Ketsana may be headed in Thailand's direction. I sure hope they don't experience the flooding that has hit the Philippines.

By MATTHEW LEE and PAUL HAVEN, Associated Press Writers Matthew Lee And Paul Haven, Associated Press Writers NEW YORK – A senior American diplomat has held unannounced, high-level talks in Havana with the Cuban government, three State Department officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday, raising hopes for a thaw in long-icy relations. The talks were the first of their kind in years between representatives of the U.S. and Cuban governments, the bitter Cold War rivals among whom trust appears to be gradually building. Bisa Williams, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, met with Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Dagoberto Rodriguez, visited an area affected by hurricanes in the Western province of Pinar del Rio and toured a government agricultural facility during a six-day trip to Cuba this month, the officials told AP. The meetings came on the heels of Sept. 17 talks on the possibility of restarting direct mail service between the countries, suspended since 1963. Those discussions had been public, but neither country had previously revealed that Williams remained in Havana for five extra days. One U.S. official described the talks as "respectful" and said they were more significant for having taken place, than for any substantive breakthroughs between the two sides, which have been at odds since shortly after former Cuban leader Fidel Castro marched into Havana on New Year's Day 1959. "We were going over ground we haven't gone over for a long time," said the official. "Each side was taking advantage of the opportunity to size each other up." The official was not authorized to publicly discuss details of Williams' visit and spoke on condition of anonymity. The Cuban government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly confirmed Williams remained in Cuba and met with officials after the postal talks, but offered few details. "Williams met with host government officials and a wide range of representatives from civil society to gain a full appreciation of the political and economic situation on the ground," he told AP. Kelly said Williams followed up on ongoing U.S.-Cuba migration talks, the next round of which he said are tentatively scheduled to take place in December. One of the officials said those talks were likely to be held in Havana. The last time a senior U.S. official traveled to Cuba for talks of any kind was in 2002, but Williams' extended, wide-ranging and unpublicized trip here this month was different. U.S.-Cuban relations have improved considerably since President Barack Obama took office in January, saying he was ready to extend a hand of friendship to America's traditional foes. In addition to the mail talks, Obama has loosened financial and travel restrictions on Americans with relatives on the island. The Americans have also made other small but significant gestures — like turning off an electronic sign that had streamed anti-Castro messages from the windows of the U.S. Interests Section, which Washington maintains in Cuba instead of an embassy. The Cubans then took down dozens of large black flags they had set up nearby to block the view. Cuban President Raul Castro and his brother, Fidel, have both had warm words for the American leader, with Fidel Castro last week praising Obama as courageous for taking on climate change. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said Monday in a speech at the United Nations that the communist government is ready to normalize relations with its larger neighbor and will work with Washington in the meantime on other issues such as fighting drug smuggling. He said Cuba has sought full diplomatic relations with the U.S. for decades and repeated Raul Castro's offer to sit down with Obama for a "respectful, arm's length dialogue with the United States, without overshadowing our independence, sovereignty and self-determination." Cuba experts say it remains to be seen whether the diplomacy of small measures is a path to ultimately reaching agreement on core issues, though diplomats on both sides have privately voiced optimism. Obama has left intact the 47-year trade embargo on the island, and U.S. officials have said for months that they would like to see the single-party state accept some political, economic and social changes.

I have never been to Rio, but if they are awarded the Olympics, I am sure they will clean up the dangerous elements. Like any big cities, there are probably areas that one does not want to enter.