WannaGo

Hey, I think I live in that country!

This was the last paragraph of a story I was reading about anti-tobacco protests in Bangkok...does this seem credible to you guys who live there? Deputy Public Health Minister Manit Nop-amornbodi said Thailand has 14 million smokers, according to official statistics. The data showed that nearly 46 per cent of men and 3.1 per cent of women were smokers. However, 60 per cent of smokers tend to quit smoking and about 4.6 million Thai smokers have stopped smoking.

LOL...that's pretty cute.

Apparently one of the shooting victims was a young Hmong man born in Thailand. St. Paul, Minn. — A St. Paul soldier is among the 13 people killed in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood yesterday. Kham Xiong, 23, had joined the Army earlier this year. He was following in the footsteps of his younger brother, Nelson, who had joined the Marines and was deployed to Afghanistan. Xiong's family said he worked as a vehicle mechanic in the Army and that he was expecting to be shipped overseas for a deployment early next year. On Thursday, Xiong was among about 300 soldiers in line, waiting for vaccinations and eye tests at the base's Soldier Readiness Center when he was shot and killed... ...Robert Xiong said his brother was one of 11 siblings, all children of Hmong refugees who settled in Minnesota. His father had fought the Communist insurgents in Laos during the Vietnam War, and the family eventually fled to Thailand where Kham Xiong was born. The family immigrated to Santa Barbara in 1984, and his father came to Minnesota in 1998 to find work. The family has lived in Minnesota ever since. More

Very interesting list from the New York Times. I think some of them are a little nitpicky ("do not announce your name"), but mostly good suggestions for what waiters should and should not do in restaurants. 1. Do not let anyone enter the restaurant without a warm greeting. 2. Do not make a singleton feel bad. Do not say, “Are you waiting for someone?†Ask for a reservation. Ask if he or she would like to sit at the bar. 3. Never refuse to seat three guests because a fourth has not yet arrived. 4. If a table is not ready within a reasonable length of time, offer a free drink and/or amuse-bouche. The guests may be tired and hungry and thirsty, and they did everything right. 5. Tables should be level without anyone asking. Fix it before guests are seated. 6. Do not lead the witness with, “Bottled water or just tap?†Both are fine. Remain neutral. 7. Do not announce your name. No jokes, no flirting, no cuteness. 8. Do not interrupt a conversation. For any reason. Especially not to recite specials. Wait for the right moment. 9. Do not recite the specials too fast or robotically or dramatically. It is not a soliloquy. This is not an audition. 10. Do not inject your personal favorites when explaining the specials. 11. Do not hustle the lobsters. That is, do not say, “We only have two lobsters left.†Even if there are only two lobsters left. 12. Do not touch the rim of a water glass. Or any other glass. 13. Handle wine glasses by their stems and silverware by the handles. 14. When you ask, “How’s everything?†or “How was the meal?†listen to the answer and fix whatever is not right. 15. Never say “I don’t know†to any question without following with, “I’ll find out.†16. If someone requests more sauce or gravy or cheese, bring a side dish of same. No pouring. Let them help themselves. 17. Do not take an empty plate from one guest while others are still eating the same course. Wait, wait, wait. 18. Know before approaching a table who has ordered what. Do not ask, “Who’s having the shrimp?†19. Offer guests butter and/or olive oil with their bread. 20. Never refuse to substitute one vegetable for another. 21. Never serve anything that looks creepy or runny or wrong. Part I Part II

She hosted SNL this weekend and took a couple of great shots at Kanye West toward the end of the monologue. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InehgXYKbg0&feature=player_embedded

Yes, because clearly it's important to preserve those good old conservative Somali values. I think I'd rather that teenage Somali boys were out knocking up teenage Somali girls than toting around AK-47s for a crazy frickin' militia.

Bob, I think all those people bought giant Cadillacs and moved to Florida, where they drive 35 mph in the passing lane.

At first, I read that as turbines with hearing problems. I was trying to figure out where we got a farm full of deaf windmills.

Hahaha...that's a great way of looking at it!

He's been taken off the ventilator, so it will be interesting to see what he says, if anything, when he's able to speak.And, thank God for all of us that Joe Lieberman is getting involved. Otherwise, no one would ever bother to investigate why Hasan shot up the place. 'Cause you know nothing ever happens unless some grandstanding politician begins demanding action. (sarcasm intended)

I was raised speaking redneck. Didn't learn to speak English until I was about seven or eight.

I've had it in my Netflix queue forever, but just never have gotten around to watching it. Is it any good?

Very cool. Those kinds of places are long gone in most parts of the US, I think.

Yes, they do...I remember the first item I ever purchased from Target was a floor lamp with pieces that weren't even machined properly so that they fit together. I kind of had to force them into place. Bulbs wouldn't last more than a few weeks in the thing, no matter what type or where I plugged it in. Finally junked it and bought one at Sears.

He may not have been crazy at all...cons are smart...or at least cunning...and he may have just taken a calculated risk that he thought would win him an acquittal or at least gotten him sent to a state hospital, where the time would go easier than a state prison. I could swear I've also seen some movie or television show, or maybe read a novel, in which the defendant did something very much like this to convince the judge that he was incompetent. Damned if I can remember the name, though.

I don't think any kid needs to be sentenced to life without for a non-violent crime, or for being involved in a violent crime if the kid isn't the one who committed the specific act (for example, a kid who was a look-out in an armed robbery in which a person was hurt). Studies have shown that our brains, including the centers that control decision-making, aren't fully formed until well into adolescence, so it's difficult to punish a kid for the rest of his life for a decision he made before he was even fully capable of making proper choices. However, and I realize this isn't a popular position, I also believe there are some kids who are just bad from the get-go, and we would be foolish not to protect ourselves from them. Their crimes will just continue to get worse and worse until they are killing people. Maybe we give those kids a couple of chances, then lock them up, at least until they've reached the end of their crime-producing years, which is typically in the mid-40s.

I'm not sure this kid is what they had in mind when they issued those recommendations. "Preadolescents and adolescents should avoid competitive weight lifting, power lifting, body building, and maximal lifts until they reach physical and skeletal maturity." He might not be exactly competing, but his muscular development is way beyond the norm. And physical effects aside, I wonder what the psychological repercussions are when you push a kid like this.

What does this term mean?

I wonder why that's surprising to the writer...prostitutes usually have very jaundiced feelings about men. It's a by-product of the life.

Wow...that's just wrong on soooo many levels.

I hated seeing my 20s go, but I always comforted myself with the thought that at least I was still only in my 30s. But once I turn 40, there is simply no doubt that I have reached middle age and my youth is gone. Scares me some.

I don't have any direct knowledge on this, but my guess would be that this is a factor.

Obviously, what's excerpted above is not the entire story. I forgot to include the link...but you can easily Google it.

I don't think you can ever overestimate the general stupidity of the human race.