Bob

I'll have some hope if and only when she's released from the current charges and is allowed to run in next year's elections. Without that, the ASEAN group might as well be smokin' yaba.

I also think that description is way off the mark. The comparison is simply wrong (or you have no clue what Pol Pot did and what Shinawatra did). As to your "dynasty" claim, how about one single shred of evidence (something that Shinawatra did or said, perhaps) to back up that off-the-wall claim? I doubt you'll produce it.

I'm going to explain it wrong but hope you get it anyway. The avatar is the "thingie" (technical term) that appears to the left of your posts. The front page here has something else - those aren't avatars there but called something else (maybe a photo or whatever....check your settings box and I suppose there's no reason that you can't make your photo and your avatar the same).

Just a term of endearment. Come to think of it, you know how you keep a turkey in suspense?

Well, keep reading and I'll eventually prove you wrong....hehe. So far, seems like a fairly friendly bunch around here. Probably a few cooks, couple of serial killers, etc., but friendly nonetheless.

I can understand your reservations....but the alternative is to do nothing and watch the prison population increase (3 or 4 years ago, the US overtook Russia as being the #1 modern country with the highest percentage of its adult population in prison). By the way, most 5th graders are perfectly fine.

I just tested the free wireless here at my condo in Chiangmai and it came in at 1 meg download and 0.5 meg upload (using the server in Bangkok to test). Not too bad for free and a hell of a lot better than what the hotel had. (nevertheless, I already signed up for the 3 meg asdl which is supposed to arrive in the morning).

Yea, I'd like to know that too. I do have a cable that connects my phone to my computer's USB port and I can download some music to the phone memory card (I think the one I have is a couple of gigs). But I've never tried it the other way (I don't know if I could transfer phone memory card data back to the computer or other internal phone data to the computer). Any geeks out there?

I'm with you, lvdkeyes. I've watched some of his movies and I simply don't find them amusing in the slightest. But, then again, I'd say the same thing about Jerry Lewis. [No offense to poster Mr. Bean - welcome aboard! And, if by the slightest chance you are actually "the" Mr. Bean, what can I say?]

And what about the story of the flooding that occurred at his new Texas presidential library where both books were destroyed! And GW was really pissed as he hadn't finished coloring one of them.

Lol. Obviously, the guy wasn't very well endowed......

I'd vote to use those dollars to go ask the fifth grade teachers to identify the screwed-up kids in their classrooms - and then have some intervention (psychological, family assistance, etc.) that'll help the kid not become a juvenile offender (and, later, an adult offender) in the first place. Intervention much after the age of 10-12 is pretty much a lost cause.

Actually, extremely sparingly. Yes, I stood right there and watched them cook it.....and hope I didn't look too stupid salivating a bit. It was delicious (but I'm a sucker for anything "banana" in it - my favorite being the banana honey milkshake. I'm lucky as I don't have to worry about weight issues (weigh about 185* at 6'1"). (*that's pounds, you turkeys, not kilos!)

Geesh. In this modern day and age, you'd think that they would have heard of alarm clocks! Makes me really want to fly Northworst.....not.

Hmmm....I'm confused. That, Khun Wino, makes no sense at all to me. Translation please?

And, of course, thermonuclear weapons... Looks like Mr. L and Mr. W are the post leaders at the moment. Since I'm not sure if I should do the "congrats" bit or the "shame on you" bit, I'll play it safe and say "congrats, you blabbermouths!" Don't worry, I'm no competition - nobody would want to listen to me 500 times (especially me!).

Hmmm....can I get any positive or negative points for being criminally insane? Just wondering (actually, that's not true - the little man in my television was asking me and I didn't know).

Elementary, my dear Somchai.....means "talks too much."

I still chuckle a bit every time I see the giant plastic Ronald doing the ol' "wai" at the entrance. Pretty silly in my view.

Frankly, he ain't got both oars in the water (he's a few fries short of a happy meal...).

I believe you're absolutely right about that. Most states long ago had their own versions of tort reform and it's much more difficult in many states these days to file or pursue a medical malpractice claim. In my state, for example, one must have an expert opinion in hand supporting the claim before one can even give notice that you intend to pursue a claim against a medical professional. I never handled a single medical malpractice case but I recall reviewing quite a few files for a law firm when I was clerking for them while I went to law school (many moons - moons as in "decades" - ago). What really surprised me about the review of those files is that there wasn't a single one where I (having zero medical background other than having watched Marcus Welby a few times...)knew better not to do what the doctor did. The doctors represented in the files I read ought to have had their licenses jerked and I didn't blame any of those particular plaintiffs for going after the particular defendant doctor. I remember one infamous/almost funny case where a #1 draft choice (Heisman winner, I believe) ended up suing the doctor for operating on the wrong knee. At trial, one of the pieces of evidence submitted to the jury was the Sports Illustrated cover page (which was sitting in the doctor's lobby area) which contained a photo of the draftee with a substantial wrap around the bad knee he had (rather than reading the medical file correctly, the surgeon could have just looked at the photo...hehe).

Given the strong opposition to the death penalty by a lot of people (most states in the US don't allow it), the appeals process is long and dragged out on the theory that it's better to be extremely careful in these cases than mistaken. Even with that, it's likely that at least a few people have been hung/fried/poisoned by the state that were not liable for the crime charged. The existence of a confession doesn't mean the guy did it but it's surely helpful where there is independent evidence to support the conviction. Eyewitness testimony also helps at times but is notoriously questionable (recollections from many memories are rather selective and faulty and we're too often susceptible to intentional or unintentional plantings that become "fact" to us). Personally, I see no point in having the death penalty. Regardless of one's moral point of view (I think eye-for-an-eye is dark ages stuff), there's no valid evidence that the death penalty serves as a deterent and it's significantly cheaper to just keep them in prison than to go through the cost of all of the appeals processes. Yea, some people deserve capital punishment.....but those who would administer such punishment ought to have a little more advanced thinking processes going on than to play that game (just my opinion).

For the kinky guy into S&M, the government will serve up a little "oh, that hurts so good!" for just lying a little about your sexual exploits? Wow, easy way to float your boat and it's almost free!

Just had some banana roti last night for desert (Garare food place near the night market in Chiangmai). Not sure if it's strictly a Thai desert but sure was tasty. Best way I can describe it is you make a very thin pancake and then fill that up with banana slices, wrap the pancake around that, and then continue to cook until the banana slices are hot. Then you slice it into somewhat bite-sized pieces. Optional coatings on top of coconut milk and chocolate (since I was thinking about watching my weight, I asked that only half be dribbled with chocolate.... ).

Lol. Sounds like you've been to the show at Simon Cabaret or Alcazar?