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I lived in Japan a few years myself. Unless you are a natural born citizen, forget it. Every move you make is a faux pas if you are a foreigner.

Yes, I can remember the old Thermae days, although I didn't start coming until the late 90's. There was a low cost Hotel near Robinson Shopping Center and Thermae was in the basement. The toilet had glass doors and ladies were hanging around to help. The female to male ratio was about 10 to 1 in the few times that I went. (the 10 to 1 ratio was about the same at the HELP disco in Rio where I used to go at about that time). Times are changing.

...then there is Jim Thompson, who disappeared

In LOS, Farangs with less than $6B have mysteriously jumped off high rises with their hands tied behind their backs.

You may have missed the gist of the movie. There is a great twist in the plot that gradually reveals itself. In the opening scene, the main character (John Travolta) is kneeling to be shot for Bosnian war crimes. He's the last one in the row of men to be shot in the back of the head. There is an executioner behind each man to be shot. The execution starts in sequence, but very quickly. When it is his turn, there is a long pause before the shot, and it gave him a chance to turn around to get a good look at his executioner. He somehow survives; and years later, after the war, he travels to USA to seek this "executioner" (De Niro). It looks like he's seeking revenge against the shooter during most of the movie but, as Travolta goes about trying to kill De Niro, it gradually dawns on him and to the audience that this "executioner" is the ARCHETYPICAL GOOD GUY and had actually saved his life by shooting him in the spot that would allow him to survive. That is the twist. I liked the movie --

I was under the impression that Vn is no place to look for girl friendly bars.

No place is safe if it is known that you have a lot of money. There are desperate about and they will take your money given the chance...but you know this, right?

I saw a couple of good movies recently with nice twists. On one, the twist gradually dawns on you; and on the other, it comes suddenly like a slap on the face. Killing Season (2013) w/ Robert De Niro and John Travolta and Odd Thomas (2013). [i love a movie with a good twist at the end ]

How is your liver doing? I was under the impression (based on your posts some months ago) that you only had a few yrs to live because of a liver problem. Your post here sounds like you are planning on living into old age,

OK, I got my numbers mixed up earlier. Lets try this one: Your riddle description says one sage [let's call him #1] sees the other two with blue hats. If Sage #1's hat was white, Sage #2 would see a blue hat on #3 and a white hat on #1. From this, Sage #2 could easily deduce that his hat was blue. Why? Because if his was white and #1's was white, #3 would see two white hats and immediately be sure his own was blue. (the riddle states that at least one is blue) Because Sage #3 did not stand up to announce that he had a blue hat, Sage #2 knew that his own hat must be blue. Sage #2 is the winner with the blue hat.

After arriving in USA from LOS one time, I had to put everything out on a large stainless steel table , including my dirty underwear , for inspection by customs officers. I had a fake Rolex that I bought in LOS at the time, but I was surprised to hear them say that I am allowed to bring in one fake Rolex. When they finished, they game me form to be fill out by me to evaluated their performance

Let's call the three sages Sage #1, Sage #2, and Sage #3, where Sage #1 is the winner. If Sage #1's hat was white, Sage #2 would see a blue hat on #3 and a white hat on #1. From this, Sage #2 could easily deduce that his hat was blue. Why? Because if his was white and #1's was white, #3 would see two white hats and immediately be sure his own was blue. Because Sage #2 did not stand up to announce that he had a blue hat, Sage #1 knew that his own hat must be blue.

The article states : "On paper, they will ask, 'Have you been threatened by other people?' And let's say you say, 'Yes.' Then it would be harder for you to get a gun, because they will know you are actually going to use that to kill someone," Polpatr says. Being threatened by other people is a good reason to have a gun, not the other way around. Where I live in the USA they will not ask this question if you just want to buy a gun. However, if you want a special license to carry a concealed pistol, they will ask for a justification. And your justification may be that you have been threatened by other people and you need to carry a concealed weapon to defend yourself, So this rule in LOS is opposite to what you find in USA.

Source?

Beautiful bass...art at its finest http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=54dgsB7iYEc

I use a free online wifi security utility called "shields up" https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 to give me a little peace of mind. As for password to my accounts, I always turn off the remember passwords option on the browser for security.

That is amazing I bet not even an average Laotian is capable of that, but I recall, from reading your posts over the years, that you like eating exotic foods.

Maybe they were just trying to strike up a conversation by saying things like "so, you are buying eggs now. I have never seen you buy eggs during the many years that i have known you." Something in that vein may have been what they had in mind but because of language differences or difficulties, it fell short. Tone counts a lot -- was it said nicely or in a mean tone? I get it all the time but in a friendly tone.

Have you tried going to your laptop manufacturer's website and see if there are any driver updates such as the wifi controller and check their forums for problems similar to yours?

....Sadly, the truth revealed could include a corrupt court, among others.

This story remind me of General Westmoreland vs Mike Wallace for his coverage of him during the VN War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westmoreland_v._CBS But here's the thing, if the Journalist has the facts to back up his story then the truth may be revealed in the courts.

Sad to say, I had a nightmarish experience w/ one in Pattaya while walking near 2nd St: A stray dog approached me from behind and started rubbing its body on the lower part of my pants. I thought it was showing affection at first But then I noticed a white stain on my pants leg in the area where it had been rubbing. It tuned out, the dog had a large open wound. And it was using me to scrape the puss from it.

I see what you're getting at but my statement would still apply if the passengers aren't answering because the captors have taken their phones (scenerio). Your logic is flawed. (If one is able to answer a call, it would be news.)

It seems resonable to assume that the relatives/friends have been calling their cell phones but none of the passengers are answering.

The recent mass killing in China was a "simple religous nutjob event" to use your words. I recalled reading that Muslims were involved.