Coss

For a contrast on police shootings, read about someone getting shot by Police in NZ. 1st he had a gun. 2nd " we heard two gunshots" not two hundred, two and then, 'stand down, stand down', you know, stop.... LINK

Vast Brides, why I'm cautious about thinking of going to 'merica. and a telling portrait of wannabe brides looking towards South East Asia, where their men are

merely engaging to stimulate debate

well... I would beg to differ, house, progressive or nay, is really a progression from disco. And where it once took a whole band to make, it can now be made on an iPad. Bronski Beat's cover of I Feel Love springs to mind.

Footage on the TV appears to show, 2~3 cops having to lift, an already incapacitated young man from the ground, before placing him in the van. I would suggest that any injury, is already in place by the time he is handcuffed.

"lots of good music emerging all the time" I don't disagree, but it's not a new kind of music. "Disco" for example is not a rehash of a similar genre from a previous time. "Rock and Roll" is not something that existed before and was reinvented for the masses in the 50's and 60's. Music these days can be very good, but I haven't heard anything "New" for a long time, it's all the same genres and styles from the 20th century. Despite the attempts with Dumb and Basser.

I wonder if Mid West Christians are gonna try and kidnap kids, under the guise of rescue. I wonder if NGOs are gonna say there's an army of pedophiles stealing youngun's for bouncy bouncy.

How unfortunate for you...

"Stand by me" = music

It's True, what YimSiam said,1993 they stopped making new music, it all got recycled from then on in. You only have to look at the rise of the DJ, a species whose fame is measured by the ability to "mix" other people's music together, to see this. Look at Kanye West ffsake, where is the originality? And Hipity Hopity, or Rap or such, is not music, it's beat poetry, it's performance, its angst for angry young people, but it's not music, any more than a pile of dog shit is art. Show me a new Rock n Roll, show me a new Disco, show me a new New Romantics. Nope 1993 was the year the music stopped. Someone once tried to explain the genres of Dub and Bass and Bass and Dub and so on to me, I tried to explain that I could whack some of that out in 15 minutes using Reason and a laptop or an iPad, they didn't understand, they were young, they thought they'd invented everything.

This is a tragedy.

Mass grave of 'boat people' found in southern Thailand AFP BANGKOK: -- Around 30 graves believed to belong to migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh were discovered Friday in southern Thailand, officials said, in an area criss-crossed with trafficking routes. The grave site was found in Sadao district of Songkhla province at an abandoned camp for 'boatpeople' who had apparently been trafficked to Thailand's border area with Malaysia, a zone notorious for housing remote camps for trafficked migrants. "There are 32 graves, four bodies have now been exhumed and are on their way... to hospital to for an autopsy," Sathit Thamsuwan a rescue worker, who was at the scene soon after the site was found, told AFP. "The bodies were all decayed," he said, adding a single man from Bangladesh survived and is being treated at a hospital in nearby Padang Besar. The local hospital confirmed the Bangladeshi man had survived and was in a stable condition. The grisly discovery of the grave was also confirmed by a senior official from Sadao. "There are more than 20 graves," he said, requesting anonymity. "Military and border patrol police have now cordoned the area off so we can bring forensic officials to the site." Tens of thousands of migrants from Myanmar -- mainly from the Rohingya Muslim minority -- and increasingly from Bangladesh make the dangerous sea crossing to southern Thailand, a well worn trafficking route often on the way south to Malaysia and beyond. Thousands of Rohingya -- described by the UN as one of the world's most persecuted minorities -- have fled deadly communal unrest in western Myanmar's Rakhine state since 2012. Thailand has been criticised in the past for pushing boatloads of Rohingya entering Thai waters back out to sea and for holding migrants in overcrowded facilities. The ruling junta says it has taken significant steps to combat trafficking since June, when the United States dumped Thailand to the bottom of its list of countries accused of failing to tackle modern-day slavery. In January, Thai authorities confirmed more than a dozen government officials -- including senior policemen and a navy officer -- are being prosecuted for involvement or complicity in human trafficking. via Thai Visa

BANGKOK: -- A mass graveyard near the Thai Malaysian border in Padang Besar district of Songkhka was found today by Thai authorities. The graveyard buried the decomposed bodies of 33 people, believed to be Rohinya migrants. The finding came after Thai border authorities were alerted by a Malaysian national that a large graveyard was found near the Padang Besar border. Police and district officials went to inspect the area and found 33 tombs where the bodies were buried. Another decomposed body was also lied at the area and was not yet buried. Investigations later revealed that earlier the area was used by some 200-300 Rohinya migrants who smuggled into the country, and lived there. Villagers said these migrants died of sickness and some died in fighting after having quarrels among themselves. However as the authorities arrived at the area today, the area was left vacant and all Rohingya migrants had escaped, believed to cross into Malaysian border. Royal Thai Police commissioner Pool Gen Somyot Phumphanmuang confirmed the graveyard finding but said it was used as a detention centre by human traffickers. Source: http://englishnews.t...alaysian-border via Thai Visa

Greece Invents Democracy, Economy Fails 3 Mar 2015 EURO ZONE – In an indisputable demonstration of karma, the nation of Greece has gone bankrupt a mere 2,500 years after it created the evil known as democracy. Pericles, the source of Greek economic failure. “There can be no doubt that the two events are related,†explained Dr Pongsivat Dharalongsivat, professor of the Faculty of Buddhist Theology at Thammasat University. “In creating this idea that one man should have one vote, regardless of his social standing or internal moral merit, the Greeks essentially rejected all morality and invited chaos into their world. Now, the descendants of Pericles are paying the price for the misdeeds of their forefathers.†Dr Pongsivat further stressed that the Greek population’s decision to overthrow the Council of Aeropagus in favor of directly electing the strategoi and handling differences in the Assembly was a “blasphemous repudiation of wise elites in favor of uneducated anarchy†which inevitably led to the amassing of public debt and the collapse of the banking system twenty-five centuries later. The inevitable result of letting uneducated people vote. “For all those so-called experts around the world pressuring nations to adopt democracy, I would suggest they look at this Greek tragedy and learn its obvious lesson,†he continued. “I mean, what else has Greece accomplished in this time? Nothing I can think of.†Link

Not forgetting the Lao

This is a good site http://earthquaketrack.com/p/papua-new-guinea/recent

My first visit to the Philippines, when I left, the armed guards at the Manila airport, who prevent the locals getting inside, barred my entry and said "wannbyabudge" , which translates as "do you want to buy a badge', 500 pesos for a 'genuine' Police Badge. My current badge says my name is Stillwater

Nope, not a good idea, unless he is a born and raised in LOS kind a guy, in which case more power to him. Most likely he is another of these tourist cop wannabes who has somehow managed to join the real police. That is if he is real. I've seen some wonderful costumed Farangs in Pattaya over the years, including one guy who dressed as a 6 foot gold alms offering tree, like you'd find in a temple, and proceeded around Patters on a bicycle.

What Kong said, moderate income becomes small income in 10 years time, in 20 years its pitiful.

"The trial of two Myanmar migrants accused of murdering two British tourists last year is set to resume Thursday on Koh Samui in Surat Thani province. Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun are charged with murdering David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, on Sai Ree beach on the neighbouring island of Koh Tao on Sept 15. They also are charged with raping Witheridge. The case has drawn much international attention, and various observers have accused the Thai authorities of framing the Myanmar men, both 21, and organising a cover-up after members of a local organised-crime gang were implicated. Defence and prosecution lawyers at Thursday's hearing are expected to update the court as to the progress of preparing witnesses, the Democratic Voice of Burma reported. The court is also expected to consider the recent requests by the defence team that physical evidence be re-examined by the Ministry of Justice's Central Institute of Forensic Science, and for more information provided regarding the process of DNA analysis. Thai police nevertheless remain confident that DNA evidence will prove the Myanmar pair are guilty. Results of an investigation by British police from Scotland Yard were never made public, but the families of the two murdered Britons have reportedly been in contact with British authorities and say they are convinced Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun are guilty. A lawyer representing the migrants told DVB in October that the pair told their legal team and members of the Myanmar embassy that they were tortured into giving confessions. Meanwhile, some 100 Myanmar migrant workers joined a workshop on Koh Tao on Monday and Tuesday to discuss migrant rights. Participants in the workshop, organised by the Migrant Worker Rights Network (MWRN) and the Human Rights and Development Foundation, on Tuesday set out an eight-point list of demands to Thai authorities, including: regular pay for migrant workers; the opening of a Myanmar migrant passport centre; preventing police and officials from acting above the law; and conformity to labour regulations. A letter with the demands was handed over to the Koh Tao municipal chief on Tuesday. "I believe that organising networks here will be very helpful in promoting the rights of migrants," said a Myanmar organiser of the event. "Many migrants on the island live in fear. They do not know their rights and are afraid of the authorities." Some 4,000 Myanmar nationals work on Koh Tao. Organisers said most did not attend the workshop because they feared repercussions from the local police. One attendee told DVB: "Previously, I would have been afraid to come to a workshop like this. But if both migrant workers and officials are aware of and respect labour rights, this island will be a safer and better place for us." Andy Hall, a British activist working on migrants' issues for the MWRN, said, "I have been to this island many times in assisting (Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun) during the hearings in the murder case. During that time, I have learned more and more about the plight of migrant workers on this island which is so popular among foreign tourists.""

Go on then, tell us why he is unpopular. It's commonly accepted good form, to post a link at the very least, or more politely, to quote the relevant missive and source, in order to make one's post more fulsome and user friendly. Just flinging a photo and a random assertion into a post, is trolling.

Lucky Them 2013 - a gem, Toni Collette is her usual interesting self, Thomas Haden Church plays a dick so well, you come to like him, worth a watch. Interesting cameo. Unbroken 2014 - as noted earlier above, good movie, worth a watch

I've always wanted to be a 'Suit" but I can't find a rich Chinese to hire me...

Banker warns of dire effect on economy if fishing ban is enforced A leading banker is warning of the possible banning of Thailand’s fishery products by the European Union will have a dire effect on the country’s economy. Banthoon Lamsam, chairman and chief executive officer of Kasikorn Bank, stated that the main problems facing the country at the moment are the economy, civil aviation industry and the fisheries sector. But the last of which will require immediate attention as fishing standards, especially for boat crews, lags behind international standards which may result in the EU banning fishery products. If so, this action will have an adverse affect on the country’s economy as in every year Thailand exports vast amounts of fishery products. He advises that both the private and government sectors coordinate to resolve the problem to avoid an economic crisis that could cripple the country. Meanwhile the Department of Harbour is coordinating with the relevant departments to solve the problem of human trafficking which is the root complaint of illicit human trade by western countries. Nat Japjai, the deputy director-general of the Harbour Department, stated that they were coordinating with all the relevant government departments to quickly solve the problem of human trafficking which is the main point of contention with western nations and could possibly result in the EU yellow carding the country’s fishery products. First to be tackled will be the stricter regulating and monitoring of all fishing vessels which will require them to be registered with the Harbour Department. The deputy director-general revealed that the department will be foregoing inspection fees for vessels not exceeding 20 gross tons and new criteria will be formulated for the issuance of crew’s papers to address the problem of illegal workers. He admitted that in the past counterfeit papers were widely used by fishing vessels but the problem is now being looked after by the Department for Special Investigations (DSI) and there should be a dramatic reduction in the foreseeable future. LINK ______________________________________________________ Whilst one, like Bubi, is not qualified to comment on matters in LOS, because I am not being able to understand Thai-ness, because I was only having been married to ex-wife of Thai persuasion for 20 years and because I may care about what happens to LOS, I do feel moved to comment on the above journalistic missive, and suggest pertinent points that may not have occurred to the gentle reader, without my altruistic prodding, all done with the most caring and sharing and supportive intentions. 1. Thai government (such as it is, Military rulership) is seeking to avoid massive, massive monetary loss, for the Thai economy, by beginning to actually address, the issue of Slavery on fishing vessels. This is something that has been going on for a long time and well known to the world and Thais alike, but because there has been no impending massive, massive monetary loss, the Thais have been quite happy to keep face intact, ignore Slavery and pocket massive, massive profits. 2. Tourism, is not going as well as it could be, despite graphs and statements from TAT showing near vertical arrival and spending growth, the facts are that Tourism is hobbling along from one problem to the next, and value for money, is no longer present. 3. Thai airlines (severally), with old planes, nepotistic over staffing, the usual corruption, is seeing a real threat to continued revenue over safety concerns, this is important not just because some routes or new routes may not be allowed, but that if the travelling public get an idea that Thai planes are not safe, they'll fly with someone else, for decades. 4. There have been no recent pronouncements on the rice market, but the previous government heads, are being held to task, the financial loss to the country, is massive. It's not all beer and skittles in the rice trade. - Western Nations have long regarded Thailand like the little sibling, who pays lip service to the rules and being a sibling is not seriously punished as it grows up, but there comes a time when the sibling is old enough to bear the consequences of flouting the rules. Thailand has no sense of being a sibling, but rather regards itself as 1st nation, unfortunately held back in all things by Westerners who are jealous of all that is Thai. The unfortunate concept of face, is extremely detrimental to a nation, that is desirous of being a full member, of a modern world.