unblocktheplanet

Anybody out there using Usenet? Suggestions for a good one, please.

Almodovar's The Skin I'm In is an outstanding twister!

VLC (free) plays anything if anyone is having trouble playing in any format.

Yeah, the misery heroin can cause and all that. In UK, it's still legal for addicts on prescription and they're functioning in society, not homeless thieves for their next fix. How about the misery caused by those legal drugs, alcohol & tobacco. Why are they legal? Because...capitalism. I feel sorry for the old codger. Perhaps he was set up or perhaps he's just stupid. I hope he gets sent back to Latvia where he may have people who love him.

Local Netflix has mostly Thai heartbreakers and older Hollywood movies, thanks to intellectual property. My take is information just wants to be free. So I get my content the old-fashioned way. Binge-watch a lot. Others?

Makro is one of the worst offenders for plastics! Yes, we reuse for trash, of course, but we can keep up with the constant new bags.

I just joined Palestine Action Group.

If nonviolent direct action is terrorism, then I stand with the terrorists. 17 trials against 80 Palestine Action Group members. I hope they do more to point out the UK's tolerance--read complicity and profit--for Israel's war machine. So which is the terrorist??? Snipers who kill hungry civilians waiting for food or a few people with sledgehammers?

Paul John claims to be a single malt. I've not tried it but it's hardly the only Indian single malt out there. I have tried two different Indian tequilas: Desmondji 100% Agave and Maya Pistola. Neither are as good as any Mexican reposado, even the most basic. But all we get here is Patron which is really ho-hum. Then again, I'm a fish not a ficionado. Actually, my favourite local tipple is still Mekong. Ridiculously expensive but much smoother and less sweet than Sang Som or Hong Thong. I like it when the label had no English!

Anybody tried Nevermind on Soi 48. German place, been meaning to get there. Still looking for beautiful rye bread like Bei Otto.

Yep, nothing so satisfying as a plastic bag fire on a cold Bangkok night! Well, tires burn longer... Does anybody know if there are scavengers / recyclers at Thai rubbish dumps?

Seniors are half price but only if off-hours 9am-4pm and 8pm to 12am.

I've tried most of them on the Sukhumvit line. Approach with confidence. Only once had I been asked to produce my pink card. Been hassled twice. The first time, at Phrom Pong, I was stupid and gave up my card--B300. NEVER DO THIS! Hang onto your card. I'm quite prepared to hang out until the tourist police arrive. It would be big news if a foreigner were busted for 'theft of services'. Yeah, a night in the hoosegow and a judge laughing this out of court. Would the BTS lawyers even show up? That would 'show them up'! You may not be as much of a radical extremist as I but that's the only way to effect change. After all, the MTR sees no problem. Pick a station outside tourist zones for purchase & top-up. Not Ekamai, Thonglor, Phrom Pong, Asok, Nana, Ploenchit, Chidlom, Siam, maybe Chatuchak. The rest should be fine. Don't give up your card and they will back down. Caveat: you may run into a rulesy BTS employee or someone having a bad day. Or maybe a BTS crackdown. It won't last.

Okay, I admit it. I'm a plastic bag junkie. Easy, lazy. Great for rubbish. But I've got a lot of guilt about it. I carry a Makro heavy plastic bag wherever I go. In fact, I'm having a strap repaired at the sewing lady. But even Makro puts everything in plastic bags. Microplastics and forever chemicals in all life, not only humans but down to the tinest creatures. What are others doing about this?

Wait! Is mullet a term for foreskin?

Thank God they're banning circumcision! Much more fun with the whole she-bang.

The life of any village anywhere is in its market and temple. And they're fun. Going there makes you known as a decent person. That's what respect is. What do you call respect? If you're an elder, do you want to sit at those tables at Songkran so villagers can pour lustral water over yours hands? Or do you want to be the fun guy who throws water with the kids. I try to do both!

I do get a senior card on BTS, because I have a pink card. And I often am offered the senior seat, and give it up for someone in more need. Maybe you're not being Thai enough.

I've also filed mine at the two hospitals I use regularly. Good idea if their doctors are your witnesses.

Anybody who thinks the US government is for good are total ignorant fools. Surprise attack. Anybody here remember Pearl Harbor? And why just American boys? Don't Iranians have fathers, husbands, sons? Not to mention inevitable civilian casualties. Yeah, casual killing. The goal is not nuclear non-proliferation. The goal is the 2017 Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, a UN treaty signed by all countries except the nuclear states. If you want a nuclear world, why should the US have nukes but Iran not? Equal opportunity annihiliation! The South African apartheid government was afraid of Blacks having the bomb. So they dismantled their entire nuclear programme. They've been the only country to do so. It's time for all countries to get rid of world-destroyers. These are WMDs, these are the end of life on earth.

You could say I've lost the thread, ahem. So kind bloke who's already done this gave me pointers to an RO system he uses at home. This one, joined with this one which still needs a post-carbon water filter plus UV for best results. More questions. The first of these wants me to pick pipe diameter. How do I do this? Which of these post-carbon filters fit best into the two above? And which UV filter? It was mentioned that the UV filter needs to be on a separate switch. That sounds like manual turn on, turn off. And I'm the guy who loses the thread! Are there not UV systems which turn on when the water flows and off when it stops? How much space does this set-up require? How much would a real plumber charge to set this up? Thank you. Sorry to be so dense...

There are certainly ban sao in the four Southern provinces, fully stocked. What's interesting to me has always been that sex workers anywhere in Thailand are not working in their own areas. Thus, the sex workers ub the South are mostly from Isaan and, no, they are not halal.

Once you get to see a specialist in a govt hospital, get them to refer you to the next specialty you need. There are lazy docs & those who just don't have your chemistry or long-term interests in mind. Second opinions are harder here. I use Chula but it's a zoo. Few farang have the patience.

Language considerably harder than Thai.

I looked after a friend in a coma for a year maybe a decade ago. It was a rehab hospital in the Bangkok sticks. Yep, price negotiable except on meds.