55Jay

18 hours ago, daboyz1 said:

What's up with the blurred photo?

Have a look through these. 

I've little doubt OP's wife and cousin were singled out being the only black folks in queue.  Moreso when they put their Kenyan passports on the check in desk. 

Another thing with some (not all) of these airline employees on check-in desk duty, is they lack experience and confidence when it comes to knowing/applying destination visa requirements for various nationalities, and moreover, the threat of personal accountability if they let one slip through the net.  They compensate for it by being suspicious and officious.

My wife's passport (Thai) always gets a thorough vetting anytime we fly out of Swampy for destinations beyond Asia.  When flying to the US, her valid US visit visa is plain as day on the passport page, but some of the check in girls are still hesitant to make a decision, while others are confident and we sail right through.  I would also say, generally speaking, airline check in staff's demeanor toward my Mrs. during this process is more polite and respectful when we fly 1st or business class compared to the times we've flown premium or regular economy.

6 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

Wife and I spend about 6 weeks every year in Madeira, and I can assure you that most of the people were there for the party, not for some religious belief....

The accident happened in Monte, 1.000m above Funchal, wonderful view, and starting point of levada walks and the famous but very touristy toboggan run.

Catholic girls had quite a reputation when I was growing up. 

The Mormons were even better. 

OP:  If you've gone 40 odd years in Thailand without visiting the Northeast. 

And you still have to ask.....

Then no, might as well continue giving it a miss. 

Moreover, it'll spare us scrolling through the thread you would create after the trip, moaning about how bad it was.

Celebrating the Assumption into heaven.  How ironic. 

Is there no Lonely Planet book for Thais?

Not that many years ago, saw a detailed study by some Thai University up North, fleshing out Thailand's watershed system - starting at the top of the country on down to the Gulf, and the NE quadrant to the Mekong.  That, to me, seemed like the type of product (or one like it) the gov't could use to approach water management, flood mitigation, and (agricultural) irrigation projects in a logical, comprehensive manner. 

But every year we seem to lurch from crisis to crisis, drought to flood, flood to drought, like it's the first time all over again.  

Surely, after all these decades of accumulated experience and knowledge of Thailand's watershed, there exists a comprehensive, coordinated management and mitigation plan based on science, technology and engineering.   And the good efforts I, and others, have seen in recent dry seasons in our respective provinces and Amphur regions, are part of a 15-year national strategy.  The Big Picture.  The Master Plan. 

Edit: And that's not taking the piss really.  Even the best laid plans will fail in unusually extreme situations, even in my own country.  But routinely?  Every year? 

How did anyone notice that without someone pointing at it? 

3 minutes ago, baboon said:

I know the chap as well as you do...

However I do believe that they won't attack the United States first.

I believe the same thing, which makes the answer to my question a "no".

On 8/13/2017 at 0:17 AM, baboon said:

Because that is what you want to see. In which direction should the DPRK test their rockets: Directly over South Korea? Over the Chinese or Russian mainlands? Or over the vast expanse of ocean to their east?

 

In your opinion, is KJU a trustworthy guy?  Can we take him at his word?

On the other side of the coin, Bangkokians try to get the hell OUT of Bangkok at the weekend.

More wishy washy Asian nonsense.  The "relevant" side is the one who's blathering on about shooting missiles at the Eastern Pacific, Guam, in addition to the ones he's already sent toward Japan.  I'm sure that's what Xi was referring to. 

Have heard plenty of times that winds cutting through gorges like the area the crash site is, are unpredictable and dangerous condition on its own, much less trying to hover a helo well above the target and attempting a heavy lift.  That vehicle, filled with water, is multitudes heavier, obviously, and the constant force of that powerful river, as seen in the YT video ^ would be acting on the vehicle, trying to sweep it away down river soon as it frees from the bottom, or whatever its lodged on holding it in place at the moment... pulling on the helicopter with all that combined water weight and force. 

I'm no helo pilot or a crane lift man (I'm sure there are some here on TVF though) but I can suss out this isn't a simple task, exacerbated by the bad weather conditions up there.  Sorry the parents are grieving but if the rescue guys could have done it, they would have by now.

7 seconds on Google gets you a bird's eye view of a major Thai airbase - the PNG is higher resolution than this JPEG version.  I know it's not the point but instead of "droning" on about confidentiality and blubbering about secret anti-drone weapons,  just say it's a safety issue and leave it at that. 

It's the date for the next election.  5/3/2028  

1 hour ago, wvavin said:

Is air pollution still a news in this country?

 

A useful distraction when people are knee deep in flood waters. 

1 hour ago, webfact said:

And a handy donation box was also set up on a table

Mystery solved. 

Improvement?  Maybe.  Maybe not. 

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I'm not sure. Maybe trump is exhausted and has enough self awareness that he isn't presidential material. Maybe he'll let Kelly more or less BE president. Stranger things have happened in U.S. history. 

I agree, but his exhaustion is, as we've seen, short lived.  Trump is said to thrive on the action - creating a mess then acting decisively to "fix" it.  A predictable cycle at this point, IMO.

Going along with sacking of The Mooch is a demonstration of support to the new Chief of Staff, but it's short-lived.  Trump won't last long.  He can't. 

Gen Kelly isn't a cure for this strain of organizational cancer, and the magic wand he's been given is powerless against the bizzarro situation with Trump's kids and family in there as close, personal advisors; usurping policy and strategy at the dinner table with Dad, over two scoops of ice cream.  It just doesn't work.

My guess is Gen Kelly will have a go for a while, do "some" good but will eventually reach an impasse with Trump, and resign in quiet disgust.

Ah Marko, writing was on the wall a few months ago when she and her kid went on your holiday down South.... without you.  

6 hours ago, webfact said:

She said she opened her front door and told the animal to leave

8 hours ago, cincytwboy said:

My experience, I just walked in and told to teller that their Union debit card sucks and I wanted a VISA debit card instead. The teller just smiled and replaced it with a VISA one promptly, no questions asked.

First time, me too.  I did give the UP card a try for a weekend, then took it back and got another Visa (Rabbit).  This time they were hard over on the UP card, and I wasn't in the mood to argue with the little pin head that day.   I'm going back to the branch on Monday with a bit more resolve.

True democracy in action.  Mob rules.