Docno

For those who are applauding the police officer's behaviour (i.e., putting the suspect in an extended chokehold after he had seemingly surrendered with the apparent aim of rendering him unconscious), below is a photo of Eric Garner, who died in NYC under similar circumstances. People forget how deadly chokeholds can be, especially if the person has other substances in their system.

I expect the rates of migraines, back pain, anxiety, and insomnia to skyrocket as a result 🙂

And in other news: A Malaysian academic has sparked a heated debate online by claiming Malaysia’s natural landscapes are “400 times more beautiful” than Thailand’s. ( ) Can't make this stuff up. I hope the Thai authorities won't stand by idly and let this upstart Malaysian academic besmirch their fine shores! 🙂

Literacy rate is just part of the problem in this part of the world. Just because you are technically literate when you leave school, doesn't mean you do anything of value with it. My wife is literate (in multiple languages), but she hasn't read a book since finishing school (sure, she can read Facebook comments). I got her to read one book earlier this year (The Outsider/Stranger by Camus, no less - and she enjoyed it), but she just doesn't have an interest in books. They were made aversive to her by her school experience, and her parents never read to her nor bought her books as a child. This also needs to change. (I've started buying books for her 9 year old nephew, and we have the parents making him read before he can play computer games... let's see if that can maintain momentum).

She did say 'kop khun kap' at one point in the video... 😁

Come try it in Singapore... (hint: there's no office at the airport where you can just pay an overstay fine before leaving)

Interesting ... I've have about a half dozen t-shirts with various images of the Buddha (plus Ganesh etc). Where did I buy them? In Thailand. Being sold openly in markets in Chiang Mai etc. Hmmm...

"the British man found himself forcibly thrown into the back of a pickup truck." Thrown??? I wish there was video of that!

Guess you must think you win every argument ... "if there's no evidence for my claim, there must be a cover-up"

Consider your words 'marked' ... now how do we verify if your prediction/assertion is true?

You don't understand what 'domesticated' means. These are captive elephants. They are not domesticated. Domestication is a long process that involves selective breeding over many generations. That's how we turned wolves into dogs ... over thousands of years. Elephants have not been selectively bred long enough (if at all!) to be considered 'domesticated'. [Also note that true domestication usually also results in incidental changes to physical features ... we don't see this in captive elephants].

I suspect this was not his first head injury...

Getting things tossed out on procedural grounds is usually much faster (and easier) than trying to fight the criminal allegations themselves, especially if things are murky on either side. Of course, it doesn't clear your reputation, but that may not be his priority at the moment.

Having worked as a civilian member of a national police force with over 15,000 police officers, I know politics is 'part of life' (as in any organisation). But the people I knew and worked with (up to very senior ranks) all cared about their role in society and the reputation of the force. That was part of the work culture too ... pride in the uniform, etc. Sure, there would be minor political jostling, but it never came close to a clown show like this. A hell of a lot needs to change here...

Yes, I said Buddhism doesn't posit a creator god. But that doesn't disqualify it from being a religion. It asserts that there is a non-material, meta-physical world inhabited by multiple gods as well as heavens and hells. That makes it a religion. Just not an Abrahamic religion.