Baloo22

Oh great, the 'blame the media' group is out again. None are so blind as those who will not see.

im a Brit so dont really care who wins, but if we are talking lies here , i have never heard such a bias news channel as fox , which has pushed me away from that romney guy , who seems to be a clone of GWB IMHO, ...and i feel that any national news channel that was so obviously bias would be banned in the UK.

Then I guess you would be banning the BBC (Bent Broadcasting Corporation)! A few months ago I was watching them do a segment on Mitt Romney. The BBC mouthpiece spewed her crap for a while and then they went for some "unbiased" commentary from an American source; Debbie Wasserman-Shultz.

Of course, BBC neglected to inform their viewers that Debbie Wasserman Shultz is the chairperson of the Democrat National Committee! And I'm positive that the editors at BBC knew exactly who Debbie Wasserman Shultz was and that the failure to inform viewers was deliberate. BBC is as biased and crooked as any American media, if not more! They just do it with a different accent!

Next BBC will do a segment on Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and for more "unbiased" commentary, they will turn to Mr. Tony Abbott! Then they will show some photos of slain Egyptian Iraqi Syrian bodies (as evidence of war crimes), aw heck; who cares where the photo came from, it suits our purpose, so put it up! We're BBC! And we're counting on you to be stupid enough to believe us!

Positive things, IMO: MUCH cheaper rents, better variety of places to rent, different food, quite delicious, proximity to mountains and rivers, lots of good day trips, less traffic than Bangkok, especially away from city center, etc. But for me, really, the air pollution is an absolute show-stopper.

Is the pollution bad all year, or just during the burning season?

Just during the smoky season around February and March. Other than those times, the air quality seems pretty good to me.

I arrived here in Chiang Mai early March this year and many days you could barely see the sun. Some days were so bad my eyes would be burning after a short time outside. And it was even worse further north in Chiang Rai. They had multiple airline flights into Chiang Rai cancelled because of the smoke "haze". It started to clear up the first part of April.

I've met a few residents here that always plan trips and vacations specifically during that Feb-Mar timeframe. I have already made plans to be elsewhere by the start of February 2013.

We have been through this before and recovered. We will recover from this also. In August 1955, two hurricanes hit the NE states within days of each other. First, Hurricane Connie and then, four days later, Hurricane Diane. Here are a few excerpts from Wikipedia on those two storms.

---Hurricane Connie, August 1955---

"As Connie progressed northward, it continued to drop significant amounts of precipitation. Totals of over 10 in (250 mm) were reported on both sides of the Chesapeake Bay, in Pennsylvania, and in southeastern New York. The highest precipitation related to Connie was 13.24 in (336 mm) at Fort Schuyler. Rainfall also extended as far west as Michigan and as far east as Maine. Across the northeastern United States, high rainfall from the hurricane resulted in disastrous flooding, along with Diane which moved ashore four days after Connie; this was due to unusually moist air across the region, which resulted from above average water and air temperatures. Many areas were in drought conditions before the flooding."

"Hurricane Connie brought the heaviest rain seen in New York in over 50 years during its passage, dropping 5.32 in (135 mm) in New York City within a 20 hour span.[7] Large areas of the city, including subways, were flooded and many residents were left without power. At least seven people were killed in various incidents across the state."

---Hurricane Diane, August 1955---

"... Diane added six to sixteen inches of rain on areas already sodden from Connie, leading to extensive flooding in northern Virginia, Maryland, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, southern New York, and southern New England. The storm caused about 200 deaths."

"When Diane brought heavy rain through New England, flooding was immediate and devastating. Compounding the problem was the fact that Diane was, and still remains, the wettest tropical cyclone on record for the Northeast. Many small rivers rose above their banks from mountain run-off and flooded towns throughout New England. Flood records were numerous throughout the northeast, and damage was high. Many areas in Connecticut were flooded once more, including Putnam, Winsted and Waterbury, as well as East Granby, where a former housing subdivision sitting where Grandbrook Park is today was completely swept away by the floodwaters."

"At a creek near Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, fifty people drowned when they were unable to escape the rising water. An estimated 184–200 people died because of the direct effects of Diane (on top of the 25 killed by Connie).

Will also go take a squiz, is it near Pro Language by any chance? I will go and check both places out later this week

I'm not sure, but I think Pro Language is on Nimmanhaemin Road. To get to Powerhouse Gym:

Go NW along Huay Kaew Road, turn left onto Nimmanhaemin Road. Going south on Nimmanhaemin, you turn right onto Soi 6. The turn is just prior to a bank and a Tesco Express. Continue on Soi 6 passing Empire Residence and Punna Residence on your left. Just after Punna Residence, take a left. That brings you into Punna Place "shopping center". (If you run into the statue of the 3-headed Elephant, you've gone too far, turn around.) There is a number of restaurants and other shops there. Powerhouse Gym is at the southern end of Punna Place.

This http://www.mapjack.com/?mWcyUrPWac5E shows Soi6 (circa 2009?) from Nimmanhaemin Road. The building with all the green tarps is all finished now. It's Empire Residence and today you would be looking right at Tesco Express and the bank right on the corner of the building.

Jeez. Its a gym. Thats all. Why all the heartache and worry. Theres loads of gyms in Chiang Mai!!!

Really? How many quality gyms (reasonably well equipped and well maintained) can you name?

Powerhouse Gym. It is located in Punna Place on Soi 6, Nimmanhaemin Road. Been going there about 7 months now. Clean and well-managed gym. It located here.

Do there staff have knowledge of which exercise for the different parts of the body and are they willing to help you.

They have both regular staff there that basically operate the place and they also have personal training staff available there. Several of them speak excellent English. I've seen them working with both Thai and Falang customers. I do not know their qualifications or what they charge for personal training.

Jeez. Its a gym. Thats all. Why all the heartache and worry. Theres loads of gyms in Chiang Mai!!!

Really? How many quality gyms (reasonably well equipped and well maintained) can you name?

Powerhouse Gym. It is located in Punna Place on Soi 6, Nimmanhaemin Road. Been going there about 7 months now. Clean and well-managed gym. It located here.

Looks good - http://www.powerhous...nning-room.aspx

Do they have any treadmills? The picture of the cardio room doesn't include any treadmills. If they do have treadmills, do you know the brand(sorry - it is just that many treads here are not powerful enough for me)? How much a month are you paying?

Thanks

I think that pic is of their "spinning" room upstairs with stationary bikes. I think that they do some classes with them. I know that they have at least one (possibly two) treadmills downstairs. Also at least one elliptical machine and several stationary bikes downstairs. I don't know the brand. For me, I do walking there and back via differing routes for my cardio so I don't use them myself. I tend to use the weights and other machines during my visits.

As far as the cost, I know that they have a number of different plans. I signed up for a "mid-day" plan that allows me to train there from 10:00 to 16:00. It was 9500baht for one year. I'm retired, so going in the middle of the day is not a problem for me. I'm sure they have monthly plans that allow full access at all open hours also. You can just walk in and they will give you a tour of the place and answer any questions. I have found all their staff to be friendly and professional. I'd recommend that you just stop by for a visit.

You can easily find in my posting history the same sentiment -- that the drivers are not ALL bad. That isn't the point really. Many ARE bad. And the overall system has some major structural FLAWS, such as not offering any baht bus service on THIRD ROAD. As high season approaches, with the monied Russian tourists assembling it is going to be harder and harder to find a seat on a bus going into Pattaya as many or most of the drivers will be angling for charter fares. That shouldn't be allowed, there should be some OVERSIGHT over a PUBLIC transport system, the only one we have, but apparently there isn't.

One time last year, I was waiting along Thap Phraya Road in Jomtien for a baht-bus going to Pattaya and a bus came along and stopped. I got on and it went north along 2nd Road through Pattaya. Don't know where it went after that. I can't remember for sure but I believe it was 20baht. Never saw that bus again.

My western mind has thought of how much sense it would make to have a system of small buses run a route starting at the south end of Jomtien Beach Road going north through Jomtien and then along Second Road through Pattaya and then into Naklua. Then turn around in Naklua and go south through Naklua and then along Beach Road through Pattaya and then down into Jomtien. It would probably do wonders for the traffic problems in Pattaya. But, of course, the baht-bus drivers would not approve and that would be the end. It would probably meet with the same success as the attempt at bus service in Patong, Phuket.

Jeez. Its a gym. Thats all. Why all the heartache and worry. Theres loads of gyms in Chiang Mai!!!

Really? How many quality gyms (reasonably well equipped and well maintained) can you name?

Powerhouse Gym. It is located in Punna Place on Soi 6, Nimmanhaemin Road. Been going there about 7 months now. Clean and well-managed gym. It located here.

If you can book months ahead, you can get some good rates from Air Asia's "Promo Fare". Go to their website Air Asia. It's a "low-cost" airline, so the rate is just for you and carry-on luggage. Everything else is extra; checked baggage, if you want a specific seat, in-flight meal, etc. Just check no for the extras as you step through the booking process and you get the cheap rate. I've flown Air Asia round-trip Chiang Mai <--> Phuket, and Chiang Mai <--> Bangkok with no problems. You can even print out your boarding pass through the web before your trip! Worked great for me.

Not sure about the baseball bats, but during the 2000 recount crisis, there most certainly were large groups of republican activists behaving in an extremely thug-like manner. It was all over the media with live coverage. So let's keep this real. It wasn't democrats. It was republicans. It wasn't Chicago. It was Florida.

My comment was keeping it real. You need to read it again. The thug-like manner was exibited by the Dade County (Democrat-led; Suprise!) Canvassing Commision's attempts to hide their ballot "recount" from public view. Citizens objected to and protested against such disgusting underhanded conduct. They were right to do so. And I did not say it occured in Chicago. I said it was "Democrat Party “Chicago Style” behind closed doors vote counting tradition." And that is exactly what it was!

I don't think there will be riots if Romney wins. That's scaremongering. Unless Romney wins by cheating and/or suppressing a recount of contested counties, as Bush Jr's attack team (led by J.Baker) did in 2000. There were groups of baseball bat-armed Republican thugs forcing their way in to government offices where people were trying to count hanging chads. The armed thug disruption method worked for Republicans that time, but it's doubtful it will work a 2nd time.

Baseball-bat armed Republican thugs? Only in the hallucinations of the far-left loon fringe!

The "disruption" that you are refering to was caused by the Dade County canvassing commission move of their ballot “recount” out of a large room, where their actions were being observed by the media and both Democrat and Republican observers, to a small room away from the observations of journalists and the media and also excluding all Republican observers from the room. They were following the Democrat Party “Chicago Style” behind closed doors vote counting tradition.

You say "a nearing beach island". Do you have a specific destination in mind?

Romney was not my first choice either, but he does have a large amount of management experience....

He's good at clandestinely shuffling some of his tens of millions of $$'s to Caribbean and overseas' numbered accounts. He's good at buying faltering businesses and shutting them down or hiring Chinese to replace the US workers. He's good at garnering large loans (he's done that for businesses he's bought, and he will do that for the US economy).

Nice batch of left-wing talking points but do you have any evidence to back them up? If you do, please forward to the IRS. Of course, we all know you have zilch for evidence. Just wild accusations. By the way, I have an oversea's bank account. It also has a number. Guess what? Nothing illegal or unethical about it at all.

The facts are that Romney has managed several private businesses, managed a successful 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and served as chief executive (governor) of a U.S. state. That's the key and critical difference between Romney and the "community organizer". Obama's lack of comptetence and lack of management experience has been clearly demonstrated during the last three and a half years. There is no doubt.

Here is one of the latest items to emerge on info on the Benghazi attack that the Obama Administration had available to it. Other news agencies are also reporting on it.

CNN: E-mails: White House knew of extremist claims in Benghazi attack By Elise Labott, CNN Foreign Affairs Reporter

October 24, 2012 -- Updated 1344 GMT (2144 HKT)

Here are a few excerpts. You can read the complete CNN article at the link about

"Washington (CNN) -- Two hours after the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, the White House, the State Department and the FBI were told that an Islamist group had claimed credit, government e-mails obtained by CNN show.

One of the e-mails -- sent from a State Department address to various government agencies -- specifically identifies Ansar al-Sharia as claiming responsibility for the attack on its Facebook page and on Twitter."

"The administration also suggested that an anti-Muslim video produced in the United States likely fueled a spontaneous demonstration in Benghazi as it had in Cairo, where the U.S. Embassy also was attacked.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland and Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, all cited the video as a motivating factor in the attack."

The allegations of coverup and government conspiracy bring to mind the aftermath of 9/11. Even though Saudi Arabian hijackers flew 2 planes into the WTC, there are people today that still insist that this was a government conspiracy and a controlled demolition etc. There are some that insist that the UK and Israeli secret service were involved. I can guarantee that as the Ben Ghazi even unfolds, we will see some of the same allegations made. During an event such as this and its immediate aftermath there is a deluge of information and reports. There will be crackpot conspiracy theories floated by those with an agenda. The information has to be vetted. A responsible government does not act upon twitter or facebook claims. It is easy to say, why didn't someone in the government pronounce that this was a terrorist attack. Well, how about some common sense? An attack on a consulate is not going to be a manifestation of love is it? If people are shooting and setting fire to the premises, it is obvious that something is wrong. Does t have to be spelt out to some people? Apparently, it does as some folks are devoid of common sense. the prudent approach is to wait until one has the facts and can make an assessment before claiming a terrorist plot. Have a look at when the US embassy in Kenya was bombed. It took time before the responsible parties were identified. The same for the USS Cole attack.

You present a false equivelence between the the wild claims of the "truthers" of 2001 9/11 and the questions that the Obama Administration is now facing. You say "the prudent approach is to wait until one has the facts and can make an assessment before claiming a terrorist plot." That's exactly what the Obama Administration did NOT do. It was the Obama Administrations that failed to use due diligence and waiting for information. Instead, they claimed that it was a spontaneous demonstration or angry mob. They tried to put the blame on the producer of a YouTube video. They continued to do so even after receiving information that contradicted that "theory".

If you plan on visiting the north of Thailand, say Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai, I recommend you avoid the February-March timeframe. That is the "smoky season" in north Thailand. The farmers burn off their fields, mushroom gatherers burn the forest undergrowth (apparently it helps the mushrooms grow after the rains start), and everybody else is burning leaves, trash, and whatever else they want to burn.

I arrived here in Chiang Mai early March this year and many days you could barely see the sun. Some days were so bad my eyes would be burning after a short time outside. And it was even worse further north in Chiang Rai. They had multiple airline flights into Chiang Rai cancelled because of the smoke "haze". It started to clear up the first part of April. I've already planned to be elsewhere for next years "smoky season".

Here is a good endorsement from the Orlando Sentinel "Our pick for president: Romney". A very well-written endorsement article that details the substance for their endorsement. Well worth reading.

These last paragraphs really deal with the reality of our choice:

"Romney has a strong record of leadership to run on. He built a successful business. He rescued the 2002 Winter Olympics from scandal and mismanagement. As governor of Massachusetts, he worked with a Democrat-dominated legislature to close a $3billion budget deficit without borrowing or raising taxes, and pass the health plan that became a national model.

This is Romney's time to lead, again. If he doesn't produce results — even with a hostile Senate — we'll be ready in 2016 to get behind someone else who will.

We reject the innuendo that some critics have heaped on the president. We don't think he's a business-hating socialist. We don't think he's intent on weakening the American military. We don't think he's unpatriotic. And, no, we don't think he was born outside the United States.

But after reflecting on his four years in the White House, we also don't think that he's the best qualified candidate in this race.

We endorse Mitt Romney for president."

Thai degrees are the best money can buy.

Do you actually have any idea of the standards and regulation regarding degrees in Thailand? I guess not based on your comment. Check it out and be surprised.

Are these "standards and regulations" anything like other Thai governent rules, regulations, and laws that are enforced only upon personal profit of police or other officials? And enforcement avoided by the submission of suitable payments or favors to appropriate officials?

No big loss. Good riddance!

"Deputy prime minister Chalerm Yubumrung said he had ordered the Marketing Organisation for Farmers and Public Warehouse Organisation (PWO) to allow police and the media to check warehouses for transparency in the rice pledging scheme. He is chairman of the commission on corruption prevention in the rice pledging scheme."

Doesn't this whole paragraph just scream "Fox in the hen-house!"

First; They will allow the police, otherwise known as the biggest gang of thieves in the country, to check.

Second; They will allow "media", undoubtedly the same ones they just took on a vacation trip to Europe, to check.

Last; Putting "Chalerm Yubumrung" and "corruption prevention" in the same paragraph is just icing on the cake!

I've traveled from Bangkok to Pattaya and also Pattaya to Bangkok using Bell Travel Service. Hotel door to hotel door service. No problems. Worked well both times. They pick you up at your hotel/condo in Pattaya or Bangkok in a van and transfer to one of their air-conditioned buses for travel to Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi-Pattaya and the reverse. If your destination is Bangkok or Pattaya, then once you arrive there, they transfer you to a van and deliver you to your drop-off destination (hotel/condo, etc).

In 2010, I received a vacination for Japanese Encephalitis from Pattaya International Hospital. I don't remember the exact cost but it was nowhere near $600. Yeah, you could skip it if you are not going to the boonies but, IMO, better safe than sorry. Can't wait for them to finish the work on a vacine for dengue!!!

The Thai Foreign Minister can issue Obama a visa for January 21st, 2013! He will be available for a long vacation then.