OldChinaHam

This sounds like one of those lectures out of "The Paper Chase".

Strange but nice.

I had a wife who ate a lot of hot peppers.

And I know the girls in Thailand do like it hot.

And people who knew my wife often commented that she was a hot little pepper.

This is not one of those syllogisms that don't make sense.

I was just curious about the views of people in the Pub regarding how the eating of hot peppers,

Engaged in not by them,

But by their wives,

Made them feel.

For example, does it affect their temperament?

Capsaicin is like a drug, in some respects, that once you start eating it, you just cannot stop,

Unless you want your world to look monochrome again.

And the capsaicin gets on everything, sooner or later.

I was eating some peppers the other day, and just touched my eyelid and kapow!

I had a burning lid that no liquid would fix.

So capsaicin can be downright dangerous unless you are experienced and know what you are doing.

This is why I ask you, because

Many of you never had much hot peppers before coming to Thailand,

And probably never knew no Asian girls, neither.

Now you know about both.

So.....

How does if feel?

They should go up to your knees to save the questioning.

Should the shirt match the left sock or the right? Or should I wear two-tone stripes?

Should the shirt have holes in it too?

I'm really grateful for you kind chaps here on TV for all this helpful advice

SC

As long as you keep your swagger stick in check.

Never wear shorts without one,

And a handlebar mustache.

You can be forgiven anything down there closer to the equator.

Feed them to the dogs harrry.

This quote from Singlepot is an apt description of how the former colonies felt during WWII when the famed British Winston Churchill made decisions that allowed that to happen to the Asians and a subsequent reason why many of the colonists refused British rule again in the south east arena after WWII".

I had been thinking that the colonists in the North East refused British rule, and even before WWII when George Washington was a young man.

One thing I was truly sorry to see: The British leaving Hong Kong. HK used to be a jewel while the British were there, at least the 20 years I clearly remember. To my way of thinking, having the British in Hong Kong was the best thing about the whole situation, and it also contributed much to the quality of life for all people of Hong Kong.

You cannot tell me different,

Because I will not listen to a contrary argument,

I am that sure,

Surer than NeverSure, anyway.

Most of the Chinese in Hong Kong came to Hong Kong because it was British, and not Chinese.

And for the same reason, many of them went to Australia or Canada to get passports and right of abode.

They wanted the purest form of democracy - the right to vote with their feet; a right many of us take for granted, but not readily available to most of our Asian friends.

SC

You are so right that, "Most of the Chinese in Hong Kong came to Hong Kong because it was British, and not Chinese.", a fact that is overlooked almost every time people have discussions like the one we are having here. I never forget why I so much loved Hong Kong in the 80s and early 90s, which at that time was one of the greatest places to live, having just the right amount of both cultures to make it almost perfect.

The people of Hong Kong now realize what they lost.

But my view is sometimes regarded by close minded people who do not see the facts as being a mite chauvinistic, when I only care about results, and not nationalism.

The result of the British management of Hong Kong was far superior to anything China has ever had.

And is ever likely to have.

Period.

Why should I lie?

I seem to recall my mentioning this problem with shorts not too long ago:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/635238-is-it-an-impropriety-to-bare-a-bit-of-knobby-knee-in-los/

How time flies when you are having fun.

Feed them to the dogs harrry.

This quote from Singlepot is an apt description of how the former colonies felt during WWII when the famed British Winston Churchill made decisions that allowed that to happen to the Asians and a subsequent reason why many of the colonists refused British rule again in the south east arena after WWII".

I had been thinking that the colonists in the North East refused British rule, and even before WWII when George Washington was a young man.

One thing I was truly sorry to see: The British leaving Hong Kong. HK used to be a jewel while the British were there, at least the 20 years I clearly remember. To my way of thinking, having the British in Hong Kong was the best thing about the whole situation, and it also contributed much to the quality of life for all people of Hong Kong.

You cannot tell me different,

Because I will not listen to a contrary argument,

I am that sure,

Surer than NeverSure, anyway.

Where DO you people meet these girls????

I NEVER meet girls like this asking me for money.

Seriously.

" Mao was quoted as saying in Shanghai in 1959: When there is not enough to eat people starve to death. It is better to let half of the people die so that the other half can eat their fill."

He often gets misquoted.

And mistranslated.

Interesting read here :

"There were 120,000 mass incidents in 2008, according to China’s Public Security Ministry.[source: AFP, August 13, 2011]"

So it could be said in 2008 there were recorded 120000 riots in China , 13 riots happening somewhere in China every hour , 24 hrs a day , 365 days a year, maybe .

http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=305&catid=8

Thanks for that. I tried to submit a quick google search of fatal riots, but there was a posting format problem.

I suspect that a lot of Chinese statistics get mis-translated by an order of magnitude, due to their use of 100s and 100s of 100s, whereas we in the West use 1,000s and 1,000s of 1,000s.

SC

Not only that, which is often true, but also the names for oranges and tangerines get reversed in Taiwan, all throughout the country, which some call a province, which it is not.

And there are no fatal riots there.

Taiwan is a cool place,

Other than the lunches.

Wonder whether the same as above could be said about another current super (sic) power.

Perhaps you could open a thread on the topic. I am sure plenty of people would like to jump up and down and rant on the topic.

SC

If all the Chinese jump up an down together at the same time,

There will no longer be any need for our ranting.

You have been to china for a few years and I have been a Chinese all my life and ancestry.

You obviously believe you understand the Chinese better than being an American which probably means the deluded title should stay with you

At the heart of being an Asian and Chinese, its a selfish pragmatic culture where nothing is more important than the family unit and its well being.

The government can be corrupt, we can be pissed with it , we can get angry with it but at the end of the day, the welfare of the family and its future generation is more important than a few political points or reforms.

We don't like our politicians like many nations hate their own government but who cares about them when the most important people are right next to you.

The west place a huge bearing on the importance of self appraisals and the need to extol your thoughts and the freedom to critique.

The east does the same but in the safety of our best friends and family. It's the same really just a different way to express our thoughts and to who

Your ideals of seperating HK, guangzhou and taiwan is simplistic but the logistical nightmare of seperation is beyond the dreamers ...so sorry.

The family unit will endure the collapse of the CCP-PRC.

Are you faithless concerning the durability of the nuclear and extended, three-generation family unit? Do you see it as so weak and feeble that it could not survive or endure the collapse of the CCP-PRC?

The nuclear family unit itself, and its East Asian model of the three-generation family unit, have existed for millennia. It has existed and endured throughout the world under all the different forms of government, and despite war, famine, pestilence, disease.

(And not every region of the world has the nuclear family unit exclusively. It's not the only form of the family unit.)

What anyway ties and binds the family unit and its East Asian three-generation family model so inextricably and so vitally and critically to the existence of the CCP-PRC? Or to the CCP itself?

Where's your rationality?

Are you a CCP?

Publicus - out of curiosity do you have a timeframe for this?

I only have 5 years here in GZ and as previously mentioned associating more at the grass roots level and I just cannot see this "separation" occurring as things stand. I tend to agree more with LC's view based on what I see and the complete lack of political interest from the majority of the Chinese people I speak to. As long as things are good for them and they are not adversely affected they simply accept....

Yes if there was a major meltdown some changes would happen but my view is that is not going to happen.

Can I say you seem to have a real issue with the CCP and I am curious why?

Your dealings with the CCP-PRC sheeple after five years have still left you in the dark. You are indeed interacting with the sheeple of the CCP-PRC.

So turn on the light for some reading that I would strongly recommend so you can begin to get a clue. And to get a pot of coffee.

China and Party Will Collapse by 2016, Says Hong Kong Media

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/232752-china-and-party-will-collapse-by-2016-says-hong-kong-media/

The Chinese Communist Party will collapse in three stages in the next three years and its reign will come to an end by 2016, according to the Hong Kong magazine Frontline, which focuses on Chinese politics.

According to Frontline, the first to go will be China’s economy, in 2014; in 2015 the “political structure” of the Party will be destroyed; and in 2016, the entire society will fall apart, the article says, citing historical precedents.

With a big enough trigger, the collapse could arrive earlier, it said.

Economists are seeing a reverse in global capital flows—money is moving out of China—which may trigger financial upheaval, Frontline said.

Why the Party Can’t Fix the Chinese Economy

Tianlun Jian, Ph.D., writes regularly on the Chinese economy and advises The Epoch Times on economics. His blog is Chineseeconomictrend.blogspot.com.

Income inequality is commonly recognized as a major hindrance to China’s economic and social stability and continued development. Many have observed with disbelief the level of polarization in China, and wondered what has gone wrong with the system.

Nothing, in fact, went wrong. The state machine has executed precisely the ideas of Deng Xiaoping, the designer of China’s current economic model.

When Deng first laid the framework of economic reforms, his goal was to maintain the rule and absolute power of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), controlled by a small group of men. At that time, China had just finished the Cultural Revolution, and the economy had been shattered by a decade of chaos.

To pull the CCP out of the mess, Deng knew that he had to grow the economy. But equal opportunity was never part of the plan. He stated clearly that the reforms aimed to “let some people get rich first.” Of course, those in the center of the circle of power, and those close to them, were the “some people” who got rich first.

Corruption grew rampant as officials used every opportunity to abuse political power and thus gain economic benefits. The rapidly widening income gap and inflation created anger at the grassroots level. To protest official corruption, college students took to the streets in 1989 calling for justice and democracy, which ended in the notorious Tiananmen Square massacre.

After the incident, Deng stressed that “development is of overriding importance” and “maintaining stability is the top priority,” in part to justify the massacre. These ideas then became the guiding principles that led to the complete disregard for the well-being of ordinary people.

Epoch Times?

This is extremely biased and who would seriously use it as a source of information.

I would think that you might try the many other better blogs, such as maybe Michael Pettis who has been there since leaving Bear Stearns, and teaches economics at BeiDa I think.

Then isnt there also business insider and many others.

No one knows what will happen with such precision as you seem to be counting on here.

I know the government must fall

But even Gordon Chang will tell you that his predictions of a collapse of the government must be adjusted from time to time.

When it does fall, let us have a party and all return to Hong Kong,

At least to spend a month on the island which will once again be free.

Not free of China rule, but free of the CCP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao%27s_Great_Famine:_The_History_of_China%27s_Most_Devastating_Catastrophe,_1958-62

This ain't pretty.

I was wondering why there was a dog eat dog mentality in Beijing last year.

There is still room for plenty more books on the subject,

But they should be required reading in the High Schools in China.

Then, we will finally be satisfied.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Jisheng

The book was published in Hong Kong and is banned in mainland China.

They can ban away all they like,

Anyone interested will still read it.

State Control v Individual Choice:

"An easy example I can give is Changchun. -40 degrees winter and bordering North Korea. Every apartment there built must be connected to the city grid as during winter the government will turn the heating source on ...enabling them to walk around the house in the teeshirt while the world freezes outside."

McTavish in his house in Aberdeen sets his thermostat at 25 degrees C.

McDougall next door sets his thermostat at 20 to save money.

If anybody wants any insights into the Chinese National Health service, I have extensive knowledge.

You seem to have it this wrong...all of McTavish and McDougall and Mr Zhang gets pipe heating into the house ...you don't have to negotiate with any contractors, dubious vendors and stuff.

You move into a house and its already there.

And the best part is you still control the thermostat temperature in your house to be in your knickers or pants your choice :-) but you pay the low price of central heating instead of individual units

Ask your friends in shanghai or Beijing ...they can't wait to have that central heating and half their utility bill :-) maybe even McTavosh may want it

You know.....

It really seems strange to me that anyone who has been in BeiJing during the winter, or anywhere North of ShanHai which is the cut-off point for central heat in the winter, should not know all this. When you stay in a hotel in Beijing, the heat comes from the coal fired plants located around the city which are connected by underground pipes to the apartment buildings.

It is a wonderful and efficient system, and you can turn your heat up as high as you like and open all the windows if you smoke and it still does not cost you a cent, or any more than the rent.

So it does seem strange that anyone interested in how China works would not be interested in the Heat in Harbin when there to see the Ice Carvings.

50 below zero or something outside and nice and toasty inside.

The humidity goes down to about zero though

PM me mate...I work in the tourism business and be happy to assist.

Thought you worked with provincial Chinese government?

Guanxi?

I don't think China Apologist is a full-time job. Not at the level of Lawrence or Snake, anyway. I think the full time and top apologists go on the BBC web sites and places like that. We're lucky to have Lawrence.

SC

Well, since we know that LOVE means NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOU'RE sorry,

I am no apologist.

But as S.Pot has said, I am not a man of letter.

I do sometimes read a thing or two when the subject is China.

I do not know why I keep offering gifts to you,

Yesterday it was HongLouMeng or something.

Today though, it gets better.

I have located a copy of "Tombstone" and this one is just for everyone,

Because you really gots to read it if you want to write sane about China Gov.

Here is my link: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-ldX7CySbXRdkdxdDduVGFJaVE/edit?usp=sharing

The Author, Mr. Yang, recently wrote a long thing in the New York Times about the subject of this book, which is the deaths caused by the dastardly Chinese Communist Party, then and now, but mostly then.

Some say 50 million, some say 30 million.

But it is a lot of million.

The goons of China Gov take the cake for killing innocents, and their own people.

I really do not know much about the politics of anyone here, and it is not that important.

What is important is to get the facts straight so that it is possible to have a meaningful discussion.

This can be accomplished, regarding this subject, by reading this valuable book by Yang.

Sometimes it is not so convenient to get to a library, and so I am making it easy for you,

Or not extremely easy, actually.

Because you may need to get used to the Characters being simplified before you get the hang of it.

If you do not like this copy,

Then find another one.

This book truly is worth reading.

You have been to china for a few years and I have been a Chinese all my life and ancestry.

You obviously believe you understand the Chinese better than being an American which probably means the deluded title should stay with you

At the heart of being an Asian and Chinese, its a selfish pragmatic culture where nothing is more important than the family unit and its well being.

The government can be corrupt, we can be pissed with it , we can get angry with it but at the end of the day, the welfare of the family and its future generation is more important than a few political points or reforms.

We don't like our politicians like many nations hate their own government but who cares about them when the most important people are right next to you.

The west place a huge bearing on the importance of self appraisals and the need to extol your thoughts and the freedom to critique.

The east does the same but in the safety of our best friends and family. It's the same really just a different way to express our thoughts and to who

Your ideals of seperating HK, guangzhou and taiwan is simplistic but the logistical nightmare of seperation is beyond the dreamers ...so sorry.

The family unit will endure the collapse of the CCP-PRC.

Are you faithless concerning the durability of the nuclear and extended, three-generation family unit? Do you see it as so weak and feeble that it could not survive or endure the collapse of the CCP-PRC?

The nuclear family unit itself, and its East Asian model of the three-generation family unit, have existed for millennia. It has existed and endured throughout the world under all the different forms of government, and despite war, famine, pestilence, disease.

(And not every region of the world has the nuclear family unit exclusively. It's not the only form of the family unit.)

What anyway ties and binds the family unit and its East Asian three-generation family model so inextricably and so vitally and critically to the existence of the CCP-PRC? Or to the CCP itself?

Where's your rationality?

Are you a CCP?

Publicus - out of curiosity do you have a timeframe for this?

I only have 5 years here in GZ and as previously mentioned associating more at the grass roots level and I just cannot see this "separation" occurring as things stand. I tend to agree more with LC's view based on what I see and the complete lack of political interest from the majority of the Chinese people I speak to. As long as things are good for them and they are not adversely affected they simply accept....

Yes if there was a major meltdown some changes would happen but my view is that is not going to happen.

Can I say you seem to have a real issue with the CCP and I am curious why?

Are you SERIOUS?

A "real issue" with the CCP?

Why?

Oh, my lord!

If you read Chinese, I have the original Chinese version of the book:

"Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962 "

By Yang JiSheng

Read this book in English or in the PDF Chinese version I will be happy to send you anytime if you PM me,

And you will never need to ask why again.

Op - try getting a swivel type union that goes between the shower head and the hose. That way the hose can do what it likes but the shower head will point wherever you want with no resistance.

That is a good idea, in most cases,

But what really gets me is that this hose they have, and the others too, will just not hang loose.

If the shower head nozzle is placed into the wall bracket, then since the hose will not really bend very much when it loops down from the electric heater and then back up to the wall bracket, it will arc out from the wall and hit you in the back if you move close to the wall under the shower head.

What is needed is a hose that will hang straight or not be so rigid.

Also, you really need a longer hose on this thing so that the hose will hang down from the electric water heater, then bend back up 90 degrees, and stay close to the wall until it reaches the wall bracket which holds the shower head "handle".

All the hoses I have seen in Taiwan are quite a bit longer than the ones I have shopped for in Thailand.

So what is needed it seems from reading the above comments is a rubberized heavier hose which is more flexible, and also probably one that is longer.

The question is, why do they not have something like this in the shops in Chiang Mai, or the ones that I have so far visited?

I listed the manufacturer brand marks which I read off of the shower head.

I have no other information than this.

But this hose here has now almost got the better of me,

And it is driving me mad every morning, almost.

Everything else in Thailand is wonderful.

There is a small test software here > http://audio.rightmark.org/download.shtml

I am not sure if that would suit your purpose.

Why not connect your speakers to a smart phone, CD player or some audio equipment and test it that way?

Edit:

Found this too > http://www.nch.com.au/tonegen/index.html

I actually had not thought of connecting the speakers to a smartphone or a Walkman which I actually do have.

That is a great idea!!!

Thank you much.

Also, it looks like the links to the tone generator will also come in handy.

Tks.

What's plebeian relationships precious what's plebeian relationships eh ?

nasty hobbits spoil nice relationships

Thrown into the midst of a noisy and plebeian age, with which he does not like to eat out of the same dish, he may readily perish of hunger and thirst—or, should he nevertheless finally "fall to," of sudden nausea.—We have probably all sat at tables to which we did not belong; and precisely the most spiritual of us, who are most difficult to nourish, know the dangerous DYSPEPSIA which originates from a sudden insight and disillusionment about our food and our messmates—the AFTER-DINNER NAUSEA.

I wonder if the Taiwan ones are rubber or "rubberized" plastic more like a garden hose? I agree that the white plastic ones here are worthless.

Joking aside, there is a marked difference which I noticed the first shower away from Taiwan.

The hoses in Taiwan will bend much more and won't "spring back".

So, do you mean that this other type of material, "rubberized" or something, is not available here?

I do not like the stainless steel metal hoses because they are just too heavy,

And I also just don't like to be clanking around like a horse in a stall,

When I stand with my hose in the shower enclosure.

The idea of a communal furnace to heat community homes is a great idea that is used in China in many places I think.

If they could scrub the emissions from the coal, or use natural gas, then it would also be environmentally more acceptable.

As Thora Hird used to say.

A session of 'Transcontinental Medication' with a good shrink is probably what is needed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BACTypkXDds

As Thora Hird used to say.

A session of 'Transcontinental Medication' with a good shrink is probably what is needed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=qmCzp8dqMJk

As Thora Hird used to say.

A session of 'Transcontinental Medication' with a good shrink is probably what is needed.

I find the plastic (usually white) hoses are not very flexible (and can kink relatively easily), but the metal "jointed" ones are flexible and don't kink up.

This is really very strange because:

1. This phenomenon does not happen with Taiwan plastic hoses in hot or cold weather, and the plastic hoses are much more flexible. Also they are usually longer and most showers are also bathtubs. Here most showers I see are mostly stalls with short hoses.

2. There must be only one OEM or one process for manufacturing these hoses here in Chiang Mai. So far, I have not seen a different one. These poorly designed hoses take the pleasure out of the shower, every time, because they are so stiff that sometimes they won't even remain in the socket.

3. Oh yes, the socket is too loose, as well.

4. The socket is so loose and the hose so stiff that often the hose will jump out of the socket and start spraying around, even spraying outside the shower. I am surprised, as I say, that no one has put a stop to this behavior far sooner. I should have brought a hose from Taiwan. But maybe someone here has a solution. I do not like the stainless steel ones because they are too heavy.