Doza

Yes, I have been to the buffet in pretty much every 5 star in town; either on my own initiative or as part of a function. And yes, they are very good. However, buffet food will never be as quality as made to order. It sits there, in a burner getting cold, or pre cut getting hard. True, you can have a pasta station, ect., but it is not as good. That is why buffets are usually cheaper then a high end meal. Jacking up the price 3 or 4 times for X-Mas does not make the food any better. It is a waste of money.

Mostly you get your meat cooked for you as you like it. Chuck in free alcohol for 4 hours and it becomes a pretty good deals. Especially is you have a few lobster tails, NZ lamb chops, quality cheese and cold cuts and delicious desert etc etc, it aint bad value for a once in a while splurge.

I do take simple measures to reduce my carbon and I think as time progresses and effects become more apparent I will take more measures. I am also happy to pay extra (to a degree) in the form of taxes or for enviro friendly items if I can be assured they lead to less GHG emissions.

This conclusion only reaffirmed my belief and my confidence in the science.

I think with huge action from industry with a top down approach and commitment to change at an individual level we can cap emissions at 450 ppm but I think alot of damage will already be done by then and we cant reverse it. At which point the real tipping point is, is anyone's guess.

Bring on being more environmentally friendly - doesn't have to lead to economic disaster, and can only be good for our world.

Deans will be coaching the Crusaders this comp and takes up the Wallabies position after that. They will be hard to beat as usual. Sharks as well, but the big improvers will be the Waratahs.

Rocky Elsom is on fire, David Lyons is hungry, Kurtley Beale just got MVP in the Aussie comp and as a second year player has a lot more experience now - he could dominate. Lachlan Turner, another youngster is also a rising star and is faster than Tuquiri now, second year could see him improve out of site as well.

Also they they have league gun import Timana Tahu who is all class - can't wait to see how he goes at outside centre.

The front row is a concern but not so much impact in Super rugby as test rugby so Baxter and Pie Boy should hold their own.

Exactly Samui.

I've talked to farmers in Isaan who can tell you first hand they have seen the climate change and weather patterns change over the last 10 years particularly. Worse droughts, floods etc. This effects their livelihoods. They can tell you why they think the climate is changing too, without mainstream propaganda from either side.

It would be a brave man to stand in front of one of these guys and say "hey, it might be from mass deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels which accelerates the greenhouse effect as many scientists say - but I don't think so because that's all a conspiracy. I think its fine to keep pumping GHGs into atmosphere and I don't care about future generations (or you Mr Farmer) as its my life to live. So good luck with your farm Mr Farmer......."

Experimental Law Variations to be applied in the 2008 Super 14:

Posts and flags around the field

1. Posts and flags around the field (ARC variation)

a. Corner posts will be positioned at the outside junction of the goal line and the touch-line.

i. If a player is in possession of the ball and touches a corner post he <b>will not</b> be in touch unless he touches the touchline or the ground beyond the touchline.

ii. If the ball is not being carried by a player and it touches the corner post the ball will be deemed to be touch in goal.

Inside the 22-metre line

2. When a defending player receives the ball outside the 22 metre line and passes, puts or takes the ball back inside the 22, the following can occur:

a. If the ball is then kicked directly into touch, the lineout is in line with where the ball was kicked.

b. If a tackle, ruck or maul is subsequently formed and the ball is then kicked directly into touch, the lineout is where the ball crossed the touch line.

Lineout

3. On a quick throw in, the ball can be thrown straight or backwards towards the defenders goal-line, but not forward towards the opposition goal line.

Breakdown (tackle/post tackle)

4. Players entering the breakdown area must do so through the gate.

5. Immediately the tackle occurs there are offside lines.

6. The halfback should not be touched unless he has his hands on the ball.

Scrum

7. The offside line for players who are not in the scrum and who are not the teams scrum half, is 5 metres behind the hindmost foot of the scrum.

Sanctions

8. For all offences other than offside, not entering through the gate, and Law 10-foul play, the sanction is a free-kick.

(www.rugbyheaven.co.nz)

Super 14 2008 kicks off on February 15th with a cracker: the Crusaders taking on the Brumbies in Christchurch. And what a season it should be, with the All Blacks and Wallabies players smarting from their early World Cup exits, and itching to get stuck into the world champion Springboks...(www.superbru.com)

ROUND 1

Round 1

1 Crusaders v Brumbies 15 Feb 19:35 Jade Stadium, Christchurch

2 Reds v Highlanders 15 Feb 19:05 Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

3 Sharks v Force 15 Feb 19:10 Aussie Stadium, Sydney

4 Blues v Chiefs 16 Feb 19:35 Eden Park, Auckland

5 Waratahs v Hurricanes 16 Feb 19:40 Aussie Stadium, Sydney

6 Stormers v Bulls 16 Feb 17:00 Newlands, Cape Town

7 Cheetahs v Lions 16 Feb 19:05 Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein

I can't wait for the 2008 Super 14 season to kick off.

This thread is devoted to discussion on the competition, predictions, new rules (did you know?!), teams, players, where to watch in Thailand, and to celebrate the running attacking rugby that is Super Rugby.

Firstly, who's got a draw???

Of course this meeting was one big conspiracy organised by all these nations (they fight wars but conspire on climate change???) with world leading scientific institutions all in collusion to pull the wool over the world eyes that man could possibly have some effect on the climate, simply for money and tax revenues (even though the Stern report etc outlines how climate change could COST us billions) for countries and individuals and in reality its all just a scam because everyone knows, the science is all complete rubbish from evey single scientist that notes a link between greenhouse gases and warming temperatures that lead to climate change.

Obviously, since over millenia, the globe has warmed and cooled due to natural phenomena, now that mankind is pumping shed load of greenhouse gases into the air in an UNNATURAL way (GHGs are what keep us warm! does anyone deny THAT?!) there is no possibility, none whatsoever (!!) that this could alter the climate at all and we are daft to think it might! Duh!

Sorry, but couldn't resist.

Here's to nations reducing pollution of all kinds but especially GHGs (which yes, occure naturally but dont you think pumping gazillion tonnes unnaturally might be kind of risky???) and double especially in the form of deforestation and land use change which contrinbute over 20% of all man made CO2 emissions!!!

Rugby balls of average quality can be found in sports stores in the street behind National Stadium which has heaps of sports stores. Also can get Gilberts I think at the FBT store but unsure of location.

Of course its a political issue because governments are required to agree on and meet certain criteria for reducing emissions and implement national level policies to ensure the country meets emissions targets etc.

People who care about climate change will vote in a government who commits to taking action on this issue. So it becomes an election issue. Its like saying Iraq is not a political issue, its a war issue. Anything so big is of course always going to become political!

I use Calif Asoke. Its not my ideal gym but I dont mind it. Really Im just there to go hard on the weights for 45 mins and get out. Yes its very busy in the weights room from 6pm onwards to I try to get in by 5.30 if poss. But Mon and Fri is quite quiet actually, esp Fri. Seems all the Thais are out. The 'gym culture' is annoying but I dont take any notice and dont let it bother me. If someone is on a peice tha I want to use I just ask them to share and never get a 'no'.

I joined when they opened at 1200 /month no committment except monthly CC debit. Now down to 900 / month. Can't go wrong for that price.

Reckon Marriot on the river is best. Beer, white wine, some cocktails all in for about THB 2,000. Food is better than 4 Seasons in my opinion.

Yes yes, the greenhouse effect is a fraud, greenhouse gases like CO2 don't keep us warm, they don't block the suns energy from radiating back into space, the unnatural spewing of more and more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by mankind can NOT have any effect on the natural greenhouse effect, and therefore how much energy stored as heat gets trapped, none whatsoever, ziltch, and its all a big conspiracy by green groups and tree huggers such as oil companies and big industry and also the governments are all in on it because they get more taxes out of it, and all the leading academic institutions are part of it too because its the only way they can get funding etc etc etc.

Please. That is just F***ed up. I said I was over this thread but the idiocy overwhelmed me. But maybe Im gone now for good.

You should be able to get them down to 1,200 per month no sign on, no "contract" period, jsut credit card deduction every month. Just tell them you will be here at least 12 months. Also tell them you know heaps of people who have gottne this price (and then lower in later years) and you aint budging. Gonna be a hard road though but this is the price I and other friends got. Good luck.

You can buy some of that stuff at the 'pro shop' at Lake Taco wakeboarding place on Bang Na Trat. The guys there make some of their own stuff and I think import some stuff as well.

Some good replies as it was meant partly in jest.

but do you wear a cowboy hat?

Only when back home on the farm...

Did you know some countries don't have an autumn, and some people live in parts of the world where 'spring' is at a different time of year?

I've had people asking me am I going home for summer break (mid this year)! They know I come from Australia. &lt;deleted&gt;?

Rittee....you mean Bully's. I will try the DownUnder - spoke to the boss Thomas who said they have it on. Can anyone update on time though?

Nuclear energy has experienced a bit of a revival in an emerging low carbon world but I still think it is not a good way to go. The possibilities of disaster and subsequent fall out are too terrible to contemplate and the problem is waste is not as easy as concrete it and bury it I don't think.

According to Greenpeace, nuclear energy already delivers less worldwide than renewables. This is positive. But the most interesting statement was this:

"ENERGY EFFICIENCY

According to Greenpeace, the government's own figures show that energy use across all sectors could be cut by 30 percent, saving more money than would need to be spent on the changes.

Simply banning incandescent light bulbs would slash demand by more than the output of a large nuclear power station.

"At the moment our power stations lose about two thirds of their energy, so there is enormous inefficiency in the supply side system," Oakley said.

"Clearly that impact alone would be far greater than a new fleet, or even doubling the size of our current reactor fleet."

Now of course you are going to try to discredit Greenpeace straight away. But sorry, they are credible and they know their stuff - even if they are a bit extreme and I don't always agree on their strategies.

food bill which amounted to 520 baht

A buffet food bill for 3 people came to 520 baht? Jeez...no wonder he tipped 300.

But seriously, constant over tipping by a certain sector of society can create the impression that everyone from that sector has heaps of money and is happy to give it away. This can create problems for others. Does he tip big in farangland?

It may not be meant to be offensive but it is often used in way Westerners brought up with Western manners would term impolite.

For example, sitting at a local restuarant a waitress might say to another waitress, "the farang wants a water". This is characterising someone by the way they look which is impolite where I and many others come from. In a restuarant (or indeed at work or wherever) in Farangland you would not (should not!) hear someone refer to the another person as "the Asian", "the black person", "the grey haired guy" etc etc. A more polite term would be "the gentlemen sitting xyz", "the customer over there", "this person" and even "he" or "she" - and the Thai equivalent. I would never dream of standing next to an Asian person and talking to someone else and say "the Asian said he wants to go eat"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Using the word 'farang' publically when the 'farang' can hear it shows a lack of sophistication and is mildly annoying and definately impolite in my opinion.

Mr Squiggle represents exactly what I hate about a lot of Australians right now - including many of my close friends still there - and why I'm glad I'm not back there.

The attitude of as long as I am getting more in my pay packet every week and the economy is strong, I don't give a &lt;deleted&gt; what the government does to immigrants, the environment, other countries, minorities etc etc! Just give me more money and keep that golden goose layin!!!

Fark me, that is f**ked up.

I was going to say the same thing about Chloe. The only thing she said was 'Get real'. The rest was cut and paste but she conveniently tried to pass it off as her own work. Amatuer.

Let's go back to the global conspiracy half the world is in. All out there to fool us and extract more money. Global warming? The Greenhouse Effect? Greenhouse gases actually WARMING our world? Crazy you say - its all a hoax to get you to pay more and Oxford and Cambridge and MIT and the Royal Society et al are all in on it - all in cahoots with your governments. Its one big scam!

Get real indeed......

Now if there is no more plagiarism, I'm really out of here.

Its all a con!Its just a way of taxing the crap out of people

That would be funny if it wasn't so scary. You really think all these scientists from the some of the world's top institutions are teaming up with governments all around the world to "con" people so they can get more money out of them? You really think there is some big conspiracy going on? Jeez....

Grapes once grew in Scotland so there is no way man's pollution can alter the climate. Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.................................

I don't know whether its just this forum or what but there are some whacked out people out there who are just too weird for me. I'm over this thread. Later..............

The problem is, we can't afford to risk sitting back and continuing to polute the atmosphere with GHGs such as CO2 because we aren't 100% sure about the full impact on the climate man has. If we wait for every scientist to agree on it - it could be too late! We need to take action now because there is enough evidence to suggest a very strong link. Its crazy to sit back and say we don't need to worry about it because we can't imfluence the climate. The greenhouse effect is very simple. GHGs are important and keep us warm. Too many will easily make us too warm.

There is increasing evidence that the earth's climate has warmed on average about 0.7 C in the last century. Many global ecosystems, especially the polar areas, are showing signs of warming. CO2 emissions have increased during this same time period - and emissions from fossil fuels and land use changes are one source of these emissions.

Climate remains today an extraordinarily complex area of scientific study. The risks to society and ecosystems from increases in CO2 emissions could prove to be significant - so despite the areas of uncertainty that do exist, it is prudent to develop and implement strategies that address the risks, keeping in mind the central importance of energy to the economies of the world.

Some of the smartest words from one of the traditionally slowest companies to act on the issue....ExxonMobil

And no, reducing emissions does not have to mean economic disaster.