mr_hippo

I reminded the department head what we agreed to verbally

A verbal contract is not worth the paper ir's written on.

A young man married a beautiful woman who had previously divorced 10 husbands. On their wedding night, she told her

new husband to "Please be gentle; I'm still a virgin."

"What?" said the puzzled groom. "How can that be if you've been married ten times?"

"Well, husband #1 was a Sales Representative; he kept telling me how great it was going to be.

"Husband # 2 was in Software Services; he was never really sure how it was suppose to function; but he said

he'd look into it and get back with me.

"Husband # 3 was from Field Services; he said that everything checked out diagnostically but he just couldn't

get the system up.

"Husband # 4 was in Telemarketing; even though he knew he had the order, he didn't know when he would be able to

deliver.

"Husband # 5 was an Engineer, he understood the basic process but he wanted three years to research, implement,

and design a new state of the-art method.

"Husband #6 was from Administration; he thought he knew how but he wasn't sure whether it was his job or not.

"Husband # 7 was in Marketing; although he had a product, he was never sure how to position it.

"Husband # 8 was a Psychiatrist; all he did was talk about it.

"Husband # 9 was a Gynaecologist; all he did was look at it.

"Husband # 10 was a Stamp Collector; all he ever did was........ God I miss him!

" But now that I've married you, I'm so excited."

"Wonderful", said the husband, "but why?"

"You're with the GOVERNMENT, this time I KNOW I'M gonna get SCREWED ."

What an unbelievable sportsman

Not many people have believed his clean image for years! Have you seen the trailer for the Larry King show?

Larry King: "Have you ever taken an illegal substance?"

Lance Armstrong: "I have never doped!"

That sounds similar to:-

Larry King: "Have you ever drunk alcohol?"

Mr Hippo: "I have never had a Budweiser."

Lance will 'race for no salary or bonuses and post his internally tested blood work online.' I think I have just seen a pig flying at about 2000 feet above my house! If he is now willing to publish internally tested blood work, why didn't he do that when the rumours were at their height? Has he found a different untraceable substance?

Yes, I know he won the Tour de France seven times but what about the Giro d'Italia, Veulta a Espagne and the Spring Classics? Compare his record with that of Eddie Merck - both active at the same ages. Would Merckx have won more TdFs if he only concentrated on that one race? Would Armstrong have won less TdFs if he entered more races?

Reading the post, it seems as if the OP heard the alarm bells three times!

1) Can't pay by credit card

2) The assistant using his wallet

3) Not checking the goods

Keegan went off in a huff? I thought he went off in a BMW!

Alex, do you believe that I want that question answering?

Alex, you highlighted the graph where it says 'Last Modified...', now what do you think that means?

1) All the data was uploaded on that date

2) The template was modified then

3) None of the above.

Thingthing, according to dictionaries and friends, the Thai word 'farang' means 'caucasian'. If you are caucasian then the Thai will call you farang. You have said in early ramblings that the word farang can be bad, good or neutral - you certainly believe in covering all bases!

Good post, LC!

You have provided the best argument yet why we as European descent foreigners here should NOT use the F word. Educated Thais know better than to use it in our company. When we use it, we are modeling after the most ignorant, uneducated segments of this society. We should not do that here, unless you are also an ignoramus in your home country and prefer to be one here.

We do not need to use this word, we only lower ourselves here by doing so.

Wow, three people were asked and in LC's post we see "'Farang' can be impolite, it can be neutral, but is not considered to be 'very' polite... " You, yourself, have said that it 'can be bad, good or neutral' as can all words! If you call me English - good; call Jock McTavish English - that's bad, very bad!

thingthing. Can you expand on that answer? Why do you disagree? I see that you have cried 'Off topic' yet again.

No, those terms you mentioned are specific and respectful of people's specific backgrounds. Don't act like you don't know that already.

What race? Outsider to what?

Respectful? Respectful? That's BS and you know it, you are separating people based on race. People are being put into racial compartments and therefore suggesting that one group is superior to the others. Why is John McCain referred to as 'the presidential nominee' and Barck Obama is 'the African-Anerican presidential nominee'? Why isn't McCain referred to as the White American nominee? Yes, I do know that Obama had a Kenyan father but Barack was born on American soil to an American mother, is an American citizen and only holds an American passport so therefore he is American!

The race I was referring to is the human race...

Now, go and get a life, a hobby or just go outside and watch the traffic lights change colour - if you are lucky, the police may put the countdown numbers on for you!

Yes, it is backwards and ignorant. That is crystal clear. Backwards and ignorant in EXACTLY the same way as when Americans USED to call people of Asian descent ORIENTALS.

Isn't it backwards and racist when Americans refer to people as African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Japanese-Americans and so forth? Not only are they racist terms but are being actively promoted. They all all Americans!

Jingthing - a question for you. As an outsider, what is your opinion of the race?

Name this tree please - I'll name this tree Arthur and may God bless all who climb in him!

Cast your minds back to your childhood - you say to your Mum, "I'm just going out to play football with my friends." and your Mum tells you to take your younger brother/sister with you. Your reply is "Ahh but Mum, do I have to?" but you take him/her with you. Do they join the football game with you or do you virtually igmore them?

Now just substitute 'Mum' with 'the boss', 'you' with 'Thai co-workers' and 'younger brother' with 'farang'. Same play but with different actors!

You said "farang" can be used positively but many of us object to it and think it is negative in meaning. That should be enough for you to understand how we feel and stop using it but you don't and continue to use it.

Can't you understand that people don't need to divide the human race into categories and that in the end we are all people not farangs, niggers, wops, gringos, chinks etc

All words can be used negatively or positively.

Why don't you complain to CNN? CNN talk about African Americans, Hispanic Americans when they are all Americans - no more, no less! The world is full of different groups and will never be a 'one size fits all' place.

I proved you were wrong about the Chinese replacing a little girl to sing because she wasn't good looking enough for the powers that be in the PRC, and I proved you were wrong about the Chinese lying about the ages of its gymnasts and then trying to cover it up.

You corrected my spelling on two words. It's not often that you are right but you're wrong again! You will find that it is far more than two mistakes - do you want me to correct them?

When did I ever say that the singer was not replaced because of her looks? I never!

When did I say that the Chinese did or did not lie about the ages? I never. You have taken the view that the Western media is right but are they? I am keeping an open mind on it until the result of the inquiry, aren't you?

...from the US and the UK (ie, free, independent journalists seeking the truth wherever it takes them), found paper trails a mile long that totally disproves the ages in question. That is what happens in free, independent countries.

Click on Reporter Arrested. I think you'll find that Denver is not in China! From the article

"Police on the scene refused to tell ABC lawyers the charges against the producer"

"Later, he is seen pushing Eslocker off the sidewalk into oncoming traffic, forcing him to the other side of the street."

"During the arrest, one of the officers can be heard saying to Eslocker, "You're lucky I didn't knock the f..k out of you." "

Police refusing to co-operate with defendent's lawyers, police brutality and threats of violence by police. It's getting worse than a police state!

I will repeat "I'm am not a big fan of Wikipedia" - that was showing you how to reference. I only cited that to try an educate you but I failed.

You are believing your own propaganda - the information was found by a hacker and then passed onto multiple sources.

What anti-American rhetoric? I was commenting on American propaganda.

You ask "How many times do you think Chinese athletes are internally drug-tested?" As far as I am aware - the same nunber of times as any international athlete - you, of couse, 'know' different!.

How many American athletes take drugs and use lawyers to get off on 'technicalities'? If an athlete who has doped but uses a lawyer to get off on a technicality is being honest?

"Wickipedia is not accepted as a "source" by any learning institution in the US" It isn't and neither is Wikipedia!

"Why should I do your homework for you?" Am I sking you to? I'm am not a big fan of Wikipedia but if you go to their main page and click on the first link of 'Today's Featured Article' it will lead you to Walter de Coventre Now scroll down to Background and go to the second line and it says '...career cleric from the lower nobility.[1]' What do you think the [1] signifies? It is a not that says where the information comes from. Would you rather see '...career cleric from the lower nobility.[Oh why don't you google it}

"I could provide the link, but I'm not going to." You sound like a petulant 5 year old!

I seached 'China Lip Synch' and the first link was this LA Tmes article. I think you will find that paper pro America. You provide the yahoo link and it says 'It was not the first time an Olympics opening ceremony involved lip-synching.

At the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Luciano Pavarotti's performance was prerecorded. The maestro who conducted the aria, Leone Magiera, said this year that the bitter cold made a live performance impossible for Pavarotti, who was in severe pain months before his cancer diagnosis. Pavarotti died in 2007 at age 71.' Now I wonder why this was not commented on at the time, could it be that it is not related to China?

"Journalists from the US and the UK (ie, free, independent journalists seeking the truth wherever it takes them), found paper trails a mile long that totally disproves the ages in question." Oh, did they? see TIMESONLINE. It was found by a hacker - a criminal - not a journalist!

You talk about 'propaganda', how many American lives have been lost because of American propaganda about weapons of mas destruction?

Refresh my memory, how many bombings have taken place during an Olympic Games? I'll help you. It was not Munich 1972 - that was a hostage situation. It was Atlanta 1996 and the perpetrator was an American. If you think there will be daily bombing at London 2012 then you either have a deranged mind or inside information.

Now to reply to your drivel in reply to my post.

Excuse me for butting in here but remember the subway bombings not long ago? Or the reason we can't take liquid on planes anymore? Or the car bombs found outside the disco in London? There is every reason in the world to be concerned.

Complete and utter paranoid rubbish! Should I advise my neighbours' daughter not to go to a university in the US because of all the campus shootings?

The girl who was replaced on the opening nite was done so because she was "too ugly" according to the poliburo head who was overseeing the games. Those are his actual words. They wanted a "perfect" face to match the voice and in a country of 1.3 billion people, the 2 just couldn't be found on the same body. Thus the lip syncing.

So far, we have heard about the Chinese government lying, the Chinese people lying and the Chinese media lying and now, trying to justify your cause, "the poliburo head who was overseeing the games" is not lying. Can you provide a link to that?

url="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gvdGdbFHvF8M_eJh8CSMEIbZ8tFAD92H7PT00"]http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gvdGdbF...bZ8tFAD92H7PT00[/url]

"A member of China's Politburo asked for the last-minute change during a live rehearsal shortly before the ceremony, Chen said in the Beijing Radio interview, posted online Sunday night. He didn't name the official."

Where in that link does it say that Yang Peiyi was replaced because she was 'too ugly'? It did say "During the live rehearsal, the Politburo member said Miaoke's voice "must change," Chen said."

The age of the gymnasts was abvious before the games evr began. Journalists from the US and the UK (ie, free, independent journalists seeking the truth wherever it takes them), found paper trails a mile long that totally disproves the ages in question. That is what happens in free, independent countries. The truth comes out.

If the ages were known before the Games, why was nothing done about it? Why was nothing said until after the USA 'lost' the gold?

As has been pointed out, other countries missed out on the gold as well. The UK is one that comes to mind. As to why they didn't say anything beforehand, all I can think of is they don't have the resources to do background check on all Olympic athletes. The USA team is privately funded unlike China and many other countries who bankroll the teams with taxpayer money.

The GB team missed out on an Olympic gold medal for gymnastics? In the modern era, GB have won a total of 4 medals and none have been golds! Beth Tweedie (GB) did come 4th but that is hardly missing out on the gold, is it? So the USA team do not have the resources to check but when they missed out in the gold in a tie-break, they found the resources?

mr hippo, the facts have been presented. If you don't want to acknowledge them or are incapable of doing so, that is your problem. Why don't you try and find some of this information out for yourself? All the info you need is at your fingertips. Obviously Koheesti was able to find it with no problems.

You strike me as one of those people who makes up his mind no matter what the facts tell him. It doesn't help that you have a deep seeded hatred of the US. When you combine these two, it makes your statements come off as biasd and ignorant. Your hate/jealousy of the US makes you blind to reason and the facts. You want links to everything and then when they are presented you simply dismiss them. People like you cannot be reasoned with.

With your debating skills, you can surely find work anywhere in China.

If you plan to be in London in 2012, keep your head down. They will not have martial law in effect, and I'm afraid it will be ugly. By the way, have you been to London lately?

The 'facts' as you see them and the truth may be two different things! There are always three sides to every story - one side's, the other side's and the truth! Is it the poster's responsibility to find links or the readers?

What facts have you presented me with? A voice was dubbed in a theatrical performance and 'suggestions' of underage athletes. A voice was dubbed - so what? It never happens in other countries, does it?

Surely an 'educated' person like yourself means 'deep-seated' and not 'deep seeded' deep-seated

Nowhere in any of my post suggested that I have either hatred or jealousy for anything - another figment of your imagination. Your last two moronic points are not worthy of comment.

If some guy in Miami lifts a wallet, does that make all US Citizens theives ?

US citizens in Miami? Are there any left in Florida, I thought they were all Cubans!

QUOTE (bkkjames @ 2008-08-28 15:48:09)

Because there ace, I am a Canadian, call me Kon Canadian. DO you think Thais would like to be called Kon Asian, Kon Oriental etc etc. No, they would be upset.

I do not know you but if I were to see you across the street from me, how do I know that you are Canadian and not Aussie, Kiwi, Pole or Dutch?

So if I saw what looked like to be a Thai across the street from me and say not someone from Cambodia or Laos or Malaysia.....

Can you answer the question? How would I know that you were Canadian?

Because there ace, I am a Canadian, call me Kon Canadian. DO you think Thais would like to be called Kon Asian, Kon Oriental etc etc. No, they would be upset.

I do not know you but if I were to see you across the street from me, how do I know that you are Canadian and not Aussie, Kiwi, Pole or Dutch?

Errrm, no I am not joking. As I said he did not even make an effort to learn my name and it wouldn't have taken a tattoo on my forehead to find out as he could have simply have asked somebody else. Even a "Sir" or "Khun" would have been much better but no, I was simply "You, Farang"

Why do you want a stranger to learn your name? What happens next? Learn his and become friends? Get real!

Don't you get it??? It doesn't matter what YOU think it means, it's what WE think it means. Enough of us don't like it. Enough of us think it is racist and not appropriate to use in this day and age. That should be enough I think!

Why are you trying to impose your Western views in Thailand?

If you address someone in the West, and you don't know their name, you say 'sir' or 'friend' or 'Ms' or 'Madame' You don't say: "Hey Paki, were you come from? Oh Pakistan, right!" We don't say Chink, chuckker, kite, spic, beaner, or other more derogatory words. We address the person not the ethnicity. And if the word farang does mean 'caucasian' we don't say that either.

I think using the term 'farang, is a sign of cultural insensitivity or no education or both. Saying that man or that woman would be an improvement, in terms of politeness...

I don't know your nationality or where you live. As I look around me, I can see cars with Thai licence plates, banana tress, notices, newspapers and magazines in Thai and people speaking Thai, now guess where I am. Yes, give that man a cigar, I am in Thailand. You start with "If you address someone in the West...", but you are not in the West so Thai values/standards operate here and not Western values/standards.

You mean you can't distinguish?. They are your friends/family a totally different situation. If someone didn't know you and called you something inappropriate (displaying their ignorance and their lack of social skill or grace) would that be OK? On second thought, for you it may be.

Unlike a lot of posters here, I have neither an inferiority complex nor feelings of inadequacy. It's all water off a duck's back.

For example I was up-country once and some bloke wanted some money from me for beer, and so he approaches me and asks "You, farang have song roi baht?". This I found incredibly rude as considering he was asking me for money the very least that he could do was to call me by name or at least make an effort to know my name.

'Some bloke', implying that you did not know him, wants some money and he has to ask you your name and then call you by name??? Is that a joke? Have you ever thought about having your name tattooed on your forehead?

I've never had any problems with the police when I am cycling - in fact, they have been known to stop the traffic for me.

There are no soi dogs in my immediate area but the ones I do meet on my travels normally stop chasing after a few metres. If you are bothered by dogs then there are two things you can do:-

1) Get off the bike and place it between you and the dog(s) as if you were standing at a garden gate and then swing it at the dog(s), they will either get fed up or someone will 'rescue' you!

2) Carry a water pistol filled with a mixture of vinegar and pepper.

There was (is?) a Cannondale bike shop along Sukhumvit Soi 3 (Nana Nuea - or North Nana). From Sukhumvit Road, head north about 1/2 Km. Ths shop will be on the left side of the Road (same side as with Bamrungrad Hospital.

It moved about 12 months ago to Cannondale Centre map

I'll remember that, you never called me sambo, you old fart! :D

It may be because your name is not Samuel Bowe! We almost caused a riot in a Notting Hill pub once. We had arranged to meet there and I was there before him. I saw him standing in the doorway and I shouted 'Over here, Sambo!"