Callmeishmael

Meet the new boss.... same as the old boss!

A large percentage of sugar cane is fermented to make alcohol that is then mixed with gasoline to make gasohol. Burnt sugar cane cannot be eaten, but it can be used to make gasohol. While gasohol is theoretically cheaper and cleaner burning than gasoline, it has less energy, so it negatively impacts both fuel economy and engine lifespan. So both the production of gasohol and its use go against the purported need for it!

The GoFundMe was actually started by one of Trump's groupies. She used this picture with her appeal!

I lived 5 miles from the University I attended and could get to school easily by motorcycle or even bicycle. However, all freshmen were required to live on campus.

Thai language as a subject has little to do with speaking Thai, it's more like studying grammar, literature and writing essays, so kids who speak Thai fluently can still struggle with Thai language as an academic subject. Are your children self-motivated high achievers in their other subjects? If so, then option 2 would probably be ok, but if they just have average grades I would keep them in your international school and hire a weekend tutor for their Thai. Bilingual schools are a mixed bag, with some being good and others being awful. Students who study and learn on their own can usually get a decent education out of even a mediocre school, but students that are less motivated will benefit from having good teachers and should probably stay in the international school where they should get more consistent support.

One one hand, these young Myanmar refugees could be the answer to Thailand's demographic problems. On the other hand... prejudice and xenophobia on the part of Thailand's ruling class may result in closed borders or impossible paperwork requirements for new immigrants!

I would presume that riding a motorcycle without a proper license or not wearing a helmet will constitute "negligence or risky behavior".

So the people who live there now are descended from the people who lived there in the past! Surprise, surprise!

While I am not in any way a fan of Trump, I do think that he should be allowed to run for president and win or lose on his own merits.

Here's a quote from the article in the OP: These hotspots were predominantly located in protected forest areas, national forest reserves, agricultural areas, communities, and other regions. So the latest government response that I heard about was to start checking the exhaust of the ferry boats in the Chao Phraya River!

Depending on whether you are using a new (to you) book or an old book, teachers need between 1 to 2 hours of prep, grading and other duties for each hour of teaching. 15 hours of teaching equals 30 to 45 hours of work. Having said that, at my school the Thai teachers mostly teach 15 hours per week and the foreign teachers usually teach 20 hours per week.

I gave up running several years ago after dislocating one of my knees. I still walk 10,000 steps (8 km or 5 miles) about 3 or 4 times a week. If I miss a few days I can really feel the difference!

Is the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives shipping Ovaltine nowadays?

It is too early to make accurate predictions about the election, but I am going to anyways: 1. Biden will win the popular vote by 2 or 3%. 2. Trump will win the Electoral vote by a fairly narrow margin. The first prediction is easy. Trump has never won the popular vote and every year his base is dying off an getting smaller. The second prediction is based on the fact that the states elect presidents. The popular vote is irrelevant. Democrats have won the popular vote (by either a majority or a plurality) in 7 of the last 8 presidential elections. However, since electors are sent by states, not by popular votes, conservative rural states with smaller populations have a disproportionate impact on elections.

There are obvious limits to how far up the political hIerarchy one can go before being stopped in Thailand. Whoever the highest ranking fall-guy ends up being, there will almost certainly be someone higher ranking who will not be prosecuted.

While I wouldn't in any way defend this fellow's actions, there is a world of difference between molesting a 16 year old and molesting an 8 year old. I think that some of the 'cut off his balls' brigade have lost sight of this.

According to the recent Constitutional Court ruling, they cannot touch article 112. So tinkering with the rest of the constitution is like cleaning the carbs of an engine with a cracked block!

There are some more details in the original article. The girl was a foreign student, not Thai. They seem to have slept together on two occasions, with the exact dates specified. After the school and parents found out he was fired. Although the police were notified (later) he was not arrested at that time. One has to wonder what the young woman - now about 25 or 26 - feels about this coming to light now.

Have they checked the houses of the local police officers to see if the 4th boy is hiding with his father.

Eleanor Roosevelt, who chaired the UN commission that wrote the Universal Declaration of Human RIghts in the years after FDR died.

Trump is interesting because he is a chaotic figure. He personally thrives on chaos and discord and brings that with him in his political influence. There are groups of cultural conservatives and conservative billionaires who support him because they believe that they can control or at least influence him once he is in office. However, I suspect that his random, discordant management style will lead to him being an ineffective president. Remember, this is a man who inherited over 1/2 a billion dollars and is now worth about 1/10 that much. It takes a special kind of "genius" to lose that much money.

If I was a betting man... I would bet NO.

Several years ago the boyfriend of the mother of one of my 12 or 13 year old students tried to rape her (the student, not the mom). Her mother stabbed him through the heart. Fortunately the mother didn't spend a day in jail and the daughter has grown up with no problems.

Yet another story about the Thai police doing NOTHING...

So, are these Yellow shirts, Red shirts, Orange shirts, Green shirts or Blue shirts? I really can't keep track of who hates Thaksin and who is in bed with him!