RogueLeader

I think you're all just jealous. I mean, really, what would you rather do? Buy a luxury car and have change for a jetski? Set up in business anywhere in the world? Stay a night in the Taj Lake Palave Hotel suite? Or buy a card that gives you access to a dodgy country club where you can play golf with Russian and Chinese usurers, thieves and gangsters um, I mean high net worth individuals from North and East Central Asia?

The Duchess of Cornwall's brother tells how baby

elephants are brutally starved and tortured brutally-starved-tortured

Maybe she should fix fox hunting first, and then comment on Thailand

Fox hunting is illegal in Britain.

Sorry neversure but it seems you've got preconceived ideas, based around love of the west and belief in its invention, innovation and such, and then find facts to back up your view rather than assessing the evidence and then reaching a conclusion. The debt picture that naam points out is clear in this regard. Same goes for the Asian story, you start out with the theory they are nothing but copiers with no merit and then set out looking for ways to rubbish their economies but more often than not the data can not match up to your pre conceived starting point. If you try adding in off book local gov debt etc for china then you must do the same the otherway also which sends USA in to total basket case picture.

I don't think Asians are 'copiers with no merit' but I do think that - with Korea as a very notable exception - innovation is far less important or evident in Asia - particularly India and China than it is in the United States, Britain or Israel (a country currently bursting at the seams with ideas and startups). I think that the reasons for this are related to rigid social structure, caste systems, lack of freedom of speech and expression and corruption and patronage networks. Indian education in particular has historically been plagued with rote learning and nepotism for obvious historical reasons.

I wonder what happened to the ivory.

MacWallen

What exactly qualifies you to "look" at someone's education.

If I told you I had an MA from Cambridge what does that signify ?

May we could be treated to a summery of your education -----checkable dates and awarding bodies ?

In summary:

Walen students regularly give desk-standing ovations to unqualified but brilliant teachers. Every day is Dead Poets Day at Walen. Fact.

Facebook is utterly shameless in its collusion with repressive governments.

And it's not just Thailand that's becoming a police state. It's a worldwide trend.

My thoughts exactly Paul, another visa service but this masked as a teaching training certificate..the school has already milked the education visa market so why not teacher work permit market

I can tell you one thing for sure Steve. There are great many people fully satisfied with services provided by the Walen School. We offer reliable service. Mac Walen certified

There are also a great many people who aren't. A quick Google will reveal them

Dear Rogue, there are people who are not happy with presidents, no matter who they are, not happy with their countries, parents. employers, even God himself! Sure, hard to please everyone, but we certainly try. Some are also simply nasty, jealous, have a grudge agains something etc. Very much normal.

Please could you tell me how you cram two years of classroom teaching experience into a few weeks in a classroom?

My thoughts exactly Paul, another visa service but this masked as a teaching training certificate..the school has already milked the education visa market so why not teacher work permit market

I can tell you one thing for sure Steve. There are great many people fully satisfied with services provided by the Walen School. We offer reliable service. Mac Walen certified

But your "unique teaching system" is just reading out of book. You're planning to charge people 49,960 for that? Who would be stupid enough to pay that when it would be cheaper to do the internationally recognised Cambridge CELTA which would certainly lead to a job offer and a work permit paid by the employer?

Unless of course the whole thing is just another visa scam.

I can teach you how to teach faster. I am very confident of that. If you have a better offer take it but CELTA is not even coming close to our teaching speed. You can make a bet if you have money to lose.

My girlfriend has just qualified as a teacher in Britain. It took a 4-year Bachelor's Honour's degree plus a year's very hard work for a PGCE (18+ hours a day and weekends) and a year as a Newly Qualified Teacher. 6 years' hard preparation.

Are you saying that you can teach someone this in a few weeks?

Walen ALS (accelerated learning system) is much faster than communicative methods. We can certainly teach faster, no doubt about that. So answering your question. Yes, I can.

But your "unique teaching system" is just reading out of book. You're planning to charge people 49,960 for that? Who would be stupid enough to pay that when it would be cheaper to do the internationally recognised Cambridge CELTA which would certainly lead to a job offer and a work permit paid by the employer?

Unless of course the whole thing is just another visa scam.

I can teach you how to teach faster. I am very confident of that. If you have a better offer take it but CELTA is not even coming close to our teaching speed. You can make a bet if you have money to lose.

Are you saying that you can teach someone this in a few weeks?

But I have no delusions of grandeur and appreciate his "Man on The Street Views" as opposed to some trendy lefty PC correctness.

Thanks for saving me the time it would have taken to read anything else you're going to write. There was a time when those on either side of what you seem to believe is a political divide would have treated Clarkson with the scorn he so richly deserves: he's a guffawing fool whatever your politics. He's a millionaire civil servant who sneers at people who drive 'affordable' cars. You're defending him. That's your bed and you have to lie in it, but I hope I never see you attacking government spending because this is coming right back at you if you do.

Good afternoon. I hope your day improves on this inauspicious start.

"Do You Consider Bitcoin To Be A Serious Hedging Option?"

Do you always giggle childishly when someone asks you a question?

Just when this thread started to die.....

For all of our more thoughtful members who posted that children should be put in the cargo hold - you are not alone!!!

'Babies belong in the hold': Clarkson sparks controversy after airline tweet

TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has prompted a strong reaction after suggesting that children should be stashed in the luggage hold during flights.

Following a flight to Scotland earlier this month Mr Clarkson tweeted: "When will British Airways realise that babies belong in the hold?"

Justine Roberts of the website Mumsnet responded to his comments in the Mail on Sunday, saying: "There are plenty of Mumsnet users hoping British Airways will realise Jeremy Clarkson belongs in the hold."

The presenter acknowledged the vociferous response, saying "I have sparked FURY at the Mail for saying babies should travel in a plane's hold."

"Mine didn't fly till they were old enough to behave."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for BA told the Mail: "We welcome families, including infants, in all cabins."

Full article here: http://m.watoday.com.au/travel/travel-news/babies-belong-in-the-hold-clarkson-sparks-controversy-after-airline-tweet-20130520-2jvrv.html#more

Yeah, Clarkson's a tedious, attention-seeking cock-end who appeals to the lowest calibre of moron in Britain.

Who does however, from time to time voice the opinions of The Man On The Street which entertains me and even better is that it gets up some peoples noses.

Only if you believe that The Man On The Street is a risible fool. I don't.

Just when this thread started to die.....

For all of our more thoughtful members who posted that children should be put in the cargo hold - you are not alone!!!

'Babies belong in the hold': Clarkson sparks controversy after airline tweet

TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has prompted a strong reaction after suggesting that children should be stashed in the luggage hold during flights.

Following a flight to Scotland earlier this month Mr Clarkson tweeted: "When will British Airways realise that babies belong in the hold?"

Justine Roberts of the website Mumsnet responded to his comments in the Mail on Sunday, saying: "There are plenty of Mumsnet users hoping British Airways will realise Jeremy Clarkson belongs in the hold."

The presenter acknowledged the vociferous response, saying "I have sparked FURY at the Mail for saying babies should travel in a plane's hold."

"Mine didn't fly till they were old enough to behave."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for BA told the Mail: "We welcome families, including infants, in all cabins."

Full article here: http://m.watoday.com.au/travel/travel-news/babies-belong-in-the-hold-clarkson-sparks-controversy-after-airline-tweet-20130520-2jvrv.html#more

Yeah, Clarkson's a tedious, attention-seeking cock-end who appeals to the lowest calibre of moron in Britain.

Really?

And what should we call the form of government then?

Here's a definition from Wiki., fairly straightforward.

The PRC is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party, with its seat of government in the capital city of Beijing.

Straightfoward, but not accurate.

It's totalitarian consumer capitalism, similar to Singapore. So the government calls itself communist? By that logic, is North Korea a democracy? Was East Germany? Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken.

What utter nonsense. Not all Thai's are Budhists so why does the goverment continue these antiquated ideas to ban alcohol sales on Budhist religious days, they're blinkered to the needs and rights of people of other religious beliefs and turn a blind eye to the monks who flout the rules they swore to abide by. I'm athiest as I won't be governed by any religion because none of them accept the views of the others. No alcohol sales is a peverse reflection on people's civil rights, whatever country you may choose to live in. However it never works, watch the population and tourists in the bars and restaurants, some of whom blatantly drink as normal, others who drink beer, wine and spirits from coffee mugs hiding the bottles on the floor.

Yes. Whenever prohibition collides with demand, a black market appears. Go to Burma and change money to see it in action. But we know this, so why does everyone insist on getting so worked up about it?

The monks should be busy on Friday. Right then, I think I'll just go down to Pantip and browse porn DVDs.

Yes, you probably will......

Ooh, I know this game! Is it 'Seize the moral high ground by pretending I'm the only man in the world who's never looked at porn'?

Can I play?

In the history of the western world the banking "they" have always won, even after they lost they won

Perhaps corruption doesn't stop at the Greenwich Meridian?

I am personally not against eating dog. What has the poor cow, the pig done wrong? Is my favourite question in that context. From what I am told, in Vietnam they elevate dogs specifically for meat, these dogs get special food and are being kept correctly. There are even hi-price restaurants specializing on dog meat. But these are stray dogs from the street, full of disease, that nobody in his right mind would want to eat. Why is everything in Thailand always so low? Viets are proud and can become rather aggressive too if their rules are violated. Here you pay your way out of everything. Is that what Buddhism does to the morality of people, as opposed to Communism...?

From my experience Communism does nothing for morality either. Did you see the tragic story in Beijing of the young 3 year old girl who got run over by a car and 15 people walked around her as she lay crying and bleeding in the road? She got run over for a second time and sadly died,, totally avoidable and terribly tragic. One of the interviewed locals said "we have all lost our moral compass". In my experience of living and working in China for some years communism teaches you to keep yourself to yourself and not get involved in anything that doesn't concern you. I think Thai people treat each other and foreigners with respect (if you show them appropriate courtesy as a guest) and they have a clear moral standing, it's simply that there are poor people in this developing country and when money is tight people come first.

I take it you have never traveled to Cuba, or are you simply extrapolating Chinese sensibilities to political ideology. And of course we would not want to start talking about the capitalist morality found in the USA where fundamentalist capitalism (AKA cowboy capitalism, AKA vulture capitalism) holds sway and where the profits of the very, very few are protected against the basic needs of the many. But of course those needs, you know, food, medical care, etc, are now categorized as "entitlements", as if they are perks for the privileged. So please, although one can find communism in places where morality may be in question, one can also find equally disturbing questions of morality in bastions of capitalism.

Also, China isn't communist any more.

sorry, flown thousands upon thousands of km with my child since she was 3 months old.

my father worked for an airline and i travelled by air from birth as well.

the biggest problem i have had was pressure in the ears during landing and take off, and with an infant, tears are to be expected.

if a child older than 2 or 3 is misbehaving throughout the flight, it is down to the parents.

books, crayons, ipads, iphones, portable dvds players as well as proper discipline are the responsibility of the parent, if the kid is uncontrolled on the ground, it will be a bastard in the air.

sedation, i would not touch it.

Never thought this day would come but I agree with candypants 99% (sedation, is an option of last resort).

His words about ... "the biggest problem i have had was pressure in the ears during landing

and take off, and with an infant, tears are to be expected." are so true ... giving the child something to suck on, but it a chuck-a-chup or what ever seems to allow the pressure equalise.

.

Not for everyone. When I was a child, I used to experience terrible pain on landing and for several hours after and nothing helped. I used to think that everyone experienced this and was amazed at how stoical people were.

I've always loved flying though. It's my one environmental vice - I don't have children or drive a car.

And so it begins

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

You don't always win.

Some typical Brit reactions to business success clearly on display here. One of our least redeeming cultural features.

On the contrary, I think a certain disdain towards people who do nothing but talk about money and themselves is one of our most laudable qualities. Would you rather we were fighting each other to lick their boots clean?

Some people will always knock those who are successful I call it jealously though they probably wouldn't admit to it.

Nobody can dispute though that he is a very successful businessman I kudos to the man.

I totally agree

Pay £250 for a three-hour train journey from London to Mahcester on 20-year-old trains bought from Italy on the cheap THEN tell me you admire him.

He's a cynical ex-hippie who only cares about money and attention and the sooner he and his burdensome, self-regarding generation are gone, the better.