unomi

This is a Response in part to a previous post in the Chiang Mai section that accused this fine forum of being controlled by liberal democrats.

I will agree with you that this site is no different than so many other media outlets, to say that it is motivated by political ideology is however being much too generous.

The fact is that bills have to be paid and sponsors pay them, the operation has to keep running smoothly and as such they are afraid of 'rocking the boat'.

As much as this appears to be a 'public forum' it is only that in the sense of being publicly accessible for reading.

It is not, I think, a matter of them trying to affect some outcome, besides economic return. More a case of them being the victim of a process.

What I am wondering, is anyone here aware of discussion groups or media outlets that are do not stifle honest opinion? This need not be a competing website, I am sure that would get this thread closed fairly quickly. Rather I mean actual clubs, events, screenings and get togethers.

In the event that you yourself are not aware of such venues, would you like to know of them if there were?

You would be welcome to PM me, although I hope that this might have wider appeal as well.

Many Thanks in Advance.

I only use my car when I am going somewhere outside of Bangkok, and even then more likely than not i will use other forms of transportation out of convenience.

Ok, so all politicians are crooks, but you single out liberal democrats?

Who do you think didn't get a fair chance?

Well,

He wasn't really acting in the interests of the commercial venture that this forum is.

After all his news stories included mentions of suicides, prostitution and events which may or may not be construed as failings on the part of Government institution and perhaps by extension the powers that grant them authority.

Obviously this can not be tolerated.

Unomi:

...learning more about practical machine engineering / robotics.

I believe that the Japanese have already created, but not perfected, what we might recognize as a "robot bar girl." Just put a coin in the slot?

Err and your point is what?

Guard: You'll scratch your shackles!

Bart Simpson: I hope I do!

- The Simpsons movie

nice vid

Yes, actually the votes for Nader were so significant in 2000 that they took votes away from Al Gore and helped erect G W Bush. This time both Nader and Barr are expected to get enough votes to make a difference, especially Barr in Florida who may help Obama take Florida (sweet irony). There is no legal or constitutional restrictions to people from parties other than dems and reps being successful candidates. George Washington wasn't a democrat or a republican.

There may not be a constitutional restriction against it, but there are certainly a lot of structural problems that keep 3rd party or independent candidates from getting the exposure that they deserve.

Ron Paul was excluded from his own party's debates, the interparty presidential candidate debates were all obama vs mccain affairs. Ron Paul at some points garnered over 30% of the poll votes, this is even with FOX commentators trying to paint him as a loon.

Ill be honest and say that I have been lazy and disinterested, I hadn't even seen the 3rd party press conference untill earlier today. But, on watching it I would say that they all seem much more wholesome candidates that what is presented to the public via popular media outlets.

I say that with the utmost respect to Obama, I am very very happy for him but at the same time, it has to be said that he will most likely represent 'more of the same' relative to these other candidates. Perhaps we can't really use the things he has said *against him* because obviously he needs to present himself as an attractive option to as wide a swath of voters as possible.. But isn't that precisely the problem? The lack of specialization leads to broad, shallow evasively worded political commitments. I hope that there is considerably more radicalism hidden in there, and that he has the courage and opportunity to effect the paradigm shift that I personally feel is absolutely necessary. Amazing achievement and best of luck to Obama.

"Why so Serious?!" Heath Ledger as the Joker

"I remembah" - Isabella Rosselini in Blue Velvet

"If only you could see what I have seen thru your eyes", "Wake up, time to die" Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner.

Dizzy: My mother always told me that violence doesn't solve anything.

Jean Rasczak: Really? I wonder what the city founders of Hiroshima would have to say about that.

[to Carmen]

Jean Rasczak: You.

Carmen: They wouldn't say anything. Hiroshima was destroyed.

Jean Rasczak: Correct. Violence has resolved more conflicts than anything else. The contrary opinion that violence doesn't solve anything is merely wishful thinking at its worst.

Stanley Motss: What did television ever do to you?

Winifred Ames: It destroyed the electoral process.

Dustin Hoffman and Anne Heche in Wag the Dog.

Did IQs just drop sharply while I was away? -Sigourney Weaver in Aliens.

This is so nuts. I mean, listen - listen to what you're saying. It's paranoid delusion. How - It's really sad. It's pathetic. - Paul Reiser in Aliens.

The OP's question about when/where the party/wake will be held has been answered. Any reason for this thread to stay open and attract yet more of the same non-CM-related political to-ing and fro-ing that has been done to death elsewhere?

If people want to discuss it, why not?

The information is IN the thread, near the top, its not going to get lost nor are people going to be distracted from finding it. No one is forcing you to continue to read the thread.

Pretty interesting regarding the reasoning behind the 2 party system.

And quite honestly a collection of some worthy candidates that were excluded from the debating process.

What is his reasoning in not paying all of it back and only some?

Could he simply not have the money? In which case it matters little which course of action you take unless its one that causes him to have a kidney sold.

ME: so so

What don't you like?

who knows, maybe one of these guys will win:

You know, I am very happy that Obama gets the chance to show what hes got, but I still think it is a shame that the republican party didnt present their best candidate: Ron Paul.

McCain/Palin would be funny if it wasnt so dam_n sad.

I for example would be very interested in learning more about practical machine engineering / robotics.

Don´t bother the machine engineering. Futures engineers stay behind the desk. Make more money than the boys on site doing the job. Offcourse it varies and i should not say all machine engineer jobs is bad, but the ones that pay good is usually pretty crappy life in the longrun. Robot programing is offcourse different. Learn it well and you will get a good, well paid job. .

I don't pick the things that I want to spend time learning based on career prospects, but on what I would like to know more about.

The fact that Unis are now career and industry primers is to my mind quite unfortunate.

Well, and fireworks, bon fires and loads of material for discussion.

Its sad that a guy cant say that he is happy and content without all kinds of people trying to bring him down.

Talking about how much influence or money that they have.

I have travelled most of my life, taken out to sea at 6 months and lived in a slew of places across 4 continents.

What swanky said I agree with 100% apart from the bit about if you don't have them everything goes tits up.

I have consistently been without savings that would last me more than a year apart from when I went to countries with comparatively lower prices, I have few friends and no brothers or sisters.

I have chosen to live in Thailand for the brunt of the last 7 years, about 1/4 of my life.

It is hard to pick a time when I was *not* happy with living in Thailand. It has consistently been challenging, exciting and educational. I have lived in Songkla, Sakhon Nakhon, Koh Chang, Kanchanaburi and many places inside the area that these places circumscribe. In Thailand I have had the pleasure and fortune to work as Creative Correspondence Writer, 3D Animator, English Teacher, Dive Master, Travel Chaperone, Fish Farmer, Computer Programmer, Online Merchant, Network Admin, Real Estate Agent, Bar & Restaurant Manager and Entrepreneur. None of these have made me rich, but that was never the goal, simply to be enriched.

Most of the Thais that I have met have been interesting, helpful and simply wonderful, very few times have I faced a bad deal that could not be negotiated to a mutually beneficial arrangement. With Farangs less so. Certainly I have met many farangs living here that I respect and enjoyed the company of and the discussions and friendship shared I appreciated immensely. But there are also many that confuse being a businessman with being a conartist, industry with fraud and competitiveness with sabotage.

This is not something peculiar to Thailand ofcourse, but perhaps here the contrasts are starker.

try : mail.cscoms.com

Easiest thing would be to use a mobile phone that allows you to connect to GPRS via usb or bluetooth.

Chances are good that your phone already can do that.

It will likely be faster than your landline

I think you will be hard pressed to find anyone honest and brave enough to admit their worries and problems.

I also think that the decrease in tourists has not yet been severe or long enough to seriously affect those that were not already struggling.

Its hard to predict anything, especially the future.

But most people are savvy enough to know that you can get more investment into or price for a business that atleast appears successful.

I do not wish to imply that this relates in anyway to the above posters.

Well, Halloween, Christmas, Valentines day are celebrated here isnt it time to celebrate something 'real' ?

i was there but somewhat disjointed, didn't recognize anyone and didnt really feel like going around asking everyone if hey were from TV or not.

Did see the dude in the pirate costume, and yeah that was real classy.

Just went around freaking people out, ok night

Should be how about at the Government Building?

No, I suppose not.

The link I thought to be self-explanatory of the content.

http://free.charts.xe.com/Misc/promoChart.asp

xe is a fairly well known currency exchange site, they host a free online exchange rate charting app.

I would imagine that people could go there and see the movement of the usd against different currencies and come to some idea of what the dollar is doing.

I can't presume to have some insight to offer on the back of the currency movement charts, just thought it could be an interesting tool for those of us that do not have access to realtime consoles.