joekicker

Do you see Pattaya in there? Neither do I. Do you think those three weeks of floods (which you didn't quote Al-Jazeera about) were caused by daily rains? Neither do I. In the South, though, there was one hell of a storm that did cause very serious, VERY serious floods. But it's a long way from Pattaya in more ways than one. .

I agree with you midlife, I think we all do, surely? VicVegas has been bringing a lot of phee-noms into the forum over past months like the 105-mph thrower Aroldis Chapman and the pride of the Washington Nationals Stephen Strasburg. Noticing these guys isn't any claim they're in the Hall of Fame. I think Vick has done quite well this year. He's really rebuilt himself, and he looks like a quarterback instead of a "give me the ball" college star. The Washington game may have been a one-off for the massive stats, but Vick looks very good this year, in a way he never looked at Atlanta at all. He throws very, very well. He has excellent discipline in the pocket. But as you say - a legend he ain't, not by a long shot, not for a few years, minimum. I disagree a bit over the dogs. He's done his time, and he served it like a man, no whining. He gets to get back in society and all. But you don't HAVE to forget his pretty despicable crime, or like the guy personally in any manner. I'm reminded a little bit of Mike Tyson -- he did his time but he's still a 24-carat, star-studded jerk. In my book, I give Vick a lot of slack after the way he manned up, but some people won't, and it's their individual call. Whoops I was posting this while you were posting about your Mom. I understand her view. .

"The rainy season" means it rains at most about 30 minutes a day, with one or two gully-washers a year. If you bend and twist to avoid the rainy season, it's crazy. It's not worth depriving yourself just in case you get wet one night. Maybe. The hot season this year was a total disaster - practically unliveable, practically. Having a flooded street once or twice was a VERY welcome end to the hot season. If you're going to avoid a season, and there's really no reason to, then the hot season is the one toi avoid. Winter is indeed really shaping up nicely, too cold too early, if anything. .

No, they are paying people to take their picture and use it for commercial purposes. .

I think I grasp this, but you know -- if this is true, then why bother with all that justice system xrap and jail time? Why not just make every crime and every personal offence a life sentence, forget about "paying your debt to society" and redemption and all that nonsense. If you offend me one time, then off with your head. I mean, in REAL life, people do regret their actions and people do change and people do redeem themselves. Don't they? .

Yes but basically only the very, very top guys, and PPV is more than $50 per house. People pay a lot to watch jiu-jitsu at the Asian Games, too, but not for the other three years and 51 weeks. Plus, notice almost none of them is American these days - kids are not encouraged to go into boxing, and don't hanker to go into it. Club fighting and the like is basically dead. I don't mean it's going to die tomorrow, but the continuing sport of boxing is pretty much dead in the US, and all you get are the occasional spikes - and OFTEN or even usually involving two foreigners. .

Philip Rivers? Seems you're just going by stats, so you'd have to put Orton and Tony Romo up there too. They have great stats. Are you saying David Garrard (number two behind Vick in the QB ratings) is among the best? I'd be half-willing to grant that a lousy team can have a great QB, but it ain't Rivers. If Rivers was that good, San Diego would be a winning team, not a loser. They've got the personnel that can win twice as many games as they lose, but they're 4-5 in the worst division in the league. Peyton Manning is currently Number 10 in QB ratings but he's 6-and-3. And you're saying Rivers is better than Brady, currently 7-and-2? Pshaw! .

Heh. You should hear what they say about you. Losers aren't born. But not only the BM think you are a self-made loser. .

How much do they think they are worth? No, I phrased that badly. How much can you get for one in Phnom Penh? In the US, they are "lucky" and lots of people tuck them away in their wallet and never spend them. Not sure how that's good luck, but they're a superstitious lot, the Americans. .

Yes, this argument has been going for a long time, and one of the possible reasons for the Pattaya "crackdown" is, indeed, that the abstinence groups have cranked up the police to "enforce the law". I don't know that at all -- but it's sure possible. In truth, there is supposed to be one law everywhere, and in truth Pattaya only gets an exemption, basically, day to day and basically skirting that law. .

Or maybe not. The Seattle Times says not. It says the plane caught on fire DURING a test, not BECAUSE of a test: Boeing says a failure in one of the plane's two main power panels led to a fire in the blanket... .

Actually it is Thai management. Or so the OP states. Whoops. Sorry bastax33 - you did it better than me. Picking up that white man's burden is tough work. .

You've simply changed your story. Before, it was the additional RR engines that you expected were going to fail. Now, it's the PR and legal teams. Now it's the passengers and news media. That is EXACTLY what *I* wrote in the post you said was so flawed. All you're doing now is totally, completely agreeing with what I wrote in the first place, and completely abandoning your vague and rather weird argument about how you wouldn't be surprised if more RR engines suffer catastrophic failure -- an argument that has everything to do with you and nothing at all to do with engines, public relations, public's perception, Rolls Royce response, airplanes, etc. What I said: It doesn't matter what you (or I) are surprised about. So we agree it's all about PR and media interest. Great. .

Thanks for remembering and posting this, Tom. A sombre day, and marked in much of the world. You will see poppies in Thailand. .

The problem with your analysis is that Rolls Royce engines don't care about your surprise. I don't think that "a large proportion" or a large number of engines are experiencing any problem at all. But because one did, there is a terrific focus on all of them. I'd be shocked, not just surprised, if this didn't happen. It's 2010 everywhere. No one can afford the bad PR that comes when Rolls Royce or Boeing or whoever says, "Hey, it's an anomaly, don't worry." Remember all those Toyota cars that were taken off the road because one dodo in California couldn't tell the difference between the accelerator and brake? It's what companies have to do. Almost all these things ARE an anomaly -- but not all of them. The company that doesn't play it safe is sorry. .

I'm not following. Are you saying it was not a real emergency landing, that the airplane was not evacuated by slides and so on? If so, any cites? The Seattle papers are pretty credible on Boeing stuff. If you're not saying that, I don't get the point. Edit: This just in, literally. Jeez.. US aerospace giant Boeing on Wednesday halted all test flights of the new 787 Dreamliner aircraft following a fire aboard a test plane late Tuesday. "We have decided to focus on ground testing and not fly the airplanes until we better understand the incident on ZA002,'' Loretta Gunter, a Boeing spokeswoman, told AFP. "Ground testing" an airplane - sounds like driving to me. .

This is genius marketing. I'm pretty sure it's actually legit, too. (If it's not, sorry, that's why it's in "funnies") Durex has started selling the XXL condoms. And here are four of their adverts: .

When things like this happen in bunches, it's a bit scary. USUALLY it means nothing at all. But every so often there's a Constellation-type of serious problem, where a sudden flurry of problems really is a super-big killer-problem. Catastrophic failure of one engine is a bitxh but not necessarily a biggie. Then they find a bunch of possible, who-knows-what problems with other kinds of that engine, so it gets a lot of publicity. Probably it's coincidence and no big thing. Possibly it's not. But either case, it's going to get front page for a while. Nothing personal. If a 787 has another emergency landing this week, it will push Rolls Royce off the front page. .

Oh for heaven's sake, is THAT was that was? I couldn't figure out why the white guy was screaming and ranting and giving me the finger - in my rear-view mirror. I thought that light was an advertising come-on for a restaurant. .

Heh. They aren't pedestrian crossings. They are lines on the street. If you choose to try to cross the street there, on foot, it is exactly like crossing in places that don't have lines on the street. .

I'd go up via your route 1, it's scenic, through the national park, etc. Then come back on the vanilla, speedier highway, basically through Korat and Bangkok. Check the roads shortly before your trip. There has been absolutely horrendous flooding, and your Route 1 has been damaged for sure - just how bad it will be in a month is anyone's guess. .

Irony, thy name is P&W. So the Prats WIN their case. Which proves that Rolls Royce engines are just like P&W. Which proves that P&W engines are just like RR. Well, now, that's a confidence builder for us flyers, eh? .

Yes, and according to the website listing their features: - Car parking (Payable to hotel, if applicable) So it looks like it might even cost a bob or two, also. yuck. As frosty says, get that settled when you reserve. .

I thought it was the girl you'd paid in advance, waiting and ready and free. How disappointing. Try to put the item in the headline, mate. .

Plus. BUT he didn't give up all those drugs and info and more because he's a nice guy. He'll get something in return. Just a guess, but he ratted out the big boss, and will get way less than 15 years. .