Evil Penevil

I found on another board this link to a series of umpteen traffic cams in Bangkok. There's a better view if you click on the "View all cameras" link under the first cam at the top right of the page. http://www.webworldc....th/cctv-image/ Depending on the number of hits the site is getting, it can be slow to load. Evil

I have no idea what you are talking about - I never visited your Facebook page, much left a comment. Why do you think I did? Can you take a screen shot of the message I'm supposed to have posted? And what do you mean by "fake identity?" Do you believe Evil Penevil is my name IRL? Evil

My! What an outburst! I have upset you, haven't I? Must mean I'm doing something right. Not that it will matter to you, but I've never been on your Facebook page under any identity. You must be confusing me with one of 800 million other people. You should have learned by now that your petty name-calling doesn't bother me. It only highlights your inability to take part in a reasonable debate. Remember, all games in the end are a matter of last man standing. Are you still sure he wouldn't mind? Evil

Does that include bar girls who ask more than 1,000 baht? Evil

I noticed this, too. But yesterday, at Tops in the basement of TukCom, toilet paper was back in stock, although only in the big 16-roll packages. I got one and saw that just about everyone else in the checkout lines also had one. Still no instant ramen-style noodles and only a few bottles of some brand of water of which I'd never heard (didn't buy any). No Coke Zero or Pepsi Max, only a few "six packs" of regular Pepsi and 7-Up, but plenty of domestic soft drinks and bottled tea, juices and fruit drinks, Snack foods like potato chips were back in stock, but the choice was very limited. Evil

I wrote "a few (well, at least one) member." At LEAST one. I was being conservative. Why would you think I was referring to Gabor? Do you feel he is the sole BM on Pattaya Talk who lacks basic knowledge of economics and would be more difficult to educate than a bar girl? So let's look at this logically: Unless you have a compelling reason to believe Gabor is the only BM of Pattaya Talk who fits the description above, my comment refers a small group of unnamed BMs and therefore can't by definition be a personal insult. But if Gabor wouldn't mind, it again by definition can't be a personal insult. So in either case, your comment, "What's with the personal insults?," becomes irrelevant. This is very entertaining, isn't it? Evil

Do you happen to know which one sells them? It would be great to have coupons that weren't date-stamped so you could check if the lines at Immigration are long and use Fast-Track only if needed. Evil

What person did I insult? I didn't name any person in the post. Evil

That would indeed be a challenge , but it can't be more difficult than trying to explain to a few (well, at least one) member of Pattaya Talk. Evil

That's a good reminder. My sister had a similar experience a few years ago. She lives in the U.K. and was supposed to visit our mother in the U.S. for month and bought a heavily discounted ticket through a local bucket shop. Unfortunately, Mom passed away a few days before my sister's arrival date. She took the outbound flight to attend the memorial service and help with clearing out Mom's house, but wanted to leave the U.S. two weeks earlier than originally planned. The bucket shop wouldn't even consider changing the return date and hung up on her when she pressed the discussion. Continental said they couldn't help her because she had bought the ticket from an outside booker. Because Continental was the preferred carrier of the company I worked for at the time and it did millions of dollars with them, the corporate travel department was able to apply a little informal pressure to get the ticket changed. If my sister had bought the ticket directly from the airline, there wouldn't have been any problem in getting the return date changed after the death of an immediate family member. So if you go with a booking agency or discounter, make sure you have travel insurance than covers involuntary breaks in your trip. Evil

As I said, some people don't understand basic economics. I am by no means trying to suggest the girls are products like washing machines or TVs. I didn't write that, nor do I believe it. The girls don't sell their bodies, they sell sexual services and the market in which they operate is governed by economic principles. The biggest problem is that you are confusing the word ""economics" with what is best described as "monetary compensation," i.e. cash in hand. I agree that the amount of money the girl expects from the customer the morning after is not the only factor in her choice of customers. Sometimes it's not even the dominant consideration. The girl is indeed influenced by a number of human elements - how attractive or repulsive she finds the customer; how big or small her immediate need for money is; whether she enjoys spending time with him outside the sack; whether he's likely to become a regular customer; etc, etc. But none of this excludes from the realm of economics the process by which a girl selects her customers or sets the prices she charges them. Many popular service providers in mainstream occupations or professions go through equivalent processes when choosing customers. Even in straight-up labor economics, the wage or salary level is not the only factor for a potential employee in deciding whether to accept a job offer. Fringe benefits; the distance to commute; hours of work; possibilities for advancement or work-from-home, etc., all figure in. Sometimes people accept a lower salary if the fringe benefits (like duck soup or a bucket of KFC) are particularly important to them or the place of work is close to where they live (so they don't risk S/T becoming an involuntary L/T). All of this, whether it takes place inside or outside P4P, falls squarely under the heading of economics and goes way beyond statistics, equations and the question of, "How much you give me?" Evil

+1. Those two urban legends are largely the result of a few posts on various punter boards. They were brought to you by the same people who have fallen for another myth - that one punter paying more than another punter deems appropriate will drive up prices and "ruin the scene" for everyone. That one's not really an urban legend, though; it simply reflects the poor understanding some people have of basic economics. Evil

Who owns Mixx? Is it a name which cannot be mentioned? Evil

Nev- I tried the promotion and it worked, but not like a charm. I had to do considerable talking and explaining at several levels before the service girl understood. It was mainly a problem of communication. The girl didn't appear to understand what Pattaya Talk was, so maybe the mamasan or someone on site needs to explain things a bit better. Another service girl who knew me from before could finally set things right, but without her help, I don't think I could have made myself understood. Otherwise, everything was fine and I had a good time. Evil

Ride from BKK to Pattaya was normal. Heavy traffic on some stretches getting out of downtown BKK, passing an accident on motorway slowed things a bit, traffic heavy and slow in Pattaya. Trip from BKK to Pattas took two hours, another 20 minutes within Patts to get to my condo near Tukcom. But that is about par for the course for a Friday afternoon. However, condo manager said a lot of demand for rooms, apartments in Pattaya. I don't know how extensive an overview he has, but told me, "Everything full, Very good business." Evil

No noticeable problems in Suk area. Stores, restaurants, bars stocked as usual, including bottled water. Can't see any problems. If I didn't know about flood warnings, I wouldn't suspect anything different than usual. Off to Pattaya in an hour. Evil

Posting this from my hotel room on Sukhumvit Road near Asoke. No problem at all to get into Suk area. I de-planed at 10.50 p.m., was checking into the hotel at 11.50 p.m. Very little traffic on the way in, but Suk Road seems close to normal in terms of late night traffic. No sign of water except a little rain. Evil

Posting this from the United lounge at Narita. All onward flights to Bangkok on schedule for this evening. United rep told me no problems getting in or out of Swampy to BKK or Pattaya. Plan to spend one night in BKK, then on to Pattaya tomorrow. I will report on how it goes. Evil

No change in status this morning. United/Continental still booking passengers through to Bangkok the rest of the week, but flights are filling up as those who need to get to Thailand are trying to get there before more serious flooding hits Bangkok. Evil

Once again, you are quibbling. If it is a justified shoot, done to protect the policeman's life or the lives of others, then the cop shouldn't be punished. It doesn't matter what touched off the incident. If the cop shot someone solely for possessing a beer, that wouldn't be a justified shoot and he should be punished. You are inventing imaginary scenarios and then quibbling about details. Carrying a badge doesn't give a policeman the right to commit murder, or at least it shouldn't. Just like Quranic prohibitions shouldn't give police or other authorities the right to harass, detain, arrest, whatever, a person because they are wearing capri pants or aren't wearing socks. Take your time, Joe. I'm going to be traveling and probably won't be able to reply for several days. Evil

I haven't lost track of anything, but from your answers, it is indeed possible you have. I am not concerned about three or 30 or 300 women wearing burqas on Walking Street. I am opposed to Sharia law because it is inherently oppressive when used for anything but personal guidance. As is common in forum threads, the discussion moved beyond the OP. I am arguing against any country or region that enforces Sharia law (and I don't just mean dress codes). That happens in many more places than Saudi Arabia. I don't know of any cases where a person was shot for merely drinking a beer in Kentucky, but if that really happened, the shooter should be punished to the full extent of the law. I would say the same if a person was shot for drinking a cup of tea or any beverage anywhere. Shooting people without justification is a crime under secular law, so of course it's wrong, wherever it happens. Not adhering to a specific dress code based on religious tradition isn't a crime or offense in Western countries. Yes, it is indeed a form of control, but control that is based on religion. Veiling and covering are traditions that pre-date both Islam and Christianity. But common-sense (for the time and place) restrictions on behavior, whether in terms of diet, dress, sexual activity or consumption of alcohol, gained much more impact when ordered by the Supreme Being. Muslims believe the Quranic prohibitions were ordered by Allah, which made the Prophet's followers easier to control. It's a lot riskier to piss off the Supreme Being than a former rug merchant who heard voices. To state dress codes are rooted in religion isn't at all the same as saying rape is rooted in sex. Dress codes are intended to keep the believer on the path of righteousness. If you believe that public displays of the human body are an offense to God, Allah or whatever name you use for the Supreme Being, then it would be natural to obscure the body. Rape has to do with an individual inflicting him or herself on another without the victim's consent. I've never read a post on this forum that opposed Islam on theological grounds, i.e., Islam denies the divinity of Jesus or holds that Mohammed was the ultimate prophet or that the Quran supersedes earlier scripture. The criticisms I've read on this forum have concerned the actions of some adherents of Islam who claim to be acting in the name of Islam. I'm not interpreting anything for Muslims; I'm explaining certain things to you and any other BM who reads this thread. I don't know why you would say that. The problem is that Islam hasn't kept pace with developments in the world. Sharia law is based on commands that were originally intended to keep desert tribes in order. Mohammed was a secular as well as a religious leader. But times have changed since Muslim armies swept across the Middle East and other areas. Sharia law hasn't. Prof. Wael Hallaq of Columbia University, regarded in academic circles as an expert on Islamic law, might disagree with you about no theory of Sharia law. Here are the titles of some of the books he has written: Shari'a: theory, practice, transformations (Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009). Was the Gate of Ijtihad Closed? The Early Essays on the History of Islamic Legal Theories by Wael B. Hallaq / ed. and trans. Atsushi Okuda (Tokyo: Keio University Press, 2003; in Japanese, containing translations of a number of the below articles). A history of Islamic legal theories : an introduction to Sunnī uṣūl al-fiqh (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997). Law and legal theory in classical and medieval Islam (Aldershot, UK; Brookfield, VT: Variorum, 1995; containing reprints of twelve articles published between 1984 and 1993). Evil

Latest update from United/Continental is that there are no problems so far with flights in/out of BKK, nor any problems in reaching the Sukhumvit area from the airport. However, passengers holding reservation for travel between Oct. 21 and Oct. 31 are allowed to change their flight dates at no cost, even for the most restricted ticket. Evil

But the punishment isn't stoning to death. Adultery is still a crime in several countries and regions, including a few states in the U.S. However, prosecutions are very rare in the U.S. and the status of such laws is in doubt because of Supreme Court rulings. Evil

No, I wouldn't. But that is beside the point. As I keep saying, it is how religious admonitions are applied that is important. If questions of dress are only matters of personal piety, I have no problem with that. Many religious groups have strict standards of dress. But the "Islamic dress code" for women (and men) as it exists in some modern Muslim societies (those that practice Sharia law) forces those standards on all adherents under its jurisdiction. It is the transformation of the revealed word into secular law that is wrong. If people were punished by authorities solely for violating Jewish Halakha law or Amish standards of behavior or Catholic doctrines, I would consider that equally wrong. This goes back to the issue of what is "true" religion. Is "true" Christianity the Roman Catholic Church, the Southern Baptists, the Church of England or the Quakers, among countless denominations and sects? Same same with Islam - Is true Islam the gentle doctrine of the Sufis or the ferocious version practiced by the Salafis and Wahabis, not to mention the mad mullahs of Iran or the Sharia courts of Somalia and Nigeria? I'd say those are questions for believers to answer. But when their answers have an impact outside the walls of a place of worship, all of us have to be aware. As I've said before, very few people indict Islam on purely theological grounds. It is the real-world manifestations of Islam that cause grief. What needs to happen is for every Muslim to reject Sharia as anything but a guide to personal salvation and affirm the superiority of man-made law in dealing with secular matters. Once again, to use an example I've already given: At one point in time, the Christian Bible was used to justify the burning of heretics. The last execution for blasphemy in the U.K. took place in 1697. But that changed a long time ago. Today among the deepest Christian fundamentalists who accept the literal truth of the Bible, there are no advocates for stoning adulterers to death. But virtually all influential Muslim leaders still maintain the supremacy of Sharia law over secular law. It is both the theory and practice of Sharia that is wrong with Islam, not its "purely intellectual" component. That depends on revelation and it's pointless to argue against revelation in any religion. Evil

Don't even think such thoughts. I'm supposed to land Thursday night. Evil