WannaGo

I am not sure if George was talking about that other book that was destroyed in the flood, but I love this quote of his, "'One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures.'

Is that a real quote, or were you being facetious?

Can you buy these things in regular supermarkets in the States? I don't remember ever seeing them.

Found this photo on Wikipedia...is it just me, or do these things look like regular blueberries?

My consolation is that people like this rarely have happy lives or come to good ends.

My guess is going to be accidental drowning, or that the drowning was secondary to some other incident, like a heart attack.

It's difficult to deliberately drown yourself in a swimming pool unless you are physically incapacitated or medicate yourself beforehand with pills or booze. Otherwise, when you feel yourself drowning, your body's own natural response is likely to send you back to the surface.

And, if this was a homicide, I would expect bruising and possibly scratches on the body from being held underwater.

Bob, normally I would agree with you that constitutional protections would prohibit something like this.

However, that's the dirty little trick of civil asset forfeiture. The feds target the property as the guilty party, not the owner. From Cornell's primer on asset forfeiture:

"In theory, civil actions are remedial, not punitive like criminal proceedings. By acting civilly, the government seeks to remedy a harm, through the fiction of the property's 'guilt.'"

You're right that there are hearings, but the deck is stacked against the property owner. Civil asset forfeiture cases often go through the feds, and you know how tough it is for anyone to win anything against the government under federal court rules.

Prior to the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act about 10 years ago, the "preponderance of evidence" burden was on the property owner. Supposedly, CAFRA shifted the burden to the feds, but in practice, it's still on the property owner to prove his property was not involved in a crime.

And, because it's a civil proceeding, there is no court-appointed lawyer (except when the property in question is your primary residence), so if you can't afford a lawyer, you are shit out of luck.

Of course, that's no big deal if you are a cocaine importer making millions of dollars. But that's not who ends up getting screwed over by asset forfeiture. It's the construction worker who got busted picking up a prostitute to celebrate payday and can't afford to spend $10,000 to get his $5,000 truck back from the government.

Oh, and the other neat little part about using civil asset forfeiture separate from the criminal case is that the government doesn't even have to charge you with a crime to initiate a forfeiture proceeding.

Check out this piece in the Cleveland Free Times. It's an interesting read. So is this one in the Hartford Advocate.

The interesting thing is "farang" is also the Thai word for guava.

Wonder if it has anything to do with Western men being shaped like guava...narrow at the top, wide at the bottom.

Interesting that the term is used neutrally. I know that some Asian countries aren't necessarily fond of white foreigners. I was reading somewhere the other day that there are clubs/restaurants in Japan that only allow Japanese customers and will block non-Japanese at the door.

I also think that description is way off the mark. The comparison is simply wrong (or you have no clue what Pol Pot did and what Shinawatra did).

As to your "dynasty" claim, how about one single shred of evidence (something that Shinawatra did or said, perhaps) to back up that off-the-wall claim? I doubt you'll produce it.

Not that there's any comparison with Pol Pot, but do you think Thaksin had a part in the all the deaths and mysterious disappearances that were supposedly connected to his war on drugs?

The Wall Street Journal's take:

In the short term this discussion is academic since European Union-type regional economic integration in Asia is unlikely any time soon. But over the longer term the issue here is as much political and strategic as economic: whether China will be able to leverage its growing economy into greater influence at the expense of the U.S.

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Wonder what that means?

I doubt they're talking about snatching him. Maybe Thaksin still has considerable financial interests in Thailand that the government is planning to seize?

I wonder how they plan to monitor this? What mechanisms are in place? Is this easily done for him? Others? All?

I think it would be fairly easy for them to do this.

Last year, Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was sent to jail for committing perjury during during a civil trial. Prosecutors used his own text messages to show that he'd lied under oath. Apparently, the text messages were stored in the servers of the company that provided the service to the city government, just like emails are temporarily stored in your ISP's server.

I guess it's possible even to monitor the messages in real-time, if the government's electronic intelligence networks are sophisticated enough. I wouldn't be surprised if the US can and does do that in certain circumstances.

I'll have some hope if and only when she's released from the current charges and is allowed to run in next year's elections. Without that, the ASEAN group might as well be smokin' yaba.

Yeah, their enthusiasm is looking a little premature.

I think Mr. Bean rocks! (And I loved the Italian version of the same character in "Rat Race.") Welcome.

I'm curious about how Thais use the word "farang" to refer to Westerners. When you guys hear it used, is it a neutral term that just indicates someone is foreign, or does it carry an insult, the way "gaijin" does in Japan and "gweilo" does in China?

If I was being accused of coercing sex out of vulnerable young boys, I don't know that I would want a Catholic archbishop testifying on my behalf.

I have to agree with you!! How many wars and conflicts around the World are caused by Religious conflict? Nearly all of them!! Yet Religion is supposed to differentiate between good and evil. No wonder so many people have chosen to be atheist.

Thaifan, have you seen Bill Maher's documentary "Religulous" yet? I highly recommend it. He makes an interesting case that religious belief, especially among the most devout, is something akin to a psychological disorder. Plus it's just funny as hell, too.

Lol. Obviously, the guy wasn't very well endowed......

Sigh...I know the feeling.

And what about the story of the flooding that occurred at his new Texas presidential library where both books were destroyed! And GW was really pissed as he hadn't finished coloring one of them.

LOL

If I had to guess, I would say probably not. I have always heard that most murders are unplanned or more impulsive, usually between individuals that know each other.

One of the primary characteristics of any person who engages in frequent criminal behavior is low impulse control. For that reason, I have serious doubts about the deterrent effect of the death penalty on anyone other than the person executed.

I'd vote to use those dollars to go ask the fifth grade teachers to identify the screwed-up kids in their classrooms - and then have some intervention...

I think a significant number of future offenders are going to offend regardless of intervention.

Some people say the death penalty is only revenge. I don't see anything wrong with revenge. If someone close to me was murdered, I would want the revenge. If I myself am ever murdered, I would want the person who did it to pay heavily for the crime. I wouldn't be around to see it, but I would still want the revenge.

You're right, vengeance certainly has its place.

The picture of the outside of his jail cell does not look to bad. Maybe since it is a holding facility, it is not as nasty as a real jail cell. Completing a film while in a prison cell should be interesting. Maybe he can continue with his film career while in LA?

I doubt he'll be spending much time in lock-up, even if he is extradited to the States.

I dunno...I can keep myself from laughing. Keeping myself from popping wood is another matter entirely.

You know what, aside from just dieting, I think nothing works just as well as plain old exercising.

The actual mechanism of losing weight is simple math: burn more calories than you take in. (2000 - 2500 = -500)

What makes it so tough to lose weight is all the mental games we play with ourselves. My personal favorite is, "I'll exercise more and eat less tomorrow." Funny thing, the clock always seems to be stuck on today.

When I was a kid Halloween was about trick or treating. And some kids would be up to mischief such as throwing eggs.

These days it has become much more popular with young adults as women enjoy dressing up as French maids or naughty schoolgirls.

Same here...it was alllll about the candy and scary houses for us.

Speaking of scary and the ancients traditions that started Halloween, I recommend a new movie out on DVD called Trick 'r Treat.

Jesus. That sounds like some nightmares I've had. I'm betting this is not a guy with a significant other to go home and kiss.

Yes, asset forfeiture has been out of control for years. When a law enforcement agency can seize private property for its own benefit, that creates a system that is just wide-open to abuse.

Cops in this county seize any vehicles even remotely connected to dope -- for example, if your cousin uses your car without your permission to go buy a baggie of pot -- and then use them not just for law enforcement purposes but also as their own personal take-home vehicles.

It started out as a bad idea in the "War on Drugs" and now has expanded to include any "criminal" activity. There are several cities in Florida that will seize your cash and vehicle if you are busted for soliciting prostitution.

And here's the real kicker: Asset forfeiture is a civil process, separate from the criminal proceedings, and does not require a finding of guilt. You can win your criminal case, but still lose your property through forfeiture.

If they weren't sleeping, and they weren't arguing, which apparently is the first story they told the cops, then what the hell were they doing? Fucking?

Something I read said the black box wouldn't be of any use in this case because it only records the last 30 minutes of a flight, so it would not have started until after they turned around and headed back to Minneapolis.