WannaGo

It doesn't sound like a place where I would enjoy living.

I know I sure don't...I only came here because there was a job. I'm thinking of moving to Tampa toward the end of next summer.

That is something the people of Myanmar should address and probably will.

That's a regional, if not global, issue.

My hope is that once a vaccine is developed, the disease will be eradicated.

Malaria has become a rarity in the US, mainly because we control mosquito populations. It's only the female Anopheles mosquito that carries and transmits malaria, and it is possible to suppress those populations to the point of collapse, in some cases. So far, there does not seem to be any widespread or long-term ecological damage caused by wiping out mosquitoes. We'll never get rid of them entirely, but massive reductions in their numbers lowers the chance of getting bitten by a carrier.

It is truly a sad and sickening aspect of Thailand that news reports about foreigners who come here to molest children is nothing new and nothing unusual. While I am happy this man was caught and is now suffering the consequences, the frightening thought is wondering how many others come to Thailand for similar purposes and have not been caught, along with how many more are planning out their first trip.

I wonder what it is about Thailand that attracts these guys, as opposed to other poor nations in Southeast Asia or South America.

Thanks for the backstory on tea money...in the States, there are places where you can get a soapy full-body rub (in reality, they are little more than handjob joints)...could that be what soapys are?

Few things are scarier than someone who fervently believes he knows what is best for other people, especially when he and his group have political power.

In the first video, this cute cat climbs right up this cop as he writes a ticket.

In the second video, you can see this asshole actually boot the cat a few times.

A while back, we had a lengthy discussion about whether prostitutes choose to do that work or are forced into it. This is a story from CNN about a woman who truly had no choice. The heartbreaking part is that when she escaped and went to people she thought would help, they victimized her even worse.

Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- "People see me as a strong woman," Sunarsih says, "but I was broken inside. I was always crying but I don't want other people to see my cry."

Sunarsih is not this woman's real name. She doesn't want her identity revealed. No one, not even her family, knows what happened to her.

Her story starts 15 years ago, when she was just 17 years old.

"My family was very poor, I had to drop out of school," she explains. "Then I met many successful migrant workers and their stories enticed me."

Sunarsih's situation is not uncommon. Across impoverished villages in Indonesia, becoming a migrant worker is a woman's only chance for a better life.

But for some, the pursuit of their dreams quickly becomes a nightmare.

Sunarsih went to what she thought was a legitimate company. She received training in the basics of housekeeping, a passport for the first time.

"The company announced that an Arab employer was looking for a virgin, brown-skinned, tall housemaid," she remembers. "I was chosen among hundreds. I was so happy, it was like a dream come true. I was so proud. My friends told me how lucky I was to be chosen that quickly."

But two weeks after the Arab man took her to his home in Saudi Arabia, she said the horrors began.

"He was not my real employer. My real employer was his disabled father. The lower part of his body was paralyzed," she shuddered. "He would ask me to give him a massage using a vibrator on his penis."

At first she said no.

"He got very mad at me, he said that he wouldn't pay me," she recalled. "I didn't have the power to refuse. I didn't know where to escape."

She says his nine sons also molested her by groping her body and made her massage them and cook while they were naked.

Finally, one day she found the gate to the house unlocked, pretended to take out the garbage, and ran away. Eventually she ended up in a shelter run by Indonesians. She thought she had been saved; little did she know that the real nightmare was about to begin.

"They tricked me. I ran from a crocodile's mouth and ended up in a lion's mouth," she said.

She says she was sold to a pimp for about $1,300, made to work as a sex slave.

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It never has made sense to me how much attention we give to AIDS when, strictly from a threat perspective, cancer and heart disease affect far more people. Heart disease kills 11 million people worldwide every year and cancer kills 7 million, while AIDS kills slightly over 2 million. I'm not trying to take anything away from AIDS research or from the people who have it (God knows I would want help if I had it) but when resources are so limited, it just seems to make sense that our priorities should be focused on dealing with the diseases that kill the most people. However, AIDS has become such a politically powerful issue -- due, in large part, I think, to how it was ignored by the establishment for so long -- that it's career suicide to argue against increased research funding.

Once is a mistake...twice is on purpose.

For the second time in just over a week, Fox News is coming under fire for misusing old news footage. The latest flap is leading some people to charge that the cable news network is intentionally misleading its audience, while Fox claims a "production error."

Wednesday's incident occurred when Fox News host Gregg Jarrett mentioned that a Sarah Palin appearance and book signing in Grand Rapids, Michigan had a massive turnout. As footage rolled of a smiling and waving Palin amidst a throng of fans, Jarrett noted that the former Republican vice-presidential candidate is "continuing to draw huge crowds while she's promoting her brand-new book,'' adding that the images being shown were "some of the pictures just coming in to us.... The lines earlier had formed this morning."

However, the video used in the segment was from a 2008 McCain/Palin campaign rally. In response to the minor uproar that arose after clips of Jarrett's report hit the Internet, Fox senior vice-president of news Michael Clemente issued an initial statement saying, "This was a production error in which the copy editor changed a script and didn't alert the control room to update the video."

and...

The current mishap comes on the heels of a controversy sparked last week when footage from a conservative rally held over the summer was played on "Hannity" during a segment on a more recent rally. During the clip, host Sean Hannity marveled over the large turnout for a Washington, DC protest. The Daily Show later pointed out that there seemed to be some inconsistencies with the video shown on Hannity's show, namely that the atmospheric conditions seemed to vary from shot to shot. Hannity later apologized on the air for what he called "an inadvertent mistake."

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The Daily Show video

Out with the old and in with the new.

To paraphrase Will Smith in Men in Black II....out with the old and busted, in with the new hotness.

Good riddance to Dobbs. May he contract painful anal warts.

Puts this story in a whole other perspective...maybe the students are just being prepped for a study abroad program in Peru?

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania university's requirement that overweight undergraduates take a fitness course to receive their degrees has raised the hackles of students and the eyebrows of health and legal experts.

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Funny you use the word "douche". Letter did a monologue on it last night. He, accurately, translated the French word to "shower". It suddenly doesn't make sense, does it?

Sometimes the sound of a word and the way it can be delivered transcends its literal translation...I think douche certainly does. When you say some guy is a douche, everyone knows exactly what you mean by it.

It can be fun if done right and you block all the BS posters that crowd your own page.

If you get an account, I definitely would second that recommendation. People you barely know will fill your newsfeed with all sorts of inane drivel. But I do have to admit that it can be kind of cool to find out what friends you haven't seen in a while are up to. And I did kind of like some of the game apps on Facebook...especially Mafia Wars.

I think DVDs are generally a waste of money too.

I haven't bought a DVD in probably five or six years. I get all the DVDs I can watch from Netflix for $29 a month. If I find one that I really like, I just use DVD Shrink or DVDFab to make a copy of it.

I enjoyed the movie. It was not brilliant but the graphics were great and I was interested in the story the whole time. It is fun to watch. IMHO

Looking forward to seeing it. I'm a big fan of John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Oliver Platt.

This was the most disturbing part of the story:

"In issuing its decision, the commission said the group 'tolerates immorality which offends religious beliefs' and exposes young people to 'an environment that does not conform to the teachings of our faith.' The ruling cited passages from the Bible and the Quran condemning homosexuality."

Unfortunately, even though the US is supposed to practice the separation of church and state, bigoted religious views still sway American policy toward gays.

Speaking of which, anyone seen this kid from Arkansas? He said he's decided to stop reciting the Pledge of Allegiance because discrimination against gays means there's not really "liberty and justice for all." Not many things make me proud of being from Arkansas, but this kid managed to do it.

What do you guys think...did he shoot himself in the foot with this one?

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thaksin Shinawatra's provocative trip to neighbouring Cambodia last week has stirred up trouble back home in Thailand, but by triggering a nationalist row, the fugitive ex-premier may get more than he bargained for.

Polls show Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's popularity has climbed as a result of his measured response to Thaksin's taunts and his handling of Cambodia's refusal to extradite him to serve a two-year prison sentence for graft.

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Hmmm...a government-funded dick measuring contest. In the States, I think that's called a "general election."

I hope he lives out his time in prison and drops dead the day he is due for release.

I like your sense of irony...and justice.

This past Tuesday, 3 or 4 of the falang students in the Thai language class at CMU didn't show up for class and I later found out that they went out to the habitat project to see Jimmy Carter, Jet Li, and others. Wish I would have gone as I would have been honored if I was lucky enough to get a photo taken with President Carter.

Bob, do you teach the class or are you taking classes?

I hope for a vaccine.

That may be on the horizon.

"Walter and Eliza Hall Institute scientists have created a weakened strain of the malaria parasite that will be used as a live vaccine against the disease. The vaccine, developed in collaboration with researchers from the US, Japan and Canada, will be trialled in humans from early next year."

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Is "tea money" the euphemism for a bribe in Thailand? I've always liked what the Mexicans call a bribe, la mordida, "the bite." Seems pretty accurate.

One step at a time, yes, but at some point, there should be a reckoning for what the junta has perpetrated.

The last city I lived in had recycling bins outside of every home, but where I live now, they don't believe in recycling and consider global warming to be a liberal conspiracy to cheat God-fearin' Americans out of....I dunno, something.

Crap...huge typo in my post. Should have read "I can't dredge up much sympathy for him."