"Hub of the Eastern World"

I'll be in Bangkok next week, through March 30, for the EARCOS teacher's conference.

My lovely and attractive, looks 20 years younger than she is and lots of fun to be around wife cannot go with me. That's a shame because I'm planning to make a pre-conference session and talk to a few individuals and other than that not do much. I hope the hotel has good TV, maybe a treadmill and a pool. Failing those a decent bar with a guest drink free happy hour would work!

Bangkok is probably my least favorite city in Asia. My few regular readers will not be ever able to confuse me with a Christian fundamentalist or even a Pentecostal. However, there is something about Bangkok that repels me at a very deep spiritual or emotional level. I would almost use the word demonic but then I would probably lose my few regular readers. The prostitutes and the pornography and the general tenor of Thai popular culture are just so sad. Thailand seems to be a place that is needy in both the physical and spiritual sense.

If nothing else Bangkok must be the pedophile capital of the world; or at least Asia. Amsterdam(ned) is probably the world capital.

I don't think I could live in Thailand. I'd probably end in prison for murdering a fat pedophile tourist from Germany or Canada to keep them from hiring 12 year-old girls for sex. As noble as killing a few pedophiles with my bare hands might be I'd rather not spend any time in a Thai prison. I guess I'm just not committed enough to my social causes. Maybe I should make my self feel better by calling Tony Blair or George W. Bush a few names. Or I could say"Global Warming" twenty times to absolve myself of my lack of conviction. Better yet. I could give some financial aid to charities and missions that help the victims of rich pedophile liberals. If you know of such a ministry let me know.

Go ahead. Say I'm being judgmental if you want. You can also say I am too narrow and not multi-cultural enough. I still won't like Bangkok any better and will be glad to be back in Hong Kong with my wife on Friday.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who likes Thai food but not much else in Bangkok

More reasons China will never be a Superpower

Poor Customer service. poor quality control. Cutting corners.

People in many developed countries are already leery of the quality of Chinese goods. This just killed lots of dogs and cat in North America and many of these people will now stop buying Chinese goods at least for a while.

I find it funny because the communist are responsible for this even though I no longer think that China is a communist country. They told the Chinese for 50 years that the only reality is material reality and they wonder why nobody behaves ethically?

I am not sure just how much the average Chinese farmer realizes how much a situation like this hurts the Chinese economy. But I wouldn't be surprised to see the importation of foods from China become a political issue.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who has to eat Chinese foods

Yesbutnobutyes

I have placed a link to this. However, it is too funny not to simply steal and so, I've also copied it below.

Well done Evil Richard! Well done!

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Comic Book Reading Blogger

Top 15 Unintentionally Funny Comic Book Panels

Posted by Evil Richard on March 21, 2007.

Comics are great because as they get older not only do they get more valuable (at least my future children hope so because they ain't going to no college unless a certain Mr. Spiderman can afford to send them) but they also get funnier. Thank god our use of language changes over the years because it makes our old comics look stupid and that's funny.

Here's a collection of the Top 15 Funniest Unintentionally Funny Comic Book Panels of All Time.

15. Joker's Boner
I think most of the comic goes on like this. That's all the Joker ever talks about, really.

14. Rod! Rod! Rod!
I can't tell if she's hoping for it or is suddenly surprised by it.

13. Archie Beats off
How convenient that the water comes up to their waists.

12. Shut up, Sue
This one really isn't too unusual for early Fantastic Four comics. Sue really didn't know her place back then.

11. Spider-spunk
Aunt May should know better than to snoop around a teenage boy's room.

10. Wonder Woman's eye-lash emergency
God, women can be so vain.

9. Captain America, wanker
This one's for our Cockney audience.

8. Butt-stroked?
No idea what this is from or what butt-stroking means to this guy but it's funny that this isn't the first time it's happened to him.

7. Barry Arren, Frash
It's one thing to have a character that's an insensitive stereotype, but did the editor really have to get in on it too?

6. Robin takes off his panties
I'm sure this little perv does this all the time. I mean look at who his role model is.

5. Dr. Doom and Crazy Black Man
Most likely this one actually intended to be funny but was it meant to be a story that showed how it's hard for a pimp working with a Dr. Doom tranny?

4. Wonder Woman - just like a woman only smart
Well you really can't say this guy is a mysoginist. He's totally got respect for Wonder Woman so that's pretty progressive of him.

3. Hope she has a safe word
It's hard to believe this one is real and that any version of Batman in the last 60 something years would sound natural saying this. But there it is.

2. Lois' morning after
Robots just don't quit unless you let them go around back. Lois learned the hard way.

1. Oh, Batman. You didn't.
This is my all-time favorite. That Batman has really got problems.

French UFO's

This will probably provide the French someone else to ask for surrender terms from.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who is still pretty much a Frankophobe

The Confession

I doubt that this will shut the offensive "George Bush planned the 9/11 attacks" idiots up but it should.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who knows the difference between a terrorist and a government

This is why I keep saying that China will never be a Super Power

I try not to write on politics much. However, this is an interesting article because it shows why I do not think that China will ever be a Super Power. They need too much of their huge army to keep the peasants from rioting. This is not the simple growing pains associated with industrialization. This is the repressed dissatisfaction of a people who are systematically denied their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The government in China is a bunch or geriatric geezers who use shoe polish for hair dye and are afraid to lose control of the country because they know that they then might be tried and condemned for their crimes. They also like the good perks that high level party members get that prove that "all animals are equal but some are more equal than others."

What is scary about this to me is that I do not think that it is beyond the realm of reason to think that the shoe-polish-hair-dye set that runs Beijing wouldn't reach down to Hong Kong and tell us to cease and desist or else. There is no paranoid like one who really has something to worry about.

Rulers who are afraid of he people rule are generally pretty scary guys.

I really think that Beijing could learn a lot about Hong Kong as could the rest of China. When we have a protest here it is peaceful and polite but the point is made. There was one exception to that but the meanies were from Sout Korea and not locals.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The blogger who wishes that China would live up to its constitution

Leadership

I kind of agree with this guy. Sometimes good leaders are abrasive. They must be.

Consensus often equals a lack of leadership.

Because a leader has a vision for an organization and that vision is often absolute a good leader, or so it would seem to me, might often clash with those who have less clear vision. I guess what this means is that a part of good leadership is that you actually believe in what you are doing. Good leaders are not necessarily the person engaged in a disinterested pursuit of excellence.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who beats them to submission and beckons them with screams

Ban Water

This was an obvious stunt

However, that most people didn't have enough knowledge to realize they were being had is disturbing.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who knows what dihydrogen-monoxide is

Sex Education

I was never this lucky in grade 6. Not that I would have done this if I was.

This is almost beyond belief. As a teacher I think that the teacher probably didn't stop it because he couldn't believe what what was happening.

Until Next Time

Fai Mao
The somewhat more prudish Blogger

Freedom of Expression and Information

The article above details just one more example of how the former nations of Europe are continuing their slide into totalitarianism.


Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who believes in Free Speech

I've got News for the SF Chronicle

China already is so polluted. It already produces more "Green House Gas" than the US. Anybody who has been to a US city and a Chinese city knows this is true.

Over the last 10 years I've been to the non-Hong Kong parts of China maybe 50 or 60 times. I've almost never seen a blue sky; even in rather rural places. China is covered in a perpetual gray haze. It looks like clouds but it is air pollution and it is getting worse. The whole nation smells like it needs to be dipped in degreaser.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who know more about China than SF Chronicle ever will

Death Wish

I am not really a financial or investment kind of guy. I figure that if you spend less than you make and save some you'll be OK That doesn't mean I don't have some investments, it just means that I am not obsessed with making money. But, I have been watching the recent fall in stocks world wide markets.

Not being heavily invested I can afford to snicker at the panic and silliness that might be about to ensue. People who place their value as a human in monetary wealth make some really funny, albeit sad statements in times like this. I realize that laughing at other people's misfortune is a character flaw but sometimes we can't help who we are. More importantly, I am not laughing at the poor who are genuinely going to be hurt in an economic down turn. I'm laughing at the smug, self important speculators and arrogant new rich who don't think they'll ever lose and have never suffered through a recession. That means most of the newly rich "entrepreneurs" in China.

Because investors in the PRC have never been in a down turn they have the potential to be more fun to watch than most others. They have a strange combination of patriotism and incompetence that is going to be fun. There were reports on the Chinese news stations about Shanghai investors who were exuberant because when the Shanghai market fell others did too. They were making statements like "See, the world follows us . We're important!"

Idiots! Who is going to starve first the US or the PRC? If the world goes into a severe depression the PRC will wish that they'd been a little more careful.

I wonder when the bodies will start hitting the pavement in Shanghai?

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who is more of a saver than an investor

Fat Fashion

I was in Wan Chai this weekend. Nothing special, just shopping but as always I was observing the locals and tourist on the street. In the space of about 15 minutes I saw three or four men who were just huge. I mean 50+ inch waist lines. All of them were dressed to the nines. French cuffs with cuff-links. Fancy shoes and ties; exquisitely groomed hair and aftershave that would attract honeybees. It could be that they just stick out more but why does it seem that really overweight men are always such natty dressers? If I, a slightly overweight but not really obese middle aged man wore those kinds of clothes to work people would want to know if I was gay. Really fat guys are the only men I know of who can dress like a gay and not be thought of as gay.

There are several potential answers to this but the truth is probably some combination.
1. They are good dressers because it is a way to offset the negative reaction their weight might make on people
2. A way to compensate for an otherwise poor self image
3. They just really enjoy life; expensive clothes, good cigars, pretty women and rich food and wine. Thus, being overweight is just part of their lifestyle.

Now the other question. Why do I always look like such a slob in comparison?

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who is just a paunchy slob

They Ought to Move to the Big Lycee

Hong Kong Restaurants would feel right at home in NYC

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who isn't bothered by big rats as much as he used to be

Democracy or Liberty?

"Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There was never a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." John Adams

This is a quote that perhaps the people of Hong Kong should think about. Do we really want "Universal Suffrage" and do we want it because we are confusing democracy with liberty? If it were to come to a choice I'd rather have liberty and not vote. Currently we have have neither.

But, I'm am a self-confessed anarchist

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who would rather march to his own drum

Prince Big-Mouth should have to eat his words

This is just too funny

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who prefers Burger King to the English King

Let them Eat Tofu

I don't often completely agree with Ann. She is a bit too strident for me most of the time.
However, I agree with this article. A lot of the things that so called progressives believe today would cause mass starvation and death on a scale never seen in history if followed. The whole Global Warming issue the foremost example of this. Al Gore effectively wants 4 to 5 BILLION people to starve.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who will see you by the pool