Bangkok - Bob's 50th

In 1993, I met Suradech "Hui" Wangboonchai.

I had recently started Security One and was dead broke, still recovering from my divorce, and was really down in the dumps. Hui was an inspiration. An immigrant that could barely speak English, yet he was alive! He was excited to be in America. He was working as a waiter at a Sushi restaurant...and loved to play cards.....Sushi and Cards...two of my favorite things! We became instant friends!

Hui was from Bangkok, Thailand and promised to someday take me to Thailand. Finally, in 1998 I had saved enough money to take my first extended vacation. Hui escorted me and Mom & Dad through Hong Kong, Japan, and Thailand for a (3) week vacation. It was awesome!

Since then, I have traveled to Thailand (3) times. Each trip has been a wonderful experience. Bangkok is a thriving big city filled with adventure. We have also traveled to the mountains of Chiang Mai and enjoyed the culture and food from the Northern region. I have traveled to the Southern resort island of Phuket (before the Tsunami).

Christmas (2004), I was on the island of Koh Samui, about 100 miles away when the Tsunami destroyed much of the west coast resort areas. I have also traveled to the resort towns of Hua Hin and Pattaya.

I have had the great pleasure of traveling with my Mom & Dad to Bangkok twice. Mom loves the foot massage and Dad loves the herbal seaweed wraps. I have also been to Bangkok and Pattaya with my buddies Pete and Carl. Luckily, they both survived the trip without anything falling off , but Merck stock hit a 52 week when they got back!

The worst part of each trip is the brutal flights. Depending on the season and the airline, it has taken up to 32 hours from Miami to Bangkok. Each trip usually knocks the hell out of me, taking a few days to recover (especially my sore ass).

Is the long trip worth it? Absolutely! Besides the natural beauty of the country, the incredible temples, the awesome (and spicy) food, Muay Thai Kick Boxing, the relaxation of Thai massage, Chinatown with mind boggling shopping, the people are the best in the world. Thanks to Hui, I have met many new friends in Thailand.

Since my first trip, I have always dreamed to share this wonderful experience with my closest friends and brothers Ron & Jack.This year, October 26, 2006 little Bobbie Newman turns 50....I can't think of a better birthday present than taking a group of friends to Bangkok to share the wonderful experiences I have enjoyed.

I will be in Thailand (maybe Hong Kong and maybe Australia) for the next (6) weeks. I will update the blog and provide trip highlights ....and hopefully not end up on CNN being airlifted out on a C-130 cargo plane because of the Military Coup.......

Sugar is linked with Mental Problems

Reuters News

Sugar linked with mental problems in Norway study

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Oslo teens who drank the most sugary soft drinks also had more mental health problems such as hyperactivity and distress, Norwegian researchers reported on Thursday.

Their study of more than 5,000 Norwegian 15- and 16-year-olds showed a clear and direct association between soft drink intake and hyperactivity, and a more complex link with other mental and behavioral disorders.

They surveyed the students, asking them how many fizzy soft drinks with sugar they had a day, and then questions from a standard questionnaire used to assess mental health.

The teens who reported skipping breakfast and lunch were among the heaviest soft drink consumers, Dr. Lars Lien and colleagues at the University of Oslo found. "There was a strong association between soft drink consumption and mental health problems among Oslo 10th graders," they wrote in their report, published in the American Journal of Public Health.

"This association remained significant after adjustment for social, behavioral and food-related disorders." Most of the students said they drank anywhere between one and six servings of soft drinks per week. Those who drank no soft drinks at all were more likely than moderate drinkers to have mental health symptoms, the researchers said. But those who drank the most -- more than six servings a week - had the highest scores.

For hyperactivity, there was a direct linear relationship -- the more sodas a teen drank, the most symptoms of hyperactivity he or she had. The worst problems were seen in boys and girls who drank four or more soft drinks a day. Ten percent of the boys and 2 percent of the girls drank this much.

The researchers said it was possible that other substances in the soft drinks, such as caffeine, were to blame for the symptoms, and they did not check other possible sources of refined sugar in the children's diets. But they said many of the teens were clearly drinking too many sugary drinks.

Norway's recommended intake is 10 percent of the day's total calories from sugar and the researchers said at least a quarter of the boys were getting this much from soft drinks alone.

"One simple and effective measure to reduce soft drink consumption in this age group would be to remove soft drink machines from schools and other public places where adolescents gather," they wrote.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=healthNews&storyid=2006-09-28T204517Z_01_N28374556_RTRUKOC_0_US-SUGAR.xml&src=rss&rpc=22

Pull the band-aid off slowly?

How many more American kids have to die? How many more Iraq kids have to die? I hate the thought of "cutting and running"....it brings back the bad memories of the Nixon/Kissenger spin of "Peace with Honor".

Viet Nam was a ruthless battle with entrenched soldiers...they withstood continuous bombing of Napalm and refused to give up.

We have entered another battle with a ruthless enemy. These "animals" are willing to kill there own Muslim people. Our Iraq strategy has been like pulling a band-aid off slowly....ripping the skin and pulling the hair out. The alternative is also painful, but quicker....Rip the band-aid off quickly.

It is time to make a very tough decision.....Pull the band-off quickly......Win the war by killing thousands of more innocent people...with napalm and tactical nuclear weapons...Find a terrorist and not torture or kill him, put kill his family, his children, his mother....Fight these people like we are at war! A brutal strategy to end it quickly with as few UN and American casualties as possible.....or continue to rip the band-aid off slowly?

Obviously, President Bush has not read the book, "The Art of War". We are breaking every strategy that Sun Tsu established and perfected over 2000 years ago.

The answer is not simple...neither strategy produces a good outcome....it is simple for the anti-war / Democrats to argue to take our toys and come home.....build our border security, tighten up immigration, research hydrogen vehicles to help us reduce our oil dependency, rebuild the CIA intelligence system, kill our enemies with covert operations and drone bombers....and rebuild our world image as a leader. Unfortunately, that is too simplistic in a very ugly situation.

If we "Cut and Run"...who is left in charge of the oil? If the "terrorist" are left in Iraq with oil.....they will not rebuild Iraq...they will not feed the poor...they will not open schools and hospitals....they will use the oil profits to build and fund terror networks around the world! If we "cut and run", yes we will save American Soilders, and save money from our national budget, but we will help build a stronger enemy in the long run...we cannot afford to leave!

There are too many problems facing our nation....gloabal economies, global warming, budget defecits, health insurance crisis, social security, illegal immigration....we need to focus on our own problems and let the middle east animals kill each other.....but before we leave, we should make sure our enemy is defeated....at any and all costs, otherwise our world will be a more dangerous place!

I love the smell of Napalm in the morning!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napalm

You read it here first.....

France looks into Bin Laden Death Report

PARIS (AP) - The French defense ministry on Saturday called for an internal investigation of the leak of an intelligence document that raises the possibility that Osama bin Laden may have died of typhoid in Pakistan a month ago but said the report of the death remained unverified.

"The information defused this morning by the l'Est Republicain newspaper concerning the possible death of Osama bin Laden cannot be confirmed," a Defense Ministry statement said.

The daily newspaper for the Lorraine region in eastern France printed what it described as a confidential document from the French foreign intelligence service DGSE citing an uncorroborated report from Saudi secret services that the leader of the al-Qaida terror network had died.

The contents of the document, dated Sept. 21, or Thursday, were not confirmed by French or other intelligence sources. However, the DGSE transmitted the note to President Jacques Chirac and other officials, the newspaper said.
Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie "has demanded an investigation be carried out of this leak," a ministry statement said, adding that transmission of the confidential document could risk punishment.

Defense Ministry spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau, clarifying the statement, said that the DGSE document exists but that its contents - that bin Laden is allegedly dead - cannot be confirmed.

The DGSE, or Direction Generale des Services Exterieurs, indicated that its information came from a single source. "According to a reliable source, Saudi security services are now convinced that Osama bin Laden is dead," said the intelligence report.

There have been periodic reports of bin Laden's illness or death in recent years but none has been proven accurate.

According to this document, Saudi security services were pursuing further details, notably the place of his burial. "The chief of al-Qaida was a victim of a severe typhoid crisis while in Pakistan on August 23, 2006," the document says. His geographic isolation meant that medical assistance was impossible, the French report said, adding that his lower limbs were allegedly paralyzed. On Sept. 4, Saudi security services had their first information on bin Laden's alleged death, the unconfirmed document reported.

In Pakistan, a senior official of that country's top spy agency, the ISI or Directorate of Inter-Service Intelligence, said he had no information to confirm bin Laden's whereabouts or that he might be dead. The official said he believed the report could be fabricated. The official was not authorized to speak publicly on the topic and spoke on condition of anonymity.

U.S. Embassy officials in Pakistan and Afghanistan also said they could not confirm the French report.

If he's not dead...I think we are closing in on him and hopefully he will be very dead..very soon!

Bill Clinton Freaks Out

Just when you think the world can't get any more crazy.....

Cat Stevens Criticizes Pope on Islam

LONDON (AP) - The singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, who converted to Islam and changed his name to Yusuf Islam, joined the furor over Pope Benedict XVI's recent comments about Islam by criticizing the pontiff on Sunday.

In the pope's controversial speech in Germany this month, Benedict quoted words of a Byzantine emperor that characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman."

The singer, whose hits such as "Moon Shadow" and "Peace Train" made him a star in 1960s and 1970s, said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. that the pope's words proved he was not infallible.

"At one point, I used to believe that the pope was infallible," Islam said, referring to teachings he received while attending a Catholic school as a boy.
The pontiff "should have looked elsewhere if he wanted to quote but we respect the pope and his position," he said, adding it was good Benedict had retracted his statement "in a way."

Since his conversion to Islam in 1977, the 58-year-old has become well known to Britons as a campaigner for good causes.

In 2004, after flying to the United States from London, the singer was barred from entering the country after U.S. security officials said his name was on list of banned individuals.

What about Bannaple Gas?

Popeye critically ill - Spinach crisis spreads

Detectives investigating the mysterious e-coli virus are looking into threats by his former friend Brutus. Girlfriend, Olive Oil, stays by his bedside.

http://www2.wsvn.com/news/articles/national/MI29313/

Beautiful Boxer - Movie Preview

A true story from Thailand....buyer beware!

Hulk Hogan's car catches fire on Bay Harbor Islands

Miami Herald Story Link
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/email/news/breaking_news/15487948.htm

September 11, 2006

Andy Wiegand turns "50"

Happy Birthday

Another one bites the dust

A sad day in Chicago.......Marshall Fields is now Macy's

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060909/ap_on_bi_ge/federated_macy_s

http://chicago.urban-history.org/sites/d_stores/fields.htm

The Space Shuttle and the Horse's Ass

It is sure good to see the Space Shuttle flying again!

The great debate for our government has always been, "how do we spend the tax dollars"?

How much to Health Care? Welfare? Military? Education? It is not an easy decision, considering how the money will affect future generations. If experiments and exploration lead to new scientific breakthroughs and advancements, our nation and society will reap the benefits. When we have failures, it could be looked as a giant financial burden for the next generation to worry about.

Some people think Space Exploration should be at the bottom of the list of for tax dollars. After the tragic accidents, not only did the NASA budget get scrutinized, but the morale of NASA and of the entire nation suffered.

The Space Shuttle represents all that is good in America....Our tenacity, determination, and willingness to go where no man has gone before.....besides, I would rather pay for space exploration, than more nuclear weapons.

Did you know the design specifications of the space shuttle were based on the width of a horses ass?

http://www.astrodigital.org/space/stshorse.html

Have you ever thought about writing a Book?

Maybe it's just your life story, or a book of poems or any one of a hundred ideas. With the Internet, there are no excuses. I have a few story ideas, and someday I am going to finish one of them........

Here are some publishing statistics that are really interesting: About 80% of the 1.2 million books published in 2004 sold less than 99 copies and only 2% sold 5,000 or more copies. The average book sells 500 copies.

According to a recent article there are three essentials to success as a self-publisher 1) secure a professional editor 2) secure a talented cover and page designer 3) have a well-tuned business and marketing plan.

Daily Show: Racism in American Politics

The Daily Show - Back in Black

Global Warming?

Go Gators

Steve Irwin

Dolphin Fan - Gitmo Torture?

My dad started taking me to the Miami Dolphin games in the Orange Bowl in 1966. Although the stadium was a dump, the parking was horrible, and the toilets were memorable bonding experiences, I will always cherish all the great "football" memories.

When Joe Robbie had the courage to finance and build a new stadium without financial help from the Government, I really admired his tenacity and courage. When I first walked into this shrine to football, I was awe struck. No more beams blocking the view, no more end zone fights, and a scoreboard and sound system that helped a football fan keep track of the game stats.

Over the years since Joe Robbie has passed away, the stadium has been renamed to Pro-Player Park and now Dolphin Stadium.....but a lot more has changed than the name. The Huizinga Management team has transformed the game of football into the football "experience". Games are no longer football games for football fans, they are now "events" or "experiences".

It starts with the more fan friendly pre-game activities.....Very Nice!

Next is the upgraded food and beverage services (although it is stupid that you can't buy a beer after half time).

The stadium even has full time bathroom attendants and even installed new waterless urinals for the environmental tree huggers.

This year, they have finally made a commitment to improving the traffic flow pre and post game....it is mind numbing how poorly the traffic plans have been executed over the years. For a while it seemed like Dave Wannstedt must had developed the traffic plan! Maybe this year they will finally find someone to develop and execute a working traffic plan. What's Jimmy doing?

The biggest stadium improvement (so far) is the new HD TV replay television....WOW ....it is amazing....However, they have also upgraded the sound system (sonic boom loud) and added a new video display system around the entire stadium that flashes ultra bright computer graphics during the entire game. It is very, very, very distracting and annoying!!

At last nights pre-season win against the Rams, the sound system got so loud at times, you had to yell to the person next to you to talk....and the distraction from blinking/flashing lights made it almost impossible to watch the game....I guess guys like me that actually go to watch a football game, are a thing of the past. The ADD / MTV / Video game generation doesn't have the attention span to watch football, so they need loud noises and flashing lights to keep them involved in the "football event".

If the US army treated the Gitmo prisoners to the ultra-loud garbled PA system and the flashing / blinking lights, the UN would be protesting and sanctioning us for human rights violations.....only in America would we pay for over-priced athletes that no longer have loyalty to a team (except for Zack and Jason), pay $7 for a beer, subject ourselves to ear piercing sound, psychedelic flashing mind altering lights.....just to watch the second and third stringers play a pre-season game!

The final straw however is the security screening procedure when you enter the stadium. Terror threats? Liability avoidance? Nonsense? Everyone that enters the stadium is searched and frisked by a "highly trained" ticket-taker. In the old days, they were really looking for people smuggling booze, now I guess they are screening for terrorists? These dedicated "professionals" are the front line keeping us safe from potential danger. They have been trained to search every bag for weapons and explosives (I'm not sure what they would do if someone actually did have a bomb). They make everyone take off their hats to make sure no one smuggles a bomb on their head. Finally, they have separate male/female agents to frisk everyone. I guess from a liability sense, they are showing an effort to prevent a madman attack. From a security viewpoint, unless they search all employees, all deliveries, all players, coaches, etc.... they are not doing much to prevent a real attack and just wasting everyone's time.

The terrorists have won! Last year I stood in line, for 25 minutes in the rain, waiting for these "fan-friendly team members" to frisk me.....a football fan, a taxpayer, a 40-year season ticket holder! But I guess it just isn't practical to X-ray every keg of beer or delivery of stone crabs to make sure a bomb isn't hidden inside.... so they annoy everyone and put on a insurance liability reducing show!!!

After having season tickets for 40 years...I might buy an HD TV and a satellite dish and start watching from home!

Happiness Index?

I took this stupid test....and found out that I am less happy than poor people living in most of the world!

I don't see millions of people moving to these "happy" countries...so this test must be rigged to make the U.S. look bad.....and make people living in poor miserably conditions think they are happy?

http://www.happyplanetindex.org/

Personality Test?

If all of the desserts listed below were sitting in front of you, which would you choose. (you can only pick one!)

Trust me...this is very accurate. Pick your dessert, then look to see what psychiatrists think about you.

Here are your choices:

1. Angel Food Cake
2. Brownies
3. Lemon Meringue
4. Vanilla cake with Chocolate Icing
5. Strawberry Short Cake
6. Chocolate on Chocolate
7. Ice Cream
8. Carrot Cake

No, you can't change your mind once you scroll down, so think carefully what your choicewill be....

OK - Now that you've made your choice this is what "research" says about you...

1. ANGEL FOOD CAKE -- Sweet, loving, cuddly. You love all warm and fuzzy items. A little nutty at times. Sometimes you need an ice cream cone at the end of the day. Others perceive you as being childlike and immature at times.

2. BROWNIES -- You are adventurous, love new ideas, are a champion of underdogs and a slayer of dragons. When tempers flare up you whip out your saber. You are always the oddball with a unique sense of humor and direction. You tend to be very loyal.

3. LEMON MERINGUE --Smooth, sexy, & articulate with your hands, you are an excellent after-dinner speaker and a good teacher. But don't try to walk and chew gum at the same time. A bit of a diva at times, but you have many friends.

4. VANILLA CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE ICING -- Fun-loving, sassy, humorous, not very grounded in life; very indecisive and lack motivation. Everyone enjoys being around you, but you are a practical joker. Others should be cautious in making you mad. However, you are a friend for life.

5. STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE -- Romantic, warm, loving. You care about other people, can be counted on in a pinch and expect the same in return. Intuitively keen. Can be very emotional.

6. CHOCOLATE ON CHOCOLATE -- Sexy; always ready to give and receive. Very creative, adventurous, ambitious, and passionate. You can appear to have a cold exterior but are warm on the inside. Not afraid to take chances. Will not settle for anything average in life. Love to laugh.

7. ICE CREAM -- You like sports, whether it be baseball, football, basketball, or soccer. If you could, you would like to participate, but you enjoy watching sports. You don't like to give up the remote control. You tend to be self-centered and high maintenance.

8. CARROT CAKE -- You are a very fun loving person, who likes to laugh.You are fun to be with. People like to hang out with you. You are a very warm hearted person and a little quirky at times. You have many loyal friends.

No wonder I am over 300lbs....I like them all!