Great talk. I love Nat, she's genuinely funny.

I have to say that it surprises me to hear her refer to "Asians" as a single group. There are massive cultural differences between Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Thais, etc. No-one refers to Germans, French, Italians and English as "Europeans".

I also don't really think there's anything wrong with making fun of your culture. Many of my favourite comedians do that all the time (Dylan Moran and Billy Connolly for example). There's a world of difference between recognising and laughing at your own cultural quirks and making racist stereotype jokes.

EDIT: I answered my own question about this. Apparently "US Citizens Living Abroad" is one of the exemptions to the mandate/rule. So nevermind the below.

As a US citizen living outside the US, one thing that concerns me is the health care / insurance mandate and penalties.

I live in Thailand, and have health insurance through the nearly-universal Thai healthcare system because I have a job that pays in to it. On top of that, I have insurance through a private insurer based in the UK.

The Thai system is really good. A few years ago, I had something like 5 episodes of tonsillitis in one year, and my doc told me that I should consider getting a tonsillectomy. I opted to go for it, and the Thai govt. insurance paid for the entire operation except for about $30 that I had to pay myself because I opted to stay in a private, air conditioned room for a recovery night instead of the busy public ward. Other than that, it cost me absolutely nothing.

The private insurer I have is for any travel outside Thailand and backup purposes; it has a higher max payout and would allow for more optional treatments to major things. I haven't made any claims against it so far, but it is a nice safety net. The only downside to it is that it works "around the world*" (*except in the US, because that system is so f*&^ed up they wash their hands of it). So, on the rare occasions where I make a trip back home to the US, I'm technically uninsured.

Signing up for Obamacare would be pretty pointless for me. I've been in Thailand for about 10 years, and during that time I've been back to the US only twice for a sum total of about a month and a half. But technically, it seems that I may be subject to penalties since I don't have any US insurance coverage. No idea if there are exceptions for expats or not.

I teach English in a Thai High School. Sometimes I select topical news stories and develop a worksheet that shows an article, covers some of the vocabulary, and has a page of questions to check for reading comprehension and understanding of the vocabulary words.

When I saw this "underboob" story pop up in my google news feed, I figured I'd have to put together a worksheet like that on it... Take a bunch of classes with roughly 40 students around 16-17 years old, of which 80% are male (school is co-ed but primarily boys), add in vocabulary, reading, and comprehension questions, with a twist of "underboob", and I figure I've got a winning recipe for education!

...Might just have to save this video clip and incorporate it into the lesson also.

Here in Thailand, it works a little differently. You know those spray nozzle attachments on a hose for your kitchen sink? Here those are attached in parallel with the toilet itself. So, you do your business, then self-aim the sprayer, squeeze, and let 'er rip.

Not to get too graphic, but you know how sometimes due to illness or specific foods or whatever else, you end up using a LOT of toilet paper? Like, you're on wipe number 17 and not getting clear ... spot checks? Water spray completely eliminates that problem. Way cleaner, way easier (once you get used to the sensation), I'm 100% sold.

I still buy toilet paper, but as the dude in the video said, it is purely for drying purposes. And that requires like 1-3 squares, vs probably a bare minimum of 12 or so for my average bathroom visit when I lived in the US.

Lots of Thai bathrooms have the sprayer but NO toilet paper available. That kinda confuses me, because although if I was forced to choose between either/or but not both I'd go with the spray, I don't quite get the mechanics of how to pull it off without any drying whatsoever...

Although I'm a white dude ... living in Thailand ... with a Thai wife ...

that was pretty awesome!

As a white American (mostly German ancestry) with a Thai wife and a mixed daughter, I'm a big believer in "hybrid vigor"...

Tags for this video have been changed from 'thai, anti smoking, cigarettes, thailand, children' to 'thai, anti smoking, cigarettes, thailand, children, smoking kid' - edited by Grimm

Tags for this video have been changed from 'thai helath promotion foundation, smoking children, wake up call' to 'thai helath promotion foundation, smoking children, wake up call, smoking kid' - edited by Grimm

TiAMO arrested by Thai border police -- free donuts at the MPAA HQ today.

The Thai have a lot of practice with these. They start with car or motorcycle engine, mount on a boat and then weld a rod with a prop to where the gearbox would normally go.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-tail_boat

A Thai version of this @related: http://videosift.com/video/My-Beautiful-Woman-Full-Set

What is Islam? Who or what are Muslims?

It seems every single debate over whether Islam is a religion of peace or of violence comes down to this same argument over who or what defines those terms and there is never an agreement. Indeed, much of the conflict in the middle east is due to followers of Islam arguing over who's particular interpretation is correct. Meanwhile in the western world religion is something that, as the late Hitchens put it, we take "a la carte". It seems you can no more describe a person by revealing their particular faith than you could describe what food you had last night by giving somebody the whole menu to the restaurant. You might ascertain that it was perhaps Thai food... but little else.

Still though, when we go the texts we do find quite unequivocally immoral preachings. I think the religious really have to find an answer for this. We aren't buying the alternate interpretations or the lost in translation theories. When you describe yourself as a Muslim or as a Christian, or as any other faith, it seems to me you don't really have much of a right to get upset when we call you on the evil shit in your holy books. You might protest that you are not that "kind" of Christian, but the speed at which you dismiss any given passage is only matched by the speed at which you declare divine truth for another. We understand the vast plurality of beliefs, which is why it baffles us that you subscribe to a particularly narrow set of ideals whilst simultaneously admonishing us for tarring you all with the same brush.

I've lived here in Thailand for 8+ years teaching English in primary and secondary schools, and that was rather weird -- if he was going to do something like that (show respect to the winner), I would have expected him to do a very deferential "wai" (the Thai bow / hands pressed together gesture). That is what they would do in Thai boxing.

I wonder if this is a school with an English program, so he picked up some of the cultural elements also. I don't think I've ever seen Thai students shake hands unless it was something I or another foreign teacher taught them to do.

Your video, Star Wars TIE Fighter vs. Thai Fighter | Robot Chicken, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

I like Thai....you like shirt?