Teacher Mark

Me and Mark do not get along but I have to agree with him on this one. The US lied to get us involved in Vietnam, we promised many Vietnamese people we would help, some of the war crimes we committed riveled that of the VC. Then when we left we left many holding the bag and we did not care. We knew what would happen, hell HCM even came to us BEFORE he went to Communism and asked for us to help him get rid of the French and we REFUSED. Thus he went to China and Russia and found support. Also the South Vietnamese government we propped up was far worse than HCM was. Hell we kept Pol Pot in Cambodia in power and if you have not heard about the killing fields then do some research. After we left Vietnam the North went through both Cambodia and Laos getting rid of those corrupt murderous rulers. War is hell no matter who you are there are always good sides and bad sides but HCM was a far better leader than those in the south. If you think Mark or I am a liar on the real start of the Vietnam war, look for the classified documents in the freedom of information act or look online for many of the true stories of the Vietnam war. I have tons of "American propaganda" films where it shows how much good we were doing, but when they talk about the entire village that OUR men slaughtered (men, women and children) they only talk for a minute on the subject and to give more insight there was only 1 person charged and convicted for that crime, he served 5 years in prison ohh wait I mean house arrest at his barracks (private residence at a military base.) I know the North did many bad things but we were no angels so don't try to sugar coat it

Kiss my white a$$! Freedom of speech doesn't mean whatever you do or don't approve of is allowed to be spoken. That's called censorship. Sound familiar?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhh24BB84e4

This isn't a "Vietnam thing". I'd love to see the numbers out of Manilla. I'd wager they're about the same as to the amount of fraud.

I'm sure she'll have a logical explanation. She''ll explain everything to you and make you see that it's really not her, it's you.
I dumped my cheating ####### 3 years ago, merely a month after we moved into our first (and last) apartment. I threw her, her sister, her brother-in-law and her 3 year old niece out of my apartment (the sister and kid were welcome to stay, but they opted not to). She thought I was stupid and would never find out about her b/f, but I did. I confronted her via the internet and told her we were getting a divorce. Then, after thinking long and hard about it, I decided to play along with her and act like I believed her story, because she had one that was designed to make me see that it was me, not her. I moved here, got a job teaching English and gathered more evidence. When I felt like the time was right I confronted her again and threw her out.
My advice is to get on a plane and surprise her with chocolates and flowers. Then show her the pic and dump her on the spot.

Yeah, we've got a regular dysfunctional family reunion going on here...
Miss you all too. How long has Thuy been back? When are you coming back?
I've actually considered returning to Hanoi, or somewhere up north, mainly because of the higher wages for English teachers. I'd have to come back down south for the winter, though!
I just got back from Cambodia, where I got another 1 year visa. Phnom Phen is a nice little town and I may stay there next time. It's hard to imagine living anywhere else, though...
I've been here long enough that a book seems feasible. Now if I could just find a wife who can:
1.) type my dictations, without understanding what I'm talking about.
and
2.) remain "boyfriend free", while we're married.

I'm sure she'll have a logical explanation. She''ll explain everything to you and make you see that it's really not her, it's you.
I dumped my cheating ####### 3 years ago, merely a month after we moved into our first (and last) apartment. I threw her, her sister, her brother-in-law and her 3 year old niece out of my apartment (the sister and kid were welcome to stay, but they opted not to). She thought I was stupid and would never find out about her b/f, but I did. I confronted her via the internet and told her we were getting a divorce. Then, after thinking long and hard about it, I decided to play along with her and act like I believed her story, because she had one that was designed to make me see that it was me, not her. I moved here, got a job teaching English and gathered more evidence. When I felt like the time was right I confronted her again and threw her out.
My advice is to get on a plane and surprise her with chocolates and flowers. Then show her the pic and dump her on the spot.

I'm sure she'll have a logical explanation. She''ll explain everything to you and make you see that it's really not her, it's you.
I dumped my cheating ####### 3 years ago, merely a month after we moved into our first (and last) apartment. I threw her, her sister, her brother-in-law and her 3 year old niece out of my apartment (the sister and kid were welcome to stay, but they opted not to). She thought I was stupid and would never find out about her b/f, but I did. I confronted her via the internet and told her we were getting a divorce. Then, after thinking long and hard about it, I decided to play along with her and act like I believed her story, because she had one that was designed to make me see that it was me, not her. I moved here, got a job teaching English and gathered more evidence. When I felt like the time was right I confronted her again and threw her out.
My advice is to get on a plane and surprise her with chocolates and flowers. Then show her the pic and dump her on the spot.

I'm sure she'll have a logical explanation. She''ll explain everything to you and make you see that it's really not her, it's you.
I dumped my cheating ####### 3 years ago, merely a month after we moved into our first (and last) apartment. I threw her, her sister, her brother-in-law and her 3 year old niece out of my apartment (the sister and kid were welcome to stay, but they opted not to). She thought I was stupid and would never find out about her b/f, but I did. I confronted her via the internet and told her we were getting a divorce. Then, after thinking long and hard about it, I decided to play along with her and act like I believed her story, because she had one that was designed to make me see that it was me, not her. I moved here, got a job teaching English and gathered more evidence. When I felt like the time was right I confronted her again and threw her out.
My advice is to get on a plane and surprise her with chocolates and flowers. Then show her the pic and dump her on the spot.

The war notwithstanding...

Hanoi is AWESOME!

It's living up to it's reputation, but we have 2 great trainers. I'll complete it, but not with an pass A or B. It doesn't rally matter with a CELTA, though. A pass is a pass.

You should come here and decide for yourself, as others have stated. I spent the summer in America and couldn't wait to get back.

Don't make the mistake of looking at this from a Western perspective. Some people will do and say anything they can to get to the US; that's a fact I am well acquainted with. It's my opinion that she's one of them, based on what you have written.

I think you're doin' it wrong. In order for your wish to come true you don't just repeat it several times. You have to wear the ruby slippers and click your heels.
When they ask about wedding plans, they aren't asking for dates and copies of your embossed invitations. They just want some evidence that you've actually discussed it, and have a reasonable idea what you're going to do. They advise you not to make any concrete plans, but they don't forbid you from discussing it. I think what the CO is looking for, more than anything else, is a beneficiary who is completely stumped by the question. Their thinking, which is admittedly somewhat oblique, is that a sincere couple are planning their future life together, and the wedding would be a major milestone they would have given some thought to, while a fraudster would be thinking primarily about the immigration process, and not giving much thought to minor details like getting married.
This is about bureaucracy, and not political systems. They probably pay some eggheads to think up these questions. When it becomes obvious that the majority of applicants have caught on, then they throw some new questions into the mix to stir things up. The key to getting what you want from a bureaucracy is to give them precisely what they want. They don't know how to deal with non-conformity.
BTW, communism runs the gamut from oligarchy to dictatorship. Our system of government is run by a group of people based on a legal framework (a republic), and those people are elected by majority vote (a democracy), so the US is a democratic republic. Bureaucracy is universal to all modern forms of government.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_Berlin_discotheque_bombing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_103
That's why and the Obama admin is screwing up when these two incidents aren't used as justification. "Oh, but that was so long ago!" Same chopfvck in charge, right? Is there a statute of limitations on terrorist acts?
Reagan would have obliterated this guy already and if Obama needs to look in the past for guidance I would suggest he look no further than 1980-88.

Hawks turning to doves. How heartwarming..

If you expect people to read your posts, please break them down into paragraphs, and then into sentences.

I am nowhere near violating TOS..and did not attack anyone. As I said .. posting to a regional forum where you have no specifc experience is wreckless and the VN consulate does have specific expectations aside from those spelled out by USCIS and DoS.. they do things their own way... HCMC Denial slips that say the relationship was too short are denied for a reason other than the total duration of the relationship?
You may think I was coming out swinging, not at all.. just tired of people thinking they know the answers to everything and providing misinformation given that the topic is HCMC specific and in the VN regional forum... If you feel that you are versed enough in the way HCMC does things. filed there before? feel free to post, but why would you want to post something that is potentially wrong and provide someone wrong information if you dont know anything about VN culture or the way HCMC handles cases? That is what makes no sense to me...
Accept the fact that you don't know how HCMC does things and go with it... you may think what you said was spot on, maybe in another country, but not in this one and not with most of the CO's at HCMC...

Please read the announcement again. I've already had to deal with three of Phuong's relatives yesterday who were freaking out over this.
They are closing the USCIS Field Office in HCMC. They are NOT closing the consulate! USCIS and the consulate are different agencies in different departments of the US government. USCIS handles petitions. The consulate handles visas. This will not likely have any effect on the vast majority of people applying for visas in HCMC.

I didn't laugh at all.
When you live in a place where racial tension is still evident and deal with it too many times on a daily basis, it's hard to find stuff like this humorous. While I understood where Pepsi was coming from with their marketing strategy, they definitely showed poor judgement by making the jogger white. I sat there and said to myself, "Oh no they di-int!"
As much as I love seeing congress people putting our tax dollars to good use on relevant issues such as Super Bowl commercials, I have to agree with the congresswoman that Pepsi showed poor judgement. I won't go so far as to say it was demeaning and how dare they show that during Black History Month, but it was a poor choice, nonetheless.

Yes, because congressional reps need to cater to the craziest of their constituents
Wow. You're certifiable, you know that?

The mods and organizers are still just regular posters like you and me. Once they do something which violates TOS...such as a personal attack, they should immediately be stripped of their official position here. They cannot be trusted to do their duties without bias, if they have proven a bias exists, or they are not capable of handling the responsibilities by remaining level headed enough to be trusted to maintain the site in any official capacity.
Thoughts?