True Blue

I'm sure it is tough to relive, especially when you were there and saw things first-hand. The film makers came along 45 - 50 years and researched the stories based on what someone may have written including whatever "spin" was given at that time. The film makers do not have the benefit of seeing firsthand what you have seen. They also may have already had some idea of the story that they wanted to tell before delving into the project. They may have focused more on those elements that were in support of the story they decided to tell.

Allon, Thank you for your insight and comments. Tonight's episode featured the la Drang battle that you discussed above. I always felt bad about not serving in Vietnam. I was in high school during the worst fighting in Vietnam. Nixon was winding down the war by the time I graduated from high school. By that time, the draft had ended. https://www.sss.gov/About/History-And-Records/Induction-Statistics I went on to college and several years later, the war finally was over. At that time, I think most people suspected the end of the war was not really "the end of the war". The final result would not be a permanently divided country like Korea or Germany (at that time), Vietnam was likely to fall. Peace with Honor was likely to fail. But we were all numb to war from watching the body bags every night on the news. The reception that our returning troops came home to was one of the most shameful periods in American history. To you, Tsap and all other Vietnam vets, I am sorry that a lot of us (the so called "silent majority") did not speak out more strongly against the many a-holes who treated our returning military so badly. I got in a couple fistfights in support of our vets, but that was it. Usually we were outnumbered by the so called "pacifists" who jeered and even spit on some of our veterans. It took until the election of President Ronald Reagan in 1980 to bring pride and some semblance of law and order back to America. A shameful time for this county that no one can deny. TO ALL WHO SERVED, WE ARE ALL VERY GRATEFUL FOR YOUR SACRIFICE ON BEHALF OF THIS GREAT COUNTRY. True Blue

Is anyone else watching this new Ken Burns documentary series on PBS? I know a lot of you guys served there. If you are watching it,what do you think? http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-vietnam-war/home/ Here is one review - http://www.dailywire.com/news/21236/ken-burnss-vietnam-episode-1-very-good-2-omissions-spyridon-mitsotakis# Here is another article- https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2017/09/18/7-podcasts-to-listen-to-after-watching-the-vietnam-war/?utm_term=.3f6cbe336cc9

October Visa bulletin (new Fed Govt fiscal year) and we moved back up the 7 months, 3 weeks that we lost in September. Bottom line: for those of us waiting to bring relatives over we only lost 2 months (e.g. No movement in the lines from August to October) but we regained the additional 7 months and 3 weeks that we fell behind in the September Visa bulletin. I know the past 2 months have been discouraging for many in China waiting to come to the USA. To all relatives in China keep the faith! Hopefully, next month the line will start to move forward again. True Blue

I agree. Hurricane Irma killed a lot more people in the Caribbean where there are no building codes, than in the USA. I suspect the lack of building codes and enforcement creates exponentially more casualties in less developed countries.

Ms. Li, Try this free software - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/online-accent-reduction-for-non-native-english-speakers/id357661927?mt=2 Also watch these free videos - http://www.speakingyourbest.com/freevideolessons.html Best of luck! True Blue

Thanks for sharing, Randy. Great article. I like the references at the end of the article (not sure if intentional or not) to "Maotai", Moutai is probably the smoothest alcohol I have ever drank. Never got a headache, stomach ache or felt uncomfortable at all. It's in a class by itself. When Chinese friends visit the USA, I am embarrassed to say that we don't really have something made in North America that is alcoholic that even comes remotely close to Moutai. I do enjoy Tito's Vodka (made from corn not wheat, in Texas no less) as do Chinese friends who visit us in the USA, but it's certainly 5 notches down from Moutai and 2 notches down from Grey Goose. True Blue

Sorry for this late response but I just saw this news about Carl. I haven't been around here for a long time, except for the past week or so. So hard to believe. Much respect, Carl was a great man who was exceptionally helpful to my family and to me. I hope that Carl's family is doing OK. So Blessed for his assistance. Never met him personally, but I always read his many posts and like most of you, I feel like I lost a close friend. Carl was a pretty clever guy who seemed to have figured most things out. I'm sure he was waived right through into Heaven without needing to fill out any forms, wait to interview at Guz or document his relationship with the Almighty via a couple hundred photos together. Life is precious. Make every day count. Love to all and thanks to all here for being there whenever I have a question or just want to vent a bit. Best, True Blue

Just wanted to pass this along. Saw their commercials as they heavily marketed here in USA. Decided to try Hainan Airlines for stepdaughter's visit to USA over October 1 holiday. The price was very good and had daily direct Beijing to Las Vegas flight. Booked flight 4 months ago. Just got notice her daily flight was canceled and given the option of traveling 2 days earlier (not possible) or 2 days later (had to take). Ended up messing up a lot of internal USA plans that had already been booked. Looks like they are canceling a number of flights because they didn't get the volume. Still it's direct flight and Southwest was wonderful about changing connecting flight from Las Vegas but be a little cautious if you are planning a trip with strict deadlines. Never had a flight cancel before in 12 years of using American, United, Delta. True Blue

I can believe it. I can personally relate an experience at Niagra Falls. We crossed the border at Niagra Falls reentering the USA back from a road trip to Canada several years ago. The US border agents waived other cars through but when they saw my wife was Chinese, trunks were opened, seats were checked for false bottoms, mirrors under the gas tank etc and we were detained for almost a full hour, searched, patted down etc. A female office patted down my wife. I was never treated like that at any other border whether in Mexico, Latin America, China or Europe. My wife said that was the only time she thought she was treated as if she was a criminal. The border agents kept asking us why we went (tourism), where we went, when and again why we went. It reminded me of a movie interrogation. True Blue

Not all is doom and gloom. I do have some good news to report. I just saved money ($300 a year) on my car insurance (seriously). If you, haven't shopped around recently do so. True Blue

July and August processing dates for F1 visas were current through December 22, 2010. September 2017 visa bulletin dropped that back 7 months and 3 weeks to May 1, 2010. As usual, China and India moved in lockstep (in this case backwards and not forward) We had just heard from NVC and received a tracking number to start work on processing for my wife's unmarried adult daughter (April 2011 priority date). October is the beginning of the new Federal processing year so I wonder if the line for processing will revert forward to December 2010 or beyond or whether this is a permanent slow down (addition) to the length of the line. This may also have an impact for those in line if the new proposed points based immigration system is passed by Congress in the interim as one of the proposed provisions cuts visa availability in half. My stepdaughter speaks English very well, has a good job in China with an American headquartered NYSE Fortune 500 company, has her advanced degree and can be self supporting so she would do well under a points system. However she will be 33 next month and has delayed marriage thus far in order to come over on an F1. Adding another 2 years to the 11 year wait might cause her to reconsider and stay in China. The US stock market is at all time highs but I work at a University and very few (less than 10%) of our graduates find jobs even with advanced degrees. Since the 2008 stock market crash all the old people (myself included) are working past retirement age and no one is retiring early. I was talking with some friends -My father retired at 62 as did my best friends father at 62 and another friends father retired at 60. In contrast, the 3 of us plan to work to 68, 70 and 68. That certainly takes new jobs away from young graduates. 2 of the 3 of us are also planning to leave the USA to retire somewhere more affordable as we all expect that our taxes will sky rocket in the future since social security is going under fast. True Blue

Sorry Randy, In my excitement, I got so excited that I fat fingered that post and reposted without comments. The May Visa bulletin just came out and the chains have moved as surely as if Bart Starr was leading a 1960s Green Bay Packers drive down field. The goal line is in sight and we can smell the sweat smell of the end zone turf. Barring any piles of cow poop on the field, we expect to finish this 10 1/2 year drive and see the referee hold up his arms with touchdown before Christmas. Our family will be united (not referring to the Airline) again and it's a beautiful thing! I want others in the same situation who have been patiently waiting in line, to keep their resolve. There is hope! True Blue

My friends, see previous repost of 3 year old post above. I am happy to report that in just 3 months of the current administration, this situation has totally turned around by almost 2 years, and now the processing time for US citizens bringing in family members is faster than if my wife had remained a green card holder. The lines are moving again and have started moving faster we are now about a half year of my unmarried adult step daughter having a visa slot available. This shift is very welcome news and we hope to have the family together again before the end of the year. It's been a long ten years, but the recent line movement will likely result in a 10 1/2 year wait rather than the 12 year wait we had originally anticipated. I don't know if the recent speeding up is due to fewer illegal immigrants, less favorable US economic conditions that have caused legal immigrant applicants to abandon their place in line, or just more empathesis on processing legal immigrants more efficiently and faster but whatever the cause, we are very grateful. Thank you, US government for getting legal immigration process moving again! And renewed hope to all who are sponsoring loved ones to come over and are in the legal queues set up to accomplish this. Also a big thank you to all here who take the time to give their time and answer questions for those of us who have some difficulty understanding all of the forms and requirements to bring family members to the USA. You are the best! True Blue

Sadly, I fell for the Windows 10 upgrade lure. It basically ended up bricking my 7 year old laptop computer and I lost most of my software (though not my data which I had backed up onto an external usb hard drive). After losing about 120 hours in evenings and weekends to get Windows 10 to partially sluggishly work, I bit the bullet, reformatted my hard drive and went back to Windows 7 which works even better now (probably because reformatting the hard drive got rid of some bloat ware programs that came with the computer). Windows 10, never again! I don't like that it is intrusive and tracks your every move on the Internet to deliver advertising. I had looked into buying a North Face hoodie and then every web site for the month that I was on Windows 10 rammed ads for North Face hoodies (hooded sweatshirts for those who aren't familiar with the term) down my throat. maybe I am a dinosaur but I work with pcs and I think software peaked about 7 years ago. The recent changes to new Microsoft context sensitive menus try to outthink what you are trying to do and limit options which drives me crazy.

TV pad (a device a little like Apple tv is now blocked by US government and piracy laws. Before we could get 200+ channels from China and Hong Kong and Taiwan for free. They were sued and a cease and desist order was put in to interupt service in mid November. What do you use now to get programs from the motherland? TB

The air in China is a bit like peanut butter - it comes in two flavors - smooth and extra crunchy! My eye opening experience was going to a Chinese hospital in Kunming for lung ailments then having the Chinese doctor walk in smoking like a chimney while I was gasping for oxygen. True Blue

http://qz.com/552005/chinas-latest-suspected-fraud-a-3d-printed-home-builder-that-bilked-investors-out-of-1-6-billion/ Sounds good on paper but apparently sounds too good to be true. Caveat emptor (buyer beware!) Regards TB

FWIW - Some interesting research experiment results. The results certainly differ from what I'm used to as my wife and Chinese friends are brutally honest saying things to me like "you have become very fat lately" where Westerners would say something like "you are looking good" even if I had put on 5 pounds. http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/1879850/chinese-most-dishonest-japanese-and-british-least-study-finds On my travels to China I was generally amazed how honest Chinese people are compared to Americans. Though dealing with 4 and 5 star hotels might make a difference. What is your experience? Especially for those who live in China and do business/interact with local mom and pop stores and businesses? Is it a matter of whether someone is "watching"? TB

No wonder I am packing on the weight - no diet water at my local Walmart! LOL Bulk shopping must be big in China, Korea, Southeast Asia and India. Whenever I go to Sams or Costco or Ikea, there is a much much higher proportion of Asian shoppers (40 to 50%) compared to the general Asian population (maybe 5%) here in Florida. My Chinese family all think China's Sam's Club and China's Ikea are the greatest stores they have ever seen. True Blue

Interesting and it explains a lot! I am often pushed into "clothes shopping" (not for me as there is nothing I need, and not for my wife as she really doesn't need anything either). She likes to look for bargains and buy for female friends & relatives in China...(though any clothes cannot be "made in China" for some odd reason). My wife usually tries on the clothes on to see how they look and her practice is to hand me her purse as she walks into the dressing room. I'm pretty much left to this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE2537J2G34 True Blue

As a taxpayer, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I am convinced that the having Government handle anything is usually the least efficient slowest most expensive way to do anything. The county government has been working on a flat 6 mile stretch of the main road between my home and my job for 3 1/2 years now with another 2 1/2 years to go. I drive by everyday and see thousands of dollars of barricades and construction equipment while 20 supervisors watch/supervise 2 guys digging with shovels. I saw similar road projects both started and completed in China in 6 weeks total, whereas our local folks are taking 6 years. In the meantime a new 120 store mall built privately was completed in less than 9 months. True Blue

Thanks for your advice, Randy. I should note that it seems getting a visitor visa is not as big of an issue now that the 10 year visa has become available. It's just anecdotal evidence and nothing scientific, but almost everyone that we know who was denied a tourist visa in the past has reapplied and been approved since the change to 10 year visas. That said we know someone who is coming to US on a tourist visa in March who is a year away from an immigration VISA. She is going to try to stay and adjust based on the 2nd later documents date so I will report what happens when that occurs. Oddly enough, this might not be an issue for us at all. My stepdaughter is now realizing that staying in China will provide her with far better prospects for a high level career than coming to the US and having great difficulty finding a decent job here. So it's likely we will not even test the earlier date. In fact, there is a good chance that she remains in China and marries there which means adjusting the petition and waiting another 7 years (2 more years to go + an additional 5 years tacked on for changing status from unmarried adult child to married adult child). By then I will be retired (God willing) so we may not have the income to sponsor her. We may well end up moving to China to afford retirement ourselves. So the whole effort may end up for naught. Funny how life goes. True Blue

Perhaps this might impact others who are not yet in the country, Does this mean the relatives could come earlier on a tourist visa and then apply to adjust status when the (earlier) date for applying to adjust status occurs? Since the difference in dates between the date for filing application and the date a visa slot (green card) will be available appear to be 8 to 12 months earlier, would this not help our relatives get here earlier? Especially if they can apply for Soc Sec #, advance parole and work permit at the new (earlier) date for filing applications? Best TB Using a tourist visa in that way CAN leave the intending immigrant open to charges of immigrations fraud. Randy, I wanted to pass this along as maybe the new changes are being interpreted differently re tourist visa and the 2nd date chart.. I just talked to the State Department (my wife's petition to bring her unmarried adult daughter has been approved so we are just waiting several years for a visa slot to become available) and I was stunned to hear that - my stepdaughter CAN come on a visitor visa near the new earlier date (e.g. 2nd chart - date for filing application) then file and remain in the country as she waits for a social security card and advance parole card to allow her to travel and re-enter the country. Thus based on current visa bulletin dates, it appears she can come a full year earlier on the 2nd date for filing application rather than on than the first date when a green card becomes available. I asked several times if this was only for those in US on work and student visas. I was told it was OK fr her to come on a tourist visa near that 2nd date. I called back, talked to someone else and asked again about the tourist visa and filing the paperwork and staying and was again told YES no problem. She just files her documents on the date for filing application and can stay. I asked if we would get into trouble later for visa fraud and was told no as long as her application date had passed and we filed the paperwork by trackable mail and kept a copy. Anyone else have experience with this? We know someone who will try this in April so we will find out what happens then. True Blue