The Red River delta region is very pretty, and so is Hanoi, in its own way. Like old Saigon, however, there are older parts of Hanoi could clearly benefit from underground wiring. Honestly, I've never seen such a mishmash of overhead power lines as I've seen in the central core of Vietnamese cities. In certain places, it's really hard to take a clear photo because of all the wires and wiring bundles, strung up and down the street and between buildings, etc. No use for urban building codes in these areas, apparently.

And I will also note that for the capital of a socialist country that ostensibly embraces atheism, the people of Hanoi sure do like their Buddhist and Confucian temples, which I have to admit surprised me somewhat. They have some beautiful architecture and landscaping, We went to the Temple of Literature yesterday, which is a Confucian facility, and walked through its beautiful gardens.

Haven't seen a large Roman Catholic presence up here, though, at least not to the extent that I saw down in Ho Chi Minh City. there was one fairly large church just off the main highway heading south from Noi Bai International Airport, which looks to still be in the same musty-looking, dilapitated state that it was in when the French abandoned the country in 1954.

We're traveling down to Haiphong later this morning (it's 2:10 a.m. Saturday morning right now), and then we're leaving tomorrow afternoon to fly back to Japan, where we'll spend three days in Tokyo before returning home. Noi Bai International Airport, which serves the Hanoi region, looks to be a fairly new facility, and it's situated well to the north of the city proper, amid all the myriad acrage of the unbiquitous rice paddies throughout the Red River delta. But just like so many of our cities in the U.S., the area is seeing some significant urban sprawl, which is clearly creeping northward from the capital and displacing agriculture as it grows.

It's been a wonderful trip, and I'm really glad that I came. I'd heartily recommend Vietnam to anyone looking for an overseas adventure to someplace different. Despite our rocky history over here, the Vietnamese are beautiful people, and their ready embrace of the growing American presence in their country is rather striking.

Also, from a quick google:

Employer Types

    The type of employer running the correctional facility can have an effect on the wages paid to prison guards, according to PayScale. Guards working for private, for-profit corporations and those working in facilities operated by the federal government tend to earn similar wages, ranging from approximately $27,000 to $46,000. Prison guards who work for state and local agencies fared a little better, averaging between $28,000 and $49,000 as of October 2010.

Sure, the Warriors said they'd privately finance the arena itself, but what about the cost of repairing those piers alone, in a manner that would support the weight of the proposed arena? That's been estimated in the nine-figure range, all by itself.

As for the Raiders' threat to move back to Los Angeles, you'd think Mark Davis would have learned something from his late father Al Davis, who for all his faults and foibles, never willingly doubled down on stupid. The proposed bond issue for "Farmers Stadium," which was to be the new football complex near Staples Center in downtown L.A., is already in the weeds.

An improvement I'd say, provided they arrange to have two semi finalists from the same conference/state/region play each other before the championship game.  Call it the SEC Rule.

I'm also fine with teams making the final four who didn't win their conference.  Call it the SEC Rule 2.0.

Lacks adequate oversight?  Ya mean like the "no oversight" you have now?

"Proliferation of a serious drug"?  I got news for ya, it's already highly proliferated.

They are cool with guns, fireworks, driving with no seatbelt (for a while at least) and booze on sundays long before MA.  But pot?  Dangerous!!!

And I like John Lynch, but this is just silly:

"risks the proliferation of a serious drug"

To hear some talk, you swear the guy walked on water.  But I remember a fumbling idiot who like to talk about aliens too much and took way too much credit over the USSR collapsing.

And to oculus I would say if you don't want people disrespecting your likeness, don't disrespect them in legislation.  One is harmless, the other has real world consequences beyond ruffling morality feathers.

I tried telling them about the 200-comment limit that Jeralyn observes, suggesting to them that they take the discussion to what was then the only other open thread, because with so many comments over 200, it was possible the overage would end up being deleted.

With the average ages of brides and grooms today at 27 and 29 respectively, many have all the dishes and bedding they need. So instead of asking for china and crystal, The Early Show contributor Laurie Hibberd reports, they're asking their guests to donate to charity.

Bethany Robertson is the executive director of the I Do Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps couples incorporate charity into their big day.

Roberts says, "We have seen a phenomenal increase in the number of couples who are participating. In 2004, we had about 20,000 couples in the program. And this year, we're on track to have over 200,000 couples choose a charity through either the I Do Foundation or one of our partners. This is money that did not currently or before exists in the charitable pipeline. This is money that was being spent on cake toppers and garter belts. Now, it's being used for children's health or for community development, things like that. I kind of think of it as icing on the cake, really."

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