Well, actually, I'm not waiting much. I ignore everything related to the olympic games. I found out about China willing to host the next olympic games on this board, I knew nothing about it. My idea is that the apology regarding the games in Munich haven't changed anything. An apology for one is nothing if you don't make an apology for the others. Since they won't, the best thing to do is to boycott the whole olympic circus.

You shall avoid at all costs to become stateless, that should kill your right to travel. I like more the idea of an anonymous knowledge age. Somehow, I kinda live in it already, with my passport in my pocket. I'm physically present in a country, and I'm even working there despite not having the right to work, but there isn't the slightest link between me and that country. I shall leave before one occurs.

The Germans are smart people. I've been there many times, and I enjoyed it each time. It's a clean country with smart people. Then, I'm driving a German car because they're the best in the world. So I'm not surprised they've understood that BTC is great tech. Hey, someone would tell me Satoshi is German, I would believe it.

Since I don't want to be tracked by the CIA, I don't have a smartphone. I use cash for all my payments on the move and I like it. I have a paypal account, several cards, and several wallets, including one on blockchain.info for easy access when I'm traveling. Frankly I do not like the idea of paying with a phone, or unlocking a car, as I've read recently that it's planned. What I hate about phones is that you can't be anonymous using one. I prefer to use cash, or to take the time to go a fast food, switch on my computer, and make a transaction on blockchain.info via Tor.

When were you there?
I've been to Bangkok 15 times without any trouble with a taxi at the airport. There are also trains and buses if you prefer. I've used them both, but it depends where you want to go next. Anyway 300 baht is very cheap (that's $10). You'd pay double or triple that anywhere in Europe. I can't remember how much I've paid though, but I would remember if it were big money.

I'm still waiting for an apology for Los Angeles olympic games less than 10 years after Viet Nam. I'm also waiting for an apology for the olympic games in Moscow after that country invaded Afghanistan. I'm waiting even more for an apology for the olympic games in London after the bloody Brits' massacres in Ireland and in the Falklands....

The world already suffers from having too many nations, governments and other non natural entities. Please, let's not start another one. Better destroy all the existing nations. Actually, this may prove unnecessary as they're all crumbling down. USA and Europe are built on deficit. Countries only exist because simple minds believe in them.

Kicking Greece out of Europe would scare others. It would be a strong message. If you want to be in the € zone, you've got to behave and keep public finances in order. Allowing Greece to stay just means governments can keep on burning money forever. And they will.

I wish some people could bring links from respected sources to back up their claims about how awful the Japanese prisons are. It's certainly true that they're different, but well, everything's just so different in Japan. I believe nothing happens if you let the soap fell down in the shower in a Japanese prison.

Correct. There's only a handful of countries where one can pay a bail to get out of jail. In most countries, prisoners are just waiting for their trial behind bars, and that can last years in some places. At least the time spent waiting in prison is subtracted from the final penalty.
 

How can you say no to the whole thing: Olympic games?
China's an awful country, but it's no different than Russia, the USA, the UK or Zimbabwe. I like sports but sports is being polluted by nationalism. The Olympic games are like a world war, only without blood.

I know the problem so well. I'm still using the € as my main currency, for most of my income, and most of my payments. It's absolutely dramatic that the currency has lost so much value against the Sterling and the Swiss Franc this year. I wish Greece would have been kicked out of Europe, keeping it is the sign that the € is a currency of losers, even if there are only a tiny minority.

I'd be surprised if the owner accepts an escrow. When I was doing it, I was asking for a 30% deposit telling the customer I would keep that money even in case of a no-show. That's the cancellation fee, and there's nothing wrong with it. Everybody's asking for one in Europe.

Don't worry about airport pickups, you just need to settle the price with the cab driver before you get in his car.

What? Have you ever seen an ad for the US $? Or the €? Or the £?
I've never seen an ad for a currency in my life. Still, if some guy would be crazy enough to pay for a BTC ad on TV, I think he should do it.
If OP wants to do it, I won't do anything to stop him.

Frankly, that wasn't needed. Writing only Europe would have been preferable. I guess it shows that OP's British.
Quite surprising that no Russian has participated. I used to think there were plenty of Russians in here.

Please, not all taxes are legalized robberies!
I accept taxes to keep the streets safe and clean. The problem is that a very little part of the taxes I'm paying actually end up financing things I support. Just look at some public schools which turn good kids into socialist w*nkers who'll spend their entire lives begging for state money.

I refuse, but I guess it's easier for me, because KYC requirements vary a lot with the country you're doing your business in.
Life's beautiful when you live in a free country! The sad thing is that free countries are disappearing fast. I'll enjoy them till they last, with the hope that BTC will rule when the fascist countries will crash.

Unfortunately I haven't, but you give me hope. I guess I should just try, just like you did. I couldn't do it in a shop since I don't have a smartphone, but I'm buying used cars quite often. Next time, I'll propose to pay with BTC.

Frankly, not much. Information's flowing well. I see plenty of reports and articles from China. Their economy is still growing at a much faster pace than western countries despite all the recent hiccups. We may miss a few details, the overall picture given by news services is correct. I've been to China 3 times.

Make that a deal, by giving a 10% price reduction to customers paying with BTC. You may increase your prices by 5% to achieve this, but it's important that your customers understand they'll get an instant discount just by paying with BTC.