The Beer Bar

Like the good little fag I am, I dutifully watch Dancing With the Stars. One of my favorite hunks is dance instructor Maksim Chmerkovskiy. He somewhat aggressively claims to be straight, but my gaydar tells me that isn't exactly the case. Bi is more likely but that may be wishful thinking on my part. I've often wondered how much money these guys can make as dancers. I have a couple of friends who are chorus boys on the musical circuits and they claim to be near starving. I know there are different levels of dancers and that Maks must be far above them. I also have wondered if they get a fixed sum for being on DWTS or are they paid per performance, hence making it worth w…

Earlier this evening there was an important programme on the History Channel: The Most Secret Place on Earth - The CIA’s Covert War in Laos. In the 1960s, this was a totally secret operation. Even today, very few people are aware of it, or the fact that Laos as a result became the most bombed country in the history of the world. In 1962, the USA, along with other World Powers, agreed at a Conference in Geneva that Laos was to remain neutral of foreign military intervention. Yet, in that very same year, the CIA established a top-secret base at Long Tieng in Laos. It was from this base that it largely planned and executed a secret war against the Laotian communists. So…

Speaking in Washington at the end of the Spring meetings of the World Bank, its President, Robert Zoellick, has warned that the world is quite literally

Practical German ingenuity or just a cool toy? www/myrolltop.com

A new study has just been published examining what type of porn people look at on the Internet. Some of it is fascinating - for example straight men are more likely to look at pictures of big dicks than women are. http://jezebel.com/#!5793986/fascinating-facts-about-internet-sex

Internet Freedom Threatened By New Restrictions The Huffington Post Amy Lee First Posted: 04/18/11 01:53 PM ET Updated: 04/18/11 01:53 PM ET Freedom on the worldwide Internet is in danger, according to a new report by Freedom House. In a survey of 37 countries, only 8 qualified as having completely "Free" Internets, while 11 were designated "Not Free" and the remainder were "Partly Free." The survey measured Internet freedom by studying obstacles to access, such as governmental efforts to block technologies or control over Internet access providers, limits on content, including the blocking of websites and other forms of censorship, as well as violations of user ri…

Charles Manson says he's worried about climate change. Many members of the GOP think climate change is a hoax. Who's crazier? http://gawker.com/#!5793333/charles-manson-has-an-important-message-on-climate-change

In my never ending quest for the Can Am bike, (hehe) I saw this article today. Living in Thailand much of every year, I love riding motorcycles and take motorcycle taxis more than any other vehicle. http://www.clutchandchrome.com/news/news/motorcycle-taxis-la-and-new-york

It turns out that despite their claims the Olive Garden does not, in fact, run a high end Italian cooking school in Tuscany for their employees. They also got a toddler drunk last week. This is like learning that Santa Claus is really your dad. http://gawker.com/#!5793849/olive-gardens-culinary-institute-is-a-sham

My love one and I just returned from a visit to China. The area we visited was around Guilin and Guangzhou. Not the usual areas but I sure learned a lot. The most serious problem we encountered is that virtually no one speaks anything but Mandarin or Cantonese. This makes it quite difficult to get around. On the plus side are the facts that the people are just like everyone else in the world in that some are very nice and some less. The country that I saw was clean except for public restrooms which can be really filthy. It was a big surprise for me to find the towns so modern. I had expected the old cities like we see in movies. Not so. The train system is second to none…

As a ticket fixing scandal erupts in New York City, I am reminded that fixing tickets has been common in America since the first ticket was issued. "It is a practice that by all accounts has been around almost as long as the traffic laws: fixing a traffic ticket. In the annals of small-bore corruption, there are few things more commonplace than a police officer’s making a ticket disappear for a friend or relative. Yet now this curb-level cronyism is threatening to erupt into a New York Police Department scandal. Some two dozen officers in the Bronx could face criminal charges as a result of a lengthy inquiry into the practice, and hundreds could face disciplinary actio…

The Warblers, fronted by Darren Criss, and performers from the TV show Glee, appeared on the today show today. Groupie Marc Anthony did not appear with them! You can see them here: Marc's Warbler Buddies (I tease Marc Anthony here because apparently he knows one of the Warblers. I am jealous if he is the one I like!))

I love the bug. I wish they would come out with another camper van that is so cool! http://autos.aol.com/article/2012-vw-beetle-release/

http://blog.mattalgren.com/2011/04/brazil-stadium-turns-pink-after-faggot-chants-shock-community/ Read the story in the link above. It was a bit surprising to me but it made me think of my dear Jefferson in Rio. He was the most affectionate person on earth in clubs, bars, etc. When we were on the street, he said not to hold hands as there were many gay bashers in Rio. On the gay beach, he couldn't get enough attention but once we walked across the street, stoic.

I have been reading the controversial new biography of Malcolm X, by Manning Marable, the 60 year old author who died the week before the book came out. He had spent 10 years writing and researching it. One of the reasons the book is controversial is that it appears that Malcolm Little reinvented himself repeatedly. That's the subtitle of the book- A Life of Reinvention. Much of the controversy revolves around the allegation that Malcolm made up his past to suit the occasion, or, covered his past to suit the occasion. There seems to be no doubt that he was a hustler as a youth in all senses of the word. He had a sugar daddy in Boston whom he used to help him get out o…

James' Frey's new novel is about Jesus as a bisexual hippy. Not, you know, like James Frey is the type of asshole who tries to stir up controversy just for the sake of controversy. http://www.slate.com/id/2291410

Don't we all already know that sex makes us happy? So why is it so controversial when the head of the newsletter Surgery News writes that it is the semen itself that works as an antidepressant? http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/forget-chocolate-on-valentines-day-try-semen-says-surgery-news-editor-retraction-resignation-follow/ His argument is that women having unsafe sex are happier than women using condoms because the semen works as an antidepressant. Granted, that is a stretch from the simple statement that having sex can make you happier. It might encourage unsafe sex. But say if a woman is married and trusts her husband, do you think she is demanding c…

Most grateful if someone can give me advice on what software I need to download .rar vdo files.

New study shows that gay teens in Republican states are 20 percent more likely to try to kill themselves than gay teens in liberal states. You know we hear a lot about the gay agenda, but really, for me it's simple "My agenda is to have an entire country where teenagers don't feel like they have to kill themselves because of who they want to knock boots with." http://jezebel.com/#!5792950/gay-teen-suicide-rates-higher-in-conservative-areas

http://www.truerest.com/ I "discovered" this thru Groupon, and since I have chonic recurring insomnia, I have decided to give it a try..My first appointment is Tuesday.. Has anyone tried this before/heard of it/had friends try it?

Without naming names, the following candid photos were taken at the Palm Springs gathering this past weekend

Forget the theologians. if you want a real argument on the existence of God, turn to the trial lawyer. Vincent Bugliosi, prosecutor of Charles Manson and author o the riveting book Helter Skelter has written a new book, this one debating the existence of God. "If you're deeply religious," he said, "this isn't a book for you." His main concern is why people must suffer under an all-knowing and loving god. "Christian theologians, among others, have formulated various theories to explain why there is evil and why terrible things happen to apparently good people. None satisfies Bugliosi." http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bugliosi-20110417,0,1432458.story

I think I may have to buy my meat from Mexico given the lack of safety here in the US: Meat in the U.S. may be widely contaminated with strains of drug-resistant bacteria, researchers reported Friday. Nearly half of all meat and poultry sampled in a new study contained drug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, the type of bacteria that most commonly causes staph infections. Such infections can take many forms, from a minor rash to pneumonia or sepsis. But the findings are less about direct threats to humans than they are about the risks of using antibiotics in agriculture. Researchers from the Translational Genomics Research Institute, a nonprofit biomedical res…

Remember last year when Truvada was being touted as a breakthrough in AIDS prevention? Reality has now hit home: "Three months later, the advance has hit a wall. While study findings show the drug prevents HIV in noninfected, sexually active gay men, doctors say they're wary about giving healthy people a $12,000-a-year medicine that has side effects including nausea and kidney damage, and may not be used as regularly as needed. They also say they're not often asked to make the drug available for that use." Says Martin Markowitz, clinical director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York City. "People who can't use a condom, are they likely to take a pill ev…

Goldman Sachs Ripped Off And Misled Clients, Senate Report Says Shahien Nasiripour shahien@huffingtonpost.com Goldman Sachs, the nation's fifth-largest bank by assets, systematically misled clients, sold them financial instruments it knew to be junk, bet against them and profited off of their losses, according to a Senate report released this week. The report, the product of a two-year investigation, paints the firm as Exhibit A of Wall Street's evolution from a place that raises and deploys capital to worthy businesses into a vulturous creature that preys on unwitting investors. Goldman's conduct in the two years leading up to the near-implosion of the financial sy…