The Beer Bar

Will Asia have a “Stonewall” event? Shinen Wong contemplates the police raids of gay venues in Malaysia the other weekend and the riots at Stonewall Inn in New York City in 1969, which is today seen as one of the most significant milestones in the history of the global LGBT rights movement. Read the entire article at: http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/article...p;viewarticle=1

From the New York Times Global Edition: The Bloody Mary-once known as the Red Snapper because associating blood with a cocktail was considered too unpleasant--is now celebrating its 75th anniversary. A special toast to the drink has been held in Times Square in New York. It is believed too have been created in New York City by a French bartender, Ferdinand Petiot in 1933. I will drink to that!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/opinion/02tue3.html? I don't know if the link will work for a Times opinion piece. The upshot is that the NRA campaigned viciously and expensively but vainly against Obama. It also committed itself heavily in the form of endorsements and spending in the Senate and Congresional races to tout its favorites, who were defeated.

What AdamSmith wants for Christmas, apart from more twinks... A way with words: Lexical wizard Henry Hitchings on the crazy history of our language 'Margarine' comes from the Persian word for pearl, Edmund Spenser coined 'blatant' and many of our naval terms come from the Dutch. By Suzi Feay It's rather nerve-racking, interviewing an acknowledged master of the English language. I tell Henry Hitchings that I feel as though I'll have to take extra care with my choice of words. "Don't," he says briskly, as he ushers me into his book-lined 13th-floor Bermondsey flat. Fortunately, his attitude to language is anything but stuffy, snobbish or prescriptive. His latest book, …

I miss Kay at B and N and have not found a suitable replacement until today. I wen to B and N and they had a great selection of guys. I choose Peter, a 24 year old friend of Kay. He was from Chiang Mai and very handsome. He had a toned body and a nice smile. He is everything Kay was. He is also an amazing massage. I can't wait to see him again!

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. – Edna Parker, who became the world's oldest person more than a year ago, has died at age 115. UCLA gerontologist Dr. Stephen Coles said Parker's great-nephew notified him that Parker died Wednesday at a nursing home in Shelbyville. She was 115 years, 220 days old, said Robert Young, a senior consultant for gerontology for Guinness World Records. Parker was born April 20, 1893, in central Indiana's Morgan County and had been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest person since the 2007 death in Japan of Yone Minagawa, who was four months her senior. Coles maintains a list of the world's oldest people and said Parker was …

Nepal's highest court confirms full rights for LGBT people http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9597.html By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk • November 17, 2008 - 14:43 A Nepali MP has said his "eyes were filled with tears" when he read the full written decision of the country's Supreme Court on a writ petition from four organisations representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people. A summary decision was issued in December 2007, when the court issued directive orders to the Nepal government to ensure the right to life according to their own identities and introduce laws providing equal rights to LGBTIs and amend all the discriminatory law…

I seem to recall on one of the boards - here or elsewhere, dont remember - this place run by monks got a bit of a slating for mistreating the tigers. Watched the tail end of a docu type prog this morning which was focusing on this place and the tiger expert guy seemed really pleased with what goes on at the Temple. It's got to be better than Tiger Zoo where they have the animals jumping through hoops of fire etc and it's certainly a place I'll go visit when next I'm over.

I have just read on the internet, that there is a shift in Cambodia and to a lesser extent, Thailand, in methamphetamine use from methamphetamine tablets (Yaba) towards the stronger and more addictive crystal methamphetamine (Ice). Ice is usually smoked and seems to be more addictive. I hope this is not the case. Yaba is bad enough without introducing a stronger crystal meth.

President-elect Obama promises to back gay rights legislation By Tony Grew • November 19, 2008 - 14:03 Barack Obama has reached out to gays The next President of the United States has published a comprehensive list of action he will take on gay rights. In a statement published on the Presidential transition website, Barack Obama and the Vice President-elect, Joe Biden, committed themselves to strengthening federal hate crimes protection by passing the Matthew Shepard Act. The President-elect also committed to support civil unions and federal rights for LGBT couples. "Barack Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges…

Anyone have experience with GPS units for cars in Thailand? I am thinking of a GPS for the bf since he can't read a map. One choice is to buy outside of Thailand and the other is buy locally when there. It would be necessary that the GPS speak Thai with maybe English as an option. Any idea of price?

Happy Thanksgiving to all that celebrate this holiday. Find below a link to test your Thanksgiving knowledge and a little joke. Enjoy and have a nice Thanksgiving. Link to Thanksgiving quiz: http://home.aristotle.net/Thanksgiving/trivia.asp THE PARROT.................... A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot really had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity. John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary. …

Found on the wall of an ancient Egyptian tomb is an image of two men in a close embrace. Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, manicurists in the Palace of King Niserre. Gay or not gay? The tomb was for both men to spend eternity together.

I just heard on the news that a man jumped the fence in a zoo to give a Panda a hug. The man was bitten several times by the panda on the neck and arms, but the injuries are not life-threatening. The guy said the panda looked so cute that he could not resist. What was this guy drinking or smoking?

In the words of David Letterman, "Does anyone mind if Obama starts work a little early"? TUESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2008 Goodbye and Good Riddance Tuesday 11 November 2008 by: Paul Waldman, The American Prospect After eight years of President Bush, we almost don't know how to function without him - almost. But before we move on, we should pause to remember just what we're leaving behind. Just over two years into George W. Bush's presidency, The American Prospect featured Bush on its cover under the headline, "The Most Dangerous President Ever." At the time, some probably thought it a bit over the top. But nearly six years later, it's worth taking a momen…

Here is some Thai history trivia: Queen Sunandha Kumariratana (Thai:สมเด็จพระนางเจ้าสุนันทาก

KATHMANDU (AFP) – A young man believed by followers to be a reincarnation of Buddha has returned to Nepal's jungles to meditate alone, police said Saturday, as scholars cast doubt on his supporters' claims. Known as the "Buddha Boy," Ram Bahadur Bomjam, 18, became famous in 2005 after supporters said he could meditate motionless for months without water, food or sleep. "Bomjam went back into the jungle late Friday and all the devotees have left," police officer Gobinda Kushwaha told AFP from Neejgad, a town in Bara District, 60 kilometres (37.5 miles) south of Kathmandu. The "Buddha Boy" reappeared earlier this month after supporters said in March 2007 that…

You will see Spirit Houses throughout Thailand. Thais are very superstitious. Some westerners think Thais are child-like for having these views. On the other hand, I did not think Americans were perceived as superstitious, but I may be wrong. Here is part of an article by Jeremy Taylor, Belief in the supernatural comes from normal, everyday reasoning and perception. According to a recent Newsweek article, researchers are finding that supernatural belief arises from normal mental processes that have been either hijacked or exaggerated by suggestion and the inability to think scientifically. Frequent surveys have shown that 90 percent of Americans believ…

Elvis Presley -Top earning dead celebrity earning about $52 million a year. -Presley has new twin granddaughters born Oct. 7 to Lisa Marie (no Micheal Jackson is not the father). -Elvis liked to shoot his gun. He shot his TV because Robert Goulet was on screen. -Elvis used to speak sentences backwards as a code with his friends. -Tom Parker, the longtime manager of Elvis, was an illegal immigrant from Holland that use to work as a carnival act operator. - Elvis had an identical twin brother that was stillborn. -Elvis last morsel of food before he died was four scoops of ice cream and six chocolate chip cookies. He is reported to be on the toilet when he…

I have been on the market for a nice compact digital camera for a bit and they were all just too expensive in Thailand so I waited until I got to Singapore where the prices were a little better but I was guaranteed a legit cam with full warranty. I did a bit of research on the type I was looking and read a few reviews and finally bought the Sony T700. The camera is easy to operate, has a built in 4G of Member plus it came with a 4G memory chip. I purchased an additional 16G card for the camera and another battery. The screen on the back of the camera is amazing and huge. It is so perfectly gorgeous to look at. I have only been playing with it a couple of days …

I heard on a CNN newcast, that there has been a medical breakthrough. A team of doctors from three nations were able to grow a windpipe from a women's bone marrow stem cells and sucessfully transplant it into the lung of the same women. I am sure it is an expensive procedure. Next thing you know they will be growing organs to transplant. What do you think?

'Love handles' raise death risk A thickening girth can be a sign of type 2 diabetes. Carrying extra fat around your middle dramatically increases your risk of early death, even if your overall weight is normal, say researchers. A study of almost 360,000 people from nine European countries found waist size a "powerful indicator" of risk. Each extra 2ins (5cm) raised the chance of early death by between 13% and 17%. The New England Journal of Medicine study stressed GPs should regulraly measure patients' waists as a cheap and easy way to assess health. It costs virtually nothing to measure your hip and waist size Professor Elio Riboli Imperial College L…

Why are the pictures on the Gay Thailand board, so much different than what you see on the TingTong board? Different software or server? The pictures here are so tiny. I have tried to post a few pictures, but I am limited because the attachment space used is 215K of the 500K. I have only posted one pic and I guess I did not reduce the size enough.