The Beer Bar

We have talked about and been warned about global warming for decades - and have done precious little. But this year's disastrous fires in the US, Europe and elsewhere, the massive rains affecting Europe, Japan and elsewhere and the record heat levels in North America's north-west, in Sicily and elsewhere must surely have driven home the fact that the world is fast running out of time. California is on the front line and is danger of running out of water. This video on the BBC website illustrates the effect of drought on Lake Oroville, California's second latest reservoir. The photographer has been following the falling water levels since 2014. The result is frightening. …

Porn is just videos of people at work.

From Thai Enquirer More than 1,000 inmates will be released from prisons when Kratom is delisted as a narcotic on August 24, the government said on Thursday. “The Kratom Plant Bill will come into effect on August 24 and the plant will be declassified as an illegal drug which means that people will be able to grow them and sell them,” said Anucha Burapachaisri, the government spokesman. “There will also be a release of 1,038 people who have violated the Narcotics Act with kratom on August 24,” he added. Kratom can be used as a traditional medicine but can also be a stimulant. It can be used as a recreational drug which is one of the reasons why it was c…

The popular consumer motto "never pay retail" has been embraced by the Thai Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO). Acting against the advice of the Rural Doctors Society, the GPO is going ahead with the purchase of 8.5 million questionable Covid antigen tests at a reported price said to be twice the retail cost. From Bangkok Post The battle lines have been drawn between the Rural Doctors Society and the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) over the purchases of 8.5 million Covid-19 antigen test kits that the doctors say could cause problems. The reliability of the brand chosen by the state agency, the doctors say, has been ”controversial on a…

From Pattaya Mail By Barry Kenyon On London’s latest health rulings, British vacationers to Thailand’s Sandbox visitor-cocoon program do not have to quarantine, at home or in a hotel, on their return to UK. This is because they must have been fully vaccinated in UK before the Thai embassy in London issued the all-important certificate of entry authorization. On returning to UK, they need only pre and post flight Covid tests and a passenger locator form for address confirmation. But all non-Sandbox travellers to UK, Brits or Thais, are required to self-quarantine for 10 days on arrival in UK if they are unvaccinated or if their jabs were done in Thailand…

I enjoyed the opening ceremony this year. I think Japan did an excellent job and I thought the performances were beautiful. Is anyone watching them this year?

From Coconuts Bangkok A scene from ‘School Town King.’ The makers of a film about rappers in Bangkok’s sprawling Khlong Toei slum are asking the public to help get their documentary onto streaming platform Netflix. Director Wattanapume Laisuwanchai and the folks behind production studio Eyedropper Fill are asking people to urge Netflix to add School Town King to its roster. The film, which took three years to create, follows young Khlong Toei rappers Thanayuth “Book” Na Ayutthaya, aka Eleven Finger, and Nontawat “Non” Toma, aka Crazy Kids, as they work to break into the music scene and out of poverty. Interspersed with studio shots and rap perfor…

I always thought Batman was screwing Robin so it won't be anything new for him. Robin Comes Out as Bisexual in DC Comics Series Robin Comes Out as Bisexual!!! 8/10/2021 9:39 AM PT Alamy Holy LGBTQ, Caped Crusader!!! Robin's dropping big personal news in the latest installment of "Batman: Urban Legends" ... he's bisexual. Tim Drake is the DC character who fights crime as Robin, and when the sixth installment of the comic book dropped Tuesday the story ended with Tim saying yes to going on a date with a guy named Bernard Dowd. T…

No doubt many of you have not heard of Anita Bryant. She was a loud opponent of gays way back when. Now her granddaughter is a lesbian and getting married. Will Anita attend the ceremony? Will she even be invited? https://news.yahoo.com/granddaughter-notorious-anti-gay-rights-205513063.html

Was surprised to see this.... GOODBYE XTUBE It's a sad day for us at XTube but we have to announce that after 13 years, XTube.com will be shutting down on September 5th. We're proud of the vibrant community we've built since 2008 and we're grateful to you, our amazing users who have shared and purchased content on our platform over the years. Unfortunately, it's time for us to move on to greener pastures and greater things. Since XTube will be closing effective September 5th, purchasing additional XTube Credits and purchasing VIP or XTube Premium subscriptions has been disabled. You can continue purchasing amateur content with your account’s XTub…

From Coconuts Bangkok Marking the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, an online exhibition launched today that dives into the rich diversity of ethnicities in Thailand ranging from the Dubbed ‘You Me We Us,’ the website kicked off with information and stories related to the kingdom’s 60 known groups. The platform includes a map, quiz, interviews, articles and videos where audiences can learn about the groups’ histories, citizenship, legal rights, culture, traditions and more. On the website is also a chance to see Becoming Home, a documentary chronicling six stateless youths who hold onto hope and dreams as they struggle against social pre…

With so much gloom at present, more and more posters are hoping against hope that the pandemic in Thailand will be under control much sooner rather than later and their visits to this Paradise can continue. It started me thinking about Paradise and how different the word can mean for different people. When we were growing up, did we really buy into the idea of Paradise as an idyllic nirvana, a place where the vicissitudes and pettiness of daily life would be replaced by perfect peace, love and harmony? A Garden of Eden where there are no serpents hidden in the apples (as envisioned below by William Blake) and we can bask in its glory amongst gorgeous flowers, sumptu…

This video about a Filipino boy who rescues a dog from the water will do it. Several days ago the local press put out a plea for information about the youth's identity. Today he was identified as "Angelo", a 16-year-old worker at a market in Laguna. I'm a dog lover and hope this brings a smile to your face at a time when we're finding increasingly less to smile about. https://www.facebook.com/AKFanimalrescue/videos/1415611865504964/

Andrew Sullivan's new column at substack explains how it happened through his perspective. He lives there. Let It Rip How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Live With The Virus Andrew Sullivan 20 hr ago 40 Brent Thomas, dressed as the historic figure Anne Hutchinson, leads a tour through Provincetown on July 24…

Anyone of us who's traveled to Hanoi has walked around Hoan Kiem Lake. I always stayed in the old Quarter and made the loop every evening. Today, Hanoi is in lockdown. The Vietnam Express published a series a deserted, eerie scenes from the city that remind us that this time it's sadly different. Continues with more photos https://e.vnexpress.net/photo/news/hanoi-calls-it-a-night-after-sundown-amid-covid-restrictions-4332945.html

Sunday marks the 21st anniversary of the horrific crash of an Air France supersonic Concorde just after take-off from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. Not only were all 109 people on the aircraft killed, four employees of the hotel close to the airport also died. Arguably the most important result of the accident was that it created doubt about the integrity of the aircraft and its future. After all, Concorde had entered commercial service 25 years earlier, used 1950s and 60s technology, had a limited range mostly to the east coast of the United States and required an immense amount of increasingly expensive fuel. I have had a strange fascination with aircraft crashe…

The photograph certainly doesn’t tell us much. An old man, his soulful eyes staring forward, wrapped up against the cold walking on the rocks by the sea, his beard and full head of very long white hair draped over his shoulders. He could be anyone in his mid-60s. Could he really have been a movie star, one of the most talked about on the planet? Copyright: MantarayFIlm2021 For those who were not born by about 1960 and so know little of his history, they soon will. For decades this elderly man despised the title “most beautiful boy in the world.” Yet he is happy with a new film and its identical title that will hit the screens at the end of the month. For …

I have a Thai friend who is 22. He is positive for Covid. He is at home. There are no beds available in Bangkok. He is alone and being safe. I sent him money for food and drinks. He does not have a fever or cough. He does have no smell. Recommendations for giving him advice is greatly appreciated.

From The Thaiger Asanha Bucha Day is a special Buddhist holiday in Thailand marking the day when the Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon at Benares in India over 2,500 years ago. The exact date of the holiday is determined by the waxing moon and the lunar months, but is usually held in July or August each year. In 2021 it falls on July 26. Today is also the start of the period of Buddhist Lent. There were to be 3 public holidays in a row – Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (HM The King’s birthday) this year but the Tuesday holiday was abandoned by the government as the Covid situation became worse. Asahna Bucha is a national Holiday in Thailand. It replaced …

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Let's see if I've go this right. A huge virus, buried in the seabed at a depth of 36,000 feet, is brought to a laboratory in Shanghai for sequencing. What could possibly go wrong? From South China Morning Post / BP The first known batch of viruses retrieved from the deepest point in the Mariana Trench includes giant species bigger than some bacterium, according to a research team in Shanghai. The many legends of giant sea creatures have been largely debunked because of the challenges to large, complex life forms at the greatest ocean depths. But the researchers discovered several giant viral species, including mimiviruses - which typically …

This is fascinating as we know these companies sell our data to others. A truly must read. https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/07/20/bishop-misconduct-resign-burrill/

Last Month The Judy Garland Wizard of Oz Dress Was Found at Catholic University: Details, Reactions, Roundup It was given to Rev. Gilbert Hartke, illustrious head of the drama programme, by actress Mercedes McCambridge. A dress worn by Judy Garland in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ has finally been located. The legendary blue and white garment worn by the actress’ character Dorothy in the iconic 1939 film vanished just a year after it was gifted to the Catholic University of America (CUA) in 1972 but it was recently found by Matt Ripa, a lecturer at the university. H…

Few gay athletes have captured our attention longer than has Tom Daley. With the Tokyo Olympics set to get underway this week, this look back on on his career reminds us that there's much more to his very public life than diving. From BBC Sport Daley with his son Robbie and husband Dustin Lance Black - they were married in 2017 By Nick Hope, BBC Olympic sports reporter in Tokyo The young boy facing the camera spoke with a smile, but everyone could see the steeliness in his eyes. "I want to get to the Olympics and win a gold medal," Tom Daley told the BBC in 2005. He was holding a picture he'd made - a drawing of himself doing a handstand …