Gaybutton

I'm sorry you don't like it, but that's the way it is. I don't like accusatory posts unless you can prove that it is true. Even with proof, I have a big problem with what you are saying about posting information about other posters. If you are talking about personal information, and not things such as an announcement of a death, someone receiving an award, someone quite ill, or that sort of thing, then I fail to see any justification for posting personal information about others, especially without their permission. I think people ought to be able to use the message boards without having to fear that someone is going to come along and start posting personal information about them. First, other than being satisfying to gossip queens who are not victims of it themselves, what purpose do you feel would be served by such posts? If some sort of skeleton in your closet came out, would you really want that to be posted on these boards? I don't have many problems about it if the news media has published something, but there are some. One thing is clear. People can post on this board without having to fear that someone is going to come along and start posting gossip about their private matters. Maybe that will bring about more accusations that I'm a control freak, but protecting our board members from that kind of abuse is much more important to me than allowing the gossip. I'll make it clear: Any such post appearing on this board will be deleted and whoever posted it will be immediately be placed on moderated mode or banned, depending on the degree of the abuse. The only way I would ever allow it, and I believe the other moderators would agree, would be if the subject of the post contacts us, tells us he has no objection to that kind of post, and provides solid evidence that it really is him contacting us and not someone pretending to be him. Other than that, there is no place on this board for abusive posts. If that makes this board boring, then we'll just have to be boring.

I don't disagree with that, but I think my brain would be better used thinking up angles and staying one step ahead of a game that they're actually playing. Ok, I've said my piece about this. Enough about it from me. I'm probably boring the hell out of everyone with this anyhow . . .

Every once in a while I step outside of the bank for a breath of fresh air . . . in Pattaya (cough, cough)

Happy New Year, folks! Here's what La Cage has to offer:

The US dollar exchange rate opened at 34.74 at 8:00am today (December 29). 25 minutes later it moved to 34.78. At this moment it's 9:35am, but the next round of exchange rates has not yet been posted.

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Red Shirts Gather Forces Advance Guard Moves to House Overnight By: POST REPORTERS Published: 29/12/2008 United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) protesters have started surrounding parliament ahead of today's policy statement by the government. Almost 20,000 red-shirted supporters converged at Sanam Luang on Sunday in preparation for the seizure of the ground outside parliament on Monday. An advance guard of several hundred Sunday night blocked a key road outside the legislature. The rest are to move to the site on Monday, and plan to stay put for the next three days. They will disperse for the New Year break and then return for a protracted demonstration until parliament is dissolved. UDD core leader Jatuporn Promphan announced the plan to the Sunday crowd at Sanam Luang. The government is due to deliver its policy statement to parliament on Monday morning, with a two-day debate - a constitutional precondition to legalising its administrative power. The protesters believe the Democrat-led coalition government under Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva lacks legitimacy, and want him to dissolve the House. Mr Jatuporn said the protesters will not cut electricity or water at parliament. But if the government changes venue for the policy statement, the protesters will follow them. Groups of UDD supporters moved to the front of parliament on Sunday night and blocked Uthong Nai road which approaches its main gate. Natthawut Saikua, another UDD leader, said protesters will leave a narrow path for the MPs to walk into parliament. Surrounding protesters will shout "give us back democracy" while MPs make their way through. Police have closed the gates of parliament and are guarding the legislature in front and at the rear. Deputy Metropolitan police chief Amnuay Nimmano said professional photographers and cameramen drawn from the police force and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration will record the activities of UDD demonstrators. Video footage and photographs will be used as evidence against any law-breakers. In the event the protesters commit offences in view of police, they will be arrested on the spot. Pol Maj-Gen Amnuay said police need help from photographers and cameramen because protesters have covered surveillance cameras around parliament with black plastic bags. Whenever police remove them, the bags are put back on again. "This shows they intend to do something bad and want to cover it up," Pol Maj-Gen Amnuay said. Protesters who commit violence to stop the government delivering its policy statement would be charged with insurrection. Demonstrators would have to pass through metal detectors installed around parliament before entering the protest site. Demonstrations must be peaceful and demonstrators must not carry weapons of any kind. Pol Maj-Gen Pongsant Jiam-on, another deputy city police chief, said he had received information that many UDD protesters assembling outside parliament were seen carrying catapults and metal rods. At the same time, the Democrats said they will not force their way through anti-government protesters if they are blocked. Democrat deputy spokesman Warong Dejkitvikrom said Deputy Prime Minister and Democrat secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban told party MPs to be careful when confronting protesters. The Democrats will not insist on entering parliament if the building is sealed off by protesters. "The government has asked 3,600 police officers to ensure security at the site. "Mr Suthep told authorities to avoid the use of force or tear gas" to disperse the crowds, Mr Warong said. Democrat MPs were told to gather at party headquarters before travelling together to parliament. Supplies of food and drinking water are in place in the event the MPs manage to enter parliament but are later trapped inside.

If you really think it's reasonable to worry about a problem that has never existed, conjured up solely from your own imagination, then go ahead and worry. Personally, I see nothing reasonable about it at all. There's enough reality to worry about without having to create things to worry about.

I think I end up getting most of it. GT gets quite a bit of it too, usually jealousy about his money and jealousy over his boyfriends. In his case, it's almost always jealousy over something. I don't think he cares about it any more than I do. Meanwhile, I have yet to ever meet a nicer, more generous, more caring individual than GT. If hate posts really bothered me, then I would have been long gone from the boards years ago. I find it very easy to disregard posts coming from people who are great at hiding behind the anonymity of a handle on a message board, but never have guts enough to confront me personally if they have some sort of dispute with me. In all these years, not one of the hate posters has ever made himself known to me and asked to personally discuss whatever it is that bothers him. Not one, and I'm not difficult to find if someone wants to talk. I've been through it all; everything from accusations to name-calling, even to an attempt to blackmail me into removing Hedda's forum when I was running my own web site. I give in to none of it. As a moderator I try to be as reasonable and fair with people as I can. I moderate now as I always have, but I have learned quite a bit over the years. Being human, I make plenty of mistakes, sometimes put my foot in my mouth, and sometimes behave badly, just like anyone else. Some people agree with my methods and some people don't, but what I feel is the right thing to do and the right way to do it is what I have to contribute here. I try to do the best I can. I do this because I enjoy it. I enjoy providing what information I can. I enjoy helping people when I can. I enjoy running a board that tries to provide information as accurately as we are able and promotes intelligent discussion about issues of interest. I'm sure several people began posting more often here because of the contest, but since I'm the one who does the daily count-up of the posts I have noticed one pattern in particular: Integrity. At the beginning of the contest I fully expected people to write frivolous posts just to be eligible to be the winner. That hasn't happened. As far as I can tell, every poster who writes enough posts to be counted has been writing well thought out, intelligent posts that enhance the value and common decency of this board. That is what I hoped to see this board become when I first came in as a moderator here and I believe the people currently posting here understand that and are helping to make that goal a reality. I'm personally satisfied with everyone currently posting on this board and I'm grateful they have chosen this board as a place to write their thoughts, information, and opinions. I'm happy that so many come to us with their questions and requests for information and assistance. I don't think we've disappointed too many people. I hope they all stay with us once the contest comes to an end. I believe most of them will.

Unless you have evidence to the contrary, yes I would. As I said, I have never heard of the police doing such a thing and you can bet if such an activity was taking place I, and plenty of other people, would have heard about it. I know people enjoy posting about how corrupt the police can be, and I don't disagree with that, but just making up something that doesn't exist and frightening people with it is not, in my opinion, an appropriate thing to do. Could it happen? I suppose so. The police could also have someone slip ya ba into your pocket, arrest you on drug charges, and force you to pay a fortune to get out of it. Has such a thing ever happened? Not to my knowledge. Also, to my knowledge, a scam such as you describe has never happened. Not ever. If you want to accuse the police, or anyone else for that matter, of doing something wrong, at least accuse them of something they have actually done, not something you simply made up.

Many of you are familiar with the wonderful restaurant, Cherry's. Many of you are also familiar with their daily special set dinner menu which includes everything from their excellent salad bar to terrific desserts. Every Sunday the set menu changes. They also give you an appetizer that's not even listed on the menu. If you prefer a different soup, they will change it to your preference upon request. This evening Geezer and I went to Cherry's. Now, on Sundays only, they offer their set menu for 250 baht! It's the same dinner that during weekdays is 450 baht. Same excellent quality. Same everything. The only difference is the price! It's a truly incredible bargain for this price. This very well may be the best dinner bargain in town. I strongly urge you to make reservations. Every table was packed, and with good reason! The number for reservations is: 086-314-5819. I'll let this evening's menu speak for itself:

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Car Dealer Suspected of Forgery RETAILERS TO RECEIVE INSTRUCTIONS ON DETECTING FAKES By: PRASIT TANGPRASERT AND ASSAWIN PINIJWONG NAKHON RATCHASIMA : Police will seek a warrant for the arrest of a used-car dealer suspected of financing a major banknote forgery gang, according to deputy provincial police chief Pongdet Promijit. Investigators believe the man is staying in Bangkok. Three suspected members of a major forgery gang were arrested on Friday with equipment for making banknotes, including two printing presses and 800 sheets of glossy paper. The gang was allegedly caught in the act of forging banknotes at the M Bangkok printing house in Din Daeng district. One of those arrested told police his gang was hired by a businessman to forge 1,000-baht banknotes. More than 10,000 fake 1,000-baht notes made by the gang are believed to be in circulation. Pol Col Pongdet said the printing house provided printing services by day and forged 1,000-baht notes by night. The fake notes bore a close resemblance to authentic banknotes because they were produced on printing presses instead of computer and printers. The machines are able to turn out many notes, Pol Col Pongdet said. The officer said the gang counterfeited 10,000 notes worth 10 million baht and handed them over to the businessman in return for 200,000 baht in October. Meanwhile, machines able to detect fake notes are in short supply in Tak province following the recent scare. Several local repair shops have been rushed off their feet repairing machines brought in by worried vendors. Pol Col Passawat Taengjui, superintendent of Mae Sot police, said leaflets have been distributed among retailers informing them how to identify phony notes. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the government was drawing up measures to respond to the spread of the bogus notes. Yesterday, the Commerce Ministry launched a campaign telling people how to differentiate fake notes from real ones.

Yes, you can trust the ID cards. You're perfectly safe if it's the boy's own ID card. I know of no incident, not ever, where a sting such as you describe ever took place.

I see. Then what an excellent reason you had for writing that post. Maybe one of these days I'll figure out what part of my post was so funny that it inspired you to write that kind of a reply at all . . . the one that wasn't an attempt to make me look like a fool.

While you're rolling on the floor, I don't see any posts from you that suggested the driving license agency as the place to look for the International Driving Permit in Thailand. Considering that in the USA you get them at AAA and some other travel agents, and not at driving license issuing offices, why should it have occurred to me that the driving license office would be the place to check in Thailand? I neither see a reason nor do I appreciate a post from you attempting to make me look like a fool.

Here is the latest, as of December 27: The following posters, as of December 27, have exceeded 100 posts since the contest began: GaySacGuy: 113 Steve1903: 129 Fountainhall: 164 Pattayamale: 172 Laurence: 177 Lvdkeyes: 238 MonkeySee: 425

Well, it save you an off fee . . .

The poor man might have to find himself eating in restaurants where they don't chill the salad forks.

Maybe in Pattaya the driving license agency is the place to get one. That never occurred to me.

I'm having trouble deciding whether some of those pictures are of gardening tools or medieval torture devices . . . .

Whaddya mean those clothes are unforgivable? He borrowed that shirt from me!

I can't remember quite what it was, but wasn't there some sort of incident between her and then-President Lyndon Johnson? Is it my imagination or does anyone else recall something like that?

Most likely I will be here, yes. I'm one of the few crazy farang who truly loves Songkran. And I really do want to meet you. With all kidding aside, I think you're one of the most interesting people ever to grace the message boards. If I miss the chance to meet you, I will consider that a true sadly lost opportunity.

I think that will be one important factor. I think two other important factors include the Chinese economy and the stability (or lack thereof) of the Thai government. I feel sorry for the Thai people who are going to suffer as a result of all that's been going on, but I have to admit that if a side effect is a better exchange rate for us farang, then I certainly would have no objection.

I used to use them for roasting a whole chicken, making a brisket, and a few other things. I used to like the way the food would come out. By the way, I was in Villa Market yesterday and I looked for them. I couldn't find any.

No. You're supposed to check his national ID card. The fact that you weren't sure is no excuse and won't help you if you try to use that as a defense. If you take a boy, under the law it is your responsibility to be certain of his age. If you are not sure; if the boy has no ID card; if you have any reason to suspect the boy is using a fake ID or someone else's ID, or anything at all that causes doubt, then the solution is very simple: Don't take the boy. No matter how much we debate the issue among ourselves, one thing is irrefutable: If you are caught in a sexual situation with a boy who has not yet reached his 18th birthday, or if it is later discovered that you previously engaged in sex with a boy who had not reached his 18th birthday, then you're going to be arrested and will have to face the consequences.