fedssocr

apparently no one has bid on the 2030 winter games https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2021/08/08/ioc-olympic-host-cities/

a single location makes the most sense, but that would limit the amount of graft the IOC can engage in - so it's probably a non-starter

what always amazes me is how many different weight classes sports like judo have. They seem to award dozens and dozens of medals in that one. I've always felt like, "the more the merrier" is probably fine. If the host has the facilities and there are people who are top class athletes looking to compete, why not? The trend seems to be that it's more and more difficult to find places willing to waste all of the money necessary to host. That will be the IOC's biggest problem in the future.

probably by threatening them with the same fate

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman had a Zoom meeting with reps of the "national unity government" today. And put out a statement welcoming the new ASEAN envoy. I don't expect ASEAN to do much given all of the undemocratic governments in the group.

everybody wants to be Bhutan ("high quality", low quantity tourists). Thailand will struggle to shift so much of its economy away from the tourism sector. What's going to happen to all of those hotels they keep building?

sad to see Oak is leaving Wayufilm and it sounds like he won't be acting, but I suspect he may be back at some point

I guess Variety doesn't subscribe to the One China policy either

and lots of vulnerable old people. It's like they're trying to kill off all of their voters

indeed, I've saved a lot of money by not traveling over the last 16 months. Public health experts that I follow are quite concerned about the reporting mischaracterizing the new CDC guidance. I recommend everyone follow Dr. Ashish Jha on Twitter (@ashiashkjha). He's the dean of the school of public health at Brown University (and a regular fixture on US media).

I don't think it's really his decision

It's been about 2.5 years since I was last in SE Asia. I really miss it. Almost 2 years since I was in Taiwan and Korea as well. I'm glad I managed to travel as much as I have over the last 15 years or so since it looks like it might be a while.

as difficult as it might be I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that travel won't be worth trying until next year some time

presumably the posters are gay, so maybe that's enough to qualify. I'm glad we can talk about the news of the world even if there's no overtly gay angle to it. Those of us who miss these places like to read about what's happening over there, even if the news isn't especially encouraging at the moment.

I happened to see a video on YT last night that was several weeks old about the deteriorating conditions in Pattaya. I read an article the other day about the current situation in Myanmar and how dire it is. They expect up to 50% of the population is going to be infected. That's going to mean a huge number of deaths given the fact that their already-fragile healthcare system has all but collapsed since the coup. It certainly seems like a big reckoning is on the way.

maybe something about wanting to keep everyone from crossing back and forth to Malaysia?

This sentence doesn't seem to make sense

I don't know if I should be directing this somewhere in particular, but I was surprised just now that my bookmark to this site which is apparently still to gaythailand.com is no longer redirecting to here. I don't know how many people are in the same boat, but luckily I remembered that it's now called gayguides - and given my memory that was something of a triumph.

or a US visa

I only made it through about half of the first ep. Maybe I'll try again at some point

a real classic starring Pitch from The Love of Siam. I always loved his melodic voice. There was a lot of crying in that series!

thank goodness for the dramatic drums and zoom in

is that the BFE - boyfriend experience? It's like the guys on Sugarbaby sites who have all sorts of things they need money for. It's all a big game.

Winnie needs "others" to repress in order to try and keep his grip on the country. It's also interesting the CNA is reporting on this given Singapore's poor record in the GLBT rights arena

This is part of the reason I haven't bothered to even look or start planning anything. I think a lot of airlines just aren't planning ahead very far which is sensible given the current restrictions in so many places, especially Asia. I got an email from ANA a week or two ago announcing the opening of their schedule for the last quarter of the year for their US gateways to Tokyo. With Europe removing restrictions I would imagine that US flights to Europe are opening up. As much as I miss traveling it seems like the pandemic is still a problem in too many places for me to be very enthused about going anywhere. I've also seen a bunch of stories about the pent-up demand for travel meaning that fares are quite high at this point compared to their usual levels.