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Once a Ramada property and later the Tawana, the building on Surawong (opposite Soi Tarntawan) is progressing slowly but steadily into what is shaping up as another 4-star addition to the area. Viewed from above, extensive build out in the rear of building is on going.

Much has been posted regarding how Trump managed to score the hat trick of US presidential elections: capturing both houses of congress and the White House. Posters have pretty much exhausted the missteps of the Democrats but have not given sufficient credit to role evangelicals played. From The BBC Standing on a podium in a Florida convention centre on the night of the election, a row of American flags behind him and a jubilant crowd looking on, Donald Trump declared: “Many people have told me that God spared my life for a reason, and that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness.” This was one of the most striking themes of his election campaign - that he had been chosen by God. Yet even before the attempt on his life on 13 July in Butler, Pennsylvania, millions of Americans already felt guided by their faith to support the former, and now future, president. Some cast the election in an apocalyptic light and likened Trump to a Biblical figure. Last year, on the Christian show FlashPoint, TV evangelist Hank Kunneman described “a battle between good and evil”, adding: “There's something on President Trump that the enemy fears: it's called the anointing.” Jim Caviezel, an actor who played Jesus in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, proclaimed, albeit jokingly, that Trump was “the new Moses”. Then, in the months leading up to the election, many of his supporters referred to him as a “saviour”. The question is why. What makes so many see this man, who isn’t known to have an especially strong faith, as sent from God? And what does that say about Christianity more broadly in a country where the numbers of churchgoers is in rapid decline? Reverend Franklin Graham is one of America’s best-known evangelists and the son of Billy Graham, arguably its most famous preacher. He is one of the Trump believers, convinced there is no doubt that the president-elect was chosen for this mission by God. “The bullet that went through his ear missed his brain by a millimetre, and his head turned just at the last second when the gun was fired,” he says. “I believe that God turned his head and saved his life.” The questions asked about Trump’s character - including accusations of sexual misconduct, and his alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels and associatedhush-money trial - don't dim Mr Graham’s view. Continues at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20g1zvgj4do

From CNN Travel It’s slim, it’s sleek, it has a third fuel tank, and it’s ready to open up unexplored long-haul routes. It’s the new Airbus A321XLR — the XLR is for “Xtra Long Range” — and it just made its inaugural flight with Spain’s Iberia airline on Thursday, with a hop from Madrid to Boston. Iberia’s 182-seat plane is the world’s longest-range single-aisle commercial aircraft, with a range of up to 4,700 nautical miles (a little over 5,400 miles). For comparison, New York to Istanbul is about 5,000 miles. Airbus also says it burns 30% less fuel per seat than previous-generation aircraft. What this kind of range on a single-aisle plane means is that it can open up routes and frequencies that weren’t possible with a bigger, less economical craft — such as the new routes from Dublin, Ireland, to Nashville and Indianapolis that Irish carrier Aer Lingus plans to launch with the plane next year. Aviation writer Miquel Ros, who was invited by Iberia to preview the plane on the ground, told CNN he found the cabin “a decent compromise between the known space limitations and the need for efficiency. “The business class seats are slightly narrower than the ones on the airline’s twin-aisle aircraft, but they still offer a clearly differentiated premium experience as well as the ability to sleep flat. “Economy class offers a pitch similar to that found on larger aircraft types as well as the same inflight entertainment system.” He adds that two “state-of-the-art” food galleys should offer solace to those concerned about the smaller cabin. The A321XLR’s ability to open up lesser-visited destinations to more tourists could help take the load off some of the world’s overcrowded travel hubs, many of which are feeling the strain.

Promised to return Monday 🙂

I believe most of us have long thought of Amsterdam as one of the world’s most liberal locations. Think again. From CNN AmsterdamCNN — Anger, fear and anxiety are still simmering in Amsterdam. Last week, Israeli soccer fans were attacked in the streets, Palestinian flags ripped off walls and antisemitic slurs yelled during riots. While the Dutch capital now feels calm, residents and legislators fear that tensions still haven’t peaked.“It’s not only antisemitism, it’s also about anti-Muslim racism. It’s also about xenophobia. We’re seeing a rise of all these types of discrimination and racism,” city councilor Sheher Khan, the leader of a local party that aims to address institutional racism and Islamophobia, told CNN. “And I don’t even think, I’m sorry to say, that we have reached our boiling point, because the root causes of the tensions going on have not been addressed.” Khan said the biggest underlying issue for his constituents is the Dutch government’s complicity in funneling weapons and money to Israel’s war in Gaza. The Netherlands’ Muslim community is roughly 1 million people strong, and many have been vocal in their support of Palestinians. “Next to that, we have a far-right government, which is hell-bent on blaming societal problems on minorities, especially Muslims,” Khan added. But the timeline of how tensions ignited in Amsterdam is different depending on which community you ask. Some residents argue the spark was just last week, when Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans pulled down Palestinian flags, vandalized taxis and paraded through the streets yelling racist slogans, including “f**k the Arabs,” and celebrating Israeli military attacks in Gaza. What followed were violent attacks on the Israeli fans, with several people injured and five receiving hospital treatment. The city’s mayor said last week that rioters moved in small groups in “hit-and-run” antisemitic attacks, searching the city and targeting Maccabi supporters. On Monday, a tram in west Amsterdam was set ablaze and police officers were pelted with stones. In video circulating on social media, the small group of rioters can be heard yelling an antisemitic slur. Police said Tuesday they had arrested 68 people across the city in total in relation to the riots, including 10 Israelis. Other Amsterdam residents say a fire has been kindling in the city for 15 to 20 years, with the rise of the far-right, and an increase in antisemitism and xenophobia throughout Europe. “It’s like a cocktail of emotions, of antisemitism, Muslim hate, the attacks that happened (in Amsterdam), the war in Israel and Palestine,” city councilor Itay Garmy told CNN. Garmy, a Dutch-Israeli citizen, is urging people to be precise in how they talk about the facts of last week. “I feel some people are underplaying antisemitism by not mentioning it even or saying that because of the Maccabi hooligans that the violence was justified, or that the violence was only directed at the Maccabi hooligans,” Garmy said. He added that fear is palpable among Jewish residents here, especially after last Thursday when social media posts emerged where people discussed a “hunt on Jews,” according to a report from Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/15/europe/amsterdam-violence-antisemitism-racism-xenophobia-intl/index.html

Although workers are still putting finishing touches on former home of M-Star, Chillax is staffed up and open for business. Was greeted by a charming Lao guy who took me on a tour around the facilities. The oil massage rooms all have en-suite shower on third and fourth floors.

After massage at Avarin, stopped in Tarntawan Beer Garden. Selected chicken with noodles and vegetables (80 baht) and small beer (79 baht). Food sourced from Hotel kitchen and tasty. The also offer barbecue kabob grilled outside.

Ah, the benefits of the division of labor.🙂 From Wikipedia: The division of labour is the separation of the tasks in any economic system or organisation so that participants may specialise (specialisation). Individuals, organisations, and nations are endowed with or acquire specialised capabilities, and either form combinations or trade to take advantage of the capabilities of others in addition to their own. Vinapu enjoys a 25:1 advantage over yours truly in show bar visits. I’m not even in same ballpark. And when I do it’s to same venues: Freshboy or Good Boy.

From Pattaya Mail By Barry Kenyon It looks like your finger got stuck on the keyboard. But LGBTQQIPSA++ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, pansexual, two-spirited and asexual. More identities are waiting in the wings such as gender fluids, agenders, bigenders, nonbinaries, ace spectrums and demisexuals. Not to mention the autogynephiles who are apparently sexually stimulated by just now and again wearing female clothing. Thailand stands ready to welcome more gays to get married or enjoy themselves long and short term. But the language can’t really deal with the complexities of alphabet soup even though there is a term for gay lingo namely “saeng ke”. None the less, the immigration bureau is doing its best to help. Police major general Choengron Rimpadee said that discrepancies between the photo or gender marker on the passport, compared with actual appearance at check-in, need not be a problem as biometric data could still prove your identity. Gay alphabet soup has its strong supporters in the civil rights movement. The more inclusive the definitions become, goes the argument, the more broader society will understand just how many non-traditionalists there are. Eggs Benedict, who heads up a small group representing the interests of transpeople in Pattaya said, “Same sex people travel to different personal destinations and deserve to be included.” She added that not all transpeople are gay in the traditional sense. The Thai government has its own standpoint far removed from soup of any kind: to get a bigger share of the 200 billion dollars revenue which represents gay travel internationally. The hope is to create more jobs in the hospitality industry and to raise the gross domestic product by 0.3 percent. From early next year, same sex marriage will be an option. Thailand won’t make the mistake which Taiwan originally made by banning foreigners from the nuptials. All are welcome from day one as long as you are at least 18 and have cash a-plenty. Activists say alphabet soup in Thailand is in reality irrelevant as nobody gives a damn. As Kent Murdock from Thai Gay Lobby puts it, “It’s just silly trying to fuse sexuality, genders, fetishes and preferences into one huge caravan of collective identity. We should be concentrating on practical issues such as discrimination in employment and gay bashing.” In other words, take alphabet soup off the menu.

Check out their roster and the decide. https://phetboyspa.blogspot.com/2024/02/phetboy-spa.html

Tell manager to inform massage guy to avoid applying pressure and just use gentle, sweeping strokes. It’s actually more sensual. I frequently have same issue and demonstrate on the guy what I want before he begins (even more sensual because you get a feel for lay of the land). 🙂

Oddly, conversation never turned to board games. That said, I think he could take your king if you let him.

Easier to seek forgiveness than ask permission. 🙏

Three times. They keep track on your LINE account and send you message after each use. Good value if your in town for a while.

Never claimed that they were.

Should have picked up on that when you switched from Zelensky to Trump. My bad.

You’re a Trump fan, too? Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

And an obsessive fan at that.

Sounds like you are quite a fan. 🙂

So did Liberace Liberace and it didn’t hurt his ratings.

Didn’t know Putin had that problem.

Give the man a cigar. Suppose it’s good to keep in mind these are only “guidelines” .

No. Red Dragon closed well before Covid. It’s the lady cocktail bar that followed it that recently closed.

No guarantees, I guess. But I’m amazed how few guys figure out sure fire formula to get repeat business: 1. Be consistent 2. Be cheerful 3. Be affectionate 4. Don’t rush it 5. Don’t expect customers to solve your financial management problems

From Archinect Suvarnabhumi Airport - Midfield Satellite 1 in Bangkok by HOK. Image: © Airports of Thailand The Prix Versailles list of the World's Most Beautiful Airports for 2024 has been announced with six projects earning distinction for their aesthetic qualities and impact on the travel experience of users in five countries. Among the group was luis vidal + architects' vibrant Terminal E expansion at Boston Logan Airport and the renovation of Terminal 2 at Changi Airport in Singapore from BOIFFILS Architectures. Each will next compete against winners in other select categories for the three 2024 World Titles (Prix Versailles, Interior and Exterior) whose laureates will be announced at UNESCO Headquarters on December 2nd. "Infrastructure for air travel is evolving, with an increasing awareness of the eminently cultural role that it plays. Because airports are responsible for visitors' first impressions, each one is a poster child for its destination. By showcasing cultural assets, an airport’s design and layout can foster a form of tourism in which travellers are encouraged to be respectful and attentive. Preserving a territory’s heritage resources – natural, cultural and social – is vital to developing sustainable tourism. It is commendable that airport communities are at the heart of these changes," Jérôme Gouadain, the Secretary General of the Prix Versailles, noted in a press announcement. Continues with photos https://archinect.com/news/bustler/10076/prix-versailles-selects-the-world-s-most-beautiful-airports-for-2024