Rogie

Witch, wench, winch? take your pick. . . I'm not American but I can sympathise. The current ambassador is the latest in a line of less-than-sparkling individuals. I have to tread carefully here so I am not making any quotes, members'll have to check out the links themselves (assuming it is of interest to you that is). Both links concern themselves with Kenney's predecessor, Boyce. In the first one, it can be seen we are 'lucky' that this man's modus operandi has been exposed by certain Wikileaks cables. Can the behaviour of the current incumbent be traced back to an earlier case in 2007? The second link concerns Boyce's involvement in certain unsavoury dealings. Make your own minds up! http://asiancorrespo...-to-stay-quiet/ http://bsltaocnke.tripod.com/

No story I'm afraid, but a different kind of photo! Taken 4 years ago in Isarn on Loy Krathong night. It seems to have been a typical small town affair staged in an out-of-the-way village. I would imagine these sorts of beauty shows are common in various parts of Thailand. Is 'nopparat' the Thai word for a beauty queen? It sounds like a similar type of show to the ones I've seen a few times in Isarn. What are the Kham Muang? Are they an ethnic minority or Hilltribe people?

This has nothing to do with lobotomy, thank goodness, but nevertheless offers a fascinating insight into how neuroscientists are delving into the intricate working of the brain. This is not new, it has previously been investigated using functional MRI scans, but this modified technique is much more versatile. New way to communicate with brain damaged patients Hopefully if you click on this link it will take you to a short clip that appeared on BBC News yesterday. It might be available for a limited time only, so apologies if it doesn't work for you. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15685824 Apparently the part of the brain 'lights up' even when the patient merely thinks about wiggling his toe or whatever, which is clearly of fundamental importance in cases where the patient is thought to be in a vegetative state. The following link is more technical and gives details of the researchers and their methods. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-eeg-awareness-people-previously-thought.html and here is an excellent article in The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/nov/10/brain-scanner-hope-patients-vegetative

I have no idea how the Nobel Prize committee go about their business, how they choose the winners. Sometimes the award is given some time after the original discovery and, especially in the field of science where the discovery's implications can be wide-ranging and difficult or impossible to predict, that seems prudent. Provided the scientist has an excellent reputation and has published his work in peer-reviewed articles, in other words isn't a maverick, I cannot see how we can blame the Prize committee if years later they appear to have been misguided. When it comes to certain categories, there would seem to be a dearth of suitable candidates in some years. One that come to mind is the peace prize. I cannot remember whether they absolutely have to award it to somebody every year or whether they can withold it if there are no suitable candidates, which would seem more sensible, and to give that year's money, which is of considerable value, to charity.

That's interesting! No, I'm not being facetious. . . It's clearly not hindsight, but sometimes a person will sound a warning and be laughed at. Maybe years later his warning becomes no laughing matter. Of course if you take a thousand monkeys and they're shrieking a thousand different warnings, maybe 1:1000 will turn out years later to have been prescient, but that's just pure randomness. When you replace the monkeys with a human brain occasionally it too hits lucky, or maybe he is just ahead of his time. Here is the conclusion reached by the author of the book described below: ( When I first read that earlier today it struck me as a the sort of thing a science fiction writer might write. I would imagine a similar theme must appear on many science fiction works, but the one it reminded me of was the famous short story by Isaac Asimov, written in 1941, Nightfall. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightfall_(Asimov_short_story_and_novel) ) The above quote comes from an article in Britain's Guardian newspaper back in September headed This economic collapse is a 'crisis of bigness' In 1957 Leopold Kohr wrote The Breakdown of Nations; the book . . . He went on to say: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/25/crisis-bigness-leopold-kohr

I thought you already had, then went back to the original one, but I must have imagined it. Your comment implies there is a difference between putting one in for the first time and changing an existing one. In any case, a wave of his wand and in one bound Thaiworthy is free (of his old avatar) and blessed with the new.

Like Fountainhall, I have no idea either. Sorry, I wish I was one of the smart guys as far as financial awareness is concerned, but I'm a bit of a dumbo. It obviously helps to speak from experience, if you have it, so for example Fountainhall has lived in Hong Kong so he knows a lot about what makes China tick. If you don't have any direct experience or a reliable friend or business colleague to talk it over with, I guess you are reliant to some extent on the media, and if a feeding frenzy could be hyped, they'd do it! Apart from 3 or 4 British companies, I don't have any investments in shares any longer. I got stung following the dot.com bubble and haven't invested in unit trusts or investment trusts since, even though I have occasionally been tempted to do so in the emerging markets arena, sometimes referred to as BRIC's (Brazil, Russia, India and China). What a contrast with Greece! British TV aired an interesting programme earlier this week and i didn't know whether to laugh or cry. A reporter pretended to be a Greek financial adviser and approached 3 British individuals with tempting proposals. Number one was a beautician/hairdresser in her mid-50's who was advised that in Greece her occupation would be regarded as hazardous and she could retire on 90% of her salary straightaway - she accepted. Number two was a bus-driver who accepted similar retirement terms, based again on the Greek system, well before he would have been eligible in Britan. Number 3 was a doctor earning about GBP 200,000 a year privately and a much smaller amount working for the National Health Service. He was told that in Greece he could wangle it so he 'took home' an extra GBP 1,000 a week. How so? Easy, he just virtually eliminated his tax bill by under-reporting his salary. So when a patient comes to pay his bill the lion's share is paid in cash. It's the black economy given quasi-respectability. All the Brits expressed incredulity that any country in Europe could function in that way, let alone a country within the supposed safety of the Eurozone. That seems a good idea for anyone with a medium to high risk approach, but probably shares are almost always in that category, I don't know whether you could ever call a particular share 'low risk'.

Cocks squaring up to one another is bad enough but what about this? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13383662

In 1949 the Nobel prize for Medicine was awarded to Egas Moniz. I had never heard of him, so would hazard he's also unknown to those of you clustered here in the Beer Bar. Can you guess what he was given it for? Here's a clue: He was a Portuguese neurologist, who believed that patients with obsessive behaviour were suffering from fixed circuits in the brain. Any ideas? In 1935, in a Lisbon hospital, he believed he had found a solution. "I decided to sever the connecting fibres of the neurons in activity," he wrote. . . His original technique was adapted by others, but the basic idea remained the same. In 1949 he was awarded the Nobel prize, but from the mid-1950s, it (i.e. Moniz's technique) rapidly fell out of favour, partly because of poor results and partly because of the introduction of the first wave of effective psychiatric drugs. Here's what somebody wrote about the modern equivalent of Moniz's treatments: So putting things in perspective, maybe Moniz and those who copied him can be excused. In future years chemotherapy may be regarded as a barbaric aberration; alongside radiotherapy, amputation, heart transplants, indeed any transplant, hip and other joint replacements, etc. In case you are still wondering, Moniz received his Nobel prize for inventing lobotomy. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15629160

Yes they do! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13932711 _____________________________________________ But when the following measure was proposed back in July this year . . . . . .some religious bodies objected vociferously! and, not to be outdone . . . http://abcnews.go.com/Health/san-francisco-circumcision-ban-striken/story?id=14179024#.TrklGPSXu7s _______________________________________________ Thailworthy also said: Well, the way I see it is if the bear was converted to Islam or Judaism he would be shouted down. If he stuck to his guns and stayed secular he'd have every right to object vociferously, or even voraciously

Having checked out that link, I have to say the Skoptsy sect must have been one of the strangest of all time. Why on earth would any sect hell-bent on multiplying, cut off the organ of procreation itself? It does make you wonder what it was about Russian society in the 19th and early 20th centuries that such a sect could even be contemplated, let alone flourish. Very strange people the Russians . . .

I believe they are out there! There is a chap called Alan the Builder who sometimes posts on another forum. He is obviously using it to advertise his services but he appears to be kept pretty busy building houses for farangs and their wives or boyfriends. Ditto

I've just had a look on their website and that rate is only 100 baht less than the usual rate. Also, in their words: "This special rate is full pre-payment, no amendment, no cancellation. Non refundable and non redeemable". So under present circumstances not worth the saving. ____________________________________________________ Quote from z909: I have the same frustration! However, just occasionally a series of programmes comes along that I just can't praise enough. David Attenborough's current series Frozen Planet is absolutely brilliant. It should appeal to Kokopelli too! (see the Poll on Spoken English topic). ___________________________________________________ Quote from Pong: Yes there is a lot of distrust in Britain, but it is between those who are perceived to have made their money by less-than-honest means or by being too greedy (the have-too-muches) and the have-nots. It is much less a class thing. The majority of people are now middle class, very few could be considered upper class. Yes, we do have a large and growing under-class which is seemingly a result of many things - a struggling economy, poor education, poor family structure, immigration, over-stretched social services, etc As far as politics in Britain is concerned, all the main political parties are desperate to be seen as close as possible to the centre. The old idea of a distinctly left-wing socialist party, Labour and a right-wing party, the Conservatives, is long gone.

Circumcision for non-religious reasons is controversial, and seems to be questioned rather more forcefully in certain quarters these days. It seems reasonable to me to postpone circumcision until the boy or young man is able to give his consent. Assuming a sensible policy is adopted, in time circumcisions for secular reasons will become less common.

Sorry to massacre your quote Fountainhall but that just about sums up my impression!

I agree Mr Aqux is pretty nice. And so is your favourite. I see he is wearing a sash on his upper arm and some guys have them round their necks - any idea what it signifies? It's too late for this year's parade, but how about next year, assuming you are happy to do all the 'hard work' Fountainhall, posting the pics and then taking a vote on various categories, rather like they do in some of the bars occasionally? Categories? How's this for starters . . . Winner Runner Up 3rd place Mr Popular Best hair Best costume Best smile To be fair, this kind of vote could be taken following any gay parade, it's not fair to assume Fountainhall can be everywhere at once (! ) so why not make it a habit? But we can't do it without photographers . . . any offers?

On 17th December last year 25 year old Englishwoman Joanna Yeates went missing; her body was discovered on Christmas Day, thus sparking a murder hunt - she had been strangled. On 20th January this year Vincent Tabak, a 33 year-old Dutch engineer was arrested on suspicion of murder. Last Friday he was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. Why do I post on this here? Following on from my interest in the subject (see earlier posts) and from what I have read about this man's life (and many things only became public after the verdict was announced) I suspect he is a psychopath. I have absolutely no medical evidence for that but his behaviour just reeks of it. Be that as it may, psychopath or not, I came across this thought-provoking article on Tabak in Britain's Telegraph newspaper. The author goes on to discuss the hidden side of our natures: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8858108/Young-employed-and-Dutch-why-man-who-murdered-Joanna-Yeates-unnerved-us-all.html

I would've guess that guy too - was he flirting with you Fountainhall? ok, my alternative guess is the guy in lime green speedos who appears in 3 pics and he's got black paint under his eyes and multi-coloured on his (facial) cheeks.

That would seem likely and I hope it happens exactly as you say, but putting my lateral thinking cap on maybe we shouldn't be so hasty. The Korean war was nearly 60 years ago, since when the county's been divided. In that time the north has been sustained both financially and ideologically by its huge northern neighbour, China. If reunification had been on the cards during the heyday of communist China's belligerence they might well have decided North Korea belonged with them. Perhaps there are still those in China today with just the same thinking. Just a thought!

Thanks for the link Christian. One of the infuriating things about these kinds of blogs, the good ones that is, is you just know there's lashings of great stuff hidden away in the archives and you've only got time to poke your head in there and sniff around to pick up the scent before you have to drag yourself away. Tragic . . . I liked the one headed wittily: And the Band Stayed On

Why not take the opportunity to update (if necessary) the existing listings on this Message Board, as well as adding any suitable venues that haven't been listed so far? For Bangkok http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic/7174-bangkok-gay-and-gay-friendly-hotels-and-b-and-b/ For Pattaya http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/forum/18-gay-pattaya/ For Chiang Mai http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/forum/19-gay-chiang-mai/ and for Phuket http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/forum/21-gay-phuket/ The question asked is 'Should we encourage hotel/guesthouse reviews?' Well, many of our readers must have stayed at some of these places already listed, or stayed at places not currently listed, so provided they've stayed recently why not add their experience to this Board's listings? For example, there was recent discussion about Howard's Guest house in Pattaya. In fact one poster contributed a very good review on this establishment recently. http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic/7385-hotel-for-boystown-or-sunnee-ideas/page__view__findpost__p__52979 The only proviso I am aware of is this: IN ORDER TO POST IN THIS FORUM (i.e.the Thailand Businesses and Establishments Forum) YOU MUST HAVE AT LEAST 15 OTHER POSTS ON THE WEBSITE.

The Thai Government Public Relations Department has a webpage Advice to Help Cope with the Flooding

Help me Thaiworthy! What's the difference between redneck and trailer trash? And who are those folks born on the wrong side of the tracks? How come a redneck can afford both a house and a camper? And how come if he can afford both he's got a redneck? So many questions and so much time . . . Fountainhall's voice had come in for some comment recently so it'd be great if he rose to Thaiworthy's challenge. As for myself, rumours my dears, all rumours. http://www.hoax-slayer.com/dueling-banjos-hoax.shtml

Can you not enquire of your friend's reason for having it on his page? Or perhaps there is no particular reason other than that he likes the design . . . The Japanese sect seems possible. It looks like the sun's rays behind the swastica and the design is full of, to me at any rate, gibberish symbols, reminiscent of the signs of the zodiac. Or it could just be somebody's flight of fancy, it even has the designers name on it 'lokesh'. The Raelian's, as far as I can tell after a quick look for their symbols, use this kind of design: