Wino

This lucky man with a metal-detector stuck it rich. Never thought there was gold in them there hills! LONDON (Reuters Life!) – The largest haul of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered, unearthed by a metal-detector enthusiast in a farmer's field, has been valued at 3.28 million pounds ($5.5 million) by a committee of experts. The Staffordshire Hoard, found by Terry Herbert in central England in July, comprises over 1,500 mainly gold and silver items thought to date back to the 7th century. Under Treasure Trove laws, the money will be split between the finder, Herbert, and the landowner, Fred Johnson. The find has been compared in importance to the spectacular Sutton Hoo burial site, a huge ship grave in eastern England excavated in 1939. The cache comprises sword-hilts, fragments of gold helmets, some elaborately decorated, and other pieces of weaponry inlaid with precious stones. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091126/lf_nm_life/us_treasure_britain

Hard to believe that the skytrain system is celebrating its 10 year anniversary. Seems like it opened just a few years ago. This system and the MRT has really made Bangkok an easier way to travel. I am looking forward to the opening of the airport link December 5.

If you like hot air ballon events, this is for you. At Thammasat University in Pattaya there will be a ballon festival starting December 10th and ending December 13th. Should be fun for one and all.

Seems like the same old story around the world. Catholic bishops protecting their sick priests. I thought things were changing. By SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press Writer DUBLIN – Roman Catholic Church leaders in Dublin spent decades sheltering child-abusing priests from the law and most fellow clerics turned a blind eye, an investigation ordered by Ireland's government concluded Thursday.Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, who handed over more than 60,000 previously secret church files to the three-year investigation, said he felt deep shame and sorrow for how previous archbishops presided over endemic child abuse — yet claimed afterward not to understand the gravity of their sins. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091126/ap_on_re_eu/eu_ireland_catholic_abuse

You may feel differently, if you were the parent of one of these kids.

If you are in Thailand for any length of time, one does become use to the cleaning ladies in the restrooms. For the first time visitor, it is a little bit of a shock. I remember being in a busy bus station on one of my early visits. Many guys were coming and going, standing at the urinals with it all hanging out. Here comes a middle-aged lady attendant just mopping her heart out. Nobody gave her a second look. I do not recall lady attendants in the restroom when I was in Germany on visits in the late 70's and 80's. Maybe things have changed.

Looks like you will have to keep it down to a moan while in England. A British court refused to overturn the conviction of a woman banned from screaming during sex because she violated a noise ordinance. Caroline Cartwright, 48, said the authorities were denying her and her husband, Steve, their right to privacy. The judge said the noises — which an investigator said sounded like someone being "murdered" — were "very disturbing" to neighbors and people in the street, and the offense was compounded by "the frequency of the episode." Do human beings have an inalienable right to loud sex? http://www.theweek.com/article/index/102747/The_right_to_have_loud_sex

I think many citizens in New Orleans would disagree.

Yes, very sad but I think man is evolving for the better. Look how cruel it was during the Roman time. Their sporting attractions were full of cruel acts.

Seems it only happens in Texas! A 2005 state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and civil unions "eliminates marriage in Texas," according to Democratic attorney general candidate Barbara Ann Radnofsky — who says one of the amendment's troublesome clauses effectively bans straight marriages, too. Did Texas voters inadvertently untie all their knots? http://www.theweek.com/article/index/103075/Texas_accidentally_bans_straightmarriage

In my youth, I always thought the Amsterdam-style cafes were a good idea. Now they maybe coming to a cafes across America. Cannabis Café — America's first marijuana lounge — has opened in Portland, Ore., just weeks after President Obama announced he would defer to local laws in states that permit medicinal use of the drug. The club (located in the former home of an adult erotic speakeasy called Rumpspankers) is only open to members of the marijuana-legalization advocacy group, NORML, who are cleared to get medicinally high. But are Amsterdam-style pot cafes (with "budtenders" behind the bar) really what Obama had in mind? http://www.theweek.com/article/index/103034/Does_America_really_need_marijuana_cafs

Good idea or bad? I think if the medical community has proof that it helps some kids, then I am all for it. The battle over medical marijuana has shifted to a new front with reports that California clinics have been prescribing pot to patients as young as 14 to treat ADHD symptoms, while parents are feeding kids as young as 9 pot-infused cookies as a last resort to help them cope with autism. Proponents of cannabis for kids say it can also help treat cancer and AIDS symptoms. Opponents? “How many ways can one say ‘one of the worst ideas of all time?’†asks UC Berkeley psychologist Stephen Hinshaw. Is there ever a valid reason to prescribe pot for kids? http://www.theweek.com/article/index/103325/Prescribing_marijuana_to_kids

Was it Jeffrey Dahmer?

I do not think the release of the photos of Levi will help the sale of the magazine.

Cleaning women in the men's room is a very common occurence throughout Thailand. I cannot recall another country where this occurs. Can you?

Like the story in the topic "Experiences of an Indonesian Sex Slave," this poor boy, and many like him, have no choice but to sell their bodies or steal in order to survive

I am sure Obama was born in the US, or otherwise he would not be in the White House. What I don't understand is why he doesn't produce his birth certificate in order to shut down the opposition.

What is this about a British court finding nine errors in Al Gore's documentary, Inconvenient Truth? Something about the polar bears are not really going extinct, the disappearance of the snows on Mount Kilimanjaro cannot be blamed on global warming, and Hurricane Katrina cannot be blamed on warming of the globe.

Says magazine representative Daniel Nardicio: "We're thrilled with the photos we got, and are confident people will love them. Although there may be glimpses, we did not get full on frontal nudity." Here are some of the photos.

That goes for Abhist Vejjajiva as well as for Thaksin Shinawatra and according to the opposition, Obama, too.

If this "government-funded dick measuring contest" helps reduce the levels of HIV through proper condom use, then I am all for it.

I would think it is much harder to control the mosquito population in the tropics. With so much rain, it give mosquitos many areas to breed.

Life is too short not to enjoy it. Move to Thailand, now.

Cops have been using this ploy for a while, now. The dumb criminals fall for it all the time. This is one easy way to fight crime.

I think it is a national issue.