Old Hippie

Another decent movie I just watched was called Judas and the black Messiah. It was about the US government war against the Black Panthers in the 60s how the FBI’s COUNTELPRO basically blackmailed or forced a guy to infiltrate the black Panthers and then betray them, leading up to the assassination, by the government, of Fred Hampton. Very very good movie very insightful. There’s numerous documents to back this up so it isn’t just a conspiracy theory. Sadly, no one really takes it as seriously as they should. If they did it to one group, they can do it to any group.

All Gill and the others did, was the same thing all the insiders had been doing for years, and “the Man” hated it and did everything in their power to stop the “outsiders” from playing their game. The really sad thing is, a few very elite people can make or break a company and get rich in the process of destroying someone else. This practice really needs to stop.

On the flight over to Bangkok, I watched the film “Dumb Money.” An interesting film with a new style of narration, about the Game Stop Stock market scandal. It showed how the market is basically manipulated/controlled by a group of very greedy hedge fund managers who all bet if a business will succeed or fail, all at their whim and will.

I’m going to put this movie on my list to watch. I am shocked at the support this sham artist gets. He had a similar battle in Atlantic City and had to build around an old woman’s house. She refused to move, he sued, lost and despite being offered insane amounts of money, she stayed…to think I shook hands with this asshole when he was just an obnoxious casino owner…

Back in October, I walked by the infamous Soi 7 Bier Garten, it was all torn up and going under some renovations. Today I went by again to see what it looked liked…didn’t recognize it, despite the old sign still in place. The bier Garten as we knew it is gone, as I’ve said a times, there is no respect for culture anymore!! It has basically turned into a group of beer bars under the old roof. As I was leaving, pondering my next move, I ran looked around and low and behold, I saw what looked like an old familiar face. I walked back, sat down and asked the girl her name, it was as expected, an old regular from Texas Lone Staar bar from the long gone and greatly missed, Washington Sq. She knew a few old board members as some of us had sort of a “Time share” arrangement. We caught up on old times had a beer or 2 and ah well…a gentleman never tells of course… But yeah, good to see an old face sometimes. As for the new collection of bars…some of them look ok, time will tell if they make any money. I’m off to play pool at Times Sq. Building. Off to the farm tomorrow.

Married, no kids, wife had none prior, have a 3 year old niece who has won my heart and will probably be the Thai girl that gets all my money. Still working in aircraft technical crap, hope to retire in a few years…they keep moving the goal post so to say. Could go now, but my wife just got her visa for the USA (only took 2 friggin’ years…} and has to be in the USA for 5 years in order to collect my social security when I die…the money I paid into a government mandated account…total scam. But really not a lot, plan to visit Paris and maybe Belgium, UK and Switzerland and Germany at some point with my wife as I/we have friends and family there. Life has been fun…

Good to know! What have you been up to?

Many seem to think tRump will be the republican nominee, despite better options. I think if the democrats came up with a better, more palatable, candidate the election may have a better out come…sadly, tRump still has a major following that will make a difference…very scary times ahead, not just for the USA…

Is this Drogon, the Korean guy from Belgium?

I used a service and opened a bank account and got a driver’s license, hassle free.

*IF* they have it, it is factored into the ticket price, no more kiosks selling departure tickets.

FDR was unable to ban all guns “…except hunting rifles and hunting shotguns…”: mainly because of similar logic. That being, what was standard issue to the military during that time frame. Automatic weapons and explosives were not, at that time, standard issue to the military. Semi Automatic weapons and hand guns were. Thus, the logic that was drawn from the Original time the amendment was written, was applied 170+ years later. *IF* we were to apply the same logic today, as some want, then automatic weapons would be allowed for “free/open sale” once again. Same would/could be applied to explosives. But back to the issue of “…guns don’t kill, people kill…” this is true…usually or sometimes anyway, it is a person killing with a gun they never should have had access to. *IF* I were to have a medical condition or mental impairment that would make driving a car dangerous to myself or others, my doctor is legally obligated to notify the DMV (Dept. of Motor vehicles) that I am not fit to drive. Yet *IF* a person is deemed mentally incompetent or violent, the doctor cannot notify the Justice department or law enforcement that that person cannot own/buy a gun. You see, that person has “rights…” Now should that person use their right, buy an assault weapon, large magazines and lots of ammo, and then shoot me or another American, I might have a serious problem if I don’t have any medical insurance. You see, medical care is a privilege (like driving a car) but owning a gun is a right. Sadly, this makes perfect sense to certain people in the USA and they are organized and they vote… I own guns for hunting and competitive shooting and home defense. The only time I needed a military grade weapon was when I was in the military, fighting a war.

“…'No I would not protect you. In fact I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills."…”-DJT This from a man who has dodged bills for years…filed bankruptcy how many times..?

These people are crazy…

I was recently recalling this with MPIH, at the time known as Nervous Dog. As I recall, it started with Mekong innocently stating the drive from point A to Point B was cuz Kms…know it all127 chimed in rather brashly that Mekong was wrong, as he ‘…has a condo in Pattaya and visited 1-2 times a year, he felt he knew he was correct. Mekong stated he lived there and drove it every Day and some how or another a bet was offered. Mekong and his wife at the time came to Irish Exchange on Convent Road (Another place I miss) on a Sunday morning with MPIH/ND and his family and myself…maybe 1-2 others and put up his 2000Bht wager. Mekong had by then mapped out the distance in detail, noting starting points and distance between each one until the final destination. DKS127 never put up his money and instead threw one of his famous hissy fits, removed all his photos from the board and like na true french girl, ran away…Had Mekong been of German ancestry, he’d have probably held his ankles…adding yet another board where he had worn out his welcome…he surfaced recently on a face book page, looking for some referral for a service to clean bird shit off his balcony…”…the place has been vacant for 5 years, asking for a friend…”

Than in this case, may I suggest an evening of cocktails, dinner and dancing? Maybe some roses and a box of chocolates? It always works for me…if he is not open to it, I will be back in 2 weeks…head down eyes up wink…

Went to Annies awhile back, always love the old location in the Raja, lots of good memories. Sadly, the new location is not so nice, kinda like some of the places in Cambodia years back. Dingy, slight mildew smell etc…the girls were good, the service was good, just could have been a bit cleaner place. Hope she can restore it to its old glory. Was good to see Annie and catch up.

Nightlife never lost its appeal for me. What happened was the scene was changed by “ amateur punters” as Sunday used to call them. Basically guys with more money than brains there for their maybe one and only trip ever. Crowds of Indians in bars pissing off the girls, mamasans and other guests. Over all, it is just not what it once was. I’m married now, don’t get out as much and when I do, I usually just visit old friends and play pool. Good memories of a lot of good times and people, some of whom have left us for that great beer garden in the sky. I remember my first trip in 1986, just out of the army/civil war in El Salvador…the buzz I got…spent years “chasing the dragon” to coin a term, but never quite caught it…

I was certain of the name I think I went to once for coffee and pastry with a certain French fried fuck who used to post here prolifically… Left the board after getting in a pissing contest with Mekong and losing. But yeah, as I recall the pastries, there were pretty good I don’t think I ever actually ate a meal there just pastry and coffee but yeah it was excellent.

Same type of food? Same quality? OK I’m there next time! Probably somewhere middle of March.

I recal a restaurant on Soi 23 called Old Siam I think, specialized in Essarn cuisine, and some other foods from around thailand very good food very good prices. The decor was old Thailand style. I remember upstairs had a beautiful table set with gorgeous China and an old bicycle Sam Lor… A fake straw roof downstairs so it made you think you were eating it like an old style house. It was a beautiful restaurant with great food.

Was it Mata Hari by chance?

While I did almost immigrate to OZ years ago, I never made it. “Here” in the context of my previous post, pertains to San Francisco, where I am from. “Here” is/was “ground zero” for the AIDS problem in the USA at the time/back in the day and a lot of the political fallout that followed. The gay community made AIDS/HIV a political issue and forced research and public policies etc, that led to advancements in treatments. The attempt was repeated with Monkey Px, but it seems to have died out before any major upheaval.

Generally speaking, when making an apology, I try and keep the sarcasm out of it. While I am seldom if ever wrong, thus not needing to apologize “for real,” I have had to issue a “phony, yet sincere sounding apology. “ In this case, I might have stopped at “I apologize.” Usually when I have a disagreement with MPIH, I send roses and chocolates, but that is another matter entirely… I hope this information is helpful and I certainly hope it was in no way offensive to anyone.

My wife and I went to play Pool in Bangkok recently and met a young Thai lady who is on the rise as a professional pool player on the South East Asia circuit. Her name is Paa, very nice lady, gave my wife, who had never played before, a few pointers…