The Myanmar military junta released Nobel Peace Price winner and pro-democracy activist Aaung San Suu Kyi from house arrest. After the party it supported came out victorious in the rigged elections, the junta must have felt that she posed little internal threat, and that releasing her would somewhat ease the international criticism heaped upon them.
Ms. Kyi is free for now. Of course if she goes on to start a true pro-democracy movement, as many of those in the West hope, she may find herself once again confined in her home. Or, perhaps the government will allow her to exist as a symbol to placate the West, while making sure that any real democracy movement will fail.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Sorry, Its Not a Free Speech Issue
Amazon is under fire for selling a book titled The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure. They defend their decision to sell the e-book on the grounds that not selling something a book because of the content is censorship.
I am definitely on the side of free speech, but Amazon has got this one wrong. I believe that censorship by the government is wrong. If the U.S. or another government tried to censor such a book, then there would be real free speech questions involved. I might even find myself in the position of defending the legal right to publish of such a repulsive
This is plain and simply about Amazon's choice to sell a product or not. While they have the legal right to sell this book, they are not required to do so. Just as it is Amazon's legal right to sell the book, so is it the legal right of consumers to show their displeasure with that decision. If that displeasure is in the form of boycotting Amazon and its products, it could be a costly one for the online retailer.
Amazon may think that it is defending an important principle; that a book should be available even if it deals with an extremely unpopular or even repulsive topic. Ultimately, however, Amazon is not an advocacy group, it is a business with shareholders and customers. If decides to keep selling this title, which will likely sell very few copies, it might find that its principles are very expensive indeed, and those don't go well on the balance sheet.
I am definitely on the side of free speech, but Amazon has got this one wrong. I believe that censorship by the government is wrong. If the U.S. or another government tried to censor such a book, then there would be real free speech questions involved. I might even find myself in the position of defending the legal right to publish of such a repulsive
This is plain and simply about Amazon's choice to sell a product or not. While they have the legal right to sell this book, they are not required to do so. Just as it is Amazon's legal right to sell the book, so is it the legal right of consumers to show their displeasure with that decision. If that displeasure is in the form of boycotting Amazon and its products, it could be a costly one for the online retailer.
Amazon may think that it is defending an important principle; that a book should be available even if it deals with an extremely unpopular or even repulsive topic. Ultimately, however, Amazon is not an advocacy group, it is a business with shareholders and customers. If decides to keep selling this title, which will likely sell very few copies, it might find that its principles are very expensive indeed, and those don't go well on the balance sheet.
Bad Luck
Right now my car is in the garage for a slipped transmission, my computer monitor is in the shop, and my maid/nanny is in the hospital with appendicitis. Tim took Yaow to the hospital this morning and hopefully everything will go well.
So for a while I am going to have to actually cook, clean and do laundry. Well, at least order food in, and do enough cleaning and laundry to get by for a while.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The Exercise Bug
As you probably know if you read this blog regularly, about two years ago I set out to lose a bunch of weight. I was pretty successful, dropping in excess of fifty-five pounds over about a nine month period. My success was largely due to exercise and diet. I was a little off and on with the diet, but when I was exercising five or six days a week, sometimes twice a day, I had some latitude in my eating.
Over the last year, I put back on about twenty pounds of the weight that I had lost. I think the high point was when I was back in the U.S. this summer. My exercise routine was pretty dismal then, and I ate like a man who didn't care much about his waist.
My goal had been to get back on track when I returned from the U.S., but a hurt foot slowed me down a bit. I still exercised some, but my diet was terrible, and I couldn't run. A few weeks ago, my foot finally felt better enough to run, and I started a bit of jogging.
I decided on Halloween, of all days, that I was going to drop some more weight. I put myself on a pretty strict diet for the first five or six days, and have relaxed it a bit. In addition to avoiding eating a lot of food, I have pretty much given up sweets and stopped eating anything after dinner. Tonight I did have a bowl of Captain Crunch for dessert, but that's about as far as I've gone with sweets.
The other part of the equation is my exercise routine. Over the last ten days, I've exercised nine, taking off last Sunday. I am lifting weights for thirty minutes three days a week, and running every day. Most days I am running twice a day, I'll run about five kilometers in the morning, and another five in the afternoon or evening. I'm not running very fast, and really don't care about my pace at this point. My goal is just to get out there and do it, as I know time and effort will build endurance and speed.
One thing that I am a little wary of is over doing it, but I'm in that frame of mind where I don't want to take a day off. A couple of days last week, I woke up thinking that I might just rest that day, but I couldn't. I felt myself compelled to at least run. My attitude now is a lot like it was when started two years ago.
So far I've definitely seen some success. I am probably down around thirteen pounds from when I returned from the U.S., a decent chunk of that lost in the last few weeks. I still have a long way to go, but I'm glad to be focused again.
Over Three Years
I was playing around with the blog templates today, and it dawned on me that I have been posting to the blog pretty regularly for over three years now. Of course, I've been living over here for three years, and since the purpose of the blog is to share some of my thoughts and experiences, I guess it makes sense.
Still, when I started, I would not have been certain that I would have made it three years (blogging or living in Thailand). Its nice that this didn't become one of those projects that I start and then abandon after its no longer new.
And if you are reading this, thanks.
Passporting
Today Tim and I took Jacob to get his passport renewed. We had to take him out of school in the morning to get it done, as the ACS (American Citizen Services) branch of the U.S. Embassy is open from 7:00 until 2:00 p.m., and minor passports require the minor and both parents.
I scheduled an appointment for 8:45 a.m., figuring that it would give us plenty of time with traffic. We ended up arriving just before our appointment. When you arrive at the ACS, you have to surrender your electronic devices and go through a metal detector. We were waiting in line behind a man (perhaps American) and a Thai woman. The man knew one of the people at the desk and was having a long conversation with him. I got the impression the guy was a jackass. Finally we managed to get around them, and then got stuck behind a Thai woman trying to go through the metal detector. She had a USB drive or something and was standing in front of the detector fishing through her purse. The guard just sits there and looks at her. Jacob walked through on his own, and he's telling us to wait. Finally Tim made a gesture to go through and we walked around her.
Everything went pretty smoothly except the photograph. I took Jacob's photo and printed it, but neglected to make sure it had a white background. It had a gray background. It would have taken me about thirty seconds in Photoshop or Lightroom to fix it, but once again I screwed it up. Its amazing; I'm actually pretty good with a camera and computers, but every time I deal with immigration, I end up having to fill in the same form at least three times, and there is always something wrong with the photos.
Fortunately, they let us go through the interview and bring photos back afterwards. There are a few places close by, so after we were finished, we went and had Jacob's photo taken. I returned it to the ACS while Tim took Jacob to Au Bon Pain.
A couple of interesting things. The woman who interviewed Jacob was from Florence Kentucky. The guy who was acting chummy with the guard at the front desk was having trouble of some sort. While many of the people at the ACS are Americans, there are also Thai people who work there. This man was talking to a Thai worker, and demanding to know the name of his boss. He had some sort of appointment, and was not pleased at how things were going. I later heard him complaining to someone else about something. I stand by my first assessment; jackass.
Of course, no trip to the ACS is complete without some weirdo fellow countryman. When I returned with Jacob's photos, I just had to go and drop them off at a window. I stood there waiting for someone to come over to make sure there end up in the right place. A man comes up next to me, looking red faced and perhaps a little like a bum. He put his paperwork through the slot, and I noticed that it had a 500 baht (about $15) bill with it. Trying to be helpful, I pointed behind him and said "you pay back there". He informed me that he had already paid.
Now, I'm not going to get into an argument with one of the less fortunate people who share my country of origin, but I'm wondering why the hell he is passing money through the window. I've read stories before that people who deal with the THAI immigration officials sometimes have to pay "tea money" to get paper work processed. Even in those cases, its a little more subtle than shoving a visible 500 baht bill in the slot with your paperwork. There is no reason that you need to slip a little extra money at the American Embassy. My guess is that even for the Thai employees, its a pretty decent job, and I'm willing to bet that if you get caught accepting extra payments you will not be working there any longer. Sure enough, the clerk came over and took everything but the money. He then took Jacob's photos and attached them to the forms, before working on the other guys issue.
Jacob's passport should be ready in two weeks. Fortunately, I can pick it up by myself.
I scheduled an appointment for 8:45 a.m., figuring that it would give us plenty of time with traffic. We ended up arriving just before our appointment. When you arrive at the ACS, you have to surrender your electronic devices and go through a metal detector. We were waiting in line behind a man (perhaps American) and a Thai woman. The man knew one of the people at the desk and was having a long conversation with him. I got the impression the guy was a jackass. Finally we managed to get around them, and then got stuck behind a Thai woman trying to go through the metal detector. She had a USB drive or something and was standing in front of the detector fishing through her purse. The guard just sits there and looks at her. Jacob walked through on his own, and he's telling us to wait. Finally Tim made a gesture to go through and we walked around her.
Everything went pretty smoothly except the photograph. I took Jacob's photo and printed it, but neglected to make sure it had a white background. It had a gray background. It would have taken me about thirty seconds in Photoshop or Lightroom to fix it, but once again I screwed it up. Its amazing; I'm actually pretty good with a camera and computers, but every time I deal with immigration, I end up having to fill in the same form at least three times, and there is always something wrong with the photos.
Fortunately, they let us go through the interview and bring photos back afterwards. There are a few places close by, so after we were finished, we went and had Jacob's photo taken. I returned it to the ACS while Tim took Jacob to Au Bon Pain.
A couple of interesting things. The woman who interviewed Jacob was from Florence Kentucky. The guy who was acting chummy with the guard at the front desk was having trouble of some sort. While many of the people at the ACS are Americans, there are also Thai people who work there. This man was talking to a Thai worker, and demanding to know the name of his boss. He had some sort of appointment, and was not pleased at how things were going. I later heard him complaining to someone else about something. I stand by my first assessment; jackass.
Of course, no trip to the ACS is complete without some weirdo fellow countryman. When I returned with Jacob's photos, I just had to go and drop them off at a window. I stood there waiting for someone to come over to make sure there end up in the right place. A man comes up next to me, looking red faced and perhaps a little like a bum. He put his paperwork through the slot, and I noticed that it had a 500 baht (about $15) bill with it. Trying to be helpful, I pointed behind him and said "you pay back there". He informed me that he had already paid.
Now, I'm not going to get into an argument with one of the less fortunate people who share my country of origin, but I'm wondering why the hell he is passing money through the window. I've read stories before that people who deal with the THAI immigration officials sometimes have to pay "tea money" to get paper work processed. Even in those cases, its a little more subtle than shoving a visible 500 baht bill in the slot with your paperwork. There is no reason that you need to slip a little extra money at the American Embassy. My guess is that even for the Thai employees, its a pretty decent job, and I'm willing to bet that if you get caught accepting extra payments you will not be working there any longer. Sure enough, the clerk came over and took everything but the money. He then took Jacob's photos and attached them to the forms, before working on the other guys issue.
Jacob's passport should be ready in two weeks. Fortunately, I can pick it up by myself.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Faux Elections
This week, the basket case of a country, Myanmar (formerly Burma) will hold its much touted elections. The last time Myanmar had elections in 1989, Aung San Suu Kyi's party stormed to victory. The ruling military junta at the time simply ignored the elections and Ms. Kyi has spent most of the last twenty years under house arrest. She is scheduled to be released a week after the new elections.
Not willing to risk another embarrassing lost, the military junta has stacked the deck in its favor. Twenty-five percent of the legislative positions are reserved for high ranking generals. Since under the new Constitution it takes more than seventy-five percent to overrule the military leadership, the military will remain in command.
Of course, even for the remaining seats, the elections are hardly fair. There are two government/military sponsored party that comprise 2/3 of the candidates for elected office. While the government provides financial support for these parties, it has put up many challenges for smaller parties. Millions of Myanmar ethnic minorities have been ruled ineligible to vote.
The purpose of the election is supposed to give some sort of legitimacy to the ruling junta's holding on to power. I'm not sure who they think that they are fooling, because at least outside Myanmar, everyone knows what is going on. I guess this might give some cover to countries like China who support Myanmar, but really, this election does nothing.
Ms. Kyi's party has decided to boycott the sham elections. The government threatened that if enough people do not turn out, they will simply cancel the elections. For the people of Myanmar, I doubt that it will make any difference at all. Does it matter if the guy who has a gun pointed at your temple and his boot on your neck is wearing a suit or an army uniform?
Soccer Photos
Here are some photos from today's soccer games.
Jacob and his buddy Kavin before the game.
Making the save.
Jacob and his buddy Kavin before the game.
Making the save.
First Soccer Matches of the Season
Jacob and Aleena had their first soccer matches of the season today. Nalin decided not to play this year.
Aleena is in the 4-6 group "mini" girl division. They don't actually have structured teams, rather we just form them into teams on a week to week basis. Last year she played in the same league and there were more formal teams. The reason that they didn't do that this year was that they didn't have enough girls sign up.
Aleena enjoys soccer as a fun social time. She does run around after the ball and kick it occasionally, but she isn't too serious about it, and is more interested in having fun with her friends that she is scoring or winning the game.
Of course things are a bit more competitive in the 10 to 11 year old league that Jacob plays in. Jacob was the goalie, and in the beginning, he made some good saves. Later in the game, however, the other team was able to score quite a few goals. Some of them he might have been able to stop, while many others would have been very difficult. His team won 12-7. The score in the other 10-11 year old league game was 10-7, so I think at this age, the kids ability to score outstrips their ability to play defense and defend the goal.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Aleena's Thumb
Aleena is now sporting a huge white bandage on her thumb. Tonight right before bed she managed to slam the bathroom door on it. I became aware of what happened when I heard the high pitch scream emanating from said bathroom. She had a nice little cut just below her thumb nail. I put a bandage on it, but was a little concerned because she kept screaming for the better part of fifteen minutes.
The good news is that it was only a cut. The doctor gave her some pain medicine and we were back home within an hour of leaving.
Of course, I was only a little concern that the thumb was broken because Aleena is not very good at handling pain. The fact that she didn't want to bend it wasn't a great sign, but didn't necessarily mean it was a problem.
Finally I decided to just go to the doctor. There is a clinic run by Samitivey just outside of Nichada. I'm having some car issues, so while my car is at the house and kind of runs, Tim had the keys with her at work. Aleena and I ended up taking a cab to and from the clinic.
The good news is that it was only a cut. The doctor gave her some pain medicine and we were back home within an hour of leaving.
Together
I spend a lot of time behind the camera, but not really not that much time in front of it. Its even more rare that Tim and I are in a photo together.
While at Angkor Wat, I lugged around my tripod. Most of the time I didn't even bother using it, but on a few occasions I put it to good use. The one thing that it does well, besides keeping the camera perfectly still, is to let me get into the photos.
While at Angkor Wat, I lugged around my tripod. Most of the time I didn't even bother using it, but on a few occasions I put it to good use. The one thing that it does well, besides keeping the camera perfectly still, is to let me get into the photos.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Red Shirt Remorse
Its worth noting that back in May, in response to the red shirt protests and as an act aimed at reconciliation (at least it was stated to be that), the Prime Minister Abhisit offered new elections in six months time. The protest leaders chose to reject that offer, and the results were more bloodshed and a perhaps a widening of the political divide.
The reason that I bring this up is that it is now approximately six months from the time the new elections were offered. If things had gone as offered; and there is certainly a possibility that something else could have derailed said plans; we would now be gearing for an election Thailand. The red shirt followers of former Prime Minister Thaksin would have a chance at leading the government again.
Sometimes its worth the wait.
The reason that I bring this up is that it is now approximately six months from the time the new elections were offered. If things had gone as offered; and there is certainly a possibility that something else could have derailed said plans; we would now be gearing for an election Thailand. The red shirt followers of former Prime Minister Thaksin would have a chance at leading the government again.
Sometimes its worth the wait.
Flooding
Over the past week or so, there has been some severe flooding in Thailand. It started in the Northern provinces but has now spread to the Southern ones. Some places are under as much as three meters (~10 feet) of water. The economic impact is estimated to be in the billions.
We were actually very lucky that the storm did not come a week earlier. The Koh Sumui ferry and airport are currently closed. The Bangkok Post reported that the ferry to Koh Sumui was closed, although it wasn't clear if they were allowing people to leave the island. There was a report that there were tourists trapped on a nearby island.
Overall not a great year for Thailand. At least this wound wasn't self-inflicted.
We were actually very lucky that the storm did not come a week earlier. The Koh Sumui ferry and airport are currently closed. The Bangkok Post reported that the ferry to Koh Sumui was closed, although it wasn't clear if they were allowing people to leave the island. There was a report that there were tourists trapped on a nearby island.
Overall not a great year for Thailand. At least this wound wasn't self-inflicted.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)