April 2009
17 posts
Let the orange revolution begin. →
“With all the propaganda, misinformation and image-management dispensed on both...”
– Shawn Crispin, Asia Times
Five Step Plan →
A great editorial in the New York Times yesterday that gives an adroit review of the three year long conflict as well as a 5 step plan for solving the impasse.The author’s five steps are:
1. Drop charges against Thaksin and begin a discussion of reconciliation.
My response: There’s only one person who can clear Thaksin at this point, and we haven’t heard from him in awhile.
2....
Sondhi in serious condition after assassination... →
Sondhi, the leader of the yellow-shirts and the man responsible for the airport seizure last year, is in serious condition after getting shot in the head during an assassination attempt. Sondhi’s car was driving on Samsen road in Bangkok when it was blocked by a pickup truck. Men in the back of the pickup truck then opened fire, hitting Sondhi in the skull. He now has a bullet lodge in his...
A call for elections →
A great editorial in the WSJ written by a FEER editor. He asserts that Abhisit needs to call for a general election as soon as possible. Otherwise, the author writes, the prime minister may lose the legitimacy he has gained through his victory over the red-shirts.
Its a good thought, and I agreed, but the problem is that Abhisit has no chance of winning a general election, no yellow-shirt...
Songkran is over for me ....
but not for everyone else! The government extended the national holiday for another two days - which means that last friday and every day this week are national holidays. Sadly, I am back at work today …
Red-shirts vow to hit back harder →
The red-shirts were told Tuesday morning to halt their protests and return home. Meanwhile three of the top red-shirt leaders turned themselves in to the government and are now under interrogation.
So you would think its over, but its clearly not. New red-shirt leaders are claiming they will hit back even harder when the state of emergency is lifted later this week:
“Red-shirt leaders such...
Nicaragua Issues Thaksin a Passport →
What?! Who knew Thaksin had Nicaragua in his pocket?
“This is guerrilla warfare.”
– A foreign journalist commenting on the street-battles in Bangkok
Sawatdee Pii Mai
They’re calling it “Songkran Sii Dam” or the Black New Year. Its supposed to be the most festive three days of the year in Thailand; but this year no one feels like celebrating. From a half-empty Khao San road, usually the wildest of the New Years parties, we could look up and see columns of smoke rising from red-shirt controlled sections of the city. Intersections across Bangkok...
“Central Bangkok is a war zone.”
– The Nation
February 2009
27 posts
Irving would be proud.
I was in a bad mood today and then I remembered that William Kristol is no longer a columnist at the New York Times and I felt better.
When asked why he was stepping down from his column Kristol said “it took a lot of time.” So he’s stupid AND lazy.
“Ali Motahari, a leading conservative member of Parliament and an outspoken...”
– NY Times
Apparently no one thought Ahmadinejad had a shot at getting reelected until former president and liberal politician Khatami decided to run against him. Now Iranian conservatives are rallying around Ahmadinejad even though he’s seen as a bit of a right-wing nut. Sounds to me like...
Hillary disses Bill →
Hahahaha. Cold and hilarious.
Some humor for dark times.
Question: What is the capital of Iceland?
Answer: $25.
My first mugging.
So, bored with eating alone in my hotel, I thought I’d try to find another restaurant nearby. A few blocks away from my hotel (in a nice neighborhood in Quito), two young guys asked me in Spanish if they could borrow my phone. As I tried to explain in Spanish that I don’t have a phone that works in Quito, one of them grabbed my arms while the other started reaching into my pockets. As...
Ah the joys of business travel
Eating in a restuarant alone on a Friday night because your hotel doesn’t have room service.
Its great, really.
“She is recognized as a last bastion of enlightened thinking in federal law.”
– Rebecca Traister (Salon) on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whom I hope lives forever.
Some old photos from Bolivia
Below are some photos from Bolivia that I forgot to post earlier.
“The scariest statistic to come down the economic pike in recent months? …...”
– David Rothkopf, Foreign Policy
WatchIn a sad irony, Ken Starr, the man who pursued Bill Clinton for his marital infidelities, is now attempting to invalidate 18,000 same-sex marriages in the state of California. Having tried unsuccessfully to end Clinton’s presidency for ruining his own marriage, Starr is now attempting to himself ruin the happy, loyal marriages of 32,000 people and break up thousands of stable families.
How...
A stupid conservation idea: "don't worry, it'll... →
So apparently some specialists in the conservation community think that there is now a less urgent need to protect the rainforest because as farmers abandon their farms and move into the city, the forest grows back. According to these researchers, for every acre of Primeval Rainforest that gets cut down, 50 acres of “new growth” forest is born.
To me, this is the stupidest...
Back in Quito
I arrived back in Quito yesterday. I’ll be in Ecuador for a week and a half. First I’m spending a few days in Quito meeting with an NGO to finish up discussions about the Antisana project. Then I’ll head out to the Ecuadorian Amazon (near the Columbian border … gulp!) to take a look at a potential project with the Cofan, an indigenous tribe.
Apparently the Cofan tribe...
For womyn everywhere →
In honor of Johanna Sigurdardottir becoming the first openly gay prime minister in the world, I am posting this captivating NY Times article about lesbian communs in the American South.
I think its telling that when a bunch of men screw up a country, they look to a no-nonsense woman to make things right.
(My apologies for originally misspelling Ms. Sigurdardottir’s name … in my...
A weekend in the foothills
I spent most of this week meeting with government officials to discuss project specifics and timelines … tedious stuff. But this weekend was a different story.
One of the best parts of my already awesome job is that I am “required” to investigate ecotourism potential at project sites. This invovles going to some of the most beautiful landscapes in the country and...
January 2009
18 posts
Thaksin broke? →
