Saturday, December 06, 2008

Packed and ready to go.....

Packed and ready to go, Anchorage, Taipei, and then Bangkok. It will take awhile to get Internet access when we arrive. We will be gone until February.

I will walk in the park in the morning!

 


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The Park Next To Our Home

 


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On Our Way Home

 


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Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Fairbanks Weather Today

 


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The New Thai Politics? | newmatilda.com

The New Thai Politics? | newmatilda.com What is being reported on CNN, about Thailand, is at best superficial. If you want to gain some context on the Thailand situation read this article.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Maybe..........?

Maybe we will be going to Thailand soon, either by China Air through Chaing Mai or using our original plan of Asiana to Bangkok. The sad thing about the whole airport closure is that it was pointless. Everybody knew what the court decision would be. In the past the court had removed the TRT party and the previous prime minister. I think PAD used the court decision as a method of getting out of a bad situation. I hope so, and I hope that emotions will cool down. People who I know and respect were feeling very uncomfortable in Thailand. One step at a time......

Worried about the PAD, mobs, and the people of Thailand.

Thailand is getting more dangerous. Any large group of people, under stress, who have a leader who knows the "truth" and is "ready to die" can end up creating a tragedy. It is like a large storm cloud rising in the afternoon, hopefully it will dissipate, but it is a very dangerous situation.

On CNN they showed some scenes from the Bangkok airport of the PAD people attacking a photographer, they looked exhausted. Sometimes, in Thailand, when people really start feeling angry they do not know how to moderate the emotion. If I have spent my life avoiding feeling angry, when the anger comes it can be like an eruption. People in Thailand are getting angry and mob action could become very violent. A couple years ago a mentally disturbed person destroyed an idol in downtown Bangkok. The people who saw him, beat him to death. When people are arrested for violent crimes, and then re-enact the crimes, random people will come up and hit the criminal. I have seen it on TV. There does not seem to be a way to moderate or limit the behavior. Mob action is very dangerous for all humans. Mobs in every culture and in every religion do evil! Mobs are being created in Thailand!

Somehow the PAD needs a way to back down, or at least for the everyday people who are at the airport to get some rest and a new perspective. It almost seems like a reprise of Jonestown, where there will be a crisis just to end the stress and the anxiety. Many innocent people might be hurt.

Where are the Monks, where are the Buddhist beliefs, where is compassion? Who can give relief? I could see a group of monks walking into the airport to give relief to the PAD members, to help them gain perspective, to help them calm down and rest.

I am worried about the people of Thailand, I am worried about mob action, and I am worried about what might happen to a place and a community that I love.