the new left media does the rally to restore sanity

These guys do a much better job with reporting on the rally than reason.tv (as that report came off somewhat comedic).

What Chase and Eric are doing is much better than most things I’ve seen on TV or anywhere else. I appreciate that their line of questioning isn’t loaded, vague or tricky but rather simple and straight forward. If only these questions seemed as uncomplicated to those who are being asked.

bangkok dangerous

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URGENT: Sat 15th May 2010: Central Bangkok is now a “war zone”. Latest news is that the street clashes are further outside the area marked on this map. All MRT and BTS train services are closed. Most big shopping malls in central Bangkok are closed today. The army’s plan to encircle the red shirts (green square) has failed repeatedly. So far 16 dead in running street battles.

Please STAY AWAY from Bangkok.

Oh yeah, before I forget…

BTW, the rest of Bangkok and Thailand is safe

I’m staying southwest of the purple pin on the lower left corner of the map (if you zoom out once, it’s just off the lower left corner -Bang Mot, on the other side of the Chao Praya river). That pin is about a 15 minute cab ride and probably the closest BTS station to me. I’ve gotten tweets, emails, texts and facebook messages regarding threats of violence to the areas outside the red zones but luckily, nothing of that sort has gone down around here as of yet (and let’s hope it stays that way). The worst I’ve seen so far is that traffic has been abnormally dense.

I would agree that this is not the best time to drop by for a visit or go exploring in the city but I get the sense that news, by the international media in particular, has been sensationalized greatly. Obviously violent situations like this can take unpredictable turns  but most of the trouble being reported on so far has been restricted to the protest areas (parts of which have been deemed ‘live fire zones’ and are probably very dangerous). And yes, people have died in the midst of the mayhem.

I’ve seen tweeter/facebook updates taking about roadblocks and fires as I’ve seen updates of people talking about doing their regular business and seeing everyone else doing as much just blocks off the affected areas as I’ve heard from friends trapped in their apartments due to gunfire. Lots of tweet pics (even photoshopped pics looking for extra attention as if it were necessary) and video. But like I said, all within downtown Bangkok.

Regardless of where it’s going down, let’s hope it soon comes to an end.

You can see a whole lot more pics of some of the affected areas on Barry’s Posterous.

microblogging

Among the things you might have missed on this blog the past week: Bangkok went to hell and back in the blink of an eye. One day people are shooting each other dead, the next they’re shooting each other wet. The change felt sudden, much like my twitter updates.

1. from bangkok with love http://quinceminutos.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/from-bangkok-with-love/ #BKK #thaksin #redshirts #protests 1:45 AM Apr 10th via Seesmic
2. shit’s getn serious in #BKK! BTS closed, dead reporter, bullets flying, stay safe peops! #redshirts #thaksin (FYI I’m not near any of this) 8:27 AM Apr 10th via Seesmic
3. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/5-reportedly-killed-so-far-30126959.html #BKK #redshirts #thaksin 8:32 AM Apr 10th via Seesmic
4. whoa, 19 dead http://bit.ly/dnqqUq #BKK #Thaksin #protests 9:22 PM Apr 10th via Seesmic
5. it’s a sad day in Thailand http://bit.ly/cDDnP3 #BKK #Thaksin #redshirts #protests 9:34 PM Apr 10th via Seesmic
6. Happy Thai New Year 2553!!! 5:37 AM Apr 12th via Seesmic
7. Time to get WET!!! Sawasdee Pee Mai Thai!! 1:23 AM Apr 13th via Seesmic
8. Thai New Year is off the chain!!! Every new year celebration should be done this way. #offthechain #estonopasaencuba about 22 hours ago via Seesmic
9. tonight #ijuswannachill 10:00 PM April 15th via Seesmic

I spent a good part of the 11th at the Weekend Market, way on the other side of town. Bangkok seemed like London in the movie 28 Days Later: utterly devoid life. Luckily, this meant no traffic and an hour-long bus trip took less than 30 minutes. Even Jatujak was not its normal overcrowded self.

Hopefully things won’t descend back into madness just as quick.

from bangkok with love

Sorry I missed your call. Everything is alright here. The protests, the state of emergency and all that jazz, basically these are your standard annual political demonstrations in Bangkok. Sometimes things get a little more intense, like when they had to close off the airport two years ago-but that was due to the protests of the yellow-shirts who happen to be the main rivals of the red-shirts who are behind this and last year’s protests. (And I’m not even going to get into other groups and their shirt colors.)

Luckily, I happen stay just out of the reach of these protests. However, whenever I wanna do anything, I have to wade through the mess as I make my way into the city (like I’ll be doing tonight). Although with Thai New Year festivities coming up (April 13-15th), you never know.

Thanks for your concern, I promise I’ll keep you posted.

can you be neither for nor against anything?

Jonathan Haidt on TED talks discussing how our moral foundations shape our reasoning and affect our political ideologies, and also takes an interesting look at the dynamics of the health care debate.

I wonder if it’s inherent of human nature to always stand for something. When Haidt talks about the great insight of Asian religions (and he should have included the words “and philosophies”), I can’t help but think that the ying and yang to which he refers can also be attained by society as a whole allowing the individual to pursue his/her own ideology. (i.e. A coexistence of moral matrices as opposed to living outside of one.)

something worth noting

“You can add health care reform to all the other cornerstones of American society that Conservatives fought against: womens’ suffrage, civil rights, social security, Medicare.”

From Alesh.

there are uninformed obama supporters too

“…we agree. But no politician has emerged on the national stage as undefined and unqualified as Sarah Palin, and her public persona–which is anti-intellectual by definition–discourages substance. Instead, we get winking. One could hardly imagine her giving a complex speech about race in America, or speaking eloquently about our country’s relations with Islam. Not just because she couldn’t write such a speech (Obama has speech-writers, of course) but because she wouldn’t–such necessarily academic discussion is antithetical to the persona she’s created for herself and that her supporters have come to love.”

I’m really feeling what these guys are doing. I wonder if they have a counterpart on the right. And by counterpart I mean someone exposing prejudice, ill conceived positions and general regurgitation of talking points from the left’s fan base in the same simple and straight forward kind of way (i.e. not James O’Keefe).

LINK.

batman takes down red shirts

(Batman @ 1:00)

During one of the “red shirt” riot scenes in Bangkok on 13th April 2009, when a gas truck was hi-jacked and reportedly threatened to release the flammable contents near Din Daeng Area, an unknown individual emerges as Batman. The super hero was able to divert the attention of the protesters, opening an opportunity for the rescue team to retrieve the gas truck.

On a related note: I’m not entirely versed on the subject but the “red shirts” are at it again. Still, I have to say that the movement seems all too familiar. Although they’re both populist driven, they emanate from opposite ends of the political spectrum.

On another note: I was riding a cab some nights ago and caught a real life Batman walking the streets. This Batman was not like the one in the video but more like the one in the movie. The one starring Christian Bale. Dude’s outfit was legit. Also, he was diesel and looked all kinds of serious walking in the middle of an empty road around midnight. And I have 3 other witnesses who can corroborate my story.

(via PB)

basically