I agree with this article – Do you ?

America Needs A Leader Like This!

Prime Minister John Howard – Australia

“Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia, as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.

A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia and her Queen at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his Ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown. Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that Australia was a secular state, and its laws were made by parliament. ‘If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you’, he said on National Television

I’d be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia : one the Australian law and another Islamic law that is false. If you can’t agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country, which practices it, perhaps, then, that’s a better option’, Costello said.

Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked to move to the other country. Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who did not want to accept local values should clear off. Basically people who don’t want to be Australians, and who don’t want, to live by Australian values and understand them, well then, they can basically clear off, he said.

Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation’s mosques. Quote: ‘IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians.’

However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the ‘politically correct’ crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia ‘ ‘However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand.’ ‘This idea of Australia being a multi-cultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. And as Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle.’

This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom’

We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society . Learn the language!’

Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.’

We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.’

If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don’t like ‘A Fair Go’, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don’t care how you did things where you came from. By all means, keep your culture, but do not force it on others.

This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom,

THE RIGHT TO LEAVE

If you aren’t happy here then LEAVE. We didn’t force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.”

 

       

I believe this should be applied to every country – If you want to move there, then respect their country, culture and beliefs.  I do in Thailand, and I would expect all others to do the same.

Return to Kuang Jaw Shan Refugee Camp – final

Sawadee Khrap

Continuing our trip back to the refugee camp, the next morning we woke at our small house at the Moun-Ju-Kour Resort.  Here is the view from our front porch.

CRW_6686   CRW_6691and this is a shot of the main office & restaurant.

Last night – this was our sunset — spectacular.  The next shot is Tasanai, the X mayor of Wiang Haeng city and  owner of the Resort, and Jira, our friend from Suan Dok.

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And or course the Rhinoceros Beetles, the staff had a bucket of them that they collected last night as the bugs flew around the Resorts lights – they sell them in Chiang Mai for the vendors who make bug collection displays for sale – I thought they ate them – but no, its for profit.  And I also thought I’d throw in a flower shot – they were really beautiful with the morning sun shining.

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CRW_6695  I also really liked the glasses they used at the Resort restrauant.  The sideshow has the other versions  —– I’m going to try and get a set – wish they had a gay version – that would be neat.

 

From here we headed to the Wat Fa Wiang Inn temple to see if everyone was there yet – but Dr. Saneh would not arrive till 11 AM and that would make it too late for us to continue into the National Park – so we left early.

Here are a couple of signs at the Temple – lot of Burmese.

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CRW_6944But before we left Wiang Haeng we stopped by one Wat we saw on the top of a local hill and then to the Monument for King Naesuan at the place where is is reported that he had a cock (chicken) fight while he was waiting to attack Burma.  This place had a commanding view of the entire valley – a perfect place for the King to rest.

From here we headed into the Park – stopping first at Srisangwan Waterfall.  Enjoy

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CRW_7038I always love the boys playing shots – and they really like to pose and get their pictures taken.  It was a beautiful day and I really envied them in the water – it was so clear and inviting.

We tried to take a side road to the Hot Springs area but bottomed out in the ruts in the road – next time I’ll rent a 4 wheel and then we will be able to see the “Unseen” parts of the Park.

So back to Chiang Mai  Please enjoy the

**** SLIDESHOW ****

Ciao

Golden Ball Blessing & Birthday Parties

Sawadee Khrap

Saturday was a special event day for the Golden Ball Restaurant.  New Logo and the monks came for the blessing ceremony.  Bon also bought some new furniture for the lounge area.  Tomorrow, Sunday,  will be both Bon’s and my birthday – he’s throwing a party at the restaurant and I and Tasanai will go there to celebrate mine too.  Different setup here, in Thailand the birthday person throws the party (paying for all food and drink) and guests bring presents (at least some do – he he).  I know Bon stocked up on the booze so my costs will be low – but I will chip in on some of the costs – I don’t have that many friends coming – like he does.  Anyway here are the shots –

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See you after the party — still have more shots from the Refugee Camp trip.

Ciao

Testing Zoomify

 
 
This is a test of ZOOMIFY.   You can scroll around the image using the above “<”,  “>”,  buttons and and zoom in using the slider at the left.
 
This is a panoramic of the view from the front porch of the Moun Ju Kour Resort we stayed at in Wieng Haeng while on our trip to the Refugee Camp. The next post will show more photos of our stay there.
 
Please try it out and give me your comments – I am going to increase the size of the window to fill the entire post area.
 
Ciao 

The Party

Sawadee Khrap

cookie lineupNow for the children’s party.  As I mentioned in the earlier post , Tasanai and I brought several 5 gallon containers of cookies for the kids.  When I saw the line form I was really worried that we hadn’t brought enough for all – but it was perfect – everyone had theirs and some even got seconds.   Since we had gotten there early it was a perfect starting point for the day – about 10ish Michael and his volunteer troubadours arrived from Chiang Mai.  And the show began!

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Here’s a shot of Michael’s group as we finished up the cookie line.

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CRW_6135They brought a lot of donated stuff for the camp and then started to put on the entertainment.  Games, games, games.

We had    darts, football, rope skipping, dancing contest, Western dance lessons, pop-the-balloons, relay race, and finally the

Tug-O-War

 

Tug-of-War-PanoramaThis is a large file and will load somewhat slowly.

 

 

Quite a day – 200 screaming kids – excitement,   excitement ,   excitement.

The rest of these images show highlites of the day – Be sure and check out the

**** SLIDESHOW ****

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And finally the closing prayer at the temple – all the kids were there and it was amazing to see even the littlest with clasped hands and praying with the others.

What a great day – I did get a little sun burned – forgot my hat – but that faded too –

Tasanai took about 1 hour of video so over the next week I will try to make a flash movie to post and let you see and hear all the screaming kids and excitement we had that day –  I will also try to get more names and post about each as we go on – but remember my motto – “I only do one thing a day”  The rest of the day is spent planning tomorrows one project and relaxing – soooooooooooo  it might be a while.

Ciao

 

 

Return to Kuang Jaw Shan Refugee Camp

Sawadee Khrap

We just got back from a return visit to the Kuang Jaw Shan Refugee Camp.  That is the correct name (see prior post labeled Tak Lang)  Tak Lang is the small village next to the camp – so now I have it named right,

I have a lot of pictures so I thought I would first show some shots of the people we meet and then next post will be on the party, followed by the Moun-Ju-Kour Resort where we stayed and later the visit to Srisangwan Waterfall.

Musur ladies First, before we arrived at the camp we passed these lovely ladies on the road – I think they are from the Musur tribe. I’ll check on that to make sure.

The rest of these shots were taken at the camp.  We got there early so we could see the kids reactions when Michael’s group of troubadours, volunteers from

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the Chiang Mai area arrived to entertain the children.  I don’t have everyones name but this is a shot where they were talking to the Monk and the Camp leader(seated right).

Throughout the day we meet a lot of great kids and parents – some of which I thought were special enough to show here – Please check out the  *SLIDESHOW* for more.

SaiooeJornHere is shots of Saiooe and Jorn – these young men, residents of the camp, are also students at Chiang Mai University and luckily were home today.  Saiooe has written a essay about his life before and at the camp and when everything is completed he will allow me to post it here – 

birth defectbadly burned boy To the left is a boy in camp with a birth defect who escaped with his grandmother – the other boy standing with John was badly burnt while trying to escape from the Burmese army – nature and man can be very cruel – but here at the camp both boys are accepted and considered equal – there’s a lot more love and tolerance when all share the same problems . I don’t want to put any names here for their safety – there is still a shaky truce at the border – and we were just steps away.  Old Man

Old Lady And  ain’t these classic shots – the old man was I think the oldest person in the camp – we visited his house that last time I was here – see the post  – and one of Michael’s group brought a set of hearing aids and gave them to him – first time he has heard in a long time – Boy did he love to talk now – but in Burmese and we couldn’t understand anything he said. ——–

CRW_6605 It started to rain and we ducked under a roof of this lady’s house and she invited us in – low and behold in a mostly Buddhist camp here was a Christian family.  What a surprise.

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living roomYou can see Jesus’s picture in the niche in their living room – and what a gracious hosts she was. 

And last but not least here is one of the children’s toys – the rhinoceros beetles – not sure what to call them – toys or pets , but the kids loved to watch them fight –

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The little one is the female.

Well – enjoy the

*** SLIDESHOW ***

I will get names and post a future article with names and more detail – today just the photos.

Ciao

Lak Trang and Pha Daeng Nat Park

Sawadee Khrap

Just got back last night from another trip to Piang Luang and the Lak Trang refugee camp and then we went to the Doi Pha Daeng National Park, Srisangwan Waterfall.  Great pictures – slightly over 1000 taken, lot of panoramic landscapes and some real great children shots.  I’ll post them in sections about what and where we went.   Hope you enjoy.

I’ll also start revamping the blog theme and reduce the content this week – so be prepared for some changes.

Ciao

 

Website changing

Sawadee Khrap

I was just reading a article on The Bangkok Post – Database – the computer and technology section about the latest horrors of “PayPal” and their recommendations.   And I have been discussing with Tasanai the progress of our web site and blog – no sales, lot of activity (the blog) and our future plans.  We have decided to revamp the site, reducing it to the blog (with sideshows) and a section for Tasanai’s AsianCoOp local promotion of photographic and video offerings. (in Thai).

I’m going to start making changes and try to redesign the entire site over the next week or so.  –  sooooo don’t be shocked at what you may see – I will be trying out new themes and color schemes – Please leave a comment if you find one you particularly like.

This will also eliminate the need to continue our PayPal account and I can start looking for a full Merchants Account here in Thailand for local business credit card options, while using bank deposits for International transaction when needed.  Should really simplify things.

So stay tuned for some major changes and look – hope you like them

Ciao

Massage & Haircut

Sawadee Khrap

I just finished getting my Monday 2hr massage & haircut.  1000 Baht.  $25 US

Tasanai is going to see if he can develop a business marketing his new massage oil formula.  Under the AsianCoOp label and for the local spa and massage parlors with their own label.  He just received a sample of a new version of Raw coconut oil from “Ms Ta’s” in Koh Samui.  Using coconut oil as a base and adding other Essential Oils, he has come up with a very good formula.  So today I tried it out.

In addition I needed a haircut  – so I called another friend “Odd” , his nickname, to come to the house and fix me up.   And that he did.

CRW_6028 ModFirst a haircut – sitting on a chair in the front room and then a 2 hr Oil body massage – using of course Tasanai’s coconut formula.  This guy is great, barber and masseur.  The haircut was right on – just the way I like it – no wheel-wells around the ears and fairly short – trimmed my beard too. And then the massage.

We put several blankets on the floor ( I have to get an air mattress) and his skilled hands went to work.  Odd is small but powerful and his pressure lasts the entire two hours – I like a strong massage so he is excellent.

If you are in Chiang Mai or planning to come and you want to contact Odd – he can be reached at 0845039561.  By appointment only  Limited English but that hasn’t been a problem – call him.

Soooooooooooo  now you have my 3 recommendations for massages –

  • Odd  (haircut & massage at your place)
  • Chakka Massage (elegant and great ambiance)
  • Classic House (Excellent massage in Night Bazaar area)

Ciao