Ross Barlow

Yes, *The Right Stuff* is on DVD. It is one of the small handful of movies I brought with me when I moved out of the States. Sam Shepard’s portrayal of Chuck Yeager is fantastic. Those guys were true American heroes. I agree with recent raves on this thread for *Apollo 13* and *The Omega Man*. -Ross Barlow.

In post #15 above in this thread, I said I would like to be Reinhold Messner for a day. Messner is featured in the *National Geographic* in the November 2006 issue. Excellent article that captures the true greatness of the man. I highly recommend it. -Ross Barlow.

Kat, I agree that the United Way campaign can be horribly obnoxious. My workplaces Stateside always harassed me annually, and it always pissed me off. I handled it in various ways throughout the years. Often I just threw the paperwork away, but the designated rep would always come around and never let it rest. At one point in my life when I felt able to afford it, I earmarked a United Way donation specifically to go to the local Boy Scout council, which was one of the agencies benefiting and one I think very highly of. But in later years, I just told them I would not contribute. I told them I absolutely hate high-pressure sales pitches, and I resented being targeted by this one. I also told them that, in those days, I used to volunteer a lot of my time to local Scouting groups because I enjoyed it. I would rather donate my time exactly as I see fit, if and when I please, rather than having my money taken and utilized in an unknown way by someone else. I was lucky in that I was not working for an organization that would retaliate for not contributing. And I think they were a little bit afraid of me – my anger can be very apparent in my face, according to my former students – and they left me alone. -Ross Barlow.

Who would I like to be for a day? Reinhold Messner. Reinhold Messner was one of the greatest alpinists in the history of mountain climbing and a personal inspiration to me. He has had some fine days in the mountains that would be worth experiencing. He trained like an Olympic athlete who goes for nothing but the gold. He was the first person to climb Mt. Everest completely alone and without bottled oxygen, and he was first to climb all 14 of the world’s highest mountains (the 14 that are above 8,000 meters) and never used oxygen. His joy in climbing is obvious from his very well written books. As a teenager he had gained the respect of many of the better climbers in the Alps for his bold ascents, usually done in an impressive new style. They were done quicker, often as first ascents and often solo. In 1969 he made an ascent of the treacherous North Face of Les Droites. The first ascent team on this face had taken 5 days, carefully moving up and avoiding the dangers of falling rock, ice and avalanches. Messner started early while the rock and ice were frozen tight, went alone straight up the face and was back in Chamonix for lunch. In 1975 he and his partner, Peter Habeler, did the North Face of the Eiger in a new record of 10 hours – as a training climb! They then brought this fast-and-light alpine-style climbing to the Himalayan giants, climbing Gasherbrum (aka, Hidden Peak) in a three-day push from base. In 1978 these two were the first to ever climb Everest without oxygen. I was at the height of my earliest climbing days during these years, and the continually incoming reports of such exploits just spurred me onward and upward. These were heady days! In 1980 Messner did his Everest solo without oxygen in only a few days from base to summit and back. This was audacious – some would say mad – but I understand the aspiration. These days, he still climbs some outrageous things, but he also has branched out to other types of expeditions. He skied across Antarctica and recently walked across the Gobi Desert. The poet Robert Service wrote of this kind of individual: “There's a race of men that don't fit in, A race that can't stay still; So they break the hearts of kith and kin, And they roam the world at will. They range the field and they rove the flood, And they climb the mountain's crest; Theirs is the curse of the gypsy blood, And they don't know how to rest.” I do not know which particular day in the life of Reinhold Messner I would pick, as there were so many “peak” moments. It would be one of those solo climbs when the struggle upward is rigorous and the outcome is enough of a question mark; when one’s consciousness is focused intently on each step and move; when one’s hopes, dreams, capabilities and fears are analyzed without illusions; and it would be a day when the horizons were clear and cloudless on all sides, and when one had time to pause on the summit and gaze at everything below one’s feet like a god viewing his creation. -Ross Barlow.

Michael, Yes, “Harrison Begeron” is a tremendous short story and I am glad you provided the link. It is very short and easy to read, and I recommend it to anyone. I first heard it highly recommended in a taped lecture by Robert Hessen (I think) called “Why Does Socialism Continue To Appeal To Anyone?” It is in the Vonnegut short story collection, *Welcome to the Monkey House*. For ten years I taught a high school level philosophy course called Great World Ideas. For every class I had them read “Harrison Bergeron,” and they loved it. Before they read that one, I had them read some classic socialism by Gracchus Babeuf, where he advocates radical tearing down of the able to absolute equality of all. Then I hit them with Vonnegut. The students understood without question. Equality sucks. -Ross Barlow.

My wife and I saw *The Prestige* in Bangkok Saturday. I liked it because of the great cast and interesting storyline. My wife did not like it because … well, my wife is Thai and sometimes it takes us a lot of time to hash out philosophical and aesthetic ideas in English. She did not seem to like some of the vengeance motives in certain characters. I am always a big fan of Christian Bale (*Equilibrium* and *Batman Begins*). Hugh Jackman is very good. Michael Caine is always superb. Scarlett Johansson is more voluptuous than ever. There are cameos by David Bowie and Andy Serkis. I think the screenwriting utilized the actors very well, and I would see this movie again. -Ross Barlow.

Pardon my provincialism, but I have been out of the orthodox Objectivist loop for a long, long time. What, briefly, is this DIM hypothesis of Peikoff’s? (I have never had much interest in Peikoff. He just seemed to come across to me as spiteful, cultish, silly and shrill. These perceived characteristics can be found in abundance anywhere else, including amongst leftist professors and religious zealots. I wonder at the amount of damage he has done to Objectivism through the decades by his mere presence disgusting many people who turn elsewhere.) -Ross Barlow.

Kori, you asked about the “boy on the bicycle” scene. It is from *The Fountainhead*. I do not have the novel in hand at the moment, but it is in the storyline where the Monadanock (sp.?) resort is built. It is one of my favorites. -Ross Barlow.

Angelina will do fine as Dagny. She is very professional and has the acting range, the intelligence and the passion to play the part well. She understands the novel and is inspired by it. Her box office draw is worth gold, and it is considerations like this that get a movie seen by people. Her exotic beauty can rivet viewers. Who would I chose as a possible alternative actress for Dagny? Keira Knightley. She is only 21, but she can really act. See her in two 2005 films, *Pride and Prejudice* and, especially, *The Jacket*. She is fascinatingly beautiful, can play strong female roles and has considerable box office appeal. The question would be about how well she could get into Dagny’s character. I think that she is professional enough to do well also. -Ross Barlow.

*Stormbreaker* (2006). I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, which I saw this afternoon. Think of it as a “schoolboy James Bond.” This is great movie entertainment, and if you like most Bond movies you should appreciate this. It is written by Anthony Horowitz from his series of novels about schoolboy/spy Alex Rider. The plot, action and characterization are all very good. The cast was fantastic. The new young actor that plays Alex Rider, Alex Pettyfer, age 15, is a refreshing surprise. This lad has potential. He plays a 14-year-old recruited into a dangerous situation. The only thing deficient in his classic secret agent persona here is his (understandable) lack of confidence with the girls. Bill Nighy (*Love Actually* 2003; *Underworld* 2003 & 2006) -- what an odd man! -- is delightful in his role. I am becoming a big fan of his work. Mickey Rourke (*Nine ½ Weeks* 1989; boxer; *Sin City* 2005) is perfect as the sleazeball villain. Sarah Bolger, age 15, (*In America* 2002) is an actress I hope to see more of in the future. Stephen Fry (*Jeeves and Wooster* 1993; *V for Vendetta* 2005) is always a welcome presence in any show. Missi Pyle (*Galaxy Quest* 1999) can spank me anytime she wants. Andy Serkis (aka, Gollum/Smeagol in *Lord of the Rings*) plays another strange character here. Apparently this movie has had only limited release in the USA, so it may be hard to find in the theaters. Look for it on DVD someday. It was released in the UK in July, the USA in October, and it is now in Bangkok theaters. -Ross Barlow.

Roger, I want to add to the record my own appreciation for the work you have done on this forum by making available great philosophical and objectivist-historical materials, as well as your own fabulous original contributions to Objectivist thought. You keep thinking, and that is an inspiration. In the years I have known you online, you always come across as an exceptionally decent guy. I would like to meet you in person some day, and I really would like to hear you wail on the trombone. If you ever come by Bangkok, look me up. Maybe we could get you a gig here, but be forewarned: this is a wild and wicked town. -Ross Barlow.

Trevor, Welcome to this fine forum. It is good to hear that Objectivism has been a good experience for you. Re: dancing. That infamous atheist, Friedrich Nietzsche, wrote, only half in jest, that he would only be able to believe in a god who could dance. -Ross Barlow.

Thank you, Michael, for the link to Fred Seddon’s *Reason Papers* review, “Nietzsche: The Myth and Its Method,” in which he reviewed Ridpath’s article on Nietzsche. Seddon did a good job, and I generally agree with his assessment. Ridpath was way off-base about Nietzsche. Here I just want to say that I very briefly met John Ridpath once at a conference before I had read his article, and I found him to be a very agreeable person to talk with. I remarked to him that I had heard of his practice of going to his camp in rural Canada to just relax and enjoy the peaceful natural setting. This appeals to my own nature-aesthetic, and we shared a few experiences of the wild Canadian “bush.” It impressed me as rare and refreshing that a well-noted Objectivist would be so amicably informal, as well as to even admit to liking aspects of “nature.” I also thought he was a very good speaker. Re: Ridpath’s article on Nietzsche. I am not an accomplished Nietzsche scholar, but in younger days I did immerse myself in his works over a period of many years. I thoroughly read virtually all of his works that have been translated into English, including all of Walter Kaufmann’s translations (most of them numerous times) and his commentaries, as well as the work of several other translators such as Hollingdale. I think that I have a good sense of Nietzsche’s overall works and world-view. I had to force myself to finish Ridpath’s article on Nietzsche in *The Objectivist Forum*. I was sure that he really never read Nietzsche’s actual works with any care – or never read enough of them or without preconceptions he was unwilling to abandon. The article seemed to be, in short, not very *objective*. I was very disappointed by the article and I saw it as a very poor hatchet job and an injustice to a profound thinker. After that, I started to lose the last of my interest in *The Objectivist Forum* and in the official Objectivist elite. -Ross Barlow.

George, I have mentioned this before elsewhere, but I will state it here again. I am indebted to *Atheism: The Case Against God* for turning my interests back once again to philosophy in general and to Rand’s works in particular some 25 years ago. I ended up renewing old visions, going back to college and finishing old goals. Again, thanks. In the 60s and early 70s, I had focused a lot of study on Objectivism and philosophy but did not keep it up during the years of my most extreme climbing. Then, in the early 80s, I was doing a critical study of Christianity and got a hold of ATCAG. It was a refreshing plunge back into rigorous philosophical reasoning again. (Barbara’s *The Passion of Ayn Rand* added additional inspiration for me when it came out.) One of the Rand quotations you put in ATCAG electrified me and, more than anything else, made me re-read Atlas Shrugged after so many years. This is the quote: “A rational process is a *moral* process. You may make an error at any step of it, with nothing to protect you but your own severity, or you may try to cheat, to fake the evidence and evade the effort of the quest — but if devotion to truth is the hallmark of morality, then there is no greater, nobler, more heroic form of devotion than the act of a man who assumes responsibility for thinking.” This quote says it all. I was studying calligraphy at the time I read ATCAG, and I wrote out the above quotation in my best Carolingian Bookhand on 2’X3’ parchment, framed. It is dated October 1982, and it is the last (and best) work of calligraphy I ever did, as ill health made the art too painful to continue. My sister has it stored back in the States and has the instructions that, if I ever croak before you, she is to send it to you. -Ross Barlow.

I have a question for Beatle fans. Bear with me here. I am using only my (old) memory, so please correct me if I am remembering wrongly. In 1964 in the USA, Capitol Records released “Meet The Beatles” and “The Beatles Second Album.” I think the next one was “The Beatles ’65.” These were strictly American releases and were different than the original British releases in their line-up of song content. I believe that “Rubber Soul” -- that masterpiece -- was the first album that was identical on both sides of the Atlantic. My vinyl albums died long ago. Through the years, I have picked up a hodge-podge of CDs of Beatles music, but I dearly miss the original American releases of the early stuff with the original line-up of songs that I grew up with. Any CDs I see of the early Beatles are the British line-ups. I would love to hear “Meet The Beatles” all the way through in its original order. Can anyone tell me if the earlier Beatles albums are available on CD as originally released by Capitol on vinyl? Thanks. -Ross Barlow.

What the Hell? I must have been the last person on earth to find out -- just now -- that The Beatles have broken up. This would explain a lot. I have been patiently waiting for 35-odd years for them to issue a new album. Damn! This is really disappointing, because The Beatles turned music listening into a passion for me. Ok, I just paused and did a little research, and now I know why I missed this incredible news. In mid-April 1970, I was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a troop ship bringing us back from Vietnam. We did not hear about the Apollo 13 crisis or the Beatle break-up. It has always been a black hole period in my memory. When my family picked me up at the bus station, my Dad told me about the Apollo 13 scare but no one said anything about the end of The Beatles, probably because they knew what shattering news it would be for me. This band truly was one of the great joys in my life. Backing up a bit, on Xmas 1963, I was almost 14 years old and got my first AM radio of my very own. On Xmas afternoon, I was scanning stations and a DJ said, with a bit of surprise in his voice, “Here’s a record by a band from *England*.” I was surprised too, as I did not think the British even listened to Rock ‘n Roll let alone play it. What a surprise we were in for in the coming months. He played “She Loves You” (Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!) and I have not been the same since. By February 1964, The Beatles had 5 of the American Top Ten songs with a solid 1, 2 and 3. I would sit at breakfast before school with the radio on the counter next to my ear, and it was ecstasy for me when they played “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.” What totally new, happy and exhilarating music this was! It had the pure joy of life in it. This was my “tiddlywink” music. The first record album I ever bought was the Capitol issue, “Meet The Beatles.” In February 1970, when we were not out in the field we were living in the mud at the Marine combat base at An Hoa. One night a friend of mine came by and invited me to a reefer and music party over in the neighboring sector of the base. It was home to a unit of the 1st Marines that had just come back in from some extremely shitty fighting, and they were cutting loose. My friend told me that a Marine had just come in from the rear echelon with a portable battery-powered turntable plus a *new* Beatle album, called “Abbey Road.”. The smell of burning Laotian Green was in the air, but no one was going to fuck with these grunts and try to bust them after the Hell they had just been through. I am a bit of a hermit and at that time I was trying to read *Aristotle* by John Herman Randall, Jr. in every moment of spare time, of relative safety and dryness I could find, so I really did not want to go that badly to a party. But curiosity about a “new Beatle album” just could not be resisted, so I did hear portions of “Abbey Road” from the shadows before I went back to my bunker and book. Phenomenal! A ray of light and joy shined down on us in a very dismal place. Thank you, John, Paul, George and Ringo. So The Beatles really did break up, huh? That explains a lot. -Ross Barlow.

I am posting this here in case some OL members know Ken Gregg. He has experienced (another) family tragedy and I am sure he would appreciate hearing from old friends. His 14 year old daughter was killed by a hit-and-run driver on October 12. Four years ago, Ken’s son was killed in an accident. This family has suffered more than I can imagine. I do not know Ken personally, but his writing on intellectual history and classical liberalism is phenomenal. Check out his blog at: http://classicalliberalism.blogspot.com Apparently Ken attended NBI classes in New York in 1967 and 1968, and he has been around Objectivist and libertarian circles for decades. So it is possible that some of you know him well. I do not like to be the bearer of bad news, but his friends could really be helpful to him now. -Ross Barlow.

Great work, Michael. Thanks for all the information. The way to deal with a problem is to identify and understand it, and because fanatical tendencies within Islam are one of the biggest problems facing today’s world, you are taking the proper approach. -Ross Barlow.

I have always loved Maxfield Parrish’s work. When I lived in a small town for many years back in the 1970s, the town’s tax collector had a print of Dawn (not the more famous Daybreak) in the pride of place in her dining room. This painting has one female figure in classical robes, alone, reaching her arms up to the day’s first light. This tax collector was an old widow who is now long-gone. Most people paid their town taxes by mail, but you could make an appointment to pay at her house. The first time I went there and saw the Parrish print, I raved about it and we talked for a long time about how much we liked his work. This print of hers had been a wedding gift that her parents had received, and her mother made sure she got it before she passed on. So I made it a yearly ritual. At tax time, I would make an appointment and visit her instead of mailing my payment. We would sit at her dining room table and do the tax business. Then, when that was finished, we would stand up and walk over to the Parrish print on the wall. After several years, we hardly had to say anything. We would just stand there for a long time and then nod our heads and smile. She never said it outright, but I know that she was very happy that someone shared her regard for this painting. I finally moved out of that town and never saw her again. I miss her and our yearly homage to a favorite work of art. -Ross Barlow.

I just saw *Miami Vice* (2006) on DVD and really liked it. Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx were great, as was Li Gong. Michael Mann wrote the screenplay and directed it, which is usually a good sign. Mann did the same dual role in *The Last of the Mohicans* (1992), one of my all-time favorites. *The Last of the Mohicans* was one that I showed to every US History class I ever taught, with an intensive analysis of the pre-revolutionary libertarian dialogue, the historical context, the romanticism (loyalty to values) and the aesthetics of scenery and music. My students told me year after year that they had never actually *watched* a movie with this degree of focus in their lives. -Ross.

JRR Tolkien is most famous for his novels, but he considered his poetry to be an important part of his works. Shorter excerpts are often sprinkled throughout his books. E.g.: “The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some larger way, Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say.” Many Tolkien fans are impatient when longer poems “interrupt” the flow of his novels. But, when these are taken in their context and relished over time, they shine like polished treasure. “Far over the Misty Mountains cold, To dungeons deep and caverns old, We must away, ere break of day, To seek our pale enchanted gold.” When Phil posted *Sea Fever* by Masefield, the spirit of wandering adventure reminded me of Bilbo Baggins. -Ross.

Great poetry recommendations, everyone. Thanks to all. Phil, *Sea Fever* blew me away. It has been many years since I read it, and it almost made me go right out the door and away on an adventure. -Ross.

Michael, Thank you so much for your thoughts and advice. Your experience is just what I was hoping to find. It gives me a lot to think about. -Ross.

I need some advice that someone here may be able to give me. I am thinking of taking a course here in Thailand to train me and give me a top certificate for teaching English here. TESOL/TEFL/TESL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages/ as a Foreign Lang./ as a Second Lang.). Several private educational institutions here provide such training, and I must choose one. I know that I can easily get an English teaching job here just by being a native English-speaker with a BA degree. But I was never taught to teach English. I taught history, philosophy and social studies in the US at high school level for 10 years. It has been 40 years since I studied grammar, and I cannot explain it to anyone. My in-laws here are asking me about verb tenses I do not think I have ever heard of. Taking this course would help me teach with much more comfort, and I never like to do anything half-ass. Also, the recognized quality of this certificate would give me optimal choice in a job search. I am picky and would like more flexible part-time work teaching adults that does not take me across Bangkok every day. (Long travel time through horrendous traffic = Hell. Short and/or aesthetically pleasing travel = Tranquility.) There are several language schools near the Chao Phraya River which I can easily reach by a short express boat trip, and the boat pier is a nice 1 km walk from home and next to my local temple. I should choose a course and register by next week. They are intensive, and I am crossing my fingers hoping that my health can hold up for such a four week endurance test. I still have bad headaches on occasion and other health problems. The course will wipe me out, but I intend to take it. There are two top programs offered here which I must choose from. There is the Cambridge CELTA (Certificate in English Lang. Teaching to Adults) certificate course offered by ECC Thailand. And there is the SIT TESOL certificate course offered by the American University Alumni (AUA) Language School here. The SIT (School for International Training) originates out of Vermont, and the CELTA out of England. Both courses cost the same, have the same intensity and the same number of hours, and they are both equally prestigious here. Do you have any advice or thoughts on my choice of course based on experience or word of mouth? I am leaning strongly toward the AUA SIT course, mainly because the technical grammar vocabulary is the American English that I am more accustomed to. I have a distinct impression that the CELTA course would require me to learn a lot of extra British English vocabulary and grammar concepts that are foreign to my ear. Because both of these courses are head and shoulders above anything else offered here to English teachers, I do not see a big difference between them at the moment. Any advice? I will register for one of the courses next week, but they do not start until November. This gives me a good six weeks to get on the treadmill more and try to build up a reserve of strength for the long haul of the course. It is going to knock the hell out of me. Thanks for any input that anyone would care to provide. At the very least, such a course may improve my barbaric English usage and spare all of you a lot of grief. -Ross Barlow.

In case you are not aware of it, there was a military coup d’etat in Thailand yesterday (20 September) and the prime minister was deposed, the constitution scrapped and the parliament dismissed. The BBC News online is covering it all very well. I live in Thailand on the outer rim of greater Bangkok, and life was only really disrupted for one day, Wednesday the 20th. All seems to be safe and calm. It was a revolution I approve of, as do most of the Thai people I know. Barbara contacted me to see if I was ok. She is always the benevolent and caring one, and I thank her. I told her I was ok and that I would write a fuller report to post on OL. Consider this as both a travelogue report from the exotic tropical realm and a musing on politics. My wife woke me up Wednesday and said there was a “revolution” happening. (Thais, like Japanese and many, many others, have difficulty distinguishing between the “R” and the “L” sound, so I had a hell of a time understanding what she meant. “Levorution”? It is a technical political term that we do not normally use in everyday conversation here, so it took a while for me to wake up and figure it out.) Sudawon rises at 5AM each morning and, along with her mother who lives next door to us, fixes food for the Theravadin Buddhist monks who make their alms-rounds early each day. They got the word and the newspapers early. The military took control of the country. The chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Police were all together, and that sums up the power structure here. Thailand is, in theory, a constitutional monarchy, like the UK. The King has no political power, but has enormous respect and love from his people, and he has tremendous moral authority, as he is an unbelievably responsible monarch. Power normally is held by the Parliament, elected by the people. Prime Minister Thaksin was elected five years ago and was quite popular until recently. He is a billionaire ex-police official who took his masters and doctorate degrees in criminal justice in the USA. There were allegations of corruption, and he won an election victory in April that was declared invalid by the courts for irregularities. He resigned as PM then he declared himself emergency caretaker PM. The middle class and the population of Bangkok had turned against him. The Army’s rationale for deposing him was that he had caused “a rift in Thai society.” I am a libertarian and a champion of strictly limited constitutional government, the consent of the people, individual rights and a rule of law. But, to me, this situation does not seem to be a big deal. The difference here is that Thailand is a country of unique traditions. Surprisingly, the military here has a lot of respect and trust from the people. In that regard, they are a traditional institution that is only surpassed by the King and the Buddhist Sangha. This aristocracy of military chiefs has always been the power behind the scenes, even in the days of “absolute” monarchs. The King always needed the approval of the generals. Politicians come and go. Democratic process is still relatively new, dating from 1932, and it is full of corruption. Change comes slowly. Remember that Thailand is unique in this part of the world in that it was never colonized. Its geographic isolation allowed it to be free from foreign domination while all nations around it were conquered. Britain took Burma (Myanmar) and Malaya while France took Laos and Cambodia. Thailand (formerly “Siam”) remained untouched in the middle although it was pressured to modernize because of the encroaching West. Under the enlightened kings Mongkut and Chulalongkorn, some of the best of Western ways were introduced. In a sense, the monarchy reformed itself out of power. Things here should stabilize in time. A new constitution will be written and added to the long series of constitutions here. Elections are postponed until next year. The military council will rule for the time being and nothing will be much different than before. Things were well described last night on an English language segment of the TV news. The three newscasters, two men and one woman, were young Thais whose English was excellent. They were articulate and had obviously studied abroad. They described things in Bangkok on the first day of military rule. 80 percent of Bangkok’s residents were said to be voicing approval of the coup, and people were giving flowers and food to soldiers. Thais were taking photos of their kids standing in front of tanks, and there is a lot of joking and laughter in the air. One of the news commentators said that, “In a normal country, you would not see this after a coup d’etat. In a *normal* country. But this is Thailand.” And they all laughed immediately and hardily, as they knew that this was a truth about the uniqueness of Thailand. This country is just different. The King seems to have given his moral approval to the military council that seized power, so this seals the deal. I do not foresee much problem. Best of all, the university students tend to sympathize with the coup leaders, and that is good, because if students riot in the streets then you know the troops will shoot them. In 1992 or so, there was a military coup and the coup leader made himself PM. The opposition, including students, raised hell and there was blood in the streets. The King defused the situation simply by summoning the coup leader and the opposition leader to an audience before him. On live TV, Thais watched as the two antagonists knelt side by side before the King in homage. That was it. The shame of it all caused the coup leader to resign as PM and peace to be restored. There were new elections soon, and Thailand went on its merry way. An interesting side-note is that the top Army general in today’s council of coup leaders is a Thai Muslim. This country is 95% Buddhist and 4% Muslim. There is a Malay Muslim separatist terrorist insurgency in the 3 southernmost provinces on the border of Malaysia where people are dying weekly. But this general is Thai, is close to the King and has the confidence of the entire military/police establishment – a very conservative lot. He appears to be a wise man. Thailand tries to tolerate all religions, and the vast majority of Muslims here are extremely loyal to King and country. I am slightly conflicted about all of these events, but not too much. Part of me says that the rule of law and constitutionality is of supreme importance which should not be subverted by armed might, yet Thailand has never had a truly solid constitution. But part of me is also a native of the USA, a nation born of revolution. One of my great libertarian heroes, Thomas Jefferson, said that, every once in a while, revolution could be a good thing. The military here does not seem to have evil motives in this coup, and the people seem to be welcoming it. The most important consideration for me is that I have immense confidence in my adopted home of Thailand. This country will do well. -Ross Barlow.