Cooling down to mere anger

You know something? I BELIEVE in democracy. I may not always like the results of democracy and I might sometimes think the wrong candidate won, but in the end, democracy is the most important thing the 20th century has given many of us and any rolling back of democracy should be fought.

There are those around the world who agree with Amy Chua that it is important to prevent democracy from impinging on the economic rights of "market dominant minorities". I would argue that it's not ABOUT these minorities. The kleptocracy in any society is always mainly indigenous although Chinese in South East Asia, Jews in Russia or "Syrians" in the Caribbean all make convenient scapegoats for those who want to ensure that any economic realignment is racist or nationalist in form rather than a class issue.

The so called PAD in Thailand has raised my ire this week. People are blockading the airports and demanding that the Government introduce a new, less-democratic form of government with 70% of MPs being appointed so that Thaksin's party cannot keep being elected by the millions of the poorest people in Thailand. They argue that they deserve more political power because they are more "educated" than the rural peasants.

It's not about education though. The rural peasants know what they are voting for. They are voting for the Government to help them gain at the expense of those richer. They know that democracy may well be snuffed out once again and the army stage a coup but this time, they say if there is an anti-democratic coup, there will be a civil war.

Let us hope that democracy will be allowed to prevail in Thailand. I never thought I'd be supporting Thaksin but as I said before. In my mind, democracy comes first.

Rage Issues

First thing's first, I begin to wonder about my mental health today. I had to wait seventeen minutes fro a bus that would take me all the way home. The company advertises that buses will arrive "every 8 to 13 minutes" so it was longer than advertised. Okay, it was raining and I was coughing somewhat but the rage I felt at that moment, was over the top.

When the bus did arrive, it filled up (if it had arrived on time, I was early enough to miss most of the rush area) and, about half way through, the complete bus was decanted so I had to queue up with another hundred or so people to get on the already crowded buses runing behind.

Now I was seething, imagining flinging curses like some malevolent Gandalf, or perhaps eating the people around me. Even when the bus came, I was chanting, only just under my breath, "I am a man-wolf, the wolf in me would eat the man, I am a wolf-man, the man in me would kill the wolf".

Still. I didn't eat anyone and arrived home just in time for the news. It seems a Saudi oil-tanker has been captured by Somali pirates. My first reaction was to state that had I been on the crew, that tanker would have gone up in flames as soon as the pirates were too close to escape. I then suggested using a cruise missile to sink the tanker and the Somali vessel that captured it, foo miles from land. I later realised this was in fact a sensible solution, but that's neither here nor there, it wasn't like me.

And then, Baby P. I hold every Haringey councillor responsible and hope we all remember that come election day in May 2009. I may also have advocated the death penalty for the perpetrators but I wasn't serious. After all, sadly we allow a much bigger drop these days, a proper sacrifice to Odin requires a shorter drop and strangulation for days.

I'm calmer now, and realise that won't bring the baby back. The perpetrators need to be brainwashed until they understand and CARE exactly what they've done to the baby. I still believe we should nuke one of the pirate ports though, that's not rage speaking, just common sense.