Coconuts Abound, Near and Far
Sitting down along the Chumphon Archipelago as the morning tide continues to rise, birdlife amongst the bungalows shares its songs, and the stone bantam statue stands guard at the entrance to the disappearing grains along the coast.
Queue The Paragons.
10 Days in Thailand, more than a night in Bangkok, and now down on Koh Phangan soaking up the waves and rays. The Equinox has passed and the seasons have changed. Here, 15 degrees North of the equator, we are tropical, and the seasonal changes are subtle and hardly noticeable to this ‘farang’ passing through. It is Summer and it is hot.
The people and the pace has not changed and we have settled in. Tourists are around but we have yet to run into a Yank or an Aussie. Europeans from Germany and France seem to be winning the game of Traveller Bingo we are involved with. The smell of marijuana amongst the palm trees and at every cafe still amazes me. It has been 3 years since the plant was legalised for medicinal reasons, but now it appears to be virtually unregulated, with guest houses, market stalls, and dispensaries everywhere. selling spliffs and nuggets of THC. The jury is still out on the quality of said product.
But I guess Thailand is now the gateway country for legal drug use in Asia. Just don’t come in from China, smoke a whole bunch, and then return home. If they detect weed in your urine, you will be charged. Now that’s communist! :-), Xi!
Who would have thunk that Thailand would be the first country in Asia to pass such legislation? It was not too long ago that you could be staring at the Death Penalty for weed possession.
Mai Pen Rai is the perfect name for one bungalow set up we stayed at. With bungs on the beach and on the hills facing the cove and sunrise, this may be a case of starting with the best beach of them all. We will be keeping track. We met people who have been coming to this locale for decades. It is off the beaten path, but well worth your time if you mosey down to Thailand.
“Mai Pen Rai” translates to No Worries/No Problems and is situated at Than Sadet Beach. This is one of the oldest resorts on Koh Phangan and it is funky and so relaxed. The constant sound of the waves and the wild dogs barking at times are the only sounds along the beach. We were adapating well to the tropics. Very little of the outside world was leaking in.
Shit, though, when stuff leaked in it was hard to look away. When I first started drafting this piece, I thought the destruction of the USA Department of Education was a big news story. Trump hired the wrestling magnate Linda McMahon to return education to the States and remove the Feds influence and assistance with the education of the populace. She is the Lucky 13th Secretary of Education and according to Trump, she will be the last.
How I would like to body slam this billionaire bitch. Let’s get ready to rumble, Linda, you creep.
The Orange Pyscho’s ICE Team is deporting people to South and Central America, and people who should not be on that list are finding themselves removed from the country they love and have adopted. These people are not criminals; they just disagree with the politics of the USA regarding the Middle East, etc. Who will Trump and his merry band of Storm Troopers come for next?
You? Me? Michael Moore? Daniel Pinchbeck? For all we know late night TV hosts, comedians, and anyone protesting could be an enemy of the state.
Meanwhile, the STATE is still totally out of control.
So before you read any further here is Tina with a not-so-wild dog on the beaches here.
I do believe it is being called Signal-Gate now, and I am sure you all know what that is about. The Houthis in Yemen needed to be taught a lesson, so Mike Waltz, National Security Advisor, set up a group chat to get the war machinery rolling. He invites Pete Hedgehog, JD “Did I fuck a couch or not” Vance and other military higher ups to a chat. Now, you would think that the military and the government have their secure channels to communicate war plans?
Maybe even something like this:
No, it appears they must use Signal lot, because no one in the chat seemed to think it was improper. They also inadvertently invited a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg/Editor Atlantic, to the briefing and confidential bombing plans. National Security free for all.
Pete Hedgehog, Defense Secretary, has an infamous quote (from that chat) that may stay with him forever: “We are now clean on OPSEC.”
As you probably know by now, OPSEC is Operational Security. Yes, they were so secure that no one seemed to check who JG was in the chat. It could have been Jerry Garcia or James Garfield, but no it was Jeffrey.
You can follow along at home as everyone at the White House ducks and covers and weaves and bobs and lies, most of all lies, truly, the motherfuckers lie, about what occurred. They blame the journalist, they say he “hacked” his way in, they say the mission was a success so don’t worry about a chat room with a journalist, etc.
The waves lap against the shoreline and the beach is getting smaller as the peak of high tide approaches. Is the tide coming in or going out on the Trump Presidency?
Heads should roll. If Hegseth were not a civilian, he would be court-martialed for how he handled this mess. Waltz should resign. Hedgehog should resign or be canned and sent somewhere so he won’t bother young woman or where his drunken behaviour won’t be out of place.
Greenland? No. Panama? No. Getting closer….how about here…
Another non-award-winning performance from the Trump Cabinet of Fools.
Who will be the first to fall on their sword, resign or be impeached? Maybe by the time I publish this we will have one less alcoholic in the Oval Office. I am unsure where the checks and balances are anymore.
It’s Winter in America….
Winter In America-Gil Scott Heron (1974) Same as it ever was….maybe worse…..
In case you haven't been there lately
We have, and the season is back
I mean, it was, it was holiday weather for a minute
Or when I was just on vacation
I'll tell you a story
There used to be an agreement between the seasons
I mean, after a while they decided to sit down and work it out
And they agreed that they were gonna just come and stay
About three months each
And then they would go to wherever seasons go
When they're not where you are
And this would be a cycle and it would go on all the time
And then one year in America, one of the seasons got mad
And decided it was going to stay
Decided that the way things were done there made it feel at home
He would not, he wouldn't go when he was supposed to
I mean it wasn't the people
The people runnin' this stuff, you know what I'm sayin'
It was something, there was some kind of vibe there
Made it feel like it weren't leaving, it was just not, just not gonna go
It wasn't in terms of the temperature, it was in terms of the philosophy
The politics, the psychology, the way things were going in other directions
And so for a long time, where we come from there's no spring
And no summer and no fall
We have been taken over by the season of ice
Very few people recognise it for what it is
Although they feel uncomfortable
Very few people recognise the fact that somehow the seasons don't change
I mean, you can acclimate it, you can politically acclimate it
You can philosophically acclimate it
You start to, you start to relate everything to the season of ice
And so your dreams become frozen, and your ideas become frozen
Your promises become frozen in this
Frozen days, and frozen nights
Frozen aspirations and frozen inspiration
There's something wrong, I mean, there's something wrong
I mean, there's something wrong, I mean
There's something wrong, I mean
We'd like to talk to you about a season that is taking over America
The season is winter
This song is called, "Winter in America"
From the Indians who welcomed the pilgrims
And to the buffalo who once ruled the plains
Like the vultures
Circling beneath the dark clouds
Looking for the rain
Hey, they've been looking for the rain
Just like the cities staggered on the coastline
Livin' in a nation that just can't much more
Like the forest they buried beneath the highway
Never had a chance to grow
Well, they never had a chance to grow
And now it's winter
Come on, sing if you know the words
Seemed like winter in America
A time when all of the healers done been killed
Or been betrayed, say
People know that something's wrong
Everybody oughta know winter
Seemed like winter in America
The truth is there ain't nobody fighting
Because, well nobody knows what to save
Brother, save your soul
Lord knows it's winter in America
The Constitution, a noble piece of paper
With free society
Well, they struggled but they died in vain
And now democracy is ragtime on the corners
On the cord, hoping it'd rain
Yes, he's been a-hopin' for some rain
But it just don't look like rain
And I see the robins, yeah, perched in barren tree tops
Watching last-ditch racists marching across the floor
And like the peace sign that filtered in our dreams
That never had a chance to grow
Yeah, they never had a chance to grow
Somebody want to go tell them it's winter
It's cold, it's like winter in America
Time when all the healers, people who have done been killed
Or been betrayed, say
But the people know there's something wrong
Hey, it's winter
It seems like winter in America
The truth is there ain't nobody fighting
'Cause, well nobody knows what to save
Aw, sister save your babies
Yes, winter in America
I said hey, hey, hey
It's winter
It's cold, it's like winter in America
Time when all the healers, brothers who have done been killed
And put them in jail, say
People know there's something wrong
Something wrong with winter
It feels like winter in America
The truth is there ain't nobody fighting because
Well nobody knows what to save
Yes and the truth is
There's nobody fighting, nobody fighting
Nobody knows, nobody knows what to do, what to do
The truth is there ain't nobody fighting because
Nobody knows what to save
