OK here goes a new blog on March and12, 2013 from Koh Samu, Thail

Well, this phase of my life has been more centered around dealing with times that we live in.  For example, the environmental issues of global warming and climate change have taken center stage with the Obama Administration and this is a good thing.  This administration has to deal with the Keystone (KXL) pipeline and make it a marker in their policy.  At the moment, the radical right is completely ignoring Obama and just doing their own thing.  This is not going to make the policies go away or the issues that have to be adjudicated.  They will end up in a voting box full of artificial creations that ignore the big things and deal with the perifery that is not capable of dealing with the real issues.  In the midst of this, the Obama Administration is sending out mixed signals on the KXL pipeline, which is in the category of the a bad idea.  The Gulf is still getting over the BP spill and now they want to bring this pipeline to the Gulf and dump the sludge?  It looks a little bit like this but they are not talking about it at all.  TransCanada has not agreed to take the sludge; nobody  has agreed to take the sludge.  So, out with it - you have to have some kind of waste management program to clean up the oil; it should be this
 until they clean up the oil and have this waste management program, no pipeline.  Its amazing how vulnerable the Gulf is and nobody is talking about it.  I know that Obama approved drilling in the Gulf almost immediately after the spill was declared cleaned up.  Actually,maybe they should consider cancelling the drilling in the Gulf policy until the pipeline issue is adjudicated.  I am sure that all of the other Gulf states must be very concerned about this impending disaster for the future.  This global warming/climaate change warning is not about how much money you can make; it is about treating the earth as the giver that it is. 

Saturday - Feb./18/2012: Koh Samui

Well here goes,

I have not written a ablog in 1 year, which is a really long time. Of course, I have written many emails, which I hope to post on my blog site also; but still, I have not written a blog in one year. During this past year I have been in Cambodia and Thailand. In Cambodia, I lived in Sihanoukville; in Thailand, I have been living on Koh Samui. I tried to find a nice apartment and did in fact, find one; but it was so far behind in the building schedule, that I gave up and decided not to live there. It seems like I coudl not get things together and kept running into difficulties with Boentoun or Pheng Bun. Neither could find a suitable place for a senior like myself; and, besides, the places were too expensive. Here on Koh Samui, things have been going much more smoothly. I am living at 7 Bantai, Bang Por, Maenam in an apt. house. Living here is much more peaceful than living on the mainland.

OK, so what have I accomplished this past year? I have spent a reasonable amount of time trying to organize my mind in preparation for trying to do some meditation. It has been going much better than before and I am fairly far along in reflecting back on my life trying to figure out why things developed the way they did. I am 70 now and living alone; no marriage or children, but a good career development and better financials. I feel that these part 8 years have been an attempt at redemption. After the automobile accident in Florida, I spent many years coming to terms with the head injury and concomitant trauma. I was no longer the brainy whiz kid that I had been before and adjusting to this and accepting it has been one of the more difficult aspects of my life. All the fear and anxiety about how to survive in tact consumed most of my post-accident days. Now, as ol Granny Karen, I can be much more relaxed about it; but then, I could not. And, there was too much death trauma in the family so everybody was fairly anxious most of the time. My mother, who I lived with in Ft. Myers for many years, was never the same after her divorce from Francis. Francis did not like Bob, so I did not like him. This was the nexus of our conflicted family life until

Saturday: September 3, 2011: Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Well here goes.

This time I have been in Cambodia for about 6 months from mid-March to now, 3 September, 2011. I have spent the entire time in this place, Sihanoukville. I have had a bewildering experience even when I am not involved in any kind of activity here in Cambodia. I have personal and private work that I do on my computer, but I think my personal privacy is severly compromised so that I will feel intimidated not to write down what is actually and historically happening. It seems the message is that the purpose of this time is to not do anything, which means not do anything helpful either. As a result of this existential situation, I feel that this visit has been almost bizarre from my point of view because I thought retirement is supposed to be about getting your thoughts together and putting them down on paper. So, I have decided to stick with my plans about writing.

I started spending my time during these months looking for an apartment and had asked 2 men from Sihanoukville who I thought were my friends. I was certainly wrong in this department and both of them deceived me into thinking that this is a friendlier place than it actually is. It is, actually, not a particularly friendly place for me. The only recognizable NGO is UNICEF and it is a brand new out station Office. There are other local NGO's, but there is no local paper; Camabodia Daily is published in Phnom Penh and covers the world. Everything is word of mouth and you never know what is truth and what is exagerration and what is lie. I have been told a lot of helf truths, half lies and hardly any real truth by these 2 "friends".

Peace Corps is in Cambodia and has a big endorsement from the Ambassador. The State Department provides the security which is actually pretty good. I have gone to a reception at the Embassy for a 50th Peace Corps get together which was real nice. So it is a way to let us feel comfortable with the Embassy; the Peace Corps Office is another thing. I have not been to the one here yet and I don't know why. Actually, the volunteers are pretty invisible and I have not met a single one from PC Cambodia.

I am going to stop now; and talk next about the swirling world around us.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010: Sihanoukville. Cambodia

Well, here goes. I think that my life style in Cambodia is changing since I went to the Reception at the Embassy for the Peace Corp's 50th Celebration. The Ambassador gave PC Cambodia a big endorsement and said that friendship between PCV's and Cambodians is very important to SE Asian welfare. I was quite surprised at the big endorsement but I shouldn't have been because in PC Jamaica there was a lot of socializing with the Embassy there too. This, however, was a formal endorsement that carries a lot of political weight. The Director is a former volunteer from Kapit, Sarawak. I also met one of the Program Managers and I am going to visit with him when I go to PP. I also met a RPCV who is active with the PP NGO's, including trafficking and abuse. The Cambodian program is only a couple of years old and is going to increase to 100 volunteers in July. Because I am an Advocate on the Safety and Security issue, I follow PC in all of the countries that I visit and live in. Here in Cambodia, there is definitely a need to be judicious in placement because there is a safety and security issues already developing after only 1 year. Thailand also has a program that has been going since 1961 and is very well established. I have not yet looked at the program there because I have not been able to make it to the meetings in Bangkok. When there is a meeting, I am usually far away and the meetings seem geared to the people in and around Bangkok. Thailand's record is quite good for an old program too.

I am waiting to move into a brand new apartment here in Sihanoukville and have paid an advance. The apartments are ultra modern and will be a treat for myself. Some of the residents work in the NGO's and the residents are gone during the day. If it is quiet, I will like it even more and may attempt to start organizing some thoughts about my adventures. Because I am a woman travelling alone all of these years, it puts me in a category pretty much by myself. Also, this will be the first time in 8 years that I will have a "real" apartment although I did stay in a really nice serviced apartment in Ching Mai and a nice house on Koh Samui. It is much cooler here than in Thailand, which is why I think I will stay here. In Thailand, starting in March, it is too hot in the afternoon and I have some difficulty with the heat. I don't know if it is possible to fry the brain, but I do not want to take the chance either, so I am going to only do short visits to the "hot" places.

I do believe in Global Warming/Climate Change and think that the financial situation is going to be challenged the most. How to pay for all of these calamaties and disasters, these droughts and floods, these tornadoes and hurricanes. These sizzling hot temperatures. And then there is the possibility of new diseases, germs and health risks. For example, what about the tsunami in Japan, the E-Coli outbreak in Germany, the tornadoes in the USA, the drought in China.

Then, of course, there is the Arab Spring, which I support. I feel these people deserve the same freedoms and rights that I want; that any normal intelligent person wants. These distators treat us like we are always going to be subservient and passive; that they will always be able to take whatever they want and leave the scraps to us. Actually, all this oil wealth really belongs to everbody in each country, not just the ones that bribe their way to wealth and control, which seems to be what has happened in all of these Muslim countries. There is no legitimancy to their leadership; there is no governing; there is a lot of rule by superstition and fear. This is hardly any Islamic religion but it is a battle for faith. The dictators shoot and don't even ask any questions, so hardly does anyone want to be a part of that s_____. I think the breakaway forces are going to win and all of these people will be able to have some decency in their lives; out of the shadows and into the sunlight.

China, Burma and North Korea will never change.

These are my thoughts for today.

Chiang Mai, Thailand: Feb. 6, 2011

I did not know that Chiang Mai was on my calendar of places to go to but here I am, in this place for almost 3 months. Chiang Mai is considered Northern Thailand as opposed to Koh Samui, which is considered Southern Thailand. From my point of view, the 2 places are fairly similar to each other in a tasteful, touristy, retiree kind of way. Nice places to stay, seem to be rather quiet and out of the way, some nice tourists and Thais living here, not too expensive, pretty good food. However, it is becoming more and more apparent that there are a number of other, more substantive things to consider if I want a retirement in Thailand, Chiang Mai or Koh Samui. Even though all make proclamations that they want the Western retiree, I am never too sure about internet security or immigration security. Thailand is constantly changing and the Govt. is not really able to keep up with what is going on out here in the hinterlands; So, one has to wonder if this makes the politicos in Bangkok nervous and they look around to see what is going on. Where I am staying, there are a number of intellectuals who teach and write and that is it. I have been told 2 times about hr services for dogs and I can get involved if I want. There is a lot of bad energy here as opposed to Koh Samui and the beautiful coconut palms. The mountain overlooking Chiang Mai is in full view and has a only 3 lights and 1 monastery that you can see at night. This seems to maybe be a one industry town.

I also just read my last blog on the Foreign Policy of the Middle East. I think that the Egyptian revolution is a good thing. They deserve more than they are getting, especially for the billion bucks a year policy. I think enough already of the money going for security; more money for education and food and children. Food is going to be the issue in about 1 year, so they have had a real good wake-up call with the young Egyptians. It does not seem to be related to the Settlements at all; it is all about what they can get for themselves on their own territory. I think a democratic Egypt would be great and could work as a real security buffer as the food crisis settles in. All over the world, the weather-related global warming flooding has damaged crops and plans for food security. Mubarek has all but sacrificed Egypt's security for his own final chapter, which is pretty typical. In fact, I think he has really abdicated his responsibility for security so now it is up to the
people in Tahrir Square. It does seem that the testy attitudes of those who would wish the planet evil are being exposed more and more. I'm not sure how much it will get us more security though.

These are my thoughts for day.

Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010: Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Well here goes.
It does not seem like we are getting any security guarantees with the current Foreign Policy that we are following. This is the one that works on stabilizing the Middle East by having an opium war with Afghanistan.
This does not have anything to do with the settlements issue. I once said that Obama has to stop settlements on the part of Israel and has to pass the Health Care reform. He has done the latter, but he has not done the former. This has also spawned a visit by the Iranian leader to Lebanon where he said that Lebanon is a part of of the Middle East implying that it is not an independent country. I have no idea what this is supposed to mean; but it does demonstrate that Iran will help the Hezbollah when the time comes. Hezbollah is already lobbing bombs into Israel, just not dirty bombs. Some people say it is only a matter time before the dirty bomb is used; for the moment, I do not think Hezbollah would use a dirty bomb, but who knows.

Then there is the inability to deal with Genocide with Tibet and in Darfur. This leads the Chinese and Omar E. Shariff to believe that they can get away with it. Well, they are getting away with right now, so a Foreign Policy needs to be created that stops both Genocides. The inability to deal with these two issues highlights just how weak this Foreign Policy really is; and how intractable these problems really are. Nobody but us, the United States, really challenges the Chinese on Tibet;or Bashir with his deplorable policy with Darfur. Bashir has gotten away with ignoring the ICC for 2 years now. I think we need to push more aggressively for concrete results with both of these issues. If not for the fact, that rape is becoming so commonplace is some places that it is not seen as the sinful injustice that it is; it is seen as some kind of game.

Then I just wanted to say that one of my ideas has taken root where Encore International has partnered with Peace Corps so as to extend the time, by a considerable amount, that a project has to be up and running. This is a much more honest approach to these kinds of development issues.

These are my thoughts for today........

Tuesday, July 20, 2010: Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Well, here goes
I wrote a blog yesterday and talked about the fact that I don't know with a certainty that we are secure from a nuclear accident. Because I live in the "Third Word" or the "developing" world, this insecurity is re-inforced every day because I see societies and people that are determined to go their own way. Of course, this includes, nuclear weaponization and security. There is no political cohesion like there is between Europe and America or Russia and America. So, I wrote that somebody is going to break with the pact and try a dirty bomb. India is the most vulnerable country and New York is the most vulnerable city. India is so at risk because it is completely encircled by hostile, ________neighbors: Burma, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, West Bengal. New York is so at risk because there has already been 1 very successful attack on Manhattan in the broad daylight. So far Iran and N. Korea have appeared to be quite willing to develope a dirty bomb; how they are going to use it is the largely unanswered question.

What do the probability studies project about this? I would guess that there is a more than 85%chance that both of these countries will never surrender to some kind of "trust me with a nuclear bomb" scenario.

What we have to figure out is what does this 85% probability include.

These are my thoughts for today.