Election Traini Wreck

Kyle Hopkins at the ADN blog reports that Judge William Morse has ruled that Dick Traini is termed out and cannot run again for the Assembly. That leaves candidate Elvi Gray-Jackson as the only real candidate on the ballot, but Traini's name will also still be on the ballot. Unless, of course, the Alaska Supreme Court overturns Morse's decision.

So, we will see now whether the voters really wanted term limits or just wanted term limits for candidates they didn't like.

I'm not happy with this whole situation. While I'm not a fan of term limits - I think voters should be allowed to vote for any eligible candidate - it is the law. Rather than stepping down gracefully and following the spirit of that law, Traini chose to challenge the law on a technicality (When is a Term not a Term?) saying his first term wasn't a 'full term' and the Muni contracted attorney agreed with him. Now the judge has said the law does not permit him to run again.

This gets messy for several reasons:
1. His name will be on the ballot. (Muni says it's too late to print new ballots. We still have two weeks. I think they mean it's too expensive.)
2. The Supreme Court could overturn the ruling and say he is eligible. If that happens - and he loses the election - do we have another election?
3. He could get more votes than his opponent. In which case the next Assembly person will have lost the election, but won the seat.
4. The people of my district have only one real candidate to vote for.

But I think a challenge was necessary because:

1. The decision will probably affect the School District and Mayor elections too.
2. The Mayor is planning to run for Senate and if he won, would leave office early.
3. If that happened, the person - Assembly President - filling his seat would be faced with the same issue when he/she ran for reelection the second time.
4. Debbie Ossiander has already served more terms on the School Board and Dan Kendall did it on the Assembly, but no one challenged them. This will give us the final answer on whether this is ok.
5. This was a risk Traini took, knowing he could be declared ineligible, and knowing his incumbency would prevent other qualified candidates from putting their hat in the ring.

So, what the Supreme Court rules will clarify the ground rules. It is unfortunate that the only way this can be done is by challenging a candidate who decides to run for a fourth term (for Mayor a third term.)

So, I'm hoping the people in my district will choose Elvi Jackson-Gray, giving her a mandate to be a good Assembly person, and demonstrating that we believe in term limits, we believe in the law, and that we can elect a strong woman candidate who, because of her years as the Assembly budget analyst, is one of the most qualified candidates to run for the Assembly in a long time. [Yes, I have supported her candidacy with a check.] Doing this will clean up a potential mess that Traini's decision to run, the Clerk's decision to allow him to run, and the Superior Court's decision to not allow him to run have all set in motion. Let's get it behind us.

And the Supreme Court's decision on the appeal will let us know what the rules are for the future and, if Jackson-Gray wins comfortably, won't result in a political mess that will cost the residents of my district all sorts of grief. The Assembly and the people of Anchorage have more important work to get done.

Can we act like adults now? Or are we going to try to make this really messy? Yes, I'm sure there are people who think Jackson=Gray or any liberal candidate means the end of the world, but consider what years of Republican dominance have done to this state. Jackson-Gray on the Assembly will be just fine. Your lives won't come crashing down around you.

Seven Minute Trip to Thailand

OK, here's the video. It's long, Seven minutes or so. I really did cut a lot out. But it gives you a lot more of the sense of being at the Consecration Festival at the Temple last Saturday night.



The last minute is worth waiting for or skipping ahead to.

Nine Inch Nails Free Legal Download

Zohar read the readme file when he thought he was illegally downloading Nine Inch Nails' Ghosts I - IV and learned it was completely legal:

We encourage you to share the music of Ghosts I with your friends, post it on your website, play it on your podcast, use it for video projects, etc. Â It’s licensed for all non-commercial use under Creative Commons.

There may be a good reason for the freebie, which you can get here. I wouldn't know one of their old pieces if I heard it. But I'm guessing their old fans might find this free one different from what they were expecting. I've been listening to it for a while now and I like this album.

ํYou Can Read Thai

Who will be the first to write the English meaning of the pink word on the sign? It's probably much harder than I think, but it's probably much easier than you think. Double click on the picture to enlarge it.

The New Bot - โบสถ

Sunday March 16, 2008 morning.
We went to the consecration of a new Bot at a local Wat in Chiang Mai. I'm embarrassed because I don't even know the name of the Wat. [Later Sunday: I caught the sign at the entrance of the Wat on the video - it's Wat Tham Khaam.] It is right next to the house of one of the people at work who invited us to go. I also found a website that is very helpful as I describe what was going on. Actually, I'm borrowing from
Thaiworldview. I'll italicize the quotes from Thaiworld.

In a Thai temple, the "BOT" (โบสถ์) is the finest building where monks are assembled for religious rites (สังฆกรรม) such as morning and evening prayers, ordination. It is the most sacred part of the temple.

Any Buddhist religious ceremonies cannot happen in a "BOT" until it has not been consecrated. This ceremony is called "FANG LUUK NIMIT" (ฝังลูกนิมิต).

The eight boundary stones ("SIMA" - สีมา) around the "BOT" indicate that the building has been consecrated and can be used for monks religious rites.

Ouan told us last night that these stones were part of the consecration of the new Bot and there were about eight of them. It wasn't completely clear what happens. You can see there is a cloth over a deep (3 meters maybe) hole. He said they didn't get covered with dirt and buried. I'll have to look at another temple to see if I can find them. You could buy gold leaf to cover the stones with. Another way you could donate money was to buy a sword that would be used to cut the ropes. Then you get the sword afterward.
These swords were about $300 each (Baht 9.999) and there were less expensive ones too. Ouan said the whole thing cost Baht 10 million, so they needed a lot of donations over the nine years they've been getting this ready.

Both the "BOT" and the "WIHARN" contain a presiding Buddha image and usually several smaller attendant statues. Some statues are so well known that Thai people come from far away in order to worship them. In Thailand, there are more Buddha statues than inhabitants (60 Millions). Buddha statues follow a precise set of positions. These positions have not changed since centuries.

In front of the "BOT" entrance there are often "NAGA" (นาค). Naga was the serpent who did protect the Lord Buddha when he was meditating. Sometimes Buddhist deities, lotus are built instead of "NAGA".

The inside walls of "BOT" are often covered with beautiful Buddhist paintings. They often represent Lord Buddha's previous lifes ("JAKATA" - ชาดก)

In this case, they portrayed a mix of modern and old activities of people in the village. [Monday: Actually, on checking the video - not yet posted - I realized the murals are in the Wiharn, not the Bot. The Bot has beautiful wood walls.]

There were people from all over at the area. Representatives from other Wats came as well as from the community - such as the local market (traditional Thai market, not supermarket) and schools. There was a parade of sorts, with floats and music, there were several stages where schools and other villages danced, sang, drummed. A group of farmers from one of the villages that my organization works with came for dinner to Ouan's house too and then with us to the fair. Their village has a woman leader - the only one of the 92 villages in their district. Her story could be a whole other blog post.

But the pictures don't capture the feel of the hot evening, the smells, and the sounds. The video, which I hope to edit today, will at least capture the sounds.

Don Young Exit

From the Alaska Report's video of Don Young addressing the Republican Convention in Anchorage. The audio kept cutting out, but throughout the video, we see Don Young and the EXIT sign.

New Temple Festival - Part 1 - Dinner

Ouan from work invited us to dinner for tonight and to go to his local village Wat. (Village here is in the sense of how a local district is divided up). Here's the new Bot at the Wat that is the cause for the celebration. Nine years and 10 Million Baht later, here it is. This was a shot I got before dinner.
Then we were served a Northern dish - Khao Soi - yellow noodles, with a delicious curry.

I have a zillion more pictures to post of the fair - and a video tape - and there's dragons and fire breathing, but I'm falling asleep here now. So that will have to wait until tomorrow morning.

Rocky Road Ripple

This is for Phil, but everyone else can enjoy it too. Thanks go to Thomaz Delgado Kardos for finding and posting this video.

Saturday Morning Birds

Between the cicadas and the bird songs, and some background hammers for percussion, our Saturday concert goes on and on. With various birds making cameo appearances.



There were a number of birds I couldn't catch on camera and flitted in and out so quickly or just far enough that it was hard to even know what they were. And I still haven't gotten the low Toop Toop Toop Toop call of the coucal, but it's out there all the time, so one day I'll get it. I'm pretty sure this is a greater coucal. It's hard to tell exactly how big it is without a lesser nearby to compare, but it seemed pretty big. And we didn't see any white streaks in the wing feathers.

And again, I think the birds in the video are black drongos - there were some greater racket tails flying around again, but getting them in flight with their long tails is a challenge.

Beware the Ides of March

It is the 14th of March already here in Thailand, so it seems a good time to remember the famous words from Shakespeare's Julius Caeser.

Soothsayer
Caesar!

CAESAR
Ha! who calls?

CASCA
Bid every noise be still: peace yet again!

CAESAR
Who is it in the press that calls on me?
I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music,
Cry 'Caesar!' Speak; Caesar is turn'd to hear.

Soothsayer
Beware the ides of March.

CAESAR
What man is that?

BRUTUS
A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.

CAESAR
Set him before me; let me see his face.

CASSIUS
Fellow, come from the throng; look upon Caesar.

CAESAR
What say'st thou to me now? speak once again.

Soothsayer
Beware the ides of March.

CAESAR
He is a dreamer; let us leave him: pass.
(Thanks for the quote from The Literature Network)

According to Merriam Webster the Ides fall on

the 15th day of March, May, July, or October or the 13th day of any other month in the ancient Roman calendar; broadly : this day and the seven days preceding it

National Geographic tells us more about that bloody day in the year 44 BCE. And perhaps Ropi, the Roman expert, will too. I checked, and he has, but not because of Julius, but because of the event this link to Wikipedia tells us:

The revolution in Hungary grew into a war for independence from Habsburg rule.

Many of its leaders and participants, including Lajos Kossuth, István Széchenyi, Sándor Petőfi, Józef Bem, are among the most respected national figures in Hungarian History, and the anniversary of the revolution's outbreak, March 15 is one of Hungary's three national holidays.