I’m going to play the devil’s advocate here and describe the worst possible terrorist attack scenario that could happen: A multiple city nuclear attack on US soil. I’m not saying this is what will happen. But it is what could happen. If I make those tasked with the responsibility of ensuring your safety think about it, this is a start. And if it gets the emergency services planning how to deal with terror attacks plan for the worst, perhaps this will help save a lot of lives. Most of all, I hope to make you start thinking about the unthinkable.

Leave aside the Iraq and Iran issues for the moment. I don’t believe they are where the real threat lies. The rhetoric coming out of Washington trying to paint Iran as the devil sounds too much like the lying justifications they trotted out for starting the Iraq war. No, I think the real threat comes from Afghanistan. With the resurgence of Al Queda in Afghanistan, rumors are surfacing that predict a nuclear attack in America. How credible is this threat?

Al Queda is training more terrorists right now. Soon, there will be dozens, if not hundreds, of fanatics ready to die for their lost cause. They will be ready to bring the war to America. And that attack will most likely be nuclear. What better way to inflict the most harm? After 9/11, only a nuclear attack could be more devastating.

Ever since 9/11 it has been glaringly obvious to everyone that the emergency services in the US are woefully ill prepared for almost any emergency involving more than a few dozen people. Worse, they don’t have contingency plans ready for a terrorist nuclear attack.

Before I go into that, let’s examine what form a nuclear attack will take.

We tend to think of nuclear bombs like those in military arsenals. Getting or building one of those is no easy task. Even the Iranians, given a head start back in the 1950’s by the US, have not been able to produce enough fissionable material needed to produce a bomb. The terrorists don’t have access to the sophisticated machinery or facilities needed to make a real nuclear wepon. Their only chace is to steal one, or buy one on the black market; not an easy task.

But the terrorists don’t need a real military-style nuclear bomb. They just need to make a nuclear explosion. And for that, all they need is a few ounces of nuclear material.

It’s easy enough to build a small, ‘dirty’ bomb. No need for a sophisticated device. The terrorists will have to smuggle in the nuclear material to America; they don’t need much. They will also have to build the bomb in America, so they will need to use easily available materials. If they can create a simple bomb loaded with nuclear material, even degraded materials will do, that would be enough.

The bomb need only be big enough to distribute the nuclear material in the explosives so that it is blown out and onto the wind where it can spread far and wide. The easiest way to do this is to pack a small plane with the bomb material and explode it a few thousand feet or so above a city. It is unlikely that they would explode just one plane over a city, either. They will probably explode at least 4 or more to ensure wide coverage. Their aim will be to inflict as much damage and suffering as possible, and to sow fear and terror in the populace. There will be no warning. They will just explode their bombs. Once the nuclear material drifts down onto the populace, the real terror will start.

We have already seen that they are capable of coordinating several teams for the attack on the Twin Towers. They have had more than enough time since then to plan their next attack. The 9/11 attack was bad enough. It has already sapped too much confidence and strength from the American people. Imagine what a coordinated nuclear attack on several US cities would do.

Given this scenario the next question is, where will they explode the bombs?

Letting off a single bomb would be terrifying. But letting off bombs in 5 or 6 cities would be devastating. What US cities would make the best targets then?

My guess is New York city, Washington DC, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, Las Vegas and Los Angeles: New York because it is the financial center, and the very ‘heart’ of the US. It is also compacted into a small enough area that any bombs would effectively destroy Manhattan Island and seriously affect the surrounding areas. Millions of people would die. They wouldn’t die all at once. In fact, the initial number of dead will be small in any explosion. But as the nuclear affected dust spreads, the numbers of dead and seriously ill will grow rapidly.

Washington is an obvious choice. Kill the seat of power, and you kill the country.

Chicago and surrounding areas are thickly populated. Millions would die there. Kill Chicago and you kill the US car industry. No cars, no demand for oil, and the terrorists would get their wish to return to their medieval lifestyle while America sinks into chaos and oblivion.

Miami could be a target because so many people flock there. It also has a reputation as a vice-ridden city, and the terrorists are all moral people who want to stop us enjoying our lives, aren’t they?

An attack on Dallas, the center of the oil industry, would seriously affect America’s oil industry and probably stop the country’s reliance on oil. This would take the country back to the dark ages, something the terrorists fully understand.

Las Vegas and Los Angeles are both seen as centers of sin and vice. If the terrorists want to reinforce their point, they have to target these two cities.

Can America Cope? Would it Recover?

As it stands now, emergency services would not be able to cope at all. Where are the plans for this type of attack? Has anyone undergone any training to deal with huge numbers of people afflicted with nuclear maladies? What about hospitals or emergency treatment stations? Who is responsible for organizing this type of emergency response?

The first step would be to try and clean up the radioactive material. This will be extremely difficult. The explosions will pulverize it and spread it in a fine dust for miles around. It will drift down and lodge everywhere and anywhere.

People and animals out in the open will inhale it. These will be the first casualties. As more people are exposed to affected surfaces, they will also fall ill and die. The wind will drift the fine nuclear particles over a wide area. It will be impossible to find it all, so the effects will be cumulative for a long time to come.

Recovery? Perhaps, but those left behind would face a vastly different future than the one we all love and enjoy now. It would be very dangerous to step outside without being fully covered, and then undergoing decontamination before stepping inside again.

Solutions?

There is a simple solution, but so far none of the politicians in Washington has even mentioned, much less discussed, how to go about it.

We all know that the terrorists are hiding out and training in the eastern regions of Afghanistan and the Pakistani border. General Musharraf claims to be against terrorism. He knows where the terrorists are, but he is doing very little to combat them. Bush is afraid of upsetting Musharraf, so nothing gets done. This just gives the terrorists even more time to perfect their plans.

The obvious solution is to send fleets of bombers into the areas where the terrorists are and bomb them flat today. No quarter given. These people are all terrorists, even if most of them are not actively participating in the war. If they are supporting the terrorists, they must take the consequences

Women and children will be killed as well you say, throwing your hands up in horror at the idea?

Think about this. Those very same women are the wives and mothers of the terrorists. They believe in the same agenda. Their children will grow up to believe the same thing and continue the terror. These people are like a cancer on mankind. There is only one way to treat a cancer. You cut it out and eliminate it from the body using whatever method is the most effective.

So what if Musharraf bleats and complains? If he was really serious about his promise to stop the terrorists he would have taken severe action already. He hasn’t, so let him complain!

The US already has the planes and bombs in place in the Persian gulf. But instead of allowing Bush to start a war with Iran, we must demand that he sends the bombers after the terrorists. The bombs must keep on falling until every last man, woman, and child terrorist is dead. There can be no half measures in this war. Then send in the troops to secure the area and provide aid so that poverty is eliminated and ordinary people have a chance to lead better lives.

A More Effective Long-term Solution

Why have so many Muslims turned to terror in the last 30 years?

There is no simple answer to this, but there are some obvious reasons.

The biggest problem is America’s continuing blind support for Israel. The Arabs see this as a grave injustice. The Israelis are constantly belligerent. They have been attacking Arabs ever since their country was born. The Americans supply sophisticated weapons to the Israelis so that they can ‘protect’ themselves. But protect themselves from what? Gangs of stone-throwing youths? Gunmen with small arms or rockets? Human bombs? Sure, the Arabs are doing this, but what about the Israelis? They use the latest weapons supplied by the US to kill Arabs indiscriminately. And once they occupy a Palestinian area they move in and bulldoze the Palestinian’s homes so that they have nowhere to live.

Imagine if the Israelis lived next door to America and they kept on doing this, wouldn’t Americans fight back with everything they have? Wouldn’t Americans be angry?

The second problem is that most Arab states have paternalistic, strong governments that keep the common people down and poor. Even though many Arab countries have unimaginable wealth very little of it filters down. Everywhere you look in the Arab world you see poverty, a lack of basic amenities, and no social services to help their citizens.

Saudi Arabia, America’s strongest ‘ally’ in the Middle East, is the worst offender in this regard. Yet, because it has so much oil, the American government turns a blind eye to the barbaric methods the Saudi’s employ to govern their people. The executioner with his sword is lauded publicly on TV for the wonderful job he is doing chopping off people’s hands and heads.

Women are treated like animals. They are not allowed to drive, or even to venture outside unless the man of the house gives them permission. They must cover themselves from head to toe when they do go out.

The religious police are everywhere, watching to make sure that everyone abides by the strict rules imposed on them by their dissolute rulers under the guise of religious purity. Yet, many of  those same rulers act totally depraved when they leave their own country. They go to places like Pattaya in Thailand, or Amsterdam, where they hire prostitutes and drink themselves senseless every day.

These are the real problems that face the Arabs. This is why the Arabs are angry, and why they see America as the Great Satan. Because Americans don’t know and don’t care.

It’s time for Americans to wake up and start demanding a major shift in political policy. Instead of wasting all the money currently being spent on arms and men to fight in Iraq, funnel the money to the Arabs instead. But not to their governments. The money must be spent on helping the poor. It must be used to encourage self-sufficiency and a desire for freedom from tyranny. Once the Arabs see their lives improving, they will demand more from their leaders. Eventually, social and political changes will encourage a better life for all instead of the select few in power.

Before this can happen, though, the American people need to educate themselves on what is going on in the Arab world. They need to go there and see for themselves. Perhaps a new and revitalized Peace Corps would be the first step. Send young Americans out to work with the people and learn for themselves. With knowledge comes power, and that power could be channeled towards building a better world.

America is running out of time, and out of options. Even now, the terrorists are plotting another attack. The current Bush government has been a disaster. Yet, despite this, the politicians would rather sit on their hands and do nothing than implement impeachment. There is only one choice if America is to withstand the assaults on its freedoms from within and without. The American people must wake up, open their eyes, and determine to become the true torchbearers for democracy and freedom they once were.

If we do this, there will be no need to worry about preparing for a nuclear holocaust on American soil. So what’s it to be? The decision is yours. Make sure your Congressman knows that you want a safe America, and a safe world.

Recent events in Thailand have created a deep feeling of resentment, unease, and distrust among people. Not only foreigners, but Thais also are upset. The Thais are generally a happy-go-lucky people. They smile throughout adversity. They don’t worry too much about tomorrow. As long as they are happy now, they say Mai Pen Rai to the future.

But not these days. Many Thais have mentioned to me that they are unhappy. They have no reason to smile any more. They feel insecure. Even though the government has been concentrating their attention on the foreigners, Thais are feeling the effects anyway. The economy has slowed down so badly that it’s hard for them to make money. Many are returning to their homes upcountry as they lose their jobs. I doubt things are going to get better any time soon.

With the new changes to the Foreign Business Act (FBA) currently under consideration, a lot of companies with foreign directors are going to face severe problems when the act passes. Either they will have to restructure and lose their ability to manage their own business. Or they will have to close up shop and leave the country. There doesn’t seem to be any alternative. I can’t see too many foreign owners giving up their companies to Thais. That means a lot of small to medium sized companies will fold, leaving their Thai staff jobless.

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The Foreign Business Act (FBA)

There has been a lot of speculation on changes to the Thai Foreign Business Act and how it will affect land purchase by foreigners. Before I explain what the changes are, it might be a good idea to look at why the Thai government is preparing to make these changes.

All this came about because ex-Prime Minister Thaksin sold parts of his telecommunications company to Temasak Holdings from Singapore. Using a loophole in the law, he didn’t pay any taxes. This raised the ire of the people and led to his downfall. The government is determined to close this loophole so that another Temasak deal will never be possible. But that’s a bit like throwing out the baby with the bathwater. I think the end result will be a disaster for the Thailand property market. Foreign property investors will be shut out. An end to the income from land sales will have a severe impact on the economy and on ordinary Thais. Let’s face it, foreigners have been the driving force in the growing property market up to now.
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Thailand is going through an upheaval now that is causing a lot of confusion. It may help to put things in perspective if we look back in time to see what has influenced decisions being made today. Rather than looking at just the property market in this assessment, I offer some insights into what will happen in the future if we don’t all make some hard decisions today.

Let’s start way back in 1963 when I first came to Thailand. Back then I was lucky enough to be invited to an International Boy Scout Jamboree. My troop (I was a Queen’s Scout) traveled up by train from Butterworth in Malaysia. The trip took us through many small villages surrounded by rice fields or rubber plantations that soon merged into the jungle. There was a lot of jungle around way back then, with plenty of tigers and crocs too.

As we arrived in Bangkok we crossed the steel bridge over the river, through more rice paddies almost all the way to Hua Lamphong. The Friendship Highway to Esarn had not been built yet, and Thailand was covered in verdant jungle everywhere.

Politics in those days weren’t much different to today’s unfortunate situation. The army generals ruled the day, and the 60-family elite ensured that Thai ‘culture’ was upheld to maintain their traditions and way of life.

My next trip here was in 1967 as a guest of the Thai government with the Royal Australian Air Force to fight the Commies from Ubon Ratchathani during the Viet Nam war. You can read about what we faced here: http://searchwarp.com/swa77414.htm. This is when the rot set in and Thailand really started to change. It was gradual at first, but it accelerated as time went on.

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My recent article, What is Democracy? first published in StickmanBangkok.com, sparked a heap of responses. Going through them all, it was noticeable that many Americans and Australians condemned my reasons for supporting the coup. Foreigners living here, and people from Europe, supported my ideas. So, I thought it would be instructive to discuss some more background on the coup and explain in more detail why it was a good thing for Thailand.

Many Americans and Australians stated that while they did not like the Thaksin government, he was democratically elected and therefore he should not have been ousted. A noble sentiment, but we are living in the real world here, a world where rampant corruption was the norm throughout the Thaksin regime.

One American wrote that it looked like I was saying that the people of Bangkok decided to oust Thaksin, and that the people in Esarn were just dumb buffalos whose votes and ideas didn’t count.

Well, he was almost right. The fact is Thaksin used his huge wealth to buy the vote. When you buy a vote, or get your brother to influence vote counting, or rig a voting machine to win an election, is the winner really a democratically elected leader? Or is he a usurper? Do bought votes count as democracy? Are sheer numbers the litmus test of democracy? Is this what those critics meant?

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Reading the negative comments by Western leaders and the press on the coup in September I am appalled at their negative reactions to it. They judge this very popular event by their own warped standards without taking into account the Thai peoples’ needs.

After Thaksin was elected the first time I had high hopes for him. He was ‘popular’, whatever that means. He was already rich, so I figured he would not do the same as the old guard politicians and go for the money. He offered much-needed social changes. My only reservation was the rumor that he had bought votes in the northeast. Even then, I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps his party representatives took the initiative themselves without his support?

My high hopes were dashed within days of his election. Instead of bringing in fresh new faces to help him govern, he brought in old-guard politicians like General Chavalit, Sanoh Thienthong, Banharn Silpa-Archa, and Newin Chichob. These guys couldn’t join the obviously successful Thai Rak Thai fast enough. Their murky pasts included accusations of corruption, drug dealing, and vote buying to stay in power. It was immediately obvious that these, and many of the other politicians suddenly latching onto TRT, were not the sort of people who would work for the good of the people.

Despite this, we have seen that democracy in Thailand is well and truly entrenched. The people have made it abundantly clear they did not approve of Thaksin’s corruption or some of the more stupid policies he initiated. This is not to say that everything he did was bad. He did bring in some good social changes, and I have heard from some highly placed sources that they are lobbying for the next government to retain them; with some improvements of course. But closing the gas stations at night to stop people wasting gas, or banning the sale of liquor and cigarettes at certain times of the day were signs of lunacy. Cracking down on entertainment places instead of tackling the root cause of the drug problem was even more lunacy. All it did was make Thailand look bad internationally, and tourists started going to other holiday destinations instead. It was obvious they were implemented to curry favor with the bluenoses and gain popular approval of the xenophobes.

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I don’t usually take much notice of conspiracy theories: If it’s a theory then that’s all it’s likely to be. But there is a growing body of evidence that the WTC 9/11 building collapses were not what the government reported. I am becoming convinced that outside forces, apart from Al Queda, may have been responsible as well.

I have included links to videos that explain the points I make. It will take you perhaps 3 hours to read the article and view all the videos. If you care for civilization and would like to see the US regain its prestige and trust in the world, please do take the time.

I have included footage that purports to support the WTC 9/11 report submitted by the government appointed inquiry. And you will view other video clips of experts from major technical institutes, including MIT, that will demonstrate quite clearly that the building collapses were not due to planes crashing into them. In fact, they go further and openly say that the collapses could only have happened by controlled demolition.

Who would have benefited from destroying these very visible signs of American power and pride? Many conspiracy ‘theorists’ point the finger at the US government. But my investigations lead me to a completely different set of villains with their own agenda. However, before I examine that, let’s look into how I believe the destruction occurred.

First, we need to remember that the towers were immensely strong structures. They were built to withstand hurricane force winds. They could easily bend and sway, and then return to the vertical without any danger to their integral structure.

The central core contained 47 specially designed load-bearing steel support columns that enabled the two towers to withstand incredible stresses from all directions. As you will see in the videos, the fires that affected the core columns on the floor where the aircraft hit were barely damaged. The insulation sprayed onto them was almost totally destroyed, but the columns themselves remained in surprisingly good condition. Even where they were exposed to very high heat, only small portions of the beams suffered any melting. Nor did they show much structural damage. They were merely bent slightly out of shape. In fact, they are surprisingly undamaged. Yet the government 9/11 report maintains that they were completely melted by the aviation fuel fire. Obviously, the evidence before your eyes is much more believable.

In addition, the core of 47 steel columns was designed so that they would not create a ‘chimney’ in case of fire. They were constructed in fireproof sections designed to limit the amount of oxygen the could flow inside the central space. In effect, this meant that the fires caused by the burning aviation fuel were relatively ‘cool’. They would not have been able to generate enough heat to reach the melting point of steel.

Other evidence also points to other factors that are much more likely to have caused the towers to collapse. None of that evidence is connected to the planes flying into them. I will go into this in more detail below.
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I am an atheist. I don’t believe in a ‘god’. I don’t believe in a heaven or a hell. I don’t believe that we need religion to force us to behave peacefully, justly, and honestly towards each other. John Lennon wrote ‘Imagine there’s no heaven’. Instead, I would like you to imagine a lot more than anything John said.

Imagine if we tore down the churches, the mosques, the temples and all the other places of worship, and used them to build houses for the poor and homeless instead. Wouldn’t the world be a better place?

Imagine if we made all the priests, monks, nuns, rabbis and other so-called holy people disrobe, leave their cloisters, and become productive members of society instead. We would have legions of mostly highly educated men (and some women) helping mankind, instead of hiding their lives away. They would have to face life, instead of spending their lives preparing to die. Fear drives these people. They need to overcome their fear and learn to live every day, dare I say it, like it is their last day. One day, it will be their last day. Will they be able to look back on their lives when that day comes and be proud of the life they have lived? Will they be able to say that they have helped others become better people? Hiding behind robes and walls does not make them better people, does it? We have all heard of the priests who sodomized children. The terrorists use religion as their excuse to murder thousands of people. But the terrorists are misfits who cannot face their lives. They prefer to die, and selfishly take many other people with them. Do any of these people, holy people or terrorists, deserve our admiration or support?

Imagine if we stopped wasting paper and ink printing holy books and used the materials to print children’s educational books to teach rational thought instead of superstition. Those books would teach children how to question ideas and learn to think for themselves. We could even employ the disrobed holy people to teach from those books. As a result, they would feel so much better because they would be helping prepare the next generation to make a useful contribution to the world and their fellow man. Isn’t that something to aspire to?

Imagine if we stopped classifying people by their religion, or their race, and started looking at them as human beings instead. We would see that they have the same dreams, aspirations and needs as we do. We all have to eat. We all want to love and be loved. We all love our children dearly. None of us would feel hatred if we could only see each other as people. Have you ever looked closely at the people of other religions you have been vilifying? What do you see?

Imagine if we stopped praying for things in the hope that a ‘supreme being’ might actually care what we want. Who can honestly prove that prayer works? Let’s be realistic here. If you were to set up an experiment to have millions of, say, Christians around the world join in prayer at the same time to stop the terrorists, do you really think those prayers would work? Of course not! Instead, it would be far more productive to sit down together and examine what is causing the problem and then work out a solution rationally. You can apply this principal to anything in your life. Your boss is considering a promotion in the company? Will praying help you get it? Or would you be better off thinking about how to impress the boss? If you think about what your boss needs and expects from you, and then you gratify his expectation, you will increase your chances many time over. Prayer can’t do that. I know where I would bet my money, don’t you?

Imagine if you saved your money instead of giving it to religions. Most divorces result from financial problems in one way or another. That money could help provide a better education for your children. It could provide a security cushion for you and your family so that you are happier together. Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it does make it easier to achieve your goals, and that is how you can be happier. The money you give to your religion merely helps enslave people to one way of thinking. Wouldn’t you rather be free and happy?

Imagine if you were to start thinking for yourself, instead of quoting verses from books written by men hundreds or even thousands of years ago. What do those men have to do with our modern world? Did they have the knowledge we take for granted today? Even the most rabid religionist knows that the world is round. How? It has been proved by scientists. What is the point of forbidding people to eat certain kinds of food, such as pork or beef, simply because some ignorant ‘holy man’ a long time ago said you shouldn’t eat them? Actually, the ban on eating pork, or butchering animals to Muslim halal or Jewish kosher standards made sense when they had no refrigerators. Draining the blood ensured that the meat would stay fresher longer. Their ban on eating certain type of seafood made sense for the same reason. But it makes absolutely no sense these days, does it? Religious leaders turned the ban into a weapon to control their followers. Instead of saying, “That doesn’t make sense any more”, you continue to blindly follow the old ways, instead of thinking rationally and making decisions based on common sense. Why not free your mind, body and soul instead?

Imagine if world leaders were to stop using religion as an excuse to grab and hold onto power. We all know that power corrupts and that absolute power corrupts absolutely. So why do we continue to let unbalanced men hungry for power who cannot think rationally lead us into wars that destroy lives and cause so much misery? How could anyone capable of thinking rationally continue to believe in any religion in this day and age?

If you were thinking rationally, religion would not make any sense at all. Instead of quoting from the Bible, the Koran, or any other ‘holy’ text, you would be thinking rationally. You would be thinking for yourself. You would not blindly follow rules set by someone from thousands of years ago with a fraction of our knowledge of the world. You would care about your fellow man, instead of trying to classify or demonize them because they don’t think the same as you. Wouldn’t that make more sense?

Any rational man, looking at religion, can see that religious thought is ‘wrong thought’. It robs you of the power to make rational decisions. Instead of looking for rational, humanist solutions to problems you continue to make the same mistakes over and over again. It blinds you to the beauty and love that exists in the world today. Only rational thought, and a belief in mankind, can turn our world into a paradise NOW. Do you really want to live your life trying to fulfill unrealistic expectations set by religion in the hope you will go to a ‘better place’ after you die? What about the here and now? Doesn’t it make so much better sense to work to achieve paradise today? To make your life, and the lives of everyone around you, better?

Isn’t it time we stopped the cycle and resolved to turn our world into a better place instead? If enough of us start thinking like this we can do it. But you have to want to do it. No one else, especially ‘god’, ‘allah’ or any other deity, will do it for you.

The hippies back in the 1960’s said, “What if they gave a war and nobody went?”

I ask you, “What if you gave up religion and started living your life for today instead?”

No one has ever come back from the dead. Not even Jesus, despite what is written in the Bible. No one has ever come back and told us they actually saw god or the devil when they died. It just doesn’t happen. We only get this life. Let’s make it a good life. Believe in yourself…not in some mythical deity no one has ever seen. Give up religion and become a thinking, rational human being instead. It’s only common sense, isn’t it?

I’m a child of the Flower Generation. That doesn’t mean I used to go around wearing flowers in my hair, well not much of the time. But we believed that we could create a better world than the one our parents had given us. We were called all sorts of names: Baby Boomers, Hippies, and a lot of much worse names. Among the things we thought we could change was the ‘slavery’ of women.

Back in the 1950’s the ideal was for a woman to get married, have kids and become a good wife and mother. She was not allowed to have any ideas of her own. Instead, she was expected to keep a spotless house, look after the kids, and cater to her husband’s every whim. She did what her husband told her, submitted to his tyranny, and shut up. She was, in effect, a household slave.

By the time the 1960’s rolled around many women were getting burned out by this regime. Along came the ‘little yellow pill’ the Rolling Stones sang about. Women were getting zonked out all day just to cope with their humdrum little lives. That’s when many of them started taking an interest in the Feminist Movement.

The feminist movement is not a modern invention. As far back as the early 19th century women tried to change how men treated them. Women like Susan B. Anthony, Clementina Black, Elizabeth Blackwell, and Mary Ann Shad Cary the first American black woman to graduate from Howard University Law School and first Black woman to vote in a federal election, were the real pioneers.

Then in the late 1960’s along came Germaine Greer, an Australian feminist who advocated women burn their bras to free themselves. So then we men had lots of floppy boobs to look at. That was nice. Unfortunately, this just made men think the feminists were a bunch of daft dames who weren’t worth taking seriously.

On the other side of the coin, Bella Abzug, a civil rights and labor attorney elected to Congress from New York City, and even Madelaine Albright the first female Secretary of State, made their mark in the US government and struck telling blows for the feminist movement. They were the vanguard of a new wave of women who were moving into what had been male-only domains before.

But to us common men, feminism was a totally new concept we had to come to terms with. Unfortunately, we were swayed by our wives and girlfriends who thought feminism meant a reversal in the traditional roles. Suddenly, we had women trying to wear the trousers and dictate how things should work. The teething pains were many and difficult.

The result was a generation of male wimps who were too scared to argue with their women. Instead, they bowed down to all the feminist demands. We were expected to become much more ‘touchy feely’, more in touch with our ‘feminine side’, and to do what our women expected.

Not all of us thought this was a good idea, especially as we saw what was happening to some of our male brethren. The sight of a man crying at a chick-movie was just sickening. When I met a woman and she started trying to tell me what to do she soon got a shock. I would explain to her that there were some things I would do and some I would not. In other words, I marked the line that she was not allowed to cross. Some of them were horrified and the relationship ended right there and then. Good riddance!

Overall, though, I found that showing them who was boss paid off big. I gained their respect. Let’s face it, women need to be pulled into line sometimes. They get emotional and manipulating at times, especially around that time of the month. That’s when men need to be especially vigilant and not take any shit from them.

Now don’t get me wrong. I have no trouble with caring what my women need, both in and out of the sack. I am quite happy to empathize with their feelings. But I drew the line at kow-towing to their every whim, especially if they start using their ‘feminine wiles’ to try and make me do what they want. For example, if my wife starts getting bitchy near that time of the month I head out the door for a couple of days on a business trip. Even if I don’t have any clients to go and visit, I go somewhere and conduct research for my business. Pattaya is always a good place business! – Stick> By the time I get home again she has got over it and things are back on an even keel again. I get some work done, she appreciates the time alone, so we both win.

Selfish? No, I don’t think so. I think it has preserved our marriage and made it much stronger. She respects me and knows she has to behave herself or I leave. It also creates an element of insecurity, not knowing if I will just keep going one day. She tries extra hard to make nice-nice when I get back.

THE FEMINAZIS

A few years ago there was a story in the Bangkok Post about a group of feminists who had arrived in Thailand determined to ‘save’ the poor girls working in the sex industry. They descended on Patpong and started trying to preach to the girls there. A few weeks later there was another story in the Post about the results of their efforts. One of their spokesmen announced that they were changing their focus. They had come to realize that the girls weren’t the victims. The men were! I had to laugh at that. It didn’t take them too long to realize the reality of the situation, did it?

Now, before you start reaching for your pen to point out my word usage in the paragraph above let me tell you that I refuse to spout that politically correct rubbish the feminists demand. I will not use spokesperson, or even worse spokeswoman. The fact is, spokesman is the original and legitimate word to use, no matter what gender the speaker.

When men first come here they are victims of the Western feminazis. They are amazed at the totally different interaction between men and women in Thailand. Of course, this is what unhinges so many of us too. I can’t deny it. I went through it just like you, so don’t feel too bad. The truth is, when we get here we are like kids in a sweet shop. So many to choose from and so easy!

But when you have lived here a while you look around and realize that there is a heck of a lot more to Thailand than meets the eye. Take our reaction to the Thai men. So many of them seem like kids, even when they are in their 30’s and 40’s. Why is this?

Looks are deceiving. They are not assertive like us. They seem to be very unassuming and ineffective. On the surface this is true. If you go out for a night on the town with them they will get drunk and make inane and silly comments. They really let their hair down. You have to be careful though. They will try and give you girls, or get you into situations you would never even consider back home. You have to walk a fine line between keeping them happy, not insulting them, and maintaining your own dignity. They can be very childlike one minute and then as hard-nosed as any western businessman the next, but in a totally different way.

If you don’t believe me, try doing business with a Thai man. You will soon find that he is very polite, malleable and eager to please while you talk to him. However, as soon as you walk away, everything you have agreed may unravel if it doesn’t suit him. He will then start asking you to make changes until he gets the deal he wants. No matter how hard you try to steer things back to your original agreement, nothing will happen if you don’t start compromising. If you do not negotiate very carefully you will walk away with little or nothing of your original deal in hand. The Thai male can be a lot tougher than you imagined when he wants something.

They get this from their women. The truth is, Thai women exert a very strong influence on society. There is no need for a Thai feminist movement. They have run things behind the scenes for centuries. They coddle their sons well beyond the time western mums do. This is why Thai men seem so ‘weak’ to us. They are used to being looked after by their women. They don’t have to worry about equality. Both sexes in Thailand know what they are and don’t try to be what they are not….well, with the exception of the katoeys, but that is another story, isn’t it?

Handling Thai bargirls is an art and if you are a newcomer you are going to fall into all the traps these girls can spring. Just because they look sweet and appealing and they are good in bed, don’t be fooled. They are tough and ruthlessly devoted to prying as much money out of your wallet as possible. They have centuries of practice manipulating men behind them. They will lie, cry, get angry, and accuse you of wrongdoing when you know full well she is the one at fault. You could catch her in bed with another man and she will deny it without wavering. She will turn it completely around and accuse you instead of some imagined wrongdoing. She will get you so confused that you won’t know where you stand.

If you think western women wear the pants, then Thai women wear full suits of body armor. The only way you can win and have a good time without getting taken to the cleaners is to realize this and be prepared to make the rules. If she threatens to go find a richer man, shrug and tell her to go. Turn around and walk away. I guarantee she will come running right back to you when she sees you are serious. If she doesn’t, what have you lost?

Stop thinking she is the only girl for you. Bullshit! There are millions of them waiting for you. All you have to do is make the choice. Are you going to be the victim the feminazis have turned you into? Or are you going to take back your manhood and enjoy the fruits Thailand has to offer? The choice is yours.

What are the two most controversial subjects for discussion? Why politics and religion of course, so I am going to wrap them both up in a rant that has been on my mind for a long time. So here goes. Hang on to your seats, because this is going to be a doozy.

I was raised as a Roman Catholic. My mother was a rabid catholic who forced us kids to go to church every Sunday. Since I also went to a catholic school I had religion rammed down my throat by the nuns every day too. But as I progressed through primary school I began to question things. I just couldn’t reconcile the teachings with what went on in my life. I can’t remember too many days when I didn’t get at least one beating at home or school. These weren’t just a quick cuff across the ears or something. No. At school it was a cane across the back of the legs or across the middle joints of my fingers. I still have broken veins there as a result. I was just a normal high-spirited kid. I wasn’t doing anything evil. I guess the nuns had a different viewpoint. I remember one told me I would go to hell if I looked down a woman’s cleavage. Oh, oh! I’m doomed!

The beatings at home were sometimes even more savage, especially if my mother lost her temper, which was often. Out would come Dad’s belt, or a piece of wood, or whatever was handy, and she would lay it on for all she was worth. Now she’s old she complains that I live too far away and I never go and see her. I wonder why?

What finally made me realize that the Catholics were not for me was the day I watched the local priest tie the school bully to a pole in the schoolyard and horsewhip the kid in front of the whole school. Now don’t get me wrong. That kid was the bane of our lives. He would beat us smaller kids up all the time. What really got me thinking though was that I was watching a ‘man of god’ who smoked like a chimney, had a severe drinking problem, and bet the takings from the collection plate on the horses beating up a 12 year old. Everyone knew about the priest’s peccadilloes, but no one would say anything. He should have been setting an example of love and caring. Instead, he was worse than many of the ‘sinners’ who went into his confessional box.

Although I continued going to church every Sunday until well into my early teens, it was only to appease my mother. I had no interest in the boring sermons, the smelly incense, and the bullying priest.

It wasn’t until I left home that I made the final break. From then on I took very little interest in religion, until I ran into a bunch of do-gooder Salvation Army people one day when I was in my early twenties. I was going through a bad time and they helped me get back on my feet. I was tempted to join them at first. But their tacky uniforms and the hymn singing on street corners playing badly out of tune instruments to a bunch of jeering sinners didn’t really turn me on.

A couple of years later I was wandering through Hyde Park in Sydney when I spotted a large crowd gathered around one of the soapbox speakers. He wasn’t much to look at. Webster had bad teeth and terrible halitosis, a gift from the British National Health. His clothes were very English working class. Not very clean, and a bit threadbare. His oratory, however, was incredible. He claimed to be a Warlock in the Wicca religion. It was obvious he was well read. He could discourse on a wide variety of topics. The big attraction, though, was how he handled hecklers. Webster would shoot them down in flames with a pointedly amusing retort that left most of them dumbstruck. It was a pleasure to watch him in action.

I got to know him and he invited me to join the after speech soirees at his home. There I met about 20 other seekers like myself. Perhaps Webster could enlighten us.

I listened to him for months, absorbing the wisdom he had culled from the ancient Druid religion. He was watching me too, and one day he pulled me aside and told me that he didn’t think I believed in him enough. He was right. After he told us one day that we should never have inoculations I started having my doubts. When I asked what he proposed instead, he said to use natural healing instead. If natural healing was so wonderful, I asked myself, why hadn’t it eliminated smallpox, measles, and so on long ago? Soon after that I left Webster and his crew of adoring acolytes. I was just too much of a doubter. I needed rational answers that would guide my life. I didn’t need a self-styled guru who demanded total belief and obedience.

However, being a Wiccan did have its advantages at least once. One day a Mormon duo knocked on my door hoping to sell me their brand of tripe. I opened the door, recognized the black trousers, white shirts and black nametag and told them not to waste their breath. I was a Wiccan Warlock. You should have seen the looks on their faces! They backed down the stairs intoning that I was evil, the devil, a blight on mankind, and so on.

I remained a skeptic after that and got on with my life. I traveled and one day I ended up here in Thailand. At first, I thought the Buddhist way of life might be what I was looking for. I went to one of the big temples and met some of the western monks to discuss the Dharma with them. I found some of it very enlightening, but I was still very wary of any organized religion. Thai Buddhism was very organized. I didn’t fancy the regime of denial imposed on the monks. That wasn’t for me. In addition, I found some of the western monks were somewhat naïve. I was pretty sure that some of them couldn’t cope with everyday life and had retreated to the monk hood as a way to avoid life’s hardships. In my mind, they were the walking dead. They had devoted their lives to preparing for death.

Ok. So what was next? I’d looked at two of the three great religions in depth. Neither of them offered me what I was looking for. So one day I went to the Pakistani Embassy and asked if I could have a Koran to study. I was greeted politely and shown into a drab room with a table, two chairs, and walls painted halfway up in institutional green. I sat there patiently wondering what would happen next. The door opened and a dapper man in his mid-thirties with a thin moustache walked in. He introduced himself and asked me if I would mind answering some questions. I had no problem with that, and told him so.

He asked me about my religious beliefs.
Currently none, but I was a seeker, I assured him.

If they gave me a copy of the Koran would I look after it and ensure that it was never desecrated?
Sure thing, I told him. I want to read it to get some insight into Islam.

Did I think I would convert to Islam?
Well, I can’t answer that right now. My first step is to read the Koran and then think about it.

Would I like to meet with a mullah and have him instruct me in the Koran?
No, not right now. I wouldn’t want to waste anyone’s time at this stage. If, after reading the Koran, I felt I would benefit from further instruction I would return to arrange further instruction and discussion.

And on it went. Eventually, he led me out to reception where a brand new copy of a beautifully bound Koran awaited me. I was asked to sign a book acknowledging that I had taken delivery, and I was ushered out the door by the still smiling dapper man.

I returned home and started to read. I had read the Bible for many years, so when I opened the Koran I was immediately struck by the similarities in the two books. The Koran uses much more flowery language, but the basic story is the same. My old friend the Archangel Gabriel is a very powerful figure in the Koran. He seems to be the avenging arm of Allah. As I read the Suras I got a feel for the philosophy behind Islam. Both the Bible and the Koran have some very violent people and events in them. The Old Testament matches the Koran pretty well there. However, the Bible does preach a lot more peace and love. The Koran dwells more on forcefully converting others to Islam. I don’t recall reading that women were inferior to men and that they should be wrapped completely in black, either. In fact, the Koran talks about women as equals. I wonder why Muslim women don’t do something about gaining their freedom from the tyranny their men have imposed on them?

After considerable thought I realized that Islam was not what I was seeking either. So that left me back to being an atheist again.

Now, one of the problems we atheists face is that we don’t have anywhere we can meet to discuss our non-beliefs. We have no organization. It’s difficult to talk about a belief you don’t have, so we tend to be left out in the cold. Whenever I’m asked what religion I am I have to answer ‘none’, which raises a few eyebrows. Although, if I think having a religion might sway my questioner to do what I want I might say I am Buddhist. I’m not lying. I really do think that Buddhism offers a lot more than the other organized religions. I’m just not the joining type who enjoys going to temples and following worshiping formulas. I prefer to think for myself.

Now, this brings me to the political part of my rant. I believe that governments are elected to run a country efficiently. They should not interfere in our personal lives. They should make sure that the infrastructure is maintained so that it functions properly, and they should collect enough taxes to ensure that they can do their jobs well. That’s all.

Somewhere along the line we seem to have lost sight of what politicians really are. Back in the last couple of centuries, governments tried various social experiments to ‘help’ their constituents. These all failed spectacularly, and in many cases the experiments killed many of the people they were supposed to help.

Then we had the big social revolution of the 1960’s and ‘70’s. I was there and I was a part of it. So many of us were such idealists. We were going to make the world a better place. Of course, you had to smoke dope and drop LSD to really get into the right state to start changing the world. Then along came Charles Manson, Black September, the Munich Olympics massacre, and so on. Suddenly, idealism went down the drain and we stumbled towards the beginning of the 21^st Century.

Along came Bush and his Neocons. Oh my! They narrowly squeaked into power, some would say by stealing the Presidency. No matter. They were in and they took control. The problem was, a large number of Americans were grumbling about it. How to fix the problem?

How convenient. A bunch of Islamic terrorists provided the answer by flying planes into a bunch of buildings. Suddenly, we began hearing about ‘Al Qaeda’. What was this shadowy organization? Oh yeah! Someone called Osama Bin Laden ran it. The trouble is, Osama was an ex-CIA man. He was trained by them, armed by them, and then he broke away from them. So why not pin it all on this ungrateful ingrate? Another problem was that Al Qaeda didn’t actually exist. It still doesn’t exist. Osama doesn’t have an organization. He merely funds any disgruntled ‘terrorist’ who wants to make a statement and hopefully kill himself in the process.

After 9/11 we see the American Constitution being disregarded, a new government organization with the decidedly Nazi sounding name of ‘Homeland Security’ to ‘protect US citizens from terrorist attack’. Unfortunately, the new laws seem to affect American freedoms adversely more than any terrorist. Then it’s hey ho! Off we go to war against a former ally who provided a convenient scapegoat for everything. The problem was, Saddam wasn’t cooperating! Where were the WMD’s Bush and his band of merry fakers had promised us?

No problem. We’ll just keep telling people that we are still looking and when we find a few scraps of old chemical weapons from the 1980’s we’ll tell everyone we found them. Yep! That will work if we keep repeating it enough. We’ll wrap it up in good ol’ Christian ‘faith’ as well, and tell the non-believers that they are the heretics and the bad guys. Repeating the lie until everyone believed it worked for the Nazis and the Communists, didn’t it?

Now, you might have noticed that when Bush came to power, several governments around the world changed at about the same time. Blair in the UK, Howard in Australia, Taksin right here, Koizumi in Japan, and so on. They have all become the little lap dogs of the American prez. When he says poop, they ask how long do you want it, sir?

Like Mr Bush, they have tried to socially reengineer their countries to conform to their extremely conservative agendas. Here, we are not allowed to buy booze or cigarettes at certain times of the day. It doesn’t matter that these are far worse and more addictive than the drugs sold by the thousand plus ‘drug dealers’ who were killed to eliminate the drug trade. They are dead, so who cares? I haven’t noticed any reduction in drunkenness as a result. We just have to go shopping earlier to get our fixings if we want them. Or wait until the early evening to start our debauchery again. Has anyone noticed a reduction in the drug trade either? Nowadays it’s just much better organized and not so well publicized. The kingpins weren’t killed were they? The bluenoses spoil my video movies by blacking out people drinking and smoking, and nipples. But the violence remains in all its graphic gruesomness.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Governments around the world these days are more concerned with telling us how to behave and to do their bidding. Instead, they should be providing the basic requirements to make our lives comfortable and hassle free. Sure, here in Thailand we have a nice new BTS and MRT (both planned and started long before the current government came to power). We have lots of new highways, some of which our grandchildren will still be paying for because of the vast amount of public funding that ‘disappeared’. The expressways that were supposed to link up in Bang Na is a graphic example. And we have the 30 Baht medical scheme that provides such basic medical service it’s probably safer to stay home instead.

In America they have a new way to control the populace: Fear. Fear of the terrorists, that shadowy bunch of people no one has ever been able to find. Maybe some of those people in Gitmo are terrorists. Are they a part of Al Qaeda? I doubt it. Even Osama seems too slippery to be caught. Then again, perhaps no one really wants to catch him. It might be too embarrassing.

The security people who are supposed to be responsible for ensuring the safety of the people have swallowed the lies whole. They are constantly looking for terrorists, while people’s basic human rights and freedoms have gradually been whittled down. These days, you can be arrested in the US simply because someone ‘thinks’ you might be a terrorist, or because you said something that sounded vaguely like something a ‘terrorist’ might say.

It’s a sad world, my friends. Our governments have taken over the role of our consciences, but without any of the common sense we would normally apply. They have tried to impose not only their moral values on us, but their religious beliefs as well. What have we done? Have we let the devil into our midst? Is it too late to reverse things?

Don’t ask me. I’m no one and I don’t even believe in God, or the devil. But I do have a strong belief in mankind. I think the current worldwide political situation is an aberration. Once the main players are sidelined things will get better. We may never go back to the security and comfort we enjoyed before Bush and Co. It up to us to try though, isn’t it?