The Bigger Story

*

In the long running war, with the future of mankind already stolen, they stood at the turning point. And Alex walked out of the hospital against medical advice, surely not long after he had sat with him until 5pm, watching the crowded Thai hospital emergency ward, the dying Thais, the fragile old figure next to him, the concerned daughter, perhaps in her 40s, the useless mother, no doubt distressed at the state of her husband; or that this, too, would happen to her, soon enough. This death in a public ward. Opposite an old monk lay dying; and further down skeletons lay sleeping under thin sheets. And Alex, too, snored quietly most of the time he was there, or mumbled quietly. It was just a bit of research.

Huh, research. Where the dark forces well up from the soul and the sick, bleak treacle that ate through all our lives swamped through the room in a great splash; where he mumbled incoherent over broken glass, the smell of whisky soaking into the floor. He couldn't rescue him anymore. There was no more right thing to do. There were times and places for everything. He decided to flee; or simply, it was time to go. He took a taxi to the airport, Don Meong, the old Bangkok airport, before the glistening new version took over, now just a domestic terminal for cheap airlines, and consequence, consequence, this is what it boiled down to, here in the heat and these terrible faraway places, with a splitting headache and a heart the size of a house; and nowhere to go, not now, not ever.

From here on in one experience would be more or less like the next; because nothing mattered. There was no standard narrative. There was no destination. The FBI man and his gaunt, stern faced friend Wayne had taken Alex to the toilet in the hospital, where he had been unable to go. But five minutes later, back in the public ward, he had pulled out his donkey dick and pissed all over the floor, with the Thais chanting and clapping and screaming, even laughing; when all was lost, lost, because this wasn't the Alex they had known only a few days before. Alex tried to bite the doctor. He tried to bite Wayne. They put him in restraints. He fitted twice overnight. Tom bought him the anti-convulsant medication he needed; because Alex didn't have any money.

And then, surely it must have happened within hours of his leaving, Alex booked himself out of the hospital, against medical advice. Why, why? Why did these deep insanities take over such reasonable, decent, intelligent people. And there was nowhere to go. This situation is going to eat you alive. There will be no remorse. There will be no thank you for everything you give. There is no reward for doing the right thing. Everybody ends in the same place. Except the buddhists, throwing themselves forward into other lives. So he got up and thought, even before he had heard Alex had left the hospital, I'm getting out of here. He walked fifteen sois down hte potted street, through the appalling pollution, past the snarling traffic, already jamming up at 7am, to the only decent coffee anywhere in the area, dismissing the filthy coffee he normally drank in the local market; and sat at The Coffee Place next to MacDonalds next to Om Nut station; and drank lattes at 35 baht a cup; and thought, what the f... am I doing here?

The traditional Thai neighbourhood, with its traditional market; brought him pleasure most mornings. The 10 baht pastries. The 20 baht large orange juices. But all in all this aching place; how much more could he bear of other people's misery; of the little boy pitched forward on the bottom step of the Nana station, filthy, must have been barely two years old; filthy in the pollution and the dust; his mother half way up the stairs, nursing an even younger child. He looked at them. It was no life. And he knew the chains of despair reached further than Alex; that wilfully, or in this case lunatically, throwing your life away, was only part of the greater tragedy, the greater glory; that life, in all its pain and magnificence was only a blink of an eye. That somewhere in the deep background concerned parents rang their hands. And even further back, deeper and deeper into the past and into the evil fabric of things, the true pointlessness of it all manifested. He couldn't watch Alex forever; he couldn't just stay in the hotel and play nurse maid. At some point he had to shrug off the tragedy of other people's lives. Alex would most likely die. Was there anything to be done? He didn't know. He caught a taxi to the airport. He caught a plane to a different place; one of the great miracles of the modern era; within hours of making the decision to leave 30 thousand feet in the air; looking down upon the clouds.

THE BIGGER STORY:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/23/health.care.main/

Washington (CNN) -- President Obama will sign sweeping health care reform legislation into law at the White House on Tuesday, according to two Democratic officials familiar with the planning.

Obama also will hit the road to sell the measure to a still-skeptical public, giving a speech Thursday in Iowa City, Iowa, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said. Obama launched his grass-roots drive for health care reform in Iowa City in May 2007, according to Gibbs.

The bill, which constitutes the biggest expansion of federal health care guarantees in more than four decades, passed the House of Representatives late Sunday night with no Republican support. It was approved by the Senate in December.

A separate compromise package of changes also passed the House on Sunday and still needs to be approved by the Senate. The officials noted that the Senate cannot begin debate on the package before Obama signs the underlying bill into law.

Passage of the bill was a huge boost for Obama, who made health care reform a domestic priority. Aides said Monday that Obama exchanged handshakes, hugs and "high-fives" with staffers when the outcome of the House vote became apparent.

"I haven't seen the president so happy about anything other than his family since I've known him," said senior adviser David Axelrod, adding that Obama's jubilation Sunday night exceeded his election victory in November 2004. "He was excited that night, but not like last night."

Republicans promised to continue fighting the reforms, with 11 state attorneys general -- all Republican -- planning lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the bill's mandate for people to buy health insurance and requirements for states to comply with its provisions.

http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Google_China_Redirected_to_Uncensored_HK_Site/551-110077-643.html

The long running censorship war between Google and the Chinese government has taken an expected turn. Google has stopped censoring results Search, News and Images services on its Google.cn domain. If you try visiting Google.cn, you'll be redirected to Google.com.hk site (with servers located in Hong Kong). The search giant's intention to stop self-censorship on Google.cn and pull out operations from China was reported earlier this month.

Google has pointed out that the Chinese govt. has always been crystal clear that self-censorship is a "non-negotiable legal requirement". Hence, Google has chosen a 'legal' way out by offering uncensored results. Google, in an official blogpost said, "...we intend to continue R&D work in China and also to maintain a sales presence there, though the size of the sales team will obviously be partially dependent on the ability of mainland Chinese users to access Google.com.hk."


Last year, Google Suggest was disabled in Google China search results for lewd content concerns. Then, Google and many other Internet companies were struck with hack attack in mid-December. After these hack attacks which allegedly originated from China, Google threatened the Chinese govt. that it will close its Google China operations.


Now, a new web page that offers information about Google Apps services available in China. Google said it is aware that Chinese govt. may block access to Google services anytime. The Internet search giant also makes it clear that this decision has been taken by its U.S. executives and neither of its China based employees would be responsible for it.


This is a bold step by Google and might win the company some brownie points from Free Speech advocates. The Chinese govt. is most likely to block access to the Google.com.hk search results and this issue has the potential to escalate further. It's surely an unpleasant news for several students and other organizations that depend on Google Search results.

Picture on Chiang Mai guiesthouse computer, laptop stolen.