Monday, February 09, 2026
Warning-disturbing--Marshall Project:
Analysis
‘Why Is This Happening to Us?’ Daily Number of Kids in ICE Detention Jumps 6x Under Trump
As the Trump administration detains large numbers of kids, advocates worry ‘it’s only a matter of time before we see a child die.’
BC T's ICE arrests them and parents--
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2026/01/29/ice-kids-in-detention-numbers?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
Sunday, February 08, 2026
Economic Institute Library --set up by Paul Bixler, building by Ford Foundation, had an
original copy of Symes'Embassy to the Court of Ava.
I remember looking at it, especially the illusration of the Hairy Woman.
Saturday, February 07, 2026
King Narai, one of the great reformers and heroes of Thai history--
I've been to his palace compound including remains of pavilion where he died in Lopburi.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narai
I see, Ligor was the former name of Nakhon Si Thamarat--
Nakhon Si Thammarat - Wikipedia
Nakhon Si Thammarat is a city in southern Thailand with a rich history dating back to the Srivijaya kingdom. It was formerly known as Ligor, a major port and center of trade and culture in the region.
People also search for
And also there's a novel based on the life of Redoute who was Marie Antoinette's painter of flowers--
he survived the French Revolution and died, it is said, "Contemplating a flower."
FTD's list of flower-inspired novels--I can include Red Sorghum (not a flower, a plant) by Mo Yan
and Red Poppy by Alai, a Tibetan writing in Mandarin.
https://www.ftd.com/blog/flower-inspired-novels
The Day of the Triffids--movie--based on brilliant sci fi novel byJohn Wyndham--
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4Elc86DMkA
Highly recommended.
I have the book.
Friday, February 06, 2026
There's an Indian movie on Amazon--presented as a musical--set in ricelands about a company
that tries to sell Sterile rice seeds--
It's called Basmati Blues.
Thursday, February 05, 2026
Waterworld--it's as brilliant as its legend--one of those things you wished you had written--
Where did they get the fuel to run their salvaged machinery?
It's answered about half way into the movie.
I used to know almost all of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner by heart.
"Enola" is reminiscent of the plane, the Enola Gay, which bombed Hiroshima.
The Kevin Costner character is called The Mariner.
The pirates and the fish eat fish life style is very realistic.
One scientist said with global warming --humans cannot develop gills so fast.
Then artificial gills were invented and marketed--but still not widely used on planes or ships, as far as I can tell.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterworld
There is no book to read, but maybe one can find the original screenplay or shooting script online.
The water economy with the currency of dirt is brilliant,as are the scraps of paper--which is like the sci fi--A Canticle for St. Leibovitz.
Anyway, it's a 5 out of 5 stars in my book, and it's streaming now on Amazon Prime.
The recycling of dead bodies into the ocean is also brilliant with the special prayer.
Like a wet, dripping, salty Dune.
Kyi May Kaung
2-5-2026
Wednesday, February 04, 2026
From Joseph Conrad wiki--
Adam Hochschild makes a similar point:
What gave [Conrad] such a rare ability to see the arrogance and theft at the heart of imperialism?... Much of it surely had to do with the fact that he himself, as a Pole, knew what it was like to live in conquered territory.... [F]or the first few years of his life, tens of millions of peasants in the Russian empire were the equivalent of slave laborers: serfs. Conrad's poet father, Apollo Korzeniowski, was a Polish nationalist and an opponent of serfdom... [The] boy [Konrad] grew up among exiled prison veterans, talk of serfdom, and the news of relatives killed in uprisings [and he] was ready to distrust imperial conquerors who claimed they had the right to rule other peoples.[229]
Conrad's experience in the Belgian-run Congo made him one of the fiercest critics of the "white man's mission". It was also, writes Najder, Conrad's most daring and last "attempt to become a homo socialis, a cog in the mechanism of society. By accepting the job in the trading company, he joined, for once in his life, an organized, large-scale group activity on land. [...] It is not accidental that the Congo expedition remained an isolated event in Conrad's life. Until his death he remained a recluse in the social sense and never became involved with any institution or clearly defined group of people."[230]
Maggie O'Farrell books in chronological order--
https://mostrecommendedbooks.com/series/maggie-ofarrell-books-in-order
I might read I am I am--her memoir--
The Night Manager--season 2 finale is out--but rather flat--it's ep 6.
You can look for it for yourself.
CBS pulls 60 mins segment featurng Attia--hired by Bari Weiss.
Key Points
CBS is shelving a planned re-run of a 60 Minutes segment featuring wellness influencer Peter Attia, after his name appeared over 1,700 times in the latest release of documents from the Epstein files.
Attia was named a new contributor to the network's news division by controversial new leader Bari Weiss on Jan. 27.
The physician and podcaster shared a lengthy apology on social media on Monday.
https://www.aol.com/lifestyle/cbs-pulls-60-minutes-episode-235231222.html
Tuesday, February 03, 2026
From wiki--just read this--excellent--Maggie O'Farrell--
In 2022, she published The Marriage Portrait, a novel based on the short life of Lucrezia de' Medici, who may or may not have been poisoned by her husband, Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara. O'Farrell has said that she got the idea for the novel after seeing Lucrezia's portrait, attributed to Agnolo Bronzino, and from reading Robert Browning's poem "My Last Duchess", in which Lucrezia makes a brief, silent and unnamed appearance. The novel was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction.[14]i
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