http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads What Traveling Reveals About The Human Heart Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:52:57 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Well, as expected,  here I am at 2am wide awake on the island of Hong Kong. After a somewhat frenetic 3 weeks with Bob and I taking up Doug's kitchen and entire dining room table in Salem Oregon, Bob has returned to his home in Thailand and I am now ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/experiencing-a-hong-kong-high-rise.html  This mainly for fam and friends... Flew into Las Vegas from Oaxaca the end of September to spend a few days with my oldest son, Greg.  Always a big treat.  My old U.S. Samsung flip phone was on it's last legs and Greg couldn't get ahold of me when I landed ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/a-month-in-the-states-on-the-way-to-asia.html In the Indian tradition of Anekantavada, the doctrine of non-absolutism, there are three ways to have a dialogue : 'vaad' or a discussion, which seeks to understand the opponent's point of view and explain one's own in order to reach the truth; 'vivaad' or an argument, which seeks to impose ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/more-thoughts-on-dialogueaikido.html    A friend posted this on a couchsurfing forum today. Anekantavada, the doctrine of non-absolutism, a multi-dimensional approach is of paramount importance in today’s troubled times.  Anekant is a basic principle of Jainism dealing with the multiple nature of reality. It deals with particular aspects, but does not deny the existence of ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/non-absolutism.html A friend who saw the parade into the Oaxaca City zocalo this A.M. said it was similar to all  military parades he has seen in the US and elsewhere, and by that standard, quite good. I didn't go, so have no photos. I did however, watch the fireworks through my ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/mexican-independence-day-in-oaxaca.html Salon.com had an article this morning on the NY Times best seller list that puts the far right-wing into a broader perspective.http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2009/09/12/rightwing_bestsellers/?source=newsletterIt begins: "For the past nine months, ever since a certain somebody seized the White House, conservative pundits have dominated the ranks of nonfiction. There have been plenty of golden ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/response-to-the-wingnuts.html I am thankful that some of us, in a cynical time, can still be touched enough to shed tears for, not only a man, but for an entire very human family, and what it stood for. Years after the death of John and Bobby, I could not find a Black ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/the-last-kennedy-brother-1932-2009.html http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/40-years-ago-today.html This is actually kind of funny... My husband wrote me and our three sons an email the other day telling us what he wants done with his body if something happens to him in Thailand...where he lives...where he has regular bouts of road rage...while driving...or dodging threatening cars while on his ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/an-unlikely-discussion-about-bodily-remains.html After living here and watching events unfold since 2006, this is one (not small but easy) thing  that would not only protect the life of one unjustly incarcerated man, but the human rights of thousands of others in Mexico. The case of JUAN MANUEL MARTINEZ MORENO, incarcerated for the murder of ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/the-merida-initiative-and-the-brad-will-case.html While you are pointing fingers at our health care, consider this: 1/3 of all prescriptions by a doctor ever get filled...which means that 2/3 of all people who get prescriptions never even go to the pharmacy Of the 1/3 of people who get their prescriptions filled... Only 1/3 will take it as directed Which means ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/numbers-to-consider.html My thoughts after nearly 40 years of thinking about this subject and watching this 21 minute speech by Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, who challenges the idea that we’ll be miserable if "we don’t always get what we want," as the Stones sing. Our "psychological immune system" lets ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/letter-to-a-mothers-adult-children.html Note from Nancy Davies, expat in Oaxaca: Ernesto Reyes Martinez, an editor for Noticias Voz e Imagen de Oaxaca and radio correspondent for the program Hoy por Hoy” on radio XEW, was grabbed by members of the 9th Infantry Battalion, subjected to violent handling and held for an hour and a ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/free-speech-in-mexico.html How any reasonable person who reads can believe this stuff is beyond me. http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/wingnut-radio.html Back from a cool refreshing weekend in the mountains! Tlaxiaco (IPA: /tla.'xia.ko/) is a Nahuatl name containing the elements tlachtli (ball game), quiahuitl (rain), and -co (place marker). It thus approximates to "Place where it rains on the ball court". Its name in the Mixtec language is Ndijiinu, which means "good ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/tlaxiaco.html Yesterday the Oaxaca English Lending Library sponsored a picnic at the home of one of the expats.  Great thick hamburgers...with dill pickles even!  Baked beans, potato salad and homemade pies...blackberry among them even! On the way there, along a winding dirt road, we passed a raggedy little kid...about 6...on an old ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/4th-of-july-picnic-in-oaxaca.html July 4, 2009 Immigration News Coup Tests Mexico’s Refugee Policy The military coup in Honduras is providing an unexpected test of Mexico’s immigration and refugee policies. On Friday, July 3, dozens of Honduran nationals arrived at a church-run migrant shelter in the southern state of Oaxaca seeking refugee status because of the political ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/honduran-refugees.html  I have never been in a place where there is such continuous dance and music...of all kinds.  This week we were treated to several candelas (in English candle)..."the power coming from a light source." A candela is a dancing march in the street with hugely oversize  dancing "puppets" and a ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/musica-oaxaca.html http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/alternative-4th-of-july-by-x.html Well, today I put some wax on the tile on the veranda tiles hoping to make it easier to sweep up the dust (polvo) from the air and the road work they are doing near the apartment.  Cars and trucks have been detouring by the apartment and the dust flies ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/nomads/oaxaca-living.html