A few nice assembly work at home images I found:
Bangkok. September 2008
Image by adaptorplug
Sanam Luang, Bangkok. 4th September 2008.
The pro government counter protestors returned to their homes and left behind remnants of their stage and educational materials. This is a poster of their main hero, the ex prime minister Thaksin Shinwatra, who was deposed in a peaceful and unopposed military coup in 2006.
The pro government supporters seem to quite like ex Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who ran to England to save facing corruption charges in Thailand. And also to save his convicted wife Khunying Potjaman from serving her three year jail sentence. In his absence he has been sentenced to two years in prison.
Thaksin is depicted in the above as flying like Superman through "Democracy Monument."
Ironic really. This monument was built by fascist sympathisers to celebrate the overthrow of the (then "absolute") monarchy and the place had sod all to do with democracy.
However, I think this lot are using the imagery to draw upon the benefits of "elected governments" and that Thaksin is their defender of "democracy."
AND let’s not forget… what Thaksin had to say….
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The Nation 2003-12-11.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday revealed for the first time the value he places on democracy, saying it was not the foremost thing Thailand needed.
In a candid statement made ominous by its release on Constitution Day, Thaksin said that as long as the country could progress and the people were happy, he was not concerned about the means used.
"Democracy is a good and beautiful thing, but it’s not the ultimate goal as far as administering the country is concerned," he said. "Democracy is just a tool, not our goal. The goal is to give people a good lifestyle, happiness and national progress."
In a comment to counter calls for constitutional amendments that would support the spluttering checks-and-balances mechanism, the prime minister hinted that he would block the campaign to amend the charter, an issue that could cause a fall-out between him and his Chat Thai Party allies.
"Democracy is a vehicle," Thaksin said. "We can’t drive a Rolls-Royce to a rural village and solve people’s problems. A pickup truck or good off-road car will do. We just need to think carefully and make the right choices."
Amid threats of total domination by the ruling Thai Rak Thai Party, the minor coalition partner, academics and opposition MPs agree there is an urgent need to sharpen the teeth of independent constitutional bodies and empower a parliamentary system of checks and balances.
"I don’t think there’s a need to amend the charter right now," said Thaksin. "Maybe they want to because they want to censure me in Parliament."
Many rules within the Constitution are said to be playing into the hands of Thaksin as they seem to ease his on-going consolidation of power and expansionist philosophy. Among them is the requirement that a censure motion against the prime minister has to be signed by at least 200 MPs.
Before leaving for the Asean-Japan summit in Tokyo, Thaksin avoided actually naming the Chat Thai Party, which has proposed a public referendum to amend the Constitution coinciding with the 2005 general election.
"If they really want to do it for good reasons, why didn’t they do it earlier when they had enough support in Parliament?" Thaksin said. "There’s no real need to change the highest law at the moment. If we do have implementation problems, we can review the Constitution’s organic laws."
The Chat Thai Party has set up a working group to review the Constitution. But the study could take a long time, its leader Banharn Silapa-archa confirmed yesterday, at the risk of upsetting his powerful ally.
"We are reviewing both the charter and organic laws, as we think that it’s time to amend the Constitution," said Banharn. "But I can’t say whether we can finish in time for the next election."
Chat Thai leaders have said the charter has failed to produce an adequate system of checks and balances in the political system, as a single party dominates Parliament and many independent constitutional bodies.
Once lauded as one of the best constitutions the country has had, the 1997 charter is seen by a growing number of critics as having failed to cope with the realities of Thai politics in the era of Thaksin’s political and business empire.
Chat Thai wants all political parties represented when selecting members of key independent bodies, which have been under growing influence of Thai Rak Thai.
Snoh Thienthong, leader of the Wang Nam Yen faction of Thai Rak Thai, also alluded to support for constitutional amendment and suggested Thaksin was the reason to review the charter.
"The prime minister’s thoughts run faster than the Constitution, so it might be necessary to change the law to keep up with him. He’s a commander who moves faster than his army," Snoh said.
Former Constitution Drafting Assembly members who wrote the existing charter have backed calls for amendment to bolster the checks-and-balances mechanism before it falls apart.
"When we made it a rule that the censure motion must be submitted by at least 200 MPs, we never envisaged any party would one day have the staggering influence of 400 MPs in Parliament," said Decho Sawananont, one of the charter-drafters. "This hampers the opposition’s work and the future looks bleak."
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Philadelphia – Old City: Independence Hall – George Washington statue
Image by wallyg
Joseph Alexis Bailly’s statue of George Washington was dedicated in front of Independence Hall, on the south side of Chestnut between 5th and 6th Streets, in October 1910. The marble original was erected on the spot in 1908, but moved inside city Hall and replaced by the ,000, 8-foot tall bronze cast copy, founded by Roman Bronze Works, which sits atop a 6’8" marble and granite base.
Independence Hall was built by Edmund Woolley and Andrew Hamilton, the Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly, in 1753 as the Pennsylvania State House. But it was the events that took place between 1775 and 1787 that earned it the name Independence Hall, and reinforce its iconic status as the Birthplace of the Nation. It is within its walls that the delegates to the Second Continental Congress met, the Declaration of Independence was approved, and the Constitution of the United States was debated, drafted and signed.
Construction on the redbrick Georgian style building, at the time the most ambitious public work in the colonies, began in 1732. The five-part plan included a 105-foot long main block, two covered arcades, and two 50-foot long wing buildings at the end of the arcades. The Provincial government paid for construction as it went along–piecemeal for 21 years. The building has undergone many restorations, notably by Greek revival architect John Haviland in 1830, and by a committee from the National Park Service, in 1950, returning it to its 1776 appearance. The bell tower, consisting of a wooden steeple set atop the three-story brick house, was the original home of the Liberty Bell and today holds the Centennial Bell, created for the United States Centennial Exposition in 1876.
Independence National Historical Park preserves several sites associated with the American Revolution. Administered by the National Park Service, the 45-acre park was authorized in 1948, and established on July 4, 1956.
Independence Hall was designated a World Heritage Site on October 24, 1979.
Independence National Park Historic District National Register #66000675 (1966)
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