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BANGKOK Eleven months after overthrowing a democratically elected government, the military junta that seized control of Thailand is growing comfortable in power and many Thais, battered by 15 stormy years of democracy, are not complaining.

The junta has given Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, the army chief-turned-prime minister, almost unbridled power and has let its road map for returning to a system of Thai-style democracy, involving a new constitution and elections, veer off course. Officials are talking about a poll in early 2016, though recent murmurs suggest they may need two or three years to return stability to Thailand, a U.S. ally that once had one of the most dynamic and competitive economies in Southeast Asia.

If the situation remains like this, I can tell you that I will hold onto power for a long time, Prayuth told reporters late last month. Why is there all this fuss about elections?

Will anyone die if there are no elections? he asked.

The opposition is lying low, figuring the best way to be effective is to give the generals enough rope to hang themselves; on the streets of Bangkok, there is little discernible dissatisfaction with Prayuths putsch.

I think General Prayuth is what we need right now. We need someone whos going to be strong, a coffee vendor in central Bangkok said as she mixed condensed milk into the strong brew at her cart. She spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of getting in trouble, even as she spoke positively of the juntas actions.

Anyway, we really dont have a choice. All those politicians are not an alternative. They are not qualified for the job, she said, waving her hand dismissively at the mere mention of the various parties that have been jockeying for power.

Many Thais are disillusioned with democracy after the Shinawatras: Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire who won election as prime minister in 2001 but was overthrown in 2006 and fled into exile amid allegations of widespread corruption, and his sister (and proxy) Yingluck Shinawatra, who Prayuth ousted in May. Yingluck has since been impeached and banned from politics for five years.

Thaksin remains a polarizing figure. He is viewed by his opponents as corrupt and, as Matthew Wheeler of the International Crisis Group characterizes it, as being the incarnation of all the dangers of democracy.

Indeed, after two coups in a decade and chaotic protests on the streets of Bangkok, many people are relieved that there is stability and relative calm. And for people like the coffee vendor, a mother of three trying to make ends meet, the new security rules have no effect on daily life.

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Thai junta enjoys absolute power as opposition quietly bides its time

Steyer, a longtime Clinton backer, made waves last year by suggesting in an interview with MSNBC that a primary challenge might be a good thing for her. | AP Photo

Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyers fingerprints are all over this weeks spring meeting of the Democracy Alliance an indication that the influential coalition of liberal donors intends to spend big to elevate climate change, and that Steyer plans to be at the forefront of the push.

The former hedge fund trader is hosting three climate-focused sessions at the confab, according to an agenda obtained by POLITICO.

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The conference which began on Sunday at San Franciscos Four Seasons hotel and wraps up Wednesday marks the unveiling of a new portfolio of advocacy groups to which the Democracy Alliance will recommend its wealthy members provide funding. Several groups focused partly or entirely on fighting climate change made the cut, including LeadingGreen, a joint initiative between the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund and the League of Conservation Voters launched in 2014 to raise the profile of climate change.

Democracy Alliance members a group that includes Steyer, billionaire financier George Soros and Houston trial lawyers Amber and Steve Mostyn are required to donate at least $200,000 a year to recommended groups, though many donors spend much more than that. The alliance, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary in San Francisco, has steered more than $500 million to favored groups and its recommendations are considered a significant bellwether of the direction of the progressive movement.

The spring conference and new funding recommendations come as the group is working to create space between itself and the Democratic Party, with some members known to harbor doubts about the just-launched presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton.

Some Democracy Alliance donors have expressed concern that she and other leading Democrats have been insufficiently aggressive on climate change and other liberal causes, such as fighting income inequality and the role of money in politics.

Clinton, who has never spoken to the Democracy Alliance, declined an invitation to appear at the San Francisco meeting.

Its president Gara LaMarche said in a statement that its new portfolio which it released publicly for the first time focuses on the biggest challenges of our time restoring economic opportunity, repairing our democracy and addressing the urgent threat of climate change.

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Steyer stars as liberal donors gather

On Dr BR Ambedkar's 124th birth anniversary, it is fitting if we were to examine his vision of modern India based on his writings. His vast output of scholarly works, essays and lectures are fertile ground for discovering the ideas he lived by and hoped would take root in India.

Ambedkar was born on April 14, 1891 in Mhow (now in Madhya Pradesh) and was the the principal architect of the Constitution of India. A doodle on the Google India home page on his birthday pays homage to the eminent politician, jurist and social reformer.

In examining his works we discover the depth and extent of his remarkable mind:

On his birth anniversary we should consider his words and thoughts, on democracy, on social reform, on the idea of India, and whether are we worthy inheritors of such a great legacy?

- In his final speech to the Constituent Assembly in November 1949, Dr Ambedkar asked his listeners (and by extension the nation) what "social democracy" truly meant. Here was his definition: It means a way of life which recognises liberty, equality and fraternity as the principles of life. These principles of liberty, equality and fraternity are not to be treated as separate items in a trinity. They form a union of trinity in the sense that to divorce one from the other is to defeat the very purpose of democracy. Without equality, liberty would produce the supremacy of the few over the many. Equality without liberty would kill individual initiative. Without fraternity, liberty and equality could not become a natural course of things.

- Dr Ambedkar's vision of the future was prophetic. While his contributions to the Dalit cause have been discussed and documented, he was also clear that caste not only affected those who were oppressed by it, but ultimately the entire nation. At a meeting in 1927 in Mahad, he warned: Untouchability has ruined the untouchables, the Hindus and ultimately the nation as well. If the depressed classes gained their self-respect and freedom they would contribute not only to their progress and prosperity but also by their industry, intellect and courage would also contribute to the strength and prosperity of the nation. If the tremendous energy the untouchables are at present required to fritter away in combating the stigma of untouchability had been saved them, it would have been applied by them to the promotion of education and development of economic resources of the nation as a whole.

- But Dr Ambedkar did not see untouchability as merely an unjust social order, for him it was a symptom of structural flaws within the larger religious system and order. Unless the larger flaws were tackled, he believed, any measure to deal with caste oppression would remain merely cosmetic. The history of post-Independence India bears out his remark at the same meeting: The religion which discriminates between two followers is partial, and the religion which treats crores of its adherents worse than dogs and criminals and inflicts upon them insufferable disabilities is no religion at all. Religion is not the appellation for such an unjust order. Religion and slavery are incompatible.

- His views on gender equality were befitting of the man who saw the nascent republic as a haven of equality for everyone: I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress that women have achieved.

- Repeatedly, in his writings and speeches, emerges the simple and universal, but not often practised, idea of equality as a badge of honour for a nation and a society, unfettered equality: Justice has always evoked ideas of equality, of proportion of compensation. Equity signifies equality. Rules and regulations, right and righteousness are concerned with equality in value. If all men are equal, then all men are of the same essence, and the common essence entitles them of the same fundamental rights and equal liberty... In short, justice is another name of liberty, equality and fraternity.

- And finally, what do we learn from the man who imagined the guiding document of this country? An abiding respect for the systems and principles of democracy. But democracy not as an enshrined static entity, but a dynamic and energising force: Democracy is not merely a form of government. It is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience. It is essentially an attitude of respect and reverence for our fellow men.

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B. R. Ambedkar's 124th birthday: His thoughts on democracy, untouchability, gender equality

Cameron "Britain Home Owning Democracy"
The artist taxi driver.

By: chunkymark

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Cameron "Britain Home Owning Democracy" - Video

Jim Dean of Democracy For America Weighs In Against Rahm
The PAC founded by Howard Dean the former Democratic governor of Vermont, one-time presidential candidate, and ex-chairman of the Democratic National Committee has unleashed an angry...

By: The Video Catalyst Project

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Jim Dean of Democracy For America Weighs In Against Rahm - Video