[p2p-research] the good news, and the less ...

[Michel Bauwens]

Dear friends,

First the good news.

I have found a job in bangkok, teaching undergraduates at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhurakij_Pundit_University, probably a
globalization course,

I start working on february 1, but teaching, according to the thai calendar,
starts in June.

but I will also work with a very interesting australian consultant, Richard
Hames, who has launched a asean-oriented futures think thank, the asian
foresight institute.

This is good news for me, in terms of regular paycheck, but also to be back
amongst mover and shakers of a world city, with people who want to gets
things done, and have access to resources.

I'm also very happy I can stay in my beloved adopted country of Thailand,
where life is still good.

The campus of DPU is green, with a dhamma garden, a haven of peace in a
bustling city of 13-16 million, but even my little room is very nicely
located in a village in the north of bkk, in a street without
throughtraffic, and with the birds chanting in the garden. I will go back
twice a month to my family and children, until the time is ripe for their
move to bangkok.

Some bad news also however, and hopefully I can get some 'emergency
assistance'.

Before it will get better, it's getting a lot worse, though for a short time
I hope, now that a solution is in sight.

So, as for  the problem at hand right now: Our mobile phone was pawned last
week, my motorcycle today, and they are knocking on the door for the car.
Any emergency donations, or loans, would be very welcome to get through the
next few weeks (say the end of February, when I get my first wage!). My
children can no longer go to their private school, as we cannot pay the
tuition, but we have found a much cheaper bi-lingual school, and they seem
to accept the change.

My spirit is high, but we literally have no money for food right now, though
of course, my wife's family is pitching in, and we're not going hungry.

But you'll understand that some support will be handy, to get through the
next few weeks, and finance my move.

Sorry to bother these lists with this, but I don't want to go through a
formal fundraising effort, as I have problems with my paypal account,

However, it does seem I can accept money there, and Western Union is also a
good option for us,

Of course, there is no obligation at all, we will in any case get through
this last leg of hardship, but I'm happy it's nearly over,

In any case also, though I'll have less time because of the new job, and
though I will travel less for the same reason, I remain committed to my and
our work to the P2P Foundation.

I believe that the new situation in Bangkok, and the real physical network
that will result from it, will open up many new possibilities of
collaboration with interesting players, and that the last year has increased
our credibility to a significant degree. As you know from the forwards to
the p2p research list, I have received 5 different funding proposals for
research competition's, in which the p2pf was seen as an asset by the
requestors. There are many different signs like this, so I believe that for
us, 2009 will be a counter-cyclical bumper year.

Many thanks for all your attention, goodwill, collaboration and moral and
other support that I have gotten in the last 2 years,

Michel

-- 
The P2P Foundation researches, documents and promotes peer to peer
alternatives.

Wiki and Encyclopedia, at http://p2pfoundation.net; Blog, at
http://blog.p2pfoundation.net; Newsletter, at
http://integralvisioning.org/index.php?topic=p2p

Basic essay at http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=499; interview at
http://poynder.blogspot.com/2006/09/p2p-very-core-of-world-to-come.html
BEST VIDEO ON P2P:
http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=4549818267592301968&hl=en-AU

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