with mass-mailed threats to all 304rnKansas school districts reminding themrnwhat happens to foolish little educatorsrnwho mention God. The net result,rnwhich could go on for years, is a Mexicanrnstandoff. While these nationallv financedrnoutfits can’t do much about thernreturn of discretionan’ authorit}- to the localrnboards, they are making it loud andrnclear that they will do whatever it takes tornprevent them from so much as dreamingrnabout taking it seriouslv. And as StephenrnPresser recently noted in Chroniclesrn(Nocniber 1999), the threat of litigationrnis enough to cow all but the most defiantrnschool boards into utter subjection.rnYet it could get interesting if even onernof them is made of the same stuff as thernslim state-board majorit)’, who continuernto stay loval to their constituents in thernface of everthing that can be thrown atrnthem. For instance, when copyright permissionrnwas spitefullv reoked by the authorsrnof the non-contro ersial portion ofrntile new science standards last October,rnthe KBF, simply got a lawyer and rephrasedrnit all, save the tiny portion thernhad already modified. As of this writing,rna la.st-ditch demand for “external review”rnhas just been staved off, the speaker of thernKansas House can’t drum up much interestrnin abolishing the KBF, before it strikesrnagain, and tiie Missouri Repertory Theater’srnhissv-fit production of Inherit thernWind did not exactly pack in Jayhawkersrnor Bushwhackers.rnThis leacs the ruling elites with onernfinal resort for securing total victor}’, onernwhich will require the invoKemcnt of interestedrnparties near and far. Democratrnand Republican alike. But it is a tacticrnthat seldom fails: a lil^eral application ofrncash. With half of the KBF’s seats up forrngrabs this fall, and torn of those fixernpresently held bv villainous conseratives,rnchampions of secularization andrnmaerocvolution are stepping forward andrnswearing to overturn tiieir work. And ifrnone or more of the targets doesn’t fall to arnprimar) challenger from witiiin his ownrnparti,- in August, then one or more is expectedrnto fall in November. But not withoutrna fight, insists incumbent Linda Hollowax’.rnIt is going to get ugly before it’srnover, and if it doesn’t become “bleedingrnKansas” all over again, tiiis is certain tornbecome the cosdiest school-board race inrnstate history, thanks to outside agitatorsrnand leftist slush funds in otiier parts of dierncountry. That mode of politics, at least,rndoes resemble the 1850’s. Otherwise, thernironical inersions continue to mount.rnnone more delightful than the po,ssibilit’rnthat riiis sort of polarization could spreadrnto other states like a prairie fire. Regardlessrnof the idtimate outcome, there’s alwaysrna bright spot: Considering what oldrnJohn Brown woidd probably do if herncaught somebod’ teaching his kids evolution,rnthe Jacobin Republicans in Topekarnmight finally decide to do somethingrnabout that heinous mural of theirs.rnHarlan ]. Edmonds writes from ShawneernMission, Kansas.rnLetter From Asiarnby Jeffrey’ MeyersrnDashing Through Asiarn”Down to Gehenna and up to the throne,rnHe travels the fastest who travels alone.”rn— Rudyard KiplingrnNot as horrible as Calcutta or as ugK’ asrnSeoul, Bangkok, spreading along the flatrnflanks of the Chao Phraya river, is thernwhorehouse of Asia. Berth girls and boysrnwill do anything you like with a Cokernbottie or Ping-Pong ball. The prostitutionrnreflects the contrast behveen monksrnand catamites, luxur) and scjualor; betweenrnthe graceful old temples and thernhideous modern buildings. The overwhelmingrnnoise and pollution from thernheavy traffic extend to the ‘er’ edge ofrnthe sprawling cit, and the lack of stoplightsrnmakes crossing the street a dicevrnand dangerous business.rnOn a three-hour walk from a luxuriousrnrierside hotel to the National Museum,rnI passed scores of food shops —some withrna single charcoal brazier, others crampedrnin a tiny alcove —as well as sections ofrntown jammed with gem dealers, ricernmerchants, metal workers, and streetrntraders operating on the most slender ofrnmargins. There were no solicitors or beggarsrn(a great contrast to 20 years ago) andrnmanv spontaneous smiles. A slow boat,rncruising from bank to bank, brought mernback to tire hotel and gave some sense ofrnthe atmosphere the cfy once possessed.rnOne Chinese restaurant had more staffrnthan patrons: parking man, door bov, tworncashiers (with abacus), headwaiter, threernbusbos, and eight giggling waitresses inrnpajamas. They translated the numberedrndishes I had selected into Cantonesernwhile the owner wrote them down. Halfrnthe food was what I had ordered (the noodlesrnnever came); half, what they droughtrnI should have.rn’Fhere is no traditional Asian model forrna modern cit)’ of several million inhabitants.rnThe new Creatcr Asian Co-Prosperit)’rnSphere in Singapore has imitatedrnthe West and produced a sterilized andrnmechanized metropolis, dedicated to thernaggressive acquisition of money and materialrngoods. The old, h’o-story Chinesernbuildings are being ruthlessly razed andrnreplaced by a conglomeration of highrisernshopping malls whicli extends fromrnOrchard Road to Clifford Pier. The littlernsata’ stalls at the harbor hae been amalgamatedrninto a giant unappetizing FoodrnCentre.rnThe lowlife described in Paul Theroux’srnnoxel Saint ]ack has been obliteratedrnby the puritanical regime of PrimernMinister Lee, and well-intentioned butrnrepressive rules hae been enactedrnagainst almost everything. (A beggar isrnunthinkable in prosperous Singapore,rnbut I saw a few.) Nearly all interest hasrnbeen drained out of this once colorfulrneit’, which is now about as interesting asrndowntown Denver. Yet it is still possiblernto see, in the constricted remains of Chinatown,rnelaborate preparations for thernYear of the Rabbit; from pressed fan-driedrnducks lo firecrackers, from calligraphcdrngood-luck greetings to pickled snakes.rnThough there is notiiing of extraordinaryrninterest to see in Malacca —halfwayrnbehveen Singapore and Kuala Lumpur—rnthis once busy and now sleepy Conradianrntown still has great character andrnchanii.rnMalacca has Sikh and Chinese temples,rnMalay moscjues and cemeteries.rnThe shops in the narrow streets of JalanrnGelegang sell batik, cheroots, cagedrnbirds, Malacca canes, and fine antiquesrn—especially potter influenced bvrnDutch designs and made for Straits Chinese.rnDecrepit sampans and junks sailrnalong the waterfront. The shopkeepersrnare unassertive and curious about wherernthe rare xisitor came from. No Malays,rnwitii kris unsheathed, ran amok.rnBorneo still has red-pelted orangutans.rnLand and Sea Dyaks, wild men, andrnheadhunters. In Sarawak, in the northeastrnpart of the island, now divided byrnMalaysia and Indonesia, Rajah Brookernand his Fnglish dvnastv ruled for morernthan 100 years. Just north, in Kota Kina-rn38/CHRONICLESrnrnrn