KyiMayKaung

One person who should also be called in to advise on Burma - Jeffrey Sachs

2012-01-31T13:31:00.001-08:00

http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/1770

Mitch McConnell interviewed by PBS about Burma

2012-01-31T12:51:00.001-08:00

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/01/changes-in-myanmar.html

Aung San Suu Kyi's address at World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland

2012-01-31T12:33:00.001-08:00

http://www.weforum.org/videos/aung-san-suu-kyi-annual-meeting-2012

Residence of Chang Da Chien - master painter and forger

2012-01-30T13:55:00.001-08:00

http://www.npm.gov.tw/exh96/dai-chien/index.htmlI don't know how to activate links on this new formatbut the Memorial is at the National Palace Museum in Tapei, Taiwan.Kyi May Kaung

Voltaire and his room at Sans Souci Palace in Potsdam

2012-01-25T14:04:00.001-08:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VoltaireI've seen Frederick's San Souci palace in Potsdamand the overly decorated room with pink parrots on the walls where Voltaire lived for a while.The whole palace was not more than one room wide throughout its length and the slaves/servants - had to go in the narrow passages between the walls to empty out the commodesthe guide said no one ever bathed much and overused perfumes etc.I wrote a short story called My Potsdam - about a guide whose home had been confiscated in E. Germany days. One cottage I saw was held together by a wire mesh.kmk

Wai Hnin Pwint Thon - daughter of a Burmese political prisoner, is skeptical about "reforms"

2012-01-18T09:02:00.001-08:00

http://www.rohingyablogger.com/2012/01/my-fathers-release-from-prison-is-good.html

Vietnamese-American artist Huong's Immigration Wall

2012-01-18T08:42:00.001-08:00

From: Huong Subject: Thank you for your support on Immigration Mural!To: "immigration mural" Date: Wednesday, January 18, 2012, 8:47 AMMy dear ART-Lovers & PEACE-Makers,Thank you for your SUPPORT!Your presence helped to the unveiling a fun and real SUCCESS! Your words of encouragement fuel me to plow to this project faster and faster.We have no time to waste. The immigration tidal wave is coming on the shore!I appreciate your words of wisdom, your emotion respond and your guideline for the future chapter of this mural.I am LISTENING and COUNT ON YOU!Cheers from the Artist,HuongP.S.Here are the press covered on the unveiling which generated a lot of debate and communication. Please throw your thoughts there and educate me more!Miami Herald:http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/14/2587815/the-art-of-immigration.htmlMiami New Times:http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/cultist/2011/12/huongs_immigration_mural_turni.php Foreign Policy in Focus:http://www.fpif.org/articles/giving_voice_on_immigrationSouth Miami News :http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/11/v-print/2584899/peace-mural-to-stir-immigration.html#storylink=cpy

Poetry International Website - special issue on Burma and Vietnam

2012-01-17T09:28:00.001-08:00

Abstract chairs - photo copyright Kyi May Kaunghttp://www.poetryinternational.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_name=www

"reforms" in Burma

2012-01-16T13:41:00.000-08:00

Yellow rose half light. Photo copyright Kyi May Kaung

Mrs. Clinton's announcement on release of Burmese political prisoners

2012-01-16T13:39:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7-fOsJLA5c

Sen. Mitch McConnell and Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma meet in person at last --

2012-01-16T13:31:00.000-08:00

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2012-01-16/mcconnell-suu-kyi-meeting/52601680/1?csp=34newsYou've spoken up for me and my Cause, so you are my Friend.Blog not - Kyi May Kaung

How bestselling author Daniel Silva writes -

2012-01-12T22:17:00.001-08:00

Amazon Exclusive: Daniel Silva on Writing Portrait of a Spy with a PencilWhile on book tour, I’ve been surprised to find that readers are fascinated by how writers actually write. Most readers hold in their mind an idealized image of the novelist at work—a figure in a trendy urban coffeehouse, a solitary figure walking along an empty beach. The truth, however, is seldom so romantic.Before going any further, let us stipulate that, much like the hero of my novels, the art restorer and spy Gabriel Allon, I am something of a creature of habit. I work seven days a week, from early in the morning until six thirty in the evening, when I stop to watch the evening news. My work clothing never varies: gray sweatpants by Russell Athletic, a long-sleeve T-shirt by L.L. Bean, fleece Acorn moccasins, and discount cotton socks from Marks & Spencer in England. Occasionally, visitors to our house will catch a glimpse of this outfit, but, for the most part, my wife and children tend to shield me from public view. As a rule, I don’t answer the telephone—unless it is a family emergency of some sort—and I don’t read e-mail. I nibble rather than eat. Portrait of a Spy, like all the Gabriel Allon novels, was fueled largely by McVitie’s digestive biscuits.I have a computer, of course, but I really do most of my actual writing in longhand, on yellow legal pads. I prefer to work while lying on the floor rather than at my desk. This annoys my wife because she took a great deal of time and effort to have a desk custom made to fit my office. When I showed her a photograph of Muriel Spark, one of her literary heroes, writing in longhand stretched across a floor, she was only partially mollified. Sometimes we talk about living somewhere other than Georgetown. Secretly, the very idea terrifies me. After writing 14 books in the same room of the same house, I am afraid I have lost the ability to work anywhere else.As for my writing instrument of choice, it is unquestionably the pencil. There is something about the sound it makes scratching across the page that, for me, is the essence of composition. The pencil is the antithesis of all things cyber and e, a means of returning, however briefly, to a world that is unconnected and unwired. A pad and pencil do not freeze or crash. There are no viruses or error messages. If a thunderstorm knocks out the power, the words will still be there when the lights come on again. And then, there is the satisfying natural rhythm of the work itself—the turning of the completed page, the sharpening of the dulled point, the fortnightly disposal of the fluffy wooden shavings.Lately, I have been hoarding pencils. I’m not sure precisely when it began; I suspect it had something to do with the death of the typewriter. An irrational fear gripped me, a fear that pencils were next. If the typewriter could go extinct, how could the lowly, environmentally hostile pencil possibly hope to survive in the brave new world? I now order my favorite brand—the Paper Mate Mirado Black Warrior No. 2—by the case. I am reasonably confident I now have enough pencils on hand to see me through the next several novels—though, if I happen to misplace a pencil, I will search the house thoroughly before removing a new one from its special drawer and sharpening it for the first time. To sharpen a virgin pencil is, in a sense, to commit an act of assisted suicide. It saddens me.I wish it were not so. I wish I could write on a computer while traveling on an airplane or sitting in a strange hotel room, but I cannot. I have become a prisoner of my office. I need my floor, and my Mirado Black Warrior No. 2 pencils, and my McVitie’s digestive biscuits. I hoard them, too. I keep them on a special shelf in the storage room, next to my socks from Marks & Spencer.Copyright © Daniel Silva 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Poetry International Web - Zeyar Lynn

2012-01-11T05:57:00.000-08:00

Poetry International Web - Zeyar Lynn

Images of Burma

2012-01-10T08:20:00.001-08:00

http://www.myanmar-image.com/mandalay/misc/image19.html

Bhava Chakra - in Burmese - Bawa Setkya - the Wheel of Life

2012-01-10T01:01:00.000-08:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhavacakra

see also Wiki - Buddhist Hells
seven layers of hell

hot hells and cold hells.

kmk

Ajanta Caves in India - nearby Ellora Caves

2012-01-10T00:23:00.000-08:00

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/india/ajanta-caveshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Former Czech President Vaclav Havel's memorial and Aung San Suu Kyi's tribute

2012-01-09T11:56:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ihT3AX1Aww&feature=relmfu

Billionaire George Soros meets Daw Aung San Suu Kyi - will open Rangoon office

2012-01-09T10:39:00.001-08:00

http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/6354-suu-kyi-meets-soros-the-billionaire.html

Iran accuses American of spying and sentences to death

2012-01-09T07:35:00.000-08:00

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/09/world/meast/iran-accused-spy/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

re-posting - Kyi May Kaung's memoir profile from 2005

2012-01-03T19:20:00.000-08:00

http://www.wildriverreview.com/4/profile_kaung.php

Wordnik on line dictionary

2012-01-03T10:32:00.001-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/business/wordniks-online-dictionary-no-arbiters-please.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha26

Kyi May Kaung's poem, In the Garden by the Lake: Mrs. Clinton goes to see Aung San Suu Kyi

2011-12-31T09:43:00.000-08:00

Rose in front bed - copyright Kyi May Kaung

in Foreign Policy in Focus

http://www.fpif.org/articles/in_the_garden_by_the_lake

Why some prefer fiction over fact
reform vs. so-called reforms
election vs. sham election
Myanmar vs. Burma
Political prisoners vs. those who have committed crimes
Democracy vs. discipline flourishing democracy

One anonymous commentator says
do Suu Kyi and Hilary have
the same hair stylist what
they don’t realize is Burma is
very hot both climatically and
politically pulled back hair
off the face is best.
In the garden they hold hands like
long lost sisters.
In the background is Monica Lewinsky
and her blue dress Bill’s heart attack
Aung San Suu Kyi’s middle brother who drowned
as an infant
her elder brother who sued her about the house
at the junta’s instigation.

The private dinner is on American soil
Did they cue each other
that they’d both wear cream or off-white
or white? For hope and change. How many years is it
since Suu had a sit down western-style
formal dinner?

In the garden it’s like Carnation Lily Lily Rose
Suu’s mother was born
a Christian and loved white amaryllis with green centers which
she fertilized with the same water hyacinth that may later have helped drown her son.
A junta newspaper once faulted Daw Khin Kyi with having had
both a Christian and a Buddhist funeral service. What’s wrong with that?

The U.S. government plane flies into Naypyidaw (The King’s Royal City)
in the daytime, it’s not a night time airport
sleeps over in Thailand, then
picks up the U.S. delegation
and the press corps again.

In the garden it’s carnation
lily lily rose.

Dec 2, 2011.

Foreign Policy in Focus contributor Kyi May Kaung is a poet and visual artist and an analyst of Burmese and SE Asian politics.

Rare violin recovered on bus - Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T09:13:00.000-08:00

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t3#/video/us/2011/12/24/green-pa-lost-violin-bus.kyw

N. Korea - Lisa Ling and sister Laura Ling who was held captive in N Korea interviewed by Sanjay Gupta on Anderson Cooper 360-

2011-12-21T12:10:00.001-08:00

transcript

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1112/19/acd.01.html

Thai PM Yingluk Shinawatre meets Aung San Suu Kyi

2011-12-21T08:40:00.000-08:00

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/east-pacific/Thai-Prime-Minister-Meets-Aung-San-Suu-Kyi-in-Burma-135993048.html

Lady Lady - new Aung San Suu Kyi song by Tiffany Wilson

2011-12-21T08:29:00.000-08:00

http://internationalcampaignforfreedom.blogspot.com/

N Korea - only a little more totalitarian than Burma -

2011-12-21T08:14:00.001-08:00

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c1#/video/bestoftv/2011/12/20/natpkg-vice-inside-north-korea.cnn

Aung San Suu Kyi's Facebook page

2011-12-17T09:24:00.001-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/aungsansuukyihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

208 new species found in SE Asia

2011-12-17T09:03:00.000-08:00

http://www.voanews.com/khmer-english/news/208-New-Species-Discovered-in-Southeast-Asia-135596428.html

As early as 2000, a National Geographic scientist/contributor, photographer told me that the most new species were being found in Vietnam, just before they became extinct.

Kyi May Kaung

Latest documentary on Burma - I met a man from Burma

2011-12-17T08:15:00.000-08:00

http://www.divfacefilms.com/p/i-met-man-from-burma.html

In Burma - Monywa Powintaung Frescoes

2011-12-15T14:02:00.000-08:00

http://www.firstpost.com/http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giftopic/place/burma-burma-monywas-ancient-phowin-taung-caves-video-GkKfrNhODZ4-91646-1.html

Dejan Matic - Burma - song - in Serbian

2011-12-15T13:48:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP1IeAG-NUc&feature=relatedhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Burma- Moving art installation by Human Right Watch -at NY's Grand Central Station - 2010

2011-12-15T13:17:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yioRh6IOABE&feature=relatedhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

The sound is a Buddhist monk reciting the traditional "sending of metta" or loving kindness prayer and the audience responding Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu or Thadu -- "well done"

kmk

Burmese performance artist Moe Satt

2011-12-15T12:54:00.001-08:00

http://www.usatoday.com/news/whttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giforld/story/2011-12-13/Burma-Myanmar-Aung-San-Suu-Kyi-Clinton-democracy/51888088/1

Burmese and Lao opium production booming -

2011-12-15T12:52:00.000-08:00

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/southeast/UN-Burmese-Laotian-Opium-Cultivation-Surging-135657848.html

US Department of State - Where in the world is Mrs. Clinton?

2011-12-14T13:53:00.000-08:00

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/pix/2011http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif/12/177900.htm

See interactive map - useful to teach world geography.

kmk

Independent scholar Kyi May Kaung and USCB's Thelma Young interviewed by Michelle Chen of Asia Pacific Forum -

2011-12-14T11:55:00.000-08:00

http:http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif//www.asiapacificforum.org/show-detail.php?show_id=250#696

Carnation Lily Lily Rose by John Singer Sargeant

2011-12-13T09:55:00.000-08:00

http://www.artden.com/products/carnation-lily-lily-rose?gclid=CLS8z9LO_6wCFSVjTAodbjzTSg

One of my father's favorite paintings.

Kyi May Kaung

Kyi May Kaung interviewed on Asia-Pacific Forum about "change in Burma"

2011-12-13T09:38:00.000-08:00

Michelle Chen of Asia Pacific Forum interviewed me about change in Burma, is it real. Dec 13th, 2011

http://www.asiapacificforum.org/show-detail.php?show_id=250

October 2011 Kyaw Aung Lwin of VOA interviewed me about poetry reading in front of Burmese embassy DC – 10,000 poets for change.

Karen National Union's Mahn Nyein Maung arrested in Yunnan in July and deported to Burma, where he is now on trial -

2011-12-13T08:38:00.000-08:00

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22641

This is a very famous man and great writer whose book I partially translated.

kmk

Burma's junta: Can a tiger change its stripes by Kyi May Kaung

2011-12-09T10:33:00.000-08:00

http://epoch-archive.com/a1/en/sg/nnn/2011/11%20November%202011/%20Issue%20385_01_November_2011/385_A7.pdf

Originally in Foreign Policy in Focus.

Here in Epoch Times, I am re-posting as the photograph is so evocative.

Kyi May Kaung.

Hilary and Suu in Burma in pics --

2011-12-02T11:21:00.000-08:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2011/dec/01/hillary-clinton-burma-in-pictures?intcmp=239#/?picture=382683546&index=3

Kyi May Kaung's cover feature article - Potemkin politics: Are Burma's reforms for real - fr Himal Southasian

2011-11-30T18:25:00.001-08:00

http://www.himalmag.com/component/content/article/4842-potemkin-politics.html

Chinese water calligraphy

2011-11-28T12:11:00.000-08:00

http://www.danwei.com/tricycle-water-calligraphy/

Ai Wei Wei

2011-11-28T11:01:00.000-08:00

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/ai-wei-wei/

Burma - Lady of the Lake

2011-11-28T09:52:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtYY6GllMNA&feature=related

Crocs and snakes displaced by Thai floods

2011-11-28T08:15:00.001-08:00

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22545

Japanese-American artist Yuri Mason

2011-11-26T14:07:00.000-08:00

http://myhero.com/go/hero.asp?hero=Yuri_Mason

The Daily Beast - Why Hilary Clinton is visiting Burma -

2011-11-26T13:14:00.000-08:00

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/11/19/hillary-clinton-in-burma-why-she-s-visiting-the-oppressed-state.html

The Diplomat: Slow down with Burma -

2011-11-26T12:54:00.000-08:00

http://the-diplomat.com/asean-beat/2011/11/26/slow-down-with-burma/

Cambodia - brother #2

2011-11-23T07:13:00.001-08:00

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22517

Karen music of the refugee camps

2011-11-20T03:40:00.000-08:00

http://www.himalmag.com/component/content/article/3609-burmese-songs-of-exile.html

US millionaires ask to be taxed more

2011-11-17T07:10:00.000-08:00

http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/16/news/economy/tax_millionaires/index.htm?hpt=hp_c1

Musician occupies Apec dinner -

2011-11-14T09:10:00.000-08:00

http://www.cnn.com/video/standard.html?hpt=hp_t2#/video/bestoftv/2011/11/14/exp-occupy-musician.cnn

Special school for teen girls from wartorn areas, including Burma -

2011-11-13T16:31:00.000-08:00

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/12/us/atlanta-refugee-school/

re-posting - Deusche Welle interview of Dr. Zarni, LSE, Burma political prisoners as bargaining chips

2011-11-09T08:54:00.001-08:00

http://www.dw-world.de/popups/popup_single_mediaplayer/0,,5250650_type_audio_struct_12758_contentId_5250683,00.html

The junta's politics as war.

Note:

To the gutless person, sure it's a man, who keeps writing "hack, again!" whenever I re-post something -

I deleted all your comments.

The correct usage is "Heck. No!"

From "What the heck"

I am not a hack writer, I re-post for a reason, and if you don't even have the guts to post your real name, at least get your usage, grammar and spelling correct. "Go to hack" which is probably where you are already.

Kyi May Kaung

Photograph of Japanese journalist shot to death on streets in Rangoon, Burma during Saffron Revolution wins Pulitzer Prize

2011-11-06T14:19:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ0P8XuWJg8

The report is in Burmese but the images are in international sign language.

Kyi May Kaung

Imprisoned Burmese monk U Gambira in urgent need of medical care -

2011-11-06T07:45:00.000-08:00

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA16/006/2011/en/9e0d7be5-4abe-45f7-8011-6d293017b61a/asa160062011en.pdf

Movie The Lady - LA Times interview of actress Michelle Yeoh -

2011-11-05T06:51:00.001-07:00

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/11/the-lady-michelle-yeoh-luc-besson.html

she looks very like Daw Suu but the Burmese voices are all wrong, and "the speech" is incomprehensible to a Burmese speaker -

Besson should have used real Burmese for the voices, even the crowd scenes.

At least Beyond Rangoon had Burmese actors.

kmk

Occupy movement uses Guy Fawkes masks

2011-11-05T05:47:00.000-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/04/world/europe/guy-fawkes-mask/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

National Public Radio - signs of change in Burma -

2011-11-02T11:41:00.000-07:00

http://www.npr.org/2011/11/01/141908775/signs-of-change-in-myanmar

Kyi May Kaung's comment on actress Emma Thompson's trip to Burma -

2011-10-29T12:26:00.000-07:00

during which she claimed to see "change in Burma".

Left on website - 10-29-2011

"I admire Emma Thompson tremendously as an actor and activist etc.

But in this case she is MISTAKEN -

she has fallen into the trap of speaking for a non-profit which needs to be on the right side of the junta to continue in-country operations.

The so-called change is only a media whitewash so the junta can get western sanctions lifted.

Ms. Thompson needs to look at things deeper than one "fact-finding" trip sponsored by one non-profit organisation.

Kyi May Kaung (Ph.D.)"

Kenneth Lieberthal on doing business in China -

2011-10-28T11:49:00.001-07:00

http://www.brookings.edu/press/Books/2011/managingthechinachallenge.aspx

NASA image of storm over Burma - Oct 21 -

2011-10-22T04:38:00.001-07:00

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=38805

How much difference does one poem make? by Kyi May Kaung in PeacexPeace

2011-10-20T12:17:00.000-07:00

Dupont Circle Metro - Washington DC with lines by poet Walt Whitman - who went alone during American Civil War to comfort wounded and dying soldiers.

Photo copyright Kyi May Kaung

http://www.peacexpeace.org/2011/10/how-much-difference-does-one-poem-make/

International scholarships, Univ. of Sydney, Australia

2011-10-17T04:17:00.000-07:00

http://sydney.edu.au/international/international_students.shtml

Students from Burma should try.

kmk

Prize winning documentary on Khmer Rouge - Brother Number 2

2011-10-15T14:43:00.000-07:00

Dried banana leaves - photo copyright Kyi May Kaung

http://enemiesofthepeoplemovie.com/

Chilling documentary which complements work by Nate Thayer, Ben Kiernan etc.

-- to be used in International Criminal Court.

-- he never educated his own children, who deeply resented it.

* This was sent to me by Jane Khin Zaw, daughter of U Khin Zaw or "K" - who is now a Carmelite nun. She is related to the co-director of the film.

Contact #s for interview on film website.

Kyi May Kaung's Zarganar or Pincers, Great Burmese Comic among few released.

2011-10-14T18:03:00.000-07:00

http://asiancorrespondent.com/author/kyimaykaung/

Sarah Browning's article on Poetry Walk of Shame and Kyi May Kaung's poem, War on Roaches in Foreign Policy in Focus.

2011-10-12T12:56:00.001-07:00

Walt Whitman's poetry carved in stone at Dupont Circle metro. Photo copyright Kyi May Kaung

http://www.fpif.org/articles/poets_stand_up

http://www.fpif.org/articles/war_on_roaches

Burmese junta firm gets exploration bid in South Africa

2011-10-07T06:31:00.000-07:00

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-10-07-burmese-firm-gets-sa-exploration-right/

Dog meat in Vietnam

2011-10-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22185

Weakness in traditional area studies approach and Burma Studies by Kyi May Kaung

2011-10-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

I think the elephant must be a flower - two fake topiary men look at a decorated elephant - photo copyright Kyi May Kaung

from Burma Studies Conference, 2008,

paper abstract.

WEAKNESS IN THE TRADITIONAL AREA STUDIES APPROACH AND BURMA.
KYI MAY KAUNG
Burma Studies has been traditionally organized as a subject discipline as Area Studies. In this approach what happens within the national boundaries of a country (only) is implicitly treated as relevant to the study of the problems of that country. At least two decades to four decades of Burma Studies has shown that these parameters are too limited. It has resulted in scholars not talking or collaborating with each other as much as they should, and not paying enough attention to systemic and regional matters, not to mention the international setting in which Burma needs to operate and Burma studies needs to operate.

For instance academic articles and journalistic ones are event driven and have time only to speak about the most micro-economic of matters, whereas it is macro economics that we need to understand. The historians, some of whom hark back to an ultra-nationalistic model, have also failed us, as they are unable to handle the problems of the moment and apparently see nothing wrong with the SPDC's paradigm. Most of the Burma scholarship is focused on subject matter which is limited to Burma only without enough cross-system, cross-national, intra and inter-regional and international analysis. That this approach has failed is widely evident from how the junta has taken advantage of the misguided approach of Friends of Burma and the international community to "depoliticize" Burma strategy during Cyclone Nargis. As a result the aid has disappeared into the junta's pockets, Ban ki-Moon's visit did not succeed, nor did that of Mr. Gambari during the Saffron Revolution last year, nor have any of the UN Rapporteurs since 1988. At the same time Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is still under house arrest, NLD leadership and members and other dissidents have been under arrest or under severe oppression, and the junta is continuing with "business as usual" - in fact even has windfall profits from natural gas etc.

My 1994 dissertation and my article in Asian Survey that summarized this, mentioned that we need to look at systems which were then similar to Burma's such as the then Soviet Union and the PRC and economic and hopefully political reforms there. We also need to look at China and India now and their preferred position as economically strong neighbors of Burma, and China and India; the United States and the western world and China and India as strongly emerging powers in this world as we knew it. The dissident community is now highly conscious of this, but the academic is not.

I would like to propose that the Burma academic community reach out to other approaches, including the dissident community, and the artistic and writerly ones, which are now at the forefront. This would result in much more cogent advice, and much less waste of economic and human resources in the international responses to ongoing and recurrent major crises in Burma. That the crises will continue and also continue to escalate is beyond doubt.

<< back

Americana - funny funny Burma Shave signs --

2011-10-03T18:35:00.000-07:00

http://www.stormlakepilottribune.com/story/1769705.html

From Hindustan Times - Mizoram, India to Ruili, China

2011-10-03T18:27:00.000-07:00

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Where-China-and-India-merge/Article1-752584.aspx

From Bangkok Post - Winds of Change or Smokescreen -

2011-10-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

Crusty old tree - Photo copyright Kyi May Kaung.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/259250/winds-of-change-or-just-a-smokescreen

As a poet I give you the answer,

it's a slight breeze, maybe getting a bit stronger, blowing the smoke around.

After all, smoke is not static.

Blog note Copyright Kyi May Kaung.

Richard Deacon - paper folding sculpture etc

2011-09-30T06:45:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/user/STPIvideos

Singapore Tyler Print Institute

Global Justice Center criticizes ICG & Burma whitewash policies

2011-09-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.globaljusticecenter.net/news-events/news/2011/ICGLetter.pdf

From Asian Correspondent - Kyi May Kaung - VOA inside Burma: In a white jumpsuit

2011-09-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

http://asiancorrespondent.com/65838/voa-inside-burma-in-a-white-jumpsuit/

From Asian Correspondent - Kyi May Kaung - Poetry reading in front of the Burmese embassy : What difference does one poem make?

2011-09-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

Yemem Embassy front steps - photo Kyi May Kaung

http://asiancorrespondent.com/66064/poetry-reading-in-front-of-the-burmese-embassy-what-difference-does-one-poem-make/

Painted poem, or poetic painting? My friends held this up for me in front of Burmese embassy

2011-09-26T16:04:00.000-07:00

as part of my poetry reading "Poems in a plastic bag" with Split this Rock on Saturday, Sept, 24, 2011

Artwork, collage of found materials, "How could we love you?" Copyright Kyi May Kaung.

Nobel Laureate Dr. Wangari Maathai dies of ovarian cancer -

2011-09-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/26/world/africa/wangari-maathai-tribute/index.html

Today - Burmese poet Kyi May Kaung reads in front of Burmese embassy - 100,000 Poets for Change

2011-09-24T05:06:00.001-07:00

Setting Sun - digitally enhanced photograph, Copyright Kyi May Kaung

Biggest poetry reading tomorrow - also in front of Burmese embassy
Friday, September 23, 2011 1:50 PM
From:
"Kyi May Kaung"
To:
"kyi may kaung"
Cc:
"kyi may kaung"

I will be reading in front of Burmese Embassy, including "Eskimo Paradise" which features Aung San Suu Kyi in the poem. This poem was in the Norton anthology.

100 Thousand Poets for Change DC: Poetry Walk of Shame

Saturday, September 24, 2011

11 am

Meet at the Embassy of Yemen

2319 Wyoming Avenue, NW

Washington, DC

Walking distance to Woodley Park & Dupont Circle Metro Stations on the Red Line

For more info: 202-787-5210, info@splitthisrock.org

Even while poets in 450 cities in 95 countries are organizing the largest poetry reading in history September 24, poets in too many countries around the world will be silent, out of fear for their safety.

Join Split This Rock and Foreign Policy in Focus, a project of the Institute for Policy Studies, as we give voice to some of those poets for one day.

We’ll take a short walk to the embassies of three countries -- Yemen, Burma, and Turkmenistan -- where citizens’ rights of free speech have been suppressed, where poets, writers, and other freedom lovers have been threatened, arrested, and murdered for their words and their activism. And we'll stand with the poets and writers of those few places where a few hints of openings are lighting the darkness.

As we stand in witness outside the embassies, we’ll read poems by poets from those nations so that they, too, may participate in 100 Thousand Poets for Change.

Gather at 11 am at the Yemeni Embassy, 2319 Wyoming Avenue, NW. It’s walking distance from the red line Metro, halfway between the Woodley Park and Dupont Circle stops.

100 Thousand Poets for Change is the brainchild of Bay Area poet and publisher Michael Rothenberg. Events planned for September 24 range from poetry and peace gatherings in strife-torn Kabul and Jalalabad to 20 collective poetic actions in Mexico City where poets, painters, filmmakers and musicians will spread the word of peace and non-violence throughout the city with day long readings and workshops.

There are over 270 events in the United States, 29 in India, 7 in Nigeria, 17 in Canada, 19 in Great Britain, 5 in China, with more being added each day.

All those involved are hoping, through their actions and events, to seize and redirect the political and social dialogue of the day and turn the narrative of civilization towards peace and sustainability.

100 Thousand Poets for Change

www.100TPC.org

walterblue@bigbridge.org

**

Sarah Browning

Director

Split This Rock

a hundred thousand poets for change - Kyi May Kaung & other poets will read in front of Yemen Embassy, Burmese Embassy etc with DC Poets Against War -

2011-09-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

Burmese democracy leader sees her son, whom she had not seen for a very long time, at Rangoon Airport, Burma.

Photo from Internet - Suu Kyi and the other over 2000 political prisoners and their families and the people of Burma have been denied freedom of expression, and often, freedom of association.

http://blogthisrock.blogspot.com/2011/09/100-thousand-poets-for-change-dc-poetry.html

Sept 24, 2011

11 AM meet in front of Yemen Embassy, 2319 Wyoming Av, NW DC

close to Woodley Park and Dupont Circle metros

--

Alladin and the magic lamp - new lamps for old -

2011-09-19T19:57:00.001-07:00

http:http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin

well, well, old cars for new in Burma -

2011-09-19T19:47:00.000-07:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14976784

Not very accurate account of Burma Studies Conference 2002 in Gottenberg, Sweden -

2011-09-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

http://www.paclii.org/journals/fJSPL/vol07no1/1.shtml

Aung San Suu Kyi speaks about violence against women and the Burma (Myanmar) army -

2011-09-18T12:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.wikio.com/video/aung-san-suu-kyi-addresses-women-5363553

Burmese comedian Zarganar and English PEN -

2011-09-18T09:14:00.000-07:00

http://www.englishpen.org/writersinprison/

Kyi May Kaung - Theories, paradigms and models in Burma studies - from Asian Survey, 1995

2011-09-18T08:16:00.001-07:00

http://www.jstor.org/pss/2645726

New Ph.D. thesis about Burmese authoritarianism and resistence - from GWU

2011-09-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

Only other dissertation besides mine which attempts theory building on a macro-scale and addresses authoritarianism in Burma.

Kyi May Kaung

--- On Sat, 9/17/11,

From:
Subject: "Challenge and Survival: Political Resistance in Authoritarian Burma": A freshly archived PhD thesis
To:
Date: Saturday, September 17, 2011, 5:31 AM

Author: Linnea M. Beatty,
Title: "Challenge and Survival: Political Resistance in Authoritarian Burma"
Place: George Washington University
Date: August 31, 2011
Supervisor: Professor Henry Hale

Link: http://gradworks.umi.com/3466745.pdf

Dissertation Abstract:

"Burma‘s dictatorial government maintains its power by coupling
political repression and social control methods to cultivate a
compliant citizenry. Yet non-violent and violent opposition to
military rule continues. Armed resistance groups began fighting for
independence and autonomy from the state prior to Burma‘s
independence. Large-scale protests occurred in every decade since
military takeover in 1962, the most recent were the monks’ protests in
September 2007.
How do oppositions maintain their ability to challenge an
authoritarian state over long periods? Authoritarian conditions
necessitate that opposition movements resist by utilizing two
imperatives: challenging the regime and ensuring their own survival.
Resistance in Burma encompasses the offensive position of the
challenge imperative and the defensive position of the survival
imperative.

Challenge activities confront the authority of the governing regime;
the authoritarian government and its entities are the primary
audience, although it is beneficial if other segments of society
witness the action. Oppositional activities do more than just
challenge the state. Oppositions conduct activities that also ensure
their survival in the face of repression. Political activities serve
to signal in-group solidarity, transfer information to other facets of
the political movement and encourage long-term participation. For an
opposition to survive repression, member retention is critical and
activist family networks help individuals overcome regime-constraints
to participation.

The challenge and survival imperatives demonstrate that protest does
not erupt ‘from out of nowhere.’ Over-relying on protest as a proxy
measure of the existence of opposition overlooks the wide range of
resistance options available to discontented citizens, especially
those living under authoritarian rule. Using a protest events dataset
and interviews with activists, soldiers and citizens of Burma, this
dissertation examines the range of political resistance used in Burma
to challenge the dictatorial regime."

Too lovely not to post - Snail Bus by Ko Ko Thett

2011-09-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

Ko Ko Thett is a Helsinki based poet writing in English (mostly) - I met him when he invited me to a conference he helped organize in Helsinki in 08.

Ko Ko Thett

I would like to "paint this poem".

You know The Little Prince, of course?

You should explore writing poems for children of all ages.

aunty km

--- On Thu, 9/15/11,

From:
Subject: poetry post: snail bus
To:
Date: Thursday, September 15, 2011, 3:14 PM

http://kokothett.webs.com/

snail bus

kill me with your pace

as i age inside you, ‘earth to star’

‘earth to star’, do you read me, over and out

the stop sign turns into the walk sign

no lollipop lady, no schoolchildren cross over

along with the intergalactic greyhound

the roadside shows pause for ten long years

‘star to earth’ ‘star to earth’, can you hear me

out and over, abort the flight to the sun, repeat

abort the flight to the sun, do not risk sunburn

u-turn to saturn, pillage all her 62 moons, all the moonlets

and all the rings on her, in such a road rage

the u.f.o’s are much faster, tell her to go fly a kite

are you from laputta, la paz, monkey’s eyebrow or toad suck

what shall we do with our battalions when the war is over

more people under 65 suffer from dementia

who recalls those cactuses at the side of route 69

a broken car on road shoulder needs a screw/driver

bumpy ride, highwaymen (and -women), border patrol

petrol stations, passport control, pest control

‘earth to star’ ‘earth to star’ do you read me

where am i going, where are you taking me

am i the only pilgrim

where’s the bus master

ko ko thett

10-15.09.11

Poem copyright Ko Ko Thett.

--
KKt
ko ko thett

Quote of the day - Dictators in Gold Braids - from Pablo Neruda

2011-09-15T09:17:00.000-07:00

The delicate dictator is talking
with top hats, gold braid, and collars.

Pablo Neruda - who spent some time in Rangoon, Burma before World War II

Now the Burmese dictators are in civilian clothes.

David Bowie's hit song Change - sound track for so-called change in Burmese capital Naypyitaw or King's Royal City -

2011-09-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

quite brilliant, esp the stuttering :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl3vxEudif8http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Google map of Naypyitaw -

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/google_map_Naypyidaw.htm

NPT on wiki-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naypyidaw

More photos of NPT while under construction

http://www.sequential-one.com/blog/?p=895&cpage=2#comment-141437

kg

--- On Thu, 9/15/11, wrote:

From:
Subject: To wet your appetite (if at all!) - from my next essay - Change, change, change, changes...
To:
Date: Thursday, September 15, 2011, 10:01 AM

For the Burma and Burmese sceptics, David Bowie’s “Changes”
http://www.lyricsdepot.com/davihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifd bowie/changes.html

both the
lyrics and the music, may be more meaningful to ponder and pleasant to
our ears than the Brahminic verses about the supposedly fast-paced
changes in Naypyidaw .

Here is my favourite stanza:

“I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence and
So the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're going through”

The Wiki entry says, Bowies’ 40-year-old lyrics may be read as “a
manifesto for his chameleonic personality, sexual ambiguity, and
frequent reinventions of his musical style throughout the 1970s”.

The current Brahminic discourse of Naypyidaw’s changes with their
dizzying paces is neither as sexy nor as ambiguous.

Beneath the mirage of changes, the chameleonic seniors and juniors in
generals’ uniform are simply reinventing their grip on society,
economy and politics.

Notes by Zarni.

Bodies hang from bridge in Mexico as warning to bloggers -

2011-09-15T02:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/09/14/mexico.violence/index.html

Found poem - a traffick report concerning "Burma Road"

2011-09-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

Poetry anthology Fire in the Soul which featured Tin Moe's poem Desert Years, translated by Kyi May Kaung.

Americus Times-Recorder, Americus, Georgia
September 13, 2011
Injuries result from head-on collision

Associated Press

AMERICUS — An afternoon collision on Burma Road Thursday resulted injuries to one driver, according to Georgia State Patrol Post 10.

According to the accident report, Cheyenne D. Cromer, 17, of Ellaville was

driving a 1992 Chevrolet Cavalier in the south bound lane of Burma Road crossed into the opposite lane, failing to negotiate a curve. The Chevrolet struck a 1977 GMC C3500 pick-up driven by Eddie W. Rogers, 48, of Andersonville. After the impact both vehicles rotated off of the road way, each striking opposite embankments. The 17 year old driver of the Chevrolet was transported by Air -Evac to Macon Medical Center for treatment for non-incapacitating injuries. She was cited for driving on the wrong side of the road. Rogers was not transported, according to the report.

Borders flagship store closing -

2011-09-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/09/12/first.borders.bookstore.closing/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

Amazing Documentary - Al Jazeera's Barnaby Philips' Burma Boy, about a Nigerian saved in Burma during World War II

2011-09-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/aljazeeracorrespondent/2011/08/2011828135228487172.html

Have you been branded? Poem by S. V. Wolfland

2011-09-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

http://www.pemmicanpress.com/CurrentIssue/Individual/Wolfland-branded-jan-2011.htm

Poem - My Father does not appear when Googled - by Jared Carter -

2011-09-09T21:44:00.000-07:00

http://www.pemmicanpress.com/CurrentIssue/jared%20carter/jared%20carter%20father.htm

Kyi May Kaung's poem - War Against Roaches, published in Counterpunch -

2011-09-09T17:55:00.000-07:00

Photo copyright Kyi May Kaung

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/09/09/jared-carter-and-kyi-may-kaung/

In Burma, Four Cuts Campaigns have been carried out against the ethnic groups by the central government as a declared policy since at least the mid-70s.

regards,

kmk