Wednesday, April 09, 2025
Tuesday, April 08, 2025
Private American field hospital sets up in NPT, tourist visas suspended, Resistance victories etc.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/lives-updates-quake-death-toll-rises-to-3600-junta-suspends-tourist-visa-after-quake-private-us-field-hospital-in-naypyitaw-and-more.html
NPT is junta stronghold--earlier reports that rescuers had to follow junta orders.
Tourist visas stopped bc they don't want reporters coming in.
Famous quote--First they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up--
The Quote
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
—Martin Niemöller
This quote is attributed to the prominent German pastor Martin Niemöller. It is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a poem.
Majdanek, Poland--I visited in 1968-9.
Michigan auto industry and Michigan State fist victims of Trump trade wars
https://www.wsj.com/economy/the-first-victim-of-trumps-trade-war-michigans-economy-ea6ff8b2?mod=trending_now_news_2
This article says 20% of Michigan's economy is the automotive industry.
Nobel Economist Paul Krugman just said to Mehdi Hassan on Substack--
"there are no truly US made cars" (from scratch)--parts are imported.
March 30, 2025--"The Day I got Kash Patel's phone number from the President"
She found it in the National Archives--The way they treat sensitive information is incredible.
https://sashaingber.substack.com/p/that-time-i-got-fbi-director-kash
Monday, April 07, 2025
One Act of Kindness a Day-List.
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/rewind-and-be-kind-what-happens-if-you-do-one-act-of-kindness-every-day?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
My partial list:
1. As they had the farewell party for me as I was leaving on a scholarship, the then rector of the Ecos Inst in Rangoon said,"Let her go. Don't obstruct her, you will get your chance too."
It turned out he was wrong--bc the door closed, again after opening a crack, as in Wole Soyinka's play, Death and the King's Horseman, but it changed my life.
2.I was walking slowly around NY city behind my "student"who had not actually been my student, MT, but was the age of a student and of course younger and taller.
As he whizzed ahead, he took me and a HS student to the Frick Collection, he said, "You know Sayama (Female Teacher), it's getting very racist in Burma. They have a law now that you have to prove your ancestors were in Burma bf 1886 to prove you are native.
When I was mulling to stay or return after the 1988 clampdown by the junta on the nationwide pro-democracy movement in Burma, my professor and life mentor said to me on the phone, "Which way are you inclining?"
He once wrote on my exam paper "A superb performance." I kept the paper, but I don't know what happened to it.
He wrote 2 job recommendations for me and one asylum recommendation, which my lawyer and the personel in the places I was working and intending to work,told me about later.
A Transportation Ecos. professor told me how to move laterally to Pol.Sci while still on my Fulbright at Penn--and how to find a Pol.Sci, professor to be my dissertation chair.
The foreign student advisor helped me and my late friend continue to live in student housing, when our grants were stopped, "but the bills will keep coming."
The disstn chair looked at my topic with one click of his mouse, and said, "It hasn't been done before. It will be a best seller--do it."
and many more, as to how to live in NE DC "where, the subway swings from Connecticutt Av to Wisconsin."
--
On a bus trip to Keukenhof Gardens in Amsterdam in 2019, the "spare" or bus conductor smiled at me--and on the way out, an Arab woman in a head scarf, gestured to me at the colorful lines of tulips in bloom.
I showed someone an orchid hidden under a leaf at Ars Botanica.
Someone paid for my subway ticket in New York City.
A couple let me take the only taxi left a 2 AM in DC Union Station.
A young man with earphones on called a Lyft for me when my app did not work at Ars Botanica, and I came out on the wrong side of the road.
Daniel, then at American Univ, maybe this will find you. I gave him the 10 $$.
Thank you.
Kyi May Kaung
4-7-2025
Kaung--My crochet and wearable art --Lakeside Shawl--made to Fiber Spider design. 1922.
Sunday, April 06, 2025
Saturday, April 05, 2025
Burmese saying--It hurts when it touches my flesh (and blood.)
Ah thar htii hma
nar te.
istock royalty free image.
OMG--Instead of helping, Trump fires three US Aid workers on the ground in Myanmar helping rescue efforts.
They were fired while they were helping earthquake victims on the ground, Aaron Parnas reports.
Please follow Aaron Parnas, The Parnas Perspective on Substack.
https://aaronparnas.substack.com/
Trump has crossed the line.
He's also firing many workers at IRS--Internal Revenue Service.
Right now, Parnas is at the Washington Monument live.
I highly recommend Parnas--who's even better than Democracy Now. And that's saying something.
Donate to Parnas. Almost hourly updates.
Karenni State leader Khun Bedu offers to help earthquake victims--relocate to Karenni State near border. Signal Number to send funds provided.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/video/we-will-provide-shelter-for-earthquake-victims.html
He says--"Aid should not benefit the junta."
With US aid promised by Trump not arrived yet--and junta continuing air strikes, and not helping at all, if you wish to donate this is a better option.
Ethnic states are more rural and less built up and closer to border and further from the epi-center.
Also, and I've written about this before, historically since Daw Ni Ni Myint, 3rd and 5th wife of Ne Win, the dictators have taken all aid.
Cyclone aid in 1970s.
Nargis Cyclone aid--even Commander of USS Essex complained.
Meanwhile, Min Aye Hlaing is in Bangkok at BIMSTEC.
Survivors interviewed by Irrawaddy and others--say instead of helping, soldiers did nothing and rounded up the rescuers.
Use your hard earned money wisely.
Please repost this on your social media--most Burmese use Facebook.
Thank you.
Friday, April 04, 2025
From AP--
Vice President JD Vance, chief of staff Susie Wiles, Waltz and Sergio Gor, director of the Presidential Personnel Office, also took part in the meeting with Loomer, the people said.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-waltz-laura-loomer-national-security-council-959b718b04b240c5c8ba3736b4d8aa62
The Presidential Personnel Office has fired at least three senior NSC officials and multiple lower-ranking aides since Wednesday’s meeting with Loomer, according to the people familiar with the situation.
The NSC officials fired include Brian Walsh, a director for intelligence; Thomas Boodry, a senior director for legislative affairs; and David Feith, a senior director for technology and national security, according two people familiar with the matter.
“Laura Loomer is a very good patriot. She is a very strong person,” said Trump, who described his talks with the far-right activist as “constructive.”
Trump acknowledged that Loomer “recommended certain people for jobs.”
Pl check Google News--and Burma sites such a Irrawaddy.com,Mizzima, Myanmar Now and DVB on a daily basis.
Much is happening in the world hourly. If you don't pay attention, you willbe unable to cope and won't survive.
From Dr. Miemie Wynn-Byrd in Irrawaddy magazine--
Min Aung Hlaing is not a head of state. He is a mass murderer. Under his command, the military junta has shut down over 20 hospitals by targeting Civil Disobedience Movement doctors and healthcare workers. As a result, communities have been left with no trauma care, no doctors, and no medical infrastructure, even in the wake of a devastating natural disaster.
Offers of help have been turned away. Taiwan—home to one of the world’s top disaster rescue teams—offered immediate support, but the junta rejected it. Foreign journalists have been barred from entering the country to document the scale of the devastation, preventing accurate reporting and global accountability.
Worse still, the junta continues to use its aircraft not for rescue or aid delivery but for destruction. Military planes and helicopters that could be saving lives are instead being used to drop bombs on villages, even in the aftermath of the earthquake. The regime has prioritized military operations over humanitarian response, using state resources to terrorize rather than protect.
The regime hasn’t stopped there. It is now targeting local volunteers—ordinary citizens who stepped up to help their neighbors when the government would not. Some have been arrested, harassed, or disappeared. Others have been forcibly conscripted by the military, pulled away from rescue efforts, and forced to serve the regime against their will.
This is not the behavior of a government. This is the behavior of a criminal gang.
From BIMSTEC wiki
BIMSTEC
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation
(in other languages)
BIMSTEC
Flag of BIMSTEC
Flag[2]
Emblem[1] of BIMSTEC
Emblem[1]
Location of BIMSTEC in Asia
Location of BIMSTEC in Asia
Secretariat Dhaka, Bangladesh[3]
Official language English
Membership
Bangladesh
Bhutan
India
Myanmar
Nepal
Sri Lanka
Thailand
Leaders
• Chairmanship
Thailand (since March 2022)[4]
• Secretary General
India (since 2023)[5]
Establishment 6 June 1997; 27 years ago
Area
• Total
4,876,941 km2 (1,882,997 sq mi) (7th)
Population
• 2020 estimate
1,723,388,648[6]
• Density
353.37/km2 (915.2/sq mi)
GDP (PPP) estimate
• Total
Increase US$18.582 trillion[7] (3rd)
GDP (nominal) 2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $5.225 trillion[7] (4th)
Website
bimstec.org
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an international organisation of seven South Asian and Southeast Asian nations, housing 1.73 billion people and having a combined gross domestic product of US$5.2 trillion (2023).[8][9] The BIMSTEC member states – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand[10] – are among the countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal.
Fourteen priority sectors of cooperation have been identified and several BIMSTEC centres have been established to focus on those sectors.[8][11] A BIMSTEC free trade agreement is under negotiation (c. 2018), referred to as similar to SAARC.
Leadership is rotated in alphabetical order of country names. The permanent secretariat is in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Background
On 6 June 1997, a new sub-regional grouping was formed in Bangkok under the name BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand Economic Cooperation).[12][13] Following the inclusion of Myanmar on 22 December 1997 during a special Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, the Group was renamed 'BIMST-EC' (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation). In 1998, Nepal became an observer. In February 2004, Nepal and Bhutan became full members.
On 31 July 2004, in the first Summit the grouping was renamed as BIMSTEC or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation.[14]
Objective
Irrawaddy: How long can Min Aung Hlaing withstand earthquake pressure--+ BIMSTEC
https://www.irrawaddy.com/video/how-long-can-min-aung-hlaing-stand-the-quake-pressure.html
My 2 cents:
It's not set up that way,but in past--Pol Pot's fall came when Vietnam invaded.
In 2008, a Cambodian woman told me at a writers' conference at Berlin, House of World Culture, that "the Vietnamese came and then they never left."
When I was in Seam Reap, I could see even in Angkor "3 star hotel" there were plastic fruit on the breakfast table.
Chinese already have boots on ground in Myanmar
Disguised as "protecting their investments"--ports, Bay of Bengal --Yunnan, Shwe Gas Pipeline.
BIMSTEC ASEAN is not weak--economically--it can flex some military muscle.
As for asking NUG--National Unity gov--its status itself is uncertain under Trump 2.00. Its DC based but I don't have contact with them.
In a way Trump's 44 % tariff--By the way Trump's table and numbers are batshit--Paul Krugman has written about it.--the 44 % tariif can be seen as a form of sanctions--
As for asking for international help--they are busy attempting to deal with Trump tariffs -yesterday's 1700 Dow slump is largest since Covid crisis.
Even after Cyclone Nargis, USS Essex commander himself was dismayed to find that he had to surrender all supplies to a junta trucks which just drove away.
Europe has its own problems,needs its own army (see what Zelensky said in the Oval.)
My poor Burmese people--haveto go it alone--again and again.
MAH continues bombing--he'll probably flee to Moscow where a 4 star "monasterey" awaits him--headed by racist monk Sitagu "Thee--ta gu"
What Yeni said about failed state--it's been a failed state since 2021 coup.
Private enterprises which boomed during so-called transittion period--are stopped or struggling--
GDP growth rate will soon be minus 2 digits.
MAH looks always on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
There are now "drone fighting" Buddha images.
Monks modeling different robe styles on catwalks
Monasteries with their own militias--I am told.
Too bad bad the junta built Nay Pyi Taw "Kings' Royal City" smack on top of Sagaing Fault in 2005-6.
Irrawaddy video mentions presidential palace was damaged itself.
I'm not quite sure if there are Russian or Belarusian rescue teams--
Burmese saying--a nah paw doke kya
A stick falls on an open wound.
Now many sticks fall on a major wound that literally slices through Burma north to south --along the Irrawaddy River, which itself runs in the Fault area.
Burmese Resistance should put out rumors that nats gods/spirits are angry.
They are mostly victims of the kings and thousands of years old.
Read Maurice Collis'She was a Queen--about Queen Saw--and when the Chinese--ie Yuan Dynasty of Kublai Khan--raided Bagan--(used tobe spelled Pagan.)
Tayok/Tarok pyay min--King who ran from the Chinese--ie Mongol Dynasty--was forced to eat his favorite liver dish laced with poison as he fled down the Irrawaddy--
Queen Saw--saw that he ate it.
Fin. There's a paperback reprint.
Read my yet unpublished play Shaman-about sex abuse, "immigration"/emigration, nats/spirits. It was a Pew Finalist script. I am open to Zoom readings on Substack
Kyi May Kaung
4-4-2025
Death of the Buddha--Javanese.
Thursday, April 03, 2025
Meanwhile--look at the cherries peaking--it's 79F--there's Presdt Obama--walking around--something the
most powerful man and the richest man cannot do--
Photo from Washington Post.
US officials object to European push to buy weapons locally--
Well--what did T.Admin expect??
e.g. if aid to Ukraine cut off,why would they buy American?
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-officials-object-european-push-buy-weapons-locally-2025-04-02/
Military industrial complex will suffer and will blame T.
Why is that so difficult to understand?
Zelensky said this after his Oval Office humiliation--
"Europe needs its own army."
So does Japan--so would it seems each US State.
At least maybe Red states and Blue States will divide.
Meanwhile as cynical "reciprocal symbol of friendship" Trump slaps 24% tariff on Japan.
https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2025/04/d5f352983d39-update2-trump-unveils-mix-of-universal-reciprocal-tariffs.html
Amazing that any Economic 101 student knows,Mr. does not know.
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