Sunday, March 15, 2026
I just watched the Diana movie from 2008 on Amazon. A bit late but in 2008 I just read about it.
I know that Dr.Hasnat Khan, cardiac surgeon, was very careful what he said at the trial, and he also said she was not pregnant, that she took her contraceptive pills regularly and he also thought it was an accident. He also said that he tried to call her the night of the accident, and that his call did not go through.
He didn't seem to like the movie or himself as played by Naveen Andrews--"I never stood like that, with my hands behind my back."
But I didn't know anyone personally.
In 1997, I was newly hired at RFA (Radio Free Asia) and all those 3 years I was severely over-worked, writing, voicing and producing 5 original features a week--everyone else translated AP and other news articles directly.
In April 1997 I went to my first Conference on International Affairs in Boulder,CO. The first of several I went to each spring or Easter--the last one in 2004 which was different, about human trafficking and held in Denver.
In Boulder, I met a British journalist. I've forgotten his name, but I asked him what Princess Diana was like. He said,"She's just an ordinary young lady, and she was terrified (of the press). Think about it,if she's terrified (of us) how are we supposed to feel?"
But I remember the program I did on her funeral,the way I also wrote the obit when Aung San Suu Kyi's husband Dr. Michael Aris died.
The jerk who headed the Burmese section and his two female lionesses were always sabotaging my programs, but I did those obits anyway.
For the Princess Diana piece, jerk said,"That's not about Burma."
But I did it anyway. For a mild-mannered woman,I canbe quite bull-headed.
I carefully recorded the exact amount of sound bytes we were legally allowed--3 mins, copied them from NPR, and I choose the footsteps of the pall bearers to start the program. The streets were absolutely silent.
A few days before, I had seen pictures of Princess Diana at the minefields. I thought then, "Those beautiful legs, they will never be mangled by land mines."
Instead, very soon she'd be killed in a car crash.
Mother Theresa spoke of her, and died herself the next day.
The piece was broadcast and got good feedback from my audience inside Burma.
The kid with broken teeth who was jerk's sycophant--said "Sayama (Female Teacher) you acted like you sounded sad."
I said,"Of course I am sad. Don't you see how Dan Rather talks about such things."
I remember saying the front of the car was folded in like an accordion.
About this movie, I think it's one of the better bio-pics.
It's respectful of the living as well as the dead.
It doesn't assign blame on anyone.
For that you will have to read Dominic Dunne's account of the trial in the link below.
It's truly sad.
Hasnat Khan said something like, "It happened,and there's nothing I can do about it.
He married 3 times,the first 2 marriages ending in divorce, all to Pakistani women.
I don't know who wrote the screenplay.
I don't know how the movie-makers got the rights to depict living persons like the butler Paul Burrell and Dr.Khan himself.
I would give this movie 4 1/2 stars out of 5.
Kyi May Kaung
3-15-2026
Saturday, March 14, 2026
Loss of Nationality Fee reduced--
What To Know
https://www.newsweek.com/us-change-citizenship-fee-legal-pressure-11678058
The State Department has reduced the fee to formally renounce American citizenship by about 80 percent, lowering it from $2,350 to $450. The change was made through a final rule published in the Federal Register and took effect on Friday.
In the rule, the State Department said it cut the renunciation fee after years of complaints from Americans living abroad that the cost, combined with U.S. tax and reporting rules such as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, made giving up citizenship financially burdensome.
The State Department described the cut as a policy decision aimed at reducing the cost burden on people seeking a Certificate of Loss of Nationality (CLN), the document issued after renunciation is approved.
Sinema acknowledges affair with guard while in office--his wife sued her--she says "encounters"
happened on the road, not in the couple's home state.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/03/13/kyrsten-sinema-acknowledges-affair/
Princess Diana had two recorded love affairs with bodyguards.
One was killed in a motor-cycle accident that Diana told friends was an assassination ordered by her father-in-law.
The other has been alledged to be Prince Harry's biological father.
There are other rumors--eventually it will all come out.
The difference is Princess Diana was well-liked and she died.kmk
3-14-2026
Friday, March 13, 2026
The World Anti-Doping Agency is considering rewriting its rules to try barring President Donald Trump and all U.S. government officials from attending the LA Olympics in 2028 in a move that could also have implications for the World Cup being hosted by the U.S. this summer.
https://www.aol.com/articles/wada-weigh-barring-trump-us-214033170.html
Incomprehensible story line and crazy dubbing--Horrible transliterartion.
XinTong--Shin Tong--pronounced repeatedly as "Ex I N, tong"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0FKg6_vQ2Q&t=620s
This is what I found about Westerners, they never ask--they just say it any way they think--
Like an official herald shouting out--Ow oo san kee
for Aung San Suu Kyi
Bush Jr saying Aung Suu San Kyi
and even my prof saying "mau--bin" for Ma-oo bin
and Mony wa--for Mon-Ywa.
If you don't know why don't you ask.
And even Susan Sarandon said "I" for Aye--as in Aye Aye Sir.
Actually it's pronounced Eh
and means Cool as in cool water.
And these are the transliterations given us by the British Colonial writers/scholars.
I've taught my doctors' assistants to all say my name correctly.
And then there was that BBC Hardtalk interviewer I told before the taping started that I was "One of the exile government's advisors," and she said "The Exile Government's Advisor"
And she looked genuinely shocked when I said, "Sanctions are not on and off like a light switch. There are a whole range of different sanctions for different commodities."
"I was so angry I didn't stay downtown for the next interview,but went back home to cool off--where I at once complained on the BBC website.
My colleague ANO said, "I was so mad,I felt like jumping up and throttling them.
Even Savannah Guthrie,whose mother Nancy is still lost--pronounced John Le carre's name wrong as "Le Care"
Even I even in Burma in the 1960s with a few months of basic French knew it was John Le Carre--carr ray--as in the French word for The Square.
But Savannah apologized and pronounced the name correctly the very next day.
I do hope her mother is found safe and sound.
On the other hand, Burmese never admit they are wrong,so cocksure, and it's cocksure, not "hen sure," you know?
Kyi May Kaung
3-13-2026
Thursday, March 12, 2026
This is a different Love in the Kitchen--anyway, it's time to go to sleep--had a long day.
However, day very warm--75F. Things went relatively well. One fave restaurant closed permanently, but Trader Joes opened--easy to walk to,lots of Chinese dim sum,small portions.
Going to change my eating patterns.
Normally eat high fiber, multi-grain, but to prep for procedure have to eat low fiber foods.
Also buying in bulk from cheapie store,found could not eat so much, so some waste.
Therefore will eat like Scallion Shoot who eats small portions--like appetizers or tea time snacks. This good friend taught me a lot.
AS we grow old we need small portions of better food.
So today had 5 halves of deviled eggs and a beet salad.
With bread and the nice waiter filled up my cold coffee.
Waiters and waitresses always very kind to me.
Chinese place even makes steamed eggplant for me without the sauce, and by now they know I only eat brown rice.
Next time going to Trader Joes with shopping cart. Bottle of lemonade was very heavy.
Wow, boasting a little. Benjamina's,The Plum,Whole Foods, Starbucks, Trader Joes all within walking distance, 3 kinds of doctors--nice gardens and benches along the way. The cherry is starting to bloom--warm like summer.
https://www.iq.com/play/love-in-the-kitchen-2020-24nfjclpuxg?lang=en_us
Wednesday, March 11, 2026
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
From Slate:
There are many appalling things about the ongoing war in Iran, but one of the worst so far is President Donald Trump’s persistent avoidance of responsibility for the missile attack that hit a girls’ school, killing at least 175 Iranians, most of them grade-school children.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/03/iran-trump-war-school-bombing-missile-strike-tomahawk.html
Video footage clearly shows the damage was done by a Tomahawk cruise missile. In his press conference Wednesday, Trump said that the Tomahawks are “generic” weapons (untrue, they are quite distinctive) and that many countries have some, including Iran (very untrue), suggesting—even stating explicitly—that Iranians themselves might have fired the missile.
There are precedents for how to handle these sorts of incidents. During the war in Afghanistan, when U.S. troops accidentally killed a civilian (a frequent occurrence), they went to the dead person’s family, apologized, and gave them some money. In 1999, during the war in Serbia, when U.S. planes mistakenly bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, killing three employees and injuring 20, President Bill Clinton phoned Chinese President Jiang Zemin to apologize, stressing that it was an isolated error, not a deliberate attack on China.
In other words, it is possible—under previous presidents, it has been policy—to admit to making horrific mistakes in wartime, and even to compensate for the damages. A soldier, even a president, can do so without appearing weak or suggesting doubts about the wider war. In fact,
Day 11, Malcolm Nance and Jacob Kaarsbo from Substack
Malcolm Nance and Jabob Kaarsbo--full of facts, really up to the minute, balanced, serious analysis.
Sorry, can't post the link--you have to get on Substack and look for it yourself.
Brief? fall in oil prices due to Trump remarks--
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/10/oil-prices-drop-trump-iran-war?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
1000 oil tankers still stuck outside Strait of Hormuz--
Temp storage facilities limited.
Monday, March 09, 2026
This is a good one, but almost like JoJo Moyes' bestselling, Me before You, except here the man is less disabled.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n7sCDVWG44
However, Maintenance will come in to install mandatory fire alarms, mandated by the state--not the nation state, the state state.
And I hate it but I always have to move my boxes of books and my "trays" of works in progress.
Watch the movie online (Me before You)--the lovers are super cute, but the ending is sad.
Moyes's 3 novels are a trilogy.
Maybe I should watch the movie again, but I can't bear it when someone dies.
It was just too much for "Will Traynor."
I guess movie-makers can make these look alike movies if they change things around a lot.
Another (depressing) memoir I am reading is Karl Ove Knausgard's My Struggles, which was published in 2000.
I bought it around then, and now 26? years later, I am reading the 2nd half.
His father, an alcoholic, dies, and he goes to his grandmother's to find the house full of junk--excrement, urine, empty liquor bottles.
The detail is incredible.
It makes me think I can write the painful parts after my father died.
"Granular detai" as Rachel Maddow always says.
After all, I remember it all.
Must try not to die like that. In Knausgard "Kah-nausgard"
the grandmother's dementia is very well depicted--she says the same sentence like "IGN brought her baby into the classroom," every 5 minutes.
I don't have dementia but if I don't take B12 and D3 regularly, I have to struggle more to remember--
Kyi May Kaung
3-9-2026.
Iceland crochet scarf--my own design. Kaung.
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