Saturday, December 31, 2011

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


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.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

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

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

Saturday, October 29, 2011

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

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.)"

Thursday, October 20, 2011

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


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/

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Prize winning documentary on Khmer Rouge - Brother Number 2


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.

Monday, October 03, 2011

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



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 --

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

From Hindustan Times - Mizoram, India to Ruili, China

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

From Bangkok Post - Winds of Change or Smokescreen -


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.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

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



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

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

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 -


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

--

Saturday, September 17, 2011

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

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."

Thursday, September 15, 2011

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

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 -

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 -

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

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Found poem - a traffick report concerning "Burma Road"



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.

Friday, September 09, 2011

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



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

Published excerpt from Kyi May Kaung's book length poem - She-Monkey goes West

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/xconnect/volume1/issue2/word/kmkgol.html

Written in 1994.

Kyi May Kaung

:) Kaung is not a valid Scrabble word - poem



Memory Rolls - artwork and photo copyright Kyi May Kaung

:) My name is not a valid Scrabble word

http://www.wordnik.com/words/Kaung

It’s a valid Burmese word.

kaung = good

Copyright Kyi May Kaung
9-9-2011

re-posting - VOA coverage of Kyi May Kaung's art show - Mostly Burmese Monks - 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvlXLXpQP8E

Burma News Group post of correspondence ref pro-Burmese military regime conference in DC in April of 2011

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/burmanewsgroup/message/7537

It is as you see it.

Kyi May Kaung

Kyi May Kaung cited in Andrew Selth's 2007 survey of Burma Studies

http://www6.cityu.edu.hk/searc/Data/FileUpload/289/WP96_07_ASelth.pdf

Thursday, September 01, 2011

new -supposed self portrait of van Gogh -

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/08/is-this-portrait-a-long-lost-vincent-van-gogh-painting.html

It is a portrait of van Gogh, but not a self portrait,

The "hand" or touch is completely different as are the use of colors, which more resembles Renoir's soft touch.

It's a pastel and van Gogh hardly ever did pastels.

I think it's a portrait by Donnadieu (spelling?) as the signature on the back says it is.

Kyi May Kaung.

Denver Art Museum to present exclusive Van Gogh exhibit

http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_18798107?source=rss

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Libya - $1.5 b in unfrozen moneys will start to flow soon -

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/08/25/libya.war/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Let's hope the USA does not "kill it with money".

Bones Crow - upcoming bilingual edition of Burmese dissident poetry -


Burmese democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, pays her respect to her assassinated father, and Burma's founding father, Aung San, on July 19th, Martyrs' Day. This was the first time the junta allowed her to participate in the official ceremony.


Bones Crow is edited by James Bryne and edited/translated by Ko Ko Thett.

http://www.sampsoniaway.org/literary-voices/2011/08/22/bones-will-crow-an-anthology-of-burmese-poetry/

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Dr. Kyi May Kaung's comments on 10 papers on Economics, presented at Naypyitaw, Burma - much vaunted "economic reforms".



Aung San Suu Kyi and her son Kim Aris reunited after many years. Photo, screen grab from Internet.

Is Suu Kyi being used big time?


It looks to me from a cursory skim through that the papers are advocating

- more ties with ASEAN, AEC
- better/more taxation
- industrialization
- dealing with corruption
-how to deal with international financial crisis through IMF/about IMF (U Myint)

However, all this is under pretense that it is "a government elected by the people" - one of the papers (in Burmese) explicitly states this blatant untruth upfront as if it were true.

None of papers deal with structural/systemic issues -

so nothing can be done about nepotism for instance when surely Thein Sein's and Than Shwe's relatives and others among junta cliques, are all involved, just like Gaddafi sons, "who were given country to loot"

so ultimately it is all "Show Business" as we Burmese say, and an exercise in futility.

No wonder Daw Suu looks serious and not so happy.

There is also concern that Daw Suu is separated from her usual phalanx of (unarmed) "bodyguards" and NLD supporters/loyalists.

KMK

I am sending my comment to others.

--- On Wed, 8/24/11, wrote:


From:
Subject: Fwd: 10 papers of Nay Pyi Taw Workshop (U Myint, Dr Zaw Oo, Minister U Soe Thein, Daw Mya Thuzar, U Thein Zaw, U San Thein)
To:

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro -

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

Sergio Pinheiro's Report - Crimes in Burma - Harvard Law School

http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/hrp/documents/Crimes-in-Burma.pdf

Artist Shepard Fairey creates new poster for film The Lady, about Aung San Suu Kyi

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/08/shepard-fairey-explains-his-new-poster-for-aung-san-suu-kyi-movie.html

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

As Gaddafi falls, K St. rises -

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/08/qaddafi-falls-k-street-rises/41591/#.TlOcJAkB-Eg.reddit

Exerpts from Maung Zarni, LSE, WAKE UP BURMESE -

Quote: The regime is finding out that the charade of multi-party elections
and all the expertly spun talk of a “post-election landscape” have not
brought them closer to international acceptability. To be sure, the
generals have found no shortage of “friends,” strategic allies,
co-exploiters of resources, investors and business partners among
Asian rulers, from Beijing and Delhi, to Bangkok and Singapore. But
the regime has been unable to dilute the world’s perception of it as a
despicable pariah, and Washington’s dogged refusal to relax its
opposition against key international lenders and development banks
such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and its Asian
offshoot, the Tokyo-dominated Asian Development Bank. This dampens
even the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) enthusiasm to
let Burma’s not-so-presentable generals chair its overly ambitious,
business-oriented bloc, lest Naypyidaw drives potential investors away
from the ASEAN region, in fierce competition for capital and
investment inflows with China, India and other international rivals.

Last but not least, the generals have been on a mission to militarily
subjugate politically defiant ethnic communities such as the Shan,
Kachin, Karen, Mon and so on. The Burmese military’s zero-sum policy
towards any of its critics, non-violent or armed, has already
backfired, as it has predictably resulted in the complete breakdown of
a 17-year ceasefire with the Kachin. The fact that the regime invited
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi “as an individual observer” to the “poverty
workshop” can only be seen as a cynical public relations ploy, part of
the generals’ “pacification campaign”.

. . .

What the late Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme remarked truthfully
about the apartheid in Mandela’s South Africa – that apartheid cannot
be reformed, but it must be dismantled – equally applies to Burma
under half-century of military dictatorship. The generals’ class rule
in Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Burma cannot be reformed through talk of
poverty and talks of ‘the Talk’. The Burmese electorate gave Daw Suu
and her hundreds of NLD colleagues their overwhelming support in the
ballots two decades ago in order to specifically help end the military
dictatorship and usher in a new era of “government of, for and by the
people” – and not simply to play the game of dialogue and engage in
the talk of poverty over fancy meals in Naypyidaw

. . .

Ultimately, politics is about power—power to reform politically
repressive institutions and economically dysfunctional structures, as
well as, and above all, the military which created (it).


My foregone conclusion is that there is absolutely no plan among the generals to
share power with other popular stakeholders of Burma such as Aung San
Suu Kyi and ethnic minority leaders.




Sunday, August 21, 2011

Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw - economic forum with military government

in Burmese, from Moemakha News

http://moemaka.wordpress.com/2011/08/21/u-myint-invited-daw-suu-to-join-the-economic-forum-in-npd/

The other Burmese woman in the photos is Ms. Mary Yin with an MBA from an American university.

But it is doubtful any of the advice will be followed by military - in fact in its patron client relationships, authoritarian structures and corruption as a way of life and buying support, it may be unable to relinquish central control.

Notes - copyright Kyi May Kaung.

The "Myanmar goers" in Burmese from Burmese government affiliated The Voice

http://www.thevoicemyanmar.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=531%3A2011-08-19-19-15-12&catid=1%3Anews&Itemid=27

From outside anonymous commentator -

"Why aren't Bob Taylor and (Mary) Callahan there? Maybe in due course."

Comment by Kyi May Kaung on Rangoon and Burma in the fifties - left on Sitmone blog

Dr. Kyaw Thet was a student of my father, educator Sithu U Kaung, and when they were children, Lin Aung Thet and his 2 sisters often came to visit with their parents.

Yes, the fifties were a time of openess and democracy - even U Nu in the same Ed Morrow program, who was supposed to have better Burmese than English, spoke good English and was able to hold his own with a foreign interviewer.

U Nu wrote and translated several books and his niece Khin Hnin Yu was a famous novelist.

U Nu's great mistake was being naive and "too religious" and giving Ne Win virtual carte blanche after NW quelled the Karen uprising. (This from a close friend of Dr. Kyaw Thet's who was born on the same day and has also passed away).

Kyi May Kaung (Ph.D.)

Dr. Lyn Aung Thet on his father Dr Kyaw Thet's appearance in 1957 Ed Morrow program -

http://sitmone.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/dr-kyaw-thet-a-pioneer-academician-of-burma/

Burmese Rebel Blog -

http://burmeserebel.blogspot.com/search/label/Resettling%20in%20the%20US

This is from a real life person who has nothing at all to do with my novel of the same name Burmese Rebel (which I started in 2005)

though I recognized some mutual friends in the photos(when they were much younger)

Kyi May Kaung

--

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Robert Ludlum's 2001 New York Times Obit -

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/14/books/robert-ludlum-best-selling-suspense-novelist-dies-at-73.html

Self portrait - Eyes -



Painting and photograph, copyright Kyi May Kaung

Re-posting - famous Alaungsithu Sutaung or Pledge -

Thus, in an inscription in the Shwegu Temple, we find this beautiful prayer, written in Pali verse, by King Alaungsithu (1112-1167):

By this my gift, whatever boon I seek,
It is the best of boons to profit all;
By this abundant merit I desire
Here or hereafter no angelic pomp
Of Brahmas, Suras, Maras; nor the state
And splendors of a monarch; nay, not even
To be the pupil of a conqueror.
But I would build a causeway sheer athwart
The river of Samsara, and all folk
Would speed across thereby until they reach
The Blessed City. I myself would cross,
And drag the drowning over. Aye, myself
Tamed, I would tame the willful; comforted,
Comfort the timid; wakened, wake the asleep;
Cool, cool the burning; freed, set free the bound.

And Alaungsithu’s predecessor, the conqueror and builder Kyanzittha (1084-1112), inscribed his edicts on massive pillars in this vein:

O King of Devas, hear thou! . . . The sage Bisnu shall become the king Kyanzittha, and he shall uphold the religion of the Lord Buddha . . . . All vice, which is as a stench, shall the king utterly blot out with true morality, which is as a perfume. . . . The tears of those who have lost their friends shall the king wipe away with the hand of loving-kindness. . . With his right hand shall the king give boiled rice and bread to all the people, and with his left hand ornaments and wearing apparel to all men. . . .He shall soften the hearts of those who intend evil, and exhort those who speak evil to speak good. . . .

From Zawgyi (U Thein Han's) article on early Burmese art in The Atlantic, 1959, under the pseudonym Thaw Ka.
The inscription translations are by the renowned scholar, Gordon H. Luce.

re-posting - Kyi May Kaung's art show - Mostly Burmese Monks of 2009

http://www.pinklineproject.com/event/167

Saturday, August 13, 2011

America's water main breaks - in record heat

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/08/13/water.infrastructure/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

K.M. Kaung: A Masterpiece from One Whose Life was Too Short - book review of Utz by Bruce Chatwin -

I had "heard about" Bruce Chatwin from an article about him and the fatwah, by Salmon Rushdie who traveled with him in Australia before he died. Rushdie had just heard of the fatwah when he went to Chatwin's funeral.

Around 1994 a friend had recommended Utz to me.

But I did not get to read it till relatively recently.

The inexpensive Amazon price was a real deal, though Chatwin's books have been published, it seems to me, on cheap paper, but that's not Amazon's fault.

Anyway, the book did not disappoint at all.

In fact, it more than lived up to its advance billing.

It's a very satisfying read, though tightly written it does not sound terse at all.

I read about the Meissen Collection and August the Strong in an issue of Architectural Digest.

Utz's obsession was with European china, but the Collection consists mostly of blue and white Kang Xi china, real China china.

Kyi May Kaung


Left on Amazon.com site
8-13-2011

Kyi May Kaung's painting - Shan Black Belt Saves the World, or Running Leap, on display at Space 7-10, Silver Spring, MD


Painting and photo copyright Kyi May Kaung.


http://space710atkefa.blogspot.com/2011/08/alumni-potluck-show-august-2011.html


My painting Shan Black Belt Saves the World or Running Leap is on exhibit at Space 7-10, Kefa Cafe, 963 Bonifant St., Silver Spring MD as part of the Alumni Potluck Show.

No opening reception is scheduled, but if you wish to come down there, I may be able to come too.

Check times at the link above.

I am available for interviews via phone or at Kefa.

Please email me or leave message on this blog or at Kefa

with "interview request" in subject line.


We can talk about?

What is Shan?

Is there really a "civilian government" in Burma right now?

Why is the world falling? What does this painting mean?

How to be an artist when stocks are falling in a recession.

How I conceived of this painting -

How to forge your own individual style, etc.

Kyi May Kaung.

Note - images from my previous show in 2009 "Mostly Burmese Monks" is on the Kefa Blog, in the video about Kefa Cafe on the right.

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

NPR's Terry Gross interviews author Erik Larsen about his book - In the Garden of Beasts

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=135922322&m=136064200

About US ambassador to Hitler's Germany, 1933-1937.

Canadian Friends of Burma - Ivanhoe received $103 m from Burmese copper mines in Monywa

--- On Wed, 8/3/11, CFOB wrote:


From: CFOB
Subject: Info Release: Ivanhoe received US $103 million from Burma's copper mines
To: cfob@cfob.org
Date: Wednesday, August 3, 2011, 11:30 AM

Ivanhoe received US $103 million from Burma's copper mines

Information release of Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB) – August 3, 2011



OTTAWA - Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines has announced early today in its press release that it received US$103 million from Burma asset it held through Monywa Trust.



Ivanhoe owned a 50% operating interest in a joint venture with Burma's state-owned company and transferred its asset to a third party Monywa Trust in 2007. However, Ivanhoe still keeps tight-lip on revealing the name of company that acquired its asset in Burma.



According to the mouthpiece of Burma's regime The New Light of Myanmar, Chinese arm-manufacturing company Norinco reached a "Production Sharing Contract" with the state-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (UMEH) that covers the mining rights for Monywa copper mine.



CFOB is disturbed by reports of Norinco's involvement in the Monywa mine and recently urged Canada to immediately investigate the present status of Ivanhoe's Burmese assets and take punitive action against Ivanhoe if sanctions have been violated. Please see the relevant press release.



-30-

Media contact at 613-279-6835

----------------------------------------------------------------------

The Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB) is federally incorporated, national non-governmental organization working for democracy and human rights in Burma. Contact: Suite 206, 145 Spruce St., Ottawa, K1R 6P1; Tel: 613.237.8056; Email: cfob@cfob.org; Web: www.cfob.org

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Distance learning - OU or The Open University, UK

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

Champion US skier "Speedy" Petersen loses to his demons and commits suicide -

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/26/u-s-skier-jeret-peterson-shot-himself-to-death-police-say/

Political analyst Win Min at Payap Presents -

http://ic.payap.ac.th/pp/index.php

"A POLITICAL UPDATE ON POST-ELECTION BURMA"

Speaker: Win Min, Researcher at Vahu Development Institute and Journalist at Voice of America (Burmese political analyst)

When: Tuesday, 9 August 2011

Time: 5-6:30pm

Place: Room 317, Pentecost Building, Mae Khao main campus
By imposing restrictions on Aung San Suu Kyi’s party in the November 2010 election and rigging the electoral system, the Burmese junta was able to control the outcome. Although Aung San Suu Kyi was released after the election, the post-election government, led by retired generals, has outlawed her party and shown no signs that it will hold a dialogue with her. The new parliament includes a small number of opposition Members of Parliament (MPs), some of whom are ethnic representatives, but they have not been allowed to discuss critical issues like the release of political prisoners, ethnic autonomy or the budget. Nearly 2000 political prisoners remain in prison and fighting against ethnic ceasefire groups has resumed in Karen, Shan and Kachin states. Despite the new president’s inaugural speech promising an improved socio-economic situation and international cooperation, very little progress has been seen so far.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

"Myanmar" is now world's #1 spammer -

great!



--- On Tue, 7/26/11, wrote:


From:
Subject: eSecurity Planet - Myanmar is No.1 Spammer Now
To:
Date: Tuesday, July 26, 2011, 6:03 PM

eSecurity Planet - Myanmar is No.1 Spammer Now
July 26, 2011
By Sean Michael Kerner

Internet attacks can come from any country in the world at any given point in time. Over the course of the first quarter of 2011, Akamai's latest State of the Internet report found one country to be the source of more attack traffic than any other.

Myanmar, the country formerly known as Burma, now tops the list, representing 13 percent of all attack traffic observed by Akamai. Myanmar's top billing is particularly suprising given that the small south Asian country did not rank in the top 10 originating countries for attack traffic at the end of 2010.

The U.S. came in second at 10 percent up from 7.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010. Taiwan was third at 9.1 percent, Russia fourth at 7.7 percent and China rounds out the top five at 6.4 percent. At the end of 2010, Russia was reported to be in the top spot for attack traffic accounting for 10 percent of all observed global attack traffic.

"It's not clear if that attacks from Myanmar are coming from a specific group or if its some kind of botnet that happened to find some unprotected hosts," David Belson, editor of the Akamai State of the Internet report told InternetNews.com.

Belson noted that it will be interesting to see if the trend on Myanmar leading the list will continue into the second quarter and beyond.

Akamai's data comes from its own points of presence and only looks at the last networking hop before a connection comes in. As such, it is possible that Myanmar is being used as a proxy for attacks as opposed to being the origination point itself.

"It could be the case that someone was bouncing attacks through Myanmar," Belson said. "That would align with some of what we saw with attacks on port 9050."

Port 9050 is often used for the open source Tor onion router, which is an anonymous proxy networking service. Belson noted that Myanmar's top billing could be a case of the attack community doing a better job at hiding their tracks.

In terms of ports that are being targeted, Akamai once again reported that port 445 used for Microsoft directory services was the most attacked port, representing 34 percent of attack traffic. Attacks targeting Port 80 and Port 443, for HTTP and HTTPS were up significantly during the quarter. Port 80 attacks accounted for 11 percent of all attack traffic up from 1.5 percent at the end of 2010. Port 443 attacks were reported at 4.7 percent up from 0.2 percent.

Belson wasn't sure if the Port 443 attacks were directly related to the SSL certificate attack against security vendor Commodo earlier this year.

"I don't know if it was people trying to exploit those certificates or if it was a broader SQL Injection type attack or something else," Belson said.

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals.

Kyansittha, the movie -

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

Burmese actress Myint Myint Khin

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

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

re-posting - US push for Burma war crimes probe hits Chinese wall - from 2010

http://turtlebay.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/10/24/us_push_for_burmese_war_crimes_probe_hits_chinese_wall

US war crimes

http://www.globalissues.org/article/667/us-war-crimes-act-changes-would-reduce-threat-of-prosecution

AEGIS Trust - preventing war crimes

http://www.aegistrust.org/International-Justice/wanted-for-war-crimes-training.html

Htoo Htoo Han who said he killed 24-100 people in 1988 in Burma and Australian legal loopholes by a Melbourne Univ. Prof. of Law -

http://www.watoday.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/crimes-of-war-get-lost-in-law-limbo-20110719-1hn1g.html?from=smh_ft

J.K. Rowling and NJKR

http://www.szjo.uw.edu.pl/twardo/2003-2004%202rok/essbystp2/spmysza.htm

J.K. Rowling has left her literary agent Christopher Little agency -

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/harry-potter-and-the-furious-feud-rowling-banishes-her-literary-agent-2306257.html

Australian government recommends refering Burmese refugee's confession he killed between 24-100 people to International Criminal Court



http://www.smh.com.au/national/refugees-agony-over-murder-of-dissidents-20110718-1hlpn.html

Monday, July 18, 2011

Former Burmese military intelligence, now Australian citizen, confesses to war crimes in Burma -

--- On Mon, 7/18/11, wrote:


From:
Subject: Australian (former Burmese military intelligence officer) admits war crimes in Burma (involvement in over 100 executions and murders of dissidents)
To:
Date: Monday, July 18, 2011, 7:14 AM

Australian admits war crimes in Burma
18 July 2011 | 07:48:05 PM | Source: AAP

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1570945/Australian-admits-war-crimes-in-Burma

An Australian citizen has admitted to executing 24 anti-government
protesters and student leaders as an officer in Burmese military
intelligence.

Htoo Htoo Han, who came to Australia as a refugee in 1996 and has
since been involved in campaigns aimed at highlighting human rights
abuses in Burma, says he also had indirect involvement in at least 100
other murders.

Han says he led a group which infiltrated student organisations,
identifying and targeting leading activists.

"We destroy them ... destroy means kill," Han said.

He said he performed the executions during the 1988 anti-government
uprising that swept Burma, leaving thousands dead.

The father of three young children says he has come forward because he
can no longer live with his guilt.

"I did it, I am a war criminal," Han said.

"For so long I have lived like an animal.

"Now I want to release what I carry inside for 20 years. I want to say
sorry to the mothers and fathers of the people I killed."

He said he killed his victims with a bullet to the back of the head:
"Just bang, very quick. I don't do torture."

He said he was aware of others who were buried alive and their bodies
incinerated.

Han's confession has prompted calls from human rights groups for the
Australian government to press for a United Nations inquiry into
abuses in Burma.

"What makes the situation more urgent is that it's still happening,"
said Debbie Stothard, spokesperson for the Alternative ASEAN Network.

"There is no shortage of evidence even from people who committed those
crimes themselves."

Burmese activist groups based in Thailand said Han, who now lives in
Brisbane, was known to them, one senior figure expressing doubt over
the motives behind Han's admissions.

The secretary of the support group, the Assistance Association for
Political Prisoners, Tate Naing, said Han, had returned to Thailand a
number of times since being granted asylum in Australia.

"He was a very bad man," Naing said.

"I know his history, so I don't want to recommend him."

Han, 44, claims to have posed as a political prisoner while undercover in Burma.

But Naing suggests Han's failure on his recent visits to Thailand to
visit the AAPP base in the border town of Mae Sot is reason to doubt
his allegiances to the group.

Other Burmese sources questioned whether Han had genuinely rejected
the Burmese regime.

Han says he turned his back on his former Burmese masters before
coming to this country, a decision he claims resulted in an attempt on
his own life.

Since arriving here he has campaigned widely against his former
government, speaking in schools and using his artistic skills to focus
on repression and human rights abuses around the world.

He insists he has not engaged in any criminal activity in Australia.

He acknowledges he may never see his children again as a result of his
admissions, but he hopes they will come to understand what he has
done.

"I am prepared for this. I think my wife and kids for sure will cry a
lot," he said.

"But in Burma a thousand mothers cry."

An Australian Federal Police spokesman said it would consider what
action, if any, it would take in the absence of a complaint from the
country in which the alleged crimes were committed.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said Burma's
military regime must be referred immediately to the International
Criminal Court (ICC).

"Mr Han's confession must be taken seriously and referred to relevant
international authorities, including the ICC, for further
investigation," she said.

The government has so far not commented.

=================================================================
Aust citizen admits war crimes in Burma

Mike Hedge, Senior Correspondent
July 18, 2011 - 11:54AM

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/aust-citizen-admits-war-crimes-in-burma-20110718-1hkug.html


AAP

A Burmese refugee living in Australia has confessed to committing 24
executions while working undercover for the Burmese military regime
and says he was involved in at least another 100 murders.

Htoo Htoo Han, now an Australian citizen, says he performed the
executions during the 1988 anti-government uprising that swept Burma,
resulting in thousands of deaths.

"I did it, I am a war criminal," Han said.

Advertisement: Story continues below
"For so long I have lived like an animal.

"Now I want to release what I carry inside for 20 years. I want to say
sorry to the mothers and fathers of the people I killed."

Han said he led a group that infiltrated student groups and
masqueraded as protesters.

He says as leader of the group he was also indirectly involved in at
least 100 other murders.

"We destroy them ... destroy means kill," Han said.

He said he killed his victims with a bullet to the back of the head,
but is aware of others who were buried alive and their bodies
incinerated.

"Just bang, very quick. I don't do torture," Han said.

Han, 44, now a father of three young children, has come forward
because he says he can no longer live with his guilt.

He expects to be dealt with and is ready to turn himself over to
Australian authorities.

Han says he worked as an undercover officer in Burmese military
intelligence from 1987 until 1992, leading a group whose main role was
to identify targets and kill them.

An Australian citizen for more than a decade, Han says he turned his
back on his former Burmese masters before coming to this country, a
decision that he claims resulted in an attempt on his own life.

Since arriving here he has campaigned widely in Australia against his
former government, speaking in schools and using his artistic skills
to focus on repression and human rights abuses around the world.

He insists he has not engaged in any criminal activity in Australia.

In 2003, SBS television made a documentary around a campaign he
conducted in Australia to raise awareness of human rights abuses in
Burma.

Han says he is prepared to face whatever justice he deserves,
including a long jail term.

He also acknowledges he may never see his children again, but he hopes
they will come to understand what he has done.

"I am prepared for this. I think my wife and kids for sure will cry a
lot," he said.

"But in Burma a thousand mothers cry."

Han said he chose to approach the media with his story, fearing it
might not be told if he went directly to authorities.

© 2011 AAP

Saturday, July 09, 2011

Aung San Suu Kyi in Bagan -

http://www.signonsandiego.com/photos/2011/jul/05/405478/

This time she traveled by plane and no goons in junta's pay beat up her party and her, but she still needs to be (very) careful.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Comment by Kyi May Kaung, left on Asian Sentinel on "rising kyat"

As Dr. Sean Turnell pointed out, the $ is falling so the kyat "rises".

The $ is falling because of the USA's three trillion dollar and counting war expenditures - and that is only the middle figure of the estimate that Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz and his co-writer Linda Bilmes made a few years ago.

See my review of Stiglitz and Bilmes' book The Three Trillion Dollar War.

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


Kyi May Kaung

Monroe pics found at garage sale

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-05-28/entertainment/marilyn.monroe.mystery_1_unpublished-photos-garage-sale-negatives?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ

Specialpost--Ellen Bernstein--expose of World Bank Rohingya project--

https://www.irrawaddy.com/culture/books/hellfire-and-damnation-in-myanmar-ex-world-bank-country-head-recounts-rohingya-catastrophe-response....