Friday, November 30, 2012
White (or yellow) phosphorus
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/833585-overview
Yellow phosphorus bursts into flames when exposed to air.
Burma- coverage of crackdown on copper mine workers and monks in Central Burma -
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/
Thein Sein's office website put out a statement and then retracted/removed it.
Injured monks lying in one bed - see images.
Brutal crackdown on monks and workers/miners protesting Chinese-owned copper mines in central Burma
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/20111
(Foreign) commentators on the Irrawaddy site don't seem to understand there are thousands of monks in Burma, and these are different from the neo-Nazi skin heads who spout racist sentiments in Arakan against the Rohingya.
Comment on "white phosphorus used by Burmese junta" - from a physician -
Dr Nora Rowley has lived and worked in Arakan with Doctors without Borders.
She says --
As an experienced emergency room physician trained in forensic evaluation I question the knee jerk assertion that
the chemical substance was white or any phosphorous. I have looked at about 15-20 photographs of victims burns from
this attack. All the burns are superficial, even the many larger burnt patches of skin. Phosphorous is a chemical
that keeps penetrating to deeper layers of tissue causing deep burns. Look at images of white phosphorous burns,
these are deep burns.
Hopefully the victims or those close to them will save their clothing for forensic evaluation outside the country.
Nora E. Rowley MD MPH
Comment posted with permission.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Uproar - outrage - Burmese junta fire bombs Letpadaung Taung Chinese copper mine demonstrators
http://www.youtube.com/user/voaclips
in Burmese.
Correspondent VOA Thein Htike Oo.
Government denies use of fire bombs,
Survivor monks say they were sleeping at 3 AM when the main gates of Wanpau Co. were opened, and monks struck with water cannon, and beaten -
and the fire bombs fell on them - These are rumored to be white phosphorus - stay posted, I will post the White Phosphorus wiki in a few minutes.
Please consider donating to Wikipedia.
If you are near the scene, take video and post on line.
Burmese junta stages 1962 etc old style pre-dawn raid on Chinese copper mine protestors
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/20145
Aung San Suu Kyi declines to condemn.
One commentator says she is now in zone of half-truths and once she says what the junta says, they will have bagged her.
A leading critic's wife was denied an M. visa -
*
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
A bit on the light side - after so many distressing posts on Myanmar/Burma - a Garden Design site to drool over --
http://www.gardendesign.com/places/my-garden-color-massachusetts?pnid=121625#gallery-content
I recommend - "portraits" like Fantin Latour paintings - of David Austin Roses,
floral crowns -
and decorating with succulents.
kmk
Stress among greatest killers of Chinese intellectuals -
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/19826
Engineer in charge of aircraft carrier program dies after
witnessing successful launch.
Hey you, goat's balls helping you know who, take note.
--
Monday, November 26, 2012
Cancer patient who posted his medical data on line
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/25/opinion/iaconesi-cure-open-source/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
and received an overwhelming response.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Friday, November 23, 2012
Quote of the Day - in memory of my Aunty A -
When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long, full of adventure, full of knowledge.
– Constantine P. Cavafy
My Aunty A. said, when I stopped one or two nights in Bangkok to buy warm clothing for the USA - "And Kyi Kyi, when you get there,go around everywhere."
Capital Rotundra, Washington DC and tour groups. Photo copyright Kyi May Kaung
The Dawn of Freedom by renowned Pakistani poet - Faiz Ahmed Faiz -
THE DAWN OF FREEDOM:/
From ‘A Song for this Day’/
By Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Translated by Shoaib Hashmi/
This leprous brightness, this dawn which reeks of night/
This is not the one –– the long awaited morn/
This is not the shining light which beckoned/
Beckoned men ever onwards,/
To go on Seeking/
The final starry destination in the heavens/
The final edge where ends the endless night/
The final rest for the anguished heart/
When first we set out, urged on by young blood/
What temptations were there by the wayside/
From the restless abode of love and beauty/
The beckoning gestures of hands, the call of young bodies/
And above all else, the call of beauteous dawn./
From International Gallerie -/
just been invited to write an article for them./
"Met" FAF - as quoted in a novel by Salman Rushdie - I forget which one - either Shame - probably Shame - or Satanic Verses./
Faiz was so renowned he read poetry to thousands in football stadiums./
Kyi May Kaung/
Institute of International Education to work with nine US Universities in Burma
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/19434
As a beneficiary of a Fulbright Fellowship which enabled me to pursue a Ph.D. in Political Economy at the University of Pennsylvania, I am very happy with this.
The Institute of International Education did a great job at the time, of placing us in our respective universities and administering the Awards.
I have many stories of that time, mostly about the blocking activities of the then BSPP (Burma Socialist Program Party) government in Burma.
And we were only SIX students for the whole of Burma.
Imagine that!
I am saving the details for a future memoir.
It is incredible,for instance, how the then military attache! - at the Burmese embassy at 2300 California Street in Washington DC was so paranoid about "the US government finding out things from your dissertations" that he took part after 1988 in harassing us by refusing to renew our Burmese "special passports" annually.
This at a time, really, when for instance the state of the airstrip surface in Myitkyina was available to all from satellite imagery at Fort Brag, North Carolina.
This same attache, memorialized in one of my poems, also infamously said:
"Why is it taking you so long to write your dissertation? Why don't you write it from Cliff Notes"
These are the yellow notes that are sold in super marts for students (up to about 10th grade) to memorize while prepping for exams.
I was so horrified my mouth opened in shock.
These are the people who rule Burma today - think about it.
The only difference is now they have learned to talk the talk.
I doubt though that they will ever walk the walk.
Kyi May Kaung.
Light fixture at US Capital Porch - photo copyright Kyi May Kaung
Monday, November 19, 2012
Airport poem by the inimitable W. S. Merwin - thanks Kanlaon -
Neither Here Nor There/
An airport is nowhere/
which is not something/
generally noticed/
yet some unnamed person in the past/
deliberately planned it/
to be there/
and you have spent time there/
again/
and are spending time there again/
Obama lauds Aung San Suu Kyi - Jessica Yellin, CNN from Rangoon
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/19/politics/obama-asia-trip/index.html
That's the inside of Rangoon University's Convocation Hall where Yellin is standing.
What's Sanchaung Ma Thida talking about? Presdt Obama's speech at Rangoon University's Convocation Hall is Excellent -
http://www.youtube.com/user/voaclips
Dear U Than Lwin Htun and Daw Hla Hla Than (at VOA - Voice of America, Burmese)
Thank you for posting President Obama's entire speech.
It is Excellent and touches on all of Burma's problems - while giving a mini-lecture on why the same kind of diversity works in the USA.
Please could you have it translated in its entirety and have someone like Thar Nyunt Oo do the voice over.
I am very pleased with all your voice overs, which carefully match the voices, the ages etc. :)
kmk
Note: Sanchaung Ma Thida, a writer and medical doctor, who was a close associate of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and was imprisoned, told an Irrawaddy correspondent that Presdt. Obama's speech "was not as good as some of his" that she has heard. Maybe she did not understand him fully.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
ASEAN signs first human rights treaty -
http://www.youtube.com/user/voaclips
In Burmese, from VOA.
Correspondent Thein Htike Oo --"But there is still reason to doubt whether the AESAN members will follow the terms set out in the treaty."
U Aung Naing Oo of VAHU is on Burmese government Arakan Inquiry Commission -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHJ-75ZlSJE&list=UUv-YbGueeYCp8_CdjgXQD3A&index=3&feature=plcp
Interview of U Aung Naing Oo, author of book "Dialogue" in Burmese.
Interview in Burmese.
He says he has been to Arakan twice, their final report will be out soon and they don't use the word "Rohingya" as they wish to be neutral.
Informal translation and summary kmk
Death be not proud, by John Donne
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15836
This is an excellent site from Academy of American Poets, which gave me a prize for my first five poems.
The William Carlos Williams Prize. The judge that year was Danny Abse.
Kyi May Kaung
Why we love short stories -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/2012/nov/16/booksforchildrenandteenagers-childrens-books-8-12-years
Michael Morpango is the author of War Horse, which is excellent.
Comment left on Kanlaon blog ref. "Argo being shown on so few screens at local movie theater"
Most Americans do not like movies which show American foreign policy errors.
That must be it.
It's a pity as Argo is an excellent movie.
Thanks for your analysis of screenings.
K
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Excerpt from Kyi May Kaung's She-Monkey goes West - The Golden Time -
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/xconnect/volume1/issue2/word/kmkgol.html
This was a book length poem, still unpublished, which I should publish.
Based on the Chinese folk novel Monkey.
kmk
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's Reith Lectures, BBC 4, from 2011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00htkm3
These are very good, but quite sad.
It can be argued she has changed.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and National Endowment for Democracy Awardees, Sept 20, 2012, photo copyright Kyi May Kaung
Reply to reader ref. Spam -
I did not post your question as it contains a link.
I get a lot of spam, but my spam blocker works well.
Once I label something spam - then it automatically goes to my spam file where it can be automatically deleted or not, depending on how you set it up.
I do not like prolonged "discussions" about Burmese or other politics or anything else with unknown people. Sometimes there are flaky people who will argue all sorts of hair-brained things.
So my blog is set up so I cannot reply directly to a comment even if I wish to.
Regards,
kmk
In India, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi spoke with head of Infosys in Bangalore, India's Silicon Valley - etc
http://www.mizzima.com/news/56-live-update/8387-mizzima-live-coverage-on-aung-san-suu-kyi-visit-to-india.html
Panel at Lady Shri Ram College included writer Sashi Tharoor -
--
Obama must see the dark side of Burma's "reforms"
Excellent interview of Nobel Laureate in Literature, Orhan Pamuk
http://rasanaatreya.wordpress.com/2011/04/17/talk-by-orhan-pamuk/
Interviewer is unappealing, and don't think he read all the books.
I like My Name is Red and Snow.
But Pamuk ranges over a wide range of issues - only others who might talk like this are Hemingway, maybe Dickens, and Salman Rushdie -
kmk
Friday, November 16, 2012
Even as US Presdt Obama is on the plane to Asia, the Burmese junta is busy taking farm land -
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/19074
They must think the US and other western governments are the greatest fools in the world.
And Hello, there were no political prisoners among those released.
O'Burma images -
https://www.google.com/search?q=obama+burma&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=y1f&tbo=u&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=siKmUM3wNcmn0AHmlYDoBg&ved=0CE4QsAQ&biw=1366&bih=605
There are a gazillion links here - what you should do is use the images as thumbnails and then click on what you want - they are organized by how long ago they were posted.
Quote of the Day - found on The Guardian (comments) site - on Burma so-called reforms etc
it won't matter, everyone knows the eu and usa are just desperate to grab a slice of a pie china's been hogging all to itself, someone persuaded the lady to nod and that's it, as far as everyone else is concerned. The burmese will have to sacrifice themselves again and again in another saffron revolution before they succeed, they must expect no outside help as long as their dictatorship obeys both east and west, and an invasion and puppet regime installment if it doesn't
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/15/burma-frees-prisoners-barack-obama
Ten most affordable US cities
http://money.cnn.com/gallery/real_estate/2012/11/15/affordable-housing-markets/10.html
Bottom line of course is jobs jobs jobs.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
From Tuesday - second quake near Burmese capital of Naypyitaw
http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/burma-quake-death-toll-hits-26-tremor-capital-5214959
Kyi May Kaung's painting - Burma & Laura Bush - 2009
Paula Broadwell - Petraeus biographer, mistress and reservist - loses security clearance -
http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/14/the-relevance-of-paula-broadwells-classified-clearance/?hpt=hp_t2
I don't know how she could be an army reservist and also be writing about him.
"All the way in, my novel about Petraeus" by Saideh Pakravan -
http://thecounterargument.wordpress.com/2012/11/15/all-the-way-in-my-novel-about-petraeus/
Biting satire, enjoy and think about it.
Also about the book industry.
Human Rights, Rohingya etc Activists/advocates - here is FBI genocide tip line
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/genocide-and-war-crimes-program
Please only send specific cases with evidence such as photos, personal testimony etc.
Pl don't clutter the line with rants and hate mail or abuse it in other ways.
For that use Facebook, whatever.
I only just found this site, and have nothing to do with it.
It's a resource I am posting here for Activists.
kmk
Re-posting - Pragmatism new in-word in US-Burma Policy
http://kyimaykaung.blogspot.com/2009/11/pragmatism-new-in-word-for-us-burma.html
re-posting from 2009 - from my friend James O'Brien.
Thank you blog readers for finding it and reading it.
--
BP to pay record fine for Gulf oil spill - "gross negligence" not yet criminal negligence -
http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/15/news/bp-oil-spill-settlement/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
World lights up for Diwali - The Festival of Lights -
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/12/world/gallery/diwali/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Rabbit confit and seeing the movie Lincoln -
http://leitesculinaria.com/73052/recipes-rabbit-confit.html
I had it at Jaleo and it was delicious.
If you are nervous about the shape of the rabbit, buy cut portions or use chicken or duck -
I doubt it will taste much different.
At Jaleo the 3 small pieces for $10 were served on a bed of mashed squash or pumpkin.
In my opinion, it was worth every bite.
I had my dinner after seeing Lincoln, the movie, and after dinner I had a flan - (custard pudding)./
The only part maybe too expensive was the "small" popcorn bag and the soft drink, esp. as I spilled half the popcorn on the floor - was the fault of the shop, as the bag was piled too full./
It was $8 = the cost of the movie ticket at the senior rate. That's a little steep./
Still beats seeing a movie in Burma with piles of sunflower seed-shells on the floor, rats running over your feet, and thieves who hook your slippers away if you have your bare feet up, to protect from above rats./
Plus the heat, the broken air con, and the iron railing with roof over the ticket line, where you could get the life literally squished out of you in a stampede./
kmk
NPR will record all of August Wilson's plays
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/new-york-public-radio-to-record-august-wilsons-plays/?ref=arts
Herculaneum as good model of conservation practices vs Pompeii
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/15/arts/design/herculaneums-ruins-are-revived-by-philanthropy.html?ref=arts&_r=0
Lesson for Burma - just get rid of that corrupt government.
Mizzima live coverage of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in India - TV, photos etc
http://www.mizzima.com/news/56-live-update/8387-mizzima-live-coverage-on-aung-san-suu-kyi-visit-to-india.html
Different take - Aung San Suu Kyi allegedly said she was saddened by India's ties to Burmese junta
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Suu-Kyi-saddened-by-Indias-ties-to-junta/articleshow/17222871.cms
James M. Cain's Double Indemnity
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679723226/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=#reader_B004G606NA
You can read the hook opening in the Amazon sample
James M. Cain and The Postman Always Rings Twice
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Postman_Always_Rings_Twice
James M. Cain's lost novel about a conniving cocktail waitress -
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/books/review/the-cocktail-waitress-by-james-m-cain.html?pagewanted=all
UN urges Bangladesh to keep borders open as "sailing season" starts -
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18839
The monsoon is now ending.
Last "sailing season" saw a large outflux of people seeking employment overseas and political asylum and safe harbor.
--
In India, Aung San Suu Kyi says she was saddened when India pulled way (from Burma) two decades ago
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/was-saddened-when-india-pulled-away-aung-san-suu-kyi-292548
In India, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi speaks of inspiration from Nehru -
http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/in-india-daw-aung-san-suu-kyi-speaks-of-inspiration-from-nehru/
Myanmar reforms: Challenges and Prospects by Dr Maung Zarni -
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/11/20121114102511809369.html
Mideast situation escalates with rocket attacks from Isreal and death of head of Hamas' military wing -
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/14/world/meast/gaza-israel-strike/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Petraeus affair and time line - widening and deepening -
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/13/the-petraeus-scandal-what-we-know/?hpt=hp_t2
PLO leader Yasser Arafat's body is being exhumed
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/13/world/meast/west-bank-arafat/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
Sunday, November 11, 2012
TV interview with Burmese song writer Saung Oo Hlaing, dinosaur footprints in Greater DC area - in Burmese
http://www.youtube.com/user/voaclips
VOA TV magazine Nov 2nd week.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
General David Petraeus resigns as head of CIA - due to extramarital affair
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/09/politics/petraeus-cia-resignation/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Friday, November 09, 2012
Quote of the day - Corndogs and Bombers - from poet Linh Dinh -
from -
http://wwwwsonneteighteencom.blogspot.com/
quote:
According to the corporate shill that’s the US President, America is well on its way towards energy independence, though gas is up, up and up, and we’re wringing oil from rocks and brewing it from maize, neither one a cheap or energy efficient proposition, but don’t worry, just keep driving those SUVs and pack the NASCAR grandstands as the sea rises to your neck./
As we enter de yo mama of all depressions, partly caused by the job outsourcing started by the Democratic Clinton, the corporate shill du epoque is also promising more jobs, but where will these be found in this deliberately de-industrialized nation? We make nothing anymore except guns, corndogs, bombers and pornography, so well endowed guys and gals with strip mall implants can still go down, strut or pole dance for a few years, before they get on food stamps like a record number of their fellow citizens. That or joining the “services.”
Alas, the funnies are not so funny.
Thursday, November 08, 2012
Quote of the Day - poetry -
In the transition,/
Someone’s corpse has been/
Replaced by another’s./
Khin Maung Aye - as translated into English by Ko Ko Thett
Inside the Hirschorn Museum - photo copyright Kyi May Kaung
Diamonds still a girl's best friend - at least among military big brass families and cronies, it seems -
http://www.mmtimes.com/2010/business/540/biz010.html
2010 from Myanmar Times -
Presdt Obama will go to Burma, interviews of Medicins Sans Frontieres staff and a mobile clinic in California
http://www.youtube.com/user/voaclips
In Burmese.
Lincoln - the movie - interview of Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day Lewis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BERKF9rnBcQ
Lincoln ads. and quotes in DC metro - photos copyright Kyi May Kaung
Page views on this, my Kyi May Kaung blog - have hit new highs
A new peak of 591 yesterday and total over 112,800.
THANK YOU READERS.
A view of the hills, Chiangmai, Thailand.
Photo copyright Kyi May Kaung
Burma - a new theory of a Pyu homeland in the Samon Valley - by Bob Hudson
http://acl.arts.usyd.edu.au/~hudson/BH2005Jan.pdf
Educate yourself on line - A History of Burma - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Burma
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
Quote of the day - "Listen up, Cuz:" from Kanlaon blog
Listen up, Cuz: Writers love truth more than money. That’s what makes them such a subversive force.
Major land-grabbing in Burma - bad examples from other countries in transition
http://www.dvb.no/interview/scott-leckie-%E2%80%98burma-could-very-easily-become-the-displacement-capital-of-asia%E2%80%99/24607
Meet the Obamas- from CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/07/politics/photos-meet-the-obamas/index.html
What a difference from racist Burmese in Burma -
America the Beautiful - from sea to shining sea- election day pics
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/06/politics/gallery/election-best/index.html?hpt=hp_t2_6
Major human rights abuses along Burmese-Chinese Shwe Gas pipeline
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18259
Twisted Internet behavior - extremist nationalism and hate speech by Burmese -
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18176
Burma's so-called reformer pressed on Rohingya citizenship at ASEM in Laos
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18151
Burma - Generation 1988 activist U Mya Aye (a Muslim, he says) has good first impresssions of Thailand, but says reforms not yet substantial in Burma-
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18144
We need to scream louder - Myanmar Govt starts to check 5 villages in Arakan
for compliance with notorious 1982 Citizenship Law - all must prove they were in Burma before 1824 and first Anglo-British War.
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/
In Burmese - see news summary in Burmese text on LHS - item with photo of soldiers coming out of truck.
Praise from my personal Artist - for Kyi May Kaung's idea for cover of her novella - Black Rice
Pretty cool cover! Artsy-fartsy noir. Very unique idea. Simple, but big statement. People will ask what is this black rice with the gun danger element.
Made my day - thanks Artist!
Tuesday, November 06, 2012
from Wiki - in Rwanda, the genocide was well organized by the government -
The killing was well organized by the government. When it started, the Rwandan militia numbered around 30,000, or one militia member for every ten families. It was organized nationwide, with representatives in every neighborhood. Some militia members were able to acquire AK-47 assault rifles by completing requisition forms. Other weapons, such as grenades, required no paperwork and were widely distributed by the government. Many members of the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi were armed only with machetes. Even after the 1993 peace agreement signed in Arusha, businessmen close to General Habyarimana imported 581,000 machetes from China for Hutu use in killing Tutsi, because machetes were cheaper than guns. In a 2000 news story, The Guardian reported, "The former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, played a leading role in supplying weapons to the Hutu regime which carried out a campaign of genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994. As Minister of Foreign Affairs in Egypt, Boutros-Ghali facilitated an arms deal in 1990, which was to result in $26 million (£18m) of mortar bombs, rocket launchers, grenades and ammunition being flown from Cairo to Rwanda. The arms were used by Hutus in attacks which led to up to a million deaths."
Rwandan Prime Minister Jean Kambanda revealed in his testimony before the International Criminal Tribunal that the genocide was openly discussed in cabinet meetings and that "...one cabinet minister said she was personally in favor of getting rid of all Tutsi; without the Tutsi, she told ministers, all of Rwanda's problems would be over."
More quotes from Wiki on Rwandan Genocide
The assassination of Habyarimana in April 1994 set off a violent reaction, during which Hutu groups conducted mass killings of Tutsis (and also pro-peace Hutus, who were portrayed as "traitors" and "collaborators"). This genocide had been planned by members of the Hutu power group known as the Akazu, many of whom occupied positions at top levels of the national government; the genocide was supported and coordinated by the national government as well as by local military and civil officials and mass media. Alongside the military, primary responsibility for the killings themselves rests with two Hutu militias that had been organized for this purpose by political parties: the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi, although once the genocide was underway a great number of Hutu civilians took part in the murders.
Wikipedia cited below, accessed 11-6-2012
Population density as a factor in Rwandan, Burmese genocides --
At 408 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,060 /sq mi), Rwanda's population density is amongst the highest in Africa. Rwanda's population had increased from 1.6 million people in 1934 to 7.1 million in 1989, leading to competition for land. Historians such as Gérard Prunier believe that the 1994 genocide can be partly attributed to the population density.- - from Wiki cited.
-- the Arakan Coastal Strip in Burma is also extremely narrow. We don't know the population density as we don't know the population, but it can I suppose be estimated from houses/huts and an average per household number, usually stated as 5, from satellite photos.
kmk
A nightmare that could happen anywhere, including Burma - The Rwandan Genocide -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the East African state of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days (from the assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira on April 6 through mid-July) over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate. Estimates of the death toll have ranged from 500,000–1,000,000, or as much as 20% of the country's total population. It was the culmination of longstanding ethnic competition and tensions between the minority Tutsi, who had controlled power for centuries, and the majority Hutu peoples, who had come to power in the rebellion of 1959–62. . . . Belgian colonialism played a role in maintaining the divide between the Tutsi and Hutu peoples.
From Wikipedia article above.
Quote of the day - "Darfur will end when --
Dirk Moses: "Darfur will end when it suits the great powers that have a stake in the region".
From Wikipedia below.
The place where we are right -- a poem
The Place Where We Are Right/
by Yehuda Amichai/
From the place where we are right/
Flowers will never grow/
In the spring./
The place where we are right/
Is hard and trampled/
Like a yard./
But doubts and loves/
Dig up the world/
Like a mole, a plow./
And a whisper will be heard in the place/
Where the ruined/
House once stood./
Again, thank you, you who sent this.
Now in the time of genocide - re-posting - Kyi May Kaung's poem War on Roaches
http://www.fpif.org/articles/war_on_roaches
from Foreign Policy in Focus
Monday, November 05, 2012
Did the (Myanmar) government incite the racial violence targeting the Rohingya - by Dr. Maung Zarni
http://www.dvb.no/analysis/did-the-govt-incite-the-racial-violence-targeting-the-rohingya/24116
The ancient Buddhist university Nalanda in present-day Bihar, India -
Sacked by the Muslim Turks in 13th century.
What would you save if your house were on fire? A manton de Manila -
http://www.stylebubble.co.uk/style_bubble/2012/03/mesmerised-by-a-mant%C3%B3n-.html?cid=6a00e5508e95a988330163031c7322970d
It makes me think what the poor Rohingya families were able to save last week.
31 stunning sci fi illustrations -
http://www.designzzz.com/stunning-futurisitc-scifi-illustrations/
Making Thai khon masks
http://avaxnews.com/appealing/Manufacture_Of_Traditional_Thai_Khon_Masks.html
Burma walks the lambast walk again - derided at ASEM summit in Laos
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/18069
Sunday, November 04, 2012
Burma - Presdt Thein Sein's assistant was one who first posted the photos of alleged rape victim in June -
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/17968
There's reason to believe this is all an elaborate set up by regime.
A few days ago - one of Arakanese monks when speaking to reporters, pulled out a whole stack of color photos of the alleged rape victim of June, and other photos. How did he get them and why is a monk keeping them?
--***
Satellite images of burned areas in Kyaukhpyu, Arakan in Burma & eyewitness account
http://observers.france24.com/content/20121029-muslim-burmese-refugee-killed-wife-burned-down-house-kyaukphyu-rakhine-rohingya-sittwe-arakan-camp
Saturday, November 03, 2012
Wat Chaiwatthanaram in Ayuthia, a city much battered and burned by the Burmese in ancient times -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WatChaiwatthanaram_2295b.JPG
Along the klongs or canals of Bangkok
http://www.bangkokpost.com/travel/travel-feature/319030/a-route-less-travelled
Photos from Rangoon University, including the famed Thit Poke Pin tree
http://juniorwin-english.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html
USA-Post-Hurricane Sandy warning - looters etc posing as meter checkers, relief workers etc -
http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/video/us/2012/11/03/todd-sandy-looters.cnn
Russ Wellen - What explains Aung San Suu Kyi's silence --
http://www.fpif.org/blog/what_explains_aung_san_suu_kyis_silence_about_the_persecution_of_burmas_minorities
Important - Burmese Border Minister Thein Htay says -will stick to 1982 law
"to resolve Arakan Conflict"
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/
in Burmese - in text, news summaries on left.
1982 law says you must prove your ancestors were in Burma before the first Anglo-Burmese War of 1924.
Since few records exist in Burma, this is going to lead to threats by authorities, graft and more corruption.
Increasingly, it looks like this "fire in the eves" in the Arakan region, will spread to the main house, and derail the so-far phony "reforms".
kmk
Quote of the day - ref. genocide in W. Burma -
Danger abounds and I hold up the ethnic card as the litmus test in Burma to see how real these so-far phony reforms will turn out to be...
Anonymous
Israel acknowledges killing Arafat's deputy in 1988
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/israel-acknowledges-killing-arafats-deputy-in-1988/article4058982.ece
Search for the motive, as they say.
Quote of the Day: Ashin Gambira, Saffron Revolution leader, from 2007
“What will it take for the world to realize that Burma’s generals are a menace and that because of their misrule, drugs, diseases and refugees from Burma spill across borders and wash through other societies, ruining lives?”
U Gambira to Washington Post, 2007.
Verdi's Aida - complete opera - 1989 Metropolitan Opera NY production - Placido Domingo et al --
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99c7zlVgqfI
1 hour 36 minutes.
Educational use only.
Friday, November 02, 2012
Triumphal March from Verdi's Aida
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNEu09pVD8E
Notice the beautiful perfumed music when the princess, beautiful but cruel comes in.
*
Dance of the Princesses from Verdi's opera Aida - Nile scenes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnjY6nl7_zg
Vivien Leigh from Cleopatra, Shakespeare's play.
*
Flash fiction - The Shit-Eating Witch, by Kyi May Kaung
"Selling Bacolod."
I am so touched, as this is really my way of "going home."
I used to go to Thailand every year, about two times a year, but now it has stopped.
My beloved aunt has died.
I don't think relatives, or unimaginative people, understand writers, or the peripatetic need for taking trains, planes, hiring drivers etc. Because they can't read our facile and brilliant minds, and they certainly don't read our blogs.
So, forget them, till your next trip. Fair enough.
As for ghosts, I don't believe in the Halloween type - but do believe in ghosts when I am in Bali,
and no one can beat our Burmese village ghosts.
Case in point - the chee sarr sone or shit- eating witch, literally.
At night she leaves her husband snoring by her side, and roams the outhouses eating shit.
One night her husband awakes and finds his wife headless, as the wife's head is out eating - appearing to the unschooled eye as great rolling balls of fire in the distance.
So next time she does that he smears the sap of the shampoo vine, which is slimy, on the headless neck, and low and behold, when she gets home she can't re-attach her head - and is shut down for good.
Bwa ha haa - I knew you'd love that.
In fact I had trouble re-attaching my own head when I came home to Burma after 8 months studying for a diploma in economic planning in Warsaw, Poland.
Kyi.
left on my friend Kanlaon's blog.
David Hammons - Untitled - Hirschorn Museum, DC.
Photo copyright Kyi May Kaung
From Wall Street Journal - Glory days of Rangoon Univ & F for Myanmar Schools.
http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2012/11/02/glory-days-at-myanmar-school-clouded/
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970203937004578076751448524708-lMyQjAxMTAyMDAwMjEwNDIyWj.html?mod=wsj_valetleft_email
Ne Win did not get to univ. only 5th grade in school or so.
Aung San Suu Kyi recently said
"Our people are barely educated"
stressed need for primary education, while stress now is on post-grad education
and
even said "If my (deputies) were better educated, they could write some of my speeches for me."
--
Who and what gains from Myanmar strife - Maung Zarni
http://www.maungzarni.com/2012/10/the-virtues-of-myanmars-genocide-of.html
Burmese military may be behind anti-Rohingya violence -
http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/31/as-violence-continues-rohingya-find-few-defenders-in-myanmar/
Scores of Rohingya refugees feared dead at sea -
http://www.dw.de/scores-of-rohingya-refugees-feared-dead-at-sea/a-16349011
3,000 reportedly missing
Burma clashes leave 100 dead -
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57541090/burma-clashes-leave-100-dead-as-muslim-rohingya-minority-clashes-with-buddhists-testing-govt-reforms/
Telegraph - Burma considers citizenship for Rohingyas
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/9648329/Burma-considers-citizenship-for-Rohingya-Muslims.html
Clashes or ethnic cleansing - by Tun Khin - Burmese Rohingya Organisation - UK
http://www.dvb.no/analysis/clashes-or-ethnic-cleansing/24559
Anonymous comment:
This same journalist (sic) wrote recently about this issue in the Independent as well, below. It is indeed true: there are many who would benefit from riding a cheap wave of nationalism into power. 2015 is so close and it would be difficult to win support through concrete reforms that bring tangible results. Far easier to stoke ethnic conflict, draw upon stupid nationalism, and invoke a scary bogeyman (the Muslims). This is exactly the script dictators used in other failed transitions: Milosevic did this, as did Putin.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-persecution-of-the-rohingya-how-a-benighted-minority-in-burma-suffer-at-the-hands-of-despots-8259990.html
British, US and Australian Ambassadors visit strife torn Arakan region - in Burmese
http://www.youtube.com/user/voaclips
Thursday, November 01, 2012
Answer to comment - how to download
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/30/aung-san-suu-kyi-meets-her-peers.html
Here is link to the article.
I don't know that you can download from e publications - but you can save the link by cutting and pasting in your file, with date you accessed it for future reference or citation -
and you can open it to read.
You can go to Print and print out on paper, or you can go to Print and copy and paste for your own reference.
It makes sense downloads are not enabled as they are copyrighted items.
I no longer print on paper but "keep" by posting link in relevant file or folder - hard to find the paper in stacked up piles on the floor anyway.
Consider taking a course in library cataloging or filing
-- there is something called cross-referencing - where this article for instance would be under "Daily Beast"
"Aung San Suu Kyi" or "Peers" or the author's name - which by the way is not the name you mentioned.
My blog is designed so I can't respond to comments - as I don't like prolonged "debates" with people I don't know.
I am not a techie and this is all I know from my personal experience.
Thanks for reading my blog - do visit again.
kmk
We could have told you so - economy dips drastically in W Burma due to anti-Rohingya violence
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/17851
latest video - must see - graphic warning - Violence against Rohingya in W Burma
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/oct/31/burma-muslims-buddhists-clashes-video
Literally caught between the devil and the dark sea -
while the junta says violence was wrought by "terrorists"
"extremists" and Presdt Thein Sein's office says it has confiscated arms
(may have been planted, for all we know).
See VOA TV 10-31-2012
In Burma, SNLD (Shan National League for Democracy) resists junta's plans to change names of states to "neutral names"
as it destroys their sense of identity.
In Burmese
http://www.rfa.org/burmese/
video clip on RHS
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