Sunday, December 31, 2023
taylor swift's songs and lyrics--
https://www.google.com/search?q=which+is+taylor+swifts+best+song--Me--youtube&client=firefox-b-1-d&sca_esv=594756364&ei=qYSRZcSuJpDk5NoPwdGu-Ao&ved=0ahUKEwiEp5X0-rmDAxUQMlkFHcGoC68Q4dUDCBE&uact=5&oq=which+is+taylor+swifts+best+song--Me--youtube&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiLXdoaWNoIGlzIHRheWxvciBzd2lmdHMgYmVzdCBzb25nLS1NZS0teW91dHViZTIHECEYoAEYCkiTMlDhClikMHABeAGQAQCYAZQBoAHOCKoBAzguM7gBA8gBAPgBAcICChAAGEcY1gQYsAPCAgYQABgWGB7CAgsQABiABBiKBRiGA8ICBRAhGJ8F4gMEGAAgQeIDBRIBMSBAiAYBkAYI&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:ea1ab8af,vid:PbELmFNAawo,st:0
https://genius.com/artists/Taylor-swift
nothing seemed notable or memorable to me--
but expertly packaged and "acted out."
Not like, for instance, John Lennon or Elvis Presley's songs or other famous songs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N81IktPflsA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X02t8vKLtbw
Must be appealing to America's or the world's mediocre heart.
That said, I think the current boy friend and she are well-suited and shld just get married.
But if they don't get married it will be more exciting for the fans when news of all the wars gets stale.
Or maybe it's the 2 b. The picture of her with her first boyfriend before the breast job was just another teenager.
It shows in America you can invent yourself as anything.
kmk
12-31-2023
Saturday, December 30, 2023
Friday, December 29, 2023
Daw Tin Zar Maw Naing's memoir--Burmese Heart
https://www.amazon.com/Burmese-Heart-Y-M-V-Han/dp/0996225404/ref=kwrp_li_std_nodl
The book fails to say that Dr Ba Maw was Adipadi during the Japanese Occupation. That would make him the Burmese equivalent of Marshal Petain.
From Petain wiki-- State collaboration with Germany Part of a series on Antisemitism Part of Jewish history and discrimination History Timeline Reference Definitions Manifestations Antisemitic tropes Antisemitic publications Antisemitism on the Internet Prominent figures Persecution Opposition Category v t e
Within months, Pétain signed antisemitic ordinances. This included the Law on the status of Jews, prohibiting Jews from exercising numerous professions, and the Law regarding foreign nationals of the Jewish race, authorizing the detention of foreign Jews. Pétain's government was nevertheless internationally recognised, notably by the U.S., at least until the German occupation of the rest of France. Neither Pétain nor his successive deputies, Laval, Pierre-Étienne Flandin, or Admiral François Darlan, gave significant resistance to requests by the Germans to indirectly aid the Axis powers. When Hitler met Pétain at Montoire in October 1940 to discuss the French government's role in the new "European Order", the handshake he offered to Hitler caused much uproar in London, and probably influenced Britain's decision to lend Free France naval support for their operations in Gabon.[58] Furthermore, France even remained formally at war with Germany, albeit opposed to the Free French. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_P%C3%A9tain I found the difference in writing style between DawTin Zar and her granddaughter jarring. The 2nd scene of her arrest, when she needed hot water for the baby is moving. Also when she comments on the "Karmic Payback" of MI (Military Intelligence) Tin Oo's son having physical and mental problems. The book said Dr Ba Maw told Saya San as his defense lawyer he "couldn't win." What kind of defense lawyer is that? A defense lawyer's job is to put up a good defense, even if he thinks the defendant is guilty. This was told to me by an American woman married to someone from France whose brother is a defense lawyer. Considering the dramatic life she lived, I think the writing could be better. I met her younger daughter in Canada in the1990s. She said she "just could not stand it anymore." (The stress of political life.) There were also twin boys named Ho Chi and Mao Tse. I don't know any more. I must have read the excerpts on Facebook in 2015, during the so-called Open Period or "Transition Period." kmk 12-29-2023
Free copy of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn--Gutenberg Project--read only.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/76/76-h/76-h.htm#chap01
It makes the text bigger on my laptop, but I like to read lying down.
So it goes.
Mark Twain wrote very well.
may
Thursday, December 28, 2023
op ed by Kyaw Zwa Moe
https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/commentary/the-myanmar-peoples-determination-to-win-has-begun-to-bear-fruit.html
KZM is brother of Irra founder and chief editor Aung Zaw.
12-28-2023
new Ukraine aid--USD 250 m
https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/27/politics/biden-ukraine-military-aid-package/index.html
Total 46 b to date.
12-28-2023
Wednesday, December 27, 2023
RIP--Patricia Janeckova--d Oct 2023, age 25.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Jane%C4%8Dkov%C3%A1
Why is it that whenever I come across a beautiful artist, on Youtube, they are gone already.
Rest in Peace, Lovely Angel.
https://www.google.com/search?q=patricia+janeckova+panis+angelicus+youtube&client=firefox-b-1-
d&sca_esv=593898376&ei=U62LZaasFvjR5NoPuvWrkAE&oq=panid+angelicusPatrica&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiFnBhbmlkIGFuZ2VsaWN1c1BhdHJpY2EqAggBMggQABgIGB4YDTIIEAAYCBgeGA1I82pQihpY6UhwA3gBkAEAmAGaAaAB2QeqAQM3LjO4AQHIAQD4AQHCAgoQABhHGNYEGLADwgINEAAYgAQYigUYQxiwA8ICCRAAGIAEGA0YCsICCBAAGB4YDRgKwgIKEAAYHhgNGA8YCsICCxAAGIAEGIoFGIYDwgINEAAYgAQYigUYQxixA8ICDRAAGIAEGLEDGIMBGArCAgcQABiABBgKwgIKEAAYgAQYigUYQ8ICBxAAGIAEGA3CAgcQLhiABBgNwgIGEAAYHhgNwgIiEC4YgAQYDRiXBRjcBBjeBBjgBBj0AxjxAxj1Axj2A9gBAcICBxAhGKABGAriAwQYACBB4gMFEgExIECIBgGQBgq6BgYIARABGBQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:390e67d0,vid:CdKAHp9m1Q0,st:0
12-26-2023
Tuesday, December 26, 2023
From Myanmar Now--petrol, fake ads for recruiting by junta--etc
https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/junta-cracks-down-on-people-buying-petrol-above-rationed-amount/
https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/myanmar-army-uses-sham-job-announcements-to-trap-young-men-into-military-service/
https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/women-fighting-on-myanmars-front-lines-i-cant-stand-the-militarys-injustice/
Sagaing airstrikes
https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/junta-bombs-eastern-chindwin-river-villages-in-attempt-to-prevent-resistance-advances-in-sagaing-locals-say/
https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/civilians-injured-by-junta-artillery-in-mrauk-u-clashes-between-military-arakan-army/ https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/tnla-seizes-manton-takes-full-control-of-palaung-region/end
Burma news mixed bag--12-26-2023
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-military-bombards-civilians-heritage-in-mrauk-u-as-aa-advances.html
Not clear where people flee to--
I think the military response is disproportionate.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/drone-and-rocket-attacks-on-junta-targets-in-mandalay-unnerve-myanmar-junta.html
infantry division surrenders in Lukkai,ShanState.
First Chin Constitution.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/guest-column/the-first-chin-written-constitution-a-new-template-for-self-determination.html</blockquote> Is the country going to become balkanized? km 12-26-2023
From Leo Tolstoy--Youth--The Stepmother
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2637/2637-h/2637-h.htm#link2H_4_0042
As John Gardner wrote "A writer is someone on whom nothing is lost."
12-25-2023
Sofya Tolstoy's autobiography--not as frank as her diaries, of course,
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38027/38027-h/38027-h.htm
It did seem as if she loved her husband
and she did copy his mss--and managed the estate and bore him 13 children--
and he must have been difficult to live with--
there were ideas he abandoned--like the novel based on Peter the Great--because "the characters did not breathe."
Readers think it all comes easily--it doesn't--try it yourself some time.
Some people I know can't finish sentences, can't write more than 3 pages--etc.
But Leo T made a big big mistake--he should not have let his wife read his diaries of his "wenching."
I tend to think writers and artists should not marry--on the one hand it's a big chain and on the other--people need a partner--esp. in this day and age--where one is expected to be able to do everything well.
But most of all, I dislike those who sit on their butt and go holier than thou. I didn't even know Barbara Walters and Kirstie Alley died in 2022. I bid you peace and a happy new year. km 12-25-2023
Sofya Tolstoy's diaries+ Leo Tolstoy--Childhood
https://www.amazon.com/Diaries-Sofia-Tolstoy-Cathy-Porter/dp/0061997412/ref=asc_df_0061997412/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=266411458063&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7592717006128178604&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007768&hvtargid=pla-648802161000&psc=1&mcid=2a30923829d73e2aa266b42ece05738b&asin=0061997412&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1
In modern life she would have left--so tormented.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2142/2142-h/2142-h.htm
Leo Tolstoy--Childhood--
written when he was 20--Just amazing voice and detail--and progression of the story.
The genius who was Sofya's husband--he called her Sonya.
km
Monday, December 25, 2023
Sunday, December 24, 2023
AI--VideoPoet--Think about it.
https://blog.research.google/2023/12/videopoet-large-language-model-for-zero.html
Mona Lisa yawning
text to image
sound
using images already in public domain.
Maybe one can use one's own images (created by oneself) or photos you take yourself.
Some would say it sullies the original--
like the horrible AI generated text from say Tolstoy.
And the Creators of the Originals (if they are still alive and their heirs need to protect their own intellectual property--think about it.)
Writers,poets, artists suffer for their art.
There needs to be better laws.
It's too easy, too glib.
It's a kind of cute theft.
Kyi May Kaung 12-24-2023
Clooney Foundation for Justice
https://www.aol.com/complete-timeline-george-clooney-amal-234000666.html
She has mentioned Myanmar several times.
It's Christmas, and Christ did die on the Cross, crucified by Romans.
Read or watch The Robe--
Be tolerant of other people's skin color and religion and their right to live.
Only the junta and other dictators have forfeited this right by their actions.
Don't just sit there and eat turkey.
km
12-24-2023
Saturday, December 23, 2023
Irrawaddy 12-23-2023--Dictator blames British--AI says junta guilty of war crimes--Mantong bombed 180 tines
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/brotherhood-alliance-seizes-another-ethnic-zone-in-myanmars-northern-shan-state.html
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-military-should-be-investigated-for-war-crimes-amnesty-international.html
https://www.irrawaddy.com/specials/junta-watch/junta-watch-embattled-dictator-blames-british-thanks-myanmar-air-force-for-propping-up-army-and-more.html
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-airstrikes-near-china-pipeline-risk-catastrophe-in-shan-state.html
4 links--end.
12-23-2023
Friday, December 22, 2023
From Irrawaddy--female freedom fighter etc
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-against-the-junta/im-a-mandalay-girl-teenage-soldier-fights-on-myanmars-front-lines.html
The TNLA said it attacked the base on Wednesday, sparking a fierce response as junta forces deployed a fighter jet and Harbin Y12 plane to drop over 200 bombs on the town and nearby areas.
The airstrikes damaged a dozen homes and a monastery, the TNLA said.
Meanwhile, the junta base bombarded eight surrounding villages and locations with 78 rounds of artillery, it added.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-against-the-junta/intense-clashes-as-tnla-advances-on-mantong-in-myanmars-northern-shan-state.html
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-using-airstrikes-to-defend-northern-shan-bases.html
Sunday, December 17, 2023
Ah Nyient performer on why she left Burma--
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DM1r3CbBRM
Informal translation -- and summary-- "At first they quelled the gatherings with tear gas--but after I saw a young person shot right there in front of me, I couldn't stand it any more and left (for Thalland.) --Then friends said 'Elder Sister, since you are here already, why not perform again?' So that's why I started again.--I just want to see people smiling and laughing again with their families. Some people (support the junta) but I can't swallow that kind of rice. -Bogyoke Aung San (Aung San Suu Kyi's father) founded the Burmese Army(during World War II, Japanese Occupation) but Aung San's army did not kill the people. What this military junta is doing--burning, killing, maiming, torturing, is not acceptable. This Revolution must succeed." --Gives 3-finger salute. _-Ah Nyeint is a song and dance comedy routine with the female star accompanied by 2-4 clowns who often make (political) jokes. kmk 12-17-2023
Saturday, December 16, 2023
Arakan Army claims more victories in Rakhine--
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-against-the-junta/arakan-army-claims-victories-over-myanmar-junta-across-rakhine-state.html
This is not the time to visit the beach at Ngapali--near Thandwe. Ngapali is said to be named after Naples by ???
km
12-16-2023
https://www.irrawaddy.com/features/the-man-behind-the-irrawaddy.html
Ko Aung Zaw Irrawaddy seldom writes anything personal
but this is very nice--to keep a magazine going for so long is wonderful.
I've known him since I worked in radio on M St. in the late1990s. He brought xeroxes of Chief Justice Myint Thein's poems in English.
I'd see him now and then in D.C. and at Burma conferences in Gottenberg and Helsinki and art exhibitions in Chiangmai.
When there was a print edition, I received a free copy in the mail every month.
Thank you.
Most of the 1988 generation who did not die but came overseas have done well.
Some unfortunately seem to have flipped sides during the so-called transition period.
Even during that time, 2 Reuters journalists including Wa Lone were arrested--Ko Par Gyi was murdered.
There must be many others I have not heard of.
Then there are the legions of Citizen Journalists taking photos and reporting on a daily basis.
I am struck by the high quality artistically of the photos--taken maybe with cell phones and under very difficult conditions.
I feel it's time for the rest of us to appreciate their contribution.
When I worked at that radio station, I asked about life insurance and some language and survival training --no answer from the blasted management--
Incidentally, I'd like you all to read Paul Pringle's book, Bad City about an eye surgeon and dean at USC (Univ of Southern California) who was dealing drugs and raping women, and his corruption spreading to the LA Times--management where Pringle worked and how he and a small team managed to at last oust these criminals.
I found the book on the free shelf in my eye specialist's waiting room.
Sometimes I take books I won't read again and leave them there.
But I keep more books than I give away. It's not about being tidy, it's about feeding your brain.
Above all please read.
It's a horrible thing not to know what is happening around you.
Poet Saya Zawgyi taught me so much--
Kyi May Kaung
12-16-2023
Friday, December 15, 2023
Potentially useful to Brotherhood Alliane--pl send on--Hamas in Gaza.
https://www.aol.com/news/hamas-turns-gaza-streets-deadly-162019955.html
Look up the tunnels ofCuchi in Vietnam war.
despite the revamped effort at fighting the enemy on their own terms, U.S. operations remained insufficient at eliminating the tunnels completely. In 1967, General William Westmoreland tried to launch a larger assault on Củ Chi and the Iron Triangle. Called Operation Cedar Falls, it was similar to the previous Operation Crimp but was on a larger scale with 30,000 troops, instead of 8,000. On January 18, tunnel rats from the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division uncovered the Viet Cong district headquarters of Củ Chi, containing half a million documents concerning all types of military strategy. Among the documents were maps of U.S. bases, detailed accounts of PLAF movement from Cambodia into Vietnam, lists of political sympathizers, and even plans for a failed assassination attempt on Robert McNamara.[citation needed]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%E1%BB%A7_Chi_tunnels
Thursday, December 14, 2023
Interviews of Retired Brigador-General Dr. Mi Mi Wynn Byrd in Burmese--
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbOy6AJCk9U
In general she said--
International community is amazed by success of Operation 1027.
There is good co-ordination between the Resistance Forces and that's why they are winning.
Junta has destroyed everything incld economy; talked about inflation.
Only a handful of nations support Burma--mostly Russia, equipt also Russian.
Burma is of strategic, vital importance in the Asia-Pacific region.
Endemic corruption in the junta military.
They need to be a professional army. Stuck in 1950s.
The interviewers should help her with the Burmese equivalent of terminology.
That a Burmese woman/Asian-American should rise to such a high post is admirable.
km
12-14-2023
Guest column--Igor Blazevic--Irrawaddy.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/guest-column/myanmars-spring-revolution-must-open-two-new-fronts-to-oust-junta.html
The junta will try to stall and hedge--castle--in chess terms.
The longer this thing runs on the better it will be for the junta.
You can write directly--email or phone the US WH.
Stop all the talk talk talk. Forget the UN and ASEAN.
Go to the WH official site--where there are phone numbers and a button for email.
Keep it short, use polite language--don't send junk.
It's a criminal offense if you try to hack or spike their site or any other site.
Stay within the word limit--don't go on a rant.
Do it today please.
k
12-14-2023
New post based on old post--
Opera about City Planning (my subject for my 2nd MA)
http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/28/story-cities-32-new-york-jane-jacobs-robert-moses
My first MA from Rangoon Univ--was in Cost-Benefit Analysis for public investment projects
(in Burma and Poland--where at that time interest rates were not in use. Terrible top down decisions for instance in locating factories--)
Some of these cases I brought up again in my PhD. thesis at Penn--available from Proquest. Like the chopstick factory--
By that time I had segued in secret to Political Economy.
Only 6 people knew what I was really working on--
they were (from non-Penn to Penn)
Ronald E.Findlay,economist--International TradeTheorist,Columbia U-Ragnar Nurkse Prof of Ecos.
Josef Silverstein-Burma expert, Rutgers U.
Penn--disstn committee Disstn Chair: Henry Teune--Political Scientist--Systems Specialist Disstn Committee Chair--Herbert Levine--Russia and China specialist--economist Dept Head--Seymour Mandelbaum, City Planning (theorist) Univ of PA. Penn--Burma specialist Donald E. Smith. Then there were the 3 comprehensive examiners--Levine, Mandelbaum and an Indian economist from Wharton. My family nuclear and otherwise don't really know who I am. Even less anyone in Burma or from Burma. People know me "in segments". If I take paintings to sell--they ask for postcards-- If I show short stories to an agent, she asks for a novel-- On a village tour bus--yes,I live in a village too--when I said I sell opera coats I make myself, one lady asked if I was a seamstress-- No--I am not--I am an artist and writer who sometimes makes my own clothes. I don't really like painting commissioned portraits. But as we were about to get on our tour bus, in Mystic, CT, about 5 woman gathered around to hear what I was saying. 2 times an African-American woman in the seat behind me--started talking to me about Burma--from the seat behind me--full 2 hours-- another time a Prof of Journalism, a woman introduced to me to share double-room costs bombarded me with Qs (about Burma) the entire 2 1/2 hours--total 5 hours to NY City and back-- and also she got so engrossed in reading my published short stories--she didn't go to the Eleanor Roosevelt House the way she planned during the only morning we had onour own--I went to see my cousin and her husband. That's what's nice about living in the West, in a village-- Jane Jacobs' book as well as Rachel Carson's Silent Spring were recommended reading. I once tried to catch up with Walter Isard on campus--the founder of Regional Science--he was about 70, I about 40--I could not catch up. More about Isard here--https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Isard At least on Zoom people have to sit still.
HHave a nice day full of creative energy. Kyi May Kaung 12-14-2023
Part 2--Irrawaddy interview of DawZin Mar Aung--NUG
Quote:
Critical voices are always louder. But they are not always bad. I like it. But, when we are overwhelmed by those critical voices, and are out of touch with the reality on the ground, there will only be pessimistic expectations.
There has been certain progress on the ground. We don’t want the international community to lose sight of that. We face challenges, but there are also lessons from the past about what we can do to overcome them, and where the pitfalls lie. We can’t assume that because something happened in the past, the same thing will happen now or in the future. There was no unity in the past and we can’t let the same problem affect us now. We are overcoming this, and I am optimistic about it. My view is there are opportunities for us amid the challenges.
. . .
Suppose the resistance forces gain the upper hand and changes occur. What role will the current military leaders or defectors play? Will they be allowed to participate, and what roles will they be assigned in the reconstruction of the country?
We have a policy in place. But regarding its implementation, we still need to make preparations for technical matters. Some [junta soldiers] have surrendered and some have defected to us. We have to check how many of them have committed war crimes. They will be treated differently depending on the severity of the crimes they have committed. In principle, regarding security sector reform, the Myanmar military has to reform itself. The military is impaired, and it needs to mend. They must understand that they must mend now. If they mend quickly, they may be able to restore ties with the people and salvage their reputation. But if they don’t, they will be forcibly mended. Military leaders and personnel who say they love the Tatmadaw [Myanmar’s military] have to make a choice.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/in-person/interview/success-of-myanmars-revolution-depends-on-shared-vision-of-federalism-nug-foreign-minister.html
12-14-2023
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
myanmar--so-called "peace talks" in Beijing lasted 10 mins--
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/politics/brotherhood-alliance-denies-myanmar-junta-peace-
deal-rumors.html
reminds me of one in 1960s, in house on Inya Rd confiscated from the Kongs--wh now m a has taken for himself.
A Univ of Chicago-trained journalist who was there told
me--
"and then (Brigadier Kyaw Zaw) Bakapa--Burma Communist Party, took off his flip-flopps/sandals, hitched up his longyi and waded across the stream." He was based in Kunming and died in Beijing. Only fools believe the junta. km 12-13-2023
1987 foodie movie--Babette's Feast--based on short story by Isak Denison
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092603/mediaviewer/rm93521408/?ref_=tt_ov_i
I enjoyed this a lot "soak the cod"
to a French chef. :)
km
Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Copied and pasted from Irrawaddy--excerpt--UN Res. Coordinator should resign--
https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/guest-column/uns-myanmar-resident-coordinator-should-resign-over-role-in-junta-health-conference.html
Yin Yin Nwe geologist is on junta-appointed "Rohingya Committee"--former daughter in law of Ne Win--
None of those INGOs or the UN agencies needed to be at the “conference” to listen to Orwellian talks about the “longevity and health of the nation”, “saving lives of mothers and children”, “accelerating progress in achieving the SDGs [sustainable development goals]”, “good practices”, “ending preventable deaths of newborn and child”, “preparedness and response to Cyclone Mocha”, “best practices in immunization” from the mouths of those who are waging a war of terror against the civilian population of the country, who are indiscriminately killing children, bombing hospitals and schools, preventing food and medicine from reaching millions of IDPs and who are intentionally weaponizing humanitarian aid.
They did not need to participate as extras in the junta’s propaganda show. The UN’s rules of engagement for UN agencies operating in Myanmar instruct them not to participate in junta-staged events. However, on Dec. 4, Corsi—according to local staff working for UN agencies—gave the green light to the UN agencies’ staff to decide for themselves whether to participate. For those unfamiliar with the workings of the NGO community, while the UN coordinator has authority only over UN agencies, INGOs do look to the UN for policy hints and their behavior is influenced by it.
It is easy to imagine what happened behind the scenes. The junta’s “Ministry of Health” would have been very nervous about what sort of a show they would be able to put on for their boss. The fear felt by subordinates in dictatorships is a serious matter. Nobody takes it lightly when one gets info that the big boss will be there as well. So junta subordinates would have put significant pressure on the UN agencies and INGOs that they must send someone to the “very important conference”, otherwise their already very restricted access could become even more restricted.
As UN resident coordinator, Corsi for sure received a few phone calls as well. He probably talked with Yin Yin Nwe, either upon her, or his own, initiative. In Myanmar UN circles there is a story going around that when national staff advise Corsi in any matters, he tends to say, “We need to check/verify.” Everybody understands that that means, “Let me ask Yin Yin Nwe.”
Yin Yin Nwe is a powerful and influential woman with a long career that includes high positions in UNICEF as well as successive Myanmar military regimes. In the aftermath of the 2021 Myanmar coup d’état, Yin Yin Nwe was appointed as a member to the Advisory Board of the State Administration Council (SAC), the junta’s governing body. Since then, she has forcefully served the interests of the junta. Corsi worked together with Yin Yin Nwe in Indonesia when he was the UNICEF deputy representative and she was UNICEF’s chief of tsunami support.
In the end, Corsi bowed to the pressure and on Dec. 4th, on the eve of the “conference”, gave a green light to the UN agencies and INGOs that their participation would not break the UN’s rules of engagement.
Which of course, it did, as it turned out on the first day when all of them played the roles of extras in Min Aung Hlaing’s propaganda show.
In a less hypocritical world than that of the international aid community in Yangon, after such a failure of judgement, UN Resident Coordinator Corsi would resign or would be asked to step down. His role is to protect the integrity and neutrality of international aid, not to give excuses to international organizations in Myanmar to be useful idiots for a murderous junta at sham “public health” conferences.
I also can’t help but wonder whether those international organizations that gave speeches at the “conference” and presented their booths for inspection by the junta boss will publish photos from the event in their annual reports?
Perhaps they could do so just as a warning—a “lesson learned”, so that similar mistakes do not happen again.
Igor Blazevic is a senior adviser at the Prague Civil Society Centre. Between 2011 and 2016 he worked in Myanmar as the head lecturer of the Educational Initiatives Program.
end post
12-11-2023
Thursday, December 07, 2023
From Myanmar Now--army deserters "pardoned" sent back to barracks,Rohingya in Indonesia-Australia invites --etc
https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/indonesians-protest-against-rohingya-refugees-clash-with-police/
https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/myanmar-junta-invited-to-australian-sponsored-maritime-workshops-in-indonesia/
pardoned deserters sent back to barracks--
https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/myanmar-regime-sends-pardoned-deserters-back-to-barracks/
short of soldiers--that's for sure.
12-7-2023
Myanmar kyat depreciates more against $ etc--
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/kyat-depreciates-further-after-myanmar-central-bank-abandons-dollar-forex-rate.html
as one former colleague--"Jump the Fence" said in 2007, "You can't shoot prices to keep them down."
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/un-calls-for-urgent-action-to-stop-arms-flow-to-myanmar-junta-as-civilian-casualties-soar.html
Loikaw pets.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/in-myanmars-war-torn-loikaw-volunteers-venture-out-to-save-pets-left-behind.html
12-7-2023
Another Mass Shooting, USA.
https://www.aol.com/news/las-vegas-police-suspect-dead-204131064.html
Go through emergency drills with your loved ones--wherever you are.
Have agarb bag ready--impt papers, food, water. phone #s
safe place to shelter.
stay alive.
Sunday, December 03, 2023
Himal Interview--Precarious position of Afghan refugees in Pakistan.
https://www.himalmag.com/afghan-migrants-pakistan-refugees-sanaa-alimia/
This reminds me of the Rohingya in Burma and the junta and the International agencies talk of repatriation.
How can they go back to concentration camps?
This drives them further and further east on small boats unsuited for oceans.
Everyone is complicit.
kaung
12-3-2023
Salman Rafi Sheikh--Pakistan reversing Afghan Policy--in Himal Southasia
https://www.himalmag.com/taliban-baloch-militancy-pakistan-afghan-policy-refugees-migrants/
distressing--doke kha be--as we say in Burmese.
KMKaung
12-3-2023
Irrawaddy in Burmese--Loikaw battles by "Sr. Irrawaddy correspondent"
https://burma.irrawaddy.com/article/2023/12/03/377088.html
If you can read Burmese, read it.
If not I am afraid you'll just have to look at pics.
I learn some terms--e.g.
Irra no longer says "tatmadaw" Royal Mother Army--but plain sit tatt (army)
also
nice Burmese renderigs--such as sit shaung--avoiding the war
not sit pyay--running away fr war=refugees
I notice even people in broadcast media--conceited--have bad Burmese
such as thwa=go or teeth for "start reading"
loo nar hnit thit koo=loo nar new year=sick patient new year--transliteration.
Becoming like my ecos. prof said--Horrible English and Horrible Burmese too.
Frogs in well be not proud.
KMKaung
12-3-2023
Teeny tiny frog--photo Kyi May Kaung
Saturday, December 02, 2023
I saw the Ishtar Gate in Berlin in 2005
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishtar_Gate
while at House of World Culture for SE Asian Writers who Dare to Confront.
kmk
12-2-2023
Friday, December 01, 2023
Thursday, November 30, 2023
Botticelli lost for 50 years found--
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/nov/29/madonna-and-child-painting-botticelli-recovered-50-years-naples-italy
also read--Young Man with Rondel.
11-30-2023
AFP--Irrawaddy--Ye Htut sentenced to 10 years--Kissinger etc
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/world/henry-kissinger-singular-us-diplomat-dead-at-100.html
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-ex-information-minister-ye-htut-jailed-for-incitement-sedition.html
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-ex-information-minister-ye-htut-jailed-for-incitement-sedition.html
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
11-29-2023--Resistance vs junta in Myanmar--backand forth--
https://www.irrawaddy.com/
Just read everything posted every day--
junta airstrikes.
11-29-2023--Burma--India-China--Northen Resistance--make sure you read this--
https://www.irrawaddy.com/specials/myanmar-china-watch/chinese-navy-ships-arrive-in-myanmar-for-joint-drills.html
In Mon State:
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-forces-flee-deadly-resistance-attack-in-mon-state.html
Impt--Guest col.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/guest-column/success-on-myanmar-india-border-a-turning-point-for-chin-resistance.html
The Rihkhawdar-Zokhawthar crossing is also one of the main overland routes from Myanmar to India.--(for both refugees and non-profit aid coming in).
At a time when even China is seen as tacitly approving Operation 1027, largely motivated by the proliferation of scam centers under junta allies, India’s Myanmar policy stands out as an anachronism. At least 75 junta soldiers fleeing to Mizoram have been flown to India’s Manipur State by helicopter and repatriated across the Moreh-Tamu crossing. According to local journalists, these orders came directly from New Delhi after a junta request via the Indian Embassy in Naypyitaw. The Indian government continues to invite junta officials to high-profile events, including junta Education Minister Nyunt Pe at the Global South Summit on Nov. 17.
Continued Indian support for the “mortally wounded” junta is a miscalculation: the military itself is primarily responsible for Myanmar’s chronic instability, dating back to the Ne Win dictatorship. This instability is what forces tens of thousands of Chin refugees into India and allows safe haven for insurgents fighting the Indian government, such as the Manipur People’s Liberation Army, which attacked Indian security forces as recently as Nov. 16. Most strikingly, as junta air strikes and artillery pounded the Chin resistance to prevent Rihkhawdar’s fall, a refugee on the Indian side of the border was killed by stray fire.
This instability also rules out any possibility that India will realize grand economic plans such as the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, which requires an overland link from India through Chin and Rakhine in the very sites of renewed fighting. Only federal democracy in Myanmar can deliver the border security and regional stability that India needs. Indeed, most of the 5,000 Chin refugees fleeing the junta early this month have already begun returning home through resistance-controlled Rihkhawdar. Engagement with resistance forces now would do a great deal to ensure friendly relations once the junta is defeated.
This instability also rules out any possibility that India will realize grand economic plans such as the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, which requires an overland link from India through Chin and Rakhine in the very sites of renewed fighting. Only federal democracy in Myanmar can deliver the border security and regional stability that India needs. Indeed, most of the 5,000 Chin refugees fleeing the junta early this month have already begun returning home through resistance-controlled Rihkhawdar. Engagement with resistance forces now would do a great deal to ensure friendly relations once the junta is defeated.
Recommendations for the US
For Washington too,
this transformative moment suggests a need for new policies. With the Indo-Myanmar border now accessible to the resistance, it is past time to bypass the junta and channel cross-border humanitarian aid directly to affected communities. The United States should begin working with India and the United Nations to build aid infrastructure for Myanmar’s northwest. This is also an opportunity to bolster the local administrative capacity of Myanmar’s civilian National Unity Government (NUG) and ethnic resistance organizations, providing a head start on the massive post-revolutionary task of building “federal democracy” from the ground up.
Doubts about resistance unity, which contributed to slow implementation of the BURMA Act, met with a resounding rebuke in Operation 1027. Nonlethal aid and technical assistance for the resistance should be provided without delay; in the past, the NUG has asked for early-warning systems to protect citizens from air strikes, communications equipment, and support for its network of in-country schools. With hundreds of junta soldiers surrendering or joining the resistance since October, the United States should provide funds to incentivize additional desertions. These measures will hasten the end of the war now that the balance has swung decisively against the junta.
Most importantly, Washington needs to come to an accommodation with Myanmar’s neighbors about the post-junta landscape. Despite not drastically changing the character of aid, the BURMA Act raised alarm bells in Beijing that pro-democracy forces might become US catspaws. India and Thailand have their own concerns about the unforeseen consequences of regime change next door. It is imperative for the United States to clearly outline its limited interests and goals in the country, and to work with Myanmar’s neighbors to realize priorities such as infrastructure links and border security. Myanmar cannot finally succeed in its revolution only to become yet another arena of “great-power competition.”
Since the Fiscal Year 2024 budget is held up by congressional dysfunction, new US appropriations for Myanmar will not be possible until early next year. As Congress reconciles the Senate and House versions of FY 2024 appropriations, it should adopt the Senate’s US$167-million Myanmar budget, which explicitly funds cross-border humanitarian assistance through India as well as support for deserters and nonlethal aid for the resistance. In the meantime, the United States should continue to marshal international pressure on the junta and target its finances, as with its sanctions on Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise.
Zo Tum Hmung and John Indergaard are the executive director and project and advocacy coordinator, respectively, of the Chin Association of Maryland.
Monday, November 27, 2023
Jin San Jiao--Burma-China Border--drone attack--Alliance has not claimed yet it did it--
https://www.irrawaddy.com/business/drone-attack-at-myanmar-china-border-gate-causes-over-14m-in-losses.html
Also known in Burmese as
Kyin San Kyawt
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-against-the-junta/myanmar-armed-group-seizes-china-myanmar-border-crossing.html
end
Saturday, November 25, 2023
Saturday --Irrawaddy wrap 11-25-2023--Chinese LiveFire drills on Burma border etc.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/ethnic-issues/myanmars-junta-and-its-military-face-annihilation-arakan-army-says.html
AA leader points out 1027 launched by Brotherhood Alliance of wh it is a member and now junta on defensive. https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/ethnic-issues/tnla-hails-seizure-of-major- myanmar-junta-base.html base retaken by junta, now retaken by TNLA https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/myanmars-crisis-the-world/escalating-fighting-in-northern-myanmar-triggers-live-fire-border-drills-in-china.html Part of annual live fire drills,China says. Kmk
Chauvin stabbed in Federal Prison--
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/24/us/derek-chauvin-prison-stabbing.html
Usually what happens to murderers and rapists in prison.
Chuvin put his foot on George Floyd's neck face down for 9 1/2minutes, killing him.
11-25-2023
Friday, November 24, 2023
Panic in Yagon--major cities--forced conscription--
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/reports-of-forced-conscription-by-myanmars-military-spark-panic-in-yangon.html
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/parents-pull-children-from-schools-in-yangon-as-myanmar-junta-troops-move-in.html
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-to-prosecute-satellite-internet-users.html
<
/a>The first thing Zelensky did before the Russian invasion was secure his Internet-- Hope NUG has done the same-- This conscription indicates junta is panicking too. Which means it has reason to panic. Burma city residents shld just focus on survival. It may be too late to get a passport to leave or even to walk out. I hate to say it over and over--but a junta does not change its stripes.
k11-24-2023
Thursday, November 23, 2023
The Dutch--glad I went to see the tulips and van Gogh and Rembrandt in 2019 before Covid.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/shock-europe-anti-islam-populist-geert-wilders-records-massive-win-dut-rcna126479
It's as I saw/predicted.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news Thanksgiving Day.
km
11-23-2023
Monday, November 20, 2023
Chemical weapon used in Burma--day before yesterday--why is this not in internationalnews--hidden within another headline on Irrawaddy??
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) accused the Myanmar junta of using chemical weapons on Saturday during its successful operation to retake the strategic base of Sakhan Thit Kone, which had been seized by TNLA troops the previous day in Namkham Township, northern Shan State.
After being bombed with the chemical weapons, the TNLA troops suffered from dizziness, breathlessness, nausea, extreme agitation, fatigue, and low blood oxygen despite suffering no external wounds.
The junta also used such chemical weapons in an attack on TNLA troops in Lashio Township, northern Shan State on Nov. 4.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-against-the-junta/myanmar-junta-loses-bases-scores-of-troops-in-four-days-of-resistance-attacks.html
11-20-2023
From Old Post Office DC wiki--excerpt--Google it yourself
After Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as President of the United States, the Trump International Hotel became the focus of legal controversy.[177] World leaders stated Trump was encouraging that visiting emissaries were encouraged to stay at Trump hotels.[178] Trump family members, such as Ivanka, profited from their stake in the hotel while Donald Trump was president.[179]
After he left office, the House Oversight Committee continued to investigate, publicly revealing in October 2021 that the Trump International Hotel had received about $3.7 million from foreign governments, potentially violating the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Additionally, according to the congressional committee, the hotel had a net loss of over $70 million during Trump's presidency. To address this loss, another of Trump's companies, DJT Holdings LLC, loaned over $27 million to the hotel, only a small portion of which the hotel repaid. Most of the loan was eventually converted to capital contributions.[180]
Emoluments Clause lawsuits
Friday, November 17, 2023
KDP direct--cover creator tutorial
https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201113520
Self publishing is good for things you want in a hurry--
e.g. reports. Activism related items.
Before--you had to use either their generic designs or a pre-formatted design.
I used generic sometimes, sometimes custom designs.
Now you can use their Cover Creator with images of your own, or free images from the Internet.
This is an advance.
That said, good writing and a nice cover will not on their own produce massive sales.
You still need An Agent, and active marketing and social media on your own.
Cheers
Kyi May
It's all a scam--it's all a farce--NGO talk in Chiangmai--
https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/guest-column/myanmar-civil-society-burmanization-and-the-bars-and-coffee-shops-of-thailand.html
People are dying--200,000 are displaced. All-out civil war is raging.
Will you pl shut up.
It's very dangerous when"both sides" start to believe their own propaganda.
"I want arms, not a ride"
Zelensky.
Burmese saying--"You'll feel the pain when it hits your flesh."
kmk
11-18-2023
Monday, November 13, 2023
KNDF says shot down junta jet--AFP and Myanmar Now
https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/myanmar-military-jet-shot-down-by-karenni-resistance-group-says/
"Black Walnut ZMT" said:
Junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun told state news MRTV that the jet was on a training flight and came down due to engine failure.
He said both pilots were in contact with the military.
k
11-12-2023
Sunday, November 12, 2023
China signs 3 solar projects in Magwe and Mandalay.
3 solar projects in Resistance Strongholds of Mandalay and Magwe plus some in Arakan
https://www.irrawaddy.com/specials/myanmar-china-watch/china-signs-solar-power-deal-with-myanmar-junta.html
I really think this time
China is carefully laying the groundwork for a full scale invasion.
It can always say it is invading to "Protect Chinese investments and lives"
and to "control the chaotic situation."
After that they may or may not keep m a h.
Most of his ppl he will have purged already.
How neat.
Remember how they set the Panchen Lama against the Dalai Lama and took Tibet--wh now has a Chinese name. Panchen Lama died in prison long ago after going deaf in one ear from always having to lie in bed so his face faced the peep-hole. His Holiness is still alive in Dharamsala, India. Turned over Exile Gov to lay management. He came to RFA once. I don't know where my photo of us taken with him is. Will write about it sometime. km 11-12-2023
Sunday, November 05, 2023
Book recommendation--The Costliest Pearl--China's Struggle for India's Ocean
https://www.amazon.com/Costliest-Pearl-Chinas-Struggle-Indias/dp/1849049963
by Bertil Lintner--recommended by Maldives' journalist Daniel Bosley in Himal latest news wrap.
Here's the pdf of a book review-
https://www.idsa.in/system/files/jds/jds-14-4-2020-the-costliest-pearl-br.pdf
11-5-2023
Wednesday, November 01, 2023
More--Isreal-Hamas War
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-says-israels-strikes-refugee-camp-kill-more-than-195-people-2023-11-02/
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/01/biden-administration-thinks-netanyahu-may-not-last-politically-00124849
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-11-01/israel-gaza-war-palestinians-refugees
Monday, October 30, 2023
Warning graphic--Burma--State of Terror--AlJazeera Myanmar--
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023i/10/27/ethnic-rebel-alliance-attacks-military-positions-across-northern-myanmar
It's all really happening and has happened-- whether you want to believe it or not. Also 2nd day of ethnic alliance offensive--Shan State. km 10-310-2023 I'm so annoyed at Miss Stupid Burmese Woman who said--"Aunty, your books are full of dead people." FYI--Burmese women young--in DC area too busy marrying or dating white men. As we say--The last chapter is not yet written.
Thursday, October 26, 2023
Monday, October 23, 2023
Jeeze--stolen dinosaur bones-crushed and used for Chinese "medicine"
https://www.aol.com/more-1-million-stolen-dinosaur-015419932.html
When the market model combined with ignorance fails.
trump is another e.g.
kmk
10-23-2023
Ukraine's first use of US-made M39 missile probably took out 21 Russian helicopters--
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2023/10/22/ukraines-american-made-m39-missiles-may-have-wrecked-21-russian-helicopters-in-a-single-operation/
An M39 usually should strike within 50 yards or so of its aim-point. This isn’t super-accurate by modern standards, but it’s accurate enough considering that the M39 is an area weapon.
As the missile plummets toward its target, it spins and pops open, scattering 950 steel-and-tungsten bomblets across an area of potentially tens of thousands of square feet. Each M74 submunition has the explosive power of a hand grenade.
10-23-2023
Wednesday, October 18, 2023
News wrap fr Irrawaddy Magazine--
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/junta-crony/myanmtar-junta-reportedly-set-to-prosecute-high-profile-businessmen-for-corruption.html
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-against-the-junta/myanmar-junta-seizes-sagaing-resistance-camp.html
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-prison-chief-and-4-staff-fired-over-hunger-strike-by-political-detainees.html
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
Monday, October 16, 2023
All the bad news from Burma+ I told you so.
Burma--more bad news all the time--+hmm--I told you so--
Mon, Oct 16 at 7:26 PM
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/ethnic-issues/myanmar-junta-intensifies-bombing-in-two-kachin-state-townships.html
rel="nofollow">https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/devastating-floods-hit-war-torn-kayah-state-displacing-thousands.html
this below can be considered good news--
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-against-the-junta/myanmar-regime-loses-16-soldiers-in-kokang-ambush-mndaa.html
I don't think both sides are locked in a deadly stalemate--I think at last in Burmese recent history the good guys will win
I think the time for talk is long over--
China surveying to build Ann (in Arakan) to Kunming Railway--exactly along the Shwe Pipeline--Kudos to Rohingya activist Dr Nora Rowley who told me this--why China/Myanjunt wants Arakan--in 2012--at Columbia U confce.
Nora is a medical doctor who actually worked in Arakan/Rakhine--with Medicins Sans Frontieres--and then "could not be just a doctor anymore" and became an activist. I know at least 2 women like that--the other was a journalist for whom Bill Moyers created a special job--
https://www.irrawaddy.com/specials/myanmar-china-watch/china-begins-surveys-for-railway-on-myanmars-indian-ocean.html
Saturday, October 14, 2023
Friday, October 13, 2023
No--it's not Valentine's day--which I never celebrate--it's closer to Halloween--All Souls Day--Ezio Pinza--Some enchanted evening--
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktvnNt abouthwBaeY
But I get tired of reading and writing about war.
Then I switch to my novel in progress.
He's a famous singer-she's a writer who designs and makes opera costumes.
That's all I can say now.
Kyi May Kaung
News wrap from Irrawaddy and AFP--
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/china-issues-arrest-warrants-for-two-officials-in-myanmars-wa-region.html
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/arakan-army-vows-justice-for-victims-of-myanmar-junta-massacre-in-kachin.html
Arakan Army in solidarity with Kachin after massacre
Around 30,000 Thais work in Israel, mostly in the agriculture sector, according to Bangkok’s Labor Ministry.
Two returning workers were in wheelchairs, their faces tired after the long journey home
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/asia/tears-and-trauma-as-thai-evacuees-return-from-israel.html
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/myanmars-crisis-the-world/myanmar-and-russia-sign-nuclear-power-plant-deal.html
end
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/world/middleeast/us-qatar-iran-prisoner-deal.html
Scalise drops out of Republican clown car--
Isreal orders 1.1 m out of Gaza--
+ sign I saw on car.
Wednesday, October 11, 2023
Isreal vs Hamas war--3rd day dead and wounded stats.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/11/middleeast/gaza-power-plant-shuts-down-intl/index.html
This is like Burmese junta's long time 4 cuts policy--
Why couldn't Isreal have had a live and let live policy?
Beyond belief.
km
10-11-2023
40 year age gap--celebrity romance--
https://people.com/music/cher-spotted-holding-hands-with-amber-roses-ex-alexander-ae-edwards-in-los-angeles/
I've never heard any of Cher's songs--butshe's a very smart woman who says very intelligent things
and why not?
She's a millionaire and at the top of her game--why shouldn't she have love with someone equally talented. Why do we poke our noses in other's business.
They look happy together--that's all that counts. 10-11-2023
Tuesday, October 10, 2023
US Central Command--USS Gerald R Ford carrier strike group arrives in En Mediterranean sea-
https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/PRESS-RELEASES/Press-Release-View/Article/3552801/uss-gerald-r-ford-carrier-strike-group-arrives-in-the-eastern-mediterranean-sea/
god help us.
Sunday, October 08, 2023
Netanyahu says "at war"--air land and sea strikes--Al Jazeera video--warning graphic
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/10/8/israel-palestine-escalation-live-israeli-forces-bombard-gaza
Note--Burmese junta has had close relations with Isreali--Mossad (Intel) since Ne Win and 1960s.
This time both US intel and Mossad missed surprise Hamas attack.
All Resistance should be very careful of cell phone and drone security.
Before Russian attack--Zelensky's Ukraine first secured its Internet.
take note,
10-7-2023
emergencies--hiking camping travel etc--water purification tabs--used by US army--
https://www.luminultra.com/blog/going-hiking-effective-water-purification-tablets/
Good idea to send to refugees Burma and elsewhere.
also kettles for boiling water--pot for food.
Backpacks--other emergency supplies.
Tents--sleeping bags--
UN is ineffective--work through other channels.
Friday, October 06, 2023
All India Radio still going strong--Modi--etc
https://www.himalmag.com/radio-ceylon-hindi-urdu-broadcasting-history-subhas-chandra-bose-ameen-sayani/
Our Burmese connection is our lovely Daw Than E Fend--popular singer frompre-World War II--Aung San Suu Kyi's "volunteer aunt--who worked at AIR during the war.
Also Nehru gave refuge to U Nu and family.
Aung San Suu Kyi's mother was ambassador in New Dehli.
all the bad news from Burma--shootings in Hpakant, jet bombs another village--refugees/workers stuck at China Border
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-jet-bombs-another-camp-for-internally-displaced-people.html
please scroll down.
As expected, a "Burma problem" is fast becoming a regional problem, as ASEAN bows to junta.
Pl scroll down--Myanmar Now pay wall is coming up soon.
kmk
10-6-2023
Thursday, October 05, 2023
Long term treasury bond collapse largest in history--
Since March 2020, Treasury bonds with maturities of 10 years or more have plummeted 46%, Bloomberg says. That's just under losses seen in the stock market when the dot-com bubble burst.13 hours ago
The collapse in Treasury bonds now ranks among the worst market crashes in history
businessinsider.in
https://www.busines
Monday, October 02, 2023
Google--Victor Hugo--Les Miserables on your own--read English translation on Gutenberg Project.
If you have never readHugo--you don't know what literature is.
Latest Chinese block-buster "tarnishes" its reputation--says M .junta.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-says-chinese-crime-blockbuster-tarnishes-reputation.html
I also saw "Country M" in South Wind Knows--
as source of an immune disease among an unnamed ethnic group.
Maybe long love affair bet Burma and China starting to fray.
10-2-2023
AP--Ukraine building advanced army of drones
https://apnews.com/article/drones-ukraine-war-russia-innovation-technology-589f1fc0e0db007ea6d344b1972072
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhUyK8oYZK8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrJcAOa4pes cardboard drones thattook out fighter jets on ground. Australian anti (Russian) drone killer Slinger USD 1 m each. If you are Australia-based--check out advocating for Australian help for Burmese Resistance. I don't know if Slinger works against jet planes--I would think not.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mpsDSlDdKA But Burmese Resistance are fast learners and they could ask for tech advice. Note--China is leading manufacturer of drone parts. I believe Taiwan is the leading manufacturer of SIM cards. Australian experts are named in the video--look for them. -- 10-2-2023 10-2-2023 Ukraine is building an advanced army of drones. For now, pilots improvise with duct tape and bombs By SAMYA KULLAB Updated 6:51 AM EDT, September 26, 2023 LUHANSK REGION, Ukraine (AP) — Flying above enemy lines, a Ukrainian reconnaissance drone sends a clear image back to soldiers hiding in a basement a few kilometers away: A Russian armored vehicle is idling along a key logistics route, looking like easy prey in the artillery-scarred green landscape. --
Nobel Prize goes to 2 scientists, Univ of Pennsylvania graduates, who developed Covid vaccine + how it works--
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-66983060
This is Ivy League Univ from whch I got my Ph.D. in PoliticalEconomy.
Sunday, October 01, 2023
From Book Riot--long list of literary novels about older women--diverse too--
https://bookriot.com/novels-about-older-women/
from vampires to A-list women from many countries--and a "last colony."
Alzhs., widowers, troubled teens.
There's more here than anyone can read--I hope you find one that suits your taste.
Obviously, boomers read and the book market is still good.
That's good for me as a writer and a reader to know.
I have always benefited, e.g. medically from being part of this large population cohort--
I've always been able to find out what I need to know or think through by reading and writing.
I think that's great.
Kyi May Kaung
Dream of Old Age--copyright Kyi May Kaung
Below--Old woman in Bali--copyright Kyi May Kaung
10-1-2023
Saturday, September 30, 2023
TED talk in Burmese--Burma or Myanmar
https://sanooaung.wordpress.com/2020/05/23/myanmar-or-burma-dr-khin-aye-tedxum1yangon/
They're the same--so much here we go round the mulberry bush.
9-30-2023
War novels/memoirs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Things_They_Carried
Tim O'Brien--
I have Box me up and ship me home--bought in Gottenberg,Sweden
and Yellow Birds--very sad.
https://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Birds-Novel-Kevin-Powers/dp/0316219347/ref=asc_df_0316219347/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312114918153&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3266454121145365358&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007768&hvtargid=pla-487330906022&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=58874700661&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312114918153&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3266454121145365358&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007768&hvtargid=pla-487330906022
also Audie Murphy's book.
Tim O'Brien has a special list of the things they carried. Kevin Powers has a story of a soldier "Murph" who went awol unforgettable scenes--
Also look at --Mark Bowden--Black Hawk Down. It was the delay in the satellite GPS which was their doom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_Down_(book) kaung 9-30-2023
From La Boheme--Muzetta's Waltz--Quando m'en vo
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=quandomen+vo+youtube#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:765662ef,vid:kCralQMcehc,st:0
Magbificent Muzetta--but insipid Marcello
oh well--
can't have it all.
kmk
9-30-2023
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The maker of this replica seems to have assumed, anomalously, that the corner towers were in the Banteay Srei style -- visually, as you can ... -
https://asianchildrensmission.org/causes/orphan-care/