Very painful to watch--new documentary--inside the myanmar military dictatorship--

Ian Buruma called it "A Fascist Disneyland"in c 1994 --

civilian clothing change--is not "men in white"--it's taikpon aingyi--Chinese inspired top jacket of 19th century--note the gold salwe--diagonal decoration-

used during monarchic times.

They want to be kings in NayPyiTaw "Kings' Royal City."

Front part is all junta b-s.

3-1-2024

Inside Myanmar Military Dictatorship | How Hope was Shattered | ENDEVR Documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y8IiSSEbbY

See Irrawaddy--David Scott Matthieson review of Scot Marciel's Imperfect Partners

I can empathize with Marciel and his colleagues. Based in Yangon during this time, I witnessed a never-ending stream of imperious visitors who had all the answers in just three short days in-country, with the obligatory one-hour atrocity tourism drive through an IDP camp outside of Sittwe, fueled by the latest overblown New York Times column by Nicholas Kristoff, and already prepping their ‘report from the field’ to impress colleagues in DC. There was little acknowledgment that all of this restless energy from the infuriated Western conscience made no difference to the Rohingya, or anyone else in Myanmar for that matter. https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/guest-column/american-sideshow-in-southeast-asia.html

Irrawaddy: Arakan Army says junta detainees admit to war crimes on video--

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-captives-confess-to-rakhine-executions.html

including execution of 4, including ajournalist and a rapper.

2-29-2024

Eminem on Palestine +

Israel & USA Sugar Daddy - parody with Eminem song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bBgKdQXgGk

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Litt%3Be+palestinainboy+rapperyoutube#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:f79ee30b,vid:GVAl_BWa2kU,st:0

I'm sick of "covering Burma" and sick myself too--

But check the news obsessively due to long-standing ties of blood

and roses

cabbage roses.

Today I will post

someone else's poem on another genocide--

Netanyahu's

Kaung

2-28-2024 https://thegalwayreview.com/2024/02/27/margaret-kiernan-three-poems/

om Kali--from Internet--wiki.

From Irrawaddy--KIA attacking Hpakant etc--AA Minbya--

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/kachin-independence-army-attacks-myanmar-junta-strongholds-in-jade-hub.html

My archive at IISH, Amsterdam--

https://researchworks.oclc.org/archivegrid/collection/data/1004228429

Lyndon Johnson swearing in, Kennedys in Dallas moments before the assassination

Book cover

Aretha Franklin singing at Obama's first Inauguration--

Former First Lady Michelle Obama in WH kitchen with WH chef--

Aleksei Navalny--

Some names you can and should research yourself--Marx,Hegel, Lenin,Stalin, Trotsky--George Orwell's Animal Farm--

I'm begining a series of Russia posts--#1-who was Aleksei Navalny?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Navalny

I'll go a few every day--beginning today, in no particular order.

Believe you me--Russia and China were also 2 of my Ph Dsubjects

Not just Burma--

"No No No No," in Hindi as the evil king Dananand said. k 2-27-2024

Special--From Foreign Policy in Focus--Navalny's death--what does it mean?

He should never have gone back to Russia.

https://fpif.org/navalnys-death-what-does-it-mean/

My 2010 review of Win Tin's What's That? A Human Hell. Originally in Foreign Policy in Focus--

https://sanooaung.wordpress.com/2010/05/19/book-review-by-kyi-may-kaung-whats-that-a-human-hell/

Warning graphic account --USA--police release video of mass shooting at Joel Osteen--mega-church.

https://www.aol.com/news/barrage-gunfire-officers-confront-houston-224114364.html

hmm--it's the Western publications like New York Times wh don't want to share.

Last try--37 tortured and "disppeared" from Daik Oo prison--Irrawaddy special investigation.

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/investigation/vanished-what-happened-to-37-prisoners-taken-from-myanmars-daik-u-prison.html

I am unable to post the links--Google it yourself.

An active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force who set himself ablaze Sunday outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., while shouting “free Palestine,” has died, a U.S. official confirmed to NBC News. The airman was identified as Aaron Bushnell, 25, of San Antonio, Texas, D.C. police said.3 hours ago

Air Force member dies after self-immolating outside Israeli ...

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/25/world/middleeast/israel-embassy-man-on-fire.html

https://www.aol.com/us-reiterates-support-haiti-deployment-192805355.html

Chelsea Manning--wikileaks--transitioning to a female identity in prison--

https://www.npr.org/2023/04/09/1135270366/chelsea-manning-transgender-prisoners

From Myanmar Now--

Echoes of ABSDF Pajau murders. \

Dawei-based resistance force admits to killing 16 civilians accused of being military informants https://myanmar-now.org/en/news/dawei-based-resistance-force-admits-to-killing-16-civilians-accused-of-being-military-informants/

Amy Schumer shares her medical problems--remember--you are not some stranger man or woman's eye candy--you are yourself--and you are struggling, everyone is.

https://www.aol.com/news/amy-schumer-diagnosed-cushing-syndrome-163749233.html

AP--myanmar--forced conscription and migration--

https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-flee-conscription-law-army-thailand-cbf9fa999b8ac828ea3710ac58b2c157

"IDP camps" is a mis-nomer--it's the junta which took their land and displaced them.

Rohingya men being forcibly recruited from IDP camps inside Myanmar--International schools forced to--etc

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/rohingya-men-in-myanmar-are-being-forcibly-recruited-by-the-juntas-military.html

Mr. Chen Hai's official c.v.

http://mm.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/sgjj/dslj/201107/t20110719_1771305.htm

Special post--Chinese ambassador to Myanmar H.E. Mr.Chen Hai's Statement--dated 1-11-2024

From Chinese Ministry of Foriegn Affairs. https://www.mfa.gov.cn/eng/wjb_663304/zwjg_665342/zwbd_665378/202401/t20240115_11223691.html

Mr Chen Hai looks to be the generation educated overseas after Deng's Reforms.

It's doubtful how much English the junta knows, --

and as for "diplomacy"--

My elder cousin in 1960s described taking a trip with a general who cld not fill in an arrival slip on a plane.

God help us.

Mark my words, China will win.

It's an economic and military power wh only needs to flip its little finger.

Take bets on the situation in Jan 2025.

kmk

2-23-2024

Irrawaddy--"Lies,damn lies"--mah seriously woos China--Chinese ambassador towers over him--

https://www.irrawaddy.com/specials/junta-watch/junta-watch-covering-up-death-of-india-transport-project-boosting-militias-as-myanmar-army-shrinks-and-more.html

Potent mix--from AFP--US charges yakuza leader with trying to see nuclear material from Myanmar--

"the great Burman culture" https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/world/us-charges-yakuza-leader-over-conspiring-to-sell-nuclear-material-from-myanmar.html

Kronstadt--it would be a lovely place without puffy face--

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kronstadt

Mongol warrior

Burmese-1950s? 1930s photo

Analysis--forced conscription--See Irrawaddy site--copied and pasted.--2-22-2023

On the flip side, the weakened value of the kyat compared to that of the overvalued official rate pegged prior to the policy changes could also lead to higher domestic prices for traded goods, making it more expensive for the ordinary Myanmar person to purchase products. Lurking in the background is also the low productivity rate of the private sector, rising consumer price inflation, and border trade losses due to armed conflict. The World Bank’s Myanmar Economic Monitor reported in December 2023 that the annual inflation rate in Myanmar is now at 29 percent as the kyat has depreciated by 18 percent against the US dollar; and that firms were reportedly operating at just 56 percent of their capacity in September 2023. Similarly, the Ministry of Commerce of the State Administration Council (SAC, the junta’s official name) recorded a 40-percent border trade decline, in the areas adjacent to both Thailand and China, since the beginning of Operation 1027, a major anti-regime military offensive launched in northern Shan State in October by an alliance of ethnic armed organizations (EAOs). Overall, the combination of instability from both the security and economic perspectives could potentially render Myanmar unliveable for its people.

Myanmar --Arakan on fire, Sittwe preps for street fighting, junta steps up production of uniforms for conscrption--

Pa-o help junta.

Check on Irrawaddy, Myanmar Now and AlJazeera sites.

c f n

kmk

Horse--from internet

Puffy face apparently struck again.

Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine shot dead in Alicante parking lot.

https://www.aol.com/news/russian-pilot-defected-ukraine-dead-220337033.html

I'll tell you for sure--no effing image of any effing Burmese monster will ever be on this blog.

Heros--Dr. Mie Mie Wyn Byrd--Burmese-born--Former Lt.Col. USArmy--image from Irrawaddy.

Warning graphic--Magwe recent deaths and destruction--wrought by the junta--images Irrawaddy. Sending Metta.

No one--repeat no one--can fill the space left by a loved one--

Kyi MayKaung

2-20-2021

So sad--Condolences.-Godfrey Gao's father died in 2023

Roses by LT

https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/godfrey-gao-s-father-dies-four-years-after-taiwanese-canadian-actor-s-passing

How reporter colleagues helped police uncover the murder of famous Las Vegas investigative reporter Jeff German--

https://www.aol.com/slain-las-vegas-journalist-may-042100838.html

I even made a mostly black and white drawing of Jeff Berman.

Rest in Truth--brave man.

Dr.Kaung's Best of C-drama list--Sword and Brocade--textile industry, love story, mystery--in ancient China.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Sword+and+Brocade+ep+1#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:f2171ea6,vid:aKZqzqBQgr8,st:0

C-drama binge--Romance of Tiger and Rose--time travel--just lovely.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Tiger+and+Rose+ep+1#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:21f2650d,vid:98dhe4Tx-KY,st:0

Kept men and older women--from the West--documentary--Egypt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liVockTGe8M

It's sad.

Like a Tennessee Williams short story--in which one woman got roughed up in South America.

Bali and China are other places.

Godfrey Gao 1984-2019--RIP

I can't get over it and have written a novel in his memory--still looking for an agent. If you come across anyone--send me a message.

My novel has nothing much to do with either Gao or Lichuan.

Just someone with cancer --and multicultural characters. American and opera settings--

Kaung

More Lichuan--I wish Xuan Yin had written a sequel--

https://bookbychapters.com/intro-li-chuans-past-%E6%B2%A5%E5%B7%9D%E5%BE%80%E4%BA%8B-xuan-yin-%E7%8E%84%E9%9A%90-summary/

Special post--English translation of famous Chinese Internet novel--Lichuan's Past

https://binnovel.com/novel-book/li-chuans-past/chapter-28

One of the best novels I have ever read--the characters stay with you forever.

In this chap/episode, Lichuan jumps into a dumpster on a dare by his estranged girl friend Xie Xiao Qui as she does not wish to give up smoking.

Made into C-drama Remembering Lichuan.

Lichuan has never told her he has cancer--

So the poor girl imagines all sorts of things when he completely disappears for 6 years.

I watched the happy parts of the series 3 times and the read the Internet novel which has a happy ending once already.

Just checking again how the TV series differs from the book version.

Truly a great writer and great actors too.

Can't get over the death of the handsome actor Godfrey Gao.

This is a continuation of Valentine's Day post--also close to death anniversary of my father.

Kyi May Kaung

2-20-2024

This "shot while trying to escape" is an old story--while even in so-called transition period, c. 2011- 2021 Feb. Ko Par Gyi was found in his underwear with part of his head missing.

Imprisonment Fails to Dim Love

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/two-myanmar-political-prisoners-killed-in-bago.html

https://www.irrawaddy.com/from-the-archive/imprisonment-fails-to-dim-love.html

Wow--the downfall of a corrupt former US Presdt--trump

https://www.aol.com/news/judge-fines-donald-trump-more-200519786.html

and he still thinks of running forpresdt again?

the weather vane will be when Melania leaves for her Tiffany's security guard lover. Yet he still appeals to the hate faction. 2-17-2024

Cassandra wiki--go from there--

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra

You will rule the grave yards.--Anonymous

Casssandra said: 3rd stanza--

NO NO NO No /my name is also NOE (Burmese--Awake) /Apollo took away his gift /spat in my mouth /and cursed me.

You shall foresee the future

but no one will believe you.

Red-haired women.

I curse you back as I saw before

Cassandra--contd--who will ? 2nd stanza

OK,OK/ /I know your answer /you only want /to save your own skin

Hey--I'm Greek/

I saw the Trojan War's ending--

I was a Troy/Trojan Princess--

Apollo wanted to kiss me--

near Athena's altar When I said NO

Cassandra asks dimwits--"Who will plant the rice, who will drive the buses and planes and boats--

who will teach

who will marry and have bebies

and bring them up?

who will go to market

who willbe doctors

mechanics

food vendors

builders

is everyone conscrupted

by junta?

Arakan Army says--+ scroll down--000 line up for Thai visas--+ Wolfgang Trost died--

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-against-the-junta/two-senior-myanmar-junta-officers-captured-others-missing-in-battle-aa.html

Magwe destruction wrought by junta. From Irrawaddy. 2-17-2024

Eulama Literary Agency non-fiction catalog--special post

https://www.eulama.com/_files/ugd/d3fdb7_f8bc3940425c4df281002e1c0beb2589.pdf

Mafia states, homophobia, Why Men?, male aggression, picky eaters and isolation, towards responsible fashion and more--

much food for thought here.

Without thinking your mind shrinks and your life and world shrinks.

Read.

Kaung

T Rex Sue at Chicago Field Museum 2-16-2024

1988 veteran Ko Mya Aye's view--wider, deeper and more nuanced, and more long-term than most but

still an idealist, as we all are--

https://www.irrawaddy.com/in-person/interview/the-outlook-for-myanmar-is-deeply-troubling.html

Belated Valentine's Day post--Remembering Li Chuan--beautiful actor Godfrey Gao died in 2019 of workplace abuse while filming in Ningpo China--

https://www.google.com/search?q=Remebering+Licuan+ep+7+eng+sub&client=firefox-b-1-d&sca_esv=1b487df0b959fb49&sxsrf=ACQVn0_LHQpTfNrAentpFsy2ygP05XGcVQ%3A1708026703742&ei=T2vOZa_nLJ6j5NoPqLWayAU&ved=0ahUKEwjvysWnj66EAxWeEVkFHaiaBlkQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=Remebering+Licuan+ep+7+eng+sub&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiHlJlbWViZXJpbmcgTGljdWFuIGVwIDcgZW5nIHN1YjIHEAAYgAQYDUjSLFCUCli1InABeACQAQCYAYEBoAHKA6oBAzEuM7gBA8gBAPgBAcICChAjGLACGLADGCfCAgcQIxiwAhgnwgIKECEYChigARjDBOIDBBgBIEGIBgGQBgE&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:0d9c6246,vid:OCRxe65pTak,st:0

Standing Buddha Gandhara--from wikipedia S

Mario Lanza--I touch your hand and--

https://www.google.com/search?q=Younger+than+spirngtime+youtube++I+touch+your+hands&client=firefox-b-1-d&sca_esv=d16ee049f4f490b7&sxsrf=ACQVn0_JcmP_XZiqwYQS4H4sRF_8i1GEpQ%3A1708025919547&ei=P2jOZbL4IKah5NoP5fW-wAs&ved=0ahUKEwjyk86xjK6EAxWmEFkFHeW6D7gQ4dUDCBA&oq=Younger+than+spirngtime+youtube++I+touch+your+hands&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiM1lvdW5nZXIgdGhhbiBzcGlybmd0aW1lIHlvdXR1YmUgIEkgdG91Y2ggeW91ciBoYW5kczIJECEYChigARgKSOVEUIsHWKI6cAF4AZABAJgB4gKgAeQTqgEIMy4xNi4wLjG4AQzIAQD4AQHCAgoQABhHGNYEGLADwgIGEAAYFhgewgILEAAYgAQYigUYhgPiAwQYACBBiAYBkAYI&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:836ba841,vid:y-B_oyqqzVc,st:0

Cassandra says--not only will there be a stampede for the borders, but there also will be bloodbaths there-

Feb 15, 2024

Junta troops returned by Bangladesh despite Geneva Conventions--

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-regime-evacuates-defeated-troops-from-bangladesh.html

"I'll bleed you dry and you help us kill, rape, burn and bomb."

Overseas Employment Suspended as Myanmar Junta Activates Military Conscription https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/overseas-employment-suspended-as-myanmar-junta-activates-military-conscription.html

I won Honorable Mention for my poem--I come from--(dried chillies and dust)

Poem was written originally for Dance Studio--Still Crossing project.

It will appear in journal founded by Walt Whitman--Poet Lore--oldest in USA. Awards ceremony in March.

Awards ceremony in March.

Painting--soap bubbles wikipedia

Myanmar--Forced conscription causing widespread panic--

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/military-conscription-sparks-furious-backlash-in-myanmar.html

Those who jumped the fence and took money, bribes, land, car import licenses from junta are very quiet now

Graphic content--warning--beheaded Resistance Fighter most images from Irra. Thibaw and Supaya Lat being taken away. ">

VOA--US aid package--95 b Israel,Taiwan,Ukraine--we taxpayers paying

https://www.voanews.com/a/us-senate-set-for-final-foreign-aid-bill-vote/7485440.html

junta stirring ethnic hatred

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-stirring-ethnic-hatred-in-cities-after-rakhine-defeats-analyst-residents.html

Ashley South calls for direct military aid for Resistance Burma--

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-scholar-calls-for-military-aid-to-anti-junta-forces.html

The U.S. Senate approved a $95 billion aid package to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan early Tuesday. But as VOA's Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, the bill faces a tough path to passage in the Republican-majority U.S. House of Representatives.9 hours ago US Senate Passes $95B Foreign Aid Package for Ukraine ... Voice of America

Hart to Hart reunion--

https://www.aol.com/lifestyle/robert-wagner-stefanie-powers-hart-103522881.html

Irrawaddy--"Digging their own graves" Kawthaung casino boss' brother etc--scroll down on Irra site

https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/editorial/with-conscription-law-myanmars-generals-are-digging-their-own-graves.html

People who took money, bribes, posts, car import licenses from junta are awefully quiet now--see if you can identify these.

People should write more about her.

A Letter from Prison-Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to her son--Kim Aris

https://www.voanews.com/a/in-letter-from-prison-former-myanmar-leader-writes-of-suffering/7482036.html

Reuters--Myanmar junta enforces mandatory militray service for young people

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/myanmar-junta-enforces-mandatory-military-service-young-people-2024-02-11/

Juan Diego Florez--Nessun Dorma--None shall sleep--

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&sca_esv=03d9f2c5e1553dbc&tbm=vid&q=juan+diego+florez&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwje1buyjqKEAxVaMlkFHehWAnEQ8ccDegUIgQEQAw&biw=640&bih=324&dpr=3#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:a8607dc7,vid:J57iQ_gPly0,st:0

2 excellent interviews of Sean Turnell--An Unlikely Prisoner.

DVB https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEmtRZ5R2YE&t=18s

AFP

Sean Turnell says he 'could never hate Myanmar' despite spending 650 days in prison there | 7.30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTJhoF9m16s

2-10-2024

Footprints of Chandragupta Maurya on mountaintop where he commited ritual suicide by starving himself to death.

Chandragupta Maurya Empire--300 BC

Oil and gas pipeline Myanmar--from US Institute of Peace via Irrawaddy Magazine--

I am dealing with some health related issues that require more attention--

as a result I won't be blogging much.

Check the usual links such as Al Jazeera English (Myanmar)

Irrawaddy

and Myanmar Now

and AFP for Burma news.

make it your daily routine.

Easiest cable crochet pattern--

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQDxsQo-NV0

My short story Beast --in Himal Southasia

https://www.himalmag.com/culture/fiction-fest-beast

Retellings of the Mahabharata--

The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. ...

Arjuna: Saga of A Pandava Warrior-Prince By Anuja Chandramouli. ...

Godsong by Amit Majmudar. ...

Karna's Wife: The Outcast's Queen by Kavita Kané

Jun 29, 2022

Kirkus Review of my novel Wolf

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/km-kaung/wolf-a-novel-of-love-and-betrayal/

AFP--India says it is suspending (former limited) free movement across border--

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/myanmars-crisis-the-world/india-says-it-will-end-free-movement-across-myanmar-border.html

Refugees are going to be trapped inside Burma as junta bombs them.

Time for India to intervene militarily.

Don't think because you are Burman you fell from the sky--

fully formed

A lot of our art, words, concepts

Buddhism

came from India. Kyi May Kaung 2-7-2024

Ravanna--British Museum + Rashasa-(Bilu)--Indian Art

Resistance fighters who have lost limbs and suffered serious injuries--

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-against-the-junta/just-keep-fighting-myanmars-disabled-resistance-heroes-share-their-stories.html

Do what you can to help.

So young--

India tells Myan--"Fly your own troops back,"

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/myanmars-crisis-the-world/bangladesh-tells-myanmar-junta-to-fly-troops-home.html

Mahabharata--English subtitles--these are very rare--don't treat them lightly--

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnXkv_ozPQw&list=PLa6CHPhFNfadNcnVZRXa6csHL5sFdkwmV&index=2

From Irrawaddy Feb 7, 2024--junta forming new militias--etc--China

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-against-the-junta/myanmars-military-driven-out-of-township-in-northern-rakhine-reports-say.html

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-forms-militias-to-bolster-depleted-forces.html

https://www.irrawaddy.com/specials/myanmar-china-watch/chinese-economic-attache-lobbies-junta-on-investment-projects.html

Brutal and Medieval--warning graphic

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/burning-alive-in-myanmar-two-resistance-fighters-executed-in-public.html

Neil Diamond website

https://www.neildiamond.com/a-beautiful-noise-the-neil-diamond-musical-original-broadway-cast-recording-to-be-released-on-ume/#/

Judy Collins--Send in the Clowns

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Bring+in+theclowns+youtube#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:02ba8866,vid:8L6KGuTr9TI,st:0

Neil Diamond--Linda Press--You don't bring me flowers anymore.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=neil+diamond+youdon%27tbringmeflowersyoutube#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:62080f1c,vid:sHLkPVFsTRg,st:0

1986

https://vimeo.com/420159064

Leonard Cohen--Hallelujah--

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrLk4vdY28Q

Un-Valentine Day's special--the genius of Mozart--un aura amorosa--

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7gubGyPJIE

Seleucus--one of successors (Diodachi) of Alexander the Great.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seleucus_I_Nicator

Pataliputra (Patna)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pataliputra

America, New York City--squeezed by rising retail rents--

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/business/retail-entrepreneurship-new-york.html

Burmese woman 18th century

Burma economic decline since m a h 2021 coup--

https://www.irrawaddy.com/business/economy/myanmars-post-coup-economic-crisis-in-numbers.html

By any indicator--Burma worst regime in world + journalists, publisher, medics, people who posted on Facebook arrested

https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/analysis/by-almost-every-measure-myanmar-junta-ranks-among-worlds-worst-regimes.html

People shld just stay off FB.

Htin Aung-History of Burma 1967--pdf

https://ia803106.us.archive.org/22/items/AHistoryOfBurmaMaungHtinAung/A%20History%20of%20Burma%20-%20Maung%20Htin%20Aung.pdf

Odd "history" with no footnotes or end notes--

recognizable sentences lifted from British historians--

as if he did all the research and translations himself.

Maybe this is the book that got Dr Htin Aung back in NW's good books, allowing him to return to Burma.

Disappointing, trivial and superficial.

More like an oral history slammed together fast.

Very disappointing.

These 2 Burmese men, Dr Htin Aung and Dr HlaPe (linguist) (married to my aunt, my mother the super matchmaker) said the silliest things

which even I, then age 10 or 11--thought horrible

such as Dr HP saying, in an academic talk--

"Kemmendine"--based on Burmese Kyii Myin Tain--"The (flag)pole you see if you look"

is based on English "Come and Dine."

What kind of bullshit "scholarship" is that?

Htin Aung wasn't writing fiction or fantasy and HP was not a stand up comic.

I despise these inflated Burmese men.

One time the 12 year old son of my friend waited with me under the porch of my building while his mother went and parked her car.

Kid asked me "What's your job?"

I longed to say, "Poking holes in wind bags,"

but I did not say anything.

kmk

2-2-2024

Hundreds of Burmese anti-junta protestors rally in Bangkok--

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/hundreds-of-myanmar-anti-junta-protesters-rally-in-bangkok.html

Remastered --Kenny Rogers' The Gambler.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngPG01UREb4

Small ivory heads--earliest known portraits of Alexander the Great, and his mother Olympias--from Philip's tomb at Verginia, Greece.

Maybe Reagan shooting--

Images speak a 000 words--

This blog is giving the junt the silent treatment too today. Ciao for now. Image from Irrawaddy.

Details of Feb 1 2021 coup which have not been revealed before--

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/politics/myanmars-bloodless-coup-has-been-a-three-year-catastrophe.ht 2-1-2024