Burma, America, The World, Art, Literature, Political Economy through the eyes of a Permanent Exile. "We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the oppressed. Sometimes we must interfere. . . There is so much injustice and suffering crying out for our attention . . . writers and poets, prisoners in so many lands governed by the left and by the right." Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize Speech, 1986, Oslo. This entire site copyright Kyi May Kaung unless indicated otherwise.
Tuesday, July 30, 2024
Monday, July 29, 2024
Meet Resistance Leader Dr. (medical doctor)Tayzar San
https://www.irrawaddy.com/in-person/interview/anti-coup-icon-on-the-future-of-myanmars-spring-revolution-as-junta-crumbles.html
He's more than a "popular icon."
Sometimes Irrawaddy headlines do not give due credit--but seem to belittle-
Tayzar San is an unlikely leader, as Sean Turnell called himself an "unlikely prisoner."
The small, thin, brown little man with a big smile is clearly very smart. He has people skills.
As I see it, he's a composite of Aung San, ASSK and master strategist the late U Win Tin.
He's been traveling a lot.
He just staged a "Flashmob demonstration" right in the middle of Mandalay City, by the old palace wall and moat.
Think of that!
For those of you who don't know--"flashmob" is not an unruly mob at all.
It just means impromptu performance or appearance--such as unadvertised classical music concerts at train stations etc.
We should do what Tayzar San asks of us--even if it's as "insignificant" as clicking a mouse.
Dr. Maung Zarni (Ph.D. Education) once held up a metal spoon--"This is how people get out of prison."
Off topic--I went to my first senior singalong--we sang Broadway hits. I requested Presley "Love me Tender" The lyrics were projected on a big screen.
There's one a month. Would be nice if there were some men, but most have died off. So our voices were high and somewhat weak, but we got stronger towards the end.
Regards
kmk Dr Kyi May Kaung (Ph.D. Political Economy)
7-29-2024
Sunday, July 28, 2024
Anthony Blinkin and Lloyd Austin in Japan--re-jiggering trilateral relations between US, Japan and S. Korea
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/27/asia/us-austin-trilateral-japan-south-korea-intl-hnk/index.html
Guess who poses the greatest regional threat?
Right.
You got it.
Burma will alnost certainly become a regional satellite of Russia and China. Already is.
kmk
7-28-2024
Rene Pape --Oh Isis and Osiris--from Mozart's The Magic Flute
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=rene+pape+oh+isis+and+osiris#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:15b5a35c,vid:oeP0NOPAIys,st:0
Great singing frog--
Lyrics translation by poet--late J.D. MacCkatchy.
from WIRED--science--when will the Atlantic Ocean collapse--extremely interesting--global warming
https://www.wired.com/story/amoc-collapse-atlantic-ocean/
Stats, string theory, systems, tipping points.
Global warming, but not at the same rate everywhere; not at the same places, nor same depth of ocean. Needs a 3 D model.
Coming at it from an economic and political systems view, I would say for Burma 2021 coup and dramatic increase of sadistic control was the tipping point for Burma--
but my longtime ecos mentor, Ragnar Nurkse Prof of International Trade at Columbia U, the late Dr Ronald E Findlay said "collapse is not an economic term."
In my view Burma has been a failed state for a very long time.
Do I believe the Ditlevson siblings about Atlantic collapse in 2057--
yes, I do. But I can't migrate to Colorado--to be at a higher altitude. I would love to see a visual simulation of the current and Atlantic Ocean collapse. This is truly a wow moment--the brother and sister should get a Nobel prize-- also don't trust Wiki. It's too bad Dr. Findlay is no longer alive and I really don't know any mathematicians or statisticians at this point, but if you are a math whiz, please take a crack at this. After all if the Atlantic Ocean collapses, it will be catastrophic.
Ijust read Hurricane Beryl is not a freak and it will just keep getting worse.
Kyi May Kaung 7-28-2024
Saturday, July 27, 2024
Kang Wang special--
Kang Wang--tenor, Che gelida manina--from La Boheme 2 versions--Nessun Dorma, note on La Traviata + bio.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&sca_esv=b97a298801241196&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWIIsb2dDAhCSQMo_oUJynvk-qwOceg:1722058367885&q=Kang+wang+che+gelida+manina+kang+wang+youtube&spell=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj4jrOqv8aHAxV7ElkFHY9QDx0QBSgAegQIDRAB&biw=895&bih=454&dpr=2.14#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:aef76ac8,vid:6Zix_oyz78c,st:0
"And who am I? I am a poet."
concert version plus--below--Hong Kong Opera
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&sca_esv=b97a298801241196&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWIIsb2dDAhCSQMo_oUJynvk-qwOceg:1722058367885&q=Kang+wang+che+gelida+manina+kang+wang+youtube&spell=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj4jrOqv8aHAxV7ElkFHY9QDx0QBSgAegQIDRAB&biw=895&bih=454&dpr=2.14#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:fc113f60,vid:xGbAf5qqdI8,st:0
Nessun Dorma fromTurandot.
https://www.google.com/search?q=kang+wang--youtube&client=firefox-b-1-d&sca_esv=70be1922dd9c2f41&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWIJHLELDqsy8nPHsap15iVNE2XldVQ%3A1722059749436&ei=5YukZoimGuOe5NoPkdiFkAE&oq=Kang+wnag--youtube&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiEkthbmcgd25hZy0teW91dHViZSoCCAAyBxAjGLACGCcyCBAAGIAEGKIEMggQABiABBiiBDIIEAAYgAQYogQyCBAAGIAEGKIESLMpULUOWLUOcAJ4AJABAJgBaqABaqoBAzAuMbgBAcgBAPgBAZgCAaACc5gDAIgGAZIHAzAuMaAH-QQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:a9e1ccbc,vid:Dmzd2G1IKig,st:0
Kang Wang talking about Alfredo in La Traviata.
Meet Alfredo | Kang Wang on romance and heartbreak
Kang Wang bio--
https://opera.org.au/artist/kang-wang/
end
Friday, July 26, 2024
Lashio--
Myanmar Junta Orders its Staff to Leave Lashio
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-against-the-junta/lashio-fighting-continues-after-mndaa-seizes-myanmar-ne-command-hq.html
end
Thursday, July 25, 2024
Myanmar bad to worst--war refugees Mandalay--Serge Pun, Zipporah Sein (KNU)
Myanmar--bad to worst--3rd wave war refugees, Mandalay--Serge Pun etc--Lashio NE Command HQ falls--Irra Obits--Zipporah Sein
Thu, Jul 25 at 9:58 PM
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmars-second-largest-city-overwhelmed-by-third-wave-of-war-refugees.html
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/junta-crony/detained-myanmar-crony-serge-pun-steps-down-from-singapore-listed-firms.html
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/war-against-the-junta/milestone-as-mndaa-claims-capture-of-myanmar-juntas-ne-command-in-lashio.html
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/obituaries/knu-and-civilian-government-mourn-death-of-karen-revolutionary-leader.html
4 links--
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
And he (Second Gentleman) Doug Emhoff--will soon be First Gentleman--
https://www.aol.com/got-harris-husband-doug-emhoff-191908783.html
This couple will go many places, including direct to the White House.
Trump is a twice-impeached convicted felon, a womanizer, a liar, a cheat.
He must be shaking in his shoes.
If the would-be assassin was two inches to center and one to two inches higher T. would be dead.
There's no guarantee that something else will happen while Secret Service, FBI, security services undergoing review and certain reorganization.
It was 6 seconds and 3 inches folks.
Usually there are copycat events.
Both JFK and RFK were assassinated--in crowds--RFK inside a building.
Everyone should be extremely cautious.
If you see something, say something.
In this case, people did "say something," but would-be assassin still got off 8 shots in 6 seconds.
It's scary.
kmk
7-24-2024
Clint Eastward 94 's girlfriend 61 dies of heart attack--
https://www.aol.com/lifestyle/clint-eastwoods-girlfriend-christina-sanderas-025857542.html
The problem is people live long lives and if you are a man and rich and famous you can get yourself a partner any time.
It's different from Burma where life is so short; nasty,brutal and short.
kmk
7-24-2024
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
Sculpture special--except for clay and POP--don't try others without workshop, safety rules and expert instruction.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=How+to+make+and+mold+a+Buddhahead+India+youtube#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:d18b1874,vid:Gn-ADz4lJ-w,st:0
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=sculpting+female+head#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:a7d59545,vid:GH5Eri5pGW0,st:0
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&sca_esv=584cd96bcb8b380e&sca_upv=1&q=Sculpting+a+clay+head+step+by+step&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiDzsCHqr6HAxWbF1kFHQEmABEQ1QJ6BAgzEAE&biw=895&bih=454&dpr=2.14#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:01bd9dbf,vid:6dnyYu4Ff7U,st:0
This is the best one below.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=sculpting+femalehead+making+mold+POP#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:67ec0c6f,vid:hNTFd_LZgwo,st:0
There are also digital sculpture apps--but quite difficult to control.
I would think real clay and POP is the best.
kmk
7-23-2024
hta--lump meets his match--Harris first campaign meet bursts with energy--"we are running a people-powered campaign."
https://www.aol.com/harris-first-rally-bursts-energy-210014633.html
Copy and paste from Huffington Post below:
Harris' First Rally Bursts With Energy Democrats Have Been Yearning For
HuffPost
Lydia O'Connor
July 23, 2024 at 5:00 PM
Vice President Kamala Harris kicked off her campaign Tuesday with a high-energy rally in Wisconsin reflecting the swarm of enthusiasm around her ascendent race for the White House.
An estimated 3,000-plus supporters filled a gymnasium in the Milwaukee area and cheered for the entire first minute Harris took the stage at her first official campaign rally. Throughout her remarks, she played up what’s shaping up to be a central part of her campaign: She’s a former prosecutor and attorney general competing against a convicted felon.
“In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds: predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type,” she said, echoing remarks she made to staff Monday about the GOP nominee’s criminal history.
Arecord-breaking first 24 hours of fundraising, largely from small donations, gave Harris another thing to hit Trump on. “Just look at how we are running our campaigns. Donald Trump is relying on support from billionaires and big corporations, and he is trading access in exchange for campaign contributions,” she said. Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at West Allis Central High School on July 23 in West Allis, Wisconsin.
Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at West Allis Central High School on July 23 in West Allis, Wisconsin. Jim Vondruska via Getty Images “We are running a people-powered campaign, and we just had some breaking news,” she continued. “We just had the best 24 hours of grassroots fundraising in presidential campaign history. And because we are a people-powered campaign, that is how you know we will be a people-first presidency.”
She pointed to a dinner Trump hosted at his Mar-a-Lago resort in May, where he reportedly promised oil executives and lobbyists he’d roll back environmental regulations in exchange for $1 billion in campaign donations. The crowd lit up when Harris began digging into Project 2025, the blueprint for a second Trump presidency put together by a conservative think tank and backed by some of his allies ― though Trump has tried to distance himself from it.
“Can you believe they put that thing in writing?” Harris asked, emphasizing the agenda’s plans to gut several government assistance programs. “They intend to end the Affordable Care Act and take us back to a time when insurance companies had the power to deny people with pre-existing conditions,” she said. “Remember what that was like? Children with asthma, women who survived breast cancer, grandparents with diabetes. America has tried these failed economic policies before, but we are not going back.” The GOP, meanwhile, appears to be reeling over this shift in the 2024 election landscape. Trump has started insulting her as “dumb as a rock” and began laying the groundwork to get out of a debate against her in September. Though he said Tuesday he “absolutely” wants to face off with her, he’s now raising complaints about ABC News hosting it and calling the network “fake news.” Related...
I once saw a pencil drawing on paper of similar size, a portrait of Burma's democratically elected first PM U NU
"Mr Tender."
by Anna Wallinska.
Anna Wallinska was the artist sister of economist the late Louis Wallinski.
Wallinski was U Nu's economic advisor.
I saw it when I went to interview Louis, then about age 90, in his apartment in DC.
He spoke so softly, so Ispoke softly and when I got back to the radio station nothing was on the mini-disc.
I had to call in tech and do the interview via telephone.
Through their niece, I received a gift of mulberry (Shan) paper. I have only used a few sheets. It's from the 1950s and I intend to make a folded? kite like Ai Wei Wei's Alcatraz "kites."
I'm thinking I should make the spines of wire.
I have to make it so itcan be disassembled and stored flat,
Louis Wallinski died age 92 in 2001.
Rest in Protest, Wallinskis.
Kyi May Kaung (Ph.D)
7-23-2024
For those of you who don't know--pencil drawings are very detailed, difficult and time consuming.
Think how long it will take to make pencil strokes to cover one square inch.
Laurie Lipton works sitting on a step-ladder.
Her drawings khair pa gyee are wall size,
Some may be 15x15'
She has to work from the top down to avoid smudges,
She has to map out the composition first.
Now and then she must step off her ladder, step back and look, to see if it's working or not.
Kneadable erasers are nearly $5 for a small eraser.
Quality drawing pencils are not cheap either.
You may not like her subject matter or style--but obviously I do, I think she's a world class artist of great imagination, technical skill and style. Kyi May Kaung 7-23-2024
Harris and "hta-lump" set down attack lines--from Politico--
Speaking to campaign staff in Wilmington, Delaware on Monday, Harris distilled her case against Trump.
“I was a courtroom prosecutor. In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds,” Harris said. “Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump’s type.”
Harris continued by saying Trump “wants to take our country backwards, to a time before many of our fellow American had full freedoms and rights.”
Monday, July 22, 2024
Quote from Igor Blazevic--
intentional targeting of the civilian population and total destruction of civilian infrastructure and people’s livelihoods is not a side effect, or unfortunate collateral damage, but the core and essence of Russia’s and Min Aung Hlaing’s military strategy.
The main principles of this strategy are: Whatever we cannot control, we will simply destroy, burn to the ground. We do not fight primarily our armed enemies, instead, we intentionally and as massively as we can, target their civilians, so that internally displaced persons, cut off from food, shelter, sanitation, medicines and fuel, become a burden for the resistance.
Last but not least, Myanmar’s military is not similar to the defense forces of other countries. It is a Spartan army that does not see itself as part of society. It is a ruling, domineering class that preys on the civilian population.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/guest-column/those-calling-for-a-negotiated-solution-in-myanmar-should-read-putins-playbook.html
7-22-2024
More Chinese Brush Painting
Chinese painting - Wikipedia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=2HTlfD2zWi8https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FChinese_painting
Youtube tutorial--peonies.
How to paint landscape in Chinese brush painting
Links did not come through--Googleit yourself
Massive population outflow from Cuba--
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article290249799.html
I once met someone on Penn campus who had come out alone as a child as part of Pedro Pan
kyi may
Sunday, July 21, 2024
Saturday, July 20, 2024
Kang Wang--Asian tenor--special--
https://www.youtube.com/c/KangWangTenor
esp--Che Gelida Manina--how cold your hands--from La Boheme-
I like--the young vibe
the patchwork clothes--like ones I make
the Asian set designs--scroll down for more.
https://opera.org.au/artist/kang-wang/
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Kang+Wang+tenor+song+ofyour+boatman#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:6313c9a8,vid:auLfT6NN3bk,st:0
Kang Wang, Tenor - Watch 23 Videos on Operabase
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&sca_esv=321dac8c89e154ad&sca_upv=1&tbm=vid&sxsrf=ADLYWIITzltIVzRtXH2MH-VK2fsUdFFQ_A:1721481926492&q=staged+Song+of+Yue+Boatman--Kang+Wang+website&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjRydz127WHAxVNElkFHWDCDDgQ8ccDegQIGRAH&biw=895&bih=454&dpr=2.14#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:81f0e78c,vid:SH_pNPEpEfc,st:0
Song of the Yue Boatman--lyrics from ancient Chinese poem--
Google it all.
kmk
7-20-2024
Friday, July 19, 2024
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Art News--Joan Snyder, Sikander--boom in South Asian Art--beheaded sculpture Univ of Houston--
https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/joan-snyder-icons-art-in-america-1234712094/
My article from 2007--
Author WHESPosted on September 23, 2007March 30, 2016Categories Opinions
Burma–growing darker daily
(September 11, 2007) On August 15th the Burmese government raised the price of fuel 500%. This sparked a series of peaceful demonstrations all over the country, beginning with demonstrations in Rangoon, now called Yangon, the former capital of the country. They have since spread to Pakokku and Mandalay in Northern Burma. In Pakokku, Budhhist monks took some army officers hostage for a few hours, and in Mandalay, where traditionally monks have been highly politicized and aware, it is reported that the army has units surrounding the city in readiness for an inevitable clampdown.
Dr. Alfred Oehlers, now a security analyst based in Hawaii, points out that Burma is a diesel-dependent country that lacks refining capacity. He says that fuel is heavily subsidized, and the government has probably signed away natural gas and raw petroleum exports in barter agreements for refined fuel that don’t bring in cash. It has to import fuel at high spot prices, Oehlers says.
So it is in a bind — finding new gas reserves, some reportedly huge, but still unable to import fuel from earnings from the energy sector. The fuel price hike will put the Burmese people under even greater strain. They have spent decades adjusting to whatever policies the junta decrees off the top of its head. When things come to the unbearable crisis level people have taken to the streets, most notably in 1988, and as they already have this time. In response to this exorbitant price hike, smugglers immediately attempted to smuggle in diesel from Malaysia, but the Malaysian authorities intercepted a reported $147,000 worth of diesel oil, hidden in a Burmese ship.
In 1988, the general consensus among Burmese citizens and Burma watchers alike was that the military government came within a hair’s breadth of losing power. But it managed to regain its control by the use of massive force and by an increasingly ratcheted up control, which remains in force to this day.
The difference between 1988 and now is that now, due to the internet and citizen journalism, it is much more difficult for the junta to hide its human rights abuses. The outside world is much more aware of the Burmese situation, the National League for Democracy is still an important force for change in Burma, exile groups are much more galvanized, and the gap between the power holders and everyone else is much wider than it ever was before.
News reports generally ignore or gloss over structurally-ingrained problems in the Burmese political economy. The truth of the matter is that Burma has been a command economy and a military dictatorship since General Ne Win’s coup in 1962. In 1974 it had its first sham constitution. The economy is still largely state-controlled, despite a much touted “opening up” after the government clamped down on the mass pro-democracy demonstrations of 1988.
To placate the population, the junta privatized somewhat, without giving up its major monopolies.
The main effect of this so-called opening up was to raise the stakes higher in governmental and military corruption. What can be called pariah capitalists or oligarchs have appeared in the Burmese economy, such as the businessman Tay Za, whom Oehlers suggests might be one the chief beneficiaries of the privatization of the fuel sector. A few years ago there was a run on the banks, which were mainly money laundering facilities for the drug lords, or Ponzi schemes in which many honest people lost their life savings.
The pervasiveness of official corruption — as we say in Burmese, the house leaks starting from the roof — became apparent in late 2004, when Lt. Col. Khin Nyunt was deposed and placed under house arrest, allegedly for deals with the Wa drug cartels in Northern Burma. This is not to say that those who won in the internal power struggle or purge are not corrupt. They may be more so, since they are still in power.
On May 30th 2003, Aung San Suu Kyi’s entourage was attacked by government-sponsored thugs near Depayin and she has been under house arrest since, following the previous periods of house arrest which, cumulatively, amounts to thirteen years of official captivity. Khin Nyunt was supposed to be “the moderate” according to some pundits, but since he himself is under arrest too, there is no real likelihood that the on-going stalemate will be resolved through dialogue.
It’s very sad that the brave amazing people of Burma have to take their lives in their hands to go out on the streets to protest peacefully. Among the arrested now are the famous 1988 leader, Min Ko Naing (Conquerer of Kings). Other notable leaders who are in hiding include Su Su Nway, who has reportedly run out of medication for the heart ailment from which she suffers, and a husband and wife team who had been free only for one year before they re-started their activism. Their infant daughter is now being looked after by her grandmother.
For the last 14 years the junta has been dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on a document it calls a constitution, in a process it calls the “National Convention.” Now it has ratified its statement and there are no surprises for anyone. The ugly new flag shows one big star, clearly symbolizing the military’s intention to remain dominant.
A boot crushing everyone underneath it would be a more apt symbol.
Sham effort to place blame for the price hike on concerned citizens
In a disturbing new development, a report supposedly written by an advisory group of Rangoon-based economists and scientists recommended the price hike to cover higher budget expenditures by the military government. It was leaked to exile groups and the Burmese media outside the country. However, Dr. Maung Myint, a prominent Burmese economist and a member of the group, denied the authenticity of the report in a letter to The Irrawaddy, a Thailand based dissident magazine.
I believe the report was a fake and an attempt to make scapegoats of the academics. It betrayed a poor and mechanistic “understanding” of “bringing prices in line with the world market.” It did some rudimentary arithmetic and said the budget deficit, caused by the government’s raising salaries of civil servants, could be covered by raising fuel prices. It did not go into the inflationary affects of this increase in money supply at all. The Burmese government has been continuously printing money to cover its expenditures since 1962.
It was a sort of watered down version of the IMF/World Bank 4 step program of privatization, market based pricing, free trade and capital market liberalization that has been criticized by Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, formerly chief economist at the World Bank. Allowing prices to float to market levels as per IMF/World Bank recommendations also caused demonstrations in Indonesia in 1998.
Prospects for outside pressure on the regime
A recent Washington Post editorial criticized Secretary General Ban Ki- moon and the U.N. for lack of action; U.N. Special Envoy Mr. Gambari wrote a rather unconvincing reply. At the White House, Mrs. Laura Bush condemned the Burmese junta for its latest abuses. At the APEC Summit in Sydney, President Bush urged leaders of other nations to join him in pressuring China and India to press the Burmese junta for political and economic reform.
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said China did not interfere in the affairs of other nations. The Indian representative did not comment.
On the whole, the current Bush administration, including Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, has paid scant attention to Asia. But now it is clear that the United States and China are linked together inextricably by enormously large trade ties. China’s huge trade surplus is invested in U.S. treasury bills, and it could crash the U.S. government if it were to withdraw its investment. Moreover, its balance of payments surplus in its trade account is growing daily.
The United States is a consumer economy, and the U.S. consumer drives China’s exports to the USA. There is concern in Asia that the downturn in the U.S. economy will affect Asia. Since 1988, overland trade between Burma and China has been booming. Not all of it appears in the official trade figures. Burma is a virtual economic colony of China, and also of Thailand. Overland trade with India is also substantial. A major highway connecting Burma with India is under construction. At the same time, India has toned down its rhetoric with regard to Burma and is on friendlier terms with China.
It could not be a better time for all these countries to step up the pressure on the Burmese junta. .
They could take their lead from the Canadian Friends of Burma, which last month sponsored a conference in Ottawa on how to exert influence on China. Several groups have started to demonstrate in front of Chinese embassies.
The Burmese case is a no-brainer. If things are to change meaningfully, these and other forms of pressure will need to mount.
Kyi May Kaung is a University of Pennsylvania-trained Burma specialist who taught at the Institute for Economics in Rangoon for 20 years. She is an analyst for Foreign Policy In Focus. This article was first published in FPIF and may be viewed at http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4532 .
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
Monday, July 15, 2024
Recent gathering--poem
This is really the superwoman club
look around you
while men pretend
to be
head honchos.
No less an anthropologist than Geofrey Gorer said
"Burmese men are like peacocks."
Aung San suu Kyi said, "The women are the real men."
I can hear the men screaming
but I won't hear you.
Kyi May Kaung
America.
17-15-2024
Maud Gonne--from wikipedia.
My collages and why I make them--
I don't want to be stereotyped as someone who does only one form of art and most of all I hate being called a "Burma expert."
My Ph.D. was on systems--specifically authoritarian systems --like USSR/Russia, China, Burma--
nnot a description of Burma. On why these systems fail, as we are seeing now in case of Burma.Myanmar. But collages are just collages--collections-- kyi may kaung : cut & paste https://pansuriya.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/kyi-may-kaung-cut-and-paste/ kmk 7-15-2024
repubs now blame female Secret Service agents for being "too short"--trump assn attempt.
repubs now blaming female Secret Service agents for being--"too short"
https://www.aol.com/news/critics-blame-dei-trump-shooting-091112363.html
Why don't they just carry shields like Alexander's soldiers, that open like umbrellas??
Bullet proof tents?
So easy to blame women.
They're everywhere, right?
kmk
7-15-2024
Thursday, July 11, 2024
Burmese hyperinflation--"selfish banks"
https://www.irrawaddy.com/business/myanmar-banks-restrict-cash-withdrawals-as-financial-crisis-intensifies.html
Aung Lin Dwe is relative of Dr Kyaw Thet--with his wife Mary, close to Ne Win in 1950-62.
I met him in Chiangmai--c. 2006,at a non-profit workers' trainee course. At that time he spoke excitedly about "the constitution"--
rest of mostly bad news--check Irrawaddy, Mizzima.com,Al Jazeera etc.
km
7-11-2024
Wednesday, July 10, 2024
Monday, July 08, 2024
Thursday, July 04, 2024
quote from Brian Wei--Irrawaddy--revved up junta killing machine
Myanmar’s current military junta is by far the most homicidal in the country’s history, newly released data confirms.
In the three years and five months since the Feb. 1, 2021 coup, 1,853 people who were detained by the junta, including children, died while in the custody of its personnel, a report by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a research and advocacy group, notes.
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It found that a rising number of the deaths were the result of bullets and that the unarmed prisoners who were shot dead were said by their captors to be attempting to escape.
The number of people dying while in the current junta’s custody is seven times higher than the number who died in custody under successive regimes during the 22 years after the 1988 uprising, which was about 250 in total. Most of them died from lack of healthcare and sickening prison conditions.
Wednesday, July 03, 2024
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National Gallery of Art--Impressionist Movement
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