Thursday, January 29, 2026
Tom Hiddleston played Richard Pine--The Night Manager--in of course, The Night Manager--
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1399664/fullcredits/
He looks better in the movie close-ups than in these stills.
Good portrayal of the stiff upper lip Englishman and really beautiful eyes and thin face, sunken blue eyes.
kmk
1-29-2026
Iranian demonstrations--from AP
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests has killed at least 6,221 people while many others still are feared dead, activists said Wednesday, as a U.S. aircraft carrier group arrived in the Middle East to lead any American military response to the crisis. Iran’s currency, the rial, meanwhile fell to a record low of 1.5 million to $1.
https://apnews.com/article/iran-protests-deaths-crackdown-aeaeb26493d25d86d5169f8ae455e405
Movie based on John Le Carre--The Night Manager--I used to be a real Le Carre fan--in Burma--40 years ago.
Every book has been made into a movie--maybe I shld just watch the movies.
Wednesday, January 28, 2026
War Horse--the movie--based on Morpurgo book--both highly recommended --
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Horse_(film)
I think it's just lovely, remember every shot.
Like Black Beauty--see the illustrated book.
You can read about almost all the Khans--in fictional form in Conn Iggulden's Genghis series--highly recommended--
You can read about Queen Saw in She was a Queen by MauriceCollis.
You can read about the reign of King Thibaw--the last king fBurma in The Lacquer Lady by F Tennyson Jesse--
You can read about all the Burmese-siamese wars in Prince Damrong's Our Wars with the Burmese.
Nasr al din who led the Mongol forces.
Nasr al-Din (Yunnan)
Article
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Nasr al-Din (disambiguation).
Nasr al-Din
Governor of Yunnan (Karadjang)
In office
1279–1292
Preceded by Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar
Succeeded by Husayn (Hussein or Hussain)[1]
Personal details
Born
Bukhara, Khwarazmian Empire
Died 1292
Yunnan, Yuan China
Nationality Khwarazmian, Yuan
Children twelve sons in total, the names of five of which are given in his biography, viz. 伯顏察兒 Bo-yen ch'a-r, 烏馬兒 Wu-ma-r, 答法兒 Dje-fa-r (Djafar), 忽辛 Hu-xin (Hussein) and 沙的 Sha-di (Saadi)
Military service
Allegiance Yuan dynasty
Battles/wars Mongol invasion of Burma, Mongol invasions of Vietnam
Nasr al-Din (Persian: نصرالدین; Chinese: 納速剌丁, pinyin: Nàsùládīng) (died 1292) was a provincial governor of Yunnan during the Yuan dynasty, and was the son of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar.
Life
Nasr al-Din was of Central Asian origin, being a Muslim Khwarezmian from Bukhara. His father was the prominent leader Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar.[2] When Genghis Khan attacked the city during the war between the Khwarizmi shah and the Mongols, Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar's family surrendered to him. Sayyid Ajjal served the court of the Mongol Empire. Later, Sayyid Ajjal was in charge of Imperial finances in 1259,[3] sent to Yunnan by Kublai Khan after conquering the Kingdom of Dali in 1274.
In the thirteenth century the influence of individual Muslims was immense, especially that of the Seyyid Edjell Shams ed-Din Omar, who served the Mongol Khans till his death in Yunnan AD 1279. His family still exists in Yunnan, and has taken a prominent part in Muslim affairs in China.[4]
Nasr al-Din is identified as the ancestor of many Chinese Hui lineages in Yunnan's Panthay Hui population as well as in Ningxia and Fujian provinces.
Marco Polo claimed that Nasr al-Din was a commander in the 1277 Mongol invasion of Burma and defeated the Burmese in the war.[5] Marco Polo recorded his name as "Nescradin".[6][7]
The widespread presence of Islam in Yunnan is due to Nasir Al-Din and his father Sayyid Ajall.[1]
Nasr became Yunnan's governor after his father, the first governor of Yunnan, died.[8] served in his office from 1279 to 1284.[9] He was sent to participate in the 1284 Mongol invasion of Burma, which caused his term as governor to end.[10]
Nasr also battled the native "Gold Teeth" people in Yunnan, and the Vietnamese during the Mongol invasion of Annam. Marco Polo had been wrong in claiming that Nasr had participated in the 1277 attack on Burma, Nasr fought in the 1284 invasion in reality. He was transferred to Shaanxi and appointed as its governor.[11] Nasr al-Din's son Omar 烏馬兒 (Wu-ma-r) participated alongside him in the invasion of Annam (Vietnam).
His service as Governor there ended in his death in 1292, when he was charged with corruption and executed[12] (Husayn, a brother of his, then became the next governor of Yunnan).[13]
Family
Nasr al-Din's father was the Governor of Yunnan, Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar, whose Chinese name was Sai-dien-ch'i. Nasr al-Din's name in Chinese was "Na-su-la-ding". Five sons of Sai-dien-ch'i are mentioned, viz. 納速剌丁 Na-su-la-ding (Nasr-uddin), 哈散 Hasan (Hassan), 忽辛 Hu-sin (Hussein), 剌丁 兀默里 Shan-su-ding wu-mo-li and 馬速忽 Ma-su-hu. All these held high offices. Na-su-la-ding has a separate biography in the same chapter. He was governor in Yunnan, and distinguished himself in the war with the southern tribes of 交趾 Kiao-chi (Cochin-china) and 緬 Mien (Burma). He died in 1292, the father of twelve sons^ the names of five of which are given in the biography, viz. 伯顏察兒 Bo-yen ch'a-r, who had a high office, 烏馬兒 Wu-ma-r, 答法兒 Dje-fa-r (Djafar), 忽先 Hu-sien (Hussein) and 沙的 Sha-di (Saadi). The Sai-dien-ch'i of the Chinese authors is without doubt the same personage spoken of by Rashid (D'Ohsson, torn, ii, p. 467) under the name of Sayid Edjell. According to the Persian historian, he was a native of Bokhara, and governor of Karadjang (Yunnan) when Kubilai entered the country, under the reign of Mangu. Subsequently, he was appointed vizier, and in the beginning of Kubilai's reign he had charge of the finances. His son Nasruddin was appointed governor in Karadjang, and retained his position in Yunnan till his death, which Rashid, writing about A. D. 1300, says occurred five or six years before (according to the Yüan shi, Na-su-la ding died in 1292). Nasr-uddin's son Abubeker, who had the surname Bayan Fenchan (evidently the Boyen ch'a-r of the Yüan shi), was governor in Zaitun at the time Bashid wrote. He bore also his grandfather's title of Sayid Edjell, and was minister of Finance under Kubilai's successor (D'Ohsson, torn, ii, pp. 476, 507, 508). Nasr-uddin is mentioned by M. Polo, who styles him Nescradin (vol. ii, p. 66).[14][15][16] A Hui legend in Ningxia links four surnames common in the region - Na, Su, La, and Ding - with Nasr al-Din (Nasruddin), who "divided" their ancestor's name (Nasulading, in Chinese) among themselves.[17][18] The Ding family of Chendai, Fujian claims descent from him.[19] The Ding family has branches in Taiwan, the Philippines, and Malaysia among the diaspora Chinese communities there, no longer practicing Islam but still maintaining a Hui identity. Na Zhong, a descendant of Nasr al-Din, was one of the students sent to Al-Azhar in 1931, along with Zhang Ziren, Ma Jian, and Lin Zhongming.[20] Besides the Han majority, the Muslim Hui also widely employed generation names, which they call lunzi paibie; for instance, in the Na family, the five most recent generations used the characters Wan, Yu, Zhang, Dian, and Hong. This practice is slowly fading since the government began keeping public records of genealogy.[21] Footnotes
Battle of Ngasaunggyan--1277--
AI Overview
The
Battle of Ngasaunggyan (1277) was a pivotal conflict between the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China and the Pagan Kingdom of Burma (present-day Myanmar).
Key Details of the Battle:
Context: The conflict arose as part of the Mongol invasions of Burma under Kublai Khan, following a dispute over tribute and the submission of border states.
Combatants: The Yuan army, which included Mongol, local Achan, and Ginchi troops, was commanded by Qutuq (Khudu). The Burmese army was led by Narathihapate, the King of Pagan, who used a vanguard of war elephants with archer towers.
The Fighting: Initially, the war elephants caused panic among the Mongol horses. The Mongol commander ordered his troops to dismount, fight on foot, and use concentrated arrow fire against the elephants.
Outcome: The wounded elephants stampeded, destroying their own lines. The Yuan army secured a victory, and the battle was famously recorded by Marco Polo.
Aftermath: Although the Mongols won this battle, they initially withdrew due to the heat and casualties. However, the battle marked the beginning of the end for the Pagan Empire, which was later reduced to a vassal state.
Mingalazedi Pagoda built by Narathihapate--just before the Mongol invasion by Kublai Khan's forces, 1274.
Mingalazedi Pagoda
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Coordinates: 21.161368°N 94.857729°E
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mingalazedi Pagoda
Mingalazedi Pagoda
Religion
Affiliation Theravada Buddhism
Location
Location Bagan, Mandalay Region
Country Myanmar
Mingalazedi Pagoda is located in Myanmar
Mingalazedi Pagoda
Shown within Myanmar
Coordinates 21.161368°N 94.857729°E
Architecture
Founder King Narathihapate
Completed 1284; 742 years ago
Mingalazedi Pagoda (Burmese: မင်္ဂလာစေတီ, pronounced [mɪ̀ɰ̃ɡəlà zèdì]; also spelt Mingalar Zedi Pagoda) is a Buddhist stupa located in Bagan, Burma. Construction started in 1274 during the reign of King Narathihapate.[1]: 183 The pagoda is one of few temples in Bagan with a full set of glazed terra cotta tiles depicting the Jataka. The pagoda was built in brick and contains several terraces leading to large pot-shaped stupa at its centre, topped by a bejewelled umbrella (hti). Mingalazedi Pagoda was built a few years before the First Burmese Empire (Bagan Kingdom) was pillaged by the Mongols.
References
AI Answer--
These are results for why are the designs of the Shwedagon, the shwe maw daw and the pagoda built by Anawrahta so similar
Search instead for why are the deisgns of the Shwedagon, the shwe maw daw and the pagoda built by Anawrahta so similar
AI Overview
Hti umbrella hi-res stock photography and images - Alamy
The Shwedagon, Shwemawdaw, and Shwezigon (built by Anawrahta) share similar designs because they are all rooted in the same Theravada Buddhist symbolism and Mon architectural styles that emphasized colossal, gilded bell-shaped stupas to house relics. These structures, built to represent the Buddha's teachings (Dhamma) and honor his relics, adopted the traditional Indian-influenced stupa design.
Shared Religious Symbolism: Each pagoda serves as a reliquary for sacred items, featuring a similar structure designed to honor the Buddha.
Architectural Influence: They reflect the Mon influence on early Burmese (Bagan) architecture, which favored a circular, bell-shaped form that developed into the iconic "paya" shape. Design Elements: Base: Features seven angular projections representing the folds in the Buddha's robe. Bell Shape: Represents the core relic chamber. Hti (Umbrella): The pinnacle serves as a staff or protective umbrella. Cultural Standardization: King Anawrahta, after unifying Burma, promoted Theravada Buddhism, leading to the standardization of this, which became the model for many, including his own Shwezigon.
From Shwemawdaw Pagoda wiki--copied and pasted--
Shwemawdaw Pagoda
Coordinates: 17.3368744°N 96.496954°E From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Shwemawdaw Pagoda ရွှေမောဓော စေတီတော် Religion Affiliation Buddhism Sect Theravada Buddhism Region Bago Region Festival Shwemawdaw Pagoda Festival (Tagu) Status active Location Municipality Bago Country Myanmar Shwemawdaw Pagoda is located in Myanmar Shwemawdaw Pagoda Shown within Myanmar Coordinates 17.3368744°N 96.496954°E Architecture Completed c. 500 BCE (tradition) 982/83 (tradition)
by 1390 1796 1954 Specifications Height (max) nyandaw architectural height 22 m (72 ft) (982/83) 90 m (295 ft) (1796) 114 m (374 ft) (1954) Spire height hti spire height inclusive 98.8 m (324 ft) (1796) 125 m (410 ft) (1954) The Shwemawdaw Pagoda (Burmese: ရွှေမောဓော စေတီတော် [ʃwè mɔ̀dɔ́ pʰəjá]; Mon: ကျာ်မုဟ်တ [tɕaɪʔmṵtú]) is a Buddhist stupa located in Bago, Myanmar. At 125 m (410 ft) in overall height, the Shwemadaw is the tallest stupa in the world.[note 1] The annual pagoda festival is a 10-day affair that takes place during the Burmese month of Tagu.[3] History According to tradition, the original version of the pagoda was built during the lifetime of the Buddha. Two merchant brothers Kullasala and Mahasala had received two strands of hair from the Buddha himself, and upon their return to their native land, built a 22 m (72 ft) tall stupa, with the two strands in the relic chamber.[3][4] In 982/83 CE (344 ME), a sacred tooth was added to the collection.[4] According to Donald Stadtner, this tradition emerged only in the late 18th century (between 1754 and 1795), perhaps to elevate the stature of the pagoda to that of the Shwedagon Pagoda.[5] The historical pagoda dates from at least the late 14th century when Pegu became the capital of Hanthawaddy. Successive monarchs added additions to the pagoda and/or its premises. King Razadarit built 160 small stupas around the pagoda in 1390[6] while King Dhammazedi donated a bell in the late 15th century. In 1556, King Bayinnaung installed a hti spire umbrella with jewels from his crown, and built 52 stupas, signifying his age at the time.[4] In 1796, King Bodawpaya raised the pagoda to 90 m (295 ft), and added a new hti spire umbrella for an overall height of 98.8 m (324 ft).[7][2] The pagoda had been severely damaged several times due to earthquakes, including one in 1912, another in 1917 and another in 1930. Portions of the fallen pre-1917 version of the pagoda remain at the site.[3] Repair work began in 1951 and completed in 1954.[5] The new stupa itself stands at 114 m (374 ft). Its overall height (including the hti spire) is 125 m (410 ft).[2]
AI Overview
The
Shwemawdaw Pagoda Festival in Bago is an annual 10-day celebration held during the Burmese month of Tagu, which typically falls in April. It is one of the most prominent festivals in the region, featuring traditional performances,, market stalls, and, extensive pagoda, homage, activities,.
Key details about the festival:
Timing: Usually occurs in early April, often aligned with the lead-up to the Burmese New Year (Thingyan).
Significance: It is the festival of the tallest pagoda in Myanmar, standing at 114 meters.
Activities: Includes typical evening entertainment involving Zats, Anyeints, and, stage shows and local product markets.
Monday, January 26, 2026
CNN--top border control enforcer slated to leave--Minneapolis--Trump sending "border tsar" Homan
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/minneapolis-shooting-ice-protests-01-26-26
Probably Homan's present will mean more trouble if he flexes his muscles.
DJT should not have sent in National Guard etc and insignia-less masked ICE recruits into US cities like LA, Chicago, DC.
They're there just to strong-arm and provoke.
CNN is now producing a Spanish version for posts like this.
Click on the top of the link.
Slick Trump postmark rules--"Christmas present"
https://www.aol.com/finance/trump-administration-changed-postmark-rules-131500597.html
On Christmas Eve, the Trump administration quietly changed the rules that formally define what a postmark is and when it is applied (1). Under the new rule, the official postmark date reflects the first date the mail was automatically processed, not the date it was dropped in a mailbox. (2)
While this may seem like a small change, it could have a significant impact on important documents that rely on the mailing process, such as tax payments, voting ballots, or bills. Previously, whenever you mailed a letter, you could trust that the post office would give it an official date stamp reflecting the day the piece of mail was received.
General Hospital in Rangoon, where my sister in law, Daisy, helped me give birth to all three of my children.
Thank you. All three times over 15 years she was assisted by a young man--the last time I bled quite a bit and I could hear them panicking, but the bleeding stopped.
The big name gynecologists never showed up but took all the presents.
https://ull.caingram.info/Myanmar/Htm/general_hospital.htm
One made a major mistake,leaving a pair of scissors inside my friend's womb. She died.
*
Sunday, January 25, 2026
Wow--cyanide was tested on his dog--
By 27 April, Berlin's communication had been all but cut off from the rest of Germany. Secure radio contact with defending units had been lost; the command staff in the Führerbunker had to depend on telephone lines for passing instructions and orders, and on public radio for news and information.[27] On 28 April, Hitler received a BBC report originating from Reuters: it stated that Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler had offered to surrender to the western Allies. The offer was declined. Himmler had implied to the Allies that he had the authority to negotiate a surrender, which Hitler considered to be treason. That afternoon, Hitler's anger and bitterness escalated into a rage against Himmler.[28] He ordered Himmler's arrest and had SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein (Himmler's SS representative at Hitler's headquarters) shot for desertion.[29]
By this time, the Red Army had advanced to the Potsdamer Platz, roughly a kilometre away from the bunker, and all indications were that they were preparing to storm the Reich Chancellery. This report and Himmler's betrayal prompted Hitler to make the last decisions of his life.[30] Shortly after midnight on 29 April,[31][32] he married Eva Braun in a small civil ceremony in a map room within the Führerbunker. The two then hosted a modest wedding breakfast, after which Hitler took his secretary Traudl Junge to another room and dictated his last will and testament. It left instructions to be carried out immediately following his death, with Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz and Joseph Goebbels assuming Hitler's roles as head of state and chancellor, respectively.[33] Hitler signed these documents at 04:00 and then went to bed. Some sources say that he dictated the last will and testament immediately before the wedding, but all agree on the timing of the signing.[o][p]
Eva Braun and Hitler at Berchtesgaden (with Hitler's dog Blondi at right), June 1942
On the afternoon of 29 April, Hitler learned that his ally, Benito Mussolini, had been summarily executed by Italian partisans. The bodies of Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, had been strung up by their heels. The corpses were later cut down and thrown into the gutter, where they were mocked by Italian dissidents. These events may have strengthened Hitler's resolve not to allow himself or his wife to be made a "spectacle" of, as he had earlier recorded in his testament.[34][q] Hitler had been given some capsules of prussic acid by Himmler through SS physician Ludwig Stumpfegger, and initially had intended to use them for his suicide. When he received the news that Himmler had contacted the Allies through a Swedish diplomat to arrange for an end to the war, Hitler was outraged. With this betrayal in his mind, Hitler began to doubt whether the ampoules would be effective. He ordered Haase to test one on his dog Blondi. The capsule worked – the dog died instantly.[35]
Hitler--contd--Interesting, as they say--
Preceding events
See also: Operation Bagration
Schematic diagram of the Führerbunker
By early 1945, Nazi Germany was on the verge of total military collapse. Poland had fallen to the advancing Soviet Red Army, which was preparing to cross the Oder between Küstrin and Frankfurt-an-der-Oder with the objective of capturing Berlin 82 kilometres (51 mi) to the west.[12] German forces had recently lost to the Allies in the Ardennes Offensive, with British and Canadian forces crossing the Rhine into the German industrial heartland of the Ruhr.[13] US forces in the south had captured Lorraine and were advancing towards Mainz, Mannheim, and the Rhine.[13] German forces in Italy were withdrawing north, as they were pressed by United States and Commonwealth forces as part of the Spring Offensive to advance across the Po and into the foothills of the Alps.[14]
Hitler retreated to the Führerbunker in Berlin on 16 January 1945. It was clear to the Nazi leadership that the Battle of Berlin would be the final battle of the war in Europe.[15] Some 325,000 soldiers of Germany's Army Group B were surrounded and captured in the Ruhr Pocket on 18 April, leaving the path open for US forces to reach Berlin. By 11 April, the Americans crossed the Elbe, 100 kilometres (62 mi) to the west of the city.[16] On 16 April, Soviet forces to the east crossed the Oder and commenced the battle for the Seelow Heights, the last major defensive line protecting Berlin on that side.[17] By 19 April, the Germans were in full retreat from the Seelow Heights, leaving no front line. Berlin was bombarded by Soviet artillery for the first time on 20 April, Hitler's birthday. By the evening of 21 April, Red Army tanks reached the outskirts of the city.[18]
On 21 April, Hitler ordered a special detachment commanded by SS-Obergruppenführer Felix Steiner to counterattack the Soviets. At the next day's afternoon situation conference, Hitler suffered a nervous collapse when he was informed that these orders had not been obeyed.[19] He launched into a tirade against his generals, calling them treacherous and incompetent, culminating in a declaration – for the first time – that the war was lost. Hitler announced that he would stay in Berlin until the end and then shoot himself.[20] Later that day, he asked SS physician Werner Haase about the most reliable method of suicide. Haase suggested the "pistol-and-poison method" of combining a dose of cyanide with a gunshot to the head.[21] Luftwaffe chief Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring learned about Hitler's admission of defeat and declaration of his intended suicide and sent a telegram to Hitler, asking for permission to take over the leadership of the Reich in accordance with Hitler's 1941 decree naming him as his successor.[22]
Hitler's secretary Martin Bormann convinced Hitler that the letter from Göring was an attempt to overthrow the dictator.[23] In response, Hitler informed Göring that he would be executed unless he resigned all of his posts. Later that day, he sacked Göring from all of his offices and ordered his arrest.[24] Hitler also ordered his chief aide and adjutant, Julius Schaub, to destroy safeguarded documents and his personal train.[25][26]
From wiki below--
For the book, see The Death of Adolf Hitler. For the television episode, see The Death of Adolf Hitler (ITV Sunday Night Theatre).
Death of Adolf HitlerNewspaper cover with the title "Hitler Dead"
Front page of the US Armed Forces newspaper Stars and Stripes on 2 May 1945
Map
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Date 30 April 1945
Time c. 15:30–15:50 (CEST, GMT+2)
Location Führerbunker, Berlin, Germany
Coordinates 52°30′45″N 13°22′52″E
Cause Suicide by gunshot This article is part of a series about Adolf Hitler Personal Rise to power Führer of Germany World War II Anschluss Occupation of Czechoslovakia Western Front Eastern Front Assassination attempts Death alleged doubles conspiracy theories last will and testament Crimes against humanity Electoral campaigns Works Legacy Adolf Hitler's signature Personal standard of Adolf Hitler vte Adolf Hitler, chancellor and dictator of Germany during the Nazi era from 1933 to 1945, committed suicide by gunshot to the head[a][b] on 30 April 1945 in the Führerbunker in Berlin after it became clear that Germany would be defeated during the Battle of Berlin, which led to the end of World War II in Europe. His longtime companion and wife of one day, Eva Braun, committed suicide with him, by cyanide poisoning.[c] In accordance with Hitler's prior written and verbal instructions, that afternoon their remains were carried up the stairs and through the bunker's emergency exit to the Reich Chancellery garden, where they were doused in petrol and burned.[1][2] The news of Hitler's death was announced on German radio the next day, 1 May.[3] Eyewitnesses who saw Hitler's body immediately after his suicide testified that he died from a self-inflicted gunshot, presumably to the temple.[d][e][f] Otto Günsche, Hitler's personal adjutant, who handled both bodies, testified that while Braun's smelled strongly of burnt almonds – an indication of cyanide poisoning – there was no such odour about Hitler's body, which smelled of gunpowder.[4] Dental remains found in the Chancellery garden were matched with Hitler's dental records in May 1945[5][6][g] and are the only portion of Hitler's body confirmed to have been found.
Federal Judge Kennelly extends deportation proceedings for 3,670 Burmese nationals living in US. From NYT complete copy and paste..
Federal Judge Extends Deportation Protections for Burmese Migrants
The ruling represents another setback in the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign.
Listen to this article · 2:24 min Learn more
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/us/politics/burmese-migrants-tps-deportation.html
Kristi Noem speaks in front of microphones with her hand raised, wearing a light blue overcoat.
A federal judge wrote an opinion hat there was significant evidence that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status for Burmese immigrants was arbitrary and capricious.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Chris Cameron
By Chris Cameron
Reporting from Washington
Jan. 23, 2026
A federal judge in Illinois blocked the Trump administration from ending deportation protections for about 3,670 Burmese nationals living in the United States, a setback to President Trump’s mass deportation campaign and effort to curtail a program for hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing crisis at home.
Judge Matthew F. Kennelly of the U.S. District Court in Northern Illinois wrote in a 57- page opinion that there was significant evidence that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status for Burmese immigrants was arbitrary and capricious.
He wrote that the decision did not properly consider conditions in Myanmar, also known as Burma, a Southeast Asian country that is suffering a yearslong civil war. In more than four years, tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions more have been displaced.
Judge Kennelly ruled that there was significant evidence that Noem’s decision to end the protections was predetermined, based on the goal of administration officials to eliminate Temporary Protected Status for all immigrants, regardless of the circumstances in their countries.
He said that even as Ms. Noem justified the termination, asserting that circumstances in Burma had improved enough that deportations could proceed, other Trump administration officials reported “violence against civilians including airstrikes, shelling, and razing of villages, human trafficking, and dire humanitarian need” amid what has been a brutal conflict driven in part by ethnic tensions.
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“Secretary Noem has, since her confirmation, terminated T.P.S. for each and every country that has been eligible for redesignation,” Judge Kennelly wrote. He said it is more likely that T.P.S. was terminated “to effectuate the secretary’s broader goal of curtailing immigration and eliminating T.P.S. generally, not on her evaluation of changed conditions in Burma.”
The Biden administration first designated Burmese nationals as eligible in 2021 for the program, which allows them to live and work in the United States without risk of deportation, in the aftermath of a military coup that sparked the civil war. The designation was set to expire on Jan. 26.
Chris Cameron is a Times reporter covering Washington, focusing on breaking news and the Trump administration.
See more on: U.S. Politics, Kristi Noem, Donald Trump
From WAPO--what trump admin says--
The Trump administration issued another warning to European allies that the United States would be pulling back its forces from parts of the globe to prioritize its own interests and defense of the Western Hemisphere.
After a year of saying that an “America First” foreign policy will require Europe to step up its own defense, the Pentagon enshrined that threat in official doctrine.
The 2026 National Defense Strategy, released late Friday, is one of several guiding documents that the military uses to plan and shape its forces around the globe to meet its civilian leaders’ strategic priorities.
Federal agents secured gun from ICE victim BEFORE he was shot.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/01/25/minneapolis-shooting-video-gun/
Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse attempting to help someone.
INQUIRY, INQUIRY.
Katee Robert's Neon Gods retells the love story of Persephone and Hades in a modern context.
Warning, explicit sex scenes.
But plot quite accurate--which I did not expect it to be.
I am happy today as I managed to submit 5 paintings for a painting prize--the prizes are quite good and the winners of 3 prizes will get
their paintings hung at a nice gallery.
Saturday, January 24, 2026
An excellent, excellent movie--The Burial--On a par with Mississippi Burniing--
You can see it on Amazon Prime--based on a real life case and the original story in the New Yorker.
Court scenes--the funeral monopoly that screwed all the poor people has to pay up.
The star Black Lawyer never loses.
Staring Jamie Fox and Tommy Lee Jones--also produced by Jamie Fox--audience rating 5 out of 5 stars.
If you believe in the court system and the rule of law, and everyone's right to be heard, you will like this.
Also like To Kill a Mocking Bird and A Man for All Seasons.
Oh, and a famous essay called The American Way of Death--which I read in my eldest son's English text book in college in America.
KyiMay Kaung
1-23-2026
Friday, January 23, 2026
Renee Fleming sings O Mio Babbino Caro--(In Honor of My Father--Sithu U Kaung--who died this month of injuries from a car accident in Calcutta in the 1950s)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YjBW_aSHi0
Poet Zawgyi (U Thein Han) and my father U Kaung.
Kash P purging FBI_-from CNN--NYT--AP
The FBI agent who initially began working with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to investigate the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good has resigned from the bureau, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
https://www.aol.com/articles/fbi-agent-initially-investigated-fatal-003658713.html
Soon after the agent opened the civil rights investigation, she was ordered to reclassify it as an investigation into an assault on the officer. The FBI blocked the BCA from participating in the investigation.
The New York Times first reported the resignation.
The agent’s resignation comes as the agency has undergone another purge of seasoned FBI agents across several states, multiple sources familiar with the departures told CNN. Some of the people who are being pushed out were confronted after the bureau conducted a review of the FBI’s internal messaging system and discovered instances when they made negative comments about President Donald Trump, according to the people familiar.
Some of those comments go as far back as a decade, the sources said.
The removals are part of an ongoing effort led by Director Kash Patel to oust individuals involved in past investigations, including those related to Trump, and include top FBI officials in New Orleans, Miami and beyond.
Thursday, January 22, 2026
From Jamie Raskin, from 2023--official announcement that his cancer is in remission. I saw him July 4th, 2025 and he was fine--brilliant speeches with no notes.
https://raskin.house.gov/2023/4/an-open-letter-from-jamie-raskin-after-the-successful-completion-of-his-chemo-immunotherapy-treatment
Our beloved Congressman--he's been through much,including suicide of his son.
Thank you for all you do for us.
These are just wonderful--get them for the child you are and your children's children--
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1932234586/ref=mes-dp?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=r31Rd&pd_rd_wg=0BGP2&pd_rd_r=b3c6147b-60bc-43aa-bdeb-244e97a19038&content-id=amzn1.sym.1763b2a9-7aa6-49c2-a60b-ee230f5faf79
8 volumes --graphic novels--the Life of the Buddha.
I've read some of these--esp. The Third Eye--when I was still in Burma--Journey to the West (Monkey)
even written my own Shee Monkey (Pew finalist script)--Years of Rice and salt--still going through--seems to me more Muslim than Buddhist.
Siddhartha is not about the historical Buddha but about someone named "Siddhartha"--
Tavatimasa--Buddhist "heaven"--realm of nats--from wiki--Sakra is Thagyamin in Burmese.
rāyastriṃśa (Sanskrit: त्रायस्त्रिंश, pronounced [t̪ɾɑː.jɐs̪.t̪ɾĩ.ɕɐ], romanized: trāyastriṃśa; Pali: tāvatiṁsa; lit. 'of the thirty-three [heavenly beings]'[2]) is a celestial realm of the devas in Buddhist cosmology and constitutes the second of the six heavens of the desire realm (kāmadhātu). The term is a Sanskrit adjectival form derived from the numeral त्रयस्त्रिंशत् (trayastriṃśat), meaning "thirty-three", a reference to the pantheon of devas who preside over it, modeled after the thirty-three Vedic deities. It is ruled by Śakra.
Buddhist hell or Avici--realm of Yama.
Avīci-punishable offenses/transgressions
There are various evil acts which can lead one to being committed to the torments of Avīci. People reborn in Avīci have generally committed one or more of the Five Anantarika-karma ("Grave Offenses"):[4][5]
Intentionally killing one's father.
Intentionally killing one's mother.
Killing an arhat (enlightened being).
Shedding the blood of a Buddha.
Creating a schism within the sangha (the community of Buddhist monks, nuns, and laypeople who try to attain enlightenment).
Details about Avīci
Buddhism teaches that going to Naraka is temporary, allowing the offenders to work off the karma they garnered in life. Avīci is sometimes cited as lasting 3.39738624×1018 or 339,738,624×1010 years,[6] about 3.4 quintillion years.
The Lotus Sutra provides an example of humans who have to endure long-term suffering in Avīci.[7][8] Some sutras state that rebirth in Avīci will be for innumerable kalpas (aeons). When the offending soul passes away after one kalpa, it is reborn in the same place, suffering for another kalpa, and on and on until it has exhausted its bad karma.[9] For this reason, the Avīci hell is also known as the "nonstop way" (無間道).
Nichiren famously wrote that Buddhist monks who ignored the passages in the Lotus Sutra, which claimed superiority over other sutras, would fall into Avīci.[10] Outside of Nichiren, it is extremely rare for a Buddhist monk to condemn anyone to Avīci, although the Lotus Sutra itself states of anyone who slanders it: "when his life comes to an end, he will enter the Avichi Hell."
The Greek Gods slept around a lot--from Hephaestus wiki:
Hephaestus and Aphrodite
Though married to Hephaestus, Aphrodite had an affair with Ares, the god of war. Eventually, Hephaestus discovered Aphrodite's affair through Helios, the all-seeing Sun, and planned a trap during one of their trysts. While the lovers lay together in bed, Hephaestus ensnared them in an unbreakable chain-link net so small as to be invisible and dragged them to Mount Olympus to shame them in front of the other gods for retribution.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hephaestus
The gods laughed at the sight of these naked lovers, and Poseidon persuaded Hephaestus to free them in return for a guarantee that Ares would pay the adulterer's fine, or that he, Poseidon, would pay it himself.
He was born with a club foot and was the son of Zeus and Hera--Hera threw him out bc of his disabilty.
He was a smith--and the God of Volcanos.
More from that wiki:
An Athenian founding myth tells that the city's patron goddess, Athena, refused a union with Hephaestus. Pseudo-Apollodorus[73] records an archaic legend, which claims that Hephaestus once attempted to rape Athena, but she pushed him away, causing him to ejaculate on her thigh.[74][75] Athena wiped the semen off using a tuft of wool, which she tossed into the dust, impregnating Gaia and causing her to give birth to Erichthonius,[74][75] whom Athena adopted as her own child.[74]
The Roman mythographer Hyginus[73] records a similar story in which Hephaestus demanded Zeus to let him marry Athena since he was the one who had smashed open Zeus's skull, allowing Athena to be born.[74] Zeus agreed to this and Hephaestus and Athena were married,[74] but, when Hephaestus was about to consummate the union, Athena vanished from the bridal bed, causing him to ejaculate on the floor, thus impregnating Gaia with Erichthonius.[74][76] Nonnus refers to this tale of Erechthonius being born of the Earth after a "makeshift marriage", but says that Athena then nursed Erechthonius on her "manlike breast".[51]
ICE says it can forcibly enter homes without a judicial warrant--according to 2025 memo
leaked to a US Senator.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ice-policy-officers-enter-homes-immigration-without-judicial-warrant-rcna255305?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
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