Setting and resting, hell!
Setting and resting ‘ll soon
make a dead man out of you.
A man like myself, with only
twenty or thirty more years
to live, has got to be rattling.

-spoken by Old Jack in The Bringer Of Water, p. 75

Found in my electronic chapbook.

From Farming: A Hand Book by Wendell Berry.

The State Peace and Development Council (aka, Myanmar’s military dictators have shelled out between $150 and $175 million to purchase 50 jet fighter trainers/light attack fighters from China. In 1999 Myanmar bought a dozen of the trainers and last year it purchased 20 Russian MiG 29s. What are the generals afraid of?

From ScandAsia News:

The purchase of the 50 aircraft comes after Burma’s air force chief Lt-Gen Myat Hein traveled to China in November to negotiate an upgrade to the fleet of Chinese-made military aircraft already owned by Burma.

“There are two reasons to purchase K-8 trainers,” said the source. “Either for training exercises or for counter-insurgency.”

The K-8 jet trainer, sometimes called the K-8 Karakorum or the Hongdu JL-8, is a joint venture between China and Pakistan, and is fitted with air-to-air missiles and rockets.

Jeffrey Winbush writes:

This was more of a case of civilian stupidity than police brutality. What’s she thinking the cop is going to do when she grabs his arm? Give her a high-five? The local NAACP wants the cop fired. The American Civil Liberties Union says the Seattle police have a bad habit of using excessive force. The police department promises an open investigation of the incident. The Seattle Times reveals Levias’ and Rosenthal’s prior criminal records.

As if it were rehearsed, the actors take their place on stage and recite their well-known lines. The only thing missing is the inevitable press conference starring a suddenly demure Rosenthal and Levias, dolled up for church on Easter Sunday, sitting mutely as their outraged attorney promises to sue the city for millions for his savagely beaten and terminally embarrassed clients. (But you know it’s coming.)

Race is irrelevant to the crime committed. A jaywalker is a jaywalker is a jaywalker. The cop was working alone in a situation where he had bitten off a little more than he could chew. Who knew that what should have been a simple ticket would turn into a viral video to be seen over and over for the next few days?

We used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot and then once a day it was taken and sold to the tannery. If you had to do this to survive you were “Piss Poor.” But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn’t even afford to buy a pot, they “didn’t have a pot to piss in” and were the lowest of the low.

Yes, it almost make sense…

I could never bring myself to forward all the email jokes, cartoons and other Internet comedy that land in my inbox. But then I started posting the ones my dad sends me. Judging from my comments and emails, my dad has become one of my greatest blogging assets. So for your morning blog chuckle I present: From My Dad.

What I know of spirit is astir
in the world. The god I have always expected
to appear at the wood”s edge is beckoning,
I have always expected to be
a great relisher of the world, its good
grown immortal in his mind.

From The Satisfactions Of The Mad Farmer, p. 63

Found in my electronic chapbook.

From Farming: A Hand Book by Wendell Berry.

Leonard Wibberley’s novel The Mouse That Roared (later a brilliant Peter Sellers movie) and I both entered the world in 1955. The tale involves a tiny country attacking the United States, intending to loose and then get lots of aid as a results. Is there possibly a dog-eared copy of the book lying around Myanmar?

That cockamamie suggestion sounds as good as the other theories floating around for why Myanmar would try to become a nuclear power.

From NPR:

The question that arises from all this, of course, is why Burma would want to get into the WMD business in the first place. The country has no threatening neighbors, no regional rivals that want to take it over. But that, say the experts, would be to underestimate the regime’s xenophobia and pathological suspicions of the outside world.

The film offers clues. One Burmese ex-diplomat defector interviewed on camera puts it like this: “In 1992, when General Than Shwe came to power, he thought that if we followed the North Korean example, we would not need to take account of America or even need to care about China. In other words, when they have nuclear energy and weapons, others will respect us.”

Burma analyst Lintner points to the domestic context as well. “According to the people I have talked to, the Burmese generals believe they need a strong deterrent to remain in power, against the outside world as well as their own population.”

In 2007, it should be recalled, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to protest against the country’s leadership. If having nukes would make it that much harder for outsiders to pressure them, that would, conceivably, make life harder for internal opponents as well.

You do have to spend money to make money.

Hey, it’s a theory.

Marc Tracy writes:

But today I’m making an exception. Apparently several Israeli Internet entrepreneurs figured out last year that they could make a lot of money acting as middlemen for the buying and selling of vuvuzelas—those horrible, noxious, bzzzzzzz-sounding cheap plastic horns that South African “fans”* have been playing incessantly during World Cup matches—and, so yeah, www.buy-vuvuzela.com/ (please don’t) is Israeli-owned.

This may not be why some hate Israel. But it sure ain’t helping.

Yes another reason to stay away from sporting events.

by Nick Turner…

And for those too young to know…

It’s been a busy week in Wally World: the Universe’s source of cheap plastic crap. On The Writing On The Wal — the blog USA Today says should be on its readers’ radar — Jonathan Rees and I continue our work dedicated to drawing back the curtain on the Bentonvile Behemoth’s corporate disinformation and other flackery.

SPENDING MILLIONS TO SAVE BILLIONS… Jorge Ramirez asks something of a rhetorical question when he expresses disappointment that Walmart would rather spend millions in public relations marketing in Chicago than pay that money to its workers. Keep reading…

SPENDING MILLIONS TO SAVE BILLIONS… Jorge Ramirez asks something of a rhetorical question when he expresses disappointment that Walmart would rather spend millions in public relations marketing in Chicago than pay that money to its workers. Keep reading…

FLASH: SOMETHING’S WRONG AT WALMART…! So writes Mark Gimein at Slate. There are literally thousands of corporations I know nothing about, but I flatter myself to think I’ve learned a bit about Walmart and I have to remind myself that there are many other journalists not so fortunate. Keep reading…

HEY! WALMART IS HIRING…! I’ve been thinking a lot about job numbers and the Great Recession and wish that we had a number that measure not jobs, but wage hours in the economy. Right now we’re comparing a $25/hour engineering job to an $8/hour Walmart job and calling them equal. Keep reading…

MASTERCARD AND VISA VS. WALMART… OY…! It would be easy to simply wish a plague on all their houses, but that would be shirking responsibility. Yet the question of hidden (to the consumer) interchange fees on your plastic is important, even if I confess that my head hurts when I try to figure it all out. Keep reading…

ABOUT THAT LORAIN, OHIO, WALMART… Lorain is one county over from Cuyahoga County where I live and we’ve reported before about how Walmart has fared there. Reporter Rick Payerchin wants comments on a new Walmart. I’ve emailed Rick to get into the loop on the responses he receives. Keep reading…

AL NORMAN AND I DIFFER … I’ve been reading Al Norman since before we started The Writing On The Wal née No Cleveland Walmart back in 2005. I respect his work and until today I don’t think I’ve ever questioned what he’s written. I left the this comment on Al’s latest at Huffington Post: Keep reading…

DOES APPLE LOSE OR WALMART GAIN COOL…? Jeff Reeves raises the issue of hippness and coolness and I have to wonder if Apple has jumped the shark when it decided to let Walmart sell the latest iPhone at the exact same moment as all the Apple Stores do? Is Apple officially now no longer cool? Keep reading…

YET ANOTHER REASON TO LIKE WISCONSIN… In addition to Michael Feldman, The Stone Toad and beer, I have another reason to like the people of Wisconsin: a 70-year-old law — supported for years by Democrats and Republican legislatures — that sets a minimum mark-up on retail sales. Keep reading…

NICE HOMES, BUT WHY WALMART…? I subscribe to Walmart’s YouTube channel so that I can watch the latest commericals (see how I suffer for my readers), but this week a video on interesting homes showed up on the channel and for the life of me I can’t figure out what it has to do with Walmart? Keep reading…

iPHONERS ARE STARTING TO PANIC… Are there any iPhone 4’s in Walmarts? Will there be any iPhone 4’s in Walmart? Never underestimate the herd when it comes to flashy pretties. When ATT is involved, expect massive cock-ups. But hey, I’ve been wrong before. Keep reading…

I just know Ralph’s working on his version…

If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

I could never bring myself to forward all the email jokes, cartoons and other Internet comedy that land in my inbox. But then I started posting the ones my dad sends me. Judging from my comments and emails, my dad has become one of my greatest blogging assets. So for your morning blog chuckle I present: From My Dad.

after sleep, the sense of being enabled
to go on with work, morning a clear gift;

From The Satisfactions Of The Mad Farmer, p. 61

Found in my electronic chapbook.

From Farming: A Hand Book by Wendell Berry.

I know a teacher who is a survivor of the Shoah and who shares his experiences with students at his synagogue. He once told me that he wished that each January he could have his classes remove their shoes and march once around the building in the snow so that they might know a tiny bit of what those terrible years were like.

He does understand that his wish will never be granted.

Educators in a community east of Edinburg, Scotland, face something of the same challenge and devised a curriculum that will allow their students to experience something of what it means to be under house arrest.

From the BBC:

East Lothian primary school pupils are to be held under “tent arrest” to highlight the plight of one of the world’s famous political prisoners.

Campie School pupils in Musselburgh are to be taken from the classroom by “police” and held for 20 minutes.

The event will mark the 65th birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest in Burma for 14 of the past 20 years.

It is hoped it will raise awareness of people living in military dictatorship.

Pupils have been learning about Suu Kyi, pro-democracy leader and Nobel Laureate, as part of a Global Schools Partnership with Burma.

They also had a visit from Sau Aung Thant, a student who spent three years in a Burmese labour camp for taking part in a peaceful protest to honour a monk.

He was not allowed to return to university on his release, and was left the country by travelling three days non-stop hidden in a van after he was found putting up political posters.

Aung Thant, who has been studying at Newbattle Abbey College in Midlothian, is convinced he would have “disappeared” if he had been caught.

He said: “It was very good to be able to come to Campie school and speak to the children.

“It is good to share stories about our countries and to let people know here what is happening in Burma.”

From the Chicago police chief:

The city of Chicago police department has announced this morning that all German shepherd police dogs will be replaced by coon hounds, due to the fact that the city is not having any problems with Germans.

WARNING: If you laughed at this e-mail, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Barack Obama and Rev. Wright will be comin’ over to kick your honky ass!

Previously: How To Birth A Teabagger…