The news out of Myanmar that the State Peace and Development Council (aka, its military dictators) are concerned about conspiracy saboteurs intent upon stealing the election from them. The ploy is so transparent as to be silly; the generals are publicly setting the stage for declaring any election they lose as compromised by foreign and internal saboteurs.

From The Bangkok Post:

The head of Burma’s ruling junta warned of “saboteurs” conspiring to derail the country’s election due to be held later this year, state media reported Saturday.

General Than Shwe said “conspiracy saboteurs from inside and outside the country” were attempting to “harm the election”, in a May Day address published in the New Light of Burma newspaper.

Any government that believes for a moment that Myanmar is preparing for a fair and open election needs its collective heads examined.

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 video excursion I present: From My Dad.

It is as if the creators are uncomfortable with them as criminals and yearn to reform them. Perhaps, at the risk of plumbing psychoanalytical depths, we might suggest that they”re uncomfortable with themselves writing repeatedly from a criminal perspective. Voltaire, it is said, made a visit to a highly specialized bordello and enjoyed himself. He declined the opportunity to return for a second visit. “Once a philosopher,” he said. “Twice a pervert. So it is, perhaps, with writers. To explore the mind of the criminal by writing from his viewpoint is one thing. To establish him in an extended series of books as one”s literary alter ego is something else. p. 235

Found in my electronic chapbook.

From Telling Lies for Fun and Profit: A Manual for Fiction Writers by Lawrence Block.

On 2 May 2008, Cyclone Nargis made landfall in Myanmar. The wind, rain, tidal surge and floods left more than 90,000 people confirmed dead and a further 56,000 missing and presumed dead. The numbers, two years later remain much in doubt because of the extent of the devistation and lack of governmental action.

From IPS:

Kyaw Moe is just in his 30s, but he is already on his second shot at life – just like the rest of the residents of Thakan Ngu, a tiny Burmese village in this township of Bogalay.

On May 2, 2008, Kyaw Moe lost his wife and two children in the midst of Cyclone Nargis, which slammed with all its Category 3 might through the Irrawaddy Delta and the southern part of the Rangoon Division. By the time the skies cleared and the winds stopped blowing, Thakan Ngu – some six hours by car and boat ride from the former capital Rangoon – had about half of its population of nearly 300 either missing or dead.

Estimates by foreign aid organisations put Nargis”s total fatalities in Burma at some 140,000 while the United Nations says 2.4 million people were affected by the cyclone. Total amount of damage and losses reached 4.05 billion U.S. dollars, according the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) report of the United Nations, the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the Burmese government.

International aid agencies have since been trying to help Nargis” survivors recover from the tragedy. For instance, some 1.1 million Burmese have been given food aid in the two years after Nargis, says the U.N. Assistance by groups like the Myanmar Red Cross, World Vision, and the Paris-based Gret have also enabled people like Kyaw Moe continue to till land for a living.

But Nargis”s devastation was too great to make for a quick and simple recovery. Complicating matters is the changing weather that has had farmers at a loss over what they can do to save their harvests and earn some money for their families.

“We have not recovered yet because farm yield is in decline,” says Kyaw Moe, who with his siblings works on a 11.33-hectare collective farmland. He points to other factors that have hindered their progress: “This year, rats destroyed about two to three acres (.81 to 1.21 hectares) and farming cost has increased.”

How much aid, we have to wonder, did Myanmar’s military dictators assign their own priorities to?

Roldo Bartimole writes:

Cuyahoga County could save up to $1 to $2 million a year in interest for the Medical Mart/Convention Center by using bond borrowings allowed by federal stimulus subsidies. The subsidy would decrease the cost of borrowing.

The savings would depend upon interest rates at the time bonds are issued, likely this year.

Federal stimulus programs allow the County to reduce interest costs on some $94.1 million in borrowing, according to County officials.

I questioned whether the subsidies could be used for other Continue Reading »

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 video excursion I present: From My Dad.

Series fans, then want each book to be the same only different. But Tanner”s fans were spending six or eight or ten hours a year reading about their hero while I was devoting that many months a year to writing about him, and I was accordingly more affected by what I perceived as repetition.

I suppose too, that I was ready to outgrow Tanner as a vehicle for self-expression. I had not yet finished developing as a writer and needed other books, other sorts of stories, in order to facilitate this growth.

Some writers handle this by allowing the character to grow. The most striking example that comes to mind is Ross Macdonald”s Lew Archer, who was not a whole lot more than a wisecracking copy of Raymond Chandler Phillip Marlow in his earliest appearances. As Macdonald grew, so did Archer, and by the time The Galton Case was published in the late fifties, Archer had undergone a radical change. This evolution has continued over the years, and I reach for each new volume as it is published, wondering what Archer”s up to now. p. 234

Found in my electronic chapbook.

From Telling Lies for Fun and Profit: A Manual for Fiction Writers by Lawrence Block.

Bombs are exploding in Myanmar and No. 7 was detonated by a man taken into custody at a police station in Demawso, Karenni State. The obvious question here is how the feck a man in the custody of the police detonates a bomb inside a police station. Have the police in Myanmar not heard of a pat down search?

From Radio Free Asia:

A man held at a police station in Burma detonated a bomb Wednesday, killing himself and wounding at least four police officers in the latest in a series of blasts, witnesses said.

A security official said the man had been taken for questioning to a police station in Demawso, in Kayah (Karenni) state, 200 miles (320 kms) northeast of the former capital Rangoon. Why he was detained was unclear.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said the man set off a bomb, but was unable to provide further details, according to Agence France-Presse.

This was the seventh known bombing in recent weeks in military-ruled Burma, whose junta calls the country Myanmar.

The attacks come as the junta prepares for a general election that its opponents have called unfair and undemocratic.

Unfair and undemocratic? Now there’s an understatement.

Via J Street:

The President
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

As steadfast advocates of the unbreakable U.S. commitment to the security of Israel, we write in support of your strong commitment to a Middle East peace process that results in Israel and a Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security.

Distinguished leaders with decades of military service in both the United States and Israel have concluded that the continued lack of resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict threatens the security interests of both countries. General David H. Petraeus, Commander of U.S. Central Command, presented compelling testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee in March on the impact that, in his words, “insufficient progress toward a comprehensive Middle East peace” has had on American security interests in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Specifically, General Petraeus stated that “The enduring hostilities between Israel and some of its neighbors present distinct challenges to our ability to advance [U.S.] interests in the [region]…. The conflict foments anti-American sentiment…Arab anger over the Palestinian question limits the strength and depth of U.S. partnerships with governments and peoples in the [region] and weakens the legitimacy of moderate regimes in the Arab world. Meanwhile, al-Qaeda and other militant groups exploit that anger to mobilize support. The conflict also gives Iran influence in the Arab world through its clients, Lebanese Hezbollah and Hamas.”

Senior national security leaders in Israel have expressed similar views. Former Prime Minister and current Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Israel”s most decorated military leader, has stated that “The lack of a solution to the problem of border demarcation within the historic Land of Israel…is the most serious threat to Israel’s future.” In the words of Defense Minister Barak, “the reality is that there is a profound need, which stems from Israel’s interests to ensure its future and its identity. We have an interest in drawing a border line which includes a solid Jewish majority for generations, and beside it an economically and politically viable Palestinian state. The agreement on this line will come hand in hand with protecting Israel’s security interests.”

As legislators tasked with safeguarding America”s security – and as friends of Israel committed to our ally”s survival and prosperity – we share the views of these decorated military leaders and urge you to continue your strong efforts to bring U.S. leadership to bear in moving the parties toward a negotiated two-state solution. A just and sustainable end to this conflict will not only secure Israel”s future as a democratic, Jewish homeland – it will also enhance our ability to confront the threats posed by Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and other actors in the Middle East, and advance critical U.S. security interests in the region more broadly.

Thank you for your time and attention, and we look forward to your response.

I had a very disturbing conversation this week with a woman who told me that she had voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primary and Barack Obama in the 2008 general election. I could swear I was talking to Sarah Palin.

She saw my Obama and Pro Israel/Pro Peace stickers on the back of my laptop and wanted me to know that President Obama is no friend of Israel and that he was doing everything he could to hurt Israel.

For 40 minutes I tried my best to find out exactly what she was upset about, what she had heard or read but all I could get was vague fauxnewsesque talking points and a rapid changing of the focus.

I’ve not seen any of the ads that this letter talks about, but I can now surmise that this woman had (or something very similar.

Please, if you think that what J-Street is doing, what it wants to accomplish makes sense and is good for both the people of Israel and the people of the United States, please click through and forward a copy to your representative.

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 video excursion I present: From My Dad.

The creation of a series character was an early ambition of mine. Once I passed the stage of merely wanting to write some indefinable great book and developed specific authorial aims, I recognized the desire to create an enduring character and write voluminously about him. Part of this urge stemmed from the amateur”s conviction that there”s an easy way to literary success. A great many non-writers tend to make this assumption. “Once you”ve got a formula, I suppose you”ve got it made,” no end of people have said to me, the envy unmistakable in their tone. It strikes me that they”ve made two false assumptions-(1) that I”ve got a formula and (2) that I”ve got it made. p. 233

Found in my electronic chapbook.

From Telling Lies for Fun and Profit: A Manual for Fiction Writers by Lawrence Block.

While the United States faces what may become its greatest environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, a slow-motion disaster is taking place in Myanmar and a number of Non-Governmental Agencies are demanding Western oil companies reveal just how deep they are into the pockets of Myanmar’s military dictators.

From the Democratic Voice of Burma:

A grouping of NGOs led by the US-based EarthRights International today called on oil giants Total and Chevron to publish the details of contracts they hold with the Burmese junta.

The Petroleum Authority of Thailand Exploration and Production was also targeted in the initiative, which has received more than 160 signatories. These include labour unions, investment firms, scholars and world leaders, including the former Irish president Mary Robinson and Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik.

“The time for revenue transparency is now,” the head of ERI”s Burma program, Mathew Smith, told a press conference today in Bangkok.

The three companies were involved with the junta”s Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise in building the Yadana gas pipeline that carries natural gas to Thailand, via the Three Gorges Pass, to power Bangkok. The companies initially signed deals with MOGE in 1992.

“They can practice transparency but they”re not,” Smith said of the companies who have refused to disclose revenues to shareholders.

Energy, and the denial of energy, will far outstrip nuclear weapons as the source of political power in the 21st century.

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.

THE OTHER SOLUTIONS IN CHICAGO… Food deserts are a problem, a very real problem, in nearly all urban environments and to tackle the health crisis we face as a nation that these food-free zones help to create, we do need real solutions. Walmart just doesn”t happen to be a good one. Keep reading…

12 DEAD IN OHIO… We”ve written before about the way Walmart abandons existing stores when it can consolidate markets with a supercenter, leaving communities to deal with acres of cracked asphalt and an empty big-box that no one wants. Keep reading…

LETTUCE AND ONIONS WITH SPOTS… One of the great aspects about the Web is how it brings together information that clicks. Consider the juxtaposition of John Stoll, Walmarts director of produce and Ignacio Galicia, a vegetable wholesaler in Mexico City”s central de abasto. Keep reading…

MICHIGAN: GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT… Just one of the reasons why I want the case of Joseph Casias v. Walmart to work its way to the Supreme Court of the United States is that our law enforcement system, all levels, is at odds with our laws. Michigan”s medical marijuana system is swamped. Keep reading…

OTHER IS NOW AMAZON”S BUSINESS… Back in September of last year, just after American”s awakened to the Great Recession, the New York Times asked the question: Can Amazon Be the Wal-Mart of the Web? This week the paper answers its own question with an unqualified Yes! Keep reading…

HEY PETE… WHERE DO YOU LIVE…? In the ongoing battle over opening a second and third Walmart in Chicago I give credence to those, on both sides of the debate, who actually live where they would shop at the proposed stores. I”ve posted about Peter Bella before. Keep reading…

TO BEAT THE MACHINE, HIRE THE MACHINE… Walmart may actually need to open a second and third store in Chicago more than it actually wants to. That”s how I”m beginning to read the corporation”s actions as it hires two more locals to make its case before Chicago”s politicians. Keep reading…

ANOTHER CHICAGON BUYS THE SHELL GAME… Whenever I read that someone claims that information they disagree with because it puts their world view into question flies in the face of reality, I have to ask: and just what is your reality? That”s what I thought after I read a post on the Chicago News Bench. Keep reading…

IF YOU CAN SUCCEED IN NEW YORK CITY… While Walmart continues to push for a second store in Chicago, crown jewel in its vaporous urban strategy is New York City with its more than eight million residents. If Walmart can build there, it can build anywhere. And opponents know that. Keep reading…

WHEN POLITICIANS DISAGREE… Last night I wrote about Walmart window shopping in New York City for a retail beachhead where it could successfully erect a Walmart Supercenter and establish itself as king of all things retail in the retail capital of the world. Mayor Michael Bloomberg likes the idea. Keep reading…

Your energy dollars at play…

Roldo Bartimole writes:

When is the last time you”ve seen a column as the one written by a regular columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch?

Indeed, when have you EVER seen a column with similar criticism of corporate greed in the Plain Dealer? Never!

Can you ever imagine Brent Larkin writing such a piece?

I don”t think so. It just isn”t in his or the Plain Dealer”s DNA.

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 video excursion I present: From My Dad.