Roldo Bartimole writes:

E. J. Dionne of the Washington Post has said what needs to be said. It should be said over and over again until people understand it.

Please read this and send it to everyone you can.

Republicans are ruining America in order to hide the disaster of President George Bush”s failed administration.

Please read it.

Found in my electronic chapbook.

There are some things you can do, however, to minimize the pain. First of all, you can keep involved in the constant production of new work. By focusing your concentration upon the work itself and making the marketing process as mechanical as possible, you can shrug off rejection more easily. This leads to the second method for reducing pain. Keep as many things in the mail as possible. p. 61

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

On this New Year’s Eve, I’m looking at three reports that play off each other to create a picture of what next year might look like in Myanmar. First, there’s a $1,000 report from Bharat Book Bureau on the Myanmar-China natural gas pipeline, second, a cautionary story on the same pipeline from IPS and finally a warning from The Economist.

Not having an extra $1,000 lying about I can’t vouch for what Bharat’s report does or doesn’t say, but my experience with such reports would suggest that it is intended to give people with money reason to spend that money on the pipeline.

The reports from IPS and The Economist — with additional commentary from The Irrawaddy — however, ought to give those investors serious pause.

From IPS:

[A]s the junta in Burma, also known as Myanmar, prepares the initial groundwork to build the twin pipelines that will cut across the country, a drumbeat of concern about rights violations that will follow is gathering momentum.

The alarm sounded by human rights activists and environmentalists comes in the wake of a growing military presence and harsh policies imposed on some villages along the pipelines” route.

While there are still no confirmed reports of forced labour along the route, such a form of abuse is inevitable once construction of the pipelines begins, they add.

“Fishing communities in the Arakan state close to the off-shore gas project have been told they cannot fish near the pipeline”s route,” says Naing Htoo, Burma project coordinator for EarthRights International, a Washington D.C.-based rights lobby. “Land confiscation has begun in Arakan state along the pipeline route.”

“These are always the first sign of abuse,” Naing Htoo reveals in a telephone interview from Thailand”s northern city of Chiang Mai. “Most people along the pipeline route are not aware of the construction plans. This is a denial of their right to information.”

Other concerned groups, like the Shwe Gas Movement, are reporting that close to 44 infantry and light infantry battalions from Burma”s powerful military have already been stationed along the route to secure it for the China National Petroleum Corp., China”s dominant oil and gas firm, which is building both pipelines.

From The Irrawaddy:

The rate of development in Burma, which is rich in natural resources, is one of the worst in the world. The United Nations Development Programme has warned that most people in Burma survive on less than $1 a day. Many people in the outskirts of cities survive on a day-to-day basis, according to NGO workers in Burma, and many people under the poverty line are suffering from malnutrition.

“But poverty alone does not spark unrest- exaggerated income inequalities, poor governance, lack of social provisions and ethnic tensions are all elements of the brew that foments unrest,” The Economist said.

Burma is ranked as the third most corrupt country in the world after anarchic Somalia and war-torn Afghanistan, according to Berlin-based Transparency International.

Perspective makes a difference.

1739: BREAKING: Cuyahoga County 2010 petition processes decided

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.

Question: If you could live forever, would you and why?
Answer: I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever. — Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest .

Warning: never trust an Internet quote without checking something other than Google. I’m willing to bet that less than 10 percent of these are real or accurate.

Found in my electronic chapbook.

I”d recommend keeping it constantly at market for a minimum of a year. p. 60

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

Reading this piece from UPI Asia makes me wonder if a key log exists for problems such as the State Peace and Development Council of Myanmar or, as I’m more inclined to think, is it unproductive to expect breakthroughs and leaps of progress towards democracy and freedom in what has always been a grinding process?

I do not want to fall into the trap of urging patience. Rather, I would call upon the words of one of my personal heroes, Admiral Hyman G. Rickover who once advised that: Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous impatience.

If you believe, as I do, that Democracy and Freedom are the very best of good ideas, then we owe it to ourselves to take the long view and to keep driving with our most courageous impatience.

Yes, I know that many of these TED For The Holiday videos are repeats here at Have Coffee Will Write. But I’m including them for two reasons: first, they’re part of TED’s For The Holidays series and well worth watching again, and second, TED has made them all available via audio download to put on your laptop, mp3 player or phone for you — to keep at-the-ready on your laptop or iPhone for those times when the only other options are mass market paperbacks.

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.

UNEXPECTED BY WHOM…? With all the pre-holiday layoffs of temporary workers there may be no one in the store to actually ring up your purchase, but if you actually have any money left and you”d like to help keep the world”s largest retailer profitable, guess what? Keep reading…

MERRY CHRISTMAS WALMART… While I”m out of town for the holidays, everyone can cuddle up in front of the virtual tree and crackling fire to enjoy this bit of holiday satire of Charles Dickens” A Christmas Carol (I”m really, really sorry Chuck) retitled: A Walmart Carol. Keep reading…

BEST WISHES TO YOU ALL… To my co-blogger Jonathan Rees and the family of Robert Feinman, whom we lost this year, I extend my wishes for a happy holiday season and a better New Year. To those intrepid readers who come back again and again and tell us what they think. Keep reading…

CHRISTMAS AT WALMART… I sincerely hope that all those who do the real work at Walmart and do their very best with their hourly check enjoy a day of peace and joy with their families. For the people who control Walmart, I hope you got lots of high-sulfur coal in your stocking. Keep reading…

HOW MUCH HAPPIER ARE YOU TODAY…? Another Christmas Socially Mandated Debt Season has come and gone. Is there an economist out there willing to begin the conversation about the stuff bubble? After 11 September 2001, the top fear was not more death, but that people would stop buying stuff. Keep reading…

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK OUT… We have a lot of rights. Yet those who fear the exercise of those rights are able to use intimidation and fear to convince people that employing their rights is not in their onw best interst: think of every bad police interrogation you”ve watched on TV. Keep reading…

WHY WE DO THIS… I”m catching up on comment replies. This morning I read what was to be one of Robert Feinman”s final comments on The Writing On The Wal and it gave me pause as I considered how well he defined what I, and I believe Jonathan strive to accomplish. Keep reading…

YOU MISS THE GRUMPY PASTA SISTERS… What do communities lose when Walmart comes to town? They lose the Ruddy Polish Farmer, the Shy Egg Lady, Mr.Marzipan and much, much more. You lose the trust that can develop between you and the person who sells you your meat and bread. Keep reading…

WALMART IN THE RED ZONE… In three out of four categories: cash management, profitability and growth, Gauging Corporate Financial Results puts Walmart in the red zone. It only creeps into the yellow when measuring value. And all of this was before the wonderful holiday season. Keep reading…

WHY IS CASH CRASS…? Giving cash as a present is suppossed to rude, crass and just plain low class because it shows that the giver gave no thought to gift. Gift cards, however, are considered fine because you at least thought of the store where the giftee likes to shop. Keep reading…

THE VENTERS IN THE COMMENTS… Over at The Huffington Post, there”s a story about the Chattanooga shoplifters. That doesn”t really interest me. The reactions of readers, however, does interest me. The comments quickly move away from the theft to much larger social issues. Keep reading…

I think we’ve turned a corner on the whole Run Away! Run Away! fear meme so nurtured by President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. With a president in office who addresses challenges like an adult, with courage and intelligence, we can laugh in the face of those who think they can actually defeat us.

This new meme is one I will do everything I can to spread around.

0702: Kucinich challenger claims USSR women had 12 to 20 abortions, each?

It would have cost you $5 per half ounce to send a letter via the Pony Express from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. Adjusted for inflation, that is something like $118 in present dollars. Much of our present economy is based on cheap transportation depending upon relatively cheap energy costs. (Yes, gasoline at less than $3 per gallon is cheap energy.)

That is what makes it possible for a company in the United States to contract with a company in China to manufacture a DVD player, ship it across the Pacific and then haul it across the United States to a store where you can buy it for $19.99. The key is that the cheaper labor costs in China offset the more than 18,000 miles of transportation costs.

Thankfully, for local manufacturing jobs, that is changing.

From the BBC:

Manufacturers are moving production back to the UK amid concerns about poor quality and higher freight costs, a report has said.

One in seven companies has moved its manufacturing operations to the UK from abroad in the past two years, a report by the EEF and accountants BDO said.

The EEF said the UK had become “increasingly competitive and efficient” over the past few years.

The EEF represents thousands of manufacturing companies in the UK.

“Many companies have taken advantage of the low-cost emerging markets, both as market opportunities and also as a means of reducing costs,” the EEF’s chief economist Lee Hopley told the BBC.

“If you look at how UK manufacturers compete in global markets, it’s about quality, it’s about customer service and it’s about delivery times.

“If lower labour cost producers can’t provide what they need when they need it, then the alternative is to produce in-house and bring production back to the UK, which some are clearly doing.”

One-in-seven is low, but it is a start. Energy — at least until we can develop fusion reactors — will never be cheaper again. The costs will only go up and when they reach the point where labor costs are no longer low enough to offset the transportation costs, then manufacturing will again become a local phenomenon.

I think that is good.

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.

At five minutes and six seconds after 4 AM on the 8th of July this year, the time and date will be 04:05:06 07/08/09. This will never happen again.

Well, at least not until five minutes and six seconds after 4 AM on the 8th of July 2109 and every 100 years there after. (Don’t forget, it also happened back in 1909, but they probably didn’t notice because of analog clocks.)

Of course, something very similar happend last year at: 03:04:05 06/07/08 And will, quite naturally, happen next year at: 05:06:07 08/09/10.

Never say never.

Found in my electronic chapbook.

One reason not to keep it around is you might read it, and that”s a bad idea. You”ve already read it enough. The addition of a rejection slip isn”t going to heighten your enthusiasm. So don”t read it. Don”t even keep it around long enough to tempt yourself. p. 60

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

On the one hand I understand how Western culture has steam rollered over indigenous peoples around the world. On the other hand, I understand that it was Levi’s and Coke Cola, not Peacemakers, that brought down the Berlin Wall. So what’s up with the State Peace and Development Council and guitars?

Burma’s Ministry of Culture has ordered the country’s traditional Saing orchestras not to use western musical instruments-a move likely to reduce the popularity of many of the groups.

Saing orchestras have been playing traditional music for centuries, supported by the patronage of successive monarchies. The orchestras, in which percussion instruments dominate, traditionally provide the musical accompaniment for performances of Zat Thabin drama.

In recent years, however, western instruments-particularly guitars and keyboards-have crept into the ensembles, usually in response to the changing musical tastes of young music lovers.

What’s next, Big Mac’s?

Yes, I know that many of these TED For The Holiday videos are repeats here at Have Coffee Will Write. But I’m including them for two reasons: first, they’re part of TED’s For The Holidays series and well worth watching again, and second, TED has made them all available via audio download to put on your laptop, mp3 player or phone for you — to keep at-the-ready on your laptop or iPhone for those times when the only other options are mass market paperbacks.

[Update — 1623: And then there’s this.] 1614: Change you can defeat Al Qaeda with