I’ve noted here before the growing chummery between China and Myanmar. That the military dicators of the latter would like to repeat the world economic status of the former is no great strech of the imagination. Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, however thinks the generals have another think coming.

From Mizzima:

Nobel Laureate Prof. Joseph Stiglitz said Burma needs an all inclusive economic process in order to achieve stability and security as “Economics and politics cannot be separated.”

Prof. Stiglitz was speaking at a forum on “Restoring Burma as the Rice Bowl of Asia”, organised by Myanmar and the United Nations Economics and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, on Monday.

“Economics and politics cannot be separated,” said the Nobel Prize winning economist.

“For Myanmar to play a role on the world stage – and to achieve true stability and security – there must be widespread participation and inclusive processes. This is the only way forward for Myanmar,” he added.

Of course, widespread paritcipation and inclusive processes is the last shift Myanmar’s State Peace and Development Council wants, particularly when it involves individuals like Aung San Suu Kyi.

1404: Hannukah Ham

To the Minister of the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and the Stateless

My name is Tiger Woods, and I am a victim of terrible persecutions. I am writing to request the right of asylum. For the last 15 days, I have been the victim of intense humiliation. Not a day has passed that I have not been attacked by my country”s national press. Public opinion says that I have committed horrible crimes, moral turpitudes and perversity. But I am just a victim of opprobrium.

In my country, adultery, a common and banal act, is considered a crime. Yet, it is well-known that it is practiced by the majority of Americans. The market for adultery is flourishing, even in these times of economic crisis. On its own, Continue Reading »

Roldo Bartimole writes:

Did the Plain Dealer kill a story on Prosecutor Bill Mason because of the paper”s so – maybe too – close relationship with the people behind Issue 6 – County Reform?

County reform has become a crusade for the Pee Dee. And it has been so far a successful drive. Issue 6 passed rather easily with the paper”s backing. A good deal of the credit for passage goes to the PD for its concentration on corruption in county government. It set a tone – a climate for change – voters heard.

So that”s why it is interesting that the paper appears to shy away from one politician.

But the Cleveland Independent, a new alternative paper, 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 chuckle I present: From My Dad.

ATTORNEY:Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question?

Attributed to Disorder In The Court.

Found in my electronic chapbook.

When I”m off my form, the garbage I”ve written just sits there on the page and thumbs its nose at me. And when it gets into print that way, it”s there for all the world to see forever. p. 48

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

My total word count remains at 21,380.

One of the many reasons why the torture of terror suspects in United States’ custody during the tenure of President George W. Bush so pissed me off, is that I understood that such immoral and illegal actions would greatly dilute any protests we might make internationally against the torture of our citizens.

A case in point from The Irrwaddy:

[Barbara] Mikulski, the senator from Maryland, expressed her serious concerns about Kyaw Zaw Lwin”s treatment by a military regime that is known for its violation of human rights. “Mr Lwin has already reported through his attorney that he has been tortured while being interrogated during his detention,” she said.

1508: Rachel on the great GOP Interweb #FAIL

Roldo Bartimole writes:

There are some sane voices around. Better we listen to them or wait another 40 years for some kind of health care reform. Listen to the sane voices for a change.

Read Paul Krugman”s take on the health care bill today.

What is it about people, even well-meaning, that they jump all over Democrats – who are at least trying to pass a bill – and leave the Republican, or as I like to call them the Repugnant Party, alone and happy with their obstructionist policies.

It”s a disgrace that EVERY Repugnant is voting NO on health care and other matters. It”s obstructionist to the nth degree.

We”re also getting a terrible example of how the main stream media work in the reporting about the health bill.

Please read my post lower down which links to two articles that have some sanity in their assessments of the health bill, even without a public option.

Allowing this opportunity to pass will set us back decades and allow the wealthy to laugh at our fighting among ourselves.

It”s not about President Barack Obama, as some try to position it. It”s about getting direly needed health care to people who need it. Please read Krugman. He tells you why.

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.

ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
ATTORNEY: And Mr… Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished.

Attributed to Disorder In The Court.

[Update 0626: I’m not the only veteran pissed.]

Normally I wait until the following Wednesday to cross-post items from our Walmart blog — The Writing On The Wal — but this story can’t wait. If there is any chance you have shopping to do and were planning on doing it at Walmart, please read this first. If you’ve bought presents from Walmart, please consider taking them back.

As a former member of our military, this revelation concerning Walmart pisses me off. Remember that snow-in-Iraq TV ad Walmart ran recently? Well the real story is that Walmart is sticking it to service members and their families if a holiday gift is shipped to an Army Post Office address.

From Stars & Stripes:

Overseas military customers ordering gifts online from certain retailers might get an unpleasant surprise when shipping and handling fees are tacked on at the end of the purchase.

Those same customers might be most surprised to find that retail giant Walmart had the biggest markup.

On a $120 purchase, Walmart.com charged $10.35 to ship to an APO address, compared with $2.10 to a stateside address. For most items, Amazon.com charged the same to ship to an APO address as a stateside address. And Target offered shipping on a $120 purchase to an APO address for less than to a stateside address.

Here’s why this is so feckin’ infuriating. If you, or I, ship a package to an APO (or Fleet Post Office) address, we pay the shipping to the post office in the United States, not to the final destination. The military picks up that cost. So what Walmart is doing is charging a premium to bring soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen a little happiness for the holidays and pocketing the extra as pure greedy profit.

This should make the Grinch mad.

Found in my electronic chapbook.

Those of us who are driven to produce great quantities of manuscript don”t necessarily get any real pleasure out of the act; it”s just that we feel worse when we don”t write. It”s not the carrot but the stick that gets most of us moving. p. 48

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

My total word count remains at 21,380.

If you want to be a superpower like the United States, you have to have access to energy like the U.S. It’s no coincidence that Great Britain was the world power in the 19th century when coal was king. In the 21st century, renewable energy may rule, but for now, countries on the up swing still need fossil fuels.

From The Daily Star:

In a conclusive move, Myanmar decided to sell its newly discovered offshore gas to China, dashing Indian and Bangladeshi hopes. It is only recently that Bangladesh showed its interest in reviving the Myanmar-Bangladesh-India tri-nation gas pipeline talk with its neighbours, which perhaps came from the realisation that it would bring economic benefit through transporting gas to India, and also through importing gas from Myanmar.

For Banglasesh, the natural gas was a nice-to-have, but China and India are nuclear super-power wannabes and this is a big win for China.

Roldo Bartimole writes:

Nate Silver, the numbers man, tells us why it is so important to pass the health reform bill – even without the more desirable public options. What he sees: poorer people getting subsidized care and the subsidy coming from higher incomes sources.

“I understand that most of the liberal skepticism over the Senate bill is well intentioned. But it has become way, way off the mark. Where do you think the $800 billion goes? It goes to low-income families … Where do you think it comes from? We won”t know for sure until the Senate and House produce their conference bill, but it comes substantially from corporations and high-income earners, plus some efficiency gains,” writes Silver. He operates a website, FiveThirtyEight, and does unique political polling.

He has a chart that shows the breakdown of what families pay Continue Reading »

[Update — 1324: Make sure you don’t miss reading:
EVEN THE GRINCH WOULD BE ASHAMED…]

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.

WALMART SOLD 100 COPIES OF ICE AGE 3…? Conspiracy theorists would like to think so, but after reading the report from The Business Insider, I”m calling bullshit on a secret deal between Walmart and DVD Kiosk operator Redbox. As analyst Rick Greenfield noticed, the plot collapses when you run the numbers. Keep reading…

WALMEX BUYS WALMART CENTROAMERICA…? I”m confused by this story. I”m digging further but, I have to wonder why Walmart would sell one division, Walmart Centroamerica, to another division, Walmex? I”m sure there”s a financial upside to the moving of deck chairs, but hell if I can tell what it is. Keep reading…

VEE HAVE VAYS OF MAKING YOU TALK… People who are quick to use the words gestapo and storm troopers have little knowledge of life under the Nazis, but this comes closer than most tales I”ve heard. But give the story of Destiny and The Wal-Mart Gestapo a listen. Tune in at 6:39. Keep reading…

GOT YOUR WALGUILT HERE… Not shopping at Walmart can be a luxury (hence the little Walmart Toothpaste Buycott) that goes the way of phoo phoo coffee drinks when your job heads (literally) south and suddenly the cheap plastic crap from China looks pretty damn good. But it still hurts. Keep reading…

ANOTHER WALMART OMNIBUS… Over recent weeks I”ve been busy in other parts of my life and missed quiet a few Walmart stories that have developed and since disappeared. In the interest of at least noting their passing, I offer this omnibus collection of headlines for your consideration. Keep reading…

THREE CATEGORIES…? THAT”S IT…? CBS Money Watch has two companion pieces up on what to buy and not buy at Walmart. In the not to buy category, the best they could do were three categories: high end electronics, books and wood furniture. They spent what, five minutes on the story? Keep reading…

IF ONLY IT WERE WILL MANAGE FOR FOOD… When you”re a temp worker, you”re at the mercy of your temporary employer”s whims because you”re working under the radar. You work that day, or part of that day, and collect a paycheck that may or may not reflect the work you”ve done. Keep reading…

AT THE WALLY PLEX… There are sound stages on Hollywood”s back lots smaller than Bentonvile”s behemoths, so it”s no surprise that budding video talent has been sneaking cameras in at odd hours. And now for the midnight show at the Wally Plex featuring heylookitsnate. Keep reading…

WE HAVE A HUSBAND DOWN…! People send me Walmart jokes. My dad sends me Walmart jokes. As Uncle Bob noted a while back, they”re mostly the same tired jokes told over and over again. Finally, I came across one that is, at least to me, new. Enjoy. Keep reading…

HOW IS THIS PLAYING OUT ACROSS THE U.S. …? In college I worked discount retail in the summer and over winter break. Ohio University broke before Thanksgiving so I had four or five weeks of work. Christmas eve was always the last day of work. Laying off earlier doesn”t send good signals about sales. Keep reading…

WHO OR WHAT ARE THESE PEOPLE…? The story reads like a not-even-rewritten news release from the Walflacks. At first I didn”t give the story my attention, but then on a hunch I Googled Coahoma County Initiative and got exactly four hits, all tied o the news release. My bullshit meter”s tickin”. Keep reading…

GROUND ZERO FOR CONTAGIOUS INFECTIONS… Jonathan has written before and continues to write about how Walmart”s sick-leave policy for employees all but guarantees that shopping in a Walmart puts you at risk of becoming infected with some any number of viral and bacterial contagions. Keep reading…

GUESS WHO HE”S NOT TALKING ABOUT… With Walmart temp workers hired for the holiday season getting their pink slips two weeks early, card check a dusty echo somewhere in the bowels of Congress (pun intended) and our jobless recovery in full swing, guess where Gary Trudeau goes. Feck. Keep reading…

THIS IS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE HOW…? Walmart and Amazon aren”t playing nice and for now consumers appear to be the short-term winner. The Wall Street Journal (behind the firewall, sorry) reports Walmart is adding drive-through windows at stores for the convenience of online shoppers. Keep reading…

Robert Stein writes:

In citing Obama’s West Point announcement of the troop escalation, Kroft told him “you seemed very analytical, detached, not emotional. The tone seemed to be, ‘I’ve studied this situation very hard. It’s a real mess. The options aren’t very good. But we need to go ahead and do this.’ There were no exhortations or promises of victory. Why? Why that tone?”

The President disagreed, calling it “the most emotional speech that I’ve made…I was looking out over a group of cadets, some of whom were going to be deployed in Afghanistan. And potentially some might not come back. There is not a speech that I’ve made that hit me in the gut as much as that speech.”

That kind of decision, Barack Obama was reminding us, has to be made not just by a president who is “the smartest person in the room” about today’s pluses and minuses but who has the reserves of emotional intelligence and moral imagination to absorb what it will mean for the future.

This is why the Nobel committee did what it did. This is why President Barack Hussein Obama will be the standard against which future presidents are measured for a very long time.