DON’T FORGET BURMA NO. 101…
0230 by Jeff Hess
22 February 2008
22 February 2008
TIME POWER: TODAY…
0001 by Jeff HessToday, as I go about my tasks, I’ll think about Selections from One-Hundred-One Time Management Goals:
26. Set deadlines for each vital task.
30. Memorize the five questions for prioritizing and use them to negotiate interruptions and accomodate the priorities of others.
34. Say no when a request is not vital.
35. Do a job right-right.
39. Keep a writing pad and pencil at hand. If anything worthwhile comes out of your notes, record it in your datebook organizer.
21 February 2008
GOOD MORNING MYANMAR…
2030 by Jeff Hess
She married a foreigner. That’s the lame excuse that the military dictators of Myanmar are using to justify excluding the rightful and duly elected president of Myanmar — Aung San Suu Kyi — from taking part in the 2010 elections that the generals announced last week. I wonder how long it took them to come up with that exclusion?
White House national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Wednesday Burma’s military government should start working on a new draft.
Burmese officials said earlier that Aung San Suu Kyi would not be allowed to run under the proposed charter because she was married to a foreigner. The democracy leader was married to a British citizen, who died of cancer in 1999.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, also voiced its concern, but says it will not interfere in Burma’s domestic affairs. Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo called Burma’s decision to bar Aung San Suu Kyi from participating in future elections odd and out of date, but added that the group could do little about it. Singapore currently holds ASEAN’s rotating presidency.
Executive director of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus based in Malaysia, Roshan Jason, called ASEAN’s statement “weak.” A recently signed charter calls on member states to protect human rights in the region.
Burma’s previous constitution was scrapped in 1988, and the country recently announced plans to hold a national referendum in May to approve the new document. General elections are scheduled to follow in 2010.
Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 12 of the last 18 years under some form of detention and remains under house arrest in Rangoon.
Her party won elections in 1990, but the military government refused to recognize the results and prevented the party from taking office.
Do you suppose this is their attempt at being subtle this time?
21 February 2008
MUCKING OUT THE BLOGPILE…
1400 by Jeff Hess
I’m constantly tossing interesting websites into what I call my blogpile. Some of them find their way here in the form of regular posts, but more often than not they languish and get buried deeper in the pile. The end result is that I have to go back and do a bit of shoveling. Today’s item is The Massive Benefits of a Healthy Diet…
21 February 2008
21 February 2008
FROM THE SANDBOX…
1200 by Jeff Hess
Old Blue: I stand on the metal roof of a district center in a small town in eastern Afghanistan. The sun has just gone down, and the chill in the air is cutting. I am warm, though. The Army-issue cold weather system components that I am wearing are doing their job. I’m glad that I changed my socks just prior to climbing the 2×4 homemade ladder to the expo…
21 February 2008
FROM MY DAD…
0800 by Jeff Hess
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 head scratch I present: From My Dad.
Easter this year is Sunday, March 23.
As you may know, Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20).
This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.
I found out a couple of things you might be interested in.
Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) but that is pretty rare. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives. And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here are the facts:
The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you’re 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that).
The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!
21 February 2008
21 February 2008
GOOD AFTERNOON MYANMAR…
0430 by Jeff HessI don’t know what the word for credibility is in Myanmar, but someone needs to sit down with the military dictators of the country and explain to them that it doesn’t mean what ever they want it to mean. No one is buying their constitutional plans nor their faux elections scheduled for 2010. And I doubt they have a Plan B.
From Reuters:
An election planned by Myanmar’s generals must be credible, the Association of South East Nations said on Wednesday, adding the outcome would affect all members of the 10-nation group.
Myanmar’s ruling generals earlier this month announced a referendum in May on a new constitution, to be followed by an election in 2010. If held, the poll would be the first since a 1990 election whose outcome the military ignored.
“What we are concerned about is the credibility of the process,” Singapore’s Foreign Minister George Yeo said on Wednesday.
“There must be provisions for independent verification and many of us expressed the view that Myanmar cannot ignore the international dimension,” he told reporters after a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in the city-state.
Since it’s clear that the generals have no respect for anything other than their own desires, ASEAN needs to rethink whether it is better to have Myanmar as a member or to isolate the generals.
Which would you prefer?
21 February 2008
FROM MY CHAPBOOK…
0400 by Jeff Hess
My name is Jeff Hess and I’m a biblioholic. I own hundreds of books. Not valuable books, mostly Science Fiction paperbacks and text books, tomes rescued by the bag from library book sales. A few years ago, in the interest of not burying myself, I began reading more books from the library and taking notes. My electronic chapbook was born.
This is a passage I copied from Midrash and Literature edited by Geoffrey H. Hartman and Sanford Budick.
Agnomen: An additional fourth name given to a person by the ancient Romans in allusion to some achievement or other circumstance, a nick name. [17]
21 February 2008
21 February 2008
TIME POWER: TODAY…
0001 by Jeff HessToday, as I go about my tasks, I’ll think about Selections from One-Hundred-One Time Management Goals:
17. Chain myself to my desk until my highest A is done.
19. Select the best time of day for each task.
20. Do the most vital tasks now.
23. Use blank spaces in my time; always have a high A with me.
24. Use my support staff to reinforce my vital priorities.
20 February 2008
GOOD MORNING MYANMAR…
2030 by Jeff HessIn October I wrote a brief post about a group of female Nobel laureates who came together to demand the release of one of their own: Aung San Suu Kyi. To the best of my knowledge, nothing came of that demand and the rightful leader of Myanmar remains under house arrest. Now nine other Nobel laureates have stepped forward.
From Irrawaddy:
Nine Nobel laureates led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama urged the UN Security Council and individual governments on Monday to impose an arms embargo on the Burmese military junta.
They said in a joint statement: “We appeal to the members of the Security Council and the international community to take action quickly on measures that will prevent the sale of arms to the Burmese military, including a ban on banking transactions targeting top Burmese leaders, as well as state and private entities that support the government”s weapons trade.”
Besides Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama, other signatories to the joint statement are Shirin Ebadi, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Elie Wiesel, Betty Williams and Jody Williams. More Nobel laureates are expected to join the group.
The statement singled out China, Russia, India, Ukraine and Poland as providers of arms to Burma.
“Many of the arms used by Burma”s military regime to retain its hold on power have been sold to the regime by foreign governments. This is not acceptable – no nation should sell arms to a regime that uses weapons exclusively against its own people,” the statement said.
Every single living Nobel Laureate ought to step forward and join with these nine individuals.
Who will you encourage?
20 February 2008
MUCKING OUT THE BLOGPILE…
1400 by Jeff HessI’m constantly tossing interesting websites into what I call my blogpile. Some of them find their way here in the form of regular posts, but more often than not they languish and get buried deeper in the pile. The end result is that I have to go back and do a bit of shoveling. Today’s item is How to Build a Reading Hobby..
20 February 2008
20 February 2008
FROM THE SANDBOX…
1200 by Jeff HessMSGT Ken Mahoy: Some days I really love my job. We can moan and complain all we want about the living conditions here, the weather, the absence of most amenities we enjoy back in the states, much less the fact that there is an element of danger living here, but every now and then there are weeks when you realize why you”re here. This week was one of…
20 February 2008
MY COMMENTS…
1037 by Jeff Hess
Part of being a good citizen of the blogosphere is visiting, reading and, most importantly, taking the time to leave a comment on other’s blogs. It’s all about the conversation. In the interest of setting an example I’ve decided to link to those blog posts that have compelled me to leave a comment.
1034 The Holocaust and Pedagogy in France–and Lessons for Ohio
20 February 2008
WAL-MART WEDNESDAY…
1000 by Jeff Hess
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, Robert Feinman, Peter Sayles and I continue our work dedicated to drawing back the curtain on the Bentonvile Behemoth’s corporate disinformation and other flackery.
WAL-MART STRIKE SETTLEMENT WAS A CROC…? A week ago Jonathan wrote about Wal-Mart workers in Mexico walking out on strike. The strike was a short one, lasting all of a day. And it ended with Wal-Mart actually signing a labor contract with the workers. You have to ask, what the feck was going on here? Keep reading…
THE GROWTH FALLACY… What does it take to convince people that adding retail is not a harbinger of growth? Retail is a secondary economy; it feeds off of the generation of wealth from primary industries where people produce goods, not sell goods produced elsewhere. 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 jenniferearlene. Keep reading…
WHO ELECTED WAL-MART…? WE DID… Corporations have a long history of pre-empting rigiorous goverment standards by proposing their own reasonable industry standards that they can still make profits live with. That history also tells us that industry standards are about avoiding lawsuits. Keep reading…
SOMETIMES IT JUST DOESN”T MAKE SENSE… It was a really slow news day on Saturday. Other than endless repeats of the Wal-Mart Kills HD DVDs meme, I had to dig pretty deep to come up with anything to write about. I confess that what I found is more of a non-story, but a lot of news outlets ran it. Keep reading…
WHAT”S THE REAL STORY ON SONY”S BLU-RAY…? I”m with Jonathan on this one, I”m already sick and tired of reading about how Wal-Mart is single handedly killing HD-DVD by announcing that it will exclusively sell Sony”s Blu-ray DVD system. But Wal-Mart is no leader on this. It”s seen the writing on the wall. Keep reading…
WHO NEEDS CUSTOMER SATISFACTION…? In a normal buisness climate the survey results from University of Michigan”s American Customer Satisfaction Index would cause any retailer to start kicking butts and taking names, but Wal-Mart doesn”t care about satisfied customers. Keep reading…
PENNY PINCHERS OR JUST FLAT-OUT BROKE…? The wires this morning are flooded about all the wonderful economic coming out of Wal-Mart. It”s a perfect case of news-release journalism: skim the release, make a quick phone call for a quote and type that sucker up. Job done. Keep reading…
20 February 2008
FROM MY DAD…
0800 by Jeff HessI 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.
My dad came out 62 percent Dixie. I scored 67 percent Dixie.
20 February 2008
GOOD AFTERNOON MYANMAR…
0430 by Jeff Hess[Update — 0827: Any hope that the constitutional referendum in May and elections in 2010 might mean change for the people of Myanmar is dead. The generals have proffered the ultimate deal breaker.
From AFP:
…late Tuesday just as the junta said the final draft was complete, foreign minister Nyan Win told a regional gathering in Singapore that the constitution would bar detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from running in elections.
She beat them once in a fair election, and the generals can’t risk a second fiasco like that.
The people of Myanmar are left with only returning to the streets. And the free nation’s of the world are left with only the conclusion that the generals have no legitimacy as rulers of Myanmar.]
I berate the rococo American media for not paying more attention to events in Myanmar, but occasionally pieces do show up around the country. Mary Swift’s column in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is a good example. She’s found a strong, local human interest story to connect her readers with a decades-old tragedy half way around the world.
Steve Dun makes his living at a boat-repair business in Ballard.
It’s his job, but Dun will tell you it’s not his most important work. His priority is focusing attention on human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
The country has been ruled by a military regime for decades. Minority ethnic groups have found themselves under attack. Protests by students, monks and other groups are met with swift, often bloody, reprisals. Terror is common.
Dun knows that from experience.
Born in Rangoon, the 44-year-old Dun is the son of a marine engineer father and a schoolteacher mother. He was 10 when the country’s military regime forced his family to flee to a remote village on the border of Thailand.
“Both my parents’ papers were confiscated by the military regime,” he says, “because both my parents were educated Karen (one of the country’s minority ethnic groups that has opposed the military regime).”
How Dun transformed himself from a Karen refugee to an political advocate for his people in the United States is not that unusual, but it is important nonetheless.
Dun, whose parents now live in Texas, has testified before Congress on several occasions about conditions in Myanmar. In June, he was part of a coalition of ethnic leaders who made the rounds in Washington, D.C.
“I got to meet with Laura Bush, a sharp lady, very interested in children’s education and health care,” he says.
He also has been involved in World Aid Inc. of Seattle, a small, volunteer-run organization that provides medical supplies, food, blankets, plastic tarps and other items for Myanmar refugees in Thailand and internally displaced people inside Myanmar. The U.S. has been “on the forefront of sanctions” against Myanmar, he says.
“Sanctions are just words. But for the people of Burma, there’s a lot of hope thinking that people in the U.S. are standing with us.”
He says that “in the midst of all the bad stuff — the attacks, the stepping on mines, the burning of villages, is that the human element in Burma is very loving and very caring. I really miss it.”
Not, he says, that he is likely to see his native country again any time soon.
“Because of my activities, my name has come up as an enemy of the state,” he says matter-of-factly.
“We just want the world to know the situation there. Citizens need to keep the light on Burma and not let it be forgotten.”
OK?
