So here’s the joke; An American without legs can climb Mount Everest,” the American president said proudly at a gathering of statesmen. Immediately, the Russian president said, “A Russian without arms can swim across the Atlantic.” The other world leaders were stunned by the two statements. But the leader of Burma came to the rescue:

“In my country, a man without a head can run the country for 20 years.”

From Irrawaddy:

That”s a joke by a well-known comedian known as Godzilla, and it drew loud applause from hundreds of Burmese in Bangkok in January.

The troupe of Say Yaung Sone (colorful) and Thee Lay Thee (referring to the four comedians: Sein Thee, Pan Thee, Kye Thee and Zee Thee) appeared in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore in January and has been invited to perform in Western countries.

These are brave comedians. They remind me of the American comedians who came up in the late ’50s and early ’60s; reveling in what the Establishment called sick humor. That was the easy way to dismiss what was blatantly political.

These guys know what they risk every time they step on stage.

Godzilla quips on stage, “After this performance in Bangkok, we”re going to perform in other countries, including Singapore, [South] Korea, the United States, Canada and Germany. After that, we”re going to perform in Moscow.”

A big laugh sweeps over the audience. In Burma, prison is referred to as “Moscow.”

Actually, Godzilla and Thee Lay Thee were brave enough to crack such political jokes, defying the ruling junta, in a powerful and surprising performance in Rangoon in November, just one month after the demonstrations were brutally put down by the military government.

Their jokes focused on the crackdowns against the demonstrations and the arrests of demonstrating monks. The public performance was unprecedented in the 20 years since the current military regime took power in 1988.

Could I be that brave?

Could you?

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 Readers Respond: Your Stumbling Blocks.

SPC Beaird: On the streets we”ve come to know almost as well as our own hometowns you see a few types of vehicles on the road more prominently than any other kind. First you have rickshaw taxis, kind of a three-wheeled motorcycle with a carriage on the back for the passengers. These are probably a cheaper alternative to the regular taxis, though they don”t…

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.

0845 The Fix goads gender battle: Mano a mano has nada…

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.

[Update: 0748 — I just got a note from Sarah asking for a bit of breathing room until the staff has the chance to get the ducks lined up. I’ll post another update as soon as Phoenix is ready to start collecting mugs. But hey, I’m still going to clean out the cabinets. JH]

Do you have kitchen cabinets clogged with coffee mugs? If you’re like me, you’ve gotten promotional mugs, cute mugs, colorful mugs, mugs you wouldn’t use to change your oil. Now you have the opportunity to de-clutter your kitchen and do something powerful by putting all those usable mugs in a box and dropping them off at Phoenix Coffee.

What’s going on?

Yesterday I forwarded a story to Sarah Wilson-Jones about taking a stand on throw-away coffee cups that said in part:

I can’t stand walking into a coffee shop, ordering a cup of java to stay, and having my coffee served up in a paper cup. Even worse, I get not only one, but two cups stacked together, with a paper sleeve around it to prevent my tender fingers from being burned.

Had my coffee been served to me in a mug (I did say I was staying after all), I could have enjoyed a more luxurious and homey coffee experience, my fingers would remain in tact, and two paper cups and a paper sleeve could have stayed out of the landfills.

I meant the story to reinforce Sarah’s continuing work toward making her business environmentally sustainable. But she took it to another level.

So here’s what [the story] triggered in me:

I already called Kim and Stephen and ran this by them, and of course, Carl, but I thought I would warn the rest of you that SWJ has another crazy idea. I’ll be chatting you all up this week, working through this…

Don’t you just love passion?

I’ll be delivering a box of mugs tomorrow.

How about you?

First the generals arrested poet Saw Wai. On Wednesday they arrested blogger Nay Myo Latt. Latt’s crime was doing what I do here every day: writing about oppression and tyranny and those who would deny what we had the gall to call inalienable rights. He just did it where the tyrants could snatch him.

From The Associated Press:

Despite international condemnation and pressure following the demonstrations, there is little evidence that the junta is easing its repressive rule or moving closer to reconciliation with pro-democracy forces led by Suu Kyi.

“This blockage is one of the ways used by the government to reduce Burmese citizens to silence. Burma is in danger of being cut off from the rest of the world again,” the statement said.

A system that George Bush could drool for (and Congress may give him).

From Irrawaddy:

Burmese authorities have become increasingly nervous about the activities of the country”s many Internet bloggers since the September 2007 demonstrations, when blog sites were a major source of information about the protests and the regime”s brutal crackdown.

Sabotage is another regime method to disrupt bloggers” activities. The Niknayman blog site was infiltrated by saboteurs who added insults and pornographic material to its content.

No. Nay Myo Latt is not more important than any other citizen of Myanmar oppressed by the generals. Yet, I, and I think other bloggers, must feel a kinship with his plight.

Is it possible to bring enough pressure to bear to free Nay Myo Latt?

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.

Analytic study of Midrash begun circa 1836. p. xii

Today, as I go about my tasks, I’ll think about: Any time we are preoccupied, we are out of touch with reality. We are not in a position to manage our time well. p. 114

The International Crisis Group, a self-described indepen- dent, non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Brussels, today released Burma/Myanmar: After the Crackdown, a 47-page report analyzing the past five months in Myanmar and making recommendations intended to bring democratic change in that country.

The recommendations are made to three groups: the United Nations, Myanmar’s regional neighbors and to Western nations (oddly, Japan is counted in this group and not as a regional neighbor).

I found most of the recommendations reasonable and on target. The report focuses heavily on the role the United Nations ought to play, but I found one recommendation simplified and almost buried in the report to be the one I would put on the top of the list:

5(b)(iii) A universal arms embargo.

The more and more I think about what happens in the world the more convinced I become that a universal arms embargo on all International trade is in order. I do have some thoughts on how it might be enforced, but I’m saving my analysis until I can publish it in complete form.

Could you support such an embargo?

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 Tips and Tricks for Distraction-Free Writing.

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.

I’m really tired of my President being pleased with one event or another. The world does not exist for his pleasure, no matter how much he really wants to be declared King George II. While First Lady Laura Bush has been in the front for the White House on all issues Myanmar, his non-royalness hasn’t even gotten the wave down yet.

From Agence France-Presse:

The White House said Wednesday that it was “pleased” about direct contacts between Myanmar’s detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the US government.

“The regime has refused to offer any time frame for commencement of a dialogue.

(Note: the referenced regime is the one in Myanmar, not Washington. I think.)

Do you agree that regime change begins at home?

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.

Matthew Arnold: Hebraism”s “strictness of conciseness” vs. Hellenism”s “spontaneity of consciousness.” p. ix