I’m not finding any mention of this on the news wires so I’m unable to put a date on this event. The video was posted nine hours ago so there has been plenty of time for something to pop up on the BBC at least. This may be old footage. I’ve dropped notes to the Australian who posted the video for clarification, but it looks more and more that this is footage from September of last year.
Zachary Scott-Singley: Slowly I assessed the situation; my gun was near and I know that it can feel so nice having that cold lethal steel pressed against your body, reminiscent of war in desolate sorrowful places where things seem to only become broken. In that place my body was perfect. My mind was not, however. It was bitter and un-amused with the…
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.
One day a florist goes to a barber for a haircut. After the cut he asked about his bill and the barber replies, ‘I cannot accept money from you. I’m doing community service this week.’ The florist was pleased and left the shop.
When the barber goes to open his shop the next morning there is a ‘thank you’ card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.
Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replies, ‘I cannot accept money from you. I’m doing community service this week.’ The cop is happy and leaves the shop.
The next morning when the barber goes to open up there is a ‘thank you’ card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.
Later that day, a college professor comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replies, ‘I cannot accept money from you. I’m doing community service this week.’ The professor is very happy and leaves the shop.
The next morning when the barber opens his shop, there is a ‘thank you’ card and a dozen different books, such as ‘How to Improve Your Business’ and ‘Becoming More Successful.’
Then, a Congressman comes in for a haircut, and when he goes to pay his bill the barber again replies, ‘I cannot accept money from you. I’m doing community service this week.’ The Congressman is very happy and leaves the shop.
The next morning when the barber goes to open up, there are a dozen Congressmen lined up waiting for a free haircut.
Some 43 million people live in Myanmar, 10 million more than our neighbor to the north, Canada. Among the 43 million are millions of children born into an oppressed society that does not take great care of the least of its citizens. Among Asian nations, only in Afghanistan is a child’s life more at risk.
Hundreds of children aged under five die from preventable diseases each day in military-ruled Burma, UN officials said.
The figures are the second-worst mortality rate for children in Asia except for Afghanistan.
Dr Osamu Kunii, a nutrition expert in Burma for the UN, said there were between 100,000 to 150,000 child deaths per year in the country – or between 270 and 400 daily.
He was speaking at a briefing by UNICEF of its annual report – The State of the World’s Children.
The mortality rate is a critical indicator of the well-being of children.
About 21 percent of child deaths in Burma are caused by acute respiratory infection, followed by pneumonia, diarrhea and septicemia.
In my travels in Asia more than 30 years ago, I witnessed how horrible the life of a child in the streets can be. No television commercial can tell the story.
This too is what the monks marched for.
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 Perfume of the Desert: Inspirations From Sufi Wisdom by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut.
“Religion consists in the service of the people; you do not need accessories like a rosary, or prayer rug, or tattered robe. Be a king in power and a devotee in purity of morals. Action, not words, are demanded by true religion; words without action are hollow.” Sadi p. 163
Today, as I go about my tasks, I’ll think about: As you proceed to manage your day, you will discover two essentials for managing it well: a period of solitude for planning and a set of guidelines to make your planning fruitful. p. 67
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 Why Your Classes are Boring.
Eric Coulson: Writing about the military experience in general and combat specifically is a tricky matter. Write too cynically and the piece will make the experience appear to be a nihilistic drive into dark; write too heroically and war is falsely painted as glamorous. The good combat writer portrays both the horror of combat and the nobility of ordinary Soldiers in extraordi…
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.
LEARNING LESSONS INSIDE A WAL-MART… Too many people live their lives with their eyes cast downward and their step quickened so that they can get through another day without everything spinning out of control. Understanding that is why I found this Zen moment in a blogger”s day so beautiful. Keep reading…
SIZE MATTERS… I can see the loophole big enough to drive a fleet of Wal-Mart trucks through in an ordinance passed by the City Council of Ventura. The council voted to limit construction to buildings of less than 100,000 feet, thinking that that would stop Wal-Mart. 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 chaseman1978. Keep reading…
TIME TO REARRANGE THOSE DECK CHAIRS… Now that President George Bush has officially recognized that the economy is headed south in a serious way, it”s time for the remaining cheerleaders to start looking for scapegoats. Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott has selected his initial deck chair. Keep reading…
HAVEN”T THE RUSSIANS SUFFERED ENOUGH…? Nearly a year ago I wrote about Wal-Mart”s initial scouting missions into the Russia and pondered whether or not the country was ready to be buried under cheap plastic crap. After all, the Russians have a long history of invasions from Asia. Keep reading…
UNDERSTANDING THE CHINA ISSUE… I talk a great deal here about all the cheap plastic crap from China that you can find at Wal-Mart (not that Wal-Mart is unique, just perhaps the best at the worst). Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich is also interested in the China question. Keep reading…
AND THE WALLS COME TUMBLING DOWN… Keep watching…
HOW MANY BEDS CAN YOU FIT IN A WAL-MART…? I”ve written previously about abandoned Wal-Marts being put to higher uses. I used to think the conversion to a health center was the height of irony, but the plans for the Ville Platte, Louisiana, Wal-Mart seriously tops that use. Keep reading…
GOOD JOB WAL-MART… NOW DO BETTER… More Wal-Mart workers have health insurance today than did a year ago. That”s a good thing. Don”t, however, look for the popping of Champagne corks and declarations that the era of enlightenment has reached Bentonville. Keep reading…
China continues to dig its political heels in and refuse to be drawn into the could be an Olympic sized quagmire in Myanmar. With billions invested in both infrastructure and international image for the Summer Olympics, China cannot risk even a hint of a boycott. Or take a chance on upsetting its economic applecart.
China on Tuesday rejected U.S. demands for stepped-up pressure on Myanmar, whose governing junta has been accused of spurning real dialogue with the pro-democracy opposition.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said China wanted to see stability, democracy and development in the country also known as Burma.
However, Jiang urged the international community to be “objective when viewing the Myanmar situation … and provide constructive assistance.”
China objects to Western criticisms of the military regime, claiming that conditions in Myanmar have improved dramatically since a violent crackdown on peaceful protests in September.
“I don’t think sanctions are helpful,” Jiang told reporters at a regularly scheduled news conference.
I guess that depends upon which end of the sanctions you find yourself. As one of Myanmar’s largest trading partners, China would suffer by proxy the effects of economic sanctions.
Jiang’s comments come a day after a senior U.S. official urged the international community to put more pressure on the junta, and said Washington had asked China to help arrange for a new visit to Myanmar by U.N. Security Council envoy Ibrahim Gambari to help push for national reconciliation.
They also follow a meeting in Beijing between senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Tang Jiaxuan and Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister U Maung Myint.
China’s official Xinhua News Agency said U Maung Myint told Tang that Myanmar was “making efforts to realize national reconciliation and accelerate democratic progress.”
Just what constitutes efforts to realize national reconciliation and accelerate democratic progress?
Setting off bombs?
Hmm?
So that Fouché would not think that he was mouthing a crowd-pleasing sort of bluster, Bonaparte went on: “Don”t think that my peace of mind is lodged in blind fanaticism,” he said. any more than it is based on my faith in the diligence of your police officers. Another assassination plan will surely be put into play.
But we don”t know the details, and while there”s an unlikely chance of its success, there”s no sure way to guard against it. All of that is much too vague for a mind as positive and a character as absolute as mine. Facing real obstacles, I can rely on my intelligence to be effective and on my resources to meet the challenge.
But how can we prevent ambush by some malcontent, or a knife thrust in the corridor at the Opera, a gunshot from a window, a bomb exploding on a street corner? I would need to be afraid of everything at every moment. Vain weakness! Protect myself at all times from everything? Impossible.
It is no help to keep telling me about the danger I face at any moment. I am aware of that danger, but I put it out of my mind. And by putting it out of my mind I am free not to waste time thinking about it.”
He continued: “I live by the power of my reason, or at least by my ability to keep feelings and actions subservient to its authority. When I have decided that something is not within my means, or that it is unsuitable, I cease to waste time thinking about it. All that I”m asking you to do is not to take away my peace of mind. My peace of mind is my strength.”
From The Last Cavelier by Alexandre Dumas, p. 200
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.
A female CNN journalist heard about a very old Jewish man who had been going to the Western Wall to pray, twice a day, every day, for a long, long time.
So she went to check it out. She went to the Western Wall and there he was, walking slowly up to the holy site.
She watched him pray and after about 45 minutes, when he turned to leave, using a cane and moving very slowly, she approached him for an interview.
“Pardon me, sir, I’m Rebecca Smith from CNN. What’s your name?”
“Morris Fishbein,” he replied.
“Sir, how long have you been coming to the Western Wall and praying?”
“For about 60 years.”
“60 years! That’s amazing! What do you pray for?”
“I pray for peace between the Christians, Jews and the Muslims. I pray for all the wars and all the hatred to stop. I pray for all our children to grow up safely as responsible adults and to love their fellow man.”
“How do you feel after doing this for 60 years?”
“Like I’m talking to a fuckin’ wall.”
The question of who is setting off bombs is coming up so often that I (and now others) have begun to wonder that the bombers are simply the generals creating the justifications for further oppression of the people of Myanmar. Setting of random bombs without taking credit to put the blame on the military dictators would be too clever.
From Asia Sentinel:
The junta blames insurgents and shadowy foreigners for several blasts, but analysts suspect the military itself.
Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council has accused Karen ethnic minority insurgents and a “major group from abroad” for a series of bombings over the past 10 days, raising suspicions that the junta itself is behind the violence in an effort shore up unity in the armed forces or as an excuse for crackdowns against the pro-democracy movement and ethnic resistance groups.
Here’s the bit I really like.
The junta, through The New Light of Myanmar, initially claimed on January 12 that it had a “tip-off” that “insurgents have sent terrorists and explosives to the country across the border to carry out sabotage.” It is widely understood that the border is the one with Thailand.
The next day a longer article gave details of the second attack and blamed both on foreigners as well as insurgents. The victim of the bomb in Pyinmana was now said to be a bomber who was killed when her device exploded prematurely. According to The New Light of Myanmar, “a major group from abroad that is desirous of practicing hegemony over Myanmar provided terrorist insurgent saboteurs with cash and related equipment with the intent of harming the public, causing panic among the people and undermining peace and stability.”
The “group from abroad” is often meant to refer to the United States or the Central Intelligence Agency, although other groups such as the US-based National Endowment for Democracy, the Open Society Institute of George Soros and Thailand-based exile organizations have been blamed for disturbances and plots in the past. The public was also called on to report sightings of possible terrorists.
Me thinks the generals spent way too much time in Saigon in the ’60s.
What do you think?
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 Perfume of the Desert: Inspirations From Sufi Wisdom by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut.
“If you see someone who has been graced with the such divine favors that he can fly up into the air, do not be deceived. Watch and see how you find him with the command and the prohibition, the guarding of boundaries and the carrying out of the Law.” Bayazid Bistami p. 153
Today, as I go about my tasks, I’ll think about: In practice, urgent trivialities often supersede carefully prepared goals. p. 65
Why is it that whenever there is strife, suffering and death in the world there is always a business that sees profits in the pain? We saw it here in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and all the carpet baggers who descended upon New Orleans. Sadly, Myanmar is no different. That there’s oil involved make it all the more seedy.
From Earth Times:
Companies servicing Myanmar’s oil and gas industry are upbeat about business prospects in 2008 and 2009 in the pariah state, The Myanmar Times reported Tuesday in its latest edition. “I expect 2008 and 2009 will be good years for service companies,” Kyaw Kyaw Hlaing, managing director of Smart Technical Services Company, told the weekly newspaper.
The optimism is fueled by foreign investors’ plans to develop two giant natural gas fields – the M-9 block in the Mottama Gulf and the A-1 and A-3 blocks off Rakhine State – which will entail new bids for manpower and equipment.
Don’t get me wrong, jobs paying a fair wage for honest work would be good for Myanmar’s people. I just don’t think that’s going to happen.
What do you think?
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