DON’T FORGET BURMA NO. 63…
0230 by Jeff Hess
15 January 2008
15 January 2008
TIME POWER: TODAY…
0001 by Jeff HessToday, as I go about my tasks, I’ll think about: Seven steps for goal planning:
Prepare goals within the framework of your unifying principles.
Plan your goals within reach of your abilities, of what you realistically think you can accomplish.
Write down each goal.
Make your goals as specific as it is appropriate to make them and write them so that specific results can be measured.
See that every goal is your very own.
Seek appropriate help.
Ask: Am I willing to pay the price? p. 44-8
14 January 2008
GOOD MORNING MYANMAR…
2030 by Jeff Hess
I’ve cruised the Straits of Malacca and visited the port city of Hong Kong and understand the strategic situation this blogger is writing about, but I can’t see the U.S. Navy enforcing an oil blockade. The last time we tried that in Asia, the Japanese launched the attack that thrust us into World War II. Still.
From The New York Sun:
Communist China is aiming to satisfy its growing energy needs with a pipeline through Burma, an effort that will complicate American attempts to change the regime in Rangoon, which has been widely condemned for its human rights abuses.
Why?
“The sanctions from the West become meaningless with the pipelines,” an exiled Burmese political dissident, essayist, and entrepreneur, Bo Kyaw Nyein, said. “There is a tightening between these two countries at a crucial point in Burmese history.”
[Snip]
Though the gas reserves at issue are small compared to China’s energy needs, a pipeline represents a strategic coup for China – an overland shortcut straight into the mainland. A pipeline for natural gas would likely be coupled with a pipeline that delivers Middle Eastern crude to China’s southwestern Yunnan province, where there is talk of building a refinery for the crude, according to news reports.
“Shwe is nothing to them, but crude oil coming in through Burma is very significant,” an expatriate Burmese now working in Alaska as a consultant on a natural gas project, Sein Myint, said. “The Chinese are always thinking about oil security and a pipeline across Burma puts Burma in a very important strategy position.”
Currently the supertankers that carry crude oil to China ply a roundabout course through congested shipping lanes before arriving to China’s coast. The pipeline would drastically cut short that journey by allowing tankers to unload crude in the Bay of Bengal near Burma’s Western coast. Besides cutting down on shipping costs, the shortcut diminishes China’s reliance on the Straits of Malacca, which narrow to 1.5 miles and separate Malaysia from Sumatra.
About 80% of China’s oil imports pass through this lane, which is easily closed and frequented by American warships.
I’ve got a great story I’ll share someday about the time the USS Bainbridge hoisted the Jolly Roger from its main mast as we transited the Straits of Malacca.
14 January 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 Strippers Blogging On The Internet.
14 January 2008
14 January 2008
FROM THE SANDBOX…
1200 by Jeff Hess
Adrian B.: Whenever there’s a dispute between Afghans we go for our best interpreter, a guy I’ll call “Doc.” Doc does a good job of translating, is awesome at telling us what’s going on between the lines, and is eager to work no matter the time or circumstances (this has been tested on many occasions). So Saturday rolls around and there’s a huge blow-up between…
14 January 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 chuckle I present: From My Dad.
If Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their famous sketch, “Who’s on First?” might have turned out something like this:
COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: Thanks, I’m setting up an office in my den,and I’m thinking about buying a computer.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: No, the name’s Lou.
ABBOTT: Your computer?
COSTELLO: I don’t own a computer. I want to buy one.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: I told you, my name’s Lou.
ABBOTT: What about Windows?
COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?
ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?
COSTELLO: I don’t know. What will I see when I look at the windows?
ABBOTT: Wallpaper.
COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.
ABBOTT: Software for Windows?
COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. W hat do you have?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?
ABBOTT: I just did.
COSTELLO: You just did what?
ABBOTT: Recommend something.
COSTELLO: You recommended something?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: For my office?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!
ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.
COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let’s just say I’m sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?
ABBOTT: Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: Word in Office.
COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?
ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue “W”.
COSTELLO: I’m going to click your blue “w” if you don’t start with some straight answers. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: That’s right. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?
ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.
COSTELLO: What’s bundled with my computer?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?
ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.
COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?
ABBOTT: One copy.
COSTELLO: Isn’t it illegal to copy money?
ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.
COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?
ABBOTT: Why not? They own it!
A few days later.
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?
ABBOTT: Click on “Start.”
14 January 2008
GOOD AFTERNOON MYANMAR…
0430 by Jeff HessStories are just stories. And lessons are just lesson. The moment comes in the listening and the learning; the transformation to what is real. Generations of both teachers tyrants understand this. For the first they bring a certain peace. For the second a stark fear. And the tyrants will always seek to silence the teachers.
In one of his most talked-about lectures, Buddhist monk Ashin Nyanissara tells the legend of a king who ruled more than 2,500 years ago. The king believed that spitting on a hermit brought him good fortune.
At first, it worked like a charm, but before long his realm was annihilated under a rain of fire, spears and knives.
Today’s audiences easily find the hidden message: The assault by Myanmar’s military government on monks leading protests last fall looks like a modern version of the ancient monarch’s abuse. And they hope the ruling generals will suffer the same fate.
In the recent crackdown, many monks were beaten and defrocked in prison. Human rights activists say several monks were among the 31 people the United Nations says were killed by the government.
It was a traumatic wound to a mainly Buddhist society, one that forced a lot of soul searching among people who practice one of the oldest forms of the religion, which emphasizes critical thought and reasoning over blind faith.
The stern-faced Nyanissara, a 70-year-old monk in owlish glasses and a maroon robe, is able to stare down generals with chests full of medals by stepping carefully through the minefield that makes free speech lethal here.
Which minefields do you tip-toe through?
14 January 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 Perfume of the Desert: Inspirations From Sufi Wisdom by Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut.
“The real work is beyond either of our tricks. The only thing necessary is to do the real work.” Rabia p. 122
14 January 2008
14 January 2008
TIME POWER: TODAY…
0001 by Jeff HessToday, as I go about my tasks, I’ll think about: In order to attain an appropriate balance among your long-range goals, you categorize them, making sure that all aspects of life are included. I suggest six categories: spiritual, professional, financial, social, intellectual/cultural and physical/recreational. p. 42
13 January 2008
GOOD MORNING MYANMAR…
2030 by Jeff HessFor all the bad associated with the military dictators of Myanmar, there are many doing great good. While, as a mass, the monks have garnered most of the international attention, I have been struck by the role women like Aung San Suu Kyi, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and many other courageous women continue to play.
Blogger Sit Mone is also impressed and has posted the series: Towering Ladies Of Burma.
Dr Cynthia Maung is one of these women.
In this weblog this blogger has posted “Towering Ladies of Burma”. This list of ladies will never be completed without mentioning ” Dr Cynthia Maung”
She makes proud to all Burmese ladies, especially for her ethnic Karen Minorities of Burma. Almost everybody who knows Burma aware of who she is.
She is a medical doctor graduated from Institute of Medicine 2 Rangoon in 1985. After her graduation and after 1988 uprising what has happened to Dr Cynthia became the part of the history of Burma.
“Very dignified, quiet , humble, firm and sincere” these are the words who were trying to describe Dr Cynthia”s personality.
Nobody can deny that Cynthia has sacrificed most of her life in the Malaria infested dangerous border of Thailand and Burma. She has created a safe heaven called ” Mae Tao Clinic” for those who were dire need of medical help.
Those who were suffering life threatening Malaria, HIV/AIDS to other common illness commonly associated with refugees , displaced people and poverty were seeking Dr Cynthia”s help.
After reading this post, please do visit Dr Cynthia”s clinic .You can find the link on the right column of my blog.
If you’re so inclined, it would be a good use of a part of your funds.
13 January 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 Nothing like a good Read.
13 January 2008
13 January 2008
FROM THE SANDBOX…
1200 by Jeff HessThe Usual Suspect: A routine trip to the motor pool, only supposed to last an hour or so (“Should be a quick fix, no biggie”) becomes an all day event when you find out that this truck you’re driving is scheduled for full servicing. Why not? Gotta do it sometime. Or maybe it wasn’t the truck. Maybe it was the patrol, or the police call, or the tower guard, or it was…
13 January 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.
13 January 2008
GOOD AFTERNOON MYANMAR…
0430 by Jeff HessIn the United States we have plenty of examples of Civil War reenactors, in-persona docents at places like Williamsburg, Virginia and Amish enclaves that draw the attention of the curious. But, nothing, not even the circus freak shows of the 19th and 20th centuries approach the human zoos of Thailand.
From Melbourne, Australia’s The Age:
Zember was a poster child for long-neck tourism. At 12, her neck coiled with brass rings, she sat on display at a Bangkok tourism fair, helping to create the buzz which would draw gawkers from around the globe.
Now 23, her neck is bare, the rings stripped off in anger after provincial authorities in Mae Hong Son, in northern Thailand, refused to let her emigrate to New Zealand, concerned about the negative impact on tourism of an exodus of long-neck women.
“When I was young, I wanted to wear the rings and keep my own tradition. In one way, I feel sad (that I’ve taken them off) but now I go to the city, no one cares, no one stares,” she said. “The people who control us say if the people see us in the town, they won’t pay to see us (in the village).” Riding motorbikes, a common, inexpensive form of transport, is also frowned upon because the Thais who control the long-neck villages say: “It’s not part of your culture”.
[Snip]
“It is the No. 1 attraction in this area. It’s why tourists come here,” said Wanchai Thiansiri, a Chiang Mai-based tour guide. “They may go to see caves as well, but the long-necks are the attraction.”
About 100 Kayans (also known by the Burmese name Padaung), fled across the Burma border to Thailand from Kayah state in the late 1980s when civil war between Karenni separatists and the Burmese army became too intense.
“When we first came, we didn’t know anything. In Burma, we had to work really hard and when we moved here (we worked hard) too. We don’t know they are getting money from the tourists, we (couldn’t) speak English or Thai,” said Zember, who was five when her family fled.
How is this different from child prostitution and the trafficking in women?
13 January 2008
FROM MY CHAPBOOK…
0400 by Jeff HessMy 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.
Why so restless, so impatient, my heart?
He watches over birds, animals, the tiniest insect –
He loved you even when you were in your mother”s belly.
Do you seriously imagine
He will not look after you
Now that you are here?
Oh my heart, how could you bear
To turn from his smile
And stray so far from Him?
You have abandoned your true Beloved
And are hankering after others –
That is why ally your works are useless.
– Kabir p. 121
13 January 2008
13 January 2008
TIME POWER: TODAY…
0001 by Jeff HessToday, as I go about my tasks, I’ll think about: The seven steps leading to self-unification:
Prepare a list of what you value most, your highest priorities in life.
Write each valued principle as an action statement.
See that your unifying principles are the highest truths and mutually compatible.
Write a paragraph of clarification under each unifying principle you put down.
Prioritize your unifying principles.
Evaluate your performance over the past few weeks or month with regard to each unifying principle.
Bring your performance into line with your unifying principles. p. 40
