SPC Beaird: I”m on a tower guard rotation this week, definitely my most despised duty while I”m here. It is comprised of 12 hours of nonstop boredom sitting in a guard tower pulling security from sunset to sunrise. The highlight of each night is midnight chow, the best meal of the day, when a different set of cooks comes into the kitchen and makes 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 of the mysteries of International sanctions is the hows and whys of funding and the reasons for the left hand not even knowing that a right hand exists. Dr Myint Cho, a former Burmese dissident and now director of the Sydney-based Burma Office, published an Op-Ed piece in the Melbourne Herald Sun offers an examination.
Recently the world’s attention has again been captured by Burma’s plight with another withered olive branch held out by its dictatorial regime.
[Snip.]
At such a time it is particularly painful, as a resident of this country, to have to acknowledge the role of the Australian taxpayer, via the federal government, in placating the heinous generals in Burma.
Since 2004, AusAID, Australia’s official aid organisation, has been responsible for directly funding the military.
In that year, millions of taxpayers’ funds was earmarked to provide training to the Burmese “government” officials.
[Snip.]
For example, about $480,000 has been used nominally for the purposes of counter-terrorism.
Through this channel, high-level training of senior military officials has been offered by Australian Federal Police personnel working in Burma.
Another program is funded to the value of $6 million a year and is purportedly intended to provide training in intelligence, via the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Co-operation.
[Snip.]
It’s a case of the AFP training the foxes to guard the chicken coup.
This reminds me more than a little of the School Of Americas and how the United States trained Central and South American military personnel to fight political opponents Communists.
Ironically, in late September, the Howard government (voted out of office in November) enacted hard-hitting sanctions aimed at hurting the same generals who profit from taxpayer aid funds.
Surely such sanctions are designed to subvert the un-elected military junta, yet, the provision of free training at taxpayers’ expense tends to do the opposite and in fact bolsters a regime that is considered now a regional embarrassment and a global shame.
Anyone know what our right hand is doing?
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.
“Jesus asked them, What has made you so joyful?
“They smiled, The Spirit of Truth itself. We have seen Reality, and turned away from all lesser goals.
“Jesus said, People like these are the ones who attain the One. On the Day of Reckoning, it will be people like these who stand in the presence of God.”
Ghazali.
p. 25-6
Today, as I go about my tasks, I’ll think about: People are incessantly jumping at trivial twigs because they seem urgent but ignoring the camouflaged rattlesnakes that don”t appear to call for immediate action. p. 20.
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 Year-in-Review Meme: Identity (June).
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 won’t attempt to take anything away from the courageous journalists risking their lives to bring out the story of the continued repression of Myanmar’s peoples, but information coming from Reporters Without Borders demonstrates how being an official journalist can hinder your ability to tell a story.
The military government has constantly hounded Burma”s journalists during the three months that have gone by since 27 September, the day that Japanese video reporter Kenji Nagai was murdered by a soldier in Rangoon, Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association said today.
The police and army continue to hunt for journalists and activists who photographed and filmed the crackdown on the pro-democracy demonstrations. At least nine have had to flee to Thailand. The privately-owned media have resumed publishing but the Censorship Board has stepped up its control.
“The impression that things are back to normal is false,” the two organisations said. “The security services are still looking for the underground journalists who let the world know about the violence against monks and pro-democracy activists. We call for an end to the intimidation of the press and for the release of the six journalists currently held. The international community must find a way to get UN special rapporteur Sergio Pinheiro”s recommendations implemented.”
When everyone is a journalist, there are more eyes and ears and mouths than any repressive regime can track.
If you were in Myanmar, what story would you report?
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.
Now See The Sea
How, after all, could foam fly without a wave?
How could dust swirl upwards without the wind?
You have seen the dust, now dare see the wind;
You have seen the foam, now see the Sea of Creative Energy.
– Rumi p. 23
p. 23
Today, as I go about my tasks, I’ll think about: My theory of accessibility states that if a goal is meaningfully, directly and continually visible, your chances of achieving it increase. p. 18.
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 10 Habits of Highly Effective Brains.
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.
Since the marches by thousands of monks through the streets of Yangon in September, the world has focused its attention on the majority Buddhist population of Myanmar. But the country is also home to minority religious populations of Christians and Muslims. And the generals are spreading the love around.
From Burma Sitmone Blog:
Small Mosques in Rangoon Division were ordered to close by the authority without giving reasons. Only the Mosques for the townships are allowed to open after signing the agreement not to perform the prayers, according to Irrawaddy News.
For the recent Qurbani Eid, the managements of the small Mosques were forced to pay the bribe of 100,000 Kyats, only to get the temporary permission to celebrate the Eid for a day.
Observers said that this action could be due to the involvement of Burmese Muslims in the recent August- September Saffron Revolution.
Will the generals have to close down churches before Faux News gets involved?
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.
“Only he will stand the test who, alive, knows how to die.” Kabir. p. 22
Powered by Wordpress | Design by Ash Haque
XHTML Strict | RSS Entries
