Burma

[Snoopy]

In recent days, Burma’s military junta has been bombarded with calls to free Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Prize-winning democracy advocate who has been detained, mostly under house arrest, since May 2003.
But with natural gas sales filling the junta’s coffers and cementing its ties with powerful, energy-hungry neighbours, analysts and diplomats say the generals feel under little pressure to act.
Instead, when Ms Suu Kyi’s current detention expires on Sunday, the generals are expected to extend it again – to prevent the charismatic 61-year-old from mobilising an angry public, and from complicating their so-called “roadmap” for political reforms....

FT.com / World - Gas boom reinforces Burma’s defiance

s.

[Snoopy]

"Twenty Burmese security officials who were taken captive for several hours by Buddhist monks have been released."

BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Monks release Burmese officials

s.

[Tao_Equus]

Burma remains that out of sight out of mind disgrace to south east Asia. As you say with its rich resources it does not look like improving any time soon.

[Pathless]

Interesting that Buddhist monks set fire to the officials' cars in response to the harm inflicted on three monks during Wednesday's protest. The Middle Way and its applications continues to surprise me.

I think George Bush's response is typically ironic, and more so because I'm sure he fails to recognize any irony in his moralizing statements:

On Wednesday, US President George W Bush condemned the crackdown by the Burmese authorities.

"It's inexcusable that we've got this kind of tyrannical behaviour in Asia," he said.

[wil]

Why do we still say Burma, and Japan? It seems we've awoke to the names of capitals in India and China...

I had a friend who worked on the US Embassy a number of years ago....as a carpenter he was housed at the ambassador's palace and taken under armed guard in a caravan to the embassy every day to work....every night they went out the back door and back into town to party with the locals...

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by Tao_Equus

Burma remains that out of sight out of mind disgrace to south east Asia.

Yes, it hardly ever seems to get the media attention that it warrants, IMO.

Why that is, I don’t know.

“Burma, also known as Myanmar, is ruled by a military junta which suppresses almost all dissent and wields absolute power in the face of international condemnation and sanctions.
The generals and the army stand accused of gross human rights abuses, including the forcible relocation of civilians and the widespread use of forced labour, which includes children.
Prominent pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, has had various restrictions placed on her activities since the late 1980s.
Her party, the National League for Democracy, won a landslide victory in 1990 in Burma's first multi-party elections for 30 years, but has never been allowed to govern.
The armed forces - and former rebels co-opted by the government - have been accused of large-scale trafficking in heroin, of which Burma is a major exporter.”

BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Country profiles | Country profile: Burma

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[wil]

I have some favorite dishes from Myanmar, misnamed as Burma. The people were called Burma (not Burmese) and the area of land they occupied was called Myanmar. The spices and flavors, not Indian, Pakistani, Vietnamese, or Thai, similar but different. Mustard stalks are awesome...

About a decade ago the military dictator was at odds with the Buddhist Monks and they quit asking for alms from soldiers....that meant no prayers, no blessings, no monks visiting soldiers families...the women got on the soldiers the soldiers got on their command, the command reported the issue to the dictator and that issue was resolved.

[bob x]

"Why do we still say Burma, and Japan? It seems we've awoke to the names of capitals in India and China..."
We don't call India "Bharat", we don't call China "Chung-guo", we don't even call Germany "Deutschland".

[wil]

Originally Posted by bob x

"Why do we still say Burma, and Japan? It seems we've awoke to the names of capitals in India and China..."
We don't call India "Bharat", we don't call China "Chung-guo", we don't even call Germany "Deutschland".

Exactly....so why? I can understand why someone would translate our countries common words to Estados Unidos or whatever....but why we use words that we made up I've got no idea. It would be like someone just making up a name for the US and calling us that...it seems quite disrespectful.

[bob x]

Once names are in common circulation, there is no particular reason to change them. The Chinese call the US "Mei-guo", which means "pretty country" but is originally just a distorted effort to pronounce "America"; at least they got it right that the ME and the CA take the accent, unlike Arabic speakers who usually call it "AM-rika", that is not going to change either.

[I, Brian]

The Monks are escalating the protests:
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Burmese monks protests escalate

[Snoopy]

"Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has greeted Buddhist monks protesting against the military junta. Apparently unable to hold her tears, Aung San Suu Kyi came out of the house she has been detained in since 2003 as the monks were allowed to pass by.

At least 1,000 monks are staging a sixth day of protests through the streets of the Burmese capital.
Two thousand marched in Mandalay with protests also taking place in five townships across Burma.

Ms Suu Kyi has spent 11 of the last 18 years in detention.
In 1990 her party won national elections, but these were annulled by the army and she was never allowed to take power.
Her latest period of house arrest began in May 2003."


- BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Suu Kyi greets Burma protesters


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[bananabrain]

i'd just like to express my support for the monks protesting in burma. it is long since overdue that the military junta there packed its bags - only because the russians and chinese refuse to support sanctions (why?) does it survive.

b'shalom

bananabrain

[bob x]

the russians and chinese refuse to support sanctions (why?)

The "internal affairs" doctrine: as long as a nation is not attacking its neighbors, what the regime does to its own people is of no concern to anyone else. Both Russia and China are afraid of setting any precedent that would let outsiders sanction them for their internal oppressions.

[Francis king]

yes, I agree with u, banana- well done monks!