Der Parson's rant

U.N. 'furious' as Myanmar aid 'seized' - CNN.com:

"BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Aid agencies are furious over the Myanmar government's refusal to let them distribute food and supplies flown in for victims of the cyclone that is estimated to have killed up to 100,000 people."

Make sure you read the article. It's just plan sad they won't let anyone distribute relief aid mostly because they are from the west. I thought about air drops like we used at the end of WWII to get aid into Germany. I'm sure the Myanmar government would find a way to block or take anything that was drop. Then there is a problem of getting stuff into the right areas. I pretty bad when you would rather watch your own people suffer and die then to accept aid from foreigners.

I found this on CNN.com about a report that had sneak in and around Myanmar to see how bad things really are.

(CNN) -- Hiding under a blanket in the back of a car at a police checkpoint. Hopping on boats instead of staying on a road. Constantly looking over your shoulder, knowing that at any moment you -- and those with you -- face the possibility of imprisonment, torture, even death.

It sounds like a spy movie. But CNN's Dan Rivers, who sneaked into storm-ravaged Myanmar without the knowledge of the nation's secretive ruling junta, says the reality is even more frightening than it appears on the silver screen.

I think part sums up things pretty well. They are so afraid of outside influence they won't accept aid for a natural disaster.

He is concerned, he said, that many more may die as a result of the government's self-imposed isolation. Earlier in the week, he said, his crew was able to videotape government workers dumping bodies of the dead into a river. A government not engaged in such activities, which amount to a kind of cover-up, should have nothing to hide, Rivers noted. "Why should they be trying to hide a natural disaster? It's not their fault. It just illustrates the mentality of the regime. It's so suspicious of the outside world."

They are dumping bodies in rivers, they already don't have drinking water, so they make things worse.

Vic Demize from The Pragmatist's Corner told me about this.

I did a search on Google it does give a lot of different sites with stories.

Women send panties to Myanmar in protest

BANGKOK, Thailand - Women in several countries have begun sending their panties to Myanmar embassies in a culturally insulting gesture of protest against the recent brutal crackdown there, a campaign supporter said Friday.

"It's an extremely strong message in Burmese and in all Southeast Asian culture," said Liz Hilton, who supports an activist group that launched the "Panties for Peace" drive earlier this week.

The group, Lanna Action for Burma, says the country's superstitious generals, especially junta leader Gen. Than Shwe, also believe that contact with women's underwear saps them of power.

To widespread international condemnation, the military in Myanmar, also known as Burma, crushed mass anti-regime demonstrations recently and continues to hunt down and imprison those who took part.

Hilton said women in Thailand, Australia, Singapore, England and other European countries have started sending or delivering their underwear to Myanmar missions following informal coordination among activist organizations and individuals.

"You can post, deliver or fling your panties at the closest Burmese Embassy any day from today. Send early, send often!" the Lanna Action for Burma Web site urges.

"So far we have had no response from Burmese officials," Hilton said.

It seems most everyone has forgotten about poor Myanmar, but things haven't gotten any better for them.
2 Months After Protests, Myanmar Junta in Control - New York Times

BANGKOK, Dec. 7 — The streets are quiet in Myanmar. The “destructive elements” are in jail. The international outcry has faded. The junta’s grip on power seems firm.
Two months after they cracked down on huge anti-government demonstrations led by Buddhist monks, the generals who rule Myanmar have reason to feel relief.
It seems they have ridden out their most difficult challenge in two decades and are set to maintain control through force and fear, offering only small concessions to the demands of their critics abroad.
If change is coming in Myanmar, experts say, it is likely to be a long process and to emerge from within the power structure.
Diplomats and human rights groups say that an unknown number of protesters and monks remain in prison today, that many monasteries in the main city, Yangon, have emptied out and that new arrests are reported almost every day.

If there is anyplace that needs new leadership it's Burma. The UN needs to do more then just send some envoy that is just going to get turned away. They turned a blind eye when the United States invaded another country and overthrew their legal leader. You would think they would be willing to do something about a illegal leadership.

I got this in e-mail the other day from Evan Bayh about the Burma letter I wrote a month or so ago. It's a pretty good letter I guess, someone did take a little time to write this and give some more information on sanctions against the Myanmar junta. I appreciate them taking a few minutes to respond.

Dear Mr. Parson :

Thank you for contacting me regarding the situation in Burma . I appreciate your thoughts and concerns on this important issue.

As you may know, protests against the Burmese military government, or junta, began anew in late August 2007. By September, the protests grew to an estimated 100,000 persons led by monks. Responding with military force, the junta conducted mass arrests, surrounded Buddhist monasteries, and killed an unknown number of protestors before successfully suppressing the protests late in the month. In response, President Bush tightened sanctions against Burma to target leading Burmese officials, and imposed financial and travel sanctions on 14 senior Burmese government officials.

I support the additional sanctions placed on the junta in Rangoon . Regrettably, too few Asian nations are prepared to isolate the military rulers of Burma . Burma is blessed with natural resources and Burma 's neighbors are putting access to these resources ahead of human rights.

The Burmese people deserve a government that reflects their aspirations and needs. To that end, it is imperative that the international community, including China , join together in opposition to the junta's behavior and abuse of human rights. Individuals, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or political beliefs should have the freedom to speak their mind and live their lives as they see fit. As a democratic country forged in a revolution against tyranny we have an understandable inclination to support such rights in foreign lands, such as Burma . We must encourage these nations to increase the freedoms granted to their citizens and support more open and democratic societies.

As a proud member of the Senate Armed Services and Senate Intelligence Committees, rest assured that I remain focused on Burma 's conduct and will keep your thoughts in mind when the Senate considers legislation affecting this important issue.

Again, thank you for contacting me. I hope the information I have provided is helpful. My website, http://bayh.senate.gov , can provide additional details about legislation and state projects, and you can also sign up to receive my monthly e - newsletter, The Bayh Bulletin , by clicking on the link at the top of my homepage. I value your input and hope you will continue to keep me informed of the issues that are important to you.

Office of Senator Evan Bayh
(202) 224-5623
Russell 463
Washington, D.C. 20510

In Myanmar, Fear Is a Constant Companion - New York Times

Here is bit of a update from how things are in Burma, it's heartbreaking to read this, It's hard to put into word the frustration and helplessness. This is just one clip from the article, there is so many other horrible things going on there.

By perpetrating what most Burmese felt was unthinkable — the beating and killing of monks — the ruling generals proved that they would stop at nothing to keep their grip on power. People were again cowed into subjugation. Now dissidents worry that the world, after its initial uproar, will again leave the Burmese people to cope with the junta on their own.

“We want to explode our feelings, but if we do, who will help us?” said a 58-year-old businessman who, like many, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. “The U.N.? The U.S.? China? They all said they would help us. But all they did was blah, blah, blah.”

If you remember a while back I posted about writing a letter to congress and senate.

I got a letter back today from Senator Lugar. It's kind of long to re-type. It's actually a real letter. Not just one sentence about my original letter then some canned political response. It talks about sanctions and such. It talks about getting India, Russia, Japan, and China involved. There is also information were you can go on the senate web site for information.

Here is one paragraph from the letter

"I continue to be particularly concerned with the on-going imprisonment of Aung San Suu Kyi. I am co-sponsor of a resolution recognizing her achievments in the struggle for freedom and democracy in Burma. On March 29, 2006, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which I was then chairman, held a hearing on U.S.-Burma relations. You may wish to read more about this hearing at http://foreign.senate.gov/"

(If you click the U.S.-Burma Relations link at the top you can watch a video of the hearings, it doesn't actually start until like 15min. into the video.)

The letter makes me feel he really does care (maybe I'm easily fooled?). I wouldn't say this letter would guarantee me to vote for him again, but he gets brownie points for trying.

I got a response from my e-mail to Congressman Mike Pence about the situation.

Dear Mr. XXXXXX:
Thank you for contacting me regarding Burma. It was a pleasure to hear from you.

As we begin a new century, America will face unfathomable challenges, but also plentiful opportunities. As your representative in Washington , my mandate is to renew the American dream for Hoosiers and all Americans.

Thank you for your thoughts and suggestions. Your participation is vital to my work in the United States Congress. Rest assured, should relevant legislation come to the House floor for a vote, I will certainly keep your views in mind.

Again, thank you for contacting me. It is an honor to serve in the United States House of Representatives and have the benefit of your advice . If you would like more information on this or any other issue, please visit my website at http://mikepence.house.gov.

Warmest regards,

Mike Pence

This kind of seems like a generic response, but at least I got some acknowledgement back I suppose.

U.N. envoy ends mission to Myanmar - Yahoo! News

YANGON, Myanmar - A U.N. envoy completed his mission to Myanmar on Tuesday with no word of progress on the military junta's refusal to address the people's insistent demands for democracy.

While the military government has said only 10 people were killed, dissident groups say up to 200 protesters were slain and 6,000 detained in the crackdown.

Oh come the F*ck on! George Bush can lie better then this and he's a f*cking moron. Only 10 people killed, who are they trying kid?

In Myanmar's main city of Yangon, residents launched a new form of dissent, switching off their lights and TV sets for 15 minutes during the nightly government newscast starting at 8 p.m.

The "silent protest" began Monday and continued Tuesday, even when state television showed pictures of the Gambari-Than Shwe meeting, which included Deputy Senior Gen. Maung Aye, the No. 2 leader, and two other top generals.

This really is not a bad idea, the American people need to do this type of thing, turn off the TV from 6pm to 8pm, get the MSM's ratings to drop and maybe they will start reporting real news. Instead of what Britney or Paris had for dinner last night.

Here is something like I was sort of trying to say in my last post about how to help and get more information about the Burma people. A lot of them live here in Fort Wayne. There is information from the local paper.

burma3

I used the information on that website to send a letter to my representatives in the government.

Here is a copy of my letter, any comments or critisim would be helpful. I never wrote to anyone in government before so I hope I did ok.

I am writing in concern to the situation in Burma, I'm sure you are aware of the things that are going on in that country. I think it's important that the United States government take a strong stance to get this situation under control. After all we charged into Iraq to save them from a tyrant. I'm not saying out military should be involved, but we need to put some pressure on the junta to actually engage in talks. They wouldn't even speak UN envoy that went to Burma (at least at the time of writting this). The United States Senate and Congress needs to do anything in their power to try and get either more US or United Nations involvement in that country.

Thank you in advance for your attention and anything you can do to help these people in Burma.

Here is something about the UN envoy that is in Burmna, apparently the junta leader won't even speak to the man.


UN envoy snubbed by junta leader in Burma - Telegraph

The United Nations special envoy to Burma has met the opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon, but was snubbed by the leader of the junta that crushed democracy protests last week.

However, some Western diplomats consider Mr Gambari a weak negotiator. One commentator also pointed out that the junta holds deeply racist attitudes and is probably prejudiced against dealing with a black man.

This is were the real shame is, here is a government so affraid of the truth they shut down the internet and phone lines. You know things are in bad shape when the world is looking too China to put some pressure on these junta thugs.

Cut off from the outside world after the regime switched off foreign phone lines and the internet, their sole source of information, apart from government propaganda, is now the grim whispers on the streets, which speak of hundreds being arrested, killed and tortured.

The most sinister report circulating in the streetside tea shops spoke of how up to 200 people had been killed in custody since Friday, with their bodies allegedly incinerated at a secret location.

"We heard that one of the victims turned out to be still alive when they started burning them, and began screaming, but the soldiers just continued regardless, because they had their orders," said Mr Kyaw, who has no way of verifying the claims.

However, given Burma’s past record in dealing with pro-democracy uprisings — an estimated 3,000 people were killed during the last one, in 1988 — he was not the only one to take them seriously.

Obviously living the high life here in America I can't have any real idea of what these people are going through. We talk about how bad protesters and such have been treated by police in this country. I say we have it pretty good. Yes people have been killed potesting in this country (Kent State Shootings), but nothing like what is happening in Myanmar. For me to sit here in my ivory tower and say "my heart goes out to these people" just is not enough. There are no words that can express the helplessness I and probably a lot of other blogger types feel. I sit here and think, "what can I do?", does writting a blog post really help anyone in Myanmar?, probably not, maybe it does help me in a way. Getting the feelings out there so maybe someone else will read this and understand were I'm coming from. Sometimes this blogging thing is like putting a message in a bottle and throwing it out into the ocean.
I just turned on CNN just to see if the MSM is even covering this. They were just showing the same video I already have linked.

Myanmar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Myanmar is bordered by China on the north, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, and India on the northwest, with the Andaman Sea to the south, and the Bay of Bengal to the southwest. One-third of Myanmar’s total perimeter, 1,930 kilometres (1,199 mi), forms an uninterrupted coastline.

Here is some general information about Myanmar. I wasn't even sure were it was on a map, until I started doing some reading. I'm going to link other things I found on Wiki to save anyone wanting to read up some time.

Burmese anti-government protests

WARNING, GRAPHIC violence!



Watch carefully at about :30. Were are all you neocons and war mongers now? Here is a country killing journalist at point blank range, cutting off internet access and cellphone servics so nobody can get news out of these types of outrages that are going on. Why isn't good ol' Georgy boy charging in to help these people? They must not have enough oil to make it worth is trouble.