Burma Bodies - by Starseeker

For a thousand years of endless time
a nation fought and cried;
Freedom they sought - for its delicate perfume
a numberless many died

And now this morning they give a shout
that rings across the seas;
Twenty thousand monks lead a yearning people
to the streets whereupon they plea

A shot rings out.

Then more and more
and people turn to flee;
Our strength unbroken, our resolve made stronger,
to set our Lady free.

Alan Greenspan and the impossibility of Buddhist Fundamentalism

At that risk of sounding sarcastic: Mr George Bush, I beg of you, ramp up from your rhetoric and please make up lies about how the Burmese Government has Weapons of Mass Destruction, promptly assemble a "Coalition of the U.S. trade dependent" and "pre-emptively strike" at the poor impoverished nation, toppling their brutal dictator, before they do anything rash. It would be good if the world's leaders could put their troops where their mouths are (instead of where the oil is) and take some real action, in Burma and in Sudan. I'm sure this is a nation that won't turn into fundamentalist terrorists (I don't really picture a Buddhist monk toting an AK, do you?), and perhaps you'll find a new oil fields or gas deposits you can plunder to service your continued energy needs.

Oh wait, I think the Chinese have beat you to it, if only by proxy.

Myanmar has about 19 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves, only about 0.3 percent of the world's total reserves, according to BP's Statistical Review of World Energy at the end of 2006. Although it doesn't currently export gas to China, its supply could potentially help feed a rapidly growing Chinese economy hungry for energy.

- Sign On San Diego, San Diego Union Tribune

At least other authority figures have the courage to speak the truth. Thankyou, Mr. Alan Greenspan.

Perspective: A Tale of Brownlow and Burma

Today's Headlines, ripped from the Age:

Page One:

"Bartel's Brownlow - Cats' Eyes now on the big prize"
i.e. James Bartel of Geelong wins the Brownlow Medal

Far right side column, continued page 11:

"Masses pressure Burma's regime"
i.e. At least 15,000 monks and 30,000 people take to the streets in Burma's capital Rangoon, chanting prayers and slogans, in the largest protest against the illegally ruling military junta since a 1988 democracy uprising by students led to a brutal retaliation by the army.

Page 1 vs. page 11? I'm dissapointed at our collective nearsightedness. The media has a role to play in forming people's opinions (though of course their bottom line in our capitalist society is selling papers), and ranking an annual jock-award-cum-frockfest in our provincial little game above democracy-in-action is keeping a short-sighted nation continually short-sighted.

Aussie Rules is a great sport, but it's hopelessly provincial. Sports media and event promoters love to bill a given event as "the third largest sports event in the world", this title is pitched around at the Rugby World Cup, the Cricket World Cup, the various Grand Slams of Tennis - clearly, it is obvious that the AFL Grand Final won't ever deserve this obfuscation - it's just not that important. Perspective is a bitch.

On the other hand, the people's revolution in Burma is a protest that inspire. The military has held the nation in a stranglehold of militaristic rule against the result of the 1990 elections that should have brought the National League for Democracy (NLD) and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi into power as Prime Minister.

During these protests, about 2000 monks and civilians were allowed by the military to pray in outside her home, where she has been under house arrest for 10 years.

Her continuing incarceration is an affront to democracy.

As a result, she has as of last Sunday (23/9/07) been imprisoned in the notorious Insein prison, perhaps in part to deny the protesters a focusing symbol of leadership. Is there really nothing they won't do to maintain their hold on power?

It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.

- Aung San Suu Kyi

As always, use Wikipedia or Google for continued reading, or some fellow bloggers with far greater journalistic literacy then myself.

Oh yea, and buy a CD, please.